camscanner 04-10-2022 14.08 the visual arts and its branches 1 chapter one the visual arts and its branches chidi uzor, chidiebere onwuekwe, & chibuzor asogwa introduction rt is a human conception made manifest by the skilful use of a medium. it signifies making, fashioning or putting together, and it usually implies that the thing is accomplished by human skill (uzoagba 2000). furthermore, it is a way of making and communicating meaning through imagery and performances. it is a unique symbolic domain and is a discipline with its particular demands and core of learning. art is a natural and enjoyable way of extending and enriching the child’s experience of the world (visual arts curriculum, 2010). the word 'arts' is an all-encompassing phenomenon and has numerous branches. art or arts is subdivided into the visual arts and liberal arts. while visual art is further partitioned into fine arts and design areas, liberal art is sub-categorized into performing and literary arts. however, our concern is the visual arts. visual arts visual art is an object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination (egonwa, 2012). the term art encompasses diverse media such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, a uzor, onwuekwe, and asogwa 2 decorative art, photography and installation. it is a universal means of communication. it is a process by which an individual expresses his or her feeling, taught and ideas visually. the teaching of visual art is a process of developing the creative potential in students to make the students self-reliant. the importance of visual art in the process of curriculum implementation and instruction cannot be over-emphasized. visual art is also defined as a means of selfexpression. it provides one with various media through which one can bring to the light interior reflection of ideas, feelings, thoughts, and imagination either in two or three-dimensional form. a work of art is in twodimensional form when it is done on a flat surface and can be measured by length and width. a three-dimensional form of art is an artwork which can be viewed right round, that is; it is measured by length, width, and breadth. painting and drawing done on paper are examples of twodimensional forms, while three-dimensional forms are sculptural works, which can stand on their own. forms of visual arts there is an early mention of visual arts subcategorized into fine arts and design areas. we use a thematic chart to explain it below: the visual arts and its branches 3 fig 1: thematic view of the branches of visual arts. drawing this is the most integral part of fine arts. read (1972p. 51) describes drawing as delineation which remains one of the most essential elements of visual arts – even in sculpture. drawing is a visual art form in which artists employ certain materials to make markings on paper or other two-dimensional media. drawings seem to be the most significant form of visual art. this is so because both three-dimensional and two-dimensional artists require drawings to kick-start their works. the importance of drawing in all forms of art cannot be over-emphasised. while a sculptor requires sketches to define the forms of his model before proceeding to his armature, so also does a visualizer uzor, onwuekwe, and asogwa 4 require a sketch to develop his designs for both above-theline and below-the-line advert materials such as posters, handbills, danglers, product packages and even label cover. even the movie maker requires delineated sketches in form of a storyboard to direct the camera movement and other actions in a movie. again, the architect needs to present his designs to his clients in form of drawings. painting painting is a two-dimensional form of visual art that involves using colours in certain ways to make a statement. according to owen (2020) painting is the expression of ideas and emotions, with the creation of certain aesthetic qualities, in a two-dimensional visual language. the elements of this language—its shapes, lines, colours, tones, and textures—are used in various ways to produce sensations of volume, space, movement, and light on a flat surface. having said this, there are numerous materials and techniques explored by specialists in the painting field, and they yield varying results. among the various painting techniques are oil painting, watercolour painting, pastel painting, acrylic painting, digital painting, ink wash painting or literati painting, chinese black ink, hot wax painting or encaustic painting, spray painting, fresco secco paintings wall painting technique, gouache opaque watercolour medium, enamel paintings, tempera paintings (are very long-lasting), sand painting, etc (webneel.com, 2022). today, artists explore mixed media painting, where found objects are used as support for painting. support is https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aesthetic https://www.britannica.com/topic/language the visual arts and its branches 5 a surface which is prepared, on which a painting will be made. sculpture: is an artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are worked into three-dimensional art objects. the designs may be embodied in freestanding objects, in reliefs on surfaces, or in environments ranging from tableaux to contexts that envelop the spectator. an enormous variety of media may be used, including clay, wax, stone, metal, fabric, glass, wood, plaster, rubber, and random "found" objects. materials may be carved, modelled, moulded, cast, wrought, welded, sewn, assembled, or otherwise shaped and combined. on its part is done mostly in three-dimensional form with stone, cement, and wood, as the commonest materials. plate 1: brass heads from the ancient ife kingdom. source: https://www.worldhistory.org/ife/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environments https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contexts https://www.britannica.com/science/clay-geology https://www.britannica.com/science/metal-chemistry https://www.britannica.com/technology/glass https://www.britannica.com/science/wood-plant-tissue https://www.britannica.com/technology/plaster uzor, onwuekwe, and asogwa 6 sculptural forms can be found in many cultures dating back to prehistoric times. in some societies, sculptures took the form of figures such as statues or reliefs while in others they took on more abstract forms such as obelisks, standing stones or pyramids. the size and function of the sculpture vary considerably depending on the context, materials and purpose. traditionally, religious institutions, rulers and wealthy individuals were the main commissioners of sculpture. sculptures in the form of statues, votives and shrines were commissioned to decorate palaces and sacred spaces such as churches, temples or tombs or to communicate a religious message, especially to a non-literate public (irish museum of modern arts, 2010) architecture architecture is a form of 3dimensional art. architecture is not limited to the design of buildings as janetius (2020) says; defining architecture simply as an art or science of building is inadequate; also, describing architecture from the point of human habitation, raises another question, what if the structure is not habitable, say, for example, a monument, or a memorial; do they not still fall into the category of architecture? people argued as to whether architecture is art or not, and whether architecture should be in a different discipline. like other branches of visual art, architecture the visual arts and its branches 7 deploys the language of formalism, content and design in its making. architecture, being art, communicates, and like in all arts, it can be disturbing, inspiring, good, bad, or sublime, depending on the designers (iruoke, and onwuekwe, 2015: 91) ceramics this is also another branch of visual art that deals with the production of permanent earthenware through heat firing such are plates, cups, flower vases, and floor and wall tiles. its major material is clay which is naturally deposited in abundance in all parts of the world either on the surface or under the earth's surface. textiles this genre is another vital aspect of visual art that deals with cloth designs and productions. it has three categories, tie-dye and batik, woven and printed textiles. visual arts therefore can be seen as an artist whose works are appreciated through the sense of sight. photography photography is the process of making pictures by capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a sensor or film. light patterns reflected or emitted from objects are recorded onto a sensitive medium or storage chip through a timed exposure. the most common process is done through mechanical, chemical or digital devices known as cameras (introduction to photography 403, 2008:7). uzor, onwuekwe, and asogwa 8 a camera is an optical instrument for recording or capturing images, which may be stored locally, transmitted to another location, or both. ... the word camera comes from camera obscura, which means "dark chamber" and is the latin name of the original device for projecting an image of external reality onto a flat surface. the camera is also a remote sensing device as it senses subjects without any contact. the modern photographic camera evolved from the camera obscura. the functioning of the camera is very similar to the functioning of the human eye. the first permanent photograph of a camera image was made in 1826 by joseph nicéphore niépce (wikipedia, 2014) on the photographic processes, and comparing it to other two-dimensional media, bernadine (2008), opines thus; photography may most closely resemble painting and the graphic arts because most photographs are stable, two-dimensional objects. the photographer's role, however, is different from the painter's. photographers select their subject matter, but light, rather than the artist's hand, makes the image. photographers make many creative decisions about film development, printing, or digital adjustments, and they can even add drawings or colours by hand. however, the primary process is mechanical and chemical. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/remote_sensing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/human_eye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photograph https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/joseph_nic%c3%a9phore_ni%c3%a9pce the visual arts and its branches 9 printmaking this is an art form consisting of the production of images, usually on paper but occasionally on fabric, parchment, plastic, or other support, by various techniques of multiplication, under the direct supervision of or by the hand of the artist. such fine prints, as they are known collectively, are considered original works of art, even though they can exist in multiple. unlike painting, designs are prepared on surfaces, which are used to make multiples of the same original art on surfaces such as paper, fabric, or walls. "the matrix" in printmaking is practically a surface on which a design is prepared before being transferred through pressure to a receiving surface such as paper (getlein, 2004, 187). printmaking is an art form consisting of the production of images, usually on paper but occasionally on fabric, parchment, plastic, or other support, by various techniques of multiplication, under the direct supervision of or by the hand of the artist. (nwafor and onwuekwe, 2022: 52) animation animation is art in movement. more, it is the art of movement. in an animated film, drawings are not static, as they must be on these pages. whether it is on a movie screen, tv set, or computer monitor, the drawings come alive, and it is the quality of that life that matters, not the quality of a particular image, frame, or film (laybourne, 1998:22). uzor, onwuekwe, and asogwa 10 questions 1. describe visual arts 2. explain the word “art” 3. mention the forms of visual arts 4. what is the matrix? references bernadine, b. (2008). art. microsoft encarta encyclopedia redmond, wa: microsoft corporation. egonwa, o.d. (2012): nigerian art: introductory notes. ibadan: ababa press ltd. getlein, m. (2008). living with art: 8th ed. new york: mcgraw hill publishing co. irish museum of modern arts (2010). what is sculpture? https://imma.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ whatissculpture.pdf. iruoke, v. m and onwuekwe, c. o. (2015). the need for art appreciation in the study of architecture. environmental review. 5(1), http://erjournal.net/ index.php/erjournal/article/viewfile/11/pdf janetius, s.t. (2020). architectural psychology: space, psyche, enigma & symbol, mishil & js publishers, thrissur, isbn: 9781974307715. pp. 7-12. laybourne, k. (ed.). (1998). the animation book. new york: three rivers press. nwafor, n. a. and onwuekwe, c. o. (2021). exploration of paper stenciling as matrix for portraits prints of four selected nigeria’s past presidents. ajofaa, vol. 7 (2). awka: netizens print media. the visual arts and its branches 11 owen, p.(2020). painting. encyclopedia britannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/ painting. accessed 5 april 2022. read, herbert (1972): the meaning of art. england; faber and faber ltd. rogers, l. r. (2020). sculpture. encyclopedia britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/sculpture. types of painting. (2022). 25 different types of painting techniques and styles. webneel.com/types-ofpaintings-techniques-styles. uzoagba, i.n. (2009) standard notes and objectives questions on art theory, for junior and senior secondary school, onitsha: unica art publishers. visual arts curriculum. (1999). dublin: the stationery office. https://www.curriculumonline.ie/ getmedia/ 0e0ccff397c4-45c8-b813-e7c119a650c3/psec04a_ visual_arts_ curriculum.pdf https://webneel.com/ trauma behind closed doors inwhile men slept adaobi ihueze abstract women have had traumatic experiences at the hands of domineering males, whose views and attitudes are shaped by society's patriarchal customs and beliefs. these cruel practices frequently left the victim bruised and terrified. this study examines the notion of betrayal trauma theory by jennifer freuyd in gloria ogo's while men slept in assessing the symptoms of this sort of trauma in the text and their impact on the protagonist. it was observed from the analysis that social ideals encourage activities that demean and traumatize women. it then concludes that women should not be intimidated, but rather stay strong, and not droop under the weight of the painful experience. there is also a need for women's education and mental freedom so that they can break free from the patriarchal rule in certain areas due to the economic empowerment education provides. the study recommends that more female writers should get involved in revealing events that leave indelible physical and mental scars on women. keywords: trauma, betrayal trauma, romantic trauma, patriarchal, abuse relationship introduction the restlessness of african women today, as well as their skepticism about their status in society is direct repercussions of years of oppression. this is shown in the patriarchal burden, which favours male children over female offspring, since she must be married off. the marital system is not a partnership, but rather an unequal relationship in which the wife is under pressure to prove herself by bearing children, particularly male offspring. a wife loses her identity, and when she becomes a mother, her power and prestige are reflected in her offspring, but if she only has female children or none at all, she loses any real standing. gender influences how women are treated and also dictates the treatment. women suffer as captives to culture, tradition, and patriarchy at the hands of males. this novel depicts women's brutalized predicament at the hands of males. to this end, the man becomes a lord, dominating, oppressing, degrading, and dehumanizing the woman. the resultant effect of these patriarchal notions that encourage man’s inhuman actions against the woman is pain; a deep searing pain that transcends the physical. this pain is usually heartfelt, emotional, and psychological: a trauma of sorts. michelle balaev defines trauma as ‘a person’s emotional response to an overwhelming event . . .that disrupts previous ideas of an individual’s sense of self and the standards by which one evaluates society’ (149). she further identifies an important characteristic of trauma as, “the transformation of the self, ignited by an external, often terrifying experience, which illuminates the process of coming to terms with the dynamics of memory that informs the new perceptions of the self and the world” (149). by this, balaev seems to acknowledge that trauma is a painful and horrifying experience that leaves in its victims afterward a sense of new awareness of self, perception in the world around her, and due to this, reactions to these episodes of trauma may vary. critical analysis this paper relies on a particular type of trauma called betrayal trauma theory. the word betrayal trauma was coined in the 1990s by psychologist jennifer freuyd to describe what occurs when the people or institutions on which a person depends for survival significantly violate that person’s trust. (freyd 76) this betrayal trauma happens in romantic relationships of mostly husband and wife and can often be seen as infidelity in marriage. michele scheinkman writes that “when evaluating betrayal trauma in romantic relationships, earlier literature focused on the impact of infidelity in monogamous relationships. within this context, the betrayal is present in the relationship as a breach of an unspoken agreement” (18). betrayal trauma in the novel depicts how betrayal can destroy the victim’s self-identity and relationship with others. this paper reflects the brutalized plight of women in the hands of men. they suffer in their hands as slaves to culture, tradition, and patriarchy because it projects that a male child sustains the name of a family. this abuse, as a result, triggers off emotional distress where the victims might experience lingering trauma when someone they depend on to respect their needs and generally help safeguard their well-being violates the trust they have placed in them. while men slept tells the story of uloma, a young lady who was deceived and discarded by society because she was unable to bear a male child. it took place before, during, and after the nigerian civil war. in the narrative, uloma, a young and attractive girl, married ikemba, and, sadly for her, she was unable to have a male child but had three female children. her spouse was so bitter and ill-treated her that she lost her self-esteem. she continued to strive to please him and regain his devotion but to no effect. she died on the ground after giving birth to her long-desired son, where she had been beaten senseless. she gave birth to a baby boy but did not live to see him grow up. when an individual is betrayed, they suffer from different symptoms such as anger, severe lack of trust, including difficulty trusting others and oneself, depression, irregular eating, poor sleep habits, repression, constant reminders of triggering incidents, guilt, restlessness, emotional dysregulation, self-doubt, self-harm and many more emotional issues. when a person is deceived by a loved one, such as uloma, they may exhibit symptoms such as a profound loss of trust, including trouble trusting others and oneself. this is obvious in uloma's attitude toward everyone around her; she is skeptical of everyone, including her mother-in-law, who has been so kind to her.the deceived victim is filled with rage and self-doubt. she is irritated by everything around her, especially herself. she is continuously self-conscious about her inability to bear a male child for her husband. she considers herself a failure. the unequal division of power among traditional and occasionally modern african marriages fosters betrayal pain and has also allowed the consequence of male promiscuity and rampant wife abuse. in while men slept, ikemba took another lady into their marital home while depriving his wife, uloma, of affection for failing to bear a male child. thus, unoma complains bitterly, six moons have passed, she still waited, but he had not sent for her. the chill of his old indifference seemed to heighten with each day. . . thoughts of his new mistress, keeping ikemba amused and his bed warm, kept her awake…the laughter that had woken her, rang out again in a ghostlike howl, she cringed, burying her face into the lumpy pillow. she thrust a fist into her mouth and muffed a scream. (19-20) the experience was too painful, it kept her restless, gave her sleepless nights all because she was producing female children only. helen chukwuma states that “the female character in african fiction hitherto, is a facile lackluster human being, the quiet member of a household, content only to bear children, unfulfilled if she does not and handicapped if she bears only daughters” (215).most african women were not given the chance to contribute to decision-making in their households as daughters, wives, and mothers, even when the decisions directly affected them. women were frequently engaged to spouses without their permission. in while men slept, kasiobi was promised to agummuo, the local chief priest, who was old enough to be her grandpa, and her mother said nothing. once the woman is not able to sustain their husband’s lineage by bearing sons, she has failed in striving for the success of her marriage and to maintain her husband’s affections. uloma failed by giving birth to female children and as a result, she suffered humiliation, intimidation, neglect, brutality, and disgrace from her husband. for uloma, “it was too dark outside to make out this woman who shared her husband’s bed. she clenched the wooden sills of her window, feeling something wilt inside her” (20). this has made uloma withdraw from her association with other women which led to them not reaching out to help her. hence, everything had changed. the charade to keep up a front, that things were as they ought to be, exerted uloma. the pretense eventually took its toll and birthed the beginning of her reclusive existence. the insidious withdrawal had crept stealthily upon her. it started with declining women who offered to have her plait their hair and hers plaited in return. then blossomed into putting off a visit for the next day, defer it to the next moon. . . as days went by, the silent demeanor, tinged with shy aloofness, was constructed for snobbery and no one bothered to reach out anymore. (4) she grew estranged from everyone, and no one understood her predicament. a woman is expected to withstand the anguish imposed by her husband, and no one is ready to assist her. the majority of current research on betrayal trauma theory in romantic relationships has focused on the inclusion of domestic violence. domestic violence involves a betrayal of trust when one partner is repeatedly beaten, degraded, and violated, and has been linked to deep feelings of shame and anxiety in the victim, particularly when the victim remains with or returns to the abuser, does not report the abuse, or underreports the severity of on-going abuse, all of which have been linked to deep feelings of shame and anxiety in the victim. uloma continued to be abused by her husband without protest. uloma was beaten and harassed at the slightest provocation by ikemba. she called him one day and said, “dim”(172) and ikemba looked at her before replying, “he glanced at her as if disturbed by an offending fly, gave a long hiss, and took an angry bite of his corn. “useless woman” he erupted when she drew nearer. “just one son, you cannot give to me. the day you say my name again, it will be the last word you would utter rubbish (172) uloma begged, “please tell me this unforgivable wrong of mine of which i am unaware”. (173) uloma has been degraded to the point of embracing the potential of future betrayals, as evidenced by this exchange. her condition had deteriorated to the point that it had harmed her self-esteem, emotional well-being, and capacity to form bonds with others; she had become lonely in the midst of others and refused to share her difficulties. the community and the institution failed to protect her since they might have aided her while her husband was assaulting her, but they deceived her and she remained in the relationship. the effects of betrayal trauma are sometimes exacerbated by the fact that the person who was wounded may be required to remain in the abusive relationship, which is contrary to their natural response to betrayal, which is to move away from the person who betrayed them. however, when the person relies on someone to supply specific demands, this reaction is impractical. it is a unique trauma that occurs in critical social connections when the betrayed person needs to keep a relationship with the betrayer for support or safety, according to freud. ulomaremains in the relationship despite all she is going through at the hands of her husband, ikemba, because she is afraid of the potential ramifications of admitting the betrayal. this is because, in the perspective of society, she is a failure for not providing what the community values a male child. even though uloma is financially reliant on her husband, she has a greater need to disconnect experiences from conscious awareness to sustain their relationship. as a result, she frequently hides the pain of abuse and betrayal by removing the knowledge of the abuse and betrayal from consciousness and memory. however, while funanya was abusing ofufe, her husband, the kinsmen came to his aid. they did not attempt to assist uloma since she deserves what she is experiencing for not delivering her husband a male child. at this, helen chukwuma writes that, the husband always has the upper hand in disputes and a woman who fought back against her husband was viewed as “he”woman, possibly a monster. it wasn’t that he was physically stronger than her; rather, a woman should always be obedient to men and never attempt to defend herself against their assaults. when her spouse abuses her, a nice woman shouldn’t even scream out loud. conclusion even now, women see marriage and having children as their highest desire. even educated, contemporary, and wealthy urban women are observed wanting to adhere to their home culture, which connects them to their rural counterparts, who are often traditional, impoverished, and illiterate. they all fall to the african reality that marriage is not established on partnership and that the woman is tested on fertility as well as having children of the appropriate gender, which is the preference of male to female offspring. there is need for women's education and mental freedom so that they can break free from the patriarchal rule in certain areas due to the economic empowerment education provides. as a result, women's education and economic viability are highlighted as a way of repositioning women. women should be aware that their identity inside marriage should not be static, but rather a territory through which they may reconstruct a new identity; a fellowship in which they can find strength among their kind. works cited balaev, michelle. ‘literary trauma theory reconsidered’. contemporary approaches in literary trauma theory. ed. michelle balaev.macmillian, 2014. print. chukwuma helen. ‘voices and choices: the feminist dilemma in four african novels.” feminism in african literature: essays in criticism. in helen chukwuma (ed).enugu:new creation books,(160).1994. print. freuyd, jennifer. “betrayal trauma.”encyclopedia of psychological trauma.in g, reyes, j.d. elhai and j.d. ford (eds). new york: john willey and sons, (76). 2008. print. ogo, gloria. while men slept. lagos: farafina books. 2018. print. scheinkman, michele. “beyond the trauma of betrayal: reconsidering affairs in couples therapy.”family process. 44(2): 227-244. 2005. print. ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 137 chapter nine ceramic clay: meaning, preparation and methods of production chike cosmas aghanya & obianuju maria aghanya introduction clay is a chief material used in ceramic production and as well the backbone of ceramic art. it is an abundant natural material that is found all around us, in gardens, fields, along riverbanks or roadsides which originated from feldspathic rock. clay according to igbinedion (1995) is a natural material found in the earth’s crust or rock and it is characterized by plasticity when the appropriate amount of water is added. it can be defined as a heavy, damp, plastic material that sets upon drying and can be changed by heat into a hard, waterproof material. clay can also be seen as an earthy raw material known for its sticky plastic nature. it is an earthy material that is soft and plastic when wet and very hard and rocklike when fired. it contains alumina, silica and water. however, clay is classified into two types; they are primary and secondary. primary clay this can be also called residual clay. they are clays that have not been transported anywhere, which is normally seen at the site of its formation. they are those clays formed from parent rock which are found at their aghanya & aghanya 138 site of formation. they are usually white, do not contain impurities and are not plastic. example: koalin secondary clays these can be also called sedimentary clays. they are those clays that have been moved from their original site to elsewhere by wind, flood, ice etc. this can be also seen as clay which has been transported from the site of the original parent rock. these clays can be found on the bank of the river, and on roads. they are earthenware, ball clay and stoneware. secondary clays contain a lot of impurities like iron and organic matter which makes them vary in colour like brown, black, grey, green etc. they are very plastic. properties of clay the properties of clay comprise chemical and physical characteristics that can be seen to identify clay. chemical properties are alumina, silica, hydrogen & oxygen (al2o3+2sio2+2h2o). physical properties are characterized by plasticity, shrinkage, colour, strength and residue. plasticity: this is a property that enables clay to be deformed continuously under a force which exceeds a certain minimum value and to retain the new shape when the deforming force is removed or reduced below a certain value. it is also a property that helps clay to bend ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 139 to any shape or ability to retain any given shape when pressure is applied. shrinkage simply means the reduction in the size of clayware due to the loss of water when exposed to heat. it is also the decrease in the size of clay due to loss of water during drying and firing. during drying, water is lost from the surface of the clay, and as the water is lost, the clay particles come close together; in other words, it shrinks or contracts. during firing, some expansion takes place, and the porosity increases. as firing continues the strength of the clay is lower and some parts begin to melt thereby making the clay fuse together, the body shrinks and the porosity drops. all the water lost in both drying and firing brought about a reduction in the size of the clay work. colour helps in the classification of various clays both at the green stage and fired state (otimeyin, 2008). some clay appears white like kaolin while some appear red, brown, black etc., like ball clay, and earthenware clay. the colour of clays is affected by various oxides and impurities present. for example; when clay comes in contact with iron oxide and other dead organic matter, the colour will be brown. strength is very important in ceramic production because clay with high green strength and high fired strength will reduce handling breakages at both the green state and fired stage. this is the ability of the wet clay to withstand stress when handling. this is determined by the plastic nature of the clay. aghanya & aghanya 140 the residue remains derived from sieving clay that could not pass through a mesh. these are particles that make up the clay. it comes in contact with clay during transportation. it varies in size. such residues are sandstone, mica, quartz, feldspar, iron minerals etc. preparation of clay this can be done manually by two different methods a. dry method b. wet method stages of dry method 1. dry the already-fetched clay under the sun. 2. crush or pound with a pestle and mortar into smaller particle sizes. 3. sieve with mesh to separate bigger particles from smaller particles. 4. mix the sieved powdered clay with water. 5. allow it to stay for some days for a further breakdown of clay. 6. knead the clay for homogeneity, then store it for ageing. ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 141 plate 1: preparation of clay stages of wet method 1. get already dried fetched clay and pour it into a sizeable plastic container that contains water. 2. leave it for about five to six days to dissolve thoroughly. 3. turn the clay with a long stick to loosen the remaining lumps. 4. sieve with mesh by pouring the slurry clay to pass through the mesh into the container. 5. leave the already sieved clay to settle at the bottom of the container for a day. aghanya & aghanya 142 6. decant the water from the clay and then pour the settled clay on a clay bat made with p.o.p. or cemented floor. 7. depending on the weather, allow it to harden for about a week if it's the rainy season, but in the dry season, less than a week. 8. knead and wedge the clay for homogeneity, then store it for ageing. modelling techniques in ceramics several methods of modelling in ceramic production include pinching, slabbing, coiling method, scooping, casting and throwing method. pinching this is one of the oldest and most useful methods of production. it involves the palm and thumbs. it can be achieved by pressing in hand your thumb in a ball of clay on a palm and gradually forming a desired shape. slabbing the constructive method of building pots and sculptures from slabs of clay is a relatively new development in ceramics (charlotte, f.s; john, t, 2003). slabs can be achieved by slamming lumps of clay on a flat board guided with wood, after which, use a roller to spread out the clay lump and as well maintain even thickness with a saw blade. mark and cut the shape of each part with a knife when it is leather-hard. join the ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 143 already cut-out shapes by fist scratching the surface and then applying the slips. finally, use a saw blade to scrape the excess clay and dress the joints in and out. coiling method coiling is an adaptable method for forming both sculpture and pottery, allowing one to achieve almost any shape, size or surface (charlotte, f. speight, john toki, 2003). this can be achieved by first rolling clay lump on a flat surface to get coils, then the coils are placed in coil form on already made bases close to each other. seal them together until the desired shape is achieved. plate 2: coiling method aghanya & aghanya 144 scoop method this is one of the simplest methods of modelling in ceramics. this can be achieved by first modelling a particular object in solid then cutting it into two and using modelling tools such as a spoon to remove the unwanted clay from the inner part of the object to make it lighter. scratch the surfaces of the two parts then apply slips and join them together, finally, dress the area so that the mark will not show. casting method this is a process that involves pouring a casting slip into a porous plaster of paris mould, leaving it for a given time for total absorption of water by mould then excess slip will be poured out when the required thickness of the cast layer is achieved. when the cast is leather hard, it will be removed for proper smoothing and drying. unlike clay used in throwing, the clay body for casting need not be very plastic to avoid excessive shrinkage. throwing method this is a process that consists of shaping a mass of spinning or twisted clay between the thumbs, fingers and palms of the hands. it is one of the fastest ways of producing pottery wares. throwing is therefore the first or earliest mechanized aid used in the ceramic industry (igbinedion, 1995). it is also useful in most institutions of learning for teaching ceramics. we have two types of throwing wheels; kick when and power wheel. there are ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 145 various operations in throwing a ware. such operations include: centring: the first operation in throwing is to centre the lump of clay on the revolving wheel head. to avoid wobbly results, perfect centring must be achieved. this operation is done by forming a ball of clay, well kneaded and wedged, then stamping the lump onto the centre of the wheel. with the aid of two palms, the lump is forced down, centred and worked into a symmetrical form. in doing this, it is essential that water or slip is applied with a sponge, so that the clay flows through the hands easily. plate 3: centering aghanya & aghanya 146 opening up the clay: this can be achieved by pressing the thumbs down through the centre of the clay, with the fingers on the outside of the ware as guides. to get the inner bottom diameter correctly, the opening operation has to continue. in this stage, water is also needed but excess of it will be removed with a sponge. plate 4: opening up the clay making a draft or pulling to the desired shape this is drawing the clay up into a cylinder of desired height. it can be attained by using both hands, squeezing the lower wall between the thumb and fingers and slowly putting it upward. to make the wall thin down, gentle pressure should be added by both hands moving from ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 147 down to up, trimming the rim of the cylinder when the thickness is even. shaping or forming of the pots; the shaping can be done by using the fingers inside and outside the cylinder with both hands. this operation is very simple if a good cylinder is made. cutting and removing of the pots: this is the use of cutting the wire to cut the pot at the base for easy removal from the wheel head. trimming and putting the foot of the pot: this is done when the post is on a leather hard stage so that it cannot deform again. with the aid of leather hard clay, the thrown pot is centred on the wheel head then spatulas and other turning tools are used to trim the edges and put the foot. pulling and fixing the handle: in this stage, the handle is pulled out from a lump of clay and it is allowed to be leather hard to avoid distortion. proper fixing is done by adding clay slip on the scratched surface of both the handle and the pot to ensure firmness. kiln firing the main aim of firing wares in ceramics is to change the clay from a green stage to a permanent stage (hard and rocklike). it is a process that brings about change in aghanya & aghanya 148 ceramics after forming and decorating work is complete. firing converts ceramic work from weak clay into a strong durable crystalline glass-like form. ceramic work is typically fired twice. it is bisque-fired and glaze fired. (ceramicartnetwork.org, dec. 1. 2021). this history of the kiln is the evolution over a long period from simple shallow pits into a fixed structure designed to direct and contain the heat of the fire (okonkwo 2006). the kiln is a box-shaped structure built to conserve heat used in firing ceramics wares. it can be further defined as an insulated refractory box which retains heat either by the combustion of some fuels or by the radiant heat of the electrically heating elements. modern kilns are built using refractory insulator ceramic fibre wool called kaowool that helps to retain heat in the chamber. such kilns have control buttons for easy adjustment during firing. there are several types of kilns which this book will mention some, they are: electric kiln, downdraft, updraft, muffle, gas kiln, oil kiln, and wood kiln. bisque firing the goal of bisque firing is to convert greenware to a durable, semi-vitrified porous stage where it can be safely handled during the glazing and decorating process. it also burns out carbonaceous material (organic materials in clay, paper, etc). before any work can be fired, it must be allowed to become completely bone dry larger or ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 149 thicker pieces of work must be left for a longer time to dry. the drying process is complete in the initial stage of bisque firing known as “water smoking” at about 1000c – 6000c, chemically combined water escapes as steam. at this stage, vents are allowed to be open for the easy escape of steam. it is advisable to proceed slowly in this stage, too much haste will cause the steam to push open or explode the work. this creates a thundering sound in the kiln as a result of shattering all the pieces of work in the kiln. this occurs mostly on thicker wall vases. to ensure that work is safe to be heated further, it is pertinent to leave a biscuit firing at a low temperature overnight with the kiln vents open. aghanya & aghanya 150 plate 5: bisque firing in a kiln. once, the initial firing is 6000c and beyond, it is safe to turn up the heating rate, then close all the vents and proceed to the final temperature. finally, the kiln is allowed to cool and offload at a very low temperature of about 500c. glaze firing the temperature of glaze firing is determined by the glaze and clay body of the fired work. this should be started gradually. as the temperature rises to 6000c, the rate of climb can be increased and the whole vents will be closed. plate 6: glaze firing ceramic clay: meani ng, preparation and m etho ds of productio n 151 during firing, the glaze fuses with not only itself but also with materials on the clay surfaces it lies on. this normally occurs in high-fired glaze-like stoneware glazes. the effect of heat on a glaze depends on the amount of time given to the final firing temperature. this combination of heat and time is called “heat works”. it can be measured accurately by the pyrometric cones. vitrification occurs when the clay and glaze or colours come together and fuse. at the final stage, the glaze bubble and craters form as gas escapes and this may cause glaze defects called pinholing if it is not allowed to settle. but this will not result if the heat in the kiln is sustained at a constant temperature called soaking. evaluation 1. explain two types of clay 2. outline the methods of modelling with clay. 3. define clay 4. examine the physical properties of clay 5. model a simple object of your choice. aghanya & aghanya 152 references charlotte, f.s. & john, t. (2003). hands in clay (fifth edition) new york, mcgraw hill igbinedion, s.j.e. (1995). introduction to industrial ceramics, benin city, uri publishing ltd. josie, w. (2007). the practical potter: a step-by-step handbook, london: annes publishing limited. okonkwo, i.e. (2006). the design and construction of kerosene firing down draught kiln, mfa thesis, department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka. otimeyin, p. (2008). ceramics at a glance, asaba: otaba press limited. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 43 chapter 3 art therapy: a psychological approach to healing godwin ogbu uka and elizabeth o. ogbu-uka department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka department of psychology, university of nigeria, nsukka introduction art therapy is an established mental health profession that uses the creative process of art-making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. psychologically it is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behaviour, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight. art therapy integrates the fields of human development, visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art forms), and the creative process with models of counselling and psychotherapy in this process. art therapy is a specialized area of mental health that uses art materials and the creative process to explore emotion, reduce anxiety, increase self-esteem and resolve other psychological conflicts visual expression has been used for healing throughout history, but art therapy did not emerge as a distinct profession until the 1940s. in the early 20th century, psychiatrists became interested in the artwork created by their patients with mental illness. at around the same time, educators were discovering that children’s art expressions reflected developmental, emotional, and cognitive growth. by the mid-century, hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation centres increasingly began to include art therapy programs along with traditional “talk therapies,” underscoring the recognition that the creative process of art-making enhanced the recovery, health, and wellness of individuals. the word “therapy” originated from the greek word therapies, which means “to be attentive to” this could explain as follows: for instance when a creative and skilled professional on one hand, attends to an individual who is making the art. on the other hand this skilled professional’s guidance is a key to the process of therapy. creative expression has been used for healing from the traditional period till the present day. the holy bible recorded the earliest healing in the history of mankind, “and it came to pass, when the evil spirit from god was upon saul that david took a harp, and played with his hand so saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” this form of healing therapy was repeatedly done by david to get king saul out of his psychiatric problem as recorded in the bible. art therapy: a psyclogical approaach to healing 44 art therapy as a subject of study integrates the fields of human development, visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art forms), and the creative process with models of counselling and psychotherapy, aim of the study the aim of this study, therefore, is to educate people on how art and other m methods can aid in the healing of individuals purpose of this study this study focuses on effective ways to use art therapy to heal patients of all ages to improve cognitive and sensor motor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress and advance societal and ecological changes research questions • how can art therapy help in the treatment of children with lean in g disabilities • people experiencing mental health issues • adults experiencing serve stress • individuals suffering from brain injury • children or adults who have experienced a traumatic scope of the study the focus is mainly on art and medical area of study significance of the study increase in knowledge for all review of related literature art therapy is an established mental health profession that uses the creative process of art-making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. psychologically it is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behaviour, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight. art therapy integrates the fields of human development, visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art forms), and the creative process with models of counselling and psychotherapy in this process. art therapy is a specialized area of mental health that uses art materials and the creative process to explore emotion, reduce anxiety, increase self-esteem and resolve other psychological conflicts. visual expression has been used for healing throughout history, but art therapy did not emerge as a distinct profession until the 1940s. in the early 20th century, psychiatrists became interested in the artwork created by their patients with mental illness. at around the same time, educators were discovering that children’s art expressions reflected developmental, emotional, and cognitive growth. by the mid-century, hospitals, clinics, and contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 45 rehabilitation centres increasingly began to include art therapy programs along with traditional “talk therapies,” underscoring the recognition that the creative process of art-making enhanced the recovery, health, and wellness of individuals. the word “therapy” originated from the greek word therapies, which means “to be attentive to” this could explain as follows: for instance when a creative and skilled professional on one hand, attends to an individual who is making the art. on the other hand this skilled professional’s guidance is a key to the process of therapy. creative expression has been used for healing from the traditional period till the present day. the holy bible recorded the earliest healing in the history of mankind, “and it came to pass, when the evil spirit from god was upon saul that david took a harp, and played with his hand so saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” this form of healing therapy was repeatedly done by david to get king saul out of his psychiatric problem as recorded in the bible. although art therapy is a relatively young therapeutic discipline, its roots lie in the use of the arts in the 'moral treatment' of psychiatric patients in the late 18th century, this moral treatment, susan hogan argues, “arose out of utilitarian philosophy and also from a nonconformist religious tradition”, (hogan, s. 2001). other researchers are of the view that art therapy first began around mid20th century, arising independently in english-speaking and european countries. the british artist adrian hill coined the term art therapy in 1942 (hogan, s. 2001). hill, recovering from tuberculosis in a sanatorium, discovered the therapeutic benefits of drawing and painting while convalescing. he wrote that the value of art therapy lay in "completely engrossing the mind (as well as the fingers)…releasing the creative energy of the frequently inhibited patient", which enabled the patient to "build up a strong defence against his misfortunes". he suggested artistic work to his fellow patients. that began his art therapy work, which was documented in 1945 in his book, art versus illness, (hill, a. 1945). u.s. art therapy pioneers margaret naumburg and edith kramer began practising art around the same time as hill. naumburg, an educator, asserted that "art therapy is psychoanalytically oriented" and that free art expression "becomes a form of symbolic speech which…leads to an increase in verbalization in the course of therapy, (naumburg, m. 1953). edith kramer, an artist, pointed out the importance of the creative process, psychological defences, and artistic quality, writing that "sublimation is attained when forms are created that successfully contain…anger, anxiety, or pain, (kramer, e. 1971). other early proponents of art therapy in the united states include elinor ulman, robert "bob" ault, and judith rubin. the american art therapy association was founded in 1969, (junge, m. 2010). national professional associations of art therapy exist in many countries, including brazil, canada, finland, israel, japan, the netherlands, romania, south korea, and sweden but not in nigeria. art therapy is believed to begin as far back as cavemen times unknowingly (otunaiya 2009), this is because even before the usage of language, pictures were painted on cave walls to perform the dual function of expressing feelings and recording actions, which was referred to as an effective way of communicating. in the same vein employing artistic visual symbols for a psychological connection could be a good sign of art therapy for the early hunters who believed in the religious and magical power of the symbols. human beings have always expressed themselves with symbols throughout history. in africa, masks, ritual pottery, costumes, ritual objects of shrines, cave drawings and egyptian hieroglyphics are among the visual objects of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/moral_treatment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/adrian_hill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/margaret_naumburg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/edith_kramer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/robert_%22bob%22_ault https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/judith_a._rubin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/american_art_therapy_association art therapy: a psyclogical approaach to healing 46 therapy in the early period. in some other places or parts of the world celtic arts symbols are all visual records of self-expression and communication through art. recently, the field of art therapy has gained attention in healthcare facilities throughout major countries of the world and is within the fields of psychiatry, psychology, counselling, education and arts. in the middle of the 20th century, art began to be formalised as a healing therapy. art therapy integrates psychotherapeutic techniques with the creative process to improve the mental health and well-being of individuals. the american art therapy association describes art therapy as "a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. it is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behaviour, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight. some situations in which art therapy might be utilized include: • children with learning disabilities • adults experiencing severe stress • children suffering from behavioural or social problems at school or home • people experiencing mental health problems • individuals suffering from a brain injury • children or adults who have experienced a traumatic event an art therapist may use a variety of art methods including drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage with clients ranging from young children to the elderly. clients who have experienced emotional trauma, physical violence, domestic abuse, anxiety, depression, and other psychological issues can benefit from expressing themselves creatively. hospitals, private mental health offices, schools, and community organizations are all possible settings where art therapy services may be available. art therapy projects general projects • get creative with collages via art therapy • knitting (art therapy) • make something, anything, without direction or the result in mind. grab some materials and paper and let anything flow out. • positive pockets via creative therapy sessions. create a personal box of inspirational statements. • project positivity via deviant art – write out or create a piece of art that incorporates 10 things that you like about yourself. • sewing dolls and pillows projects for reaching goals and solving problems • panic book – create small pictures or cards of things, places and people that help you to be calm, or that bring your mind into them and away from panic and anxious thoughts. https://www.verywell.com/interpersonal-skills-self-help-books-3024246 https://www.verywell.com/what-is-self-esteem-2795868 http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/instructionalmaterials/qt/learning-disability-strategies-strategies-that-help-learning-disabilities.htm https://www.verywell.com/brain-injuries-and-learning-disabilities-2162398 http://womensissues.about.com/od/domesticviolence/a/domestic-violence-myths.htm http://www.arttherapyblog.com/art-therapy-ideas/get-creative-with-collages/#.vqldngtf8vw http://www.lizbeck.net/2007/10/23/knitting/ http://www.creativetherapysessions.com/creative_therapy_recipes.html http://news.deviantart.com/article/70698/ http://www.lizbeck.net/2009/03/13/sewing-dolls-and-pillows/ contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 47 document your favourite things so that you can look at the images in times of stress to help bring you into the ‘now’. • the problem – draw a picture that represents any current problem that you are having. try to do this without thinking about it too much, just letting the process take over. once done look at the drawing to see if it reveals anything new about the issue. it might help to set it aside and look at it the next day. • tarot personality cards – create visual representations of the ‘voices in your head,’ otherwise known as alters and/or personality fragments. create one representation on each card. i suggest using collage art because it is easy to cut out symbols and pictures that remind you of each alter and put them together. • vision board – this project can be an invaluable tool for helping you meet goals by making them visually tangible. create a piece of art, or series of art pieces, that represents your goal or desired result. when is art therapy used? art therapy can be used to treat a wide range of mental disorders and psychological distress. in many cases, it might be used in conjunction with other psychotherapy techniques such as group therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy. • general illness: art making is a common activity used by many people to cope with illness. • cancer diagnosis. many studies have been conducted on the benefit of art therapy on cancer patients • disaster relief • dementia • autism • schizophrenia • geriatric patient • trauma and children art therapists work in a wide variety of settings including hospitals and clinics, both medical and psychiatric, outpatient mental health agencies etc. art therapy involves the use of creative techniques such as drawing, painting, collage, colouring or sculpture to help people express themselves artistically and examine the psychological and emotional undertones in their art. today art therapy is widely practised in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities, wellness centres, forensic institutions, schools, crisis centres, senior communities, private practice, and other clinical and community settings. during individual and/or group sessions art therapists elicit their clients’ inherent capacity for art-making to https://www.verywell.com/what-is-group-therapy-2795760 https://www.verywell.com/what-is-cognitive-behavior-therapy-2795747 art therapy: a psyclogical approaach to healing 48 enhance their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. research supports the use of art therapy within a professional relationship for the therapeutic benefits gained through artistic selfexpression and reflection for individuals who experience illness, trauma, and mental health problems and those seeking personal growth how does art therapy work? an art therapist may use a variety of art methods including drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage with clients ranging from young children to the elderly. clients who have experienced emotional trauma, physical violence, domestic abuse, anxiety, depression, and other psychological issues can benefit from expressing themselves creatively. hospitals, private mental health offices, schools, and community organizations are all possible settings where art therapy services may be available. you might also wonder how an art therapy session differs from the average art class. "in most art therapy sessions, the focus is on your inner experience that is your feelings, perceptions, and imagination. while art therapy may involve learning skills or art techniques, the emphasis is generally first on developing and expressing images that come from inside the person, rather than those he or she sees in the outside world," explains cathy maldiochi in the art therapy sourcebook. "and while some traditional art classes may ask you to paint or draw from your imagination, in art therapy, your inner world of images, feelings, thoughts, and ideas are always of primary importance to the experience." conclusion conclusively, the value of research in the natural sciences are widely recognized, and the fact that artist also engage in research must be acknowledged. the research operation in any society is highly valued, we need to understand why being engaged in legitimate art-making tasks implies that one is engaged in worthwhile research activities the research operations associated with creating art, are quite different from the research activities of the scientists. research in both natural and social sciences relies upon measures that generate quantitative data from which qualities are inferred. in visual art counting the number of times something occurs reflects on the level of its significance. in science, specific instances of behaviour are identified and quantified very carefully. these are translated into qualities which become the basis for formulating generalizations about phenomena. in art “style", a term used by both art historians and art critics, is a construct for thinking about reoccurring characteristics in works of art. a particular style is inferred from observing and categorizing common elements in works produced by a variety of artists, or in the works of an individual artist. http://womensissues.about.com/od/domesticviolence/a/domestic-violence-myths.htm contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 49 references aaron, p.g. (1995), "differential diagnosis of reading disabilities” school psychology review24 (3): 345–60. issn 0279-6015. hogan, s. (2001), healing arts: the history of art therapy. london: jessic hogan, s. (2001), healing arts: the history of art therapy. london: jessica kingsley. p. 135. hill, a. (1945), art versus illness: a story of art therapy. london: george allen and unwin. junge, m. (2010), the modern history of art therapy in the united states springfield, il: charles c. thomas. isbn 978-0-398-07940-6 kramer, e. (1971), art as therapy with children. new york: schocken books, p. 219. macgregor, j. m. (1989), the discovery of the art of the insane princeton: princeton university press. marcia a. barnes; fletcher, jack; fuchs, lynn (2007), learning disabilities: from identification to intervention. new york: guilford press naumburg m. (1953), psychoneurotic art: its function in psychotherapy. new york: grune & stratton, p. 3. thomson wadsworth (2008), childhood voyages in development third edition, p. 387. retrieved 2012-12-19 patti l. harrison; flanagan, dawn p. (2005), contemporary intellectual assessment: theories, tests, and issues. new york: guilford press. isbn 1-59385-125-1. the national center for learning disabilities 4 march 2009. retrieved 9 july 2012. national dissemination center for children with disabilities(nichy), 2004.[1] accessed may 11, 2007. walker, j. (1992), glossary of art, architecture & design since 1945, 3rd. ed. london, library association publishing waller, d. (1991), becoming a profession: a history of art therapy 194082 london: routledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/international_standard_serial_number http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0279-6015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/special:booksources/9780398079406 http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/factshe/fs17txt.htm chapter 17: creative processes and techniques in a new graphic literature on the nigeria/biafra war contributed by chidiebere onwuekwe and chu krydz ikwuemesi introduction between 2016 and 2023, chidiebere onwuekwe embarked on his doctoral journey in the nsukka art school. he pursued a phd in fine art and design which is a new programme in the school. apart from the dissertation report, the findings of his reseach birthed a one hundred and forty-page graphic novel on the nigeria/biafra conflict. the work focused on achuzia’s exploits as a biafran militia and army officer. soon after the approval his research topic entitled “a graphic novel of joseph achuzia’s exploits in nigeria/biafra war, 1967 to 1970, and with the approval of his supervisor, he embarked on his first field trip to the war museum in umuahia where he did an achiaval research. he went into a stretching literature review on the conflict. again, onwuekwe conducted oral interviews on selected survivors of the war. with these endeavours successfully completed, he redeployed the data in the studio and worked on comic script, forming a storyline for the work. the main problem of the research arose as a result of a lack of attention to making print and electronic graphic literature of nigeria/biafra niches by nigerian comic book artists, and that achuzia’s exploits have never been considered to be recreated as a graphic literature (onwuekwe, 2023:4). this is so because most the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 279 nigerian artists focus mainly on african superheroes that do not differ much from western comic heroes. for data and fact gathering, the scholar used literature review, oral interview and filed trip to war museum in umuahia. during ideation and concept development, he studied war-niche movies, war photos from online archives and made preliminary sketches according to the story. the processes went as follows: pencilling, colouring with manga studio application, page layout design (onwuekwe, 2023:44) at the end of the research, a one hundred and forty-page colour booklet was produced after a rigorous procedure. the work titled “hannibal of thesun country” is the first graphic novel of nigeria/biafra war niche. thus, this chapter identifies and discusses of the various creative processes applied by the the artist in arriving at a full colour graphic novel at the end of his programme. purpose of the study  this study focuses on identifying various creative process used in making the first graphic novel on nigeria/biafra conflict.  the identified processes will be arranged such that they can be replicated by other scholars. about the book onwuekwe and uka (2023:26) describe the work in full detail: the project is a graphic novel, and it typically looks like a comic book, but it is longer and more substantial work, with a more intricate and involving storyline. the work is titled “achuzia: surviving federal onslaught”. the front matter has a cover page, copyright, foreword and table of contents, the body matter contains 9 chapters. the end matter is just a chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 280 leaf with an epilogue. every chapter has a sub-heading and a picture that follows it. the novel combines elements of traditional literature with sequential art, using images and text, including figures of sound, to tell the story. the format of a graphic novel can vary, but this work includes multiple panels on each page, with a minimum of two, and one panel on rare occasions. with text and dialogue incorporated into the panels themselves or in captions below them. the artworks have been rendered to have sharp tonal contrasts between the mid-tone and shades. the title of the work was changed from “achuzia: surviving the federal onslaught” to “hannibal of the rising sun”. culled from the encomium of the work, the following extract gives a brief description of the work: “in the heart of nigeria's darkest hour, a hero emerged from the ashes of war. this work is a gripping graphic novel that transports you to the tumultuous landscape and sections of the biafra war, a conflict that tore a nation apart. colonel joe achuzia, a symbol of unwavering resistance, takes centre stage in this epic tale of courage, and survival. as nigeria plunges into chaos and violence, follow achuzia and a cast of unforgettable characters as they navigate the treacherous terrain of war, forging bonds, making sacrifices, and finding hope in the most unlikely of places.through vividly illustrated pages and a compelling narrative, hannibal of the sun country immerses you in the harsh realities of a wartorn nation, where every decision carries life-or-death consequences. this graphic novel is more than a historical account; it's a tribute to the resilience of the biafran people and a reminder that in the face of adversity, ordinary individuals can become extraordinary heroes.” this brief summary has given a hint to what any curious reader would expect on perusing through the pages of the work. the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 281 describing the features and content of the work, onwuekwe (2023) in his first critic session, writes on the content of the work thus: identified design processes in the novel a. ideation and concept development: ideation is a crucial phase in the creative process as it lays the foundation for the final artwork or design. ideation also involves exploring various visual concepts, themes, and artistic techniques. artists may experiment with different materials, styles, colours, compositions, and subjects to develop their ideas. a combination of the resources from a field trip, literature review and oral interviews aided in the study of the settings and time of occurrence of the conflict. again, further studies were carried out on architectural style, civilian vehicles, apparel, hairstyle, camouflage patterns of officers on both sides, weapons, food, furniture, gadgets, and the environment, among others. fig 1: ideation and preliminary sketches: the researcher’s work process chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 282 . fig 2: scanned pencil sketch source: the researcher’s work process b. digital inking: digital inking allows artists to delineate using digital drawing tablets, styluses, and specialized software which reflects on the screen of the computer or tablet. it offers various advantages, such as the ability to easily correct mistakes, manipulate line thickness, and work in a non-destructive manner. all sketches were scanned and saved as jpegs. pencil lines are traced using ball pens of varying points. then, the pencil marks are erased before scanning. for the digital procedure, the pencil marks are scanned and traced with the graphic tablet on manga studio 5. the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 283 fig 2: detailed digital inking on manga studio 5 from scanned drawings. source: the researcher’s work process c. digital colouring: in the 1990s, with the application of computer technology, digital painting art was born, its full use of computer science and technology perfected painting art to a new realm, as the darling of the new era, covering many industries such as film, packaging, advertising, comics, animation, games, the internet and so on. digital painting art is not only a simple change in the traditional art of painting but also the perfect fusion of science and technology and the representative of the development of space, larger than we cannot imagine (cui, 2017 p 1430). working on digital interfaces, there are many software packages for digital art. the best among them are adobe photoshop and adobe illustrator. manga studio 5 is also proficient. others are corel painter, clip studio paint, paint tool, etc. according to samah, putih and hussin (2016: 59) chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 284 the application of digital colouring technique allows the artist to create brush strokes on the surface of another image. the image source can also be blurred. the background painting can be manipulated to obtain a more artistic effect. this technique allows the paintings to be constructed in layers. painting special effects such as various brushes, a colour mixture between layers and strokes joining are also possible. blending is used to simulate the colour in varying degrees of opacity. such creativity and technique was used to render colours on the panels in layers. one of the most importeant effects used was the gradient shade effect which allows the flow of one colour into another. plate 1: the gradient shade effect was used to create a smooth flow and to depict depth and aerial perspective. source: screenshot from researcher’s work process the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 285 note that the gradient effect was applied mainly on the background layer to shade large expanse of spaces. what follows next is the selective filling using the magic wand and the paint bucket tools. the magic wand tool is a feature commonly found in graphic design and image editing software, such as adobe photoshop. it is a selection tool that allows users to quickly and automatically select areas of an image based on colour similarity (shadid, 2023), or even an enclosed space such as a line drawing. once an enclosed space is selected, it is easy to further render that portion alone with digital inks and brushes such as seen below: plate 2: a paint bucket tool was used to fill ink-enclosed areas occasionally, and brush tools were used to paint the darker tones and faded shrubs. source: screenshot from researcher’s work process chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 286 design of camouflage patterns during the civil war, fighters on both sides wore varying camouflage patterns. the reason was to identify the foe on the battlefield. while the biafran side wore lighter green khaki with circular patterns of dark green and brown, the nigerian side wore a darker khaki with striped dark green and brown patterns. however, only officers of the regular biafran army, starting from the lieutenant, wore the camouflage pattern. it is not the case all the time as there was a scarcity of uniforms during the war, and efforts were made to manufacture them locally. in an interview with njelita (2020), he affirmed that certain artists of nsukka art school championed the dyeing of camouflaged uniforms with his crew in orlu province. in the nigerian army, commando units in all divisions wore camouflage patterns. this was so because there was a sufficient supply of arms and uniforms by both britain and russia during the war. plate 3: note that the camouflage patterns on biafran and nigerian sides are not the same. source: google.com the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 287 plate 4: the camouflage design was done on photoshop application through layering and tracing, then saved as a psd file. source: researcher’s work process plate 5: the psd file was opened on manga studio, dragged and dropped on the spot where it was needed. source: researcher’s work process. chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 288 plate 6: with the auto selection still tool active, a pen tool was used to shade the body, adding tonal value to it source: researcher’s work process. design and fixture of insignias whether it is called a logo, badge, marker, banner, coat of arms, or insignia, it is a visible design which represents a phenomenon, a country, an idea, a society, or an organization. insignias come with beliefs and ideologies. for example, the christian insignia is the crucifix. the red cross is noted by the red equal-armed cross on a white background. for nearly 150 years, the emblem of the red cross against a white background has served as an internationally recognized symbol and the visible expression of the neutral assistance and protection to which the wounded and sick are entitled in times of armed conflict (icrc, 2020). during the nigerian civil war, both sides had a national coat of arms, and the military on both sides had differing military badges, and different flag patches representing various units. it was easy to identify one another on the battlefield at the beginning of the war. images of the insignias were not sketched but downloaded and modified on photoshop, and fixed in places where necessary on the panels. the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 289 plate 7: placed side by side is the biafran and nigerian coat of arms, fixed on the caps of high-ranking officers with horps leaves, especially during ceremonies. source: google images plate 8: shaded illustration of a biafran officer giving an order for his men to retreat. as a high-ranking officer, the insignias must be present. source: screenshot from the researcher’s work process. chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 290 plate 9: the badges and rank insignia were cropped, filtered with effects, scaled and skewed to fit the given space. source: screenshot from the researcher’s work process. speech balloons, narrative captions, and sound effects speech balloons and thought bubbles are graphical outlines used to present characters’ speeches and thoughts as the pictures unfold in two-dimensional space. cohn (2013:1) opines that speech balloons and thought bubbles are among the most recognizable visual signs of the visual language used in comics and that the enclosed graphic containers provide a way in which text and image can interface with each other. integration of texts with images makes the work whole and meaningful. below, steps undertaken to form befitting speech balloons are explained hereunder. the shapes of the balloons and narrative boxes are drawn according to the positions of the images in the boxes. the importance of lettering in narrative art such as comics and graphic novels can no longer be over-emphasized as it forms the dialogues within the panels. it is also the letters that position the readers in an omnipresent point of view, in the sense that the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 291 readers see or hear things before they happen, by way of reading the letters within the pages. it is preferable to create custom speech balloon tools using the vector shape tools on coreldraw. this allows for more flexibility and handling in rigid spaces. shape tools were required to create the balloon, and the pointers were created with the shape tool. once the nodes are closed, it becomes a completely modifiable vector shape. plate 10: clicking of points to draw vector lines. source: screenshot from researcher’s work process plate 11: new vector pointer shape created on coreldraw layout using the ‘shape tool”. source: screenshot from researcher’s work process chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 292 plate 12: the two shapes joined eventually to form a new one. source: screenshot from researcher’s work process. plate 13: cover art by chidiebere onwuekwe, 2023 the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 293 plate 14: page 47 and 51 of the book with all the narrative features. chidiebere onwuekwe, 2023 summary this chapter described the creative processes applied in birthing a graphic novel on nigeria/biafra conflict entitled “hannibal of the rising sun”. it started with ideation and concept development where the weapons, apparels, buildings and vehicles used at that time were tudied via sketches. the next step was the digitization of the pencil line via tracing on a new layer. following was adding of colours; from gradient shade, fills to detailed brush and ink shading. the study hinted on the importance of paint bucket and magic wand tools in color renderings. again, the study explain the process of fixture of insignias on caps and uniforms of soldiers on both sides. finally, the study narrated the steps applied making of chidiebere onwuekwe and chuu krydz ikwuemesi 294 custom speech balloons and narrative boxes for the panels, using the coreldraw vector application. questions  what are the various creative steps used in birthing the graphic novel entitled hannibal of the rising sun?  what are the following tools used for: magic wand tool and paint bucket tool  explain the process of creating camoflage textures on flat uniforms using photoshop references onwuekwe, c. o. (2023), a graphic novel on joseph achuzia’s exploits in nigerian/biafran war, from 1967 to 1970. a phd dissertation submitted to the department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka. onwuekwe, c. o. (2023), hannibal of the rising sun. awka: netizens print media onwuekwe and uka (2023:23), ‘one-nigeria’ or secession? a conflict of ideologies in a new graphic novel of the nigeria-biafra struggle (1967-1970). journal of fine arts, vol..no..illnois: sryahwa publications cui, j. (2017), research on digital painting art and its diversified performance. 3rd international conference on economics, social science, arts, education and management engineering. advances in social science, education and humanities research, volume 119. paris: atlantis press shadid, y. (2023). what is a magic wand tool? https://medium.com/@y.shahid08/what-is-a-magic-wandtool-69f97837a669. assessed november 26, 2023 samah, a.a., putih , a.t., & hussin, z. (2016). digital tools: enhancing painting skills among malaysian secondary the creative processes and techniques for a new graphic… 295 school students. tojet: the turkish online journal of educational technology – july 2016, volume 15 issue 3 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1106372.pdf. assessed october 16, 2023 cohn, n. (2013). beyond word balloons and thought bubbles: the integration of text and image. semiotica. 2013(197): 3563. effects and impacts of western imperialism on china & nigeria the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 15-20) odinye & odinye 15 the effects and impacts of western imperialism on china & nigeria ifeoma odinye & ifeanyi odinye xiamen university, china email: ifeomaodinye@gmail.com & ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com abstract in the history of any developing country, there is an element of foreign imperialism. imperialism according to the western ideas is a modernizing instrument of history which helps culturally– bound societies to adopt western civilization and move into modernity. imperialism is only felt by people who are invaded or colonized. it has both economic and socio–economic effect on the chinese and nigerian societies. also, it affects both societies culturally and psychologically as a result of changes and quest for modernity. this paper explores western imperialism in china and nigeria as well as its impacts in these two societies. it also discusses the cultural and psychological impacts of imperialism, consequences and effects in the social, political and economic lives of these societies. introduction karl marx defines imperialism as the unconscious tool of history and also a necessary historical force in breaking apart stagnant and tradition-bound societies seemingly incapable of moving into modern history on their own (meisner, 1977). in the history of the world, china has been perceived as a land of strong cultural values because of its strong resistance to western invasion. many scholars believe that china’s refusal of the west is as a result of its conservative attachment to the traditional confucian, social and cultural values. however, the chinese people’s strong attachment to their traditional values made china’s path to modernization very slow and tortuous (nathan, 1972). the surprising thing about the effect of imperialism on china is that modern chinese society is not transformed into the form of the western political world and civilization but still retains its traditional values. the refusal of chinese conservative officials in accepting any form of minor reforms prevented the old imperial order from attaining modernization. also, there was no centralized state that would have helped china from the conservative route to modernization, because the leaders were not ready for any alteration of their confucian beliefs or tradition. foreign imperialism in nigeria was quite different from that of the chinese society. nigeria has a very unique and painful colonial history; the missionaries were the colonial tools that were used effectively to penetrate into the social circles, regions and tribes of nigeria. many nigerian scholars believe that the role played by western missionaries in the pre-colonial days of nigeria is very explicit and must be a major concern to those who are colonized. it is a wide spread belief that the missionaries’ penetration into the nigerian soil is instrumental in setting the scene for the colonialist invasion of nigeria. they were the first europeans that the nigerians came in contact with; this is also the experience of many regions and countries in africa. the missionaries’ goal or mission in nigeria was simply to change nigerian natives from their barbaric ways of life and culture into a westernized culture or christian belief system. they completely overlooked the cultural richness that existed in nigeria and through converting more mailto:ifeomaodinye@gmail.com the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 15-20) odinye & odinye 16 people to christianity; they also imposed their western culture and religion on nigerian people. one humiliating thing about the western influence on nigeria is that they placed the western culture to be superior to the nigerian culture thereby leaving the nigerians with a feeling that their culture is inferior , barbaric , dirty and that of savagery. many missionaries dedicated their lives in trying to change and influence nigeria; some even died in order to achieve these goals. it would be unrealistic to assume that the missionaries were not aware of the drastic consequences of their exploration and opening up of nigeria would bring. many scholars believe that they heavily contributed to the colonial problems, experiences and power struggles in nigeria. and as a result of this the political future of nigeria has been affected and will be greatly affected because of the 1914 amalgamation of people with different languages, culture and traditional backgrounds; giving then a common name “nigeria.” after the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, there had been conflicts and struggles about the tribe and region that would rule nigeria. psychological effects of western imperialism on chinese people china was never colonized by the british; the name china was not coined by any colonial master and also there were not much differences between western complexion and that of the chinese people. many chinese citizens believed that, the christian missionaries were an ideological arm of foreign aggression and that was why they called the europeans “barbarians” who had come to destroy their rich traditional culture. however, the missionaries and the chinese traditional gentry-elite were rivals; the missionaries believed that the chinese gentry-elite were cunning, ignorant, rude and full of hatred for everything foreign. while the chinese elite believed that the missionaries were foreign subversives whose immoral conduct and teaching were supported by gunboats (fairbank et’al, 2001). hence, chinese confucian conservatives hated and feared the westerners (intruders) but unfortunately during the modern period, the conservative officials lost out. in 1894, the protestants mission supported british, americans and canadians missionaries; they built churches, street chapels, small schools and hospital in different cities and towns. yet they only converted a few number of chinese citizens; this made so many western scholars to believe that china was not destined to be a christian country. the effects and impacts of foreign imperialism on china in the 18th century of china, there was a lost of influence by the british traders on the chinese population. the british demand for tea was very high and the average london worker spent more of his income to purchase chinese tea. the british was finding it very difficult to balance their trade with china and to avoid that, they decided to sell more of their products to the chinese citizens especially at guangzhou. the only option they had was to increase the size and amount of goods brought in india in order to get more teas. the british provided bengal opium to the chinese market; the opium imports from india to china caused a great crisis and destruction. the chinese traders and others demanded for increase in the supply of opium in spite of so many bans from the chinese government. also the british helped in ensuring that opium trade continued in china; they bribed chinese officials and helped them to smuggle opium in the chinese markets. the drug actually weakened and affected so many chinese people; many chinese used silver to pay for the opium and this began to alarm the qing administrators. the chinese leaders had the problem of how to deal with opium trade and the british officials. again silver became treasured in china than copper and this actually threatened the government’s revenues and daily living. many of the economic problems that china had had the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 15-20) odinye & odinye 17 been traced to the opium trade. opium destroyed many families and industries which lead to violence and corruption between the smugglers and officials. there were so many unequal treaties in china; in 1958, united states, russia and france demanded for britain’s nanjing treaty which also included extra territoriality whereby foreigners were not punishable or affected by the chinese law. again, a second war was fought in china from 1858-60 ; the opening of more ports that were open to foreign resistance, trade and westerners especially the missionaries compelled the tradition –bound china to change its traditional tribute based foreign relations to the signing of treaties with foreigners. there was free movement and trade by the foreigner in china; also they were immune from chinese laws. many chinese citizens believed that the taiping rebellion happened as a result of the missionaries influence over hong xiuquan, the founder of the taiping movement. though the movement had some elements of christianity but it was not the european type but adapted chinese form. however, the qing dynasty had survived rebellions by the chinese citizens but its foreign relations were very difficult for the government to control. japan’s victory over china in 1895 threw the chinese society into a decade of imperialist conflicts. also, in 1898, russia, britain, germany, japan and france claimed influence over china and they all looked for major areas of development; like in the mines, naval ports and railway. there was no doubt that western influence and trade actually affected the chinese culture and society which brought a lot of positive and negative changes both in technology and way of life in china. psychological effects of western imperialism on nigerian people the psychological effects of western imperialism could only be felt by those who were colonized or invaded. also, the social effects and consequences of colonial education, religion and political administration (control) could only be expressed by the formerly colonized people. african countries like nigeria could not easily break away from the continuous mental and psychological struggle created by western imperialism since their historical past was hinged on colonialism, slavery and the name “nigeria” which was coined by the colonial masters. many african novelists and poets like, chinua achebe, dennis brutus, ngugi wa thiong’o and linda tuhiwai smith had written to find solutions to this psychological effects but there was no easy way out. they wrote many poems and novels to re-define, re-interpret and project the unique features of african culture; while at the same time pointing out that african culture was very superior and not inferior to the western culture. it was widely acknowledged that imperialism labeled many nigerian indigenous cultures and people inhuman or sub-human which left the africans with a sense of inferiority toward the white people (europeans). the british used education as a tool to cultivate their religion and cultural hegemony in nigerians. they oppressed the indigenous natives by subjecting them to western values. this was why ernest gellner stated that education was a means of subjugating people to a cultural hegemony, such subjugation leads to the domination of a people. chinua achebe also pointed out in his famous novel things fall apart (1958) about the coming of the white men (europeans) and their influence in the cultural lives of the pre-colonial igbo society. achebe stated in his novel that: the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 15-20) odinye & odinye 18 “the white man was also their brother because they were all sons of god. and he told them about this new god, the creator of all the world and all the men and women. he told them that they worshipped false gods, gods of wood and stone. a deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. he told them that the true god lived on high and that all men when they died went before him for judgment. evil men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm-oil. but good men who worshipped the true god lived forever in his happy kingdom.” (acbebe’s things fall apart (1958) all these left the nigerian society with a psychological feeling of inferiority toward their culture and origin. the first western culture and education was lead by the missionaries; they opened and used schools as a means of converting local natives to christianity. the c.m.s (church missionary society and methodist missionaries society) were the first christian organizations that were found by the missionaries in nigeria. however, most of these schools were set up in the southeastern regions of nigeria where there were less strict islamic influence and control. one of the worst effects of imperialism is that nigerian natives are meant to believe that their colour, traditional cultures, and beliefs are dirty and barbaric; they are taught, controlled and directed according to british codes and principles. fafunwa also mentioned that “the black christian was made civilized when he or she isolated him or herself from the evil influences of his pagan past and present” (fafunwa, 1974) the effects and impacts of foreign imperialism on nigeria many nigerians felt that british colonization caused a lot of problems to the political culture and economy of the nigerian society. the imperialism of 18th and 19th centuries was different from the 15th and 16th centuries european explorations; in these centuries, the europeans did not penetrate into asian and african societies to conquer them nor had influence over the people. but during the 18th and 19th centuries’ imperialism, they influenced the economic, cultural, political and social lives of the nigerian and chinese societies. and their major interest was to control and force the colonized countries to adopt their western cultures and traditions. the years 1900 – 1960 marked the years of british colonial rule in nigeria. the name nigeria was never in existence before because the regions were different both in language and culture. they had their own defined and distinguished territories that were marked by their different cultures, unique languages, kingdoms and system of rural leadership. however, the intrusion of the british (european) as a result of their interest in slave trade and palm oil, made them to bring these regions with no common features together as a single country. the british administration in nigeria had been seen by so many nigerian citizens as the real cause of the political, religious cultural and tribal conflicts in the contemporary nigeria. although the british colonized nigeria for sixty years, there had been series of blame on the british government for exploiting the nigeria’s natural resources. many nigerians think that they left nigeria in poverty by stripping her of her raw materials. the british influence has both positive and negative effect to the nigerian society; they positively helped in introducing infrastructure like railways, advanced communication technology, access to western education, and democracy. also there are some negative effects such as forced acquisition of land for british use, discrimination against indigenous inhabitants of nigeria and the merging or grouping of colonial borders. the missionaries’ positive influence to the nigerian culture are many ; they helped in the abolition of many humiliating customs like killing of twins, the use of human beings for sacrifice, the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 15-20) odinye & odinye 19 the slave trade and others. bleakley (2006) stated in his project that the missionaries first made their presence felt through their works in abolishing of the slave trade. as crowder noted, they took the emphasis away from ‘human products’ of africa in a bid to use more fully abundant natural resources. conclusion imperialism refers to periods during the 18th and 19th centuries after industrial revolution when industrialized and european nations like america, britain and france took control of some nonindustrialized countries in many parts of the world. imperialism had different motives and goals such as political, economic, social, religious and ideological. the europeans actually took advantage of the countries they explored and they also exerted control using force in getting what they wanted. there are positive and negative impacts of imperialism to chinese and nigerian societies. the europeans brought modernization, western education and infrastructural development to their colonies which at the same time were at the expense of the cultural traditions of these societies. in the case of china, they obstructed their political culture and confucian codes in the late 18th century by introducing western education, technology and culture in the chinese traditional society. as a result of these influences and failures in the leadership system of the qing dynasty, many rebellions erupted against the chinese leadership system from its citizens. nigeria got independence from britain in the year 1960; yet she is still struggling to achieve political stability and self sufficiency in her leadership system. nigeria is a vast country blessed with many natural resources. it also has the unique potentials of being a powerful nation, but there are many obstacles toward achieving this. some of these problems come from the british colonization of nigeria; their influence in the political, social and economic lives of the nigerians really affected the social and political circles of the nigerian society. this problem of colonization is deeply rooted in the way they ruled and colonized nigeria. there is no doubt that nigeria is still affected by imperialism but this does not mean that the contemporary and future leaders of nigeria should fold their hands and allow the problems caused by western imperialism to ruin the peace of the country. nigerian leaders should put aside all their tribal, ethnic religious and regional differences and put their resources together in order to build a better nigeria. however, nigeria has a lot to emulate from china in ensuring that there is fast growth, development, stability and good foreign relations. one good thing about foreign imperialism in china is that modern chinese society is not transformed into the form or nature of western political leadership, but still maintains her traditional values. the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 15-20) odinye & odinye 20 references achebe, c. (1958). things fall apart. london: heinemann educational books afigbo, a. e. (2006). the abolition of slave trade in southeastern nigeria (1885-1950).usa: university of rochester press bleakley, r. (1998). missionaries in pre-colonial and early colonial nigeria. bleakley, r. (2006). the colonial and post-colonial history and literature of nigeria. m.a thesis in modern literary studies in the school of english queen’s university of belfast. clark, p. (2008). the chinese cultural revolution: a history .new york: cambridge university press. dagne, t. (2000). nigeria in political transition. congressional research service library of congress, washington d.c. ebe o. m. (2004). 1914 and nigeria’s existential crisis: a historical perspective. fairbanks, john & merle goldman (2001). china: a new history. london: harvard university press, cambridge. falola, t. (2008). a history of nigeria. new york: cambridge university press. fafunwa, a. b (1974). history of education in nigeria. london: george, allen & unwin. meisner, m. (1977). mao’s china: a history of the people’s republic. new york: the free press. nathan, a. (1972). “imperialism’s effect on china”. bulletin of concerned asian scholars, vol .4. schoenhals, m. (1996). (ed). china’s cultural revolution, 1966-1969: not a dinner party. armonk. ny. 2 grice’s cooperative maxims and implicatures in advertisement taglines of selected products in the nigerian malls ezinne agwuama chima abstract this study centres on examining and analyzing grice’s cooperative principle in advertisement taglines of selected products in nigerian malls. an advertisement tagline is a public announcement with the purpose of persuading the public to desire a product or service. advertisement taglines aim at changing the perception of the public.in the field of advertising; advertisers depend much on the conversational principle to achieve their goals. in most cases, the advertisers in designing taglines flout the conversational maxims expecting their potential customers to search for the underlying messages thus, birthing the present study. this study examined the cooperative maxims flouted by the advertisers in the sampled data and the implicatures generated.the study adopts qualitative research method, five advertisement taglines for different brands of a particular product were purposively sampled. findings reveal that three maxims (quantity, quality and relation) are flouted at varying intervals and implicatures are generated. the study reveals that the advertisers flouted these maxims deliberately to change the attitude of the potential customers towards the advertised products. keywords: cooperative maxim, implicature, advertisement, tagline, brand, product and mall introduction communication is said to be successful only when the hearer/reader recognizes and understands the speaker’s intention, but jeopardized when the speaker’s intention and the hearer’s interpretation do not correspond. grice’s conversational principle provides guidelines which interactants are expected to follow in communicative events. many a time, interactants mean more than they actually say. implicature arises when a listener is making an inference as to what the meaning of an utterance could be in a given context. yule (1996, p.40) notes that “it is speakers who communicate meaning via implicature while the listeners recognize the communicated meanings via inference”. implicature is attributed to paul herbert grice (1975), who used the word “implicature” to explain the pragmatic technique applied in order to unveil the underlying meaning of an utterance. therefore, implicature is an inference drawn from the interaction between an expression’s context of an utterance and the interpretation of elements within that expression. wright (1975,p.379) in his opinion proposes that in conversation most times, what is meant is not what is said”. so, brown and yule (1983:31), opine that grice applied the term implicature “to account for what a speaker can imply, suggest, or mean, as distinct from what the speaker literally says”. also, to thomas, “to imply is to hint, suggest or convey some meaning indirectly by means of language” (1995,p. 58). peccei (1999,p.3) defines “implicature as the inferences that cannot be made from isolated utterances”. above all, grice asserts that conversational implicatures can be worked out via world knowledge, the linguistic and extra linguistic context of the utterance, general background information, and the cooperative principles (cp) of conversation. all that grice mentioned above regarding how implicatures are worked out centers on pragmatic context. an understanding of the context in which an utterance is used is important so that the hearer can identify the underlying meanings produced by a speaker. advertisement as a mode of communication is also best interpreted through its context of use because of the deep interpretation it requires. well, the relevance of context to the interpretation of meanings cannot be over emphasized. the term ‘context’ is vast, but is defined as the element that surrounds an utterance and determines its meaning. the meaning of the utterance is inferred, that means that the meaning is implicit and is interpreted subjectively which also affects -to a large extent -the number of interpretations that can be derived from one context. according to lyons (1995, p.265) “context determines meaning”. also, odebunmi (2006, p. 22) sees context as “the spine of meaning”. in other words, it can be generally stated that implicature simply means what the speaker intends to communicate to their listener beyond what is literally contained in the utterance. in grice’s view, pragmatic interpretation relies heavily on inferences by a hearer about the speaker’s meaning. in fact, the notion that there is divergence between utterance and speaker’s meanings spurred grice to come up with the notions of implicatures, entailment, presuppositions, and inference. his argument is, if speakers use words in non-literal or indirect ways, or if they do not structure their utterances to reflect the full propositions or intentions, how then is consensus reached between speaker and hearer? advertisement tagline provides valuable information about the advertised products/services; it promotes and supplements selling of products/services to a very great extent. over time, advertisement has become the key for success in business. the most interesting part of advertisement tagline is that it carries information with fascinating emotional appeal as a compelling force that endear the advertised goods/services to the potential customers. in business, advertisement is considered a prerequisite to making a good sale in the market. one of the ideas behind the tactful creation of advertisement taglines with very attractive promises is to arouse the potential customers’ interest and desire for the said products/services. in the field of advertising, taglines serve as a very productive means of bringing the public’s awareness to new products/services especially when there are other brands of that same product. let us consider the following taglines to buttress the point noted here. keystone bank – never say never sky bank – the sky is big enough united bank for africa (uba) – says you can union bank – big, strong and reliable zenith bank – in your best interest the examples above are banks which serve common purposes, but have different taglines peculiar to each of them. the taglines to a large extent serve as a differential that make each of them outstanding. furthermore, advertisers, through advertisement taglines, bring to the limelight some of the benefits that the potential customers will gain by choosing the advertised products/services to capture their interest. advertisers make these taglines so enticing to enable them influence the choices of the customers indirectly. in most cases, the tone and language of these taglines position the advertised products/services they represent and make them desirable in the market. below are more examples of same commodity (tomato paste) of different companies with their varying fascinating taglines. tasty tom – strength comes from within de rica –mom’s magic is back ric giko – for good health and better economy now, considering the examples above, it is obvious that tagline is a marketing strategy that communicates the unique value of a brand of product. according to bovee and arens, (1983,p.45), “advertisement language is witty and precise sometimes, … and because of the need for brevity, the words are short”. oftentimes, the advertisers are more interested in choosing rhyming words, in order to create slogans that can easily be memorized not minding if their messages have been properly communicated to their potential customers. thus, the researcher wonders if the potential customers actually infer the hidden meanings in these taglines considering their background and perception about life generally. therefore, there is need to enhance the advertisers’ and intending advertisers’ competence of the application of pragmatic principles in designing advertisement taglines for effective feedback and results. also, many scholars have taken to analysing advertisement taglines of different products like electronics, beverages, telecommunication companies, mobile phones, but there is none on the present topic from the available literatures reviewed. so, this present research, “grice’s cooperative maxims and implicatures in advertisement taglines of selected brands of a product in the nigerian malls” is geared towards analyzing the conversational maxims flouted and the possible implicatures. theoretical framework the english philosopher, h. paul grice (1913-1988), was so concerned with accounting for how meanings are understood in conversations. he opines that there is an accepted way of speaking which we all accept as the standard behaviour. grice states thus: make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. (1975:47) grice recognizes four conversational maxims: i. maxims of quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange. do not make your contribution more informative than is required. 2. maxims of quality: supermaxim: try to make your contribution one that is true. do not say what you believe to be false. do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. 3. maxim of relation: be relevant. 4. maxims of manner: supermaxim: be perspicuous. avoid obscurity of expression.avoid ambiguity. be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity). be orderly. grice also notes that people fail to observe the maxims, either deliberately or unconsciously. he further identifies five major ways of non observance of these maxims thus, flouting, violating, infringing, opting out, suspending. itis only when maxims are flouted that conversational implicatures arise. so, when do we say that a maxim is flouted? according to mey(1993,p.70), flouting, is when “we can make a blatant show of breaking one of the maxims… in order to lead the addressee to look for a covert, implied meaning”. also, according to grice,“flouting of conversational maxims does not necessarily mean a breach in conversation, but rather generates what he called “conversational implicature”. basically, grice introduced the notion of implicature to explain how speakers sometimes mean more than what they actually say in conversations. in his study, grice considered utterances from two perspectives: ‘what is said’ and ‘what is meant’. however, according to grice, implicature consists of two types: conventional implicature and conversational implicature(1975,p. 44). lyons (1995,p.272) succinctly discusses these implicatures thus: the difference between them is that the former depends on something other than what is truth-conditional in the conventional use, or meaning, or particular forms and expressions, whereas the latter derived from a set of more general principles which regulate the proper conduct of conversation. according to thomas, conventional implicature has the same implication no matter what the context is (1995,p.57). this particular implicature is conventional in the sense that it is always associated with literal meaning. the present study focuses on conversational implicatures. huang opines that a conversational implicature is “any meaning which is implied or expressed by, and inferred or understood from the utterance of a sentence which is meant without being part of what is said” (2011,p.407). in other words, implicature is a covert meaning in an utterance. to support huang, meyer opines that a conversational implicature occurs, when “the utterance receives an interpretation that goes beyond the words that are spoken (2009,p.56). conversational implicature is built on an addressee’s assumption that the speaker is following the conversational maxims. according to kridalaksana (2011,p. 91), “implicature is what logically is the conclusion of a speech, as well as the shared background of knowing between the speaker and the hearer in a given context”. thus, brown and yule (1983,p.27), state thus, “implicature is the element outside of the text”.levinson (1983,p.126-129), notes “that there are two types of conversational implicatures based on grice’s theory, they are generalized and particularized conversational implicature”. the present study focused on the particularized conversational implicature. methodology this study adopted qualitative research method. a total number of five advertisement taglines of different brands of toothpaste in nigerian malls were purposively sampled. the data were collected from advert fliers available in the internet. the study adopted secondary data collection. the data were analyzed using grice’s conversational principle to search for cases of maxim flout and the possible implicatures generated. data analysis and discussion the five data sampled in this study are presented for analysis and discussion. extract 1:longrich tagline: pretty health here, the advertiser flouted two conversational maxims, the first is the maxim of quantity. the maxim expects a speaker to make his contributions as informative as is required for the current purpose of the subject but, the advertiser flouted this. thus, the advertiser could not provide sufficient information on how to achieve pretty health by using the product. also, the maxim of quality expects a speaker to make his contributions one that is true but, the tagline does not seem to be plausible and realistic. can health be pretty? that is an overstatement. therefore, the advertiser flouted the maxim of quality. the advertiser implicitly suggests that the product has the quality that could give the potential customers complete protection from all manner of sickness therefore, guaranteeing them absolute wellness. extract 2: colgate tagline: feel fresh with cooling crystal colgate is another product sampled in this study; the tagline reads “feel fresh with cooling crystal”. the advertiser flouted the maxims of quantity and relation here. the maxim of quantity commands the speaker to make his contribution as informative as is required for the current purpose of the exchange. but the advertiser could not provide sufficient information to describe how the product could make one feel fresh with cooling crystal. also, the phrase “cooling crystal” as contained in the tagline makes it sound like the advertisement for air-conditioner and bleaching reagent therefore, the advertiser flouted the maxim of relation. the implied meaning here is that the product could make the potential customers relax and also, their teeth sparkling and glistening. extract 3: oral b tagline: healthier, stronger teeth in 1 week in the data above, the advertiser ostentatiously flouted the maxim of quality. the advertiser could not provide concrete evidence to support his/her claim that the product could produce the desired result within a short period of time. is it that the product could handle even serious tooth problems within just one week? well, i suppose the advertiser made widely exaggerated claims here therefore, flouted the maxim of quality. by virtue of the maxim flouted above, the implicature that could be generated here is that the product could protect and fortify the teeth against all tooth related problems. it could as well strengthen one's teeth. extract 4: pepsodent tagline: let’s smile together the maxim of relation encourages a speaker to be relevant. that is, an utterance should be directly connected to the topic. the advertiser, in this advert tagline “let’s smile together” blatantly flouted the maxim of relation, for there is no clear relatedness between the tagline and the advertised product. however, the advertiser may imply that the product could give quality result that can put beautiful smiles on the faces of the potential customers. on the other hand, it could also imply that the product could boost the customers’ confidence to smile even in the midst of people. extract 5: sensodyne tagline: beat teeth sensitivity pain fast the maxim of quality commands speakers not to say that for which they lack adequate evidence. for obvious reasons, this maxim is flouted here. the advertiser did not provide adequate logical proof to support his/her assertion about the product. meanwhile, the "fast" in the tagline implies "in a short time or without delay" in other words, if the tagline is paraphrased would read "beat teeth sensitivity pain without delay "which is not plausible because the product is not that of stain removal like "jik or hypo" that produces result without delay. therefore, the advertiser technically employed hyperbole to magnify the expected result and this is against the maxim of quality. the implicature here is that the product is recommendable especially, for those who have very fragile tooth and easily develop tooth problems. also, the product could be an antidote to tooth sensitivity. conclusion in the field of advertising, conversational principle remains the most exploited pragmatic theory and it is considered the most fundamental aspect of the study of pragmatics. conversationalprinciple is an indispensable principle of communication that creates expectations that guide a hearer towards the speaker’s meaning.presently, grice’ conversational principle has captured the interest of many scholars giving rise to the present study. this study has established the fact that even in the field of advertising, the advertisers in designing advertisement taglines oftentimes mean more than they say which gives rise to conversational implicature. conversational implicature occurs when the conversational maxims: quantity, quality, relation and manner are flouted. the study reveals that the advertisers blatantly flouted the cooperative principles to achieve a particular effect. however, the advertisers flouted these maxims to allow the potential customers to draw inferences and assumptions should there be any consequences, they will be held completely responsible. findings reveal out of the four maxims proposed by grice, the maxims of quantity, quality and relation were flouted thus, generating implicatures. references bovee, c. l. and arens, w. f. (1983). contemporary advertising. boston: mcgraw-hill. brown, g. and george yule, g. (1983). discourse analysis. cambridge: cup. grice, h. p. (1975). logic and conversation. in p.cole, &j. morgan (eds.) syntax and semantics, vol. 3: speech acts. new york: academic press. huang, y. (2011). types of inference: entailment, presssuposition and implicature. foundations of pragmatics.b. wolfram and n. r. norrick, mouton de gruyter, pp. 2. kridalaksana, h. (2011). kamuslinguistik. jakarta: gramedia. levinson, s. (1983). pragmatics. new york: cambridge university press. lyons, f. (1995). language and linguistics: an introduction. usa: cambridge university press. mey, j. l. (1993). pragmatics: an introduction.oxford, uk: blackwell. meyer, c.f.(2009). introducing english linguistics. cambridge university press. peccei, j. s. (1999). pragmatics. london: routledge. thomas, j. (1995). meaning in interaction: an introduction to pragmatics. new york: longman. wright, r. a. (1975). “meaning non-natural and conversational implicature”inp. cole, &j. morgan (eds.) syntax and semantics, vol. 3: speech acts. new york: academic press. yule,g . (1996). pragmatics. new york: oxford university press. appendices extract 1. extract 2. extract 3. extract 4. extract 5. representations of pasts and memories: critical analysis of selected poems of taiye ojo chinua ezenwa-ohaeto abstract pasts and memories bear a large significance in the growing nigerian poetry. this paper critically analyzes the representations and interrelations of pasts and memories in selected poems in taiye ojo’s all of us are birds & some of us have broken wings and how the pasts and memories add to (re)defining the poet’s understanding of his environment and experiences. the exemplifications of past lives, violence, elegies, deaths, loss, traumas, memories in fragments that can be personal and national are the concepts examined in this paper as used by the poet in underlining the interrelations and divergences of his observations and experiences regarding the pasts and memories. keywords: african literature, nigerian literature, nigerian poetry, poetry, history, memories, pasts introduction all of us are birds & some of us have broken wings is taiye ojo’s first chapbook. the collection demonstrates and reinterprets meanings accorded to pasts and memories, and offers its own versions of those pasts and memories by way of imageries and signs and symbols which inscribe the different points of interactions and divergences between them. it also gives understanding to the concepts (pasts and memories) as possibilities for new values. this paper is majorly framed by what joy harjo in her book she had some horses refers to as “the particular meaning of indigenous realities” of a people who have learned to survive but to “forget nothing” (qtd in hanna, 1). certain nigerian realities are portrayed by taiye ojo, in his poems, because there is a need not to forget them. in an act of documentation, ojo strives for a literary tenet that performs a kind of bureau that maintains pasts and memories in the present to enable a better future and for peace to be achieved. the poet, in his collection, made known nigerian realities by involving a wide spectrum of its pasts and memories (of which some are still current) that saw countless forms of deprivation and atrocities namely: killings, violence, denials, disrespect of human rights, deaths, loss and trauma. pasts and memories in all of us are birds & some of us have broken wings taiye ojo’s collection is personal and intimate. it reflects and reveals the conditions of life in nigeria, and tries to make sense of its immediate past and memories. memory is an active instrument in ojo’s collection, and as well an avenue that gathers his experiences which build on his national identity. the past is the precedent events in society; for this reason, it is usually said among historians that he who does not know his past is bound to repeat it. ojo’s involvement of nigeria’s pasts is very significant. and this is why they played important roles, especially the drive for the pasts not to be forgotten, in the collection by which the poet referred to certain events that took place in nigeria. all of us are birds & some of us have broken wings harbours what philip bagu calls “the historical truth and the artistic truth” (49). both truths are creatively used by taiye ojo in examining his pasts and memories. the results of the union of historical truth (facts of history) and the artistic truth (art of imagination) are sadness, past lives, violence, elegies, destruction, deaths, loss, traumas, resilience and hope, memory in fragments which can be personal and national (by nigeria)― these make up the poetry collection. there is a source for every literary work; the source often shapes and defines a literary output. in this line, lucien goldman asserts that: “periods of crises are particularly favourable to the birth of great works of art and of literature, because of the multiplicity of problems and experiences that they bring to men and of the widening of affective and intellectual horizons that they provoke” (50). goldman’s assertion elaborates the societal problems and instabilities, which can vary in their disposition, and also be a source for literature. this is what guided ojo in his collection. in “elegiac: unfinished draft of hauwa liman’s humanitarian work”, the poet brings from the immediate past, the humanitarian aid worker ―hauwa liman ― who was abducted in march 2018 from rann, borno in northeast nigeria by boko haram and killed. boko haram is a jihadist terrorist sect based in northeastern nigeria. the poem shares in the sadness of the situation by mentioning the deaths, losses and lack of safety caused by the sect: for days now, i stand in rann― a small town painted with blood & constant fear. there is enough fractured in this land without pretending that home is open prison. no words can beauty this: i mean to say there are words you write when you score a name with a blade. eulogy of a body in prayer: what god turns his cheeks to see his sweetest lambs slaughtered before they can grow up into sheep? a boy is dying. a girl is dying. a hundred students & a hundred healthcare workers are dying. what can i give to be that season, that sacred space contained in every child’s voice asking where then is safe? (5-17) the poem goes on to question and metaphorize borno as a house and an entity that isn’t free of boko haram’s abductions. the poet shows his sadness for the boko haram acts in borno: …i had been grieving your abduction forever (22). despite the poem’s accurate message and appeals to emotions, it lacks in calling out or mentioning the nigerian government that kept a blind eye on the country’s deteriorating situation. the poet distances himself from the scenes. here is the poet’s diffusion of the country’s situation’s precarious memory, losses and trauma as he calls for who will take care of the bereaved mothers and fathers and the newborn babies and children: o borno, what century fell at your door? i took to my hands & knees when you climbed out from a garlic clove & kissed the moon on its cheek. it was only months when it felt like i had been grieving your abduction forever. i keep meaning to stop. to wait for you, night after night as my little sister does when i’m gone―i mean to say i make a list of things i know you’ll come back for. i will say come back, come back for the children you left & the dog. come back, i will say to rock the newborn babies to sleep & console their depressed teenage mothers. come back for your brother & the nights full of cold bowls of oat brewed with cardamom & clovers. (18-30) also in “all of us are birds & some of us have broken wings”, the poet points out another terrible boko haram doing. the terrorist sect kidnapped about one hundred and ten school girls, aged 11 to 19, from the government girls’ science and technical college dapchi in yobe state, nigeria. some of the kidnapped girls were released as their families paid the demanded ransoms. while some were abused, as noted by the poet: “today a boy told me that girls are just places to crawl through to get to somewhere else” (4-5). the poet, in this poem, narrates how sad such an act turned out and how a country couldn’t offer safety to the civilians. the sadness of the situation is felt out rightly at the beginning of the poem: the morning gives us leftovers from a night fill with a thousand dapchi children melting into the fertile soil. this calls my body crime― a light house on the lips of bomb shelters. (1-4) it is never easy confronting social and political issues. oftentimes, one who does so is tagged a rebel or an enemy of a state or country. notable individuals who have, in their various capacities, confronted the nigerian government include ken saro-wiwa, fela kuti, chinua achebe, falz the bad guy etc. in this view, ngugi wa thiong’o agrees by saying, “what is important is not only the writer’s honesty and faithfulness…but also his attitude to these big social and political issues…. politics is part and parcel of literary territory” (477-478). in “memory as a necessary pain”, the poet recalls the memories he has of his country by showing how hurtful and dehumanizing they are: his family and people are denied the necessary life amenities. with the rise of corruption, hope is almost lost. the poem: …as a child, my country was a roof that’s always collapsing. how it spreads on my mother’s face―a brief dazzle of pink light like a rapture in a stranger’s eyes…what do you do when your body is a pistol or rifle pulled apart? since most of us bloomed out of sorrow like swans always bent on pond water. i am afraid of attending a place now green with mold but still edible for some. (3-13) the poet’s task of confronting an ugly past is usually overwhelming. but to seek right, normalcy and question the past and history for a stable and conducive operating system in a society, is a better risk to take in a country with a government that is unfriendly to criticisms. in “self-portrait as a postscript in civil war”, which is about the nigeria-biafra war (1967-1970), the poem starts by saying, “what kind of world should we leave for our/ children? history is a place in my skin. the sky/ bloodies with birds & i swallow my left hand until a country leaves me…” (1-3). this is the poet’s understanding of the costs of the war. though he never experienced the war firsthand, the task and attitude lie in the embrace of his history for a better perception of his society. in the aforementioned poem, the evidence of the war is portrayed by the mention of “blood, more blood” and graphic of losses: blood, more blood & i will never know how carnage lunges inside a woman except the woman is my mother scattering his sons like salt. what the war costs, a son must pay out of his body & a river lassoes my father’s body into a forest biblical with bones… how if you look closely enough, ever war-child was once a prayer waking an ache in my jaw. (8-16) the nigeria-biafra war, hence, becomes a tool used by the poet in his collection and this is what chikwenye ogunyemi projects as “...the sheer urge to record as truthfully as possible an excruciating, indelible, visceral experience which the author has been physically and/or emotionally involved in” (41). the “emotional involvement” of the poet propels him to “record as truthfully as possible” his past. the poet confronts the magnitude of the bloodbath caused by the war, “my old country gives me a hammer when i ask for/a home & i imagine the bloodbath as a sunset in a/razed village… my birth rhymes with pogrom… (17-19). the poet, on showing more of the horrifying events of the war, points out how fathers are not allowed to raise their girl-children and the sons given guns to fight in the war, and mothers harassed with panga cuts: my grandfather says girlhood was the child he was never allowed to raise & sew a fork into my hand. i wear my blood as bracelets & my brothers suckle on the udders of guns. listen: i boil a broth of stars until the sun wounds the sky― my uncle has no son to carry his blood home. distance is another way to measure my mother’s body homing in my head like panga cuts. i remind myself to water the battle ground until every sea bulging to the shore with our blood is the edge of a knife i teach the depth of my pain. (25-35) the poet confronts the memory of his personified mother in “poem”. the personified mother fights cancer. the child persona in the poem watches the mother who suffers from it and later dies. and as a child, bearing such a memory is something heavy. this poem is both a call on the government’s neglect of its medical sector. in the poem, the child persona wakes up and realizes that, what gives us life was taking it back but in small drops of falling leaves & muted days…i was five when mother had cancer, cervical cancer, a body soft with birdlike bones rotting like a roadkill. i imagine the cancer preening her from her bones like a vulture: the body burning into itself. little me standing in my mother’s hut, heartbroken & crying in silence. the doctor said there is nothing we can do… (1-10) throughout this collection, the poet confronts his past and memories by showing how he is affected and, as well as, the society he lives in. his sadness and the trauma are felt. and towards the end of the collection, especially in “it is the season of falling & all i can remember is the taste of my mother’s laughter”, the poet hints on overcoming his traumas and the burdens of his pasts and memories. this is exactly what james berger meant when he said, “only if traumas are remembered can they lose, gradually but never entirely, their traumatic effects” (415). in the poem, the poet agrees that he is“…sick of drawing a country of memories with thick red lines” (4). and by doing so, he seeks joy and balance between his present and his past and memories. this is evident here: “my life is a list of perfect water songs. today, a man told/me to breathe, to become something so light like joy―/the only thing holier than a moth’s wing” (1-3). hope is a delicate thing, yet peculiar and intimate. j.o.j nwachukwu-agbada sees hope as a stabilizer in a writer’s life: “creative writing serves as an outlet for an individual’s pent-up feelings, for his passion and for the expression of his hopes or disappointments; writing could serve a stabilizing role in its writer’s psychological make-up” (7-8). in “it is the season of falling & all i can remember is the taste of my mother’s laughter”, the poet hopes for a better future by agreeing that his life and experiences are both sweet and bitter: i don’t think i’ve ever written the word hope, but nothing else fits here. i’ve seen whole orchids blooming from ash―which is to say, i have stopped looking for myself in movies. (22-25) to conclude, taiye ojo defines pasts and memories in his collection all of us are birds & some of us have broken wings by making the concepts the essentials in his poetic process which integrate and synthesize feelings and past experiences into grand stanzas. it is crucial that human beings form connections between themselves and their past lives. this is where memories play an important role. without memory, there could be no understanding and harmony between people and nature and life; and there could be no solace for people to find. therefore, just as taiye ojo explores in his collection via delving into his feelings and understanding his pasts and memories, he finds a way of coping with the situations of his environment by hoping for better a country. works cited amuta, c. the theory of african literature: implications for practical criticism. london: zed books. 1989. bagu, phillip. “the relationship between literature and history: an examination of festus iyayi’s heroes.” the ker review. a journal of nigerian literature, 2, 1 and 2 (2006), 4555. oturkpo: brain publishers. berger, james. after the end: representations of post-apocalypse. minneapolis: university of minnesota press, 1999. el saadawi, n. “dissidence and creativity.” the dissident word: the oxford amnesty lectures 1995. ed. chris miller. new york: basic books. (1996), 151-176. ───. “dissidence and creativity.” african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory. eds. t. olaniyan and ato quayson. oxford: blackwell publishing. (2007), 172-177. goldmann, lucien. “dialectical materialism and literary history”. new left review, 29 (1991). vancouver: glendora. hanna, sally michael. “war, death and what remains in the poetry of joy harjo”. academia.edu. 6 oct. 2020, www.academia.edu /22548889/war_death_and_remains_in_the_poetry_of_joy_harjoh harjo, joy. she had some horses. new york: thunder house press, 1983. nwachukwu-agbada, j.o.j. a hand book of creative writing. okigwe: fasmen communications, 1997. ogunyemi, chikwenye. “the poetics of the war novel.” comparative literature studies, 20, 2 (1983). thiong’o, ngugi wa. “writers in politics: the power of words and the words of power”. african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory. eds. olaniyan, tejumola and ato quayson. oxford: blackwell publishing. (2007), 476-483. new contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 1 chapter 1 appreciating and valuing diversity in teaching visual arts: goals and methods godwin ogbu uka department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka keywords: teaching visual arts, valuing diversity and appreciation, goals and methods introduction the value of diversity and differences in the visual arts practice, research and education can best be experienced and appreciated by a clear understanding of what visual art means. "visual arts" is a broad category of art which includes several artistic disciplines from various sub-categories. visual art encompasses all aspects of fine and applied, which include activities, such as drawing, painting, and sculpture, graphics art, ceramics, fashion, and textile, glass design, with associated activities like manuscript illustration, book illustration, calligraphy, printmaking and architecture. visual art also encompasses some decorative art disciplines and crafts: ceramics and studies in pottery, mosaic art, mobiles, tapestry, and glass art (including stained glass. the wider definition of visual art sometimes includes applied art areas such as graphics design, textile, fashion design, glass design, industrial design and interior design new types of body art. these include tattoo art, face and body painting what is visual art? visual art is about creating and making the general aesthetics of a work, to create the aesthetic style of any art. the elements and principles together form the building blocks of art and design and a firm understanding of them is crucial in creating visual design/art of any product. these are the main media through which designers and artists translate images and ideas into concrete terms. in man's visual communication experience everything large and small, natural or man-made can be described in terms of these elements. visual art is constructed from very basic elements or components that we experience through our sense of sight and/or touch; namely, lines, two and/or three-dimensional shapes, textures, colours, dark and light qualities, and actual or implied space. for any analysis and criticism of any work of art, the following should be critically considered or looked into: appreciating and valuing diversity in teaching visual arts: goals and methods 2 • should natural objects be considered as works of art? • is art anything we want it to be, or does the term "art" refer to objects that have special characteristics? • what conditions need to exist before we are willing to classify something as art? an understanding of the above questions will help towards understanding what art is diversity in art teaching fine and applied arts learning is an integral part of the society we live in. art is part of the cultural heritage of every nigerian. it is what makes us most human, and complete as people. the arts cannot be learned through occasional or random exposure any more than math or science can. education and engagement in fine arts are an essential part of the school curriculum and an important component of the educational program of every student. education in the arts is an integral part of the development of each human being. in any educational system there must be a wide array of diverse groups of people in the classroom, this is so because it creates a realistic setting and also encourages students to grow outside their boundaries and learn something new about a culture, and any other subject they may not be familiar with. in any fine arts class diverse group of students exists, it is important to recognize the fact that all students are unique in their way in terms of creativity and innovation. their differences could consist of their reading level, physical ability, cultural background, personality, religious beliefs, and others. there has always been diversity in any setting, especially in an art studio or classroom environment, it is important to embrace it and make positive use of it. the authorities and teachers should value diversity, and the need to model the attitude of their students need is important. the values of diversity in fine arts need to be recognised and people should respect the fact that students are different and that these differences are generally a good thing. for example, when attempting to solve a problem, it is better to bring together a diverse team with many skills and many different ways of approaching the problem than it is to bring together a team that has all its strength concentrated in one area. sufficient data exists to overwhelmingly support the belief that study and participation in fine and applied arts is a key component in improving learning throughout all academic areas. is the study of fine arts important? the study of fine and applied arts is so important because of the benefits associated with it. they engage many areas of the brain and also have far-reaching effects on the learner’s mind (jensen, 2001). the arts promote the understanding and sharing of culture. they promote social skills that enhance the awareness and respect of others. the fine arts enhance perceptual and cognitive skills. the burton study of more than 2000 children found that those in the arts curriculum were far superior in creative thinking, self-concept, problem-solving, self-expression, risk-taking, and cooperation than those who were not (burton et al., 1999). an effective education in the fine arts helps students to see what they look at, hear what they listen to, and feel what they touch. engagement in the fine arts helps students to stretch their minds beyond the boundaries of the printed text or the rules of what is provable. the arts free the mind from rigid certainty. imagine the benefits of seeking, finding, and developing multiple new contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 3 solutions to the myriad of problems facing our society today! these processes taught through the study of the arts, help to develop the tolerance for coping with the ambiguities and uncertainties present in the everyday affairs of human existence. there is a universal need for words, music, dance, and visual art to give expression to the innate urgings of the human spirit. (eisner, 1987) the premier organizations in the corporate world today recognize that the human intellect “draws from many walls.” arts education gives access to the deepest of those walls creativity and innovation the act of creativity can be seen as that which provides the urge for continuing exploration and discovery. creativity is more closely related to thinking abilities and to attitudinal development. it is a continual process for which the best preparation involves creativity itself. every child is born creative. the urge to explore, investigate, and discover, what is on the other side of the screen is not limited to human behaviour, but is experienced by the whole animal kingdom, (low field and brittan 1975). one of the most commonly agreed-upon components of creative thinking is the ability to produce a large number of ideas. in a general sense, the idea of creativity means different things to different people in the world. creativity exists everywhere in people’s life. it can be found in designing and packaging, processing and production, fabric and fashion, sign and architectural design, applied science and technology, visual arts, theatre, music, film (video production) and a host of other activities. creativity in the modern dispensation is used as a powerful tool to attract attention to a nation or country's powerful endowment. creativity can be meaningful to an individual if it is ideologically and culturally inclined. runco (1994) opines that creativity is in terms of cognitive processes that lead to an original and adaptive insight, idea or solution. thus, creativity is the most essential of all human resources and skills (bolaji 2007). akinboye (2004) sees creativity as a tool that propels organizations, catapults careers, and generate potent growth and viable outcomes. creativity is at the heart of art and design, at all stages throughout the design process. the most exciting and challenging design is that which is truly innovative; the creation of a radical departure from anything currently on the market (baxter, 1995). the more people try to define creativity by identifying with specific sets of values, meanings, beliefs, and symbols, the more our creativity will be focusing on how values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed, and the greater the chance that our creativity will become less restricted ( bolaji 2007). one major way to spark creativity is through exploration, exploring exposes one to new things. new things are inspiring, while exploring one might stumble across a new way of doing something, a new thing to do, or something more subtle. sometimes one uncovers a bit of information that clicks with things he has been thinking about and completes (or helps to complete) the picture he has been developing in his mind. other times one may discover a tool, a process or an approach that others are using which is unrelated but still inspiring in its ingenuity. in general, exploration can fuel one's creativity. creativity is a term that is often used indiscriminately. distinctions are not made between "making," "producing" or "creating" works of art. students are expected to create such works whenever they are engaged in art activities. "creative self-expression" is a very common phrase in art education discourse. it implies that when students are expressing reactions to their own appreciating and valuing diversity in teaching visual arts: goals and methods 4 experiences they are being creative ... even though what they produce may be very similar to what they have produced before or to what their peers "create". what can teachers do to encourage, value, and promote diversity? fine arts practice requires that design students be provided with an environment that is conducive to learning both theoretical and practical skills. the society people find themselves in is more diverse, students must learn to value and use diversity for the greater good. in any setting valuing diversity should be a thing of concern to all to create an environment where each student feels valued and respected. to value diversity, it is necessary: • take time to learn about students' backgrounds, interests, and learning styles. o this will allow the creation of an environment that is conducive to each student. • allow time for the students to learn about each other and gain an appreciation for the diversity they bring to the classroom. o students should be reminded how boring it would be if all were alike and there was no difference o students should be aware that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. when working as a team students should be encouraged to take advantage of the strengths of the team members to produce the best possible results in any they do. o bring in different people to the class as resources that students might be able to connect with. o search out people that are different from each other and that might share certain qualities with other students. o students need role models. many times when they see they are connected in some way to a person they will be more apt to listen and learn from them. • never tolerate bullying, teasing, and other put-down behaviour at any time in the classroom/studio. o implement a "zero tolerance" for anything disrespectful, hurtful, or intolerant of diversity. research is a highly valued activity in that being engaged in legitimate fine art and design-making task implies that one is also engaged in worthwhile research activities. the value of diversity, therefore, is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. it is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual. enhancing our capacity to deal creatively with diversity enhancing our capacity to deal creatively with diversity and helping ourselves collectively tap into the incredible richness that awaits us there. a tremendous amount of wisdom, know-how and methodology exists on this subject already, albeit not as well integrated as we might like. so we all have adventures to undertake to help develop it and weave it together. students do have differences which can be categorised into primary and secondary new contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 5 types of diversity. the first is visible differences such as gender, ethnic origin, and age fall into the primary category; whilst less obvious differences such as class, sexuality, disability and work style come under the secondary category. research work on the issue of diversity should be focused on the positives and strengths of difference as well as the problems. it engages with and understands the totality of people’s identity and experience, and in addition, recognizes and confronts experiences of oppression and discrimination and their impact on the individual. many differences occurring within behaviour, lifestyles, customs and habits embrace traditions going back generations and these are often encapsulated in what we know as culture. lemos and crane (doh, 2001) highlighted a lack of cultural awareness and unequal treatment in service delivery. diversity is a concept that embraces a wide range of characteristics including: • language • ‘race’ • ethnic background • dress • values • age • gender • educational background • religious observances • political interests • notions about social and community responsibilities • economic status • mental, physical disabilities diversity, or difference, is a central feature of modern existence, partly because of interaction between cultures; maybe for historical reasons; and can be through the growth of international communications technology. as a result, we have to be aware and accepting of differences if we want to reap the benefits that naturally flow from diversity. we are living in a society that is ethnically and culturally diverse and services must reflect this. this is important in an art environment that better reflects the lives of different people and sections of the society. in the same way that cultures interact with each other, diversity brings new skills and fresh ideas. we are all different from each other and it is these differences that have a penetrating value and direct pertinence to the workplace. the key elements of working with diversity and discrimination are: • that discrimination is often, subtle, unintentional and cumulative • that people often respond to being told they are discriminatory by being defensive, dismissive, denying, disregarding or downgrading • that discrimination can be active or passive. doing nothing in some situations can be as damaging as actively discriminating • that people are multi-dimensional. they are not just a race or gender but have an age, class, sexuality, and educational experience. all these things will affect who they are. appreciating and valuing diversity in teaching visual arts: goals and methods 6 • there are often hidden elements to our own and others' diversity; sexuality, dyslexia, a particular faith • the impact of people's differences on others, remembering that we are as different from others as they are of us, and power relationships arising • recognizing and celebrating the strengths and positives of diversity is so important in our society. educational values of art in general education, art contributes to the development of a very important area of literacy by cultivating abilities to utilize a non-verbal language of expression and communication. art plays an essential role in supporting and changing culture. it enhances almost everything that humans manufacture. art is so important in our personal lives and as fundamental as a vehicle of expression and communication that individuals and societies could hardly exist without it. so students should take due advantage of this involvement in the art to contribute to cognitive development and their growth and well-being. conclusion appreciating and valuing diversity in teaching visual arts starts with a clear understanding of its fundamentals, it is necessary to nurture an appreciation and value of art, and to demonstrate that visual art is an extraordinary phenomenon, that is essential to the well-being of the individual and society. the value of diversity and differences can then be appreciated by a clear understanding of what visual art means. visual art is an integral part of society, and education engagement in art activities is an essential part of the school curriculum which when acquired helps in human development. the value and diversity in teaching the visual arts need to be recognized and respected. art provides the learner with non-academic benefits such as promoting self-esteem, motivation, aesthetics, awareness, creativity, innovation and emotional expression as well as social harmony and appreciation of diversity. fine art and design practice by nature requires that students be provided with an environment that is conducive to learning both theoretical and practical skills. education in every society is a very important factor to the cultural and artistic development of the society. art, therefore, contributes to the development of a very important area of literacy by cultivating abilities to utilize a nonverbal language of expression and communication. art plays an essential role in supporting and changing culture. there are benefits associated with this dispensation that are rooted in exploration and innovation. thus, there are far-reaching benefits for any developing nation that makes creativity the centre of its philosophical ideology. methodologies that aid the exploration and discovery of potentials, and problem-solving ability which allows the learner the opportunity for creativity should be the focus of any educational endeavour or curriculum transformation. the need for a paradigm shift from theoretical and paper certification to a practical application of knowledge necessary for future employment and skill development in the art and design for self-employment is very necessary for african development. there are benefits associated with this dispensation that is rooted in visual art and design teaching in nigeria's higher institutions which is through exploration and innovation. thus, there new contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 7 are far-reaching benefits for any developing nation that makes creativity the centre of its philosophical ideology. references akinboye, j. o. (2004) creativity, innovation and success, ibadan-nigeria: stirling hordens publishers nigeria ltd. anya, a.o. (1982) the environment of isolation. the ahiajoku lecture, ministry of information, owerri, nigeria baxter, m.r. (1995) product design. practical methods for the systematic development of new products, new york: chapman and hall bolaji, s.d. (2007) akinpelu’s educational philosophy and its implication to educational system in nigeria, unpublished master’s thesis submitted to the department of educational foundations, faculty of education, university of lagos lower field and brittan, l. (1995) creative and mental growth, new york: macmillan publishing co. inc. murray, j. (1966) introduction to african art, london: camelot press ltd. rodney, w. (1982), how europe underdeveloped africa, enugu, nigeria: ikenga publishers runco, a. m. (1994) encyclopedia of human behavior, new york: academic press inc. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 48 poor academic performance of nigerian students in externl examinations: a hydra-headed problem rich n. ekegbo imo state university, owerri richploughman@yahoo.com abstract life in all its categories spins on education. this concept, education is as good as the vehicle through which knowledge in all its forms are impacted on people. while the impact of knowledge directly influences positive change in man, it indirectly uses the civilized man to make positive changes in the world. this impact of education affects every man irrespective of age, and moulds the society irrespective of region. however, education in nigeria seems not to be pointing towards the realization of this or attaining the goal of education as can be seen from the indices of the dwindling academic performance of nigerian students in west african examination council. this therefore becomes an awesome problem that poses a serious challenge to nigeria and nigerians. but what remains unclear is whether the government and the citizens are aware of the enormity of this problem, and if they are, what is the extent of this awareness for the problem of education in primary and secondary school level. the aim of this paper is to look into some of the reasons for deficiencies in academic performances of nigerian students especially in the above mentioned levels of education and give some possible suggestions for the way forward. 1.0 introduction surely, education means something. but the extent that, every person, group of people or government recognizes this and promotes it or otherwise shows how it is treasured among the people. and this consequently points to how it will benefit the person or people in question. but for all intents and purposes, it should simply be understood that “education is the bedrock of development and modern civilization” (36:2013). as this article will show, rather than be seen as the bedrock of every endeavour in nigeria, education has continued to be yoyoed. the effort here is not to praise the government and the citizens for making much effort they seem to be making but to lament that the people and government seem posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 49 not to be making the much effort that education demands of them. starting from nursery school to university level, much is always desired but only little is done. actually the level of education that calls for this article is the secondary school. but that does not mean that the article treats the secondary school level of education in isolation to other levels, because what happens to one affects the other. this article carefully looks at some of the west african school certificate examination council results. and while it bemoans the poor performances of nigerian students in wassce, it appreciates some of the reasons for the poor performances and proffers some solutions that if religiously applied, will help to redirect the problems associated with education in nigerian society. 2.0 the need to philosophize education to work towards the need to philosophize education, one must look at education as the major driver of life in general. as agbanusi (2011) observes, philosophy is a discipline which deals with critical and rigorous investigations into human existence. its major branches, which are epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic, aesthetics, gear towards the improvement of the human person both intellectually and morally, with a view to enhancing human co-existence and social cohesion. if philosophy is able to achieve the above stated objectives, education must categorize philosophy to meet every need of human life and the world. but it is possible to philosophize education or to educate philosophy since the two have similar objectives. it is not possible that the two will totally tally in aims and objectives. it is not possible that the two will totally tally in aims and objectives. the objective of education may never be the same with those of philosophy. but whatever the objective, the government must always embrace it, people must work towards attaining it and the individual must always allow it to be realized in him and through him so that it can be said that one has passed through education and that education has passed through him. derived from national policy on education: 8, the philosophy of education should aim at: a. inculcation of national consciousness and national unity b. the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the nigerian society. c. the training of the mind in understanding for the world around; and posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 50 d. the acquisition of the appropriate skills and the development of mental, physical and social abilities and competences as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of the society. whether the government of nigeria is working towards attaining these objectives or not is another thing. but all things being equal, the government has it as a duty to work towards attaining it by the use of all available resources and to maintain it mutatis mutandis. as it stands with poor performances of nigerian students in senior west african school certificate education, either the government knows as in the observation of epictetus that, “only the educated are free” (2010:v), and is working towards making people realize this freedom through education, or it is not working towards this freedom and thereby allowing “…people to die because of lack of knowledge” (hosea 4:6). each of these poles is a pointer to either freedom or slavery. when announcing the result of 2014 waec, the head of national office, waec, eguridu (2004) discloses that, “…when this year’s result id compared to the 2012/2013 may/june wassec diets, there was marginal decline in the performance of candidates as 38.81 percent was recorded in 2012 and 36.57 percent in 2013”. with these results, it is as good as the situation of bad, worse, worst. and who knows what next if this progression will continue this way. the breakdown of the performance of nigerian students in wassce of 2014 can be analyzed thus: quota description percentage 529, 795 five credits and above (+ english and maths) 31.28% 145, 425 withheld 8.61% 1,017, 215 below 5 credit (english and maths) 60.11% 1,692, 435 total number that sat for the exams 100% as to who (or rather, what is the main reasons) is to blame for the poor academic performance of nigerian students in waec, the answer lingers as parents, teachers, the government, and students themselves have themselves an appropriate share of blame proper to each. but the locale of this problem is handy posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 51 and clear. first, the problem of poor performance in waec by nigerian students does not show that the government is doing much; rather it tries to show that government has a greater quota of blame just as it takes greater quota from annual national budget. 3.0 factors for students’ poor performance some other reasons that are considered as the causes of students’ poor performance include the necessary and unnecessary distractions of the modern society. among the distractions are: 3.1 poor educational foundation in the past, people use the forum of informal education to instruct and guide their young ones. but these days parents, guardians, relatives and every other group of people who should ordinarily see to impact knowledge to younger ones no longer take time to think, reason and or act in that direction. udechukwu (2011:812) believes that in those days, (2012:812) the methods that were used in making this is through folklores, pieces of advice and storytelling. udechukwu (2011:812) further adds that, “all over the world, people in every society take pains, devote time and attention to educate the young ones to be functional adults. in most cases, these pains, devotion of time and attention to the rearing of the young ones are geared towards the young ones fit well into the social and physical environment of the society in which they live.” 3.2 negative effects of technology no one will be too slow to believe that the advent of technology has caused some manifest positive changes in the present generation, especially the youth. if it is computer, it is a gateway into which other things like television, radio, internet, musical instruments, handset anchor and take their revolution from. while negatively, technology bewitches the immature minds and guides them into ruining themselves; positively it acts as a saint that guides the matured minds into the realization of their full potentials. 3.3 the negative effects of home movies posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 52 the revolution of home movies in 2000s has not helped matters as ever well meaning individual will testify. home movies have both positive and negative side effects. while it positively creates the awareness to the ills of the society and to some extent gives clue to how one can avoid them, it serves as an instrument of indoctrination to people who tend not to be focused in life especially among the youth. as such, some young minds have taken their contents as the ideal and quasi norm to lean on. far reaching negative effect of this is that it makes the students very curious to identify themselves with the actors and their actions and leaves them with the suspense of ‘and what next’ these are up to. thus the time that students would have spent in their book and studies is then being unconsciously and unguardedly stolen by this generational devil and academic enemy called home movies. and this unconscious craves for home movies has thwarted the principle is something by which people abide by no matter what: a ‘person of principle is to swayed; a principle account is one which holds up in the face of even serious objections and so on. 3.4 music and home movies’ cd stores have replaced bookshops before now, it was not uncommon to see every type of bookshops in very strategic locations of every city, but recently, music and movies’ cds began to take the place of bookshops. and since the environment influences the inhabitants, students began to incline more to the available music and home movies cds than to text books and novels. perhaps that is why it is easier these days to come across a student who can stand on one foot and give at least the name of about fifteen nollywood stars than mention a novel and its author. this is quite different from what it used to be in the days of yore when it used to be a thing of pride for a student to tell the stories in the novels he read and what impact it has made in him or her. 3.4 poor economy in the past, parents take home pay used to pay for them through the month. and the result of this is the hunt for money and the quest for survival was very minimal. and the spare time that parents had was enough for them to use for other activities. and so it was possible for parents to have to share experiences and knowledge with their children. some parents even had the hobby of looking into the school bags and academic books of their children to blame them, to praise them, to teach them, but to make them know that life and knowledge is a serious posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 53 issue. but these days, father and mother and sometimes even students seem to compete in hustling, just to make ends meet because it has come to be seen that it is only those in politics, petroleum business, church business, and phone industry that are still finding their feet above the economic hardship of the nation. 3.5 the government poor attention to the welfare of education nigerian leadership does not seem to know the value of education, and so only provide little fund to that sector. it is quite unfortunate that teachers are the slaves of the nation somehow. for some unions in the teaching industry in nigeria to have some upward review in their salaries or attract some amenities in their schools, they must have to embark on strike. and if they win so be it, but the winning never comes so easy as there is always threats of sacks from the government. as if to extricate herself from the blames of poor academic performance by students beyond wassce. freeman, (2004) observes that, …the government of president gooluck jonathan last year allocated four hundred and twenty six billion, five hundred and twenty million naira (n426.52b) to education, making the sector the top most priority, representing about 8.6% of the total budget of four trillion 92 billion naira (4.92t) about ($32 billion). it was received with awesome ovation, with the expectations that if deployed into the sector it would make positive impact. alas, one year after, our education went into the doldrums the more. many nigerians left for ghana for higher educate. though the above measure was mentioned to have been taken, only god can tell the extent the so called money was appropriated and the method of application that was used. the fact remains that money is not the only problem of nigerian education. like a leprous finger, in nigeria, education has the problem of the teachers, the problem of the students, the problem of fund, the problem of management, perhaps except the problem of policy, to contend with. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 54 4.0 towards a solution the solution to the problem of education is so vast that it needs all and sundry to have hands on deck for solution. the government, the parents, the teachers and the students have each something to do, if something is meant to be achieved. the government should be sincere and committed in funding education. along with the funding of education, the government should uplift the status of her teachers, motivate them and give teaching a pride of place so that the teachers will see teaching more as hobby than task and labour with poor pay. since technology, home movies and music revolution have come to be, it is the parents and not the teachers and the government that can regulate their children about them. besides, if parents are not comfortable with the academic performances of their children, they are the ones that should begin early to guide their children educationally because charity begins at home. this paper has already given a clean slate to education policy, but the implementation, like the implementation of many other policies in nigeria has been lame legged. it seems the teachers and the students are always the major takers of the blames of poor academic performances in nigeria, despite the best they have been putting in teaching and learning. but as anameze (2000:33) suggests, teachers should also begin to look into the students “…sensory defects, emotional problems, low academic achievement, motivation, examination anxiety, loss of sleep, values disorientation, distractions, distractions, forgetting and defective entry behaviours…”. he suggested that while the teacher counselor should explain the meaning of these factors and how they affect students, the student themselves should try to avoid them. but a very big question still hangs on what is seen as guidance counselor and their roles in nigerian educational system. 5.0 summary and conclusion the problem of poor academic performance is a very serious problem that depicts the status of nigerian society. certificates from nigerian institutions are often questionable outside nigeria. it is regrettable. and many a time, nigeria claims to be giant of africa without showing some giant examples. the problem of posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 55 education is one like that of epileptic power problem that seems to defy every solution. but like the power problem among others of its kind, apart from few suggestions mentioned here in this paper, all that is required for good output from education in nigeria is all available in nigeria, only that the stakeholders especially the government has not decided to be sincere about that. refernces agbanusi, a. (2011). the need for philosophy in the quest for sustainable development in chiegboka, a. b. c., uto ezeajughi, t. c., & ogene, m. s. (eds.) (2011). humanities and sustainable development. nigeria: rex charles & patrick. anameze, l. (2000). study habits modification programme for nigerian students in y. c. s. star magazine: youths in the church. awka: st. mary’s catholic church. anih, s. (2010). healing the epistemic crisis in nigerian education. enugu: atcol press. eguridu, c. (2014). http://www.facebook.com/waec.org.ng from http://www/waeconline.org.ng/ register on 19/9/14. freeman, k. o. (2014). fides newspaper, aug. 14, vol. 22 no. 31, p. 20 mey, j. (ed.) (2007). pragmatics: an introduction. oxford: blackwell publishers. national policy on education (4th ed.) (2004). lagos: nerdc obi, p. (2013). is anambra state cursed or are we the cause? nigeria: anambra state government. udechukwu, i. g. (2012). igbo traditional education and good governances in a. b. c. et al (eds.) humanities and good governance. nigeria: rex charles & patrick. chapter 14: a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation contributed by calista oduchukwu nwosu and uchenna r. dike introduction substrate refers to the underlying material or fabric on which various treatments or coatings are applied. in other words, it is a foundation or base upon which the desired functional or decorative elements are added. in agreement with this definition, wild, 2016 penned, a substrate is defined as the primary material upon which other materials are applied. in the case of fabric, a substrate is the base cloth upon which ink, paint or pigment are applied to create all of the glorious printed fabrics available to us today. the choice of substrate plays a crucial role in determining the final characteristic and performance of the textile product. it can greatly impact factors such as durability, comfort, aesthetics, and functionality. the substrate affects the properties of the fabric such as strength, durability and drape. the substrate used in textiles can be a wide range of materials including natural fibers like cotton, silk, wool, and linen as well as synthetic materials such as polyesters, nylon, acrylic etc. the substrate selection is based on intended application, desired properties and manufacturing process involved. once a substrate is chosen, it undergoes various treatments and finishes to enhance its properties or impact specific functionalities. these treatments can include dyeing, coating, printing, laminating and lots more textile substrates are formed from yarns or fibre webs by several techniques including weaving, knitting, tufting, and a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 233 nonwoven formation. in addition, composites of textile substrates are formed by methods such as adhesive bonding, the formation of back coatings on fabric substrates, and flocking. substrate formation methods the most common form of interlacing is weaving which involves interlacing two sets of yarns usually at right angles to one another. the warp yarns are fed into the loom and filling (weft) yarns are inserted into the warp using a shuttle or an alternative insertion technique. the yarns are held in place by the inter-yarn friction. another form of interlacing where the thread in one set interlocks with the loops of neighbouring thread by looping is called knitting. knitting involves interconnecting yarns by looping them around one another. in warp knitting the yarns in a warp beam are looped over adjacent yarns in a zigzag repeating pattern to form a fabric, while in fill (weft) knitting a fill yarn is formed into a series of loops that are passed through the loops previously formed in the fill direction. the interloping of yarns results in positive binding. knitted fabrics are widely used in apparel, home furnishing and technical textiles. lace, crochet and different types of net are other forms of interlaced yarn structures. braiding is another way of thread interlacing for fabric formation. braided fabric is formed by diagonal interlacing of yarns. braided structures are mainly used for industrial composite materials. other forms of fabric manufacture use fibres or filaments laid down, without interlacing, in a web and bonded together mechanically or by using adhesive to make a continuous interconnected web. the former are needle-punched nonwovens and the latter are spun bonded. the resulting fabric after bonding normally produces a flexible and porous structure. these find use mostly in industrial and disposable applications. composites of textile substrates are formed by bonding two fabrics together by calista nwosu and uchenna dike 234 use of an adhesive to form a bonded substrate or backed substrate or by application of cut fibres to an adhesive-coated substrate to form a flocked substrate. figure 1 shows the schematics of fabrics produced by the methods discussed above. all these fabrics are broadly used in three major applications such as apparel, home furnishing and industrial. woven fabric structure knitted fabric structure netting fabric structure braiding fabric structure non woven fabric structure lace fabric structure a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 235 elements of woven fabric structure basic woven textiles are composed of two components: warp and weft tows/yarns that are at right angles to each other in the plane of the cloth. the warp is along the length and the weft is along the width of the fabric. individual warp and weft yarns are called ends and picks. the interlacing between the warp and weft yarn can be arranged in uncountable ways, resulting in endless weave architectures. weaving is therefore referred to as interlacing warp and weft yarns perpendicularly. regular weave and irregular weave regular weaves give a uniform and specific appearance to a fabric. the properties of the fabric for such weaves can be easily predicted. irregular weaves are commonly employed when the effect of interlacement is masked by the coloured yarn in the fabric. such weaves are common in furnishing fabric. weave structures the repeating unit of interlacement is called the weave. according to nwosu (2023), ‘weaves refers to the technique or particular way the patterns are achieved in the cloth through an interaction between the way the warp is threaded through the heddles on the harnesses or shafts and the order in which the harnesses or shafts are raised or lowered. there are many weave structures developed by weavers, but most of them were invented by a combination of three simple weave structures namely: plain weave or tabby, twill and satin stout (1970) states that "weaves are classified according to the method of the interlacing of the warp and filling yarns and the number of sets of warp or filling yarns required". thorpe and larsen (1967) as cited in ligom (2017) share the same view that plain twill and satin weaves are often considered as the basic weaves. stout however explained that other weaves are largely calista nwosu and uchenna dike 236 combinations or variations of the three basic weaves. nwosu (2015) notes that weaves are consistent in formation, simple in themselves and few in variety. fundamental weave structures plain weave the plain weave, variously known as “calico” or “tabby” weave is the simplest weave. it is formed by yarns at right angles passing alternately over and under each other. plain weave has the simplest repeating unit of interlacement and the maximum possible frequency of interlacements. plain weave fabrics are firm and resist yarn slippage nwosu (2015) states that "plain weave is the simplest and universally known to weavers everywhere and that very high proportion of all weaving is done in plain weave". the author further adds that "plain weave could either be warp-faced, weftfaced or balanced". hollen, saddler and langford (1979) report that "given the nature of interlacing in plain weave, it requires only a two harness loom for construction (one harness up and one harness down). as a result, there is no right or wrong side. plain weave variations include; balanced plain weave, unbalanced plain weave and basket weave”: the plain weave has the following characteristics:  it has the maximum number of binding points  the threads interlace on alternate order of 1 up and 1 down.  the thread density is limited  cloth thickness and mass per unit area are limited.  it produces a relatively stronger fabric the principle involved in the construction of plain cloth is the interlacement of any two continuous threads either warp or weft in an exactly contrary manner to each other, with every thread in each a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 237 series passing alternately under and over consecutive threads of other series interlaces uniformly throughout the fabric. by this plan of interlacement, every thread in each series interlaces with every thread in the other series to the maximum extent, thereby producing a comparatively firm and strong texture of cloth. a complete unit of the plain weave occupies only two warp threads and two picks of weft, which is the design for that weave. figure 2 shows plain weave in direct view and cross-section along warp and weft. the weave representation is shown by a grid in which vertical lines represent warp and horizontal lines represent weft. each square represents the crossing of an end and a pick. a mark in a square indicates that the end is over the pick at the corresponding place in the fabric, i.e. warp up. a blank square indicates that the pick is over the end, i.e. weft up. figure 2: plain weave modification of plain weave: the plain weave may be modified by extending it warp or weft way or both. the extension of the plain weave thus produces a rib effect. a warp rib results from extending the plain weave in the warp direction and a weft rib structure results from extending the plain weave in the weft direction. a matt rib results from extending the plain weave in both directions (jara, 2013). calista nwosu and uchenna dike 238 the chart below shows the derivatives/modifications of plain weave according to jara, 2013 figure 3: plain weave modification warp rib weave: these are produced by extending the plain weave in warp wary direction. figure 3 shows the warp rib weaves constructed on regular and irregular basis. at a, b and c are seen regular warp rib weaves and at d, is shown the irregular warp rib weave. e and f show the interlacing of d and a respectively figure 4: warp rib weave http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5tpvqkxdmsi/upvkuocfzpi/aaaaaaaaahq/n01sp0tsx3y/s1600/modification+of+plain+weave.png a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 239 weft rib weave these are constructed by extending the plain weave in weft direction as shown in figure 4 figure 5: weft rib weave figure 6: weft rib weave in both the warp and weft rib weaves, the appearance of the cloth depends on the respective thread settings, and to achieve good effects, it is necessary to weave a weft rib with a high number of picks per inch and a comparatively low number of ends per inch. similarly the warp rib effect can be enhanced with a high number of ends per inch and a comparatively low number of picks per inch. the prominence of the rib can be increased by suitable use of http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wx11pxyb4js/upvnbsn2pni/aaaaaaaaahw/opkg5yyctws/s1600/weft+rib+2.png calista nwosu and uchenna dike 240 coarse and fine yarns. the dependence of all rib constructions upon the correct thread settings is marked. rib weaves are used in gross grain cloths, matelasse fabrics, repp cloth which is extensively employed for window blinds in railway carriages and other vehicles, upholstering furniture, and cambric picket handkerchief matt rib weave: these weaves are also variously known as hopsack or basket weaves. the matt rib structures result from extending the plain weave in both directions. on basket weave, hollen, sadder and langford (1979) penned, ‘basket weave refers to weaves made with two or more warp yarns used as one, and with two or more fillings yarns used as one, placed in the same shed’. the most common basket weaves, according to the authors, are 2 x 2 and 4 x 4. other combinations include 2 x 1, 2x 3, and so forth. in case of regular matt weave, the plain weaves are extended equally in the warp and weft directions, where as in case of irregular matt weaves, the plain weave is extended unevenly or irregularly in the warp and weft directions. the regular and irregular types are shown in fig. figure 5: matt weave characteristically, basket weaves are flexible and wrinkle resistant because they have few interlacing per square inch. matt a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 241 weave finds extensive uses for a great variety of fabrics such as dress materials, shirting, sailcloth, duck cloth and lots more. textural stability of plain weave in relation to other weaves: the firmness of any woven structure depends on the frequency of interlacing between the warp and weft threads. the greater the number of intersections the better will be the firmness of the cloth. let us consider the case of two fabrics woven with identical warp and weft counts and thread settings. consider that one is woven as plain weave and the other with any other weave such as twill, sateen etc. it will be seen that the latter will be less firm, and therefore of weaker texture than the former, because the threads composing it would be bent in a lesser degree than those of the plain weave, thereby causing them to be less firmly compacted. thus it is important that the counts of warp and weft, the number of warp threads and picks per inch, and the weave, should be properly proportioned, in order to obtain the best results. range of texture produced in plain weaves: the plain weave is produced in a variety of forms and textures, possessing totally different characteristics, which adapt it for specific purposes. the variety of forms in textures are produced:  by causing a differential tension between the warp threads during weaving.  by using various counts of yarn for weaving different types of fabrics,  by using warp and weft yarns of different counts in the same fabric, the term ‘texture’ is related to type of material, counts of yarn, relative density of threads, weight, bulk, feel during handle, and other properties. the range of textures produced in plain cloth is wide. an ideal plain cloth is one which has identical or similar warp calista nwosu and uchenna dike 242 and weft constructional parameters. plain weave finds extensive uses in shirting, suiting, cambric, muslin, blanket, canvas and lots more. twill weave according to hassan 2023 definition, a weave that repeats on three or more ends and picks produces diagonal lines on the face of the fabric. the order of interlacing that creates a diagonal line of warp and weft floats to be formed in the fabric is called twill weave kureave and audu, as cited in ligom (2017) observed that twill weave is the type of weave in which the weft crosses two or more warp yarns before going under one or more warp yarns. this definition is rather simplistic in nature. hollen, saddler and langford (1979) seem to be more elaborate and implicit in their definition of twill weave. according to them, twill weave is one in which each warp or filling yarn floats across two or more fillings or warp yarns with a progression of interlacing by one to the right or left to form a distinct diagonal line or wale. joseph (1980) and lyle (1976) look at twill as the second basic weave used in the production of woven fabric, characterized by a diagonal line achieved on the front and back of the fabric. joseph (1980), hollen, saddler, and langford (1979) indicate that twill variations are in the number of harnesses used. the simplest twill requires three or four harnesses. the more complex twills may have as many as eighteen (18) picks inserted before repeating, and are woven on a loom with a dobby attachment. a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 243 figure 6: 2//2 twill weave. source: wood, 2006 characteristics of twill weave 1. produce diagonal lines from one selvedge to another. 2. smallest repeat size 3*3 3. at least 3 heald shafts are required. 4. generally, the straight draft is used (v draft/ pointed draft, broken draft). 5. draft multiple of 2 or 3 6. both sides are face sides, but their appearance is different. 7. textured and strong weave. 8. less binding point than plain cloth. 9. better wrinkle recovery. 10. better cover thickness calista nwosu and uchenna dike 244 classification of twill weave according to: 1. directions:  warp-way twill: warp float run in the warp direction.  weft-way twill: weft float run in the weft direction. 2. twill line  s-twill/left hand twill: twill line (diagonal line) runs from the lower right corner to the upper left corner. exp: 3/2 s, 2/2 s, 2/3 s etc  z-twill/left hand twill: twill line (diagonal line) runs from the lower left corner to the upper right corner. 3. face yarn a) warp-face twill: a predominance of warp yarns is seen on the face of the fabric. exp: 2/1, 3/1, 3/2 etc. [warp up > warp down b) warp-face twill: a predominance of warp yarns is seen on the face of the fabric. exp: 1/2, 1/3, 2/3 etc. [warp up < warp down] c) double face twill/ even-sided twill: predominance of warp & weft yarns on both sides of the fabric. [warp up = warp down] exp: 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 4. nature of twill a) simple twill: each warp end is raised over or lowered under only one pick in the repeat. exp: 2/1, 3/1, 1/2, 1/3 etc. https://textiledetails.com/textile-fabric-details/ a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 245 i) simple warp twill: each warp end is lowered under only one pick in the repeat. (warp up > 1, warp down = 1) exp2/1, 3/1 etc. ii) simple weft twill: each warp end is raised over only one pick in the repeat. (warp up. =1, warp down >1) exp: 1/2,1/3 etc… b) expanded twill: each warp end is raised over or lowered under more than one adjacent pick in the repeat. (both warp up & map down will be more than 1) exp3/2,2/3,3/3 etc. c) multiple twill: it contains at least two warp twill lines or two weft twill lines of different widths in each repeat, exp3 4 8/ 2 3 2, 5 6 8/ 2 3 9 uses of twill weave: generally, diamond, diaper and zigzag twill are used for making pillows, covers, screens, upholstery, bed sheets, towels etc. again, continuous twill is used for making fabric for shirting, suiting and pantin (denim, gaberdine). it is used for making various types of ornamental cloth, other derivatives of twill weave are used. moreover, hearing bone twill is used in the cloth of suits and overcoats. satin weave according to hasan (2023), satin weave refers to the construction of a weave where there is a weft thread that floats over at least 12 warps as well as under a single warp. the next weft gets woven in different warps over same the number. calista nwosu and uchenna dike 246 nwosu, 2023 opined that the satin and sateen weaves may be considered to be opposites of each other. they are characterized by their smooth lustrous surfaces due to warp floats in satin and weft floats in sateen. in satin weave, each warp yarn floats over four or more weft yarns (up to about 12) and interlaces with the next weft yarn. interlacing progresses by one thread up, and by at least two threads either to the right or to the left. alternatively, in a sateen weave, each weft yarn floats over four (or more) warp yarns and interlaces with the next warp yarn, with interfacings progressing two or more either to the left or to the right. hollen, saddler and langford (1979) have it that, satin fabrics are characterized by lustre because of the long floats that cover the surface. when warp yarns cover the surface, the fabric is a warp-faced satin and the warp count is high. similarly, when filling floats cover the surface, the fabric is filling and the filling count is high. satin weave, according to joseph (1980), is characterized by long floats on the surface. these threads are caught under cross threads at intersections as far apart as possible for particular constructions. the author posits that adjacent parallel yarns do not interlace in a position of contact the basic characteristics of satin/sateen weaves are:  they are either warp or weft-faced weaves.  have no prominent weave structures.  only one binding point in each end or pick  no continuous twill lines  have poor seam strength due to thread mobility  more thread density is possible in warp and weft  more mass per unit area is possible  have less binding points and more float lengths  use of move numbers (intervals of selection) is necessary to construct these weaves. a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 247 figure 24: sateen weave. source: errol wood, 2012 besides, satin weave needs more shafts in the part of weaving compared to other plain or twill weaves. consequently, the cost of production increases. satin weave fabrics notably are brocade, crepesatin, velvet satin, etc. meanwhile, the sateen is a variation of the satin weave constructed with another type of yarn except for silk. it produces a smooth, glossy surface on the fabric due to the interlacing points covered up by the threads’ floats. fig: example of satin regular and irregular weave structure supplementary weft pattern weave: also called extra weft, pattern weft, supplementary weft, a structurally non-essential weft https://textiledetails.com/what-is-twill-weave-characteristics-derivatives/ https://textiledetails.com/what-is-twill-weave-characteristics-derivatives/ calista nwosu and uchenna dike 248 used to add pattern to a ground structure. the supplementary weave can be of the warp or of the weft. supplementary warp pattern weave: also called the extra warp, pattern warp, supplementary warp that weaves in on the top of the background fabric or below depending on how it is treadled. compound weave: contains more than one weaves structure. modelling different weaves the firmness of a woven fabric depends on the density of threads and frequency of interlacements in a repeat. fabrics made from different weaves cannot be compared easily with regard to their physical and mechanical properties unless the weave effect is normalized. the concept of average float has long been in use, particularly for calculating maximum threads per cm. it is defined as the average ends per intersection in a unit repeat. recently this ratio, known as weave factor has been used to estimate the tightness factor in fabrics. summary textile substrates are formed from yarns or fiber webs by several techniques including weaving, knitting, tufting, and nonwoven formation. in addition, composites of textile substrates are formed by methods such as adhesive bonding, formation of back coatings on fabric substrates, and flocking. weaving is the most common method of forming fabrics. basic woven textiles are composed of two components: warp and weft tows/yarns that are interlaced with each other to produce a layer. the three basic weaves, plain, satin and twill weave and their derivatives were discussed. questions name the main componetnts of basic woven textiles explain twill weave in details what are the characteristics of a twill weave? a comprehensive analysis of fabric substrate formation 249 references behera, b. k. and. hari p. k (2010). woven textile structure: theory and applications. woodhead publishing series in textiles: number 115. corbman, b. p. (1983). textiles: fiber to fabric. mcgrawhill international, 6th edition pp. 37-39. hassan, m. (2023, february 26). derivatives of twill https://textiledetails.com/what-is-twill-weavecharacteristics-derivatives hollen, n., saddler, j. and langford, l. (1979). textiles. macmillan publishing co. inc. (pp. 47-51) jara’s diary (2013, november 23). re: modification of plain weave. http://textileschool4u.blogspot.com/2013/11/modificationof-plain-weave-warp-rib.html joseph l. (1980). essentials of textiles. holt, rinehart and winston. kureave, m.m. and audu, c.n. (2005). textiles: from fibre to fabric. i.k. printing press, gboko – nigeria. ligom, a. (2017). an examination of cloth weaving and its socio-economic impact, ushongo local government area of benue, nigeria. unpublished master’s thesis, department of industrial design, faculty of environmental design, ahmadu bello university, zaria, nigeria. miah r. 2013. an overview of twill weave. https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7165 nwosu, c.o. (2015). weaving class notes. textile design section, department of fine and applied arts, federal polytechnic, oko, anambra state. nwosu c.o. (2023). tradition and innovation: drafting for the weaving of akwa-ocha of the anioma delta-igbo, nigeria. doctoral dissertation, department of fine and applied https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7165 calista nwosu and uchenna dike 250 arts, faculty of environmental sciences, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, nigeria wild, w. (2016, june 16). lets talk about the substrates. https://www.thenextstitch.com.au/ blogs/news/lets-talkabout-the-substrates#: stout, e.e. (1970). introduction to textiles. john willey & sons inc. new york thorpe, a.s. and larsen, j.l. (1967). element of weaving: a complete introduction to the art and techniques. double day and company, inc. u.s.a. ideational representation of domestic violence in achebe’s things fall apart and adichie’s purple hibiscus ifeoma akabuike abstract language is a means of representing and portraying real and imaginary events, ideas, and relations or states of being. this paper is a linguistic study of ideational meanings in the novels under study.the aim of this paper is to find out how the writer’s linguistic choices serve as a means through which social meanings and experiences are expressed and understood using halliday’s systemic functional linguistics theory. this study offers explanations for the lexicogrammatical choices the authors made and how they are analyzed to portray the intended meaning of the authors. the study adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods to study the problem. the data comprise twenty-five (25) clauses purposively culled from the novels. textual data were analyzed based on the aim/objectives of the study and the theoretical framework adopted. the study reveals that both authors used material and mental processes to depict the participants’ physical and mental ordeal (domestic violence) in the hands of a man she calls father/husband. the study recommends that further investigations should focus on the interpersonal and textual meanings of the same studied excerpts to help in getting to the core meanings embedded therein. keywords: ideational meaning, sfl, process types, domestic violence, gender. introduction language enables its users to express knowledge of their cultural and social world, including the day to day activities in the home and society. literary texts contain the speakers’/writers’ experiences and worldviews; that is, the aspect of the reality the literary writers wish to portray. african literature is a general exploration of linguistic features and/or treatment of how language is strategically used to better express thematic preoccupations of writers. therefore, this study examines ideation as a linguistic tool for inferring or retrieving the social meanings encoded in the novels under study adopting the theoretical framework of halliday’s systemic functional linguistics. in essence, the study investigates how chinua achebe and chimamanda adichie have employed language in their novels things fall apart (tfa) and purple hibiscus (ph) respectively, to project the unique ideological configurations of gender and domestic violence in their attempt to represent the goings on in society. the study will also identify the forms, causes, effects and how to curb this social vice eating up society known as domestic violence. in the sections that follow, the concept of gender based domestic violence will be reviewed, the data for the study will be presented, analyzed, discussed and findings presented and finally, conclude the paper. gender-based domestic violence in this paper, the different definitions of domestic violence will be reviewed. different authors give various definitions of domestic violence. to nwankwo (2003), it refers to “a violation of human rights”, and refers to any abusive treatment of one’s family member by another, thus, violating basic human rights. oyelade (2012) agreeing with nwankwo adds that “it’s physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological action or threats that influence another person. it includes any behavior that isolates, frightens, terrorizes, threatens, hurts, injures or wounds and controls another person negatively. this shows that domestic violence is the intentional and persistent abuse of anyone in the home in a way that causes pain, distress or injury. similarly, de vries (2002) asserts that “violence is an illegitimate force that is exerted physically or otherwise by one thing, event, group or person and perhaps, word and object on another”. clearly, scott and marshal (2009) note that “domestic violence is specifically male violence (physical or psychological) against women”. the definition of domestic violence by scottland and marshal above show that there is a disparity in the victimization and experience of violence between male and female. in nigeria and beyond, females usually, are victims of domestic violence. the males are the major petrators of this crime while the females are usually at the receiving end. this situation is predominant in societies where patriarchy is cultural like the case of nigeria. to this effect, cutterman (1991) notes that gender based violence is an “economical, physical, social and mental suffering imposed on women by their gender counterpart” – all these violation of the fundamental human rights of women “wears many faces’ forms of domestic violence domestic violence against women has many forms which include, physical violence, sexual violence, economic coercion, emotional and verbal abuses. these forms of violence according to who (2005) include hitting, slapping, beating, throwing of objects, pushing, kicking, shooting, choking/burning, suffocating, and strangling. sexual violence includes, being physically forced to have sexual intercourse. verbal, emotional and psychological violence involve using degrading language, insult, criticism or name calling, screaming, harassing, refusing to talk, humiliating the victim privately or in the presence of other people, blaming the victim for the abusive behavior, controlling where the victim goes, who he/she talks to and what he/she does, accusing the victim of infidelity to justify the dictators controlling and abusive behaviours. economic coercion includes preventing the victim from obtaining employment or education, withholding money or prohibiting access to family income thereby, making the victim ask or beg for money, stealing money, refusing to share or contribute to household bills, and treating the victim like a servant. a combination of factors contributes to the high rate of domestic violence in nigeria which includes low tolerance and refusal of wife to submit to husband’s authority. peace and paymer (1993) assert that “inequality of women and gender socialization of females and males contribute to the causes of domestic violence”. the cultural practices across nigeria, position men as the head of the family and a semi-god; men are viewed as leaders, they have absolute control over women and no one dares to question their authority. again, sexual misconduct by either of the couple, conflict between work and domestic duties by wives, high level of ignorance, poverty, anger, jealousy and interference by in-laws among other things could be possible causes of domestic violence. all these factors can be avoided because of their adverse effects on the victim. adekola and falase (2006) opine that women facing domestic violence often suffer physical and psychological consequences which usually affect their behavior and productivity. they also revealed that domestic violence negatively correlates with women participation in community development. the impact of domestic violence on victims can result in acute and chronic mental health problems, death, divorce, aggressiveness, apprehension or fear, state of helplessness, anger, anxiety, depression and suicide. violence against women is a universal problem that must be universally condemned as it would be difficult to find one woman, whom at one point or another in her life, had not been intimidated, humiliated, abused and so on. this paper is set out to examine the choices made by achebe and adichie in the novels under study to show how the authors represented violence in the families of okonkwo in things fall apart and papa eugene achike in purple hibiscus. in analyzing the ideational meaning in the selected novels, the paper will examine the lexico grammatical choices the authors made and how they reflect the experiences of reality of the writers. the study will among other things, find out the numerous expressions that reflect domestic violence in the novels, identify the process types found in the clauses and their frequency and highly the extent to which the ideational metafunction as a linguistic tool can infer and reveal theme of a novel. the essence of this study is to get at the intended meaning of the authors easily and clearly. the study will expose the students, readers and teachers to how clauses are analyzed using the framework of systemic functional linguistics (sfl) to arrive at meaning of the text easily. this is possible because sfl prioritizes systems such as mood, aspect and transitivity and the delicate meanings and features that realize them. also, this paper will help the reader appreciate the creativity, beauty and style of writing of nigerian authors. this paper will focus on the semantic and lexico-grammatical features of the clauses in the selected novels using the framework of systemic functional linguistics by michael halliday. the reason is to find out how the process type of the verbal group of the clause, the participants and circumstances found in the clauses have helped in bringing out the meaning intended by the writers for easy understanding of the novels. the analysis of a major theme in the novels using a linguistic tool will help the reader to expand his or her knowledge of the novels under study. it will further explain what the writers want the reader to know and also reveal some meanings for grounded. the ideational metafunction is that part of sfl which deals with how language is used to encode our cultural and individual experiences. it also deals with the expression of environmental phenomenon through actions, events, states, relations, attributes as well as expression of our inner consciousness. in a nutshell, transitivity expresses process, participants, and the circumstances. hence, its application on the theme of the novels will reveal actions, events among others that the writer used words to represent. hence, its application to theme of the novels is a step in the right direction. methodology this study aims at examining ideation as a linguistic tool for inferring or retrieving the social meanings encoded in the novels under study. in line with the aim of this study, two excerpts (twenty five clauses from each novel) 25 excerpts have purposively been selected and analyzed in the light of sfl (transitivity) theoretical framework the ideational (experiential) meaning theoretical framework to show how the authors have linguistically encoded meanings through the lexico-grammatical choices made to portray gender based domestic violence in their novels. this study is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research. hence, it will adopt a textual analytic method. textual data will be analysed in line with the purpose of the study and theoretical framework adopted. the data will be orderly arranged and presented in tables to display the frequency of the process types in compact form for further analysis and clearer interpretations. the study through the analysis, discussion and findings will reveal the message the authors conveyed. the two excerpts were analysed in line with the systemic functional linguistic framework. as a descriptive research, the study adopted both qualitative (to aid in obtaining the frequency of the process types) and qualitative method which provided avenues to revealing meanings. the frequency of occurrence the process type will be obtained through simple percentage. theoretical framework the study relies on m.a.k. halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (sfi). halliday (1994) identified three ‘meaning potentials’ideational, interpersonal, and textual and named them ‘meta-function’. for halliday, these meta-functional lines are unified within the structure of a clause and language is viewed as a meaning-making resource and involves exchange of meanings in a social context. the focus of this study is on ideational (experiential) meaning. experiential meaning according to eggins (2004) has to do with the grammatical resources of people. according to halliday and matthiessen (2004). “the ideational metafunction is the function through which the speaker or writer embodies in language his experience of the phenomena of the real world; and this includes his experience of the internal world of his own consciousness; his actions, cognitions and perceptions and his linguistic acts of speaking and understanding”. again, halliday and matthiessen (2004) view experiential meaning as one that reflects the contextual value of ‘field’ through participants, circumstance and process types (material, mental, relational, verbal behavioral and existential). the ideational meta-function is sub-divided into two, namely –experiential and logical. experiential meaning expresses the happenings, the content – worldviews/experiences of reality which is understood through such questions as, who is doing what? to whom, where and when? the logical on the other hand deals with the ways in which clauses are connected to each other. first, they are connected through a system that describes the type of interdependency between clauses. secondly, the logico-semantic system describes the type of meaning relationship between linked clauses (eggins, 2004).at the lexico-grammatical level, ideational meanings are expressed through transitivity. transitivity analysis of selected excerpts as mentioned earlier, the two sets of excerpts analyzed have been drawn from the novels under study. while first section of the excerpt (comprises 25 clauses) from achebe’s things fall apart, the second section of the excerpt was culled from adichie’s purple hibiscus”.(25 clauses) each of the selected excerpt has been divided into its constituent clauses. again, the process in each clause and their frequency are noted. table 1 below shows the statistical summary of the number of processes in the selected excerpts (see appendix a) table 1: statistical summary of process recorded in the excerpts process types/participants tfa percentage ph percentage 1 material actor goal 14 56% 10 40% 2 relational carrier attribute 2 8% 3 12% 3 mental senser 6 24% 5 20% 4 verbal verbiage sayer recipient 3 12% 4 16% 5 behavioural behaver existential exis 3 12% the statistical summary of process type table above shows an overview of the transitivity features as evident in the excerpts from the two novels. a careful look at the results obtained reveals that existential process did not reflect at all in the two novels. behavioural process type reflected only in adichie’s purple hibiscus but not in things fall apart. the most predominant process type in the overall excerpts is the material followed by mental and verbal. in these process types and in the overall excerpts, materials processes are noticeably topping the list with an aggregate number of twenty four (24) out of fifty (50) processes representing 48% of the overall process types recorded in the novels under study. this implies that the two writers have carefully chosen some words to represent concrete/physical actions and experiences of reality through their characters. mental process ranked second with 22% of the overall recorded processes. this suggests that the participants in both excerpts are perceptively, cognitively, affectively and intellectually involved in the matters dealt with by the authors. verbal processes came third with a total number of seven processes and 14% recorded. this indicates that the texts deal largely with verbal actions. the ‘sayings’ were majorly reported or quoted. next is the relational process types which appeared five (5) times viz 10% and lastly, behavioural process which only appeared three (3) times vix 6%. owing to the insignificant number of the relational and behavioral processes, they will cease to be mentioned. discussion this section presents a deeper interpretation and understanding of the novels under study. the interpretation of the results obtained is going to revolve round the material, verbal and mental processes along with their respective participants and attending circumstances. the result shows the domination of material process in the novels. material process represents the doings, happenings and actions of the characters as depicted by the authors in the novels. their predominance in the excerpts show that the authors prioritized realistic actions in the novels. achebe in things fall apart, made use of effective material processes than ineffective material process. some of the examples of the effective material processes are seen in excerpts 3, 17 and 18. example 1. okonkwo (actor( bit) (material) his lips (goal) 2. when she returned (cir: time) he (actor) beat (material) her (goal) very heavily (cir:manner) achebe in examples 1 and 2 above made the choice of material processes like ‘bit’ and ‘beat’ which are highly effective and goal oriented, to show how the actions of his major character in the novel, okonkwo, affected okonkwo’s tongue and wife. similarly, adichie used, material processes like ‘lowered’ ‘titled’ and ‘poured’ which are active to represent concrete physical actions of papa eugene achike against his daughter kambili for sleeping under the same roof with her grandfather (papa nnukwu) who happens to be a heathen. for instance: 3. he (actor) lowered (material) the kettle (goal) into the tub (cir: location). 4. tilted (material) it (goal) towards myfeet (cir:location) 5. he (actor) poured (material) the hot water (goal) on my feet (cir: location), slowly (cir: manner). in excerpts 24, 25 and 26, the characters were also seen as the ‘actor’ and used a singular pronoun ‘i’ showing that the participants are directly involved. for instance, 6. i (actor) shall not eat (material) in the house of a man (cir:location) who has no respect for our gods and ancestors. 7. i (actor) stepped (material) into the hub (cir:location). however, processes like shall not eat and stepped did not extend any action to other entities in the clause. achebe and adichie, through the lexico-grammatical choices of ‘beat’ and ‘poured’ revealed the violent actions of okonkwo against the wife and papa eugene against his daughter. this indicates that transitivity choices can reveal theme of a novel. i will at this point, state that the novels under study have theme of domestic violence. again, through the actions performed by papa eugene, adichie is showing how fanaticism can be deadly. the use of mental processes like ‘saw’, felt, heard, notice, watched and material processes like ‘beat’, poured, tilted, depicts the victims physical and mental ordeal in the hands of a man she calls father/husband. the psychological damage the victims sustained in these awful encounters informed their passive attitude in the novels. the verbal process deals with the process of saying or telling. they indicate speech “a kind of inner speech’ (bloor and bloor, 1995). typical verbs as verbal processes in the novels under study are ‘asked’, ‘said’. their use in the novels is meaningful (act) of communication). there are however other verbs used as verbal process to express different shades of meaning and function as speech acts with illocutionary force indicating the way the writer wants his utterance to be understood. such verbs are ‘declare, shouted, threatened, thundered, roared…’ the participants in the verbal process are the sayer, verbiage and receiver/recipient. instances of verbal process in the novels are: 8. “where is ojiugo?” (verbiage) he (sayer) asked (verbal) his second wife (reserver) 9. “you knew your grandfather was coming to nsukka” (verbiage) did you (receiver) he (sayer) asked (verbal) in igbo (cir:manner). the leading functions of participants in the novels are “actor” and “goal”. halliday (2004) notes that these participants enact various roles and functions in association with the material process to represent experiences, actions, and activities in the society/family like ‘beating’, ‘pouring’. ‘actor’ is the one who is the doer of the action in a clause whereas ‘goal’ is that entity that is affected by the action of the verb in a clause. actor enacts as subject while the goal enacts as the object. in the novels examined, the actions of okonkwo and papa eugene achike were highly effective while the actions of kambili were ineffective. the reason is because of the transitivity choices the authors made in describing the actions of the male characters in the stories. this helped in bringing out unequal and sharply skewed distribution of power among different characters. while the female is shown as powerless and ineffective, the males exert their power and domination over the females. the transitivity pattern of the authors are in complete consonance to represent the experiential world of the stories. in addition, senser, according to halliday and matthiessien (2004), is one of the functions of participant which is associated with mental process. the sensers involved in the mental activities are ‘saw, felt, know, heard, notice’ among others. the implication or rather the function of these participants is that the authors through the participants, made the readers to feel and learn from the evils prevailing by the severe stressful period the participants were going through and think of sustainable solutions so that nigeria can systematically get cured of its social vices. the authors used the verbiage to depict what was said (the message): ‘sayer’ as person or thing that does the saying. ‘saying’ as revealed in the result is mainly by humans. the ‘reciever/recipient” is the one to whom the verbalization is addressed. in essence, verbiage is the content of what is said, whether direct or reported and recipient is the receiver of the utterance. the most frequently used circumstance in the two novels are location and manner. the authors used location to show the very position (setting) where the action took place. they also used the circumstance of ‘manner’ to describe the way the evil (action) was carried out. conclusion the study examined ideation as a linguistic tool for inferring or retrieving the social meanings encoded in the texts under study. the theme of gender-based domestic violence was explored in achebe’s things fall apart and adichie’s purple hibiscus. the social evil of domestic violence is rampant in nigeria and has been of great concern to governments, individuals and groups. literary discourse as a form of representation also draws attention to this same phenomenon. consequently, a linguistic study of ideational meanings in the texts under study enables the analyst to find out how the writer’s linguistic choices serve as a means through which social meanings and experiences can be expressed and understood. the study explored instances of violence against women in the things fall apart and purple hibiscus which ranges from battering to near homicide especially in okonkwo’s family and papa eugene achike’s family. battering of the female folk by okonkwo and papa eugene led to their downfall from heights they had attained. for instance, papa eugene’s wife had to poison eugene’s food with the slightest opportunity she had which led to eugene’s untimely death when she remembered how harshly he maltreated her. wife /daughter battering among the igbos is not condoned. the authors, through the lexico-grammatical choices they made, were able to portray and arrive at this gender-based violence in the novels. preventing domestic violence against women requires sustained and systematic efforts at the levels of families and relationships, communities, institutions and societies. men should be oriented on the dangers of domestic violence. references achebe c. (1958). things fall apart. england: hienemann ltd. adekola, g. &falase, a.o (2006). domestic violence and women participation in community development activities. africanjournal of education and development, 3(1) 85-93. adichie c.n. (2006). purple hibiscus. nigeria: kachifo limited. bloor, t. and bloor m. (1995). the functional analysis of english: a hallidayan approach. london: arnold. de vries, h. (2012). religion and violence: philosophical perspectives from kent to derrida. baltimore. md: johns hopkins university press. eggins, s. (2004). anintroduction to systemic functional linguistics. london: continuum international publishing group. halliday, m.a.k (1978). an introduction to functional grammar. london: edward arnold halliday, m.a.k and matthiessen, c.m.i.m (2004). an introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed.) great britain: contriuum. nwankwo, o. (2003). manual on domestic violence.enugu: fourth dimension publishing co. ltd. peace, e and payermer, m. (1993). education groups for men who batter: the duluth model. new york: springer. scott, j and marshall, g. (2009). an oxford dictionary of sociology. new york: oxford press. appendix excerpt 1: things fall apart (page 23-24) “where is ojugo?” (verbiage) he (sayer) asked (verbal) his second wife (receiver); who came out of her hut (cir:loc) to draw water from a gigantic pot in the shede of a small tree in the middle of the comp (location). she has gone to plate her hair” (verbiage). okonkwo (actor) bit (material) his lips (goal) as anger welled up within him (cir: manner). “where are her children? did she take them (verbiage) he (sayer) asked (verba) with unusual coolness and restraint (manner). “they are here (verbiage) answered (verbal) his first wife nwoye’s wife (sayer). okonkwo (actor) bent (material) and looked into her hut (cir: location). ojiugo’s children (actors) where eating (material) with the children of his first wife (cir: accompaniment). “did she ask you to feed them before she went? (verbage). yes, led nwoye’s mother, trying to minimize ojiugo’s thoughtlessness (verbiage). okonkwo (senser) knew( material) she was not speaking the truth (phenomenon). he (actor) walked (material) back to his obi (god) (cir:location) to await ojiugo’s return. and when she returned (cir: time) he (actor) beat(material) her (goal) very heavily (manner). in his anger(manner) he (senser) had forgetten (mental) that it was the week of peace. his first two wives(actors) ran(material) out (location) in great alarm pleading (manner) with him that it was the sacred week. but okonkwo (carrier) was not (relation) the men to stop beating somebody half way though nor even for fear of a goodess (attribute). okonkwo’s neighbours (senser) heard(mental)his wife crying(phenomenon). and sent (mater) their voices (goal) over the compound walls (location) to as why it was the matter. some of them (actor) came (material ineffect) over to see things for themselves (location). it (carrier) was unheard of (relational) to beat somebody during the sacred week (cir: time). before it was double(cir: time) ezeani (actor) who was the priest of the earth goddess ezeani (actor) called (material) on okonkwo (goal) in his obi (location). okonkwo (actor) bought (material) kola nut (goal) and placed (material) it before the priest (location). take away your kola nut. i (actor) shall not eat (material) in the house of a man (location) who has no respect for our gods and ancestors. you (carrier) have committed a great evil (phenomenon). he (actor) brought (material)down his staff heavily (manner) on the floor (location). excerpt 2: purple hibiscus(200-201) “climb into the tub” (verbiage) papa (sayer) said (verbal). i (actor) stepped (material) into the tub (cir-location). 1(actor) did not know (mental) what he was going to do to me..(phenomenon). it (carrier) was (relation) easier when i (senser) saw (metal) a stick (phenomenon) because i could rub my palm together and tighten the muscles of my calves in preparation. he (sayer) had never asked (verbal) me (receiver) to stand inside a tub (cir:location). then i (senser) noticed (mental) the kettle on the floor (cir:location) close to papa’s feet (cir:location). papa (actor) picked (material effective) it (goal) up (cir:location). you knew your grandfather was coming to nsukka (verbiage) did you (receiver) not” he (sayer) asked(verbiage)in igbo (cir:manner). did you pick up the phone and inform me of this (verbiage). “you knew you would be sleeping in the same house as a heathen?”(verbiage). “so you saw the sin clearly and you walked right into it” (verbiage). i (behavior) nodded “yes papa (behavior). “kambili, you are precious (verbiage). his voice (behaver) quavered (behavior) now like someone speaking at a funeral (cir:manner) choked with emotion (manner). “you should strive for perfection. you (receiver) should not see sin and walk right into” (verbiage). he (actor) lowered (material) the kettle (goal) into the hub (location)/titled (material) towards my feet (location). he (actor) poured (material effective) the hot water(goal) on my feet (location, slowly (manner). he (actor) was crying (material ineffective) now (cir:time) tears streaming down his face (cir:location) i (senser) saw (mental) the moist stream before i saw the water (phenomenon). i (senser) watched (mental) the water leave the kettle; flowing almost in slow motion in an arc (manner) to my feet (location). the pain of contact (carrier) was (relation) so pure so scalding (attribute). i (senser) felt (mental) nothing for a second (phenomenon). and then (cir:time) i (behave) screamed (behavior). that is what you do to yourself when you walk into sin. you burn your feet” (verbiage) he (sayer) said (verbal) chapter 6: meaning making in city orientation: intersemiosis and contending issues contributed by lloyd robinson introduction the argument for signs in orientation design begins essentially from the clarification of some basic communication issues. simple but significant functions of signs are used by this study to avoid any form of diversion from the fundamental study of visual communication. the intention is to guide the discussion by situating the study within the broader scope of environmental graphic design. firstly, signs are elements in a communication process. that process is considered an operation or continuous action that takes place in a manner relevant to wayfinding activity. to comprehend how signs can be utilized in wayfinding, this essay analyzes the study of signs as visual language. a great consideration of the built environment and people’s perception and interpretation of symbols in wayfinding design is given in this essay. in a social-semiotic approach to meaning-making, imagery can be seen as both socially external and internal. there is outward social interaction in which meaning is constantly created, in a transformation process of interactions with and responses to the prompts of social order and culturally shaped environments. fredric jameson (1972) postulates about the breakdown of language, stating that: “the signifier in isolation becomes ever more material… as meaning is lost… a signifier that has lost its signified has therefore been transformed into an image”. this lloyd robinson 92 postulation shadows the independence of symbols and symbolism’s meaning-making attributes. this study is concerned with the usage of icons and symbols for urban wayfinding, and semiotics is seen as helping to understand how meaning is formed, how people interpret a sign, and how they draw on personal or cultural experience to understand a sign. signs are the objective carriers of potential knowledge (brier, 2004). semiotics is about communicating ideas or concepts to users. charles sanders peirce was less concerned with the linguistic aspect of semiotics pioneered by ferdinand de saussure in the early 1900's, but rather he was more interested in how people made sense of the world around them. these signs referred to by peirce often need interpretation, and this interpretation is based on the total semantic network and experience of the interpreter, which according to him, includes the emotional and social aspects (brier, 2004). this insight leads to the need for a broader semiotic framework of communication and sign interpretation. reviewing iconography and iconology “iconography means the study of images, and at its simplest, the practice of identifying images in works of art” (d'alleva, 2005:20). d'alleva also classifies both semiotics and iconography in the context of meaning: though semiotics is older as a philosophy of meaning, as its roots go back to ancient times, both iconography and semiotics address the meaning of works of art: what they mean and how they produce those meanings. (p.17) though the formalists’ theories proposed by heinrich wölfflin (1864-1945) were influential during the early parts of the twentieth century, who argued that unchanging principles governed artistic styles, others like immanuel kant (1724-1804) for example had meaning-making in city orientation:… 93 earlier argued for the special character of aesthetic experience. as erwin panofsky (1892-1968) (1970) put it: in a work of art, 'form' cannot be divorced from 'content'the distribution of colour and lines, light and shade, volumes, and planes, however delightful as a visual spectacle, must also be understood as carrying a more-than-visual meaning. (p.205) at its most subtle, iconography works to retrieve the allegorical meanings contained in works of art. to define these terms, a symbol is something that is recognized as representing an idea or entity. a set of scales is, for example, a symbol for the idea of justice. using a set of symbols that are widely recognized to represent an idea or entity, an allegory is a narrative in the form of a personification like an image (d'alleva, 2005). so, a woman holding a set of scales is an allegorical figure of justice (figure 1). symbols and allegories are culturally specific, and their meanings are not always evident to every member of that culture, much less outsiders (robinson, 2023). fig. 1 justitia, goddess of justice iconography also falls within the language of vision and meaning. this language was an attempt by the bauhaus theorists to isolate visual language from verbal language (lupton & miller, 2006). this theory inadvertently strengthens iconography’s nonverbal paradigm. that graphic elements like icons and symbols fit lloyd robinson 94 into visual culture becomes understandable. the understanding of the epistemology of visual language has been attested, with its dominance in contemporary society, both as a means of communication and as a source of meaning (jay, 2002; mirzoeff, 2009). according to mirzoeff (2009) meanings are created and contested, stating that “because signs are always contingent, they can be understood in their historical context, and this inquiry remains central to an understanding of visual culture.” iconology, on the other hand, is the phase of interpretation that follows the identification of iconography. these interpretations investigate the meaning of allegories, symbols, and motifs in their cultural context. in developing his theory of iconology, panofsky was influenced by ernst cassirer's (18741945) theory of significant form (holly, 1984). cassirer argued that “mages represent fundamental principles or ideas (symbolic values) in each culture so that we can see works of art as documents of an artist, religion, philosophy, or even an entire civilization.” the idea of significant form is different from the formalist idea: the formalist idea strips away cultural meaning, but cassirer (1955) argued that significant forms are loaded with cultural meaning. cassirer (1955) noted that a researcher's own personal psychology, experience, and philosophy will shape his or her interpretation. iconography enabled scholars to retrieve content embedded in works of art. panofsky (1939) and meaning in the visual arts (1955), defined three levels of iconographical and iconological analysis, each with its method and objective. however, when iconographic analysis is made, it helps to work through panofsky's three stages, but rarely will there be a need for any systematic explanation of all three in a final analysis. social influence and convention do affect iconic meaning. an iconic relation between the physical thing carrying the encoded sign (known as the signal) and the thing being referred to (known as the denotative referent) is a mapping of the signal's feature set (liu, et al., 1998). meaning-making in city orientation:… 95 the subtlety and abstraction of iconic imagery on picture planes puts symbolism within the realm of metaphysics and to a great extent a bridge of form and structure with cognition. metaphysics refers to explanations of phenomena by any nonmaterial force, like the mind or spirit—things that cannot be investigated by the methods of science (bernard, 2006). this phenomenon does not deny the existence of metaphysical knowledge, but stresses that scientific and metaphysical knowledge are quite different (bernard, 2006). however, there is an inquiry into how typography functions in a multimodal composition and an even narrower question of the functions of the linguistic message about the iconic message. this point could be important when discussing the juxtaposition of text with images in multimodal compositions. modality, the way in which information is to be encoded for presentation to humans, is more closely associated with the semiotic models of charles sanders peirce (1839-1914) because meaning is seen as an effect of a set of signs as compared to those proposed by ferdinand de saussure (1857-1913). historic context of semiosis in peirce's model, reference is made to an object when the sign is interpreted recursively by another sign; a conception of meaning that implies a classification of different types of signs. for example, a meaning that is contained in a wayfinding form cannot be removed from the iconicity of that form. in saussure’s view, sign is the complete result of the association of the signified with the signifier (saussure, 1983:67; saussure, 1959:67). if the usability of handheld devices with its imagery is popular culture, and the increasing embrace of media imagery is visual culture, then it is pragmatic to say iconography in the space realm is both, having exposed its ethnolinguistic traits to the theory of signifier and signified by saussure. in a conversation with cornelia vosser, isolde frey highlights the universality of symbols by arguing that, “we cannot guide anybody if they cannot understand the text lloyd robinson 96 (language) or the image (icon) (frey, 2013). in this context, the idea holds because this creates a balance between function and identity where text becomes the language and image is represented by the icon. saussure played a key role in the development of semiotics with his argument that language is a system of signs that needs to be understood to fully understand the process of linguistics (culler, 1976). burke’s (1966) insight, though rooted in rhetoric, still substantiates the philosophy of language based on the theory of language as a symbolic action. the study of semiotics examines the signs and types of representation that humans use to express feelings, ideas, thoughts, and ideologies (ryder, 2006), and the effort to its configuration as an interdisciplinary perspective (sebeok, 1976). the signified, a mental concept and the signifier, a verbal manifestation, are two things that are fundamental to the study of signs with their sequence of images and linguistic realization (barry, 2002). the signifier is the image; the signified is the representation. semiotics or semiosis, the study of signs and significations, which is the process of creating meaning, has gained momentum over the last several years (herbert, 2006). this is due, in part, to the growth of multimedia, the broadened scope of visual culture and other communication platforms. some concepts of semiotics are instrumental to this research. these include open text, semiotic triangle, signifier and signified. the idea of sign can be defined by its functionality. herbert (2006) broadly defines it as “something that is used in place of something else (something else being a signified).” however, something else that is a sign can be an idea or any object that requires interpretation. in the aristotelian tradition, the sign is broken down into three parts signifier, signified and the deferent which means the thing to which the sign refers are just two parts that were adopted by saussure as a semiotic theory for signs and meaning, while the third part is peirce’s meaning-making in city orientation:… 97 theoretical vision of semiotics (herbert, 2006). peirce distinguishes the representation, the interpretant, and the object. as there is also a relationship between the visual perception of signs and the cultural background of humans, comprehending signs provides a tool for place location in wayfinding design for orientation. we create symbols and images to understand environmental surroundings, individually in our images and socially in images we share with others (kepes, 1944). based on visual representation, a series of iconic designs and symbolism has been developed for analysis and adoption in spatial orientation. these designs and models are based primarily on fundamental concepts of graphic imagery and psychology such as visual perception, human position, size and colour of the signage. as an extension of panofsky's cultural contextualization, we have gradually moved beyond iconic interpretation into issues of reception, attempting to understand not just hidden meanings embedded in specific themes but also how subjects are received and understood by road users. because icons can work on many platforms, from descriptive to cultural and symbolic, they can be applied to the wider relational framework of content. the easiest is the descriptive, “where the multivalent nature of images causes the greatest problems” (eliade, 1961:15). immanuel kant’s (17241804) belief that the human brain plays a major role in perception was a major influence in panofsky’s (1955) theories, instigating his work as to how the human brain perceived images (hourihane, 2005). however, the majority of iconographical studies fall short of considering form and function factors that are key to understanding the meaning of any work. the characteristic of iconography is drawn from the history of representational but has been expanded by the communicative networks of legibility and meaning. there is an interdisciplinary nature of scientific endeavor in the postmodern age, as they have become complex and transdisciplinary, but turns around to express doubt in this collaboration lloyd robinson 98 (brier, 2004). this reversal of opinion is surprising because various concepts of communication can help us understand and develop social systems such as self-organizing and self-producing networks, as we need a deeper understanding of the ethics and aesthetics foundation of the existence of these new systems. in a series of collected papers, peirce (1911) conceived the construction of meaning, and the aptness of these definitions is quite revealing. proponents of peirce’s ideas structured graphic design curricula around his typology of signs and his notion of interpretant normally described as the function of sign. unlike icons that have been extensively used in digital platforms, symbols in urban wayfinding design have been minimally utilized. golledge (1999) asked, “how do variation in the environment influence the storage of environmental information and the selection?” inquiring if the symbols are explanatory enough in terms of colour, size and semiotics, as against the background of the urban environments are some key issues to address. icons and symbols are, to a large extent, still dependent on the need to find textual support for its vast and expanding retinue of subject matter (hourihane, 2005). this characteristic has indeed impeded wayfinding design research, where the overriding need to find a textual basis has created an artificial association between the visual and verbal, and the textual. applicable meanings in sign development for this study, symbolic icons are emphasized. both exemplar and symbolic icons are peirce’s indexes as both serve as signifiers. in both cases, the signifier is not arbitrary even where it does not resemble what is being signified. resemblance icons are most effective when communicating simple actions, objects, and concepts, and they work best when the representation is simple and direct (bradley, 2016). however, they are less effective as complexities increase. in wayfinding for example, showing a curved line to indicate the road curves ahead works well, but something more needs to be added if the idea is to communicate http://vanseodesign.com/web-design/reducing-realism/ http://vanseodesign.com/web-design/reducing-realism/ meaning-making in city orientation:… 99 that the driver should slow down. though symbolic icons are like exemplar icons, they are, however, more effective at a much higher level of abstraction. for example, a padlock is used to represent a secure web link. this is because people associate locks with some level of security (plate 1). plate 1: signs are made up of different components like words, images, and context all of which combine to create a visual language which helps us understand an idea or concept (boulton, 2005). from saussure’s point of view, a sign can be broken down into the signifier (the perceivable part of the sign and the signified the understandable part of the sign). because meanings are affected by the perceiver, viewing and understanding are re-creative acts (howard, 1996:84). symbols and icons of a culture can also be understood and appreciated by another. this multicultural and social mutation is more evident in symbols and icons developed and used in the olympic games – an event that greatly utilizes symbols in directional wayfinding. when we can see the object in the sign, “we are often left with a sense that the icon has brought us closer to the truth than if we had seen an index or a symbol” (grayson, 1998 p.35). from a graphic design point of view, a sign can be defined as a lettered or patterned board that conveys meaning, command, or directions (sobottka, 2010). various literature have identified icons, symbols, and indexes as the three types of signs. for this study, the focus is on icons as they are directly related to what they lloyd robinson 100 represent, the meaning is immediately evident, and it can be a smaller part that represents a whole with minimal reference to the index where a concept of symbolism requires indexing. references like these are considered because a symbol does not have a direct connection to what it represents, but the meaning usually needs to be learned through association. indexes, on the other hand, are signs that point to an instruction or message (sobottka, 2010). signs are potential information because they depend on the interpretation of the receiver, and there must be an interpreter for any available information. however, to become information, differences must be seen as signs by the observer. this happens when they become internally developed interpretants. peirce (1911) writes about this in his definition of the sign process: a sign is a first which stands in a genuine triadic relation to a second, called its object, as to be capable of determining a third, called its interpretant, to assume the same triadic relation to its object in which it stands itself to the same object.... a sign is a representamen with a mental interpretant. (p.99-100) the object here is that aspect of reality that the representation signifies. in a way, the object in peirce's description is also a sign. peirce's semiotic philosophy develops cognitive science beyond the limitations of rationalistic and mechanistic information. while icons can be instrumental in conveying signifier information to a less literate population, symbols provide a quick functional representation of a place or service (gibson, 2009). for example, the word ‘café’ may not mean much on a wayfinding signage to an illiterate or a non-english speaking visitor, but the image of a teacup (signifier) with steam can be easily understood by almost everyone as a drinking device (signified). likewise, the image of a steaming pot and teapot is aimed at non-chinese-speaking customers (figure 2 and 3). it is evident that the signified, rather than the signifier, is relevant to meaning-making in city orientation:… 101 spatial orientation and cognition. this insight into the nature of spatial cognition in real-life environments creates the potential for the development of a symbolic approach to wayfinding design that is more centred on the user, and as such, may inform the creation of user-oriented environments. however, where such structures were similar in their construction, there were no existing principles with which to determine structure or terminology. panofsky's pioneering study ultimately changed the concept of symbols which provided a framework for interpreting and understanding iconography and iconology. his theories also examined the psychology and mental processes involved in interpretation and understanding creative work. icons and symbols are not arbitrary, so this belief blurs the meaning-making components of signs and visual language. the images form the identity of the object that distinguishes places from ideas and must have meaning and sufficient value for orientation (figure 4). the relationship between symbols and society as well as the association between human mobility and spatial orientation makes a theoretical framework of visual culture fig. 2 this icon is communicative as well as informative for non-english speaking customers. source: identity group, 2016 fig. 3 this icon is also communicative as well as informative for non-chinese speaking customers. source: david gibson, 2009 http://www.identitygroup.com/3810-2/ lloyd robinson 102 in urban environments. attempting to inform and persuade, designs are developed as an argument within a two-dimensional space that defines an audience’s future experience (tyler, 1992). though sign design creates some sort of experience for the user, experience is rarely the primary communication goal of signs. this is because signs in wayfinding are as conversational as they are experiential. fig. 4 place identity: stadium. source: author findings between signs and multimodality there are no connections between a symbol and what it represents. however, standards and conventions aid the connectivity between symbols and what they represent. according to bradley (2016), in identifying language, numbers, traffic lights and even flags as symbols, what is to be communicated must be learned. this is because the connections must be learned from interpretation, and it gradually becomes associated with the idea or concept it represents over time. a sign provides a means to understanding how people exchange meaning (mavers, nd). signs form a whole when a multimodal methodology is utilized and encompasses all modes of representation and communication. a strand of cognitive study in the context of multimodality lies in how different modes of representation might influence human interaction, interpretation and meaning making. various studies suggest that different modes of visual representation and communication change the way information is perceived and understood. various strands investigate patterns in reception of http://www.vanseodesign.com/about/ meaning-making in city orientation:… 103 multimodality, particularly factors that influence the perception and interpretation process (price & pontual falcao, 2011). perception and interpretation of visual messages are perceived as interactive meeting between the users and the multimodal message (holsanova, 2010), so, the meaning is created by the individual recipients by multiple factors affecting their means of integrating different modes of representation. the expected connection between a signifier and a signified in symbols is completely arbitrary and must be culturally learned even though symbols are perceived to be at the opposite end from icons (bradley, 2016). a wayfinding icon can become a symbol over time through constant usage. an example is the floppy disk icon that is still used to represent saving a digital file, even though floppy disks are no longer in use. icons normally bear a physical resemblance to what is being represented, and there are four types of iconic representation: resemblance icons which are direct likenesses of the objects they represent; exemplar icons which depict a common example of the class of objects they represent; symbolic icons which convey a concept at a higher level of abstraction than the object depicted; and the arbitrary icon that has no relationship to a concept and their association must be learned (bradley, 2016). symbols and icons are best used when the actions, objects, or concepts being represented are wellestablished. summary the rationality of icons and symbols for orientation lies in their ability to visually communicate and direct. symbolism will continue to aspire in bridging linguistic gaps in diverse sociocultural environments. as urban landscapes increasingly become more culturally diverse, symbols will continue to shape and influence environmental communication. it has been tempting to assume all signs communicate in the same way, but different types of signs communicate quite differently in a variety of ways. this lloyd robinson 104 phenomenon is the creation of images that resemble what they represent or through what they represent and the meaning they create. iconography and symbolism have harmonized well with some key visual communication theories but in some cases, have conflicted with cognitive psychology. the strength of iconographic tools derives from their ability to visually articulate meaning and fluidity in orientation within the dimensions of a particular place. by identifying the essential elements of place, signs in wayfinding facilitate a broad understanding of how the concept of direction is constructed and opens avenues of visual inquiry and analyses into the details of this process. information is a universal need, but vital information is not readily available to everyone, hence a philosophy was adopted by this paper that heightens the importance of wayfinding and places priorities on sign design. because of signs’ visual impact, trans-disciplinary collaboration, it is hoped, will expand the conversation about spatial intentions and orientation. in this essay, signs in urban wayfinding have not been seen as a triumph of imagery over cognition, but as a bridge of representation and specificity. their simplicity makes icons and symbols unique, freeing them of any form of bias or idiosyncrasy. this calls for people to find meaning in iconographic simplicity even with abstraction. references barry, p. (2002) beginning theory: an introduction to literary and cultural theory, manchester university press, great britain bernard, h. r. (2006) research methods in anthropology: qualitative and quantitative approaches. 4th ed. oxford, uk: altamira press boulton, m. (2005) icons, symbols, and a semiotic web. in: the personal disquiet of mark boulton. retrieved from: meaning-making in city orientation:… 105 https://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/icons-symbols-anda-semiotic-web bradley, s. (2016) icon, index, and symbol: three categories of signs. retrieved from: http://vanseodesign.com/webdesign/icon-index-symbol/ accessed: may 24, 2016. brier, s. (2004) cybersemiotics and the problems of the information-processing paradigm as a candidate for a unified science of information behind library information science. gale group burke, k. (1966) language as symbolic action: essays on life, literature, and method. berkeley: university of california press. vol. 44, no.3 pp. 664-669, doi: 10.2307/411740 retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/411740. cassirer, e. (1955) philosophy of symbolic forms. transl. ralph manheim new haven: yale university press. first published (1925) p83-84 culler, j. (1976) saussure. fontana modern masters, britain d'alleva, a. (2005) methods and theory of art history. london: laurence king publishing eliade, m. (1961) images and symbols: studies in religious symbolism. transl. mairet, p., london: harvill press frey, i. (2013) signage, orientation, identity. a conversation with cornelia vossen. berlin: moniteurs gmbh communication design p48–50 gibson, d. (2009), the wayfinding handbook: information design for public places. new york: princeton architectural press golledge, r. g. (ed.). (1999) wayfinding behaviour: cognitive mapping and other spatial processes. baltimore, maryland: the john hopkins university press. grayson, k. (1998) the icons of consumer research. in stern, b. (ed), representing consumers. new york: routledge, 27-43 p.36 https://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/icons-symbols-and-a-semiotic-web https://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/icons-symbols-and-a-semiotic-web http://www.vanseodesign.com/about/ http://vanseodesign.com/web-design/icon-index-symbol/%20accessed:%20may http://vanseodesign.com/web-design/icon-index-symbol/%20accessed:%20may lloyd robinson 106 herbert, l. (2006) the semiotic square. in hébert, l. (dir.), signo [online] rimouski, quebec. retrieved from: http://www.signosemio.com/greimas/semiotic-square.asp. holly, m. a. (1984) panofsky and the foundations of art history. ithaca, ny: cornell university press, 130-57 holsanova, j. (2008) discourse, vision, and cognition. amsterdam/philadelphia: benjamins hourihane, c. (2005) iconography: new dictionary of the history of ideas. the gale group. retrieved from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/iconography.aspx howard, s. (1996) on iconology, intention, imagos, and myths of meaning artibus et historiae vol. 17, no. 34 pp. 83-90 published by: irsa s.c. retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1483525. accessed: 28/10/2015 jameson, f. (1972) the prison-house of language. princeton, nj: princeton university press (see rick poynor, 2003) jay, m. (2002) that visual turn: the advent of visual culture. journal of visual culture 1 (1) 90 – 91 kepes, g. (1995) language of vision. new york: dover publications, usa. original publication: chicago: paul theobald, 1944 liu, k., crum, g. and dines, k. (1998) semiotics, users and design. in: international journal of behaviour & information technology, vol 17, no.3, pp175-184 lupton, e. and miller, j. a. (2006) (eds.) the abcs of the bauhaus and design theory. london: thames & hudson. p3 mavers, d. (ed.) (nd) signs: glossary of multimodal terms. national centre for research methods. https://multimodalityglossary.wordpress.com/sign mirzoeff, n. (2009) an introduction to visual culture. 2nd edition, new york: routledge. http://www.signosemio.com/greimas/semiotic-square.asp http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/iconography.aspx http://www.jstor.org/publisher/irsa http://www.jstor.org/stable/1483525 https://multimodalityglossary.wordpress.com/ https://multimodalityglossary.wordpress.com/sign meaning-making in city orientation:… 107 panofsky, e. (1970) meaning in the visual arts. harmondsworth: penguin, 205 peirce, c. s. (1955) philosophical writings of peirce. j. buchler (ed.), new york: dover publications peirce, c. s. (1911) a logical criticism of the articles of religious belief. retrieved from: http://www.commens.org/bibliography/manuscript/peircecharles-s-1911-logical-criticism-articles-religious-belief-msr-856, october 28, 2016 price, s. and pontual falcao, t. (2011) where the attention is: discovery learning in novel tangible environments. interacting with computers, 23, (5) p. 499-512 robinson, l. (2023) iconography of navigational signs: a wayfinding intervention for the diobu area of port harcourt. phd. thesis, university of port harcourt, nigeria ryder, m. (2006) semiotics: language and culture. retrieved from: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/semiotics_este.html. april 27, 2016 saussure, ferdinand de (1915/1983) courses in general linguistics. charles bally & albert sechahaye (ed), trans. roy harris, london: duckworth saussure, ferdinand de (1916/1956) course in general linguistics. wade baskin (trans.) new york: mcgraw hill. p122-127 sebeok, t. (1976) contributions to the doctrine of signs. bloomington: indiana university press sobottka, j. (2010) signs: symbol, index, and icon. in design theory. retrieved from: https://yusylvia.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/signs-symbolindex-and-icon/. accessed september 20, 2016 tyler, a. c. (1992) shaping belief: the role of audience in visual communication. in design issues, 9 (1) http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/semiotics_este.html https://yusylvia.wordpress.com/category/design-theory/ https://yusylvia.wordpress.com/category/design-theory/ https://yusylvia.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/signs-symbol-index-and-icon/ https://yusylvia.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/signs-symbol-index-and-icon/ ezemo, et al 78 chapter six drawing as a form of two-dimensional art uchechukwu ezeemo, valentine ani, chijioke asogwa introduction rawing is the art of representing objects in lines. ndubisi (2010) sees drawing as the act of producing or creating a visual object using pencils, chalk, charcoal and other related materials. drawing can also be seen as the art of using lines to define the shapes of an object in chiding man and animals, egonwa (2012). again, read (1972p. 51) describes drawing as delineation which remains one of the most essential elements of visual arts – even in sculpture. it is a way of training the eyes and promoting visual and muscular coordination. in drawing, one develops the habit of observing which can be achieved through regular practice. observation is very important in drawing. it provides an avenue for one to glance at an object, look at the object very thoroughly and examine its length, shape, size, and surface, and observe the shadows, shades and reflection of the light in an object. in art, drawing is important to all forms of visual art activities. drawing is basic to other forms of art exercise. it is a form of making pictures. drawing is the oldest form d drawing as a form of two-dimensional art 79 of visual art expression, horst (1980). it will enable one to acquire the skill of seeing, observing and expressing. drawing also needs interest and patience. materials used in drawing drawing materials are those things which are used to make a drawing of any kind. ngumah, et al (2013) listed drawing material as; paper, drawing book, pencils, drawing set, rulers, drawing pins, pastels, ink, colour brush drawing materials also include; soft lead grades of pencils 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b, and so on, charcoal, pen, ink, markers, chalk of various colours crayons, pastels, and a drawing board. types of drawing ogumor (2007) explains that drawings have various types such as; still-life, nature, figure and imaginative drawings. other forms of drawing are landscape drawing, seascape drawing, and cityscape drawing, ngumah, et al (2013). the genres of drawing are explained herein: still life drawing this entails the drawing of man-made objects, including compositions. still-life drawing means drawing life-less or still-life objects. examples of still-life objects ezemo, et al 80 are a ball, chair, table, bottle, stone, wood, shoes, bone, book, bell, musical instruments, cup, pot, spoon, and so on. nature drawing nature drawing refers to drawing things from nature, more especially fascinating arrangements. among such are plants, leaves, flowers fruits, insects, animals, birds, the bark of trees and tree trunks. such is called ‘nature drawing’ because the drawn objects are sourced from the natural environment. figure drawing this entails the drawing of posed human figures. figure drawing models can be in full pose, that is, from head to toe or portrait; that is from head to shoulder. there are three views of the human figure, front view, profile view (side view), and three-quarter view (3/4 view). in figure drawing, a person who poses to be drawn is called a model. fig 1: figure drawing. emodi, 2020 drawing as a form of two-dimensional art 81 imaginative drawing it is a drawing from the memory. imaginative drawing is done, not by looking at composed objects. imaginative drawing can be based on still life, nature, a figure, or a composition of any two or all of the above. it can be a composition of an event scene. examples of imaginative drawing are; the market scene, recollecting the knowledge of a market, the women in the market, items for sale in the market, customers buying goods stalls, foreground and background of the landscape. the scene can be a typical village one or that of a city market. another good example of imaginative drawing is a local festival. local festivals are colourful and gay masquerades, masks and different attires depicting the locality. land scape drawing fig 2: landscape drawing. emodi, 2020 ezemo, et al 82 landscape drawing is the drawing of things seen in the environment. a landscape drawing is an outdoor drawing. it includes drawing trees, land, houses, roads, etc. abstraction abstraction is the most challenging genre of drawing. there human imagination fully takes control. this entails using a lot of symbols and representations. abstraction drawing is completely that of the artist and the artist is also the interpreter of whatever is delineated by the artist. fig 3: uche okeke, refugee family 1966, linotype seascape drawing: a seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words, an example of marine art. the word originated as a drawing as a form of two-dimensional art 83 formation from the landscape, which was first used in images of land in art. just like in seascape painting, landscape drawing shows mainly the water bodies, reflections, and vegetation around it. city scape drawing this genre refers to drawings showing a metropolitan area, with high-rise buildings, hustling and bustling human activities, and vehicular traffic. new directions in drawing with the invention of graphic tablets, graphic tabs or digitizers, the art of drawing has advanced with many styles and techniques being experimented with by programmers and artists, respectively. a graphics tablet is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper (carrillo, cejudo, domingues and rodrigues, 2013 p. 12). while some artists prefer to draw directly on screen with these tools, others prefer to transform their drawings from paper to digital interphase. evaluation 1. carefully describe the art of drawing 2. draw two (2) objects found in the classroom. 3. explain two (2) types of drawing 4. list the materials used in drawing 5. what is a graphic tablet? ezemo, et al 84 references carrillo, a., cejudo, j, dominguez, f, and rodrigues, e (2013). graphics tablet technology in second year thermal engineering teaching. in journal of technology and science education. 3(3). www.dx.doi.org/10.3926/jotse.85 egonwa, o.d. (2012): nigerian art: introductory notes. ibadan: ababa press ltd. ndubisi ogomma a. (2010) a hand book on textile, emyn nigeria, hugetez publisher. ngumah, h. c, ayoola, o., dalhatu, s., and samkay, a. (2013) cultural and creative arts for junior secondary schools. ibadan: evans brothers nigeria ltd. ogumor, e. (2007). certificate art. 4th edition. ibadan: evans press ltd read, herbert (1972): the meaning of art. england: faber and faber ltd. http://www.dx.doi.org/10.3926/jotse.85 posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 1 women and nation building: a study of ngugi and mugo’s the trial of dedan kimathi and tess onwueme’s tell it to women ifeoma odinye department of english language and literature nnamdi azikiwe university, awka ifeomaodinye@gmail.com abstract this study examines the role of women in nation building as seen in ngugi and mugo’s the trial of dedan kimathi and tess onwueme’s tell it to women. it analyses the functions of literature in the society and women’s participation in nation building which is an important ingredient in achieving an equitable, peaceful and more prosperous society in a male constructed world. the role of women in nation building can no longer be overlooked in this contemporary african society; this is why many african writers try to remould and project the image of women in their works by presenting them as advocators for social change in a disintegrated and disorganized society. ngugi , mugo and onwueme in their above mentioned plays present women as gents of social consciousness , mothers and advocators for change; these women are also represented as symbolic figures of nationalism and patriotism as they engage in the fight for a better and well ordered society. therefore, these women are represented in the plays as reckoned forces of struggle for independence and social development. key words: women, literature, nation building introduction women are very ambitious and eager to rewrite history, reform societies and participate actively in politics. many african nations have produced women professionals and intellectuals whose leadership qualities catapulted the nations to greater heights. these women have made their impact felt in issues of nation building and national development. they have participated actively from different angles of human endeavour such as wives, mothers, teachers, politicians, lawyers, traders, to mention but a few. the task of national development and nation building commences from the posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 2 home, which is the primary constituency for all women. hence in discharging their duties as wives, mothers and home builders, women unconsciously lay the foundation of a solid nation. emordi, joy in her paper entitled women empowerment and nation building: the role of unity colleges defines ‘nation building’ as a “legitimate political process to establish a system of governance and ability to maintain order , guarantee the fulfillment of international obligations and human right and deliver essential social services. it is the establishment of equitable, democratic and egalitarian society in which the rights of men and women are respected”(1). emordi further states in her above mentioned article “that the woman is a citizen, a worker, a professional, a director, a nation builder, a mother and a home maker. a nation is a conglomeration of homes and the woman is fully involved from its cleaning to its full management. she should be fully involved and participate in key decision both in the home and in political structures. the role of women in the family which is the unit of society cannot be overemphasized. this also goes to the larger society in the nation” (2-3) . in this contemporary african society, women have been participating actively in nation building and have also in different capacities effectively contributed to the development of different sectors in society. in nigeria, women like okonjo iwuala (finance minister), obiageli ezekwesili (education minister), dora akunyili (director, nafdac) and others have contributed their quota in building the nation (nigeria). they have made efforts to revolutionize different sectors under their care. many countries in africa are encouraging women professionals who possess leadership potentials that can help in nation building. some of these leadership contributions and efforts are documented by literary artists in order to expose varied experiences of women in society. thus, these women are brought alive to their challenges making then resist all forms of subjugation. literature and nation building the role of literature in constructing and inventing national identities cannot be overlooked because literature does not grow or develop in a vacuum; it is given shape, direction and concern by social, political and economic forces in an existing society. hence, it is an important tool in the process of building a nation and creating national identity. in an attempt to explore these identities, posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 3 writers have exposed the various roles fictional characters play which are geared toward developing and constructing national identities. the concept of identity is one subjective element that has raised questions among contemporary writers. it gives an insight into how literature presents the roles or contributions of men and women in building the nation. over the years, men’s roles and contributions in national development are well projected by fictional artists, while little has been said about women’s participation in building the nation. contextualizing historically and culturally, feminist writers have explored the achievements and contributions of exceptional women characters who contributed immensely to the nation. these achievements have been marginalized and misrepresented in literary records which also triggered a debate on the roles and contributions of women in nation building. the literary discourse on women begun in a novel (efuru, 1966) written by a female african writer, flora nwapa, the first black african writer in the english language. her works (efuru, one is enough, women are different, idu) portray women in a credible and realistic light. women explored their potentials in her works not withstanding any form of opposition and attained their climax. some writers have also presented their views on women’s roles but emphasized more on the collective efforts of men and women in reshaping the society which can lead to a more organized, peaceful and equitable society the place or position of the african women in society has aroused a lot of controversies in written african literature. many feminist writers believe that african women’s potentials and contributions are not fully represented or documented; this explains why they try to represent these experiences in their fictional works for literary documentation and public awareness. this paper does not tilt towards agitation for women’s right or the equality of men and women; rather it suggests that men and women can work together for a better and well ordered society. literature has been a vehicle for enforcing social change in any given literate society. many contemporary writers present women as the heroines for social change as they try to create the dynamic and resourcefulness of women in their literary works. hence women’s role in nation building can no longer be overlooked in the social circles of every society, and this gives the new generation of african writers a better chance of representing women as advocators for social change in a challenging world. based on this view, iheukwueze in “triumph of the hero”: the trial of dedan kimathi gives a posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 4 heroic view of female characters stating: i feel that we cannot talk of total liberation for africa unless the women are also completely liberated…i am more concerned with a waste of women in a neo-colonial society. their energy is completely wasted or imprisoned if you like, between the bed and the kitchen – we are the losers for imprisoning or confining our women in that position. take it this way, since women form above half the population of their total abilities, you are in fact, not making use of the abilities of the population.(2) in some african societies, the issues of women’s role and development are still determined by men. women are regarded as mere figures rather than assets in different levels of development or sectors of life. however, there is need to improve and change the image of women in society as this will help create a better and diversified society. in view of the above statement, uchendu patrick comments that: men cannot claim exclusive right to shape the future of our world. it is time for them to accept challenges and share with men in decision making process. it is high time they acknowledged that the denial of women’s right and opportunities, is the root of our developmental problems and social economic ills…(64) women and nation building as seen in ngugi and mugo’s the trials of dedan kimathi ngugi wa thiong’o and mugo micere are among the major playwrights in africa that created awareness on the importance of women’s participation in their plays/works. the play, the trial of dedan kimathi is one of such plays that projected women as ‘strong willed’ individuals in the face of struggle and political upheaval. the play depicts the colonial struggle and historical events associated with the mau-mau struggle in kenya. ngugi notes that the play explores the struggle of the peasants, “who for the last seven years stood opposed to foreign interference and oppression” (46). however, this struggle is perceived as historical efforts of men, women and young children in the kenyan society. this simply shows that the fight for a better society in kenya posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 5 was not left for men only, since women actively participated in the struggle. the trial of dedan kimathi is written by ngugi wa thiong’o with the collaboration of mugo micere githae in 1976; their play is a response to colonialist writings about the kenyan society and the mau mau movement which depicted the fight for political independence in the fifties. ngugi and mugo have built powerful and challenging views of the circumstances surrounding dedan kimathi in this play. their mastery is seen in their ability to expose the role played by women in the struggle and determination for self liberation in postcolonial kenya. this is an aspect neglected by many prominent african writers on the struggle for independence which has attracted feminist attention. in the trial of dedan kimathi, the plot of the play shows the efforts of a nameless woman, who is the symbolic figure of nationalism and patriotism. the woman is a symbolic representation of all women and mothers in general. the nameless woman educates the boy and girl on the plight of their society as well as the evils of imperialism and colonization. she believes that selfless struggle cannot be based on sentiments, therefore, she urges kimathi to be courageous; not to be weighed down by his family problems and challenges. as a good mother and mentor (elder), she rebukes the boy and the girl who represent the ignorant citizens of kenya as they fight over gain. the woman teaches them the importance of love and unity and sends them on a great mission in the struggle. she gives them the gun wrapped with home-made bread for the liberation of kimathi during the trial. by doing this, she instills the spirit of nationalism into the boy and the girl as they embark on a mission to salvage the mau mau leader. this scene reveals the woman’s role as a reckoning force in effecting change in the colonial kenya. she calmly tells the young boy and girl: the day you understand why your father died. the day you ask yourself whether it was right for him to die so; the day you ask yourself “what can i do so that another shall not be made to die under such grisly circumstance?” that day, my son, you will become a man…(19) the woman is very active in the play and her role is very indispensable. her activities add to the strength of the struggle towards independence and liberation/release of dedan kimathi. thus, the woman is projected as a force of change in a changing society. this can be inferred from the woman’s statement: “in the struggle, you learn to adapt to change circumstances…; posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 6 there is not a place i have not visited, create risks but the task once started must be completed” (60). the woman emerges as an ordinary citizen in kenyan society to become one of the reckoned forces of the struggle for independence. it is important to note that the woman’s roles as a mother, teacher and a strategist go a long way in buttressing the role of a woman in a disintegrated society. she showcases her self-will and courage when she disguised herself as an orange seller in order to smuggle a gun into kimathi’s cell. the woman’s role as a strategist is not underestimated in the first movement when she is caught and interviewed by the white soldier. the great wits and intelligence exemplified by the woman during this interview and tensed situation show that women have a unique way of handling serious issues. the woman’s roles in the play are dynamic in nature; her role as a soldier is evident in the scene in the forest where she fought as a mau-mau guerilla fighters and she is also a ceasefire member of the counsel in the jungle. the woman’s role as a teacher is seen where she tries to educate the guerilla fighters on the modern concept of kinship. she also plays the role of a mother when she advised kimathi to hold fast and be focused in the fight for independence. she states: thinking about the past and the dear ones we left behind can weaken our resolve; you are a leader of a revolution, you must decide. but remember all others have left their wives, their children, their mothers behind.(77) the significance of the woman’s role as a teacher is very symbolic. it suggests that kenya is ripe for nationalistic struggle and liberation. it is also important to note that the nameless woman represents every woman in kenya who engages in the struggle for liberation. the woman’s wits and feminine nature enables her to penetrate all the white men’s security zones. she disguises herself as a fruit seller to make sure that she accomplishes her mission .this action makes her a good strategist in the struggle. her fight doesn’t stop there; she totally committed herself to the struggle for independence. she directs the boy and the girl on their specific roles in the court room. she says: posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 7 i shall first go in dressed to kill, you will follow dressed as you are. i will speak to kimathi with my eyes. when i cough you start shouting. in the confusion dedan will follow me.(61) the woman is full of courage, strength and intelligence. the woman, girl and the boy are willing to give their lives for the liberation of dedan kimathi. however, the woman’s role is very dynamic in nature; she represents the figure of a revolutionary mother in kenya as well as leadership role of women in the society. we should also mark her role from an ordinary prostitute to a nationalist fighter. this nationalist energy, she transfers to the boy and girl as they attempt to liberate kimathi from prison. women and nation building as seen in tess onwueme’s tell it to women. tess onwueme’s play tell it to women, written in 1992 also deals with women’s recognition, solidarity and empowerment. the playwright’s play falls in the category of ideological consciousness. she emphasizes that for human beings to achieve peace and suppress human oppression, there must be a collective struggle .in view of the above statement, otukunefo states that: …her thematic fixation has not merely been conditioned by the fashionable stance of presenting female angle but rather a more liberal approach of focusing attention on typical issues in the contemporary nigerian society. this is perhaps her way of contending that the african woman writer like her male counterparts is a member of specific society whose experiences discriminates between the sexes.(53) the play is an ideologically and politically powerful work. in this work, the reader travels back to a nigerian village in post-colonial africa which is an epic drama for women. the play explores the role of women within the nigerian rural setting. it educates the audience about different aspects of traditionalism and modernism as well as how different cultures are viewed. it is important to note that the play presents women as agents of social posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 8 consciousness, mothers and advocators for change. the play explores the emergence of rural and urban women who came together to address their perceived oppression by a patriarchal social system. it reveals an attempt by women to unite and present a common front in improving their living conditions which brings to light the great discrepancies in a universal ideology. the writer’s primary aim is the empowerment of the female gender. the government through the proposal made by the nation’s first lady to launch a “better-life program” tries to improve the quality of lives of the rural women who have suffered abandonment and marginalization both in domestic and public spheres for many years. the rural women believe that this project would bring change and development as well as improve their lives in the village. the play centers on yemoja, the principal character of the play and two feminist western –educated scholars, daisy and ruth .these women are also seen as the antagonists in the play because their actions negate the culture of the idu society. daisy and ruth are leaders of the “better life for rural women campaign” which encourages women to believe in themselves. yemoja is nominated as a mediator between the village and city women which broadened her view and understanding about her immediate society. this programme causes a great misunderstanding between husbands and wives; men and women and different personalities in the village.yemoja’s husband and father revolt against her participation in the movement which she vehemently rejects by her strong determination. also, in daisy‘s home, her husband okei disagrees with her passion for the feminist movement and they always quarrel about it. the playwright through the character of adaku emphasizes on the need for men and women to work together for the good of the society. in the play, adaku, who is the leader of umuada council of idu has the wisdom of a good mother. she advises that women should not try to replace the men in their roles nor men replace women; rather, they should compliment each other for the growth of the society. adaku states: …this thing about taking power from men and giving it to women is where i have a problem. if you concentrate power in one part male or female , think of the problem that will cause… what becomes of the family…and now the family head must be turned upside down and men for and women…to live posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 9 and a better life.(35-38) adaku also expresses the women’s happiness for a positive and new change when she states“… at last we shall reap the fruits…. something new and bright is here to bring light into our lives!” (28)however, these women look forward to a new phase in their lives where the government through its female representatives, will improve the standard of living in their community. yemoja as an agent of social consciousness in the play is chosen by the rural women to be a middle person between the rural and urban women. she accepts the leadership role despite great opposition by the members of her family. but she maintains: why must i be afraid to set out when i know that all there is in life is the journey? i am ready. let me go! i love the family and want to remain an integral part of the circle…. if when i return, my father tells me there is no place for me in his homestead ;i shall understand, if i return, and my husband tells me there is no place for me on his bed. i shall understand. but for now let me go….(77-78) yemoja resists her family’s disapproval of her new post and holds on to her decision. her family tries to prevent her from gaining social recognition but her zeal for change and transformation carried her on. tess onwueme presents yemoja as a rebel; she plays the role of a leader and at the same time revolts against all factors that do not promote their tradition. at the last movement of the play, yemoja who sees herself in the city defeats her oppressors (the urban women) at the launching ceremony of the “better life program”. she succeeds in creating awareness in the society, and also instills consciousness in her father, mother, husband and bose, who is daisy’s daughter. in the city, yemoja distinguishes her personality as a promoter of the idu tradition and cultural values rather than the western value. she leads the women well in the city and through her good leadership, the launching of the better life program emerges successful as they promote the native idu new yam festival. onwueme tries to show that the rural women are always relegated to the background by the civilized women, thus, the arrival of the posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 10 rural women in the city as seen in the play reshapes them from the ignorance of rural life to greater awareness. this is seen in adaku’s statement: we too have our own wisdom, we have our own power we have our magic. if they proclaim freedom, why must they not let me define for myself what that freedom means? why must we be forced to view the world with only their eyes? are we blind? (234-238) with the support of yemoja and adaku, the rural women revolted against the modern women as they changed the launching ceremony to the victory of the idu women and the traditional values. the modern women are utterly disgraced. we should note that the modern figures are represented by daisy and ruth. daisy, a director of women affairs in government, and ruth, a feminist scholar, are two urban women who become the rural women’s “mouthpieces” for the new project. they made promises of equal partnership between the rural and urban women as well as ensuring that there is no form of discrimination in the new project. according to them, these projects are made to encourage women to realize their potentials and self worth and also…break boundaries of confinements and compartmentalization of our potentialities in the oppressive, despotic and tyrannical hegemony of patriarchy imposed on women these many years… (30). yemoja, one of the rural women, is chosen to represent the rural women in their political, economic and social welfare in the city. she accompanies daisy and ruth in order to learn and prepare the other rural women when they come to the city for the launching of the better life project .the attempt to bring equality among women and improve the life of the oppressed ones proved futile. through the help of yemoja and adaku, the rural women are able to revolt against the urban women. according to them, ‘they cannot drown our steps with a marching song .why must we abandon our own dance to march to another’s steps”. bose, daisy’s daughter is incorporated into the native ritual dance; daisy and ruth try to stop her but the rural women forced them to dance. this is very symbolic as it denotes the triumph of the rural women and their tradition over everything modern especially the urban women and their adopted western values. daisy posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 11 and ruth are two female characters that the playwright employed to symbolically represent the radical nature of women in the city as she tries to create gender imbalances in their social relationships with the rural women. these women are deceptive, inconsiderate, intolerant and arrogant with no respect for their idu culture and customs .yemoja later realizes that all women are not the same as exemplified in the characters of daisy and ruth. the negative attitude of these two women is contrary to the perception which acknowledges that ‘all women are the same’. it is very important to note that onwueme presents her female characters as people who rise above cultural and family limitation as a means of realizing self. yemoja who is termed rural in nature moves from her rural environment to the city where she devised her own strategy for survival. however, she later triumphed over the urban women as a result of her strong nature and quest for change. in the play, it is also important to note the roles of the women as a unit called the ‘umuada’; the umuada’ in the play simply acts as political rural group that checkmates wars, quarrels and also maintains peace in the idu society. however, onwueme in her play attempts to warn women against imitating western values, especially modern ones that affect positive traditional ways of life and human relationship as seen in the characters of daisy and ruth. conclusion in conclusion, this study has brought to light that both dramatists depict women’s role as complementary to that of men in society. they also present a situation where women’s roles contribute to social change and growth for sustainable development. the thematic thrust of the plays the trial of dedan kimathi and tell it to women hinges on the issue of women’s active participation in nation building at different levels in society for change and peaceful co-existence. ngugi, mugo and onwueme through their presentations in their various plays justify that women like their male counterparts are great forces for social change. the roles and struggles in the above mentioned plays explore the heroic dimensions of these women to their societies at large. the dramatists are also of the opinion that women who are very rural, passive and docile can be pushed by circumstances around them to struggle for social justice and change. finally, the playwrights view women as mothers, iconoclasts, strategists, soldiers and promoters of social consciousness and these qualities are well represented in their various plays. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 12 ngugi, mugo and onwueme did not just empower their female characters in their male dominated literary thoughts but explored their strength, talents, skills and potentials. it is therefore imperative for women’s participation and contributions in nation building to be documented in written literature as this would encourage women’s interest in contributing positively to national development. references amuta, chidi. the nigerian women as a dramatist: the instance of tess onwueme in nigerian female writers, lagos, 1989. print. …………….. towards a sociology of african literature. nigeria zim pan: african publishers, 1986.print. emodi, joy. women empowerment and nation building: the role of unity colleges. (a lecture delivered on the 25th anniversary of federal government girls’ college , bwari, abuja, 23rd february, 2009).web. ihekwuezu,edith. “triumph of the hero”: the trial of dedan kimathi.london: hienemann, 1976. print. ngugi wa thiong’o and mugo micere githea. the trial of dedan kimathi.london: hienemann, 1976.print. ngugi wa thiong’o .home coming .london: hienemann, 1995.print. nwankwo, chimalum. the works of ngugi wa thiong’o towards the kingdom of women and man.london nigeria plc, 1992.print. onwueme, tess. tell it to women. detriot:wayne university press,1992. print. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 13 onyerionwu, ezechi. 21st century nigerian literature. ibadan: kraftbook, 2009.print. otokunefo,henrieta and nwode,obiageli. nigerian female writers. lagos: malthouse press limited, 1989.print. uchendu, patrick.the role of nigerian women in politics. enugu: fourth dimension publishers, 1993.print. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 315 ejima okwu ‘elu na ala’ na nzipxta ha n’aha nd{ igbo qb[ageli theresa nsolibe mahadum chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu, {gbaar[am, steeti anambara ndubanye asxsx bx ihe mmadx ji ekwu okwu ma bxrxkwa ihe ad[gh[ mfe. q bx ya mere nd[ igbo ji as[ na okwu abxgh[ [tq kqbq. asxsx bx ihe ngalaba amxmamx lingwistiks na-eleba anya. hudson (1981, 27) lebara anya na ngalaba qmxmx lingwistiks otu kqwara ya d[ka qmxmx asxsx site n’otu o siri metx qha. nkqwa ya na-egosi na tupu mmadx na ibe ya enwee nzikqr[ta ozi maqbx mmekqr[ta n’xd[ qbxla, onye ahx aghagh[ ileba anya mata ot́u ́ asxsx ahx siri metxta qha maqbx ot́u ́nd[ qha si eji asxsx ahx ekwu okwu. otu ̀qbxla nwere xzq ha si emebe okwu ha na-ekwu, mgbe ha ji ekwu ya na usoro ha si ekwu ya. na nkqwa xm̀a ̀okwu, sapirwhorf (1976:11) s[r[ na asxsx na-egosipxta nkwenye nd[, ka ha si eche echiche nakwa ka ha si ahxta xwa ha nq n’ime ya. ha na-egosi ihe nd[ a n’xzq ha si ahazi okwu. nd[ igbo na-egosi d[ ka nkwenye ha siri d[ na ihe xwa na-aga abxq abxq. ha na-eji nhazi okwu n’xd[ ejima okwu egosi nke a. q bx nkwenye a mere na n’ime akwxkwq ejije qjaad[l[ (pp. 40) qzq ̀si, “{bq na {bq kwx. {bq na [bq kwx. nke a, kedx nwanne g[?” ajxjx a gos[r[ na nd[ igbo kwenyere na okwu na ihe na-aga abxq abxq. n’ikwado echiche a, nwqga (1984:22) s[r[ na nd[ igbo kwenyere site na nhxrx xwa ha na ihe na-aga abuq abxq. ha naegosi xd[ nkwenye a site n’ ot́u ̀xzq ha si ahazi okwu bx ejima okwu. ejima okwu d[ qtxtx n’asxsx igbo. ha d[ xd[ abxq n’asxsx igbo. xd[ abxq ahx bx xd[ nke ‘enyi onye kpqrq ibe ya” na nke “ngakqr[ta n’xd[ ntxghar[”. ejima okwu nke ‘enyi onye kpqrq ibe ya’ bx xd[ nke q bx a kpqq ot́u,̀ a kpqqla nke qzq. ije ha bx ije ejula na nk[rikq ya. o nwegh[ ka a kpqq aha nke a ghara [kpq nke qzq. ije ha bx ije mwx na nkwx. {ma atx ha gxnyere: 1.mgba na qgx, 2.imi na qnx, 3.xkwx na aka na nd[ qzq. ejima okwu nke ‘ngakqr[ta n’xd[ ntxghar[‘ bx okwu nd[ ha abxq bx ntxghar[. nke a pxtara na ihe nke mbx na-ekwu bx ntxghar[ ihe nke abxq na-ekwu. na mkpxrxokwu abxq a d[ na ntxghar[ egbochigh[ ha ijikq aka gosipxta ot́u ̀nghqta d[ ka akpaalaokwu ha bx. okwu nd[ dabara ebe a gxnyere: 4.ihx na azx, 5.nne and nna, 6.elu na ala, 7.mmiri na anwx, 8.oke na nwunye na nd[ qzq. n’edemede a, any[ ga-eleba anya n’ejima okwu a bx ‘elu na ala’. ha bx ejima okwu metxtara ekpemekpe nd[ igbo. nd[ igbo na-ahxta elu na ala n’ekpemekpe ha xzq abxq. nke [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 316 mbx, ha na-ahxta ha d[ka chukwu. nke a pxtara chi ukwu. nke a ka xmx obere chi nd[ igbo na-esi n’aka ha agwa chukwu okwu. nke abxq bx na nd[ igbo kwenyekwara na elu na ala bx ebe obibi chukwu. q bx ya mere mgbe ha na-etu chukwu aha, ha na-as[ na q bx onye ji elu mere oche ma were xwa mere ebe mgbakwasa xkwx. ka nd[ igbo si were ihe nd[ a bx nke ha na-egosi site n’xd[ aha ha na-aza. xd[ aha a bx ahaaka nke q bx nna nwe ezinaxxlq na-aba nd[ be ya (xmx) site ka qnodx ya d[ mgbe xmx ya nd[ ahx pxtara xwa. aha nna bara ya na-egosi ka xwa si debere ya ihu. q bx ya mere achebe (1975:96) jiri s[ na { chqq [ma ka xwa si meso nwoke, ebe ka mma [ ga-esi chqpxta nke a bx n’aha xmx ya na-aza. sie sind ein schatz nkqwa ejima okwu emenanjq na oweleke (2007) kqwara ejima okwu d[ka ud[r[ akpaalaokwu pxrx iche nke aha ya si n’qkaasxsx igbo wee pxta. ihe na-emebe ejima okwu bx aha abxo maqbx aha na aha na-agakq qnx n’xd[ [magba okwu maqbx okwu abxq imeju onwe ha. okwu abxq a naagakq qnx d[ka xmx ejima a mxrx otu mgbe si agakq. qtxtx n’ime ejima okwu e nwere n’asxsx igbo ka e bidoro mgbe gboo na-ekwukqta qnx ma na-etinyekq qnx n’okwu nke mere na o nwegh[z[ otu a ga-esi edesa ha edesa. ejima okwu na-egos[pxta qtxtx ihe (i) ha nwere ike na-ekwu maka otu ihe n’agbanyegh[ na ha d[ mkpxrxokwu abxq. ima atx: 9. nta na imoloko. nke a na-egosipxta ihe niile, ikwu na ibe. q na-egosipxta mmadx niile ma nd[ g[ na ha ji qbara metxta ma nd[ g[ na ha ejigh[ qbara j[kqta d[ka ot́u ̀qgbq g[. (ii) ha nwere ike na-ekwu maka ihe abxq nwere echiche abxq mana ha na-arxtx aka n’otu ihe. ima atx: 10. nne na nna. q na-egosipxta mmadx abxq – nwoke and nwaany[ mxtara nwa. ihe ha nwekqrq qnx bx nwa ha mxrx, 11. mmiri na anwx. q na-egosi qnodx xbqch[/izu/afq; 12. elu na ala. nke a na-egosi chukwu any[ na-ekpere maqbx ihe nd[ o kere o jiri mere ebe obibi d[ka nkwenye nd[ igbo siri d[. ihe nkqwa nd[ a na-egosi bx na q d[ xzq okwu abxq na-agakq qnx mana ha na-egosipxta otu ihe maqbx na-arxtx otu ihe aka. e nwee mgbe qbxla ejima okwu nwere nghqta abxq, [ mara na qnqdx e ji ekwu ha adaghar[ala, ya bx na njirimara ejima okwu bx igosi naan[ otu nghqta. (iii) ihe qzqkwa bx njirimara ya bx na e nwegh[ ike isi na mkpxrxokwu e ji mebe ha wee mata ihe nghqta ha bx. ihe mkpxrxokwu e ji mebe ha pxtara na nghqta ejima okwu na-egosipxta na-ad[ icheiche. {ma atx: ‘nta na imoloko’ ihe niile, elu na ala. nkqwa elu na ala [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 317 elu na ala d[ka ejima okwu dabara n’okwu nd[ na-egosi okpukpere nd[ igbo. n’okwukwu na odide ha, elu na-ab[a tupu ala. a nagh[ as[ ala na elu. nke e were ka nke kacha nwe qrx na ugwu n’anya nd[ igbo na-ebu xzq ebe nke qzq na-esota ya. n’[kwado echiche a, maduka-durunze (1992:50-55) s[r[ na xd[ nhazi n’[bq n’[bq a enwegh[ mgbanwe niihi na e nwegh[ echiche gbagqrq agbagq were si otu a hazie ha kama na q bx ka okwu ha si d[. q s[ na nke kacha d[ elu na-ebute xzq. qkwa ‘elu’ gbagotere kar[a nke ala n’ekpemekpe nd[ igbo. q bx ya mere o ji buru xzq, ala were na-esota ya. elu na ala na-agakq. ya mere anagbogu, eme na mba (2010:226) jiri kwu s[ na ha bx ejima okwu nnqiche maqbx mmejx. nke a bx xd[ ejima okwu ngakqr[ta n’xd[ ntxghar[. n’ala igbo, okpukpere qd[nala na omenala na-agakq qnx. a na-elegara elu na ala anya d[ka chukwu maqbx ebe obibi chukwu. chukwu, nke e nwere ike [kpq enu maqbx igwe naeme qtxtx ihe d[ka onye ji ike niile. q bx ya ka qnwu, ndx, akx na xba, qmxmx, qganihu, nchekwa, mmiri ozuzo, anwx, mmxba akxkx ubi na ihe nilile nd[ qzq d[ n’aka. q mazuru ihe niile. e nwere nkwenye na chukwu nwere xmx obere chi d[ icheiche na-ejere ya ozi. otu n’ime ha bx chi maqbx akaraaka mmadx. mmadx qbxla nwere akaraaka (chi) nke ya. q bx chi mmadx bx qnx na-ekwuru ya n’ebe chukwu nq. nd[ igbo kwenyere na ka chukwu siri buka ibu na mmadx nk[t[ ekwes[gh[ [gwa ya okwu ma o sigh[ n’aka chi ya. q bx chi mmadx ka chukwu nyere qrx ilekqta ya anya tupu a mxq onye ahx. chi onye ahx ga-arx qrx ahx bido mgbe a mxrx onye ahx ruo n’qnwx ya. chi nd[ qzq na-ejere chukwu ozi gunyere: amadiqha, anyanwx, njqkx, agwxnsi, ikenga, dgz. xzq qzq e nwere ike isi legara ‘elu na ala’ anya bx [hxta ha d[ka ebe obibi chukwu. nke a mere na otu n’ime aha a na-etu chukwu bx ‘onye ji eluigwe mere oche ma were ala mere ebe mgbakwasi ukwu. qzq, ekpere nke onye nwe any[ nd[ xka na-ekpe s[r[, nna any[ nke bi n’eluigwe, ka aha g[ d[ nsq… nnyocha agxmagx gbasara ‘elu na ala’ n’ekpemekpe qd[nala igbo ekpemekpe qd[nala igbo ataala qj[ n’ala igbo. q bx nwa nwa tote, o tokwuru. nghqta ekpemekpe qd[nala igbo gbadoro xkwx n’qd[nala igbo. o nwegh[ nke a ga-ekwuwe ghara ibe ya. ihe nd[ a na-arxtx aka na nhxrx xwa nd[ igbo bx nke na-egosi ihe nd[ a na-ahx anya na nd[ anagh[ ahx anya (qnwxejeqgwx 1975). q s[r[ na nd[ igbo hxrx xwa d[ka ihe e kere xzq anq: (i) okike-chi ukwu maqbx chukwu bx chi okike kere ihe niile. a na-akpqkwa ya chineke. q kar[r[ mmadx ma bxrx ikekaike. q bx ya na-ekwu ihe na-eme na ndx mmadx na ihe niile na-eme n’xwa d[ka anyanwx, kpakpando, na nd[ qzq. (ii) alxs[ bx xmx obere ihe n’abxgh[ mmadx nke ha na-abx mmxq. o si n’obodo qbxla n’ala igbo nwere okwu alxs[ ha nke ha na-asqpxrx ma nwee onye na-ejere ya ozi nke mmadx na-esi n’aka ya agwa chineke mkpa ya. (iii) nke atq bx mmxq-bx nd[ nwxrx anwx gafere n’akxkx xwa qzq mmadx amagh[ a kpqrq ala mmxq. ha na-etinye anya n’ihe na-eme n’ezinaxlq ha. nd[ d[ ndx na-enye ha nsqpxrx niihi na a hxrx ha ka nd[ d[ nsq. (iv) nke anq ma bxrx nke ikpeazx bx xwa. a hxrx nke a d[ka nne ma bxrx nke ihe mebere ya bx elu (igwe) na ala. q bx elu na ala bx isi sekpx nt[ n’edemede any[. n’qd[nala, uweh (2010:34) mere ka a mata na nd[ igbo hxtara elu d[ ka chukwu nke ji ike niile. q gara n’ihu s[ na n’ekpemekpe qdinala igbo, na elu (chukwu) bx onye ikpe nkwxmqtq, onye mmadx agagh[ akwanyenwu ka o mee ihe q chqgh[ ime. na nkqwa nke ya, q sikwara na ala (nne, ebe elu bx nna) bx ebe ihe [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 318 niile mmadx ji ebi ndx si ab[a. n’ala ka mmadx na-ebi, si akqpxta nri, arx xlq obibi, enweta mmiri q]x]x, na ihe nd[ qzq na-enyere ndx aka. q gakwara n’ihu kwue na ala bx ya na-ahx na mmadx na-eme ihe kwes[r[ ekwes[. mmadx mee ihe o kwes[gh[ ime, a s[ na onye ahx mere nsqala. mgbe ihe d[ otu a mere, ala na-ata onye d[ otu a ahxhx ka e were kpxchapx arx ahx ma mee ka ala d[kwa nsq. nke a ga-eme ka onye ahx nweta mgbaghara ka ihe were d[wakwara ya mma. q bx xd[ ihe d[ otu a ka esimoke (1992) jiri dee s[ na a na-ahx ala n’ala igbo d[ka chi na-ahx maka ezi agwa. ihe qjqq a na-emega n’ala d[ka nwoke idina nwunye nwoke qzq, nwunye nwanne ya mgbe nwanne ya ahx nq ndx, nwoke idina nwanne ya nwaany[ maqbx nwa ya nwaany[, igbu qchx, izu akxkx ubi na ihe qjoo nd[ qzq bx nsqala. a ga-achx aja d[ icheiche iji kpochaa ala. q bx maka na ala d[ nsq mere na nd[ igbo anagh[ eli nd[ r[ara qria qjqq d[ka nd[ afq toro ma nd[ zara aza n’ala. qzq, ha anagh[ ekwe eli nd[ gburu onwe ha d[ka nd[ kwxrx xdq n’ala. e were nd[ d[ otu a ka nd[ mere nsqala niihi ya, a na-atxfu ha n’ajq qh[a ka xmx anxqh[a rie anx ha. na nkega na-eso n’ederede a, any[ ga-eleba anya ka nd[ igbo si zipxta nkwenye ha gbasara ejima okwu a bx ‘elu na ala’ n’ekpemekpe qd[nala site n’aha ha na-aza. elu/enu n’aha nd[ igbo na nzipxta ha nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha d[ icheiche iji gosi nkwenye ha n’elu d[ ka chukwu n’qtxtx xzq. nkwenye nd[ a nwere ike na-egosi elu (chukwu) d[ka: (i) onye ihe niile d[ n’aka (ii) onye emereme ya na-agbagwoju mmadx anya (iii) onye na-ekpe ikpe nkwumqtq na (iv) onye mmadx enwegh[ ike [hx ihu na ihu ma ya fqdxz[a ya na ya [nqrq gbaghawa ihe ma q bxrx nke adabagh[ n’anya mmadx. ma q bxrx nke dabara n’anya mmadx, q d[gh[ ebe q ga-ahx ya were kelee ya. elu d[ka onye ihe niile d[ n’aka qtxtx aha nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza na-egos[ ma na-ezipxta elu d[ka onye ihe niile na-eme n’xwa d[ n’aka ya. aha nd[ zipxtara nke a n’ala igbo gxnyere nd[ a: elukaeme: aha a na-egos[ na q bx chukwu na-eme nke kachas[. o nwere ike bxrx nke kachas[ mma maqbx nke kachas[ njq n’anya mmadx. q bx eziokwu na nd[ igbo kwere na chukwu anagh[ eme ihe qjqq mana ha kwenyere na ihe q magh[ anagh[ eme. elujekwu: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a niihi na ha kwenyere na q bx chukwu ga-ekwu ihe qbxla ga-eme. ha kwenyere na tupu ihe qbxla e mee ma nke d[ njq n’anya mmadx ma nke d[ mma na chukwu ekwuwo na q ga-eme. elukwute: xd[ aha nke a na-ezipxta na q bx chukwu ka q d[ n’aka ikwu ihe gaje ime. ya mere e ji nwee okwu d[ka mmadx kwucha, chukwu ekwughar[a. ya bx na q bx chukwu gaekwu, ihe o kwuru ab[a na mmezu. eluka/enuka: ihe aha nke a na-egosi bx na chukwu kacha ihe niile elu, ike, dgz. chukwu ka ihe niile n’xd[ qbxla. o nwegh[ onye ga-ama ya aka n’ihu. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 319 elukwe/enukwe: aha nke a na-ezipxta na ihe qbxla na-emenx na-eme niihi na chukwu kwere ka o mee maqbx na ihe qbxla ga-emenx ga-eme ma q bxrx na chukwu kwe ka o mee. q bxrx na q bxgh[ mmas[ chukwu, ihe ahx agagh[ eme. elukawa: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a niihi nkwenye ha na ihe niile d[ chukwu n’aka. ha na-egosi ebe a na o nwegh[ ihe qbxla ha pxrx ikwu na ha na-ahapxrx chukwu ihe niile ka q na-ekwu ka ha na-eme na mgbagha qbxla ad[gh[ ya. elugeme: aha a n’igbo na-egosi na q bx chukwu ka q d[ n’aka ime ihe niile. q bx ya ka e ji as[ chukwu pxrx ime ihe niile. q bx ya ga-eme ihe qbxla mgbe q mas[r[ ya. elujindx/enujindx: xd[ aha a na-egosi na q bx chukwu ka ndx mmadx d[ n’aka. onye q s[ na q ga-ad[ ndx ga-ad[. onye q s[ na q ga-anwx ga-anwxr[r[. o nwegh[ ihe mmadx pxrx ime iji gbochi ya. qzq, onye chukwu s[ na q ga-ad[ ndx ga-ad[r[r[ ndx. q mas[ onye ahx ya buru na q tubichaala/nwxchaala, q ga-ebili ma d[kwa ndx niihi na chukwu ji ndx achqbegh[ ka onye ahx nwxq. elukuba: aha a na-egosi na a b[a n’ihe gbasara [ba xba na chukwu kacha ba xba na o nwegh[ onye ka ya ba xba. nd[ igbo kwenyere na chukwu na-esi na xba q bara enyebinye mmadx. ya ka ha ji azakwa xbasinachukwu. eluchebe: xd[ aha a na-egosi na q bx chukwu ka nchekwa mmadx d[[r[. q bxrx na o chekwagh[ mmadx, q mas[ onye ahx ya mxrx anya, jide ngwa agha d[ icheiche, ihe chukwu s[r[ na q ga-eme onye ahx ga-emer[r[ ya. n’okpukpere xka nd[ qcha, ha dere maka nchekwa na-esi n’aka chukwu ab[a s[ na q bxrx na chineke echegh[ obodo, n’efu ka onye nche naamx anya. eluzqba: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a niihi na ha kwetara na nzqpxta mmadx d[ chukwu n’aka. q bxrx na q zqgh[ onye nq na nsogbu, o nwegh[ onye qzq pxrx [zqpxta onye ahx. o nwere ike si n’aka mmadx ibe ya bx onye o nyere ikike were zqpxta onye ahx. o nwekwara ike si n’xzq nke ya mee ya. q d[ otu a, a s[ na ihe [r[baama emeela. elukwado: nke a bx aha nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza iji zipxta na q bx chukwu ga-akwado ihe ka o were mee, na ihe chukwu akwadogh[ anagh[ eme. elunaza: aha nke a nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza na-egosi na chukwu ji xsa nye ajxjx qbxla maqbx ihe mgbagwoju anya qbxla. elujixba: aha nke a na-egosi na akx na xba bx chukwu ji ya. q bx onye o nyere, o were. onye o nyegh[, q bxrx ogbenye. nke a gosiri ihe nd[ igbo na-ekwu na chineke bx ‘o ji ji jide mma, onye q wanyere, o rie. onye q wanyegh[ q hapx’. elulobe: a na-ahxta aha igbo d[ otu a d[ka nke na-egosi na q bx ihe chukwu chepxtara n’echiche ya bx ihe ga-eme na q bxgh[ nke mmadx chere. eludum: aha a na-egosi xzq ihe abxq. o nwere ike na-egosi na enyemaka mmadx na-enweta na-esi n’aka chineke. aha a nwekwara ike na-ekwu na q bx chukwu na-edu mmadx n’ihe niile onye ahx na-eme maqbx na-edu onye ahx aga ebe niile q na-aga. elu d[ka onye emereme ya na-agbagwoju anya xd[ aha a ga-ahx ebe a, na-arxtx aka n’xd[ aha any[ na-aba ma na-aza nd[ na-egos[ na ihe chukwu na-eme maqbx xd[d[ ya, kar[r[ nghqta nke mmadx. aha nd[ a gxnyere: eluma: xd[ aha a na-egos[kwa na q bx naan[ chukwu maara ihe mere ihe ji d[ otu q d[ na mmadx amagh[. nke a pxtara na qnqdx ahx gbara mmadx nk[t[ ghar[[. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 320 onyemaelu: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a iji gosi na xwa na xd[d[ chukwu na agbagwogu mmadx anya. o nwegh[ onye nwere ike [s[ na ya maara chukwu. okwuelu: aha nke a na-egos[ na nzube chukwu na-emesa mmadx anya na q bxgh[ ihe mmadx na-eche na q ga-eme na otu mmadx chere q ga-esi mee ihe ka q na-eme. nke a naeme ka xm̀a ̀chukwu na-eweta anya [gba ghar[[. al[s[elu: aha a na-eme ka any[ mata na mmadx ekwes[gh[ ilel[ chukwu. mmadx nwere ike niihi na q ghqtachagh[ ka chineke si eme ihe na-eleda ya anya. aha a were na-adq mmadx aka na nt[ ka q ghara ilel[ chineke. elu d[ka onye ikpe nkwxmqtq ebe a bx ebe nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha na-egos[ na chukwu bx chukwu na-akwxwa aka qtq, anagh[ emegide mmadx qbxla n’agbanyegh[ qnqdx qbxla onye ahx nq. {ma atx xd[ aha ahx bx: elujiqfq: aha nke a na-egos[ chukwu ka onye na-eme ihe ziri ezi. onye anagh[ emegide onye qbxla kama q na-akwxwa aka qtq. elunq: aha nke a na-egos[ na chukwu nq niihi ya na o nwegh[ onye ga-emegide g[. ifelu: xd[ aha nke a nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza na-egos[ na mmadx niile bx nke chukwu. o nwegh[ onye bx nke ya iche. q bx ya nwe ma onye ukwu ma onye nta. iyienu: aha nke a gosiri d[ka nd[ igbo si were ya na chukwu ]xrx iyi na o nwegh[ onye o kere q ga-agbahapx, na mmadx niile ka q ga na-elekqta n’akpagh[ oke. elu/enu d[ka onye a nagh[ ahx anya aha nd[ d[ n’okpuru na-egosipxta chukwu ka onye anya nk[t[ enwegh[ ike [hx. aha nd[ ahx gxnyere: afxlxenu: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a iji gos[ na o nwegh[ [he mmadx pxrx [me n’qnqdx qbxla q nq, ma q d[ njq n’anya ya ma q d[ mma maka na aha a na-ekwu na o nwegodx [he [ chqrq [me, [ hxrxnx chukwu anya ka i were mee ebumnobi g[. elusiahx: aha nke a na-egosikwa na a nagh[ ahx chukwu anya. etu aha a siri d[ na-egos[ na q masichagh[ mmadx na o nwegh[ ike ihx chukwu anya. ala/ana/an[ n’aha nd[ igbo na nzipxta ha nd[ igbo hxtara ala d[ka chukwu. ya mere na q na-abata n’aha ha na-aba ma na-aza iji gos[ qnqdx mmadx nq. a na-ahxta ala d[ka (i) chi mazuru ihe niile (ii) chi ikpe nkwxmqtq (iii) chi na-echebe nd[ ya (iv) chi d[ mma ala d[ka chi kachas[ chi niile aha nd[ a ga-ahx ebe a bx aha nd[ ga-egos[ ‘ala’ d[ka chi kachas[ chi nd[ qzq niile. aha nd[ ahx gxnyere: [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 321 alaka: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a iji gos[ na o nwegh[ onye ka chukwu. aladike: xd[ aha a nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza na-egos[ na chukwu d[ ike kar[a ihe niile. alaji: aha d[ otu a nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza na-egos[ na q bx chukwu ka ihe niile d[ n’aka ya. q bx ya ji ji, ya ji mma. onye q wanyere, o rie. alakebe: xd[ aha a na-egos[pxta chukwu d[ka onye q bx ya na-ekenye mmadx ihe. q bx ihe q mas[r[ ya, o kenye mmadx. o nwegh[ onye na-agwa ya ihe q ga-ekenye ya. alabxike: aha a na-egos[ na chineke n’qnwe ya bx ike mmadx nwere. o nwegh[ ike mmadx nwere n’onwe ya. q bx chukwu bx ike mmadx nwere. alajetx: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza xd[ aha a iji gos[ na o nwegh[ onye chukwu kere naefulahx ya. mmadx nwere ike chee na chukwu amagh[ ebe ya nq maqbx na q hxgh[ ya mana ebe q sqrq ya nqrq, chineke ga-achqpxta ya. alaebuka: aha nke a na-egos[ na o nwegh[ ihe kar[r[ chineke. ya ka nd[ igbo jikwa aba ma na-aza chukwuebuka. ala d[ka chi mazuru ihe niile nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha d[ ichiiche iji gos[pxta na ala bx otu n’ime chi nd[ ha na-efe bx qmachancha. nke a na-egos[ na q mazuru ihe niile. xd[ aha nd[ ahx gxnyere: alajekwu: aha nke a na-egos[ na niihi na q bx chukwu maara ihe niile ma nke kacha mma, na q bx ya ga-ekwu nke ga-eme na q bxgh[ mmadx. mmadx agagh[ ekwu niihi na q bx naan[ ihe chukwu kpugheere ya ka q madebere. alamara: xd[ aha nke a mmadx na-aba ma na-aza na-egos[ na chukwu maara ihe niile. o nwegh[ ihe qbxla na-eme n’xwa ma n’eluigwe nke q na-amagh[ maqbx na-agba ya ghar[[. alaelo: nd[ igbo si n’aha nke a na-ezipxta na q bx echiche chineke bx ihe na-eme. na chukwu loo ihe, q d[ ya mma, o mee ya n’agbanyegh[ ma q d[ mmadx mma ma q bx na q d[gh[ ya. qtxtx qge, o nwere xd[ qnwu mmadx na-anwx any[ bx mmadx a na-ebe mana chukwu maara ihe o chere n’obi ya o jiri kpqrq onye ahx qtxmas[gh[ na q d[gh[ any[ bx mmadx mma n’obi. ala d[ka onye ikpe nkwxmqtq nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-azagas[ xd[ aha nd[ any[ ga-eleba anya ebe a iji gos[ na chukwu anagh[ emegide onye qbxla. qzq na q bx ihe ziri ezi ka q na-eme ma q dabaara any[ ma q bx na q dabagh[. aha nd[ ahx gxnyere: alachxna: aha a na-egos[ na o nwegh[ onye chineke kere q na-agbahapx. o nwegh[ onye q ga-as[ ya ebila n’ala, ya fegoro n’elu biri, q mas[ ya bxrx na onye ahx mere arx. kama q gaes[ n’qnx nd[ na-ejere ya ozi mee ka onye ahx mara ihe q ga-eme were mezie ihe o mebiri. alaagbqsq: xd[ aha a na-egos[ na chineke agbalahxgh[ nd[ o kere. q na-egos[ na ma q d[ mma ma q d[ njq, na q nq ya na-eduzi ma na-agbazi. alaejemba: ebe a na-egos[ na chineke ad[gh[ agbanwe agbanwe, na ihe ahx q bx ka q bx ma n’xtxtx ma n’abal[, ma n’udummiri ma n’qkqch[. ihe ahx chukwu bx ka q bx. alaachufus[: xd[ aha nke a na-egos[ na o nwegh[ onye chineke kere q na-ajx ajx. nke a naegos[ na n’agbanyegh[ mmehie mmadx na-emehie chineke na q na-aga n’ihu na-anagide mmadx qbxla ma na-enye mmadx ogologo oge maka ncheghar[. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 322 alaekwena: xd[ aha nke a na-egos[ na chukwu anagh[ ekwe ka qnqdx nd[ ya d[ otu ekwes[gh[ ma onye ukwu ma onye nta. ka o si mee onye ka o si eme ibe ya. nke a mere nd[ igbo ji ekwu okwu s[, ‘chineke ekwela ihe qjqq’. alaagqlx: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a iji gosi na chukwu na-agbara mmadx qbxla qgx. o nwegh[ onye maqbx nd[ q naagqchitere ma hapx nd[ qzq alagboqgx: aha nke a na-egosi na chukwu bx onye udo. q bxgh[ onye ga-abx esemokwu d[ n’etiti nd[ ya, q gbachi nk[t[ maka na esemokwu d[, ihxnanya agagh[ ad[. q bx chukwu gaewechighata udo n’etiti nd[ ahx ka udo were ch[a ach[a. nke a ga-eme ka ihxnanya d[. alaekwe: xd[ aha a na-egos[ na chukwu anagh[ akwado ihe d[ njq. onye q mas[r[ ya bxrx mere ya. iji ma atx, q hxrx xmx izrel n’anya iche mana ha mee ihe ad[gh[ mma, o taa ha ahxhx. ha r[qkwa mgbaghara, q nabata ya ma gbaghara ha. q na-emekwa otu ihe ahx n’ebe nd[ qzq nq. alaeringo: aha nke a nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza bx iji gosi na chukwu anagh[ ana aka azx. q nagh[ as[ ka e nye ya nke a tupu o meere g[ ihe [ chqrq. q na-emere nd[ ya ihe na-anagh[ ihe qbxla. alamaeze: n’ala igbo, a na-aba xd[ aha a iji gos[ na chukwu anagh[ akpa qke. ka o siri meso eze, ka o si emeso odibo. q magh[ onye ukwu nke o ji ama onye nta. q nqgh[ na mmegide. ala d[ka onye nchekwa aha nd[ dabara ebe a na-ahxta chukwu ka onye na-echekwa nd[ ya. aha nd[ ahx gxnyere: alad[: nd[ igbo na-aba aha a ma na-aza ya iji gos[ na chukwu d[. o nwegh[ onye q nqgh[r[. q na-echekwa ya ebe qbxla ha nq ma ha na-aga n’xzq, ma ha nq n’xlq, ma mmiri q na-ezo, ma anwx q na-acha. alaazqka: xd[ aha a ka nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza iji gosi na chukwu na-azq nd[ nke ya esepx aka. ike anagh[ agwx ya n’[zq nd[ nke ya mgbe qbxla txmadx mgbe ha nq na mkpa. alaegboka: aha nke a nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza na-egos[ na ha kwenyere na chukwu naagbochiri ha qdachi d[ icheiche na nsogbu qbxla na-achq [dakwasa ha. alazodo: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a iji zipxta nkwenye ha na chukwu na-azq ma naechekwawa nd[ ya oge qbxla. alazqba: aha a nd[ igbo na-aza ya iji gos[ chukwu na ha na-ar[q ka q na-azq ha. ha na-agwa ya na ha nq ya n’aka, na q bx ya ga na-azq ha na o nwegh[ onye qzq ha nwere maqbx chekwube, ma q bxgh[ chineke. alachebe: nkwenye nd[ igbo ha ji aba ma na-aza aha a bx na ha maara na q bx chukwu naechekwa mmadx. q bx ya mere ha ji akpqku ya ka o chekwawa ha. alagbata: xd[ aha nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza bx iji kpqku chineke ka q gbatara ha qsq enyemaka. ha na-akpq ya ka q b[a za ha ma gbooro ha mkpa ji ha niihi na q bx onye na-aza ekpere. q bx ‘akpq, aza’. alagbo: aha a bxkwa aha nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza iji gos[ mkpoku ha na-akpoku chukwu ka o gbooro ha mkpa ji ha. alaekwemba: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a iji zipxta nkwenye ha na q bx chukwu naegbochi mba [kpagbu maqbx ibuso maqbx imegide mba ibe ha. ala d[ka onye d[ mma aha nd[ dabara na ngalaba nke a na-egosipxta chukwu d[ka onye ihe qma, onye na-eme ihe d[ mma. aha nd[ d[ otu a gxnyere: [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 323 alad[mma: nkwenye nd[ igbo na chukwu d[ mma mere ha ji aba ma na-aza aha a. alaeto: nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza aha a iji eto chukwu niihi [d[ mma ya na ndx ha. aladum: xd[ aha nke a ka nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza iji egosi [d[ mma chukwu maka aka q na-enyere ha mgbe qbxla qkachas[ mgbe ha nq na mkpa ma o nwegh[ ebe qzq a hxrx nzopxta ga-esi b[a. alaakx: nd[ igbo kwenyere na akx na xba si n’aka chukwu were ab[a. nkwenye ha nke a ka ha si n’aha e depxtara ebe a bx anaakx nke ha na-aba ma na-aza egosipxta. alaakq: xd[ aha nke a ka nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza iji gosi na chukwu na-anq n’ihe niile ha na-eme na o nwegh[ ihe qbxla ha na-eme a na-achq ya achq. ha ji aha a egos[ na chukwu nq ya mgbe niile. alabqñx: aha a bx aha nd[ igbo na-aza iji gos[ na q bx chineke na-eweta obi añur[ n’ime ndx mmadx. ihe qbxla na-enye qnx bx n’aka chukwu ka o si ab[a. nch[kqta na mmechi site n’ihe a kqwara n’ederede a gbasara aha nd[ igbo na-azagas[ d[ka ha si metxta ejima okwu a bx ‘elu na ala’, a ga-ahx na okwu abxq nd[ a na-arxtx otu onye aka. ha na-ekwu maka chukwu. nke a dabara na nkqwa any[ nyere s[ na ejima okwu bx mkpxrxokwu abxq na-agakq qnx, nke a na-eji njikq ejikq mana ha na-arxtx otu ihe aka. nd[ igbo na-ahxta ‘elu na ala’ d[ka chukwu ha si n’aha d[ icheiche ha na-aba ma na-aza ezipxta. nkwenye ka ha si ahxta chukwu ka ha na-ezipxta site n’xd[ aha ha na-aza bx nke ha zipxtara n’isiokwu abxq n’ederede a. mbx bx ka chukwu d[, ebe nke abxq bx ka o si akpa agwa. aha e ji elu na ala aza site na ka chineke d[ nakwa ka o si akpa agwa bara xba. o nwegh[ nke a ga-as[ na q bx ya kacha niihina chukwu onye ejima okwu nd[ a na-ezipxta site n’aha nd[ a bx chukwu na-eme ihe d[ mma. e lee anya n’aha niile d[ ebe a nd[ igbo na-aza, o nwegh[ nke e gosiri ebe chukwu gburu maqbx megide mmadx. kama site n’aha xfqdx, a hxta chukwu ka onye emereme ya mgbe xfqdx na-agbagwoju mmadx anya. q d[ any[ otu a n’anya niihina any[ bx mmadx mana chukwu onye mere ihe qbxla o mere maara na ihe o mere d[ mma. na mmechi, ekpemekpe nd[ igbo nyere ‘elu na ala’ qnqdx d[ elu. a hxtara elu d[ka di nwe xlq ebe ala bx nwunye ya. mana any[ ga-echeta na nd[ igbo na-ekwu okwu s[ na isi di na nwunye bx otu. qzq nd[ mgbakq na mwepx s[ na a b[a ebe di na nwunye nq (elu na ala n’ekpemekpe nd[ igbo) na otu a gbakqnyere otu qzq pxtara otu. nke a na-egosi na qnqdx ‘elu na ala’ na-anq n’aha nd[ igbo na-aba ma na-aza na-egos[ ha d[ ka chukwu. edemsib[a achebe, c. (1975). “chi in igbo cosmology” morning yet on creation day. london. heinemann education books. anagbqgx, p. n., mba, b. m and eme, c. a. (2010). introduction to linguistics. awka: amaka dreams. emenanjq, e. n. and oweleke, e. n (2007). “ejima okwu-complementary binominab: a type of igbo idioms” in journal of igbo studies. vol. 2 pp. 137-146. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 324 esimoke, e. (1992). ngwa community. owerri: jerry press. hudson, r. a. (1981). sociolinguistics. new york: university of cambridge. maduka-durunze, n. o. (1992).igbo cosmology. aba: educational publishers. nwqga, d. i. (1984).the supreme god as a stranger in igbo religious thought. ahiazu mbaise: hawks press. qdxnke artists (1977). qjad[l[. ibadan: oxford university press. qnwuejeogwu, m. a. (1975). “the igbo culture area” in qgbalx, f.c. and e.n. emenanjq (eds) igbo language and culture, ibadan: oxford university press. sapir-whorf, l. (1976). language, thought and reality. london: mit press. uweh, a. (2010). the fundamentals of qd[nan[ (igbo religion) enugu: citadel press. soji cole’s embers and its implications for critical thinking and development onyebuchi ile & buchi chinedu abstract reading literary texts help to develop critical thinking skills; but this fact is taken for granted in literary education by both teachers and students alike and this is the problem projected by the paper. critical thinking itself trains minds towards solving problem and the ability to solve the problems that life presents is the key to success, according robert harris. the objective of this paper was to show that with literary texts, readers and students can be taught to think critically. to demonstrate this, bobkina and stefanova’s four-stage model, situated practice stage, the overt instruction stage, the critical framing stage and transformed practice stage, of using fiction to teach critical thinking were used. it was concluded that the human mind or brain uses the simulation effect as in computers to orientate itself to social realities as reflected in literary texts and that as a result literary texts are very effective in cultivating critical thinking skills in. keywords: simulation effect, situated practice stage, overt instruction stage, critical framing stage, transformed practice stage introduction according to doğanay and ünal (2006), critical thinking as concept is derived from “reasoning” and the root of reasoning is “reason”, which means “ratio” in latin and “ration” in latin means “balance”. in other words, critical thinking leads to a balanced decision from experiences, pieces of information available through a capacity to think. embers as a piece of drama enriches experiences through the pieces of information in it and through the possibility of interaction between the reader and the contents of the text. by reading the text, a horizon of expectation is partially established; but it also offers a horizon of knowledge because the ideas inherent in them are in simulative association with ideas the reader has acquired through reading other texts (ashcroft, 2001). discourse situations are established through such interactions. it is such discourse situations that make critical thinking possible because there is always a desire to understand the phenomena of the text in relation to the lived experiences. these make practical interventions in solution providing possible because of the progression from the stage of acquiring knowledge inherent in the text and other texts through its intertextuality, to the knowing stage. once the knowing stage is attained, the reader becomes agitated and lonely because they now know more. the reader carefully evaluates the basic pieces of information in the text. that act itself is observation as one does in empiricism: the reader listens to what the characters say and observes what they do: a simulation effect is triggered because ideas in the text are associated with ideas stored in the mind. the reader compares what transpires in the text with familiar experiences. the problem in literary scholarship is that most often students and even their teachers take it for granted that the endeavor simply trains their mental muscles to be critical. they barely know, if they know at all, that it is critical thinking that makes the students develop the habit of constantly asking questions and also identifying problems and conditioning their minds to seek solutions or answers to the questions raised. embers as fiction has to be observed as one observes reality because it represents or mirrors reality. this is a major problem because it can be argued that because the text mirrors reality, it cannot be said to be reality in all certainty. therefore, the major task here is to show that the text has mirrored reality to a very large extent. all the same what constitutes reality has been a bone of contention among philosophers over the centuries. plato believed, as bruder and moore (1990) put is, that “what is truly real is not the objects we encounter in sensory experience but rather forms, and these can only be grasped intellectually”. as bruder & moore (1990), further put it, “the individual things that we perceive by sense are forever changing.” the work initiates drama from the life of the internally displaced people in northern nigerian also known as idps in their camp. through the regular stories of talatu to her camp mates, memunah, atai and idayat, about her life and what she has been through, the writer takes us deep and deeper into the very inside of life. from the life of a woman, whom life has not been fair to (2018: p.4), to the people who are supposed to take care of internally displaced persons at the camps, but who instead terrorise them, the richness of embers is made manifest in the deep philosophical thoughts of talatu, who thinks that no one is created to be subjugated by another but that it is culture that allows subjugation and that her younger friends must paint the world in their own colour (p.3). talatu paints a gory sight of life when she recalls her suffering with her mother and how hard it becomes after she dies: “we are all inside a grave, to come out of it, you must tread on corpses” (2018:p. 7). this statement demonstrates the effect of wise saying in critical thinking, because it makes you pause and ponder; and it is in pausing and pondering that we are able to make room for understanding and enlightenment, which are the components of critical thinking. understanding and enlightenment further lead to finding solutions to problems. reading the text, the questions that come to mind are: what does the text tell me? what do i stand to gain from reading a work that explores the humanity of terrorists, their victims; camp officers and the idps in the camps? of what use are they to my society? these questions in themselves trigger critical thinking. therefore, the paper aims at showing that with literary texts, readers and students can be taught to think critically. with that, students and teachers alike can be made aware or conscious from the outset that training in literary scholarship is to make trainees critical thinkers, who have to exert themselves to find answers to the questions they raise from reading texts and also make them adopt such mental attitude toward real things in the world since the key to success is the ability to identify problems through critical thinking and find solutions to the problems the theoretical model used to achieve the aim of the paper was bobkina’s and stefanova’s (2016) critical literacy pedagogy model, which has four stages, (1) the situated practice stage, (2) the overt instruction stage, (3) the critical framing stage and (4) the transformed practice stage and which comes in handy in the process of trying to process information from texts with a view to using them to develop critical thinking skills. (1) situated practice stage, in this stage, the students' mental map on a given text is expected to be activated. bobkina and stefanova (2016) expect students to recall relevant experiences and information they have. they also expect the teacher to initiate activities in this stage by asking relevant questions and the students are expected to share their answers with one another. (2) the overt instruction stage, during this stage, one tries to know how much of the given text the students have been able to understand by letting them read the given text. the teacher is expected to lead a discussion of some important ideas in the text and even administer test. if the text has been adapted into movie, the teacher may let the students see the film in order to make them even more motivated. furthermore, the students are encouraged to closely read the text in order to understand the deeper logic of the text. in finding the deeper logic of a given text, the why and wherefores of the text should be questioned, interpretations should be initiated and if necessary mental maps should be created in order to relate experience which yields knowledge. notes are encouraged to be taken while closely reading the given text so that they could be compared in order to make it possible for different perspectives to the ideas to be known. (3) the critical framing stage, in this stage, students are made to focus attention on the writer’s use of language and their semiotic implications in given contexts in relation to society. (4) transformed practice stage finally, during this stage, according to bobkina and stefanova (2016), students should be encouraged to write something on a given text or translate a given text or paraphrase it or even readapt it into drama, etc. literature review reading fiction trains the mind to think critically. this position is supported by the research by vessali et al (2015, pp. 105-121), who conducted studies in the field of applied psychology to test whether extended contact through reading the popular best-selling books of harry porter improved attitudes towards stigmatized groups as immigrants, homosexuals and refugees among others; and the findings from the studies supported their initial hypothesis that reading fiction helped change perspectives and improved attitudes towards out-groups. attitudes change because we have the possibility to think beyond what we know as a result of the various perspectives made available to us by reading fiction. these perspectives arise when we try to penetrate the deeper logic of the text. nwosu and udenta (2015, p.213) argue that critical thinking being deep reasoning and reflection of thinking process, “helps make decisions, opinions about something you think especially when you consider taking a job or making choice levels in thinking critically and not accepting facts on face value”. in other words from the analysis of the texts as well as conscious reflection on the analyses, critical issues are able to be isolated from them and associated in a simulative way with everyday experiences and happenings in given societies. deeper insight on the nuances of phenomena is gained and possible ways out of the given problems or issues the texts raise are also visualized. critical thinking has shifted away from the traditional method of analysis or problem solving and included, as walters (1994, p.63) puts it, “the cognitive acts such as imagination, conceptual creativity, intuition and insight”. in other words, while it is good to logically dissect structures and analyze components, it is also equally important to reflect on thinking processes and reason, see things in perspective, allow for deep insight, associate ideas in context and out of context, etc. and to be able to think critically in the above-mentioned template, certain core skills relevant to critical thinking such as, observation, analysis, explanation, interpretation, inference, evaluation, imagination, perspective, intuition, creativity and insight are consciously engaged. robert harris defines critical thinking “as an approach to ideas from the standpoint of deliberate consideration”. what we do according to him is to hold an idea at arm's length and examine it before accepting it into our mental framework. he, furthermore, defines critical thinking “as a habit of cautious evaluation, an analytic mindset aimed at discovering the component parts of ideas and philosophies, eager to weigh the merits of arguments and reasons in order to become a good judge of them”. for him, “analysis is the ability to break arguments or claims down into parts and to discover the relationship between the parts. the arguments can then be evaluated. it follows that sometimes the evaluation and judgment will be positive … critical thinking, then, is not a cynical, negative force”. for halpern (2010), critical thinking is the use of cognitive strategies to improve the expected ideas. paul and elder (2007, p.4) believe that critical thinking is a “four-selfincorporating concept” being that it is “self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored and selfcorrecting thinking.” for facione (1990, p.2) critical thinking is “purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based”. ennis (1993) sees it as reasonable reflective thinking that focuses on decision of what to believe or do, while jones et al. (1995) describe it as interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, presenting, arguments, reflection, and dispositions during thinking process; furthermore, for paul and elder (2007) a critical thinker is someone capable of formulating relevant questions, accumulates appropriate information and evaluates it for drawing sound conclusions. in fact, bloom (1956) argues that the acquisition of critical thinking skills happens in a hierarchical order, whereby evaluation, synthesis and analysis of ideas belong to the higher-order thinking skills, while application, comprehension and knowledge belong to the lower order of cognitive process. he believes that these skills need to be integrated into school curricula so as to cultivate in our children critical thinking skills. facione (1990), for his part, acknowledges six critical thinking skills that literature helps to cultivate in us. they are analytic skills, interpretive skills, evaluative skills, inferential skills, explanative skills and self-regulative skills. he also believes that critical thinking trains us to develop two sets of dispositions: the disposition to have elaborate and specific approaches to issues and questions. in fact, seiter (2021) argues that it is literature that helps us develop critical thinking skill. she believes too that, in fact, literature helps us cultivate empathy. it also helps us to understand our fellow human beings. as seiter (2021) puts it: to put yourself in the shoes of others and grow your capacity for empathy, you can hardly do better than reading fiction. multiple studies have shown that imagining stories helps activate the regions of your brain responsible for better understanding others and seeing the world from a new perspective. when the psychologist raymond mars analyzed 86 fmri studies, he saw substantial overlap in the brain networks used to understand stories and the networks used to navigate interactions with other individuals. as she further puts it …when we read about a situation or feeling, it’s very nearly as if we’re feeling it ourselves. as fast company reports: two researchers from washington university in st. louis scanned the brains of fiction readers and discovered that their test subjects created intense, graphic mental simulations of the sights, sounds, movements, and tastes they encountered in the narrative. in essence, their brains reacted as if they were actually living the events they were reading about. for lazere (1987, p.3) “literature...is the single academic discipline that can come closest to encompassing the full range of mental traits currently considered to comprise critical thinking”. the pedagogical template for embers in critical thinking development: a critical analysis to teach embers for critical thinking development, the stages outlined by bobkina and stefanova (2016) may be deployed. the first stage, which is the situated practice stage, requires the mapping of the minds of the students or readers. in order to begin mapping the minds of the students, critical questions about the text under study must be asked. and that is the beginning of the critical thinking process. for example, (a) what is the text, embers, about? (b) what ideas can be learned from it? (c) what can be known about terrorism and internally displaced people living in camps in northern nigeria? (d) it must be found out if the students have read or watched movies of terrorism? all this entails making the students to recall relevant experiences and information within their experiences with regard to the text and properly contextualizing them. one of the experiences that could be recalled to them for authentication is the destruction unleashed on nigeria by the boko haram terrorist group and other terrorist groups that have joined them since they began to terrorize nigeria. they should be made to also know that boko haram terrorists have metamorphosed into bandits, kidnappers, etc. the consequences of terrorism should also be made known to them in the process of mapping their minds and stimulating association of ideas in the text and society. they will immediately know that one of the consequences of terrorism in nigeria, especially northern nigeria, is the displacement of ordinary citizens, especially the vulnerable, children, women and old people. the consequences of the displacement are the death of many, the destruction of homes and livelihoods and then the eventual coming into being of idp camps, that is, camps for the internally displaced people. by initiating that question and taking the minds of the students to their experiences through reading other texts, through watching movies about terrorism and direct experiences, they will automatically become aware that those are what the text is about. in considering the second question about what ideas can be learned from the text, specific details about what can be learned from the text could be outlined; for example, it could learned that  talatu, a character in the text, is a victim of sexual exploitation by both boko haram terrorists and idp camp officials, and besides that she was also raped as a child by her uncle and cousin. this knowledge makes the students be aware of what might be happening in idp camps.  that memunah, another character in the text, is one of the girls abducted by boko haram insurgents and who suffers rape and exploitation in the camp with other girls. she is eventually discovered to be working for boko haram and she is raped to death by soldiers.  that idayat, yet another character in the text, is also a victim of abduction by boko haram insurgents. she was raped as a child by her teacher, who was later killed by idayat’s first love. like memunah, they see the camp officers, soldiers and politicians, who exploit; rape and kill them, as the terrorists. they compare their experiences in captivity under boko haram and in freedom, which is captivity too under the camp officers and soldiers, and feel they fared better in captivity under boko haram. she works for boko haram too. all this is able to stretch the minds of the students to the contradiction experienced by the character and they will immediately begin to imagine that these are also the contradictions most idps are living with. this is very important because it heightens their emotional intelligence, which is also very critical in the cultivation of critical thinking skills.  that atai, another character in the text, is also a victim of rape and exploitation like every other girl, and so she works as informant for the camp officers and the soldiers. the desire to stay alive makes her try to survive by any means, even if it means informing against her friends. the students will know that these were possibilities in the camps  that the soldiers are all disgruntled and despondent and feel also exploited by the politicians. all these pieces of information are necessary for the students to be able to associate the discursive formations in the text with the equivalent realities in society. and to stimulate more ideas, the students have to grapple with the third question, which is about what they know about terrorism not only in nigeria but also all over the world as well as what they know about internally displaced persons, who are victims of terrorism. the students’ minds should be stretched as far as the september 2011 terrorist attack on the twin tower in new york. their minds should be taken to the onslaught of the terrorist talibans in afghanistan and the havoc they wreaked on the society as well as the displacement suffered by their victims, who are ordinary citizens. their minds should also be taken to the activities of the boko haram terrorists operating in northeastern and northwestern nigeria that have killed and maimed thousands of civilians, both male and female and even children. their minds must be stimulated by the graphic pictures because their terrorist attacks are no longer news in nigeria. recently, the fulani herdsmen menace has exacerbated the matter. most people do not see them differently from the boko haram terrorists. they have been accused of being part of the grand plan to islamize nigeria. this is believable judging from the way they attack communities in the northeast, northwest, north central. they kill, rape, maim and burn down everything in sight. above all, they occupy villages once they attack them. this situation has brought about massive displacement and dislocation of people from their homes, hence the creation of idp. if possibly show them newspaper news about these things or even clips from social media in order to properly stimulate their minds and make the class lively. they should also be made to see how they had taken all these for granted until literature defamiliarizes their familiar experiences and awakens a keen interest in the matter and triggers thinking, especially critical thinking. furthermore, sample their opinions on books or movies on terrorism they have either read or watched. possibly draw their attention to a particular text on religious extremism by elnathan john’s born on a tuesday (2015). stimulate their minds on ideas in the text, how the text can help them understand the making of an extremist, who may eventually become a terrorist. they should be made to understand that the text can help them understand the psychology of terrorists and even how the politicians help in grooming them, how unsuspecting muslims get incited in the mosques, etc. by making them read such texts, they will certainly appreciate embers better because it is about the consequences of terrorism, and as keith oatley (2016, p. 618-628) puts it, fiction is a particularly useful simulation because negotiating the social world effectively is extremely tricky, requiring us to weigh up myriad interacting instances of cause and effect. just as computer simulations can help us get to grips with complex problems such as flying a plane or forecasting the weather, so novels, stories and dramas can help us understand the complexities of social life. in other words, the things that might have initially been seen in the news or read in the paper becomes dramatized in a novel or drama piece so that some of the intricacies of the condition can get clearer through critical engagement with them. in the second stage, which is the overt instruction stage, which might start in the week following the treatment of the situated practice stage, the teacher may want to know how much of the given text the students have been able to understand. in this stage, the teacher is expected to lead a discussion of some important ideas in the text and even administer test. if the text has been adapted into movie, the teacher may let the students see the film in order to make them even more motivated. furthermore, the students are encouraged to closely read the text in order to understand the deeper logic of the text. in finding the deeper logic of a given text, the why and wherefores of the text should be questioned, interpretations should be initiated and if necessary mental maps should be created in order to relate experience which yields knowledge. notes are encouraged to be taken while closely reading the given text so that they could be compared in order to make it possible for different perspectives to the ideas to be known. (3) the critical framing stage in this stage, one focuses attention on the writer’s use of language and their semiotic implications in given contexts in relation to society; for example, talatu thinks that no one is created to be subjugated by another but that it is culture that allows subjugation and that her younger friends must paint the world in their own colour (3). to paint the world in their own colour is a metaphor of encouragement for them to live in the world on their own terms. culture allowing subjugation can be understood within the context of religion as part and parcel of culture, especially in northern nigeria, where boko haram is very active. the idea that an infidel is worth nothing is already an example of culture allowing subjugation. all this must be brought up in the course of teaching the text. the teacher must point out salient statements in the text; for example, it is stated in the text that in nigeria, democracy is “government of the cunning minority for the foolish majority” (2018: 26). the students must be allowed to air their views on that so that the deep abyss of decay, wickedness, callousness and man’s inhumanity in the society can be appreciated. even idayat doubts if there is god; for “if there is god then he wouldn’t allow the rustling eruptions of evil thoughts that come from the hearts of men!’ (2018: 22). the teacher must find out what the students think about that and ensure that there is a balanced perspective. memunah herself agrees that there is a divinity that shapes our existence; but that this divinity shapes our lives in ways that raise questions; for it makes some rich and others poor; it makes some healthy and some sick; it makes some happy and brings others into the doom of sorrow right from birth (2018: 21); this was also demonstrated in obioma chigozie’s the fishermen, where tragedy dogged a family from the beginning till the end, demonstrating the tragedy life is to some, who are also part of god’s creation. the teacher must expand the horizon of the students after he or she listens to their perspectives. he or she must make them know that, perhaps, memunah’s views can be anchored on some theoretical concept as existentialism. arthur schopenhauer considers what memunah sees as divinity, das-ding-an-sich, the thing-initself, “as a blind and purposeless impelling force that is manifested in humans as a will to live; it is this drive, this will, that determines human behavior, not reason. thus the human being is not fundamentally rational but willful … the conflict between individual will is the cause of endless strife and suffering (bruder and moore, 1990: 98). therefore, if, probably, man dares to be rational and not willful, pain and suffering may reduce greatly or be eradicated in the view of schopenhauer. at this stage, the students are able to appreciate better what happens in the internally displaced persons’ camps in northern nigeria. they become aware experientially how the lives of citizens rarely matter to the politicians, the lies the government tells the world every day about what they provide for the displaced people, the fact that camp officials take most of the things made for the idps’ camps as well as how the camps have become places of captivity in the supposed freedom they offer. in fact, they become aware that the country needs urgent change, may be even a revolution, because these pains and suffering are as a result of leadership failure in nigeria as chinua achebe had once insisted in his small pamphlet, the trouble with nigeria. however, this failure of leadership derives from ignorance, which itself derives from lack of critical education. as idayat puts it, …how do we define a life of freedom when it bears all signs of captivity? the real boko haram is here, not in the forest of sambisa.the boko harams are those government people who brought ten bags of rice to the camp and announced in the news that they came with hundred. the boko harams are those camp officers who steal seven out of those ten bags of rice and leave us with three to share for food. the boko harams are those in uniforms whose job is to keep us safe here but drag out the girls every night to have a fill of their lusty … ( cole, 2018: p.19-20). such sublime moments, which are edifying, abound in the drama piece and this is made possible by the writer’s use of language; all the same one encounters degrading moments such as the rape incidents by camp officials and soldiers under whose care the displaced persons are. for example, atai, who manages to escape from boko haram captivity, where she is a sex object, falls into the hands of camp officials who are mainly soldier and who take turns abusing her sexually (2018: 56-59). or even memunah, who is caught for working with boko haram. the punishment the soldiers mete out to her is to rape her till she dies and they hide their hideous act and get it published in the newspapers that she died of cholera (2018: 88). (4)transformed practice stage finally, in the transformed practice stage, it is expected that learning becomes more practical. as bobkina and stefanova (2016), put is, students should be encouraged, after they have read embers, to write about the text so that the depth of their insight could be appreciated as well as their capacity to see the ideas in the text from different perspectives. even the reader can do the same. the students should be encouraged to ask relevant questions and share their views with their mates. the reader is also expected to ask relevant questions and seize every opportunity that presents itself to discuss such questions with anyone who has read the text so they can share their ideas. conclusion embers dramatized the human condition in the idps’ camps. it revealed to us the inhumanity of camp officials and soldiers who embezzle provisions meant for them and take sexual advantage of the women and young persons among them. the study looked at the role of critical and strategic thinking and development in studying the text as well as the consequences of that for the society. it showed that critical analysis of texts is indeed critical thinking which has to be made conscious to students in the course of studying texts and which society must also understand in order to place commensurate value in literary and critical education. there is no doubt that the human mind or brain uses the simulation effect as in computers to orientate itself to social realities as reflected in literary texts and that as a result literary texts are very effective in cultivating critical thinking skills in us. lastly, it is recommended that literature should be a critical component of development discourses. this is important because of the discursive formations of texts or their various units of signification. there is no doubt that meaning can no longer be the exclusive preserve of the writer: the reader participates in determining the meaning of the text; however, it is important to also hear the writer’s perspective if the writer is still alive. to insist that the author is dead is to lose a perspective or perspectives, because in critical thinking, perspectives matter. it is indubitable that critics raise issues in given texts in spite of the writer. those issues they raise ought to be the focus of discourse. if this happens, policy makers are sure to be enriched to be able to make policy decisions and give expert advice to government based on the knowledge they have gained. references achebe, chinua (1983). the trouble with nigeria. enugu: fourth dimension publishers. ashcroft, bill (2001). post-colonial transformations. london/new york: routledge, 2001. bloom, b. s. (ed.). (1956). taxonomy of educational objectives, handbook i: cognitive domain. new york, ny: david mcay. cole, s. (2018). embers. ibadan: omojojolo books. bobkina, j. and stefanova, s. (2016). literature and critical literacy pedagogy in the efl classroom: towards a model of teaching critical thinking skills. ssllt, 6(4), 677-696. doi: 10.14746/ssllt.2016.6.4.6 (18) (pdf) using fiction to promote students' critical thinking. available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337744701_using_fiction_to_promote_studen ts'_critical_thinking [accessed may 06 2021]. doğanay, a., ü. figen. (2006). eleştirel düşünmenin öğretimi. ali, şimşek (editor) teaching based on the type of content. ankara. nobel yayın-dağıtım elnathan, j. (2015). born on a tuesday. lagos: cassava republic press ennis, r. h. (1987). a taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions and abilities. in j. baron & r. sternberg (eds.), teaching thinking skills: theory and practice (pp.9-26). new york: w.h. freeman. facione p a (2015). critical thinking : what it is and why it counts. insight assessment https://doi.org/isbn 13: 978-1-891557-07-1. facione, p. a. (1990). critical thinking: a statement of expert consensus for purposes of 1 educational assessment and instruction. millbrae, ca: the california academic 1 press. halpern, d. f. (2010). creativity in college classrooms. in r. a. beghetto & j. c. kaufman (eds.), nurturing creativity in the classroom (pp. 380-393). new york, ny: cambridge university press. halpern, d. f. (1993). assessing the effectiveness of critical thinking instruction. the journal of general education, 42 (4), 238-254. harris, r. introduction to critical thinking. https://www.sccollege.edu/faculty/mroe/documents/def_of_critical_thinking.htm jones, e. a., hoffman, s., moore, l. m., ratcliff, g., tibbetts, s., & click, b. a. l. i. (1995). national assessment of college student learning: identifying college graduates’ essential skills in writing, speech and listening, and critical thinking. final project report (no. nces 95-001): national center on postsecondary teaching, learning, and assessment, the pennsylvania state university kabilan, k.m. (2000) creative and critical thinking in language classroom. internet tesl journal, 6(6). http://iteslj.org/techniques/kabilan-criticalthinking.html lazere, d. (1987). critical thinking in college education english studies> https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed284275 mar, r. "fiction and its relation to real-world empathy, cognition, and behavior." thursday, august 7, 1:00-1:50 am et. american psychological association's 122nd annual convention. walter e. washington convention center, 801 mount vernon pl., nw, washington, d.c. moore, b. n./ bruder, k. (1990). philosophy: the power of ideas. mountain view california: mayfield publishing company, 1990. nwosu, o. and udenta, o. u. (2015). english studies for higher education. ibadan: kraft books limited. oatley, k. (2016) “fiction: simulation of social worlds”trends in the cognitive sciences volume 20, issue 8, pages 618-628 paul, r., & elder, l. (2007). a guide for educators to critical thinking competency standards. dillon beach, ca; foundation for critical thinking. seiter, c. (2021). retrieved from https://buffer.com/resources/reading-fiction/ vessali, l., et al. (2015) “the greatest magic of harry potter: reducing prejudice” journal of applied social psychology, 45, pp. 105-12. walter, k. (1994). re-thinking reason. albany: state university of new york. violence and the girl-child: feminist voices in african fiction ifeoma odinye first published in nigeria in 2021 isbn: 979-978-8454-82-4 copyright © ifeoma odinye, 2021 telephone: 08032617858 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. printed by: thinkers publishers p.o. box 306 agulu anambra state, nigeria e-mail: thinkerspublishers@yahoo.com website: https://thinkerspublishers.business.site phone: 07031048438, 08038393389 dedication to the ‘girl-child— the muse that spurred the writing of this textbook. preface this book aims at exposing readers to the concepts, nature and scope of violence in african literary scholarship. in this book, i have made efforts to capture and clearly discuss a collective and dynamic concept of “gender-based violence” as a literary phenomenon laced with the aura of verisimilitude. as a researcher in the humanistic disciplines, i deemed it necessary to communicate a pattern of bizarre ideology on gender-based violence that is gradually becoming normalized. this ideology stems from the fact that the possibilities of certain cultural or societal trends affect the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of the girl-child leading to loss of self-esteem, fear/anxiety, neurosis or death. in this regard, as an african scholar who is dedicated in contributing to academic readership, i used some selected imaginative pieces to evoke the feeling of plausibility. the selected novelists for the discussion are all africans by origin. also, the discussion of the selected novels artistically and intellectually depicts experiences in african cultural milieux. notably, this book stems from the ideas built on my ph.d research. these ideas have been designed to offer interesting contribution to academic readership in the areas of gender studies and literary criticism. the feminist and psychoanalytic perspectives of the discussion make the book very interesting and educative. ifeoma ezinne odinye (phd) contents dedication …………………………………………………….. i preface ………………………………………………………… iv table of contents ……………………………………………… v chapter one: the concept of violence ……………….............. 1 introduction ………………………………………………............. 1 nature and scope of violence ……………………………………. 2 gender-based violence as an ideology ………………………….. 8 gender-based violence and literature ………………………..... 10 chapter two: the girl-child and gender-based violence … 14 the girl-child …………………………………………………… 14 the girl-child and human rights ………………………………. 21 chapter three: reviews on the novels of emecheta, yvonne vera, nuruddin farah and ikechukwu asika ………. 28 buchi emecheta’s the bride price ………………………………. 28 yvonne vera’s under the tongue ……………………………….. 33 nuruddin farah’s from a crooked rib ………………………….. 37 ikechukwu asika’s tamara ……………………………………… 40 chapter four: feminist and psychoanalytic perspectives to the dimensions of violence against the girl-child in female selected novels ……………………………………………………………. 43 cultural violence against the girl-child in buchi emecheta’s the bride price …………………………………………………… 43 gender inequality and male child syndrome …………… 45 forced marriage …………………………………………... 53 female assertiveness as a strategy for emancipation in the bride price …………………………………………… 62 sexual abuse against the girl-child in yvonne vera’s under the tongue ………………………………………… 70 childhood sexual abuse and the narrative representation of traumatic experiences ……………….. 71 female bonding and female assertiveness as strategies for emancipation ………………………… 87 chapter five: feminist and psychoanalytic perspectives to the dimensions of violence against the girl-child in male selected novels …………………………………………………………. 90 physical and psychological violence against the girl-child in nuruddin farah’s from a crooked rib ……………………….. 90 gender roles and discrimination ……………………… 91 forced marriage ………………………………………... 96 female assertiveness and female bonding as strategies for emancipation…………………………….. 107 domestic violence in ikechukwu asika’s tamara …………… 122 domestic violence in the familial context ……………. 123 trafficking and sexual abuse of the girl–child ………. 133 female assertiveness as a strategy for emancipation …. 139 chapter six: aspects of style in the novels of buchi emecheta, yvonne vera, nuruddin farah and ikechukwu asika ……. 142 plot …………………………………………………………….. 143 use of language ………………………………………………. 153 setting …………………………………………………………. 177 narrative technique …………………………………………… 184 chapter seven: gender-based violence: points of comparison in the selected novels of emecheta, vera, farah and asika …. 197 consciousness-raising: recommendations for curbing gender-based violence ………………………………………………… 204 works cited …………………………………………………… 207 current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 399 the leadership position of the girl-child and the nigerian socio-cultural environment joy n. okeke chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam, anambra state & gloria c. ogbobe national engineering development institute, nnewi, anambra state introduction hornby (2000) defines culture as “the custom and art, way of life and social organization of a particular country or group”. therefore, it is a way of life and social organization of any group of people. anthropologically and sociologically, it involves all the things a particular set of people do such as building pattern, greetings, food, dressing, occupation etc. such ways of doing things which are modified from time to time and passed on from generation to generation, sum-up the culture of a set of people. tylor (1969: 17) quoted in ezechukwu (2012: 2) says that; ‘culture does not only embrace human social life but human social life is learnt and acquired. every society … has norms, mores and values which they cherish and appreciate’. nigeria has a lot of different cultural groups, each of them has cultural beliefs, norms and values which militate against the proper development of the girl-child in one way or another. the importance of effective promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women has been at the forefront of international summits. if the goals of sustainable development are to be attained gender equality has to be promoted. “this was reinforced at the world summit on social development (copenhagen, 1995), and the beijing platform for action adopted at the fourth world conference on women (fwcw) in 1995”. (landry, 2001: ii). all over the world, men have been found to dominate the economy and some social institutions. potentials of women are often under-utilized and sometimes where they contribute, their contributions are undervalued. gender is organized differently in different societies. as a result, the expectations for women and men vary throughout the world. there are areas reserved for women and some for men. in many parts of africa like nigeria (northern part) for example, women are not encouraged to operate large scale animal farming like cattle rearing. it is an area preserved for men. in the south eastern part of nigeria, women are not equally encouraged to run transportation business to a high level. it is generally believed that men would either dupe them, or run their business down by not rendering accurate account of their trips. consequently, their husbands, brothers or sons are encouraged to run such business on their behalf. sustainable development, development that supports the security and regeneration of economic, natural, human social resources, cannot be achieved if women (girl-children), who make up half of nigeria’s population are neglected. so, the girl-child in nigeria, as the worldover, must be systematically included in the development efforts in order to change the current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 400 subordinate status in the society. some research reports have shown that “countries that promote women’s rights and increase their access to resources and schooling not only have lower poverty rates but have faster economic growth. investing in the girl-child-education, health, family planning, access to land, inputs and extension is an important part of development strategy as well as a matter of social justice. some negative cultural beliefs about the girl-child in this present time, there are still some cultural groups in nigeria who still uphold the erroneous belief that the only role of a woman (by implication the girl-child) is having pregnancy and giving birth to babies, cooking and doing other domestic works, some of such cultural groups could be found in the north east like maiduguri, adamawa and north west like sokoto. this has in no small measure deterred and hindered the girl-child from manifesting her god-given other potentials. there are a lot of girl-children whom when trained, could be a world-class engineers, doctors, pharmacists, professors and the likes. some of them are compelled by the antiquated culture, to be following their fathers and husband-nomads around the bushes, where they graze their cattle, so as to be meeting their needs in those bushes as they move their cattle around. such is not promoting the educational development of the girl-child, and women in general, in the contemporary society. gender discrimination gender discrimination as regards the girl-child is the unfair treatment given to her because of her sex. in some nigerian societies, the girl-child is not allowed to go to school. they believed that such a girl has no business going to school since she would be betrothed to a man as soon as she gets to for instance age fifteen and above. many of them go about the markets selling and hawking marketable wares, while their male counterparts would be in school learning. in some other societies, the girl-child is allowed to go to school, but the choice of course of study would be limited to certain courses of study; while the males would be encouraged to go in for some courses like engineering, geology, and similar ones, the girls will be encouraged to see them as no go area for them. the family members would advice such a girl-child not to go for such courses which they regard as exclusive reserve for men. they believe that if such a girl-child does such a course regarded as the male reserved area, getting a man to marry her may be difficult. this in no doubt is one of the reasons there are few women in certain professions in nigeria like; professional engineers, sailors, pilots and the likes. i could remember the time i was discussing with a friend in a bus, about a woman auto-mechanic engineer, who was reported by the daily sun as the “queen of auto mechanics”. a man who was sitting close to us said; nwanyi nke a o na-anukwa di? o ga – atukwa ime? (this woman is she married to a man? can she have pregnancy). such statement came as a result of culturally formed images and views about the role of the girl-child and women generally. to that man, any decent lady should not go into the business of auto-mechanic, and also, if any lady wants to have babies, she should not take up the job of auto-mechanic. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 401 the daily sun reported that this lady: sandra aguebor-ekperuoh became a global celebrity when she became the first lady motor mechanic to operate her own workshop in the country. the greasy job of a motor mechanic, often seen as an occupation for dumb-ass young men, won her love, when she was barely 14. initially, her father wanted to pull down the roof on her daughter when she confided in him her plan for the future. this lady’s father’s initial refusal of her becoming what she wanted to be in the future is born out of such erroneous belief that some jobs are preserved for men, while some which have some links with the household are preserved for women. thanks to god that this lady eventually manifested the potential in her, and has become a celebrity. now she has over one hundred (100) female apprentices working with her. she has not only carved a niche for herself, as the first nigerian lady mechanic, she is also a nation-builder, who has created job and means of livelihood for over 100 female apprentices, who could have been otherwise jobless. if this now shinning destiny was able to be suppressed at the early stage, her story would have been a different case, plus that of over 100 other female apprentices under her. in our contemporary nigerian society, there are still some cultural groups who still prefer male children to female. the boys are regarded as heirs of the family, while the girls are not, because they would be married out. as a result, some of them are denied education, especially the university education and would be married off after secondary school education, so as to have less load and then concentrate on the boys. such does not promote the girl-child proper development. also, certain careers like politics are seen as maledomain. in some cultural communities, ladies who engage in politics are seen as wild and anti-cultural set of women, who cannot be controlled by their husbands. they see them as ones who would not be able to be controlled by the male-folks, no wonder there are still few women in nigeria occupying top political offices like the presidency, governorship and many other top political positions. few women who are striving to fight gender discrimination are still seen as those challenging men under the umbrella of ‘women liberation’. the girl-child and the influence of cultural contact nothing is as constant as change. as the wind of development blows across our nation and beyond, people migrate to places far away from their native homes and cultural setting for better life style. as this happens people from different cultures meet and unconsciously start borrowing from one another. when this happens, many cultural behaviours are lost to newly acquired ones. this can be seen in the aspect of language, dressing and chastity, which the traditional igbo society for example cherishes a lot, to mention but a few. when an hausa speaking family, igbo speaking one and yoruba speaking co-habit in a place like the army or police barracks, or any other government residential quarters, the tendency of speaking a common language which everyone would understand would be there. at times, a pidgin would emerge. over time, if the parents do not take care of the language of their home, pidgin would equally creep in and overtake the language of the home. in this situation, the girl-child who is looked upon as a future mother may not have a native current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 402 language culture to pass down to her own children, as language is the number one in aspects of culture. she would not be able to teach her own children the language she grew up with. it is often said that a people without their own language is a people without identity. igbo language and so many other african languages have suffered a lot in the area of culture (language) in contact. a lot of girl-children today are no longer dressing in the cultural way fit for girls. in igbo land in particular, and in nigeria generally, girls no longer put on what fits them. many wear short pants, sleeveless tops and other wears that expose their body parts meant to be covered. this is erroneous and anti-cultural. in the words of obafemi cited in adeoye (2009: 21), the ‘arts… have all become affected by immense material and conceptual challenges due to technological changes’. this is true of our cultural mode of dressing meant for the girlchild. the influence of films and movies our young ones watch, almost on a daily basis have greatly eroded the cultural mode of dressing meant for them, especially the girl-child. this has a negative implication on the girls chastity value. when a girl-child is dressed half-naked, the tendency for men to look at her inordinately would be there. if not checked, it could lead to rape, which in turn could bring in other psychological and physical damage to the girl-child and thereby affect her future. the girl-child in african society is trained to be decent in behaviour and in out-look, have self control and be reserved. the modern trend of things is taking them to a different direction entirely, and it poses danger, if not checked. the place of the family/society in the development of the girl-child the family: the family is the first place of socialization of the girl-child. it is in the family that she is nurtured and packaged on how and what she would be. the parents, and other elders in the family are her character molders. each family is supposed to have norms and values according to their cultural beliefs, which would be inculcated in the girl children. durant cited in ezechukwu (2012:5) says; the family has been the ultimate foundation of every civilization known to history. it is the economic and productive unity of the society. it was (sic) the political unit of society, with the parental authority. it was (sic) the cultural unit, transmitting letter and arts, rearing and teaching the young; it is the moral unit, inculcating through cooperative work and discipline, those social dispositions which are the psychological basic and cement of civilization. from this excerpt, it is obvious that the family is the first unit of socialization, socializing the girl-child into being a useful member of the larger society, having respect for constituted authorities and good morals. these would help to make her develop into a functional woman. psychologist have said that motivation is one of the ways of causing a change in an individual’s character. in that same line, a girl-child who may not be doing well could be motivated in a little way to encourage a change. following rogers (1961), “the individual has within himself the capacity and the tendency, latent if not evident, to move forward towards maturity. in a suitable psychological climate, this tendency is released, and becomes actual rather than potential. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 403 the society: in conjunction with the family, the society has a role to play in the development of the girl-child. it has to do this by way of providing security for the girl-child. in this present time, where crimes of all sorts are meted out to the girl-child, ranging from rape, human trafficking, child labour and many more. the society has to provide a secured environment where the girl-child can thrive and then develop her potentials, that will in turn promote the development of the nation and the economy. conclusion/recommendations the place of the girl-child in the life of every nation is enormous, as she is the tomorrow’s mother, who is looked upon to bring up sound children that will sustain what the heroes of nigerian nation have laboured for. when the girl-child is not cared for properly, the chances of her nation failing in the near-future is not lacking. this popular saying that ‘train – up’ a girl-child, and you have trained a nation’s is not a mere saying, it is a reality. therefore, this paper is of the opinion that; gender discrimination which is a bane to the proper development of the girl-child should be made to go into extinction so that nigeria would be moved forward via the development of the girl-child. also, looking at the law of social justice which states that “the available means for the satisfaction of needs ought to be shared…” (ryan, 1993: 120), one can rightly say also that family resources for educational upbringing of children be shared among all the children in the family irrespective of their gender status. again some people that see the girl-child as one who would not be useful to the family, because he would eventually be married out, and so would not give her proper upbringing, should desist. no child is better than the other. a girl-child who is properly trained and packaged can do better than her boy-child counter-part in the future. again, girlchildren should be encouraged to go into occupations or careers of their choice. this could be a very good way to their stardom, and also becoming world-class rated in their various careers. furthermore, the dignity and value of chastity should be promoted among the girlchildren. indecent dressing which wrongly places the young girl-child on the same level with a prostitute, should be condemned and decent-dressed girl-children should be encouraged and rewarded. this would make others to know that there are more positive rewards in dressing decently than not. references adeoye, a. a. (2009). nietzsche’s neurosis and the dramaturgy of godlessness in nigeria theatre, unizik journal of arts and humanities, vol. 10, no. 2. babalola, s. (1997). “society, culture and the status of widows in contemporary nigeria: a gender analysis”. in owasanoye b. & ahonsi, b. (eds). widowhood in nigeria. lagos: friedrich ebert foundation and human development initiatives. ezechukwu, t. u. (2012). “girl-child and culture”. a paper presented at the 4th bi-annual international fawen conference, federal college of education (technical, umunze). current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 404 hornby, a. s. (2000). oxford advanced learners dictionary. oxford: university press. landry, d. (2001). gender and sustainable development. nigeria population census 1991 analysis. abuja: national population commission, nigeria. momsen, j. h. (1991). women and development in third world. london: routledge. rogers, c. r. (1961). on becoming a person. boston: houghton mifflin company. ryan, a. (ed.) (1993). oxford readings in politics and government. oxford: university press. sam (2012). saturday sun, february 11. udofort, i. (2011). women echo, vol. 1. conversion/functional shift: an indispensable tool for creativity in english language and literature comfort obodo abstract english language is dynamic and this attribute makes it outstanding among the languages existing in our world today. although, grammarians and usage panels tried tremendously to establish the standard usage of the english words, the fact remains that according to calvert ((2017), there is no academy to define officially accepted words. neologisms are coined regularly in all fields of man’s endeavour medicine, science and technology, music and entertaining industries; and new slangs are constantly being developed. more often than not, some of these new words enter wider usage and become listed in the english lexicon while others remain restricted to small circles; hence, the issue of full and partial conversion respectively. this study tends to consider the contributions of functional shift in english as a productive process which ensures maximal creativity on the part of english language users and the brain behind the thriving of the english language, keywords:creativity, conversion, functionality, the english language, shift introduction english has an extraordinary rich vocabulary and willingness to absorb new words. left to borrowings alone, english may not meet the demands of the time; so, it tends to reproduce exactly its kind through the process of functional shift to accommodate its need in various regions and times. with this, a word is converted to function as a particular word class whenever the need arises. consequently, english language tends to develop consistently and is ever ready to adapt to the changes inherent in our changing world. so, english language reproduces through functional shift and voraciously feed on loan words through borrowing and tends to face extinction/death if it fails in its dynamism. what is conversion/functional shift? simply put, conversion or functional shift is the process of using a word from a particular wordclass and to function as a member of another word-class. that is, turning a noun for instance, into a verb or turning a verb into an adjective in a quite different context. finegan (2012, p. 56) defines conversion/functional shift as functional shift, or conversion as it is also called, is the process where a word converts from one syntactic category, that is, word class or part of speech, to another without any change to the form of the word. similarly, yule(1996, p.67) asserts as follows: ‘a change in the function of word, as for example, when a nouncomesto be used as averb(withoutanyreduction), isgenerallyknownasconversion. otherlabelsforthis verycommon process are ‘category change’ and ‘functional shift’. productivity of functional shift in the english language functional shift is a productive process in english due to the flexibility it affords the users. it goes further to promote clarity and economy in the use of words. according to lyons, ‘within the limits set by the rules of grammar, which are perhaps partly universal and partly specific to particular languages, native speakers of a language are free to act creatively; ...this notion of rule governed creativity is closely associated with that of productivity’ (23). in the english language, virtually all the word-classes of the english language can undergo a functional shift in modern english; as there do not seem to be any restrictions regarding the forms that can be shifted or converted (briton and briton,2010,p.226). yule(1996, p.67) notes that the process is particularly productive in modern english with new uses occurring frequently. harley confirms it by saying, “this is a very productive process in english, which people regularly perform on the fly” (105). (aitchison,1987, p.161)further notes: [functional shift] is extremely productive to increase the english lexicon because it provides an easy way to create new words from existing ones. thus, the meaning is perfectly comprehensible and the speaker can rapidly fill a meaningful gap in his language or use fewer words. the productivity of functional shift in english contributes to the thriving of the english language. functional shift allows flexibility in the use of words, and this spices up the language and makes it lively.many authors have written volumes on this functional shift, however, its scope is inexhaustible. calvert (2017) in quoting berube made it clear that functional shift has received attention for many centuries and as far back as 1601, the word impact was first recorded as a verb (5). plag (2003, p.219) describes the process as the most popular of all verbderiving processes and that all researchers agree that it is an extremely productive process. fowler notes that functional shift is “an ancient process” and one which is “exceedingly common” (181). it is believed that one fifth of all english verbs were originally nouns (pinker, 1994, p.392). this shows the unique role which functional shift plays in the english language. according to crystal (1980, p.332), ‘functional shift is one of the features which makes the english language distinctive’ (crystal’s assertion seems most plausible if we consider the flexibility of this process in the language. although bauer notes that if there are constraints in this process, they are yet to be demonstrated (226), safire (2005, p.136), among others, however; has a contrary view. hence, his assertion: ‘don’t lard your prose with functional shifties’. in spite of these struggles to curb excesses, greater numbers of words disapproved from shifting from one class to the other are busy gaining considerations. for instance, calvert (2017, p.5) notes: ... some usage panel statistics from survey taken between 1987 and 1996:84 disapproved of access as a verb in non-technical contexts; 74% disapproved of the sentence he has authored a dozen books on the subject; 95% disapproved of the use of impact as a transitive verb; and although contact as a verb met with 66% disapproval in 1969, it seems to have won a victory less than 20 years later, with 65% of the usage panel accepting this [functional shift]. today, the word – ‘access’has gained recognition as a verb and can be exemplified with the following instances: a) i can’t access most of my data on the computer without using password. (verb) b) she can access her profile through face book. (verb) c) they will access the data tomorrow. (verb) instances of using the word impact as a transitive verb: a) if i separate you from uche, it will impact on your friendship. (verb) b) they are decisions that impact our lifestyles. (verb) c) when the hammers impact on the nails, they bend. (verb) in the process of functional shift, when a derivative adopts all the inflectional markers or features of the class it is converted into, it is called a full conversion; but when it adopts some features and not all, it is called a partial conversion. instances of productivity of functional shift it is noted that virtually all the word-classes of the english language can undergo a functional shift. let us exemplify functional shift using the content words as illustratively enshrined in various sample texts. sample text 1 find me to marry one with octavius caesar, and companion me with my mistress... dear isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly! ... and that which most with you should safe my going/is fulvia’s death... since my becomings kill me, when they do not/eye well to you... this common body/like to a vagabond flag upon the stream/goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide... that what i would have spoke/was beastly dumb’d by him... a hand that kings/have lipt (lipped), and trembled kissing... we have jaded out o’ the field... henceforth/the white hand of a lady fever thee... the hearts/that spaniel’d me at heels... wouldst thou be window’din great rome, and see...your wife octavia/... shall acquire no honour/demuring upon me... ballad us out o’ tune: the quick comedians... some squea king cleopatra boy my greatness... (anthony and cleopatra i.ii.31-v.ii.220 in shakespeare, 1996). from the text above, it is obvious that shakespeare made use of these words competently and, in such a way that they become part of another word class at any point in time as the need arises. in the instances given, some words are overtly marked by taking inflectional pattern suitable to the word-class they are converted into just like the words: lackey-lackeying and demure-demuring, taking the present continuous aspect of the verb being converted to. also, the words: dumb-dumbed, lip-lipped, jade-jaded, spaniel-spanieled and window-windowed taking the past tense marker of the verb they are converted to. however, there are some others that are covertly marked such as safe, fortune, ballad, fever, eye, companion and boy. these words as used above are instances where functional shift exhibits its flexibility the most, because these words are devoid of any form of inflection based on the uses they are subjected to. sample text 2 he doctors sick horses...would youpaper a room with representations of horses?... ‘you must paper it’, said the gentleman, rather warmly. ‘you must paper it’, said thomas gradgrind, ‘whether you like it or not. don’t tell us you wouldn’t paper it....’ i would fancy... suppose you were going to carpet a room, would you use a carpet having a representation of flowers upon it?’... [in] prairie manner ... ‘he was goosed last night, he was goosed the night before last, he was goosed today’... (dickens,1996, pps 35-45). sample text 3 there wet for your pains... you and your ragged books ... oh make me want to pulp your brain... and i will scorn the jibes of these bush minds... and you must chirrup like a cockatoo... shaming our heritage before the world... tethered, as it were, to my dirtied heels... i dislike this strange unhealthy mouthing you perform... but the bale is still feasting his eyes on the images... will guru morin wet my throat? ... and we are not feuding in something i have forgotten... have you forgotten? if he has serve him a slap to wake his brain... he seeks to have me as his property where i must fade beneath his jealous hold...do any of my wives report a failing in my manliness? ... that, with a virgin young and hot within, my failing strength would rise and save my pride... or will the smell of the wet soil be too much for your delicate nostrils? ... is a man’s bedroom to be made naked to any flea that chances to wander through? ... a python for mother, and fathered beyond doubt by a blubber-bottomed baboon... planning for a final burst of life, he husbands his strength and before i even don a cap, i find yet another stranger in my bed... below the humming birds which smoke the face of sango... in years to come, we must leave virgin plot of lives, rich decay... (soyinka,1963, pps 1-52). in the above extract, the highlighted words have multiple class members. the word wet could be adjective, noun or verb depending on usage. in the initial and second usage of the word in the above text, it is used as verb while in the third usage; it is used as an adjective. the word rag is a noun, but here, it is used as verb-ragged, the word pulp could be adjective, noun, or verb, but it is used as a verb. these words mouthing, feasting and feuding are all of noun origin, but were used as verbs. the word dirty could be verb, adverb, or adjective but it is used as verb. the word slap could be a noun, verb or adverb but it is used as a noun in the text under analysis. the word fade could be verb, adjective, or noun, but used as verb, the words chances and smoke could be noun, verb or adjective but are used as verbs. the words father, husbandand don are nouns but are used as verbs. the word virgin could be a noun or an adjective but is used as adjective. for a word to change classes and still, maintain a multiple class membership is evidence of flexibility. it is also a way to exploit a reader’s existing knowledge because some of these words in question are not new to the language. for one to associate the meaning of the converted word to the word from which it is converted is a sign of sharing a semantic relation and/or evidence of semantic extension. hence, the possibility of writers or speakers to exploit a reader’s existing knowledge in addition to the above examples, the following are given to support some of the cases of functional shift in sentences using the following words: round, down, back, second, reverse, past and dream 1. examples using the word ‘round’: a) we went round lagos in a taxi. (preposition) b) she rounded off the discussion. (verb) c) i tried to bring him round. (adverb) d) caroline has a round face like a moon. (adjective) e) the nurse was on her round to look after the patients. (noun) (murthy 2007, p.8) similarly,eyisi (2006,p.19) made her marks in the use of the word ‘round’ as: a) he ate six whole rounds of bread and butter. (noun) b) she rounded the corner at top speed. (verb) c) peter has a round mirror in his room. (adjective) d) drake sailed round the world and came back to england. (preposition). e) turn your chair round and face me. (adverb) apart from murthy and eyisi’s contributions, the above examples can be rewritten in such a way that the word round will function without inflections on the form. consider the following: a) he ate a round of fruit salad. (noun) b) we are to round the corner at top speed. (verb) c) i have a round table in the dinning. (adjective) d) he danced round the tree for fun. (preposition) e) turn the table round to face your audience. (adverb) 2. examples using the word ‘down’: a) she ran down the road. (preposition) b) she fell down. (adverb) c) she is feeling very down today. (adjective) d) my doona is filled with down. (noun) e) watch him down this schooner of beer. (verb) (collins and hollo, 32) similarly, yadugiri (2008, pps.210-211) uses the word ‘down’ thus: a) prices will come down. (adverb) b) we went down the road. (preposition) c) my computer is down. (adjective) d) the storm has downed several trees in the region. (verb) e) there was a slight down on her arms. (noun) 3. examples using the word ‘back’: a) she will come back tomorrow. (adverb) b) we forgot to lock the back door. (adjective) c) all her friends backed her when she decided to contest the election. (verb) d)please sign on the back of the cheque. (noun) (yadugiri, 2008, p.211) 4. examples using the word ‘second’: a) she came second in the race. (adverb) b) she is second in the list. (adjective) c) i seconded ravi’s proposal. (verb) d) change from the first to the second . (noun) (yadugiri,2008,p.211) 5. examples using the word ‘reverse’: a) she went in the reverse direction. (adjective) b) she reversed into the garage. (verb) c) the quality hasn’t improved, quite the reverse. (noun) (yadugiri, 2008,p.211) 6. examples using the word ‘past’: a) a car drove past the door. (preposition) b) a car drove past . (prepositional adverb) (quirk and greenbaum, 2004,p.145) grammatical words as verbs down downed (as in: they downed their drinks) out outed (as in: they were outed) but but (as in: but me no but) in addition, these conjunctions: if, and together with but can be used as nouns, the adjective yellow is used as verb, the prepositions up and down are used as noun. the interjection ho hoho served as noun. the adverb how and why are used as noun. as for the productivity of zero-derivation, virtually all the word-classes of the english language can undergo zeroderivation including affixes. for instance, “biology and zoology are welcomed; any other logy is prohibited”. quirk and greenbaum (2004, p. 442) gave another instance as “patriotism, and any other isms you’d like to name”. creativity of functional shift creativity may have other senses but for this study it is meant to portray english language users’ ability to manipulate english words skilfully in such a way that they reflect the users’ intended meaning at least possible cost and at the right circumstance. for this analysis, the works of davies(2018) and chukwu(2011) will be used to that effect. in this study, creativity is viewed in two ways ‘dominant creativity’ and ‘recessive creativity’. these terms are employed to bring to light the easily perceived creativity and receding creativity. while the work of davies(2018) will be used to analyse the dominant creativity, the work of chukwu(2011) will be used for recessive creativity. sample text 5 my wife’s expected date of delivery will be in october and she was advised by our family doctor to have enough rest. however, on this fateful day – 28th september, 2018, she hollywooded till 2am. when i got up in the middle of the night, i thought she was drinking a glass of water; but no, she was merely beveraging. surprisingly, the list of names to be chosen from for our baby that will be octobered was still where i kept it untouched. angrily, i asked her why she had not attended to it. she told me that she was sorry for hollywooding all the while; that she was carried away by the interesting episode. she confessed that she even forgot that her boss, who will be novembering, gave her an assignment to draft an invitation card. then, i asked her to turn off the video. she was like asking me to give her some minutes to round off. seeing my stern look and determined disposition, she turned off the video, took the list of names and selected ‘florence’. ‘why florence’, i asked? she told me that she expected our daughter to take up a nursing profession and become a ‘florence nightingale’ of our time; having visualised how she will be florence nightingale-ing round the casualty ward, soothing the wounds of the casualties and mopping the fevered brows, the name was therefore chosen for her. ‘since when did you turn out to be kind-hearted and selfless’? i queried. ‘why not choose the name elizabeth’? ‘am i not worthy to have queen elizabeth in my home’? i blushed. ‘in short, be informed, you have wombed a queen and she cannot be exchanged for a nurse; no way!’ ‘but nurses are highly valued abroad’, my wife persisted. ‘keep quiet!’ i shouted. ‘i wouldn’t want any person to queen me an inch further after the next twenty to twenty five years to come; and negotiation is hereby terminated!’ – ‘the matter closed!’ ‘my baby will be named after queen elizabeth’. that’s all! [davies, 2018, pps. 48-54(emphasis mine)] considering these words -‘hollywooded’, ‘beveraging’, ‘octobered’, ‘hollywooding’, ‘novembering’, ‘florence nightingale-ing’, ‘fevered’, ‘wombed’ and ‘queen’,they obviously reflect very clear instances of creativity. even people with little knowledge of english will know that the words are used in an uncommon way. these easily noticed traits of functional shift are termed dominant creativity. however, some other times, we observe a rather smooth transition of word from one wordclass to the other without attracting much attention. this is possible because such words are not new in the language but are used in other sense. not only that, they tend to fit in, in the grammatical structure of the language; so much so that even the native speakers hardly see it as an ungrammatical usage of english words. for such usages, let us consider extracts from chukwu’s literary work. sample text 7 ... in fact, what will i recount that i’m still lacking in the face of the earth. yet, i need a caretaker to man all these in the way i treasure...i hope this dining and wining will cement our relationship! ... (you’ve done well! you wanted to be like me, but your chase proved a wild goose!) ... i have been grinding and feeding your mouth but you’ve been grinding yours and blinding my eyes! ... papa, you panicked me!... trading is good but what happens if after your years of service you’re booted out ignominiously on a trumped up charge, what then will become of the person?... every stone will be turned to ferret out resources for nurture ... keep fit and may god speed you in your enterprise! ... he couldn’t look at our faces and was somewhat quailing... how can a person be owed over three months arrears and yet you call the person a salaried earner...suffering and success are recognised as god’s makings, but there is a plea that the better should remain. now, therefore, will you have to go with the worse? (chukwu, 2011, pps.63-119). the highlighted words could be used as other parts of speech other than the ones they are used in the above extract. for instance, the words: man, treasure, cement, chase, blind(ing), panick (ed), boot(ed), ferret, quail(ing), salary (ied), make (ings), better, and worse could serve as other word class other than the ones they served currently, provided they are reverted to their bases and inflections removed. therefore, they can serve the following: the word man is of noun origin and could serve as noun or verb but is used as verb. the word treasure could be a noun or verb but is used as a verb; cement could be a noun or verb but is used as a verb; chase could be a noun or verb but it is used as a noun. the word blind (with -ing inflection removed) could serve as adjective or verb but used as verb; panick(with -ed inflection removed) could serve as adjective, noun or verb but used as verb; boot (with -ed inflection removed) could serve as noun or verb but used as verb; quail (with -ing inflection removed) could serve as a noun or a verb but used as a verb; salary is of noun origin but with the present inflection -ied as in salaried, it then serves as an adjective. the words better and worse could serve as adjective, adverb, verb or noun simultaneously, but are used as nouns. in these highlighted words, there are smooth transitions from one word class to the other unlike the examples in the sample text 6. with this smooth transition, the process is termed recessive creativity. in this case, the writer uses the words skilfully in such a way that they do exactly what the writer intends them to do at a particular point in time and in the right circumstance. this is what we call creativity and/or competence! conclusion functional shift is actually a veritable tool in the hands of competent users of english as this gives them a good platform for ingenious use of english words in such a way that they satisfy maximally, all their communicative needs. functional shift spices up the english language and gives it polish; hence, its ability to overcome language death. some languages today are considered as dead languages like latin. however, the english language is alive, dynamic and needs no revitalization. references aitchson, j. (1987).words in the mind: anintroduction to mental lexical. oxford: blackwell. brinton, l and brinton d. (2010). the linguistic structure of modern english. amsterdam: johnbenjamins. calvert, m.(2017).weirding the language: how grammatical conversions impact english. https://www.amercan.edu/cas/tesol/reso... 17/4/2017 chukwu, e.(2011).the vermins&fate-full tomorrow.awka: ask me resources. crystal, d. (1980). a first dictionary of linguistics and phonetics. colorado: westview press boulder. davies, c. (2018).a corpus-based investigation of noun to verb conversion in english. https://rdues.bcu.ac.uk>ceri davies thesis 17/6/2018 dickens, c. (1996). hard times. canada: broad view press. eyisi, j. (2006). a grammar of english: the student’s companion. nimo: rex charles and patrick. finegan, e.(2012)language:itsstructure and use(6th ed). california: wadsworth,. fowler, h. (2000).fowler’s modern english usage. new york: oxford university press.https://www.ello.e>field.php>morphology 18/5/2018. murthy, j. d.(2007). contemporary englishgrammar. lagos: bookmaster. pinker, s.(1994).the language instinct. new york: harper collins publishers. plag, i.(2003).word-formation in english. cambridge:cambridgeuniversitypress. quirk, r.and greenbaums.(2004).a university grammar of english. delhi: pearson education. (2004). safire, w.(2005).how not to write: the essential misrules of grammar.newyork: w.w.norton and company. shakespeare, w. (1996). anthony and cleopatra. inthe complete works of william shakespeare. hertfordshire: wordsworth editions. soyinka, w. (1963). the lion and the jewel. oxford: oxford universitypress. wilde, o.(1973). the importance of being earnestin: f. kermode and j. hollander (eds). the oxford anthology of english literature (vol. ii) new york: oxforduniversitypress. yadugiri, m.a.(2008). making sense of english: a textbook of sounds, words and grammar(revised ed). new delhi: viva books private. yule, g.(1996). the study of language2nded. cambridge: cambridgeuniversity press. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 27 the challenges of historical objectivity: history as a bridge between the past and present aniefiok idara hanson c. department of history and international studies nnamdi azikwe university, awka idaraaniefiokh@gmail.com abstract everyone brings his own mind to the study of history, and approaches it from the point of view which is characteristic of himself and his generation. the attempt to eliminate this ‘subjective element’ from history is always insincere-it means keeping your own point of view while asking other people to give up theirs-and always unsuccessful. the attainment of historical objectivity in history and historical writing has been found to be challenged by clash of ideas, personalities, personal histories, opinions, interpretations, social pressures, and different ages. in response to this, this paper excurses into the mixed and myriad challenges that are vexing the possibility of achieving total objectivity or achieving a reasonable degree of objectivity in history. the paper concludesthat for the foreseeable future, different views is a better step towards achieving the goal of history and objectivity is the best tool to enhance bodies of historical knowledge. 1.0 introduction individuals, communities, societies could scarcely exist if all knowledge of the past was wiped out. as memory is to the individual, so history is to the community or society. without memory, individuals find great difficulty in relating to others, in finding their bearings, in taking intelligent decisions they lose their sense of identity. a society without knowledge of its past would be like and individual without memory. it is only through sense of history that communities establish their identity, orientate themselves, understand their relationship to the past and to other communities and societies. without history (knowledge of the past), we and our communities would be utterly adrift on an endless and featureless sea of time (marwick2001:30). in other words, history is a necessity as historical knowledge is essential to the society. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 28 to understand contemporary problems, to take part in contemporary debate, we need history. if we wish to discuss contemporary moralities, we can only do so effectively by making comparisons with past moralities. 2.0 understanding the nature of history and objectivity in history a training in history is a training in analyzing, evaluating and interpreting both secondary and primary sources. it develops an understanding that everything written pertaining to history, secondary or primary, must be approached with skepticism and caution. it develops the ability to distinguish between pieces of writing which are well substantiated and logical and those which imply express theory, hypothesis, or opinion. the craving for an interpretation of history is so deep-rooted that unless we have a constructive outlook over the past, we are drawn either to mysticism or to cynicism (powicke1955:174). history is not only a record of progress but a “progressive science” – as the course of events and as the record of those events. historians of later generation do not look forward to any such prospectof producing “ultimate history”. they consider that knowledge of the past has come down through one or more human minds, has been processed by them, and therefore cannot consist of elemental and impersonal atoms which nothing can alter. the exploration seems to be endless, and some impatient scholars take refuge in skepticism, since all historical judgments involve persons and points of view, one is as good as another and there is no “objective” historical truth(collingwood 1946). every historical account is dependent upon explanation and appreciation. in other words, we cannot see the past in a single communicable picture except from a point of view, which implies a choice, a personal perspective. (carr1961) notes that it is impossible that two historians, especially two historians living in different periods, should see historical personality in the same light. historians, like scientists, build upon the discoveries of their predecessors, bring new evidence, new techniques, and new approaches to bear in refining, correcting, and sometimes rejecting existing interpretations. historians do not attempt to “show” us the past (just as they do not attempt to reconstruct it), what they present is “knowledge about the past” and it is never, naturally, the whole past, but always just some limited aspect which the historian has chosen to investigatethat is posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 29 where the choice lies; historians choose, or are directed towards, particular, manageable topics, as is the case in all scientific disciplines. (collinwood 1946:127) argues that historians in different ages are captives of their own age, and therefore produce different historical interpretations, and the every-individual-is-different argument that, even when belonging to the same age, historians have different personalities, different personal histories, and therefore produce different historical interpretations. in delivering to his cambridge audience in the early 1960s the series of sparkling and urban lectures to which he gave the title “what is history”, edward hallett carr advised that history is not disembodied knowledge existing on library shelves. he also advised that one should know the historian before going on to read the history. he said that history is an unending dialogue between the past and present. the point that carr was really trying to get over is that history in each age is governed by the preoccupations and prejudices of that age and is therefore, in its own way, just as subjective as the history written in past ages. arguments about subjectivity in history tend to focus far too much on individual, isolated historians, and not enough on the profession as a whole: and they tend to focus on the wrong aspects of the individual historian’s work. the subjectivity or the fallibility of the history lies as much in the establishing of the facts as in writing them up.frequently, the sources are inclusive, obscure, or contradictory. it is this which forces historians to bring in elements of conjecture and interpretation. the standard line from carr (1961:8) is that the subjectivity lies in the way in which the historian freely choosing, or compelled by the imperatives of ideology and discursivity, selects and arranges the facts. he argued that the word objectivity itself in misleading and question-begging. he further argued that the social sciences and history cannot accommodatethemselves to a theory of knowledge which puts subject and object asunder, and enforces a rigid separation between the observer and the thing observed. the facts of history cannot be purely objective, since they become facts of history only in virtue of the significance attached to them by the historian. objectivity in history cannotbe objectivity of fact but only of relation, of the relation between posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 30 the fact and interpretation between past, present, and future. the historian who contests, say, the verdict of one of his predecessors will normally condemn it, not as absolutely false, but as inadequate or one-sided or misleading. the historian, in his task of interpretation needs his standard of significance, which is also his standard of objectivity, in order to distinguish between the significant and the accidental. the fragmentary nature of historical evidence places a barrier in the ways of the historian seeking the whole truth. we are forbidden by the past to know anything which it has not of itself allowed.no historian today will echo confidence in the prospect of “ultimate history”. but some historians who have a long-term vision over the past and over the future write history which is more durable, and has more of this ultimate and objective character, than others. carr observed that the necessity to establish basic facts of history rests not on any quality in the facts themselves, but on an apriori decision of the historian. in the opinion of walsh (1967:95), the question of objectivity in history is the most important and the most baffling topic in the critical philosophy of history. the complete record of the past is impossible because some events have left no traces at all. some traces have also disappeared. other has at best left only fragmentary evidence. objectivity is regarded as one of the characteristics which must be present in any knowledge that claims to be scientific. the debate whether history is objective or not can be traced to the 19th century. it was associated with the development of the positivist theory which centered on the desire to base the study of history and consequently that of society, on a series of general laws. what does it mean when it is said that a piece of knowledge is objective? can history attain scientific objectivity? objectivity is defined as the disassociation of the investigator from the object of investigation so that the same conclusion can be reached by independent investigators(walsh 1967:95).by this definition, we are looking at objectivity in the absolute sense and if so rigidly taken, it may not apply to any inquiry. this is because the idea of complete dissociation from the object of investigation is inapplicable not to history but also to science. the truth is that there is always an posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 31 element of the human factor that is involved in historical so well as scientific inquires. marwick (1981:100) argues that “the gifted scientist will usually develop a “feel” for his subject… his “feel” will take him in the direction of trying one kind of experiment rather than another…” the definition of objectivity which calls for the complete elimination of the human element from all inquiries is, therefore, not entirely acceptable. therefore, the crucial point is the extent to which the human factor is either reflected or involved in the result of historical and scientific inquires. compared to history, scientists have evolved a methodology which ensures that the human element is reduced to the barest minimum in scientific investigation. scientific objectivity cannot be attained in history. by “scientific objectivity” we mean a body of knowledge in which there is separation between the investigation and the object if investigation thereby making it possible for all investigators ofthe same object to arrive at the same conclusion. a number of factors explain why scientific objectivity is not possible in history. these factors are found in the nature of history itself-where pursuit of knowledge involves a measure of interaction and interdependence between the set subject and object. the subjectivity or fallibility of the historian certainly does involve selection and writing up as much as research. this is because, in a manner very different from the sciences, the topic historians investigate, being concerned with the actions and attitudes of human being within communities and societies, are intimately bound up with values, and where there are values it is almost impossible to avoid value judgments. here, undoubtedly, the political or moral outlook, the mental set, of the individual historian is likely to influence the contributions to historicalknowledgehe/she makes. for historians, the temptation to play to the gallery is greater than that faced by most scientists. it is contended that historians cannot possibly write down everything there is on a topic, even the most narrowly defined. it means that the historian is forced to select from the total information available to him in records of all kinds and no matter how he may explain his choice there is usually a personal factor involved. to a large extent, the selection which the historian makes influences the result of his investigation. this is the basis of fear expressed by (atkinson1978:73) when posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 32 he says that “in making selection, historians will be expressing their personal and class prejudice”. this necessarily compromises the idea of objectivity. historians search for truth about what happened in the past but the past is not open to direct inspection. it means that historians must necessarily study documents which are the evidence of the past and this appears in different forms-oral traditions, languages, numismatics, archaeological artifacts among others. the importance of every fact depends on the interpretation given to it by the historian.the belief “in the hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independently of the interpretation of the historian is a preposterous fallacy”. the facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions, among others, like fish on the fishmonger’s slab. the historian collects them, takes them home, and cooks and serves them in whatever style appeals to him. this recalls the favourite dictum of the great liberal journalist, c. p. scott “facts are sacred, opinion is free”. it used to be said that facts speaks for themselves. this is, of course, untrue. the fact speaks only when the historian calls on them; it is he who decides towhich facts to give the floor, and in what order or context. no document can tell more than what the author of the document thought-what the thought had happened, what he thought ought to happen or would happen, or only what he himself thought he thought. the historian and the facts of history are necessary to one another. the historian without his facts is rootless and futile; the facts without their historian are dead and meaningless. the historian is neither the humble slave nor the tyrannical master of his facts. the historian is engaged on a continuous process of mouldinghis facts to his interpretation and his interpretation to his facts. it is impossible to assign primacy to one over the other. at this juncture, we shall examine some prevailing theories on objectivity in history. 3.0 theories of objectivity 3.1the skeptical theory of objectivity posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 33 this theory maintains that certain moral and metaphysical beliefs are behind different historical interpretations and these beliefs are not scientific in nature (walsh 1967:108). this implies that historical thinking has something irreducibly subjective about it that colours any understanding of the past. hence this theory denies the possibility of objectivity in history. this theory removed the distinction which historians often make between history and propaganda. history has a methodology which, if followed, results in the writing of an objective historical account. on the other hand where the historical methodology is ignored, the account which is produced faces a serious danger of beinglabeled as propaganda and hence of no value. 3.2 the positivist theory of objectivity the main thesis of this theory is the attainment in history of a single point of view based on set of presuppositions which all historians might be prepared to accept. the positivists believe that the objectivity attained in science is also attainable in history. they argue that, given the use by historians of the method of investigation used by natural scientist, what the natural scientist has achieved in the study of nature could also be achieved in the study of society. the positivist theory is opposed to any procedure of investigation that is not reducible to scientific method. it holds that science is the only valid knowledge and the facts are the only possible objects of knowledge. hence the theory draws a dividing line between historical facts and interpretation. it contends that since interpretation of facts brings about discrepancies in historical accounts, historians should avoid interpreting facts; they should merely present the facts as they were. leopold von ranke (1795-1866) and augustus comte (1798-1857) were some of the known positivists. (smith 1978:1-11), states that the theory undermines an important element in the writing of history, that is, interpretation of facts. if a writer does not interpret, he becomes a chronicler not a historian. the historian must concern himself with both narration and interpretation. this is what robert smith calls the “why” and “how” aspects ofhistory. the historian must not neglect interpretation which is the “life blood” of history. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 34 3.3 the perspectivist theory of objectivity the thesis of this theory is that every historian considers the past from a particular standpoint. it avers that any history is a product of two factors viz: the first is the subjective element of the historian and the second is the evidence upon which his account is based. however, the existence of the first factor would appear to prevent any historian from reliving the past as it actually was. the prespectivists disagree sharply with positivists. ranke and his followers were labeled historians without imagination. the prespectivists contend that it is not enough for a historian to collect his material and write them down as they occurred. that would amount to what collingwood calls the “scissors and paste” approach to history. for the prespectivists, therefore, the idea of interpretation does not negate objectivity. the facts must be accepted that no historian starts out with his mind blank, to be gradually filled by the evidence; the historian always has a preconceived idea. it is against this background that the prepectivists contend that objectivity can be attained if the historian follows certain fundamental rules the historians must properly securitize his evidence; he accepts conclusions only when there is good evidence for them and he must maintain intellectual integrity and honesty in his arguments as well as presentations. as ernest scott (1925) declares “there is no finality in history…” the purpose is to arrive at a perfection of knowledge. objective historical account should be based on deep research and hence, should be able to stand the test of time. with this understanding, one can appreciate why each generation re-interprets its history. 4.0 history as a bridge between the past and present what happened in the past profoundly affects all aspects of our lives in the present and will, indeed, affect what happens in the future (marwick 2001:22). the past is all-persuasive. but what exactly is ‘the past’? clearly, it signifies ‘what actually happened’-events which have taken place, societies which have risen and fallen, ideas and institutions, eating habits, marital customs, all aspects of human behavior in the past, matters large and small. traces of the past exist in the memories, traditions and ceremonies that are relayed from generation to generation. all human societies betray a preoccupation with their own past, whether through ancestor worship, the invocation of past triumphs by ‘witch doctors’ or ‘medicine men’, the scriptures and chronicles of holy men and monks, posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 35 or the regular mounting of national parades and ceremonies. much, of course, of what is preserved, celebrated, and passed on from age to age may have only a tenuous relationship to the past as it really happened; much of it may well be ‘myth’ or ‘fable’. but the myth believed by one generation and passed on to the next also becomes a part of this awesomely large and clusters of events and ideas, great systems and trivial pursuits, ‘the past’. the past can only be apprehended through memories, myths, and, most important, through the relics and ‘sources’, archaeological, written, printed, painted among others-that it leaves. historians do not ‘construct’ or ‘reconstruct’ the past; they provide knowledge about the workings of these phenomena. the human past has determined much of the built environment, the political boundaries which divide country from country, their forms of government, the precise character of social and economic distinctions, the sources of tension within and between nations: deep in the past lie beliefs and prejudices, modes of thought, the rise, spread and fission of religious faiths, conquests and atrocities, all still exercising potent sway today. contemporary morality can only be discussed effectively by making comparisons with past moralities. to understand contemporary problems, to take part in contemporary debate, we need history.history consists essentially in seeing the past through the eyes of the present and in the light of its problems, and the main work of the historian is not to record, but to evaluate; for, if he does not evaluate, how can he know what is worth recording. 5.0 conclusion history should be focused on as the bodies of knowledge produced by the labour of many thousands of members of the historical professions, not as the isolated product of auteurs. in history, there is no rembrandts, no shakespeares, and no beethovens. the works of historians is constantly being revised, modified and even updated: on the whole we don’t go in for revising rembrandts or updating beethoven. the articles and books of historians, even the most famous, are merely contributions to knowledge and are subject to debate among professional colleagues, and to qualification and correction. history is meaningless in a static world and in its essence is change, movement. in history itself, the belief that we have come from somewhere is closely linked with the belief that we are going somewhere. a society which has lost belief in its posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 36 capacity to progress in the future will quickly cease to concern itself with its progress in the past. objectivity is useful in history to the extent that it serves as a methodological tool to prevent the historian from reflecting biases and prejudice in his account. if this is to be achieved, then it is unnecessary to have universally accepted conclusions in history. to have different views is better because it will be a step towards achieving the goal of history which is understanding the past. what we think about objectivity says something about what we think about the modern world, in so far as our opinions about objectivity are related to our stances on larger issue such as progress, the role of science in our common life, and the possibility for a truly democratic public sphere. is true objectivity even possible? whose interests does it serve? to construct a history of objectivity often means, in part, to make political point about current conditions. historians are human beings like everyone else, and the historical account they fashion are influenced by the same social contexts as other historical actors. they must take into account the technological regimes in which they find themselves, the normative frames that dominate the discourse which they participate, and the economic demands of the institution they work in and attempt to describe. references atkinson r.f. (1978), knowledge and explanation in history, london: macmillan press. brewing mark w. (2013), “a short history of the history of objectivity”, the communication review.accessed march 14, 2014.doi: 10.1080/10714421.2013.839553. carr e.h. (1961), what is history? london: macmillan press. collingwood r.g. (1946), the idea of history, london: oxford university press. marwick arthur. (1981), thenatureofhistory, london: macmillan press. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 37 marwick arthur. (2001),thenew nature of history: knowledge, evidence, language, london: palgrave publishers. olubomehin o.o.(2001), “the issue of objectivity in history” in issues in historiography, ed. olubomehin o.o., ogun: college press publishers. powicke f.m. (1995), modern historian and the study of history, london: oldham press. scott ernest. (1925), history and historical problems, london: oxford university press. smith robert.(1978), “explanation in african history; how and why?”historical method, tariku 6. the cambridge modern history: its origin, authorship andproduction (1957), united kingdom: cambridge university press. walsh w.h. (1967), an introduction to philosophy of history, london: hutchinson. uzoh c. & ani v. 181 chapter eleven establishing the basic art making tools and materials chidi uzoh, & valentine ani introduction rt materials generally are the various media of expression which artists employ to express their ideas in creative processes. some of these materials are paper, stone, linoleum, wood, marble, fabrics, canvas, dye, paints, inks, wax, cement, fibre, clay, etc. (ngumah, et al (2013). art tools can be described as any hand-operated machine or any operated device that is employed by artists to create artwork. there are numerous tools an artist can recon with, and they vary according to one’s specialised area. for instance, a painter is expected to use a mounted canvas as his support for visual expression, a sculptor uses a chisel and mallet to chip out parts of a stone or wood to form an image, a printmaker cuts out the negative spaces on linoleum or plywood, roll colours on the matrixes, and make multiple prints on paper or other surfaces, and so on. various tools for the production of art shall be enunciated in various subcategories. a establishing the basic art making tools and materials 182 drawing drawing entails delineation or markings on twodimensional surfaces, using materials, or drawing media such as pencils, with soft lead (b grades), charcoal, pen, and ink, markers, chalk, drawing papers, drawing pins, crayons, brushes, pastels, drawing boards and donkeys. plate 1: assorted drawing materials, including paper source: google.com graphic design the narrative of graphic design had changed long ago, with the invention of the personal computer in the 1970s. the era of using mechanical tools to produce cameraready artwork is gone. today, the designer deploys some tools, including software to work for his clients. before the 1970s, various mechanical or technical tools were used for the production of graphic design jobs such as uzoh c. & ani v. 183 almanacs, adverts, brochures, and so on. these tools were needed to enhance the sharpness and accuracy of work, among them, are; a ruler, t-square, set of brushes, drawing board, mathematical set, or drawing set, paper and cardboard sheets, pencil, eraser, poster colour, watercolour, markers pen and ink, scissors, cutter knife, palette, the personal computer, and printers. it is not that these mechanical tools are no longer useful for art making today, but more sophisticated workstations have taken over the scene. plate 2: the designer’s workstation source: google.com currently, graphic design has been shifted from traditional hand-drawing to computer-aided design comprehensively, establishing the basic art making tools and materials 184 which allows the design concept to be effectively transformed into gorgeous realistic graphics (kumar and kumar, 2017) when using the workstation, the tools are the personal computer, the artist’s android phone, an ipad, a highdefinition camera, a flatbed scanner, a graphic tablet, printer, a mouse, sketch pads, pencils, ink, and so on. clay modelling plate 3: pottery, ladi kwali creating her designs. photograph: w.a. ismay/image courtesy of york museums trust (york art gallery) clay modelling is an additive creative process on 3dimensional space, using clay. some modelling materials include clay plasticine, paper mache, paper pulp, pestle uzoh c. & ani v. 185 and mortar, broken pots, modelling tools, modelling sticks, broken calabash, wire, knife, and a bunch of brooms. a piece of plyboard or a wooden plank can serve as a base on which the work is to stand. tie dye tie-and-dye is a hand method of producing patterns in textiles by tying portions of the fabric or yarn so that they will not absorb the dye. the process involves folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a garment and binding it with string or rubber bands, followed by the application of dye (popoola, 2018). the required materials are 100% cotton material fabrics, raffia or cotton thread, hand gloves, buckets, dye chemicals sodium hydrosulphite, caustic soda, salt, water, store, pits, stick for stirring the dye, washing soap, scissors and some others. when beginning the tie-dye process, it’s best to start with a freshly laundered garment to remove any oils and adhesive residue… using a 100% cotton material is best, but other natural fabrics (wool, silk, linen) and rayon, will work as well. any material containing polyester will not yield desired results. before any tying can occur, the shirt must be damp. this can be done by simply filling up a sink with water and submerging the shirts. ring out the shirt before tying (schukei, 2016) establishing the basic art making tools and materials 186 assemblage an "assemblage," extending the method initiated by the cubist painters, is a work of art made by fastening together cut or torn pieces of paper, clippings from newspapers, photographs, bits of cloth, fragments of wood, metal, or other such materials, shells or stones, or even objects such as knives and forks, chairs and tables, parts of dolls and mannequins, automobile fenders, steel boilers, and stuffed birds and animals (seitz, 1961: 8). a good example of assemblage is collage, mosaic, some crafts, and metal sculpture. metal assemblage involves the welding or fixing up of various metal parts to form an entirely new image. the same process applies to the building of bridges, and skyscrapers. references ngumah, h. c, ayoola, o., dalhatu, s., and samkay, a. (2013) cultural and creative arts for junior secondary schools. ibadan: evans brothers nigeria ltd. popoola, f. (2018). how to start, and sustain a tie-and-dye business. https://punchng.com/how-to-startsustain-a-tie-and-dye-business/ raj kumar, s. m. & naveen kumar, c. (2017). design of workstations for computer users: a review. ire journals volume 1 issue 4 | issn: 2456-8880. uzoh c. & ani v. 187 https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/320611770_ design_of_workstations_for_computer_users_a_rev iew schukei, abby. (2016). a step-by-step guide to tie-dye in the classroom. https://theartofeducation.edu/ 2 016/06/13/step-step-guide-tie-dye-classroom/ seitz, w. (1961). the art of assemblage. new york: the museum of modern art. contemporary issues on colonial border cultures odochi s. akujobi 1& chidimma b. ike 2 abstract colonialism impacted on the socio-cultural ethos of the colonized. it is acknowledged as an integral part of the national history and monument of most countries and has significantly influenced the cultures of the colonized. one of the consequences of colonialism is the remapping and re-delineation of geographical boundaries with consequent split and relocation of cultures and languages, in addition to the introduction of cultural boundaries among people who, hitherto, never shared common cultures. the paper systematically reviews the positions of various scholars and draws relevant inferences. keywords: contemporary; issues, colonial; border; culture. introduction colonialism did more harm than good to the colonized nations and the overall impact varies from one country to another. indeed, some european scholars argue that africa benefitted immensely from colonialism and could not have experienced the level of infrastructural development without colonialism. however, some african scholars opine that colonialism was exploitative and driven by the insatiable quest of the colonial masters for resource control of the colonized nations. one of the effects of colonialism is the creation of artificial boundaries and borders, hence, some citizens of colonized countries, their languages and cultures are dispersed to other countries. although boundary agitations are not alien, the artificial boundaries created by colonialism have further deepened boundary disputes across many countries; for example, the greentree agreement was designed to implement a ruling of the international court of justice (icj) of 2002 under which the bakassi peninsula was transferred from cross river state, nigeria to cameroon. under this agreement, some indigenes of bakassi in cross river state, nigeria were compelled to accept territorial identity in cameroon while the rest remained in nigeria. predicated on the precedence set by colonial masters, the nigerian government created rivers state in 1967 out of the former eastern region. under the creation, many igbo communities in the former eastern region were ceded to rivers state, while some of their kins men remained in the present imo state. jonsson describes colonialism thus; “colonialism is the capitalistic and exploitative method by a superior nation (colonizer) to lord itself over a less privileged nation (colonized) leading to the impoverishment of the latter. the concept of colonialism has political, economic and cultural implications,” (2). jonsson considers colonialism in the negative aspect and disagrees that colonialism had a positive impact on the colonized contrary to the opinions of some western scholars. said (1978) corroborates this notion and refers to the condescending zeal of the europeans to marginalize and stereotype the history and culture of other people. colonial border culture fanso (1986) posits that conceptual conflicts exist between the traditional and colonial boundaries and the former enhances, while the later hinders inter-group and territorial relations. africans and europeans had opposing views as to the definition and function of boundaries. despite the discrepancy of opinions on the definition and function of boundaries, both share a common understanding that boundaries, in geo-political terms, indicate the limits of a territory which borders a foreign territory and that all humans use boundaries to delineate particular locations of their territories. muller (2020) argues that colonialism left many contestable boundaries which are artificial; dividing communities, people or ethnicities that otherwise would belong together. according to him, such identity can be exclusionary and trigger conflicts; it can also have a much more positive and ultimately hybrid function. he further argued that the acceptance of borders as markers of identity can be a prerequisite for finding innovative ways to overcome exclusions in the everyday lives of borderland groups. mbembe argues that the boundaries in use by africans at the moment were not defined by africans. most of the boundaries of the countries of modern africa were decided by europeans and therefore arbitrary (19). often, these countries were divided by rivers, mountains, oceans, and other major natural endowments. a few times, the boundaries of old african empires were considered before such borders were created. he goes on to state that though africans were not considered in the process of dividing up the continent and the boundaries inherited from colonialism have been maintained as the status quo. most times, people of same cultures and languages find themselves in different countries and are hindered from interacting with their kins in other countries as a result of the imposition of colonial boundaries. afolayan et al. are of the same opinion that borders divided people of the same culture and language and cultural ties of people are severed; the first attack against the people and their will of improving the lives of their people or administration is affected. he writes that; the borders created by the european colonizers that split people of common culture and ethnic groupings into different countries were more or less perceived by the people across the border as ‘artificial’; hence, many of the international migrants that originated just across the nigerian border in the neighbouring countries of benin, niger, chad, and cameroon perceived their movements as within the same socio-cultural space rather than between two different nations. (12) the borders might have become legally binding, but the people see the boundaries as artificial and their consciousness do see these different countries as really different or the people different. africans see themselves as people of the same culture and language in different countries, divided by an “artificial boundary”. acemoglu et al. reiterate the issue of borders as introduced by european colonizers where they are of the opinion that europeans merely imported their own culture of boundary specification to their colonies, dividing up the people. this aligns with said’s postulation that europeans on colonizing their colonies viewed their culture as superior, overlooked other cultures, and imposed theirs without recourse to how rightly fit their culture was to these indigenous cultures. acemoglu et al. write, borders manifest themselves in concerns with the constructed boundaries between peoples, nations, and individuals. the idea of the border is implicit in the outreach of european cultures in the colonial period. the region which this aggressive diasporic movement of european settlers reached at any point became defined as the frontier. the settled area adjacent to this was also known sometimes as the borderlands. contemporary transcultural studies have suggested that such borderland spaces can be spaces of energy. (1380) these scholars’ idea resonates with that of other scholars quoted so far in the aspect of how artificially constructed these boundaries were. these boundaries are not supposed to be arbitrary and legally binding because the people involved were not considered in the decision-making. however, due to the superiority and force of the colonialists, and their control of native populations, they coerced the people to adhere to the boundaries and with their neocolonialism, these former colonies continued adhering to these formulated boundaries. pratt argues that mapping and boundary creation are well-known and frequent practices of colonial and post-colonial cultures. right after people are perceived as conquered or before even colonization began, the discovered land is studied and mapped out for easy administration. pratt makes the argument that, both literally and metaphorically, maps and mapping are dominant practices of colonial and post-colonial cultures. colonization itself is often consequent upon a voyage of discovery, a bringing into being of ‘undiscovered’ lands. the process of discovery is reinforced by the construction of maps, whose existence is a means of textualizing the spatial reality of the other, naming or, in almost all cases, renaming spaces in a symbolic and literal act of mastery and control. (30) he goes further to state that in the mapping of the discovered and conquered land, new names for locations and languages are imposed. the constructed artificial boundaries are imposed on the people and limitations in movement are imposed where there was none. therefore, since the issue of border is already considered symbolic or representative of the colonial era, there have been attempts by scholars to study literary works of art on the basis of the effects and consequences of these colonial borders. the effects of the border introduction are evident in the lives of the people and most times represented in their literary works of art. the lives of the people are affected in various ways ranging from the slightly restrictive movement, limited trade and then to international migration. colonial borders are strict and make the differences between the colonized countries and colonizers more pronounced, for instance, bonchuks argues that before the introduction of mapping and boundaries, there was little or no restrictive trading; however, the introduction brought about a restrictive trading to the extent that trading along borders or between countries was considered illegal. he writes; these days cross-border trade is more or less “illegal,” unlike before; and “little” is known about the causes and consequences, organization, profits, expenses, the factors that motivate people to participate in it, and its linkages with the official economy. such information is lacking because this is not only part of the total economy unrecorded and unmeasured, but many of its activities are covert and on the other side of the law and difficult to investigate. however, it wasn’t illegal prior to the introduction of the colonial border and strict laws guiding it. (2) it is the scenario of illegal trading along the borders and the perception of people about it as represented in the literature that critics study. there are also other scenarios of colonial border literature that can be studied. the major fact is that any form of colonial border literature has to connect the effect of colonial borders on the lives of people as represented in literary texts. new trends in colonial border literature the factor to note about colonialism and all that has to do with it is that the experiences of the people about colonialism continue to evolve and change. thus, colonial border literature brings up new trends constantly aside from the primary matter and focus of the creation of these artificial borders and how they affect the relationship and culture of the people. at this time, issues bordering on migration and trade have become new trends, even gender roles are beginning to change as well. however, in trade, the colonized do not let these artificial boundaries affect their act of doing business with one another. in dissecting the economies of colonized countries and cultures prior to colonialism, bonchuks argues that it has been evaluated that trade across borders and market integration formalities are not really evidence of colonial economic policies or even modern reactions to economic imbalance. trade across borders is mainly grounded in native economic systems. tracing history, it can be written that most parts of the world were colonized by the british, french, and later the germans, who had stiff political and economic competitions among themselves, and this led to the shifting of trade to their specified areas of interest leading to the creation of economic conditions that favored their interests (3). to bonchuks, top european countries fought to create maps and boundaries among people due to economic reasons. at some point, europe as a continent suffered from overpopulation and too little resources to go round, there was a grievous struggle for the limited resources around the world and this struggle led to a peaceful meeting known as the berlin conference in 1885, which subsequently led to the balkanization of the african continent. the berlin conference was described by harm j. de bli in "geography: realms, regions, and concepts:" "the berlin conference was africa's undoing in more ways than one. the colonial powers superimposed their domains on the african continent. by the time independence returned to africa in 1950, the realm had acquired a legacy of political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate satisfactorily." unilaterally, africa was fragmented into different countries and boundaries created which did not represent the traditional boundaries of the people. the new countries lacked rhyme or reason and divided coherent groups of people and merged together disparate groups who really did not get along. therefore, boundaries among countries were brought up to solve the problem of resource struggle and to tackle problems of identification and differentiation. however, in the african context, it was mainly to consolidate the resource control of the europeans over africans. the cultures of most ancient countries did not do with boundaries or mapping, and so its introduction to most cultures that were colonized brought some sort of culture shock alongside the effect it had on their development and economies. it is in this light that pratt makes a case that there are liminal spaces and problems created by the binary system caused by the introduction of colonialism. colonialism dismantles the system in place and upholds the binary systems which bring lackluster economic, political, and cultural performance of the colonized into being (18). thus, colonialism and whatever it created are mostly of negative consequences than positive consequences. jonsson is of the opinion that migration as a raging modern issue is very much connected to colonial border literature. he suggests that borders are artificial creations of the colonial era and even imposed identities, thus, people identify with colonial-imposed nationalities and countries and are restricted from leaving these countries by law or migrating without proper documentation unlike how easy it was in the past. jonsson makes this argument, research suggests that over the past decade, there were more people moving out and within the african continent and the trajectories of migrants within africa are less straightforward than they were in the past when there were no borders and large-scale restrictions. nevertheless, this does not stop modern literature from demonizing africa’s intra and inter-migratory tendencies. indeed, modern papers show that african migrants are a homogenous group with similar origins and motives and that african migrations result in flight away from symptoms of misery and conflict prevalent in the continent. (2) therefore, the demonizing of other people’s ways of life and culture continues. right after plundering the continent and causing them to migrate in large droves outside their continent, europeans have come to condemn the migratory tendencies of africans and other colonized countries. in most papers and popular literary pieces, there are widespread issues of migration; the europeans concerned or still subtly demonizing the continent, and the africans and the colonized exploring migration from the pain and trauma of the dispossessed. aside from a good number of europeans who have come to condemn what they perceive as africans’ dependence on foreign countries and bad governance resulting in poor living conditions and the desire of africans to flee their continent, there are also some europeans who argue that african migration is the same as that of other continents. people like donald trump lump all non-european migrants together. to trump and his likes, migration from the third world is unacceptable and this has always been supported with racist remarks. the false and racist consciousness of the europeans against the third-world countries did not begin today. said had stated it was part of the colonial system and it continues to be part and parcel of the minds of the europeans. maug shein in his work explores burma’s pre-colonial history and what africans had, prior to colonialism; however, europeans overlooked these achievements or stole some of them as their own achievements. shein states that the pre-colonial history of burma’s transport and the road system is often neglected by european writers because of an early emphasis on the importance of maritime trade in burma and the interest of the early european settlers who came in boats and focused more on the maritime sector. one of these european writers, g. e. harvey, remarked of classical burma (pagan) that burma even had no roads at all (harvey 1983). shein refutes this claim and states that as there was an active maritime transport system in use, there was also a road system in use (29). this misconception is the same way african migrations are misconceived and viewed as attempts by africans to flee from the crises and disasters in their continent. sometimes africans are not the only ones whose migration was demonized, even people from other third world countries, but the same cannot be said for european migrants. this is not even withstanding that europeans by colonizing these former colonies facilitated the migration. jonsson argues that african migration dynamics can be described in terms of various historical continuities and discontinuities. there is the factor and experience of colonialism and the associated processes of state formation and capitalist development, which have to a significant extent, shaped and structured contemporary migration patterns. most migrations were caused by industrialization and urbanization in some places, which was virtually non-existent before the onset of colonialism. (5) thus, just like other people who migrate out of their nations due to industrialization and urbanization, africans equally migrate due to these factors. however, the question of migration has taken a new dimension as the study of migration according to gender has surfaced. migration was done by men more in the past, however, women are now considered to contribute to the factor of migration a lot. according to berriane and aderghal modern trends of migration flow in africa has increased, including increasing participation of women as free migrants who do not come with their spouses, fathers, or parents. most governments now consider women as major migrants; that they are beginning to eclipse the role of men in migration (8). this is a twist in the participation of genders in migration. awumbila et al. gave a title to this twist in the study of colonial border literature and migration as the feminization of migration. to them, this is being actively represented in literature and there is good documentation of this in current research. in the past, women moved in their capacity as accompanying spouses and these movements were over short distances. in contemporary times, however, women move independently within and outside the country for economic, as well as other reasons such as education and career development (37). thus, the feminization of migration as part of colonial border literature identifies one of the modern trends of the literature. the power of migration for better lives does not lie solely in the hands of men again; women are beginning to take bold steps. another great modern trend of colonial border literature is in the study of the effects of colonialism on the people according to their geographical location and their colonizers. lee et al. argue that different countries according to their different colonizers received different administrative standards. thus, people of the same culture finding themselves in different countries do not grow at the same pace due to the differences in administration (65). acemoglu et al. state that british protestantism encouraged growth and support; thus making their colonies perform better than french and portuguese colonies in africa. in their study, there was an effect of religion on per capita income (7). posner also argues along this line where he states that some scholars have exploited the arbitrary nature of colonial boundaries in africa to compare members of the same ethnic group on different sides of an imperial boundary and found out shocking results in varying levels of development (35). asiwaju’s study of yoruba of nigeria and benin, for instance, argues; “the marked differences in policy across empires, with the british-controlled areas being characterized by greater economic dynamism and respect for traditional political institutions than french-controlled areas resulting in better performance of british-controlled areas” (22). thus, the yoruba of nigeria (britishcolonized) perform economically better than the yoruba of benin republic (french-colonized). the last modern trend of colonial border literature is the study of the same culture in different countries colonized by different colonial masters in literary texts. the result is that the policies of the french are not quite beneficial to the growth of their colonies. the same culture in different countries ends up economically and socially different. conclusion colonial border literature has diversified from what it was in the past. it cannot be clearly represented as it was in the past as new trends are beginning to evolve. in the past, aspects of it like culture contact or culture conflict was not even one of the major focuses in criticism now. modern situations and modern trends are rising. these modern trends are used in studying literary texts and experiences relating to colonial border situations. works cited acemoglu, d., s. johnson, & j. robinson. (2001) “the colonial origins of comparative development: an empirical investigation.” american economic review, vol. 91, pp. 1369 – 1401, afolayan, a., g. ikwuyatum & o. abejide. (2009)“dynamics of international migration in nigeria: a review of literature.” university of ibadan. asiwaju, d. (1976) western yorubaland under european rule, 1889–1945. atlantic highlands: humanities press. asiwaju, a. i. “border security and transorder crimes.” in etamibo e. o. crime and policing in nigeria: challenges and options,mbeyi press nigeria ltd. ashcroft, b., griffiths, g & tiffins, h. (2007) post-colonial studies. routledge taylor & francis group. awumbila, m., manuh, t. & bosiakoh, t. a.(2007) “ghana migration country paper: trends, issues, and emerging research gaps.” centre for migration studies, university of ghana. berriane, m. and aderghal, m. (2009) “etat de la recherche sur les migrations internationales à partir, vers et à travers le maroc.” université mohammed v. bonchuk, m. cross-border trade: an analysis of trade and market integration along the nigeria-cameroon borderlands. pdf. jonsson, g. (2009) comparative report: african migration trends. international migration institute, university of oxford lee, a & schultz, k. (2012) “comparing british and french colonial legacies: a discontinuity analysis of cameroon.” quarterly journal of political science, vol 7, pp. 1 – 46, mbembe, a. (2000) “at the edge of the world: boundaries, territoriality, and sovereignty in .” public culture, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 259 posner, d. (2006) “african borders as a source of natural experiments.” working paper. pratt, d. (1992) “colonialism, mapping, and boundaries.” journal of political studies, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 26 37. said, e. (1978) orientalism: western conceptions of the orient. penguin. shein, maung. burma’s transport and foreign trade in relation to the economic development of the country (1885-1914). department of economics, university of rangoon, 1964. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 135 sms languages in use by the nigerian students dr. sunny ifeanyi odinye department of igbo, african & asian studies nnamdi azikiwe university, awka email: ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com abstract the use of sms/text language in sms/text messaging has been a great and even a top topic in applied linguistics. text messaging or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network. the sender of a text is known as a texter, while the service itself has different names depending on the country. it is referred to as a text in north america, india, australia, united kingdom and philippines, an sms in europe, asia and africa. this study is divided into introduction, sms/text messaging, sms/text language, criticism against the use of sms/text language, the use of sms/text messaging and language by students, the forms of sms/text language, some nigerian peculiar sms language (acronyms) and slang expressions. finally, suggestions were given and conclusion drawn based on the findings during the research. key words: mobile phone, sms/text messaging, sms language 1.0 introduction today, text messaging is most widely used mobile data service, with 74% of all mobile phone users worldwide, or 2.4 billion out of 3.3 billion phone subscribers, at the end of 2007 are active users of the short message service. in countries such as finland, sweden and norway, over 85 of the population use sms. the european average is about 80%, and north america is rapidly catching up with over 60% active users of sms by the end of 2008. the largest average usage of posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 136 the service by mobile phone subscribers is in the philippines, with an average of 27 texts sent per day by subscriber (wikipedia). matti makkonen has been referred to in different contexts as the ‘father of text messaging’ but he rejects the title and honour. there are different stories on who was the first person to send sms and when it was sent. one account of sms/text messaging being used for the first time was on december 3th, 1992 by a 22-yearold engineer at sema group. he sent ‘merry christmas’ to richard jarvis via vodafone network. 2.0 sms/text messaging david crystal is one of the linguists who has written many articles and books on the internet, mobile phone and language. in his book txtng: the gr8 db8, he says that ‘short messaging, short mail, smsing, person-to-person messaging, mobile messaging, wireless messaging, text messaging, texting, txtng…whatever we call it, it is evidently here to stay. he goes further to say that the popular belief is that texting has evolved as a twenty-first century phenomenon – as a highly distinctive graphic style, full of abbreviations and deviant use of language, used by a young generation that doesn’t care about standards. there is a widely voiced concern that the practice is fostering a decline in literacy. and some even think it is harming language as a whole. text messaging or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network. while the original term was derived from referring to messages sent using the short message service (sms) originated from radio telegraphy. the sender of a text is known as a texter, while the service itself has different names depending on the country. it is referred to as a text in north america, india, australia, united kingdom and philippines, an sms in europe, asia and africa. text messaging is most often used between personal or private mobile users, as a substitute for voice calls in situations where voice communication is not desirable, possible or available. in most countries, text messaging is significantly cheaper posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 137 than voice call. some years back it was free in some countries like philippines. text messaging has become so popular that it is used by many people around the world, especially the young generation and old ones who like texting. text messaging now serves different functions like social communication, information notice, banking and marketing notification, political campaign, political protest and revolution, election supervision and even exam malpractice. 3.0 sms/text language some, having begun to text, swear they will never abbreviate. but evidently, most people do, for one of two reasons. it’s easier. and it’s fun (crystal 2008:65). sms/text language is a shortcut or shorthand of written language in mobile phone communication used purposely by users due to constraint of space and because it is easy and fun. sms/text language (which is also known as textese, txt-speak, txtese, chatspeak, txt talk, txtslang, txt, txtspk, txto, txtk, texting language, txt lingo, smsish, etc) is a term for the abbreviations, acronyms and slang used by mobile phone users due to space and convenience in sms communication. crystal (2008:147), explains how the sms/text language emerged: faced with a new kind of communication problem presented by mobile phone technology, people all over the world have set about solving it in the same kind of way. they have done so, not by inventing a new language, but by adapting old language to suit the new medium. it is not the first time people adapted language to meet the needs of technological circumstances. the arrival of printing, wireless telegraphy, telephony, broadcasting, and the internet all pulled language and languages in fresh directions, introducing new standards and styles. sms/text language is similar to that used by those sending telegraphs that charged by the word; people wanting to save money became shortening their messages to pay a smaller amount. sms/text language is nascent dialect of english that subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra-concise words and sentiments. the invention of mobile phone messages may be considered as its posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 138 source, although elliptical styles of writing date to at least the days of telegraph, and telegraph operators were reported as using abbreviations similar to those used in modern sms/text language. the objective of sms/text language is to use least number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message, also as many telecommunication companies have an sms character limit, another objective of sms/text language is to reduce the character count of a message/text , hence, abbreviation and vowel ellipses are employed and punctuation and grammar are ignored. for the advantage of sms/text language, chiluwa (2008) says: sms (short message service) gives the subscriber the advantage of choosing specific number of words that would communicate comprehensively but briefly with the minimum cost. again subscribers are constrained by space and time. most handsets allow a maximum of 250 characters including space, symbols and punctuation marks. so subscribers are actually forced to create new linguistic forms to enable them maximize the available space and say all that has to be said. in support of the above quotation, crystal (2008) says that texting has led to more creativity in the english language, giving people opportunities to create their own slang, emoticons, abbreviations, acronyms, etc. the feeling of individualism and freedom excites people, making texting increasingly more popular and a more efficient way to communicate. 4.0 criticism against the use of sms/text language many people have reacted negatively against the use of sms/text language in different ways. according to crystal (2008:8), ‘there is now a widespread folk belief that, whatever texting is, it must be a bad thing’. to show an example of what he said, a broadcaster john humphrys reacted this way: texters are vandals who are doing to our language what genghis khan did to his neighbours eight hundred years ago. they are destroying it; pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary. and they must be stopped. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 139 another harsh criticism against the use of sms/text language is coincidentally from john but this time, john sutherland. as he writes in his article ‘cn u txt?’, he says…linguistically it’s (sms/text language) all pig’s ear…it (sms/text language) masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness. texting is penmanship for illiterates. in response to this, crystal (2008:11) says, ‘as far as i know i am not dyslexic, mentally lazy, or illiterate. but i text.’ though sms/texting language may be a challenge to languages but it is not a bad thing and it cannot be stopped. amanda pawelski of colorado state university in her article ‘using internet slang in spoken conversation: lol’, she asks question on the use of sms/text language: …the extent to which these new ‘words’ have become a part of english language, making their way into unexpected environments despite negative reactions. in addition, this growing occurrence shows that the lines of appropriateness regarding the use of internet -based lingo are rapidly blurring. as more and more generations of kids grow up in the world of texting, will this trend continue to increase? the answer is yes. sms/text language will continue to increase as far as there is a mobile phone and as long as there is constraint of space in sms/text messaging. crystal (2008:32) says that people have to cope with the fact that texting is an instance of a variety of language in very rapid evolution. another way people criticize the use of sms/text language is the negative impact it is having on languages around the world. it is anglicizing other languages in one way or the other. the use of diacritic marks is dropped in languages such as french and many african languages. the use of pictograms, logograms and symbols in sms/text language are now present in many languages. there is also the use of numeral, substituting syllables or a word. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 140 5.0 the use of sms/text messaging and language by students it is generally believed that young generations are the ones who invented and are using sms/text language. however, some old generations especially the elite and educated ones have joined the users of sms/text language. as i write this work, i received an sms from a professor which was full of abbreviations. we are tempted to use sms/text language in writing sms not only because it is easy and efficient but also it is fast and fun. these young people that use sms/text language, most of them are students. they use sms/text messaging for both social and academic communications. students equally use sms/text messaging and language in exam malpractice and academic writing respectively. text messaging has had an impact on students academically, by creating an easier way to cheat on exams. in december 2002, a dozen students were caught cheating on an accounting exam through the use of text messages on their mobile phones. in december 2002, hitotsubashi university in japan failed 26 students for receiving e-mail exam answers on their mobile phones. the number of students caught using mobile phones to cheat on exams has increased significantly in recent years. in england, 287 school and college students were excluded from exams in 2004 for using mobile phones during exams. some teachers and professors claim that advanced features can lead to students cheating on exams (wikipedia). sms/text language has begun to appear on students’ official and formal writings including theirs assignments and exams. hayslett (2006) confirms it, ‘‘to many teachers’ surprise, students have started sneaking abbreviations – ‘u’ for ‘you’, ‘2’ for ‘to’, and ‘4’ for ‘for’ into their papers and other class assignments’’. recent research by rosen et al (2009) found that those young adults (students) who used more language-based textism (shortcuts such as lol, 2nite, etc) in daily writing produced worse formal writing than those young adults (students) who used fewer linguistic textism in daily writing. however, the exact opposite was true for informal writing. in many colleges and universities in nigeria, students are not allowed to use their mobile phones inside an exam hall. this can help stop students from using their mobile phones to send sms/text messages within and outside the exam hall. however, this will not stop them from using sms/text posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 141 language in their formal writings like assignments and exams. in crystal (2008:165) jill attewell in a paper for literacy today in 2003 says: there are reports of examiners finding sms abbreviations and slang in gcse english papers. this is worrying, although enquiries should perhaps focus on how teachers have prepared their pupils for the examinations rather than on the students’ use of mobile phones. in support, crystal (2008:165) says that in the end, whatever the strengths and weaknesses of texting as a variety of language, it is in the classroom that matters need to be managed. if there are children who are unaware of the difference between texting and standard english, them it is up to teachers to make them aware. if there are children whose discourse skills are being hampered by texting, then it is up to teachers to show them how to improve. 6.0 some forms of sms/text language (words and phrases) 6.1 homophonic single grapheme abbreviation in english, some common phonetic transcriptions include "c" replacing "see", "u" replacing "you", and combinations such as "cu" replacing "see you". texters use thirteen letters in the english alphabet for homophonic single grapheme abbreviation. out of the five dictionaries, three dictionaries agreed "u" for "you", however the dictionaries had discrepancies on "b", which varied from "be", "bee", "bye"; "n" varied from "and", "no", "an", "in"; "r" varied between "are", "or" (pomier, 2004). example 1: homophonic single grapheme abbreviation abbreviation definition b be/bee, bye c see cu see you k okay n and,no posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 142 6.2 numeric characters replacing homophones in the english language, texters use four distinct numbers to replace the sound in a word. the number 8 replaces the sound /et/, 4 replaces /f™r/, 2 replaces /tōō/, 1 replaces /wun/ (pomier 2004). example 2: numeric characters replacing homophones abbreviation definition b4 before b4n, bfn bye for now cr8 create d8 date d8ing dating db8 debate dict8 dictate dv8 deviate every1 everyone f2f face to face 6.3 abbreviation abbreviation is one of most common sms/text language. crystal (2008:50) calls it ‘shortenings’ with these examples min(utes), esp(ecially), doc(tor). example 3: abbreviation abbreviation definition add address attn attention bros brothers bye goodbye cos/cuz because info information posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 143 6.4 dropping vowels dropping vowels from a word is a quick way to shorten the language, but retain the consonants for word for recognition. not all of the words dropped every vowel in the word, like "chlya", which suggests the need to keep at least one vowel to help understand the meaning of the word (pomier 2004). for crystal (2008:45), it is referred to as ‘omitted letters’ with these examples ‘bt’ for ‘but’, ‘yr’ for ‘year’ and ‘getn’ for ‘getting’. example 4: dropping vowels abbreviation definition fst fast msg message mtng meeting ppl people rgds regards spk speak thn then txt text 6.5 acronyms acronyms are the most common way texters have shortened the language through text messaging. using acronyms allows a texter to write more in a condensed space; however, there are many drawbacks to using acronyms. many texters are unable to decipher the acronym because they are not familiar with the acronym or the definition. also, the acronym can often be obtuse or imprecise (pomier 2004). for examples we use some peculiar nigerian acronyms which are common with students. they are used both at sms/text messaging and social network chat like facebook. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 144 example 5: some nigerian peculiar sms languages and slang expressions acromyn slang meaning lwkm laugh wan kill me laughing seriously lwkmd laugh wan kill me die laughing without control midg make i dey go let me go wgyl we go yarn later we will talk later ics i can’t shout i’m speechless djm don’t jealous me don’t be jealous udc u dey craze? are you crazy? nus na u sabi it is your concern wsu who send u i don’t care osab over sabi know-it-all itk i too know claim to know everything wdh wetin dey happen? what is happening? ndh nothing dey happen everything is fine. fmj free me jorh release me bbp bad bele people enemies hud how u dey? how are you? wkp waka pass you are not welcome bbg baby girl girlfriend or wife ntt na true talk it is true iku it concern u? it doesn’t concern you ndm no dull me do not disappoint me ifsa i for slap am i would have beaten/slapped him/her igbo i go die ooo it is very funny yb yes boss yes sir cwj carry waka jorh you are not invited wbyo wetin be your own what concerns you? u2dd u 2 dey do you like to show off u2dv u 2 dey vex you get angry easily mkg maka gini? why? wsdp who send dem papa who gave them right? ins i no send i don’t care infs i no fit shout i don’t want to say anything posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 145 wwy who wan yarn who wants to talk/chat? nbst no be small thing something is interesting/ serious now na wah ooo exclamation for surprise/unbelief nma no mind am don’t mind him/her mihw make i hear word stop talking nonsense nbl no be lie it is true wd wetin dey how is it going? ungkm u no go kill me i’m enjoying it o2s omo 2 sexy looking attractive bunt bros u no try you didn’t do well efbu e fit be u it can be you u2df u 2 dey fuck-up you always disappoint or make mistakes ungj u no get job don’t you have something to do? iwp i wan piss i want to urinate idc i dey come i’m coming uwta u wan try am? do you want to try? wddu wetin dey do u? what is the problem with you? uwd u wan die? are you not afraid? idh i dey house i’m at home wut wetin u talk? what did you say? ydttm u dey talk to me? are you talking to me? iwgs i wan go sleep i want to sleep iwg i wan go i want to go udsa u don start again you have started again nma no mind am don’t mind him/her ndbl nepa don bring light light (electricity) is on ucc u chop craze? are you crazy? ungkm you no go kill me you making me go crazy ugkmo you go kill me oo i’m becoming crazy vdcm vex dey catch me i’m very angry utt u too talk you talk too much symjm shut your mouth jobless mugu shut up iot i open teeth i’m not laughing smsm see me see motorcycle what is my concern? ddbl dem don bring light nepa (electricity) is on posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, 2015 (edited by odinye, egenti & orji) 146 7.0 suggestions and conclusion we have defined and explained the sms/text messaging and sms/text language; and have presented the argument or debate as david crystal stated in his book. we have also given some peculiar nigerian students’ sms/text language and internet slang expressions with their meanings. sms/text language is a result of sms/text messaging which started with the invention of mobile phone with the idea of writing and sending message. this is new yet not the first time language is facing a threat from technology. we have to work together to face the challenge. the teenagers, parents, teachers, curriculum designers, language experts and linguists have roles to play. teenagers/students should avoid using sms/text language in their academic writings; parents should encourage their children to use less sms/text language when sending sms/text message; teachers should teach the students both standard and non-standard orthography and writing and test their abilities in writing without using sms/text language; curriculum designers, language experts and linguists should work together to address the issue in an emerging area of linguistics and mobile phones. references chiluwa innocent. “sms text-messaging and the nigerian christian context: constructing values and sentiments.” the international journal of language society and culture 24 (2008). crystal, david. txtng: the gr8 db8. new york: oxford university press, 2008. hayslett, chandra. “no lol matter: cyber lingo shows up in academia”. the seattle times. november 26, 2006. john, humphrys. “i h8 txt msgs: how texting is wrecking our language.” daily mail online. september 24, 2007. pawelski, amanda. “using internet slang in spoken conversation: lol.” amandapawelski.com. 2009 pomier, n. “text messages: en francais dans le texto.” askoxford. february, 2004. rosen, larry d., et al. “the relationship between "textisms" and formal and informal writing among youth adults.” communication research. 2009. chapter 16: style and techniques in the use of elongated caricature features in figure painting contributed by lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru introduction the history of figure painting dates back to the prehistorical period when the ancient dwellers were using animal blood with organic and inorganic materials to paint on rock and stone surfaces. their figures were caricature-like as they lack good knowledge of human anatomy (janson, 1966). for instance the rock engraving in the cave of addaura produced by monte prellerino c 15,000 -10,000 bc titled “ritual dance” is highly represented in a hilarious manner. the human figure titled “spirit man” with a spear in his right hand throwing it at running kangaroos in an aboriginal painting from western arnhem land, north australia c 1900 on a tree back are represented in a stylistic manner. likewise, the early african art which has been characterized by subjective proportion of human forms and shapes, the arts constitute one of the most diverse legacies on earth (adepegba, 1995). he mentioned that from c. 6000 b.c., rock drawings in africa have included representations of animals and hunters which are figure paintings. he is of the view that from the beginning of tribal differentiation, tribal art has become a way of isolating one tribe from another, and tribal art can take the form of scarification, body painting, or sculptural masks used in religious lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 262 ceremonies. (adepegba, 1995) also is of the opinion that diversity also appears in separate geographical regions, where natural resources controlled the materials used, while tribal power, wealth, or sophistication was responsible for the type of objects produced. often, african art production has been related to ritual or tribal ceremonies, as well as serving more secular decorative functions. however, it is not always easy to determine the function of a particular work. each african society has varied artworks including figure paintings, carving of human figures and other objects, ceramics wares, indigenous textiles and designs, terracotta figures, bronze works, ivory carving and many others. for instance, the traditional zulu beer pots which are made by women employing the coiling technique, the kuba of the democratic republic of kongo embroiderer pieces known as “kasa velvet” produced by women with raphia squares woven, the zimbabwe stone figure which are carved from soapstone, soft but very dense materials that can be carved with great precision and often used for smaller detailed works, the “zigwa” human figure of tanzania, which has a traditional stretched bust tightens to free up space for slender arms extended large fingered hand with abdominal projection in beaks, overhangs a marked size, is carved in an elongated style. the wooden figure sculpture produced by the dongo people which is now called mali, represents an androgynous male figure raising an object above his head, which is also represented in an elongated style technique and many others (santace and santace, 2009). in west africa, nigeria to be precise there are various traditional art which include: nok art, ife art, esie stone figure, benin bronzes, igbo ukwu bronze, indigenous fabrics, pottery wares and others. it is only the nok culture that engages in figure terracotta with elongated features.the nok art currently in modern day which is located at the middle belt region in jaba local government area of kaduna state of nigeria dates back to 500 https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/natural_resources https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/natural_resources https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/wealth an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 263 bc, possessed unique elongated art style in some of its terracotta figures. plate 1: nok sculpture louvre 70-1998 source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ file:nok_sculpture_louvre_70-1998-11-1 the most distinguishing nok artifacts are clay figurines of animals and stylized human beings, usually heads, perforated eyes of an elliptical or triangular shape are typical of the style. other artifacts of the nok culture include iron tools, stone axes and other stone tools, and stone ornaments. ife figures and benin bronze heads are highly naturalistic in style (world history encyclopedia, 2019). some contemporary artists like grillo, enwonwu, onobrakpeya and a few others who have been influenced greatly by indigenous african art produced some works with elongated styles, but the caricature features were lacking. therefore, this research is anchored on the principle of changing the rhythms by adding caricature features to elongated pictorial figures, altering the style and techniques of draftsmanship in pictorial composition of visual elements, also the themes and media of expression; sort of a parading shift. lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 264 purpose of the study this novelty in elongated figure painting with caricature features, its visual analysis, and experimentation would further showcase the impact of elongated style with caricature features in modern art style. moreover, the results of this study will be beneficial to the following:  educationally: students will be aware of the importance of creating caricature figure paintings that will speak on nigeria's political activities and other issues in the country.  socially: it will create awareness that caricature painting could be used to create comic relief in society.  politically: it will serve as an information tool to convey the ugly political happenings and activities in nigeria.  art historians: it will be used as a springboard for the advancement of painting in the history of modern nigerian art historiography.  artist: these novelties in elongated figure painting with caricature features will further showcase a new style and technique, to the artist, art lovers, gallery owners, and art collectors.  future researchers. the findings of the study will serve as reference material and a guide for future researchers who wish to conduct the same exploration study or any study related to elongation and caricature figures.  knowledge: it will also add to the body of knowledge. what is art style? art style describes the way the artwork looks. style is the manner in which the artist portrays his or her subject matter and how the artist expresses his or her vision. style is determined by the characteristics that describe the artwork, such as the way the artist employs form, colour, and composition, to name just a few. another important factor in determining the an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 265 style of an artwork is to examine the way the artist handles the medium, taking into account the method or technique that the artist uses. an additional aspect of art styles is the philosophy or driving force behind the artwork. all of these stylistic elements are defined by the choices artists make as they compose their artwork. (artisfun, 2023) type of style and technique there are different type f style and technique which are: naturalism, surrealism, impressionism, cubism, abstractionism, expressionism, optical and pop. naturalism according to (sasa, 2023). naturalism in art represents the orientation of artists towards the most natural forms in their work. this tendency can be recognized either in individual elements of the work of art or in its entirety. as such, this term is used for the purposes of analyzing this artistic trend regardless of the time period in which the work was created. (sasa, 2023)also defined naturalism was an artistic movement that developed in informal forms during the first half of the 19th century to reach it speak of popularity in the second half of the 19th century. a great spectrum of current nigerian artists has continued to explore naturalism as a model of creative expression. in naturalism, it is valid to state that the innovative efforts of onabolu (1882-1963) to modern art in nigeria (oloidi, 1986). impressionism according to (rewald, 1973) impressionism is an art movement in the 19th century that began as a loose association of paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence in the 1870s and 1880s. the name of the movement is derived from the title of a claude monet work, impression, sunrise lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 266 (impression, soleil levant), which provoked the critic louis leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in le charivari. characteristics of impressionist paintings include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, and emphasis on the accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities. (folaranmi, 2014) define impressionism as a stylistic convention that uses the effect of light to depict strong shadow quality in their painting. it also employs pure, prismatic colour fresh from the tube unmixed in the pallet and laid directly on the canvas. cubism cubism demands concentration on both the objects and the space surrounding them. each object in the drawing is developed into a cube, after which attention is directed to cubing the space. after the student has completed the drawing, colour is applied to the cubed sections. since the cube has three visible sides, each side will be a shade of a single colour. a tree, for example would be painted light brown, dark brown, and brown to define the three sections of the cube. this procedure is used for all the areas painted. (robert, 1978). in the spring of 1907, 25-year-old pablo picasso showed a few friends a large new painting that would be given the title les demoiselles d'avignon. this would become the most important painting of the twentieth century, as the forerunner of cubism, "the most complete and radical artistic revolution since the renaissance," which picasso and his friend georges braque went on to create in the next few years. (david and bruce, 2001). abstractionism (merriam, 2023) defined abstractionism as the principles or practice of creating abstract art.in order for abstractionism to retain its form during the process of drawing, the method of interpenetration is used. for example, if the initial drawing depicts two trees standing in front of a house, the student extends the lines an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 267 of the house through or in front of the trees. when an object overlaps another object, the object that is farther back in the picture plane is partially covered, with the result that if the front object were removed this case the trees-the entire house would be visible (kalilu and abodunrin, 2015). in painting, the same picture the retention of the form requires a close relationship between the colors of the overlapped objects. for example, if the colour of the house is red, and the tree is painted white, then that part of the tree overlapping the house will be expressed in pink. the success of the abstract demands this type of colouradjustment. (robert, 1978). expressionism expressionism is a theory or practice in art that seeks to depicts the subjective emotions and responses that object and events arouse in the artist (merriam, 2023). expressionism is perhaps the most difficult to comprehend, partly because of the difficulty in communicating the artist idea of emotion. expressionism is an intuitive blast of emotion that takes form on paper in a comparatively brief period. its apparent uncontrollability arises from an intense struggle of restraint and drive. it is like a tugof-war in which two opposing forces are attempting to win. because the two are of equal force, the tension remains activated throughout the struggle. the struggle of the expressionist painter lies in the strong urge to sprawl his emotions onto canvas and simultaneously control them. (robert, 1978) and (adepegba, 1995) surrealism surrealism aims to transform human experience. it balances a rational vision of life with one that asserts the power of the unconscious and dreams. the movement's artists find magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional. (tate, 2022). lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 268 exploring the art of surrealism, objects in drawing are change to objects of unreality.aesthetically; philosophy of surrealism espoused the traditional view of the imagery of painting as but a record or copy of something of prior existence. the creativity of the mind, according to the surrealists, might escape the constricting embrace of causal explanation, but the idea that painting might constitute a newly invented reality, entirely sui generis, was a possibility they did not entertain. (mundy, 1987). trees may change to pencils or paintbrushes; rocks may become minute umbrellas; an automobile can take the form of an animal with oversized claws acting as wheels, a tail substituted for the exhaust pipe, a neck replacing the hood, and eyes replacing the headlights. even though the substituted objects are real in themselves, the combination presents a painting of surrealism. (robert, 1978). optical illusion (robert, 1978) referred to optical illusion as pop art. an appreciation of the pop, artist is reflected in a repeat pattern of colors. the composition may be formal or informal but demands patience and a steady hand. (freed and samuel, 1979) finally explained that pop art affords one to "take off" on his favorite commercial item, such as hot dogs, hamburgers. its purpose is to ridicule its existence, that is, a play on the banal or trite which seems to monopolize the world. normally, a single item is enlarged out of proportion or a single item is repeated into a monotonous pattern caricature according to (main, 2022) a caricature is a drawing of a real person which distorts or exaggerates certain features, but still retains a likeness: in other words an exaggerated piece of portrait art. caricatures first became a popular genre of fine art in the 16th and 17th century and were created by satirists to ridicule public an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 269 figures and politicians; a caricature with a moral message is considered a satire. they continue to remain popular today, and are used in magazines and newspapers to poke fun at film stars, politicians and celebrities. the only thing that has changed is the artist tools. initially caricaturists used charcoal drawings, pencil or pen and ink drawings, but today an artist has access to graphics programs like adobe illustrator or corel painter. caricaturists have wielded significant power with their pen, far more so than a writer ever could. in the early days of the genre they transmitted messages without the need for the written word, important at a time in history when the majority of the population could not read. one of the most famous examples of this sort of graphic art is the satirical etchings of napoleon bonaparte by the british artist james gillray (1756-1815). he depicted the french emperor as very short and slightly ridiculous, in an oversized hat. today, as a result, we still think of him as being shorter than he really was. caricatures may be one of the most populist forms of art, but as figurative drawings they are typically just as skilful and more influential than most portrait and figure paintings. (main, 2022) types of caricatures according to (divya, 2021) caricature are classified into three types which are: portrait or definition caricature, satire caricature and grotesque caricature portrait or definition – this type of caricature relies on knowledge of sophistication of making a portrait and combining it with the knowledge of creating comical effect through inflation and deflation of features. satire – this form is most commonly used in political cartoons. it makes use of not just physical or personality traits but also draws attention to statements by such politicians. the purpose of such lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 270 caricatures is more often than not to bring attention to political issues of the time. grotesque – as the name suggests, in this style, the face of a person is unnaturally distorted to make it look ugly. grotesque art was the earliest form of distorted drawings which evolved later into caricatures. concept of elongated style in figure painting this is the distortion or semi abstraction of human figure in an elongated deformed stylistic manner in painting. figure distortion in painting is as old as the painting in a realistic rendition by the old masters such as pablo picasso (1881-1973), el greco, (1541-1614), donatello (1386-1466) and others. it is also applicable to sculpting of human form rendered in geometric and distorted manner. the first thing one may be wondering about elongated figures in art is the style involves creating stretched, exaggerated and much more extended pieces than reality. in nigeria, grillo (1934-2021), his paintings and enwonwon (1917-1994) sculptures and paintings are elongated in a stylistic rendition which perhaps is a borrowed western concept and artistic ideology of the western masters. elongated style in figure painting elongation art” refers to paintings that feature figures that are painted with their forms elongated much more than they are in reality. elongation is a form of abstract art that often depicts the stretched forms of people or objects in nature. elongated figures in the art world come in many different shapes and sizes. the various elongated figures presented in art come in a multitude of mediums and can be seen throughout the ages in the work of famous like artists like el greco, amedeo modigliani, palo picasso and others who is renowned for his use of elongation in portraits, as well as more abstract paintings in the 20th century. an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 271 one will be pleasantly surprised at the large variety of items that can be elongated in the minds of creative individuals. this art style is dated back to the 15th century and captured people’s imaginations from all walks of life. (dorit, 2018) review of related painting of elongated styles plate 2 artist: pablo picasso title: acqueline with flower, medium: oil on canvas, size: 116 x 88.5 cm, year: 1954, source: https://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work223.php jacqueline with flowers” (1954) is one of the first paintings signifying the beginning of a new period in the maitre’s creative work. the artist’s biographer antonina valentin calls her a “modern sphinx”. there is definitely something mythic in this figure with a long neck and geometric shapes, catlike face and a rapier glance of her almond eyes. jacqueline liked sitting in this position which reappears in her later portraits including those of https://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-223.php https://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-223.php lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 272 the “odalisques” series. it was picasso’s last muse that inspired the renowned series plate 3: artist: amedeo modigliani, title: lady with a collar medium: oil on canvas, size: 18 x 15 inches, year: 1916 source: https://www.themagazineantiques.com/article/why-the-long-face/ “lady with a collar” the canvas was completed in 1917, just three years before the artist’s tragic death, aged 35, in paris. the work has echoes of 14th century sienese painting, with its elongated face and neck, a sculptural style which modigliani made all his own."anna" with the exception of her fanned-out high white collar and amber brooch at the base of her swan neck, there is little decoration to distract from hanka’s detached gaze.in the top right corner, “anna” is written in loose black capital letters, barely visible against the brown background. the sitter appears aloof, sovereign almost, and her stylized beauty radiates through her smooth, warm skin, like fresh terracotta basking in the sun. https://www.themagazineantiques.com/article/why-the-long-face/ an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 273 plate 4: yusuf grillo, african dance, water colour on paper, 120cm x 82cm, 1960, source: https://guardian.ng/life/the-art-of-yusuf-grillo/ “the dancing bride”thematically, grillo (1934-2021), painted the people he encountered in lagos. he favoured female subjects and had a particular interest in the yoruba heritage which he believed to be at the heart of the city in which he was born and lived most of his life. in the present work, he captures a moment of celebration. a sense of movement is conveyed through the energetic brushstrokes used to depict the dynamic stance of the female figure: her weight rests on one leg while her hips are cocked to the side as if anticipating the next step of the dance. executed in the cool blue and purple tones. the female figure is elongated in a process of stylization. reflecting grillo's enduring interest in mathematics, her body is expressed through flattened planes that echo the geometric shapes that comprise the non-representational https://www.mutualart.com/artist/ben-enwonwu/29cf3b5ed3a87e94 lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 274 background. the drapery of the bride's dress is transformed into curved forms which are carefully balanced against the jagged triangles that frame the figure (bonhams, 2023). summary the research brought about finding that is safe to conclude that: thematic justification of paintings subjectively rest on the ability of the painting to display illusory and astonishing effects that is attainable through figurative illustrations, manipulations of colours and alteration of elements in the painting. the paper recommend that young artist especially in the field of painting and sculpture should be allow to freely represent figures in a stylized form. bibliography lawani sunday comes from the rocky city of ososo in edo state nigeria. its surroundings are made up of beautiful and soughtafter natural scenery, which is also the subject of some of lawani’s works. he is a graduate of the nigerian auchi polytechnic with a higher national diploma (hnd) specializing in painting. in 2012, he continued his studies at nmandi azikiwe university awka, where he received a postgraduate diploma in painting (pgd). lawani sunday deals with important social issues with a strong emphasis on the subject of the position of women in society. his paintings tell stories that concern each person one way or another. lawani’s art speaks directly to compassion and empathy in the depths of our soul. thus his work becomes part of the spiritual world. lawani sunday believed strongly in experimenting, innovation and exploration of new media in painting and drawings, in recent times, his explorations in human forms tends to challenge the human anatomy by breaking the forms into geometric shapes of different kinds, ranging from rectangular shapes, cone, circle, triangular, oval semi-circle, pyramid, as well as the use of rhythmic lines, spiral, oblique, vertical lines to create expressive form that is an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 275 subject to interpretation. his choice of concept and composition is derived from his socio-cultural environment and daily happenings in his immediate environment, be it religious, political, cultural, social or educational. the stylistic approach of his style and technique of breaking forms into paintings, reducing human forms in an idealistic and stylistic formative manner with the use of pallet knife to create a unique and dramatic textural pattern. he as participates in national and international exhibitions including art auctions and also currently lectures at the department of painting, school of art and industrial design, auchi polytechnic auchi, edo state nigeria. references abodunrin, j. a.(2017). taxonomy of painting styles in contemporary nigeria.africology: the journal of pan african studies, vol.10, no.3. adepegba c. o. (1995). nigeria art: its tradition and modern tendencies. ibadan;jodad publishers. pp1-6. anniversary of the ife school held in nigeria between june 1st and 4th 2005. department of fine art, obafemiawolowo university, ile-ife with the support of nigerian gallery of art. pp. 358-373. bonhams: yusuf adebayo grillo (nigerian, born 1934) girl in blue. bonhams.com. (2011). retrieved 12 december 2021. from https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/18571/lot/11/ carole gray and julian malins (1993). research procedures / methodology for artists and designers, the centre for research in art & design, gray's school of art, faculty of design,the robert gordon university, aberdeen,scotland, uk. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/18571/lot/11/ lawani sunday and chika chudi-duru 276 craft and tradition of the world, globally inspiring santance b and santace (2009) thames and hudson publisher, london. david, w. g. and bruce, a. (2001). creating modern art: the changing careers of painters in france from impressionism to cubism.weinberg source: the american economic review, vol. 91, no. 4, pp. 1063-1071. divya, h. (2021). everything you need to know about caricatures. retrieved june 20, 2023, from https://www.stonedsanta.in/blog/everything-you-need-toknow-about-caricatures/ folaranmi s. a. and oparinde o. (2005). contemporary mosaic murals in nigeria: the works of elise johnston. in contemporary issues in nigeria art its history and education. referred proceeding of the international conference on contemporary nigeria arts in commemoration of the 30th freed, l. and samuel, y. e. (1979). illusion from the renaissance to the present. the art bulletin, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 131134. graham and lauren (2021) “mannerism, an introduction”, retrieved from: “https://www.khanacademy.org/ humanities/ renaissance reformation/high-ren-florencerome/pontormo/a/mannerism-an-introduction. accessed on: 05th november 2022 mundy,j. (1987). surrealism and painting: describing the imaginary. art history, vol. 10, no.4, issn: 0141679 kalilu r.o.r. and abodunrin j. (2015) ‘typology of forms in nigerian painting’iiste, journal of art and design studies, usa. volume 5, no 5, pp. 190-198. https://www.stonedsanta.in/blog/author/divyaharitwal/ an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 277 mannerism from wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mannerism accessed on: 05th november 2021. merriam-webster. (n.d.). abstractionism. in merriamwebster.com dictionary. retrieved may 28, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ abstractionism merriam-webster. (n.d.). expressionism. in merriamwebster.com dictionary. retrieved may 28, 2023, from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/expressionism oloidi, o.(1986). “growth and development of art education in nigeria (1900-1960)” in trans – african journal of history 15. 108 – 126. robert, h. (1978). painting techniques and styles, design for arts in education, 79:4, pg 32-35. emerging trends in nigerian pidgin: a nigerian hip-hop perspective in post covid-19 nigeria abstract adaorah nweke language is a phenomenal experience. a means of communication that requires interpersonal expression found in their different experiences. this work examines the trending lexical items in the nigerian pidgin language as seen in the nigerian hip-hop music today especially since the covid-19 era. linguistic relativity theory and monogenetic/relexification hypothesis were adopted in this study. ten (10) nigeria hiphop artistes and their songs each were purposefully selected using the rankings made by “clacified.com” a blog that does award and profile rankings among the hip-hop artistes every year. this is because these awards ascertain how relevant and useful they are in the industry. descriptive method of data analysis was used to elicit these facts about the emerging trends. the study therefore concludes by saying that nigerian pidgin language has been in the business of making contacts with other languages either for trade or communication needs and this has given the hip-hop artistes the opportunity of using the indigenous languages being used around its environs to create a multilingual patch for themselves. this also has helped the nigerian pidgin language to grow lexically and in other morphological duplications. keywords: emerging trends, nigerian pidgin, hip-hop, post covid-19 introduction one can only admit that pidgins are formed when speakers of one language engage in a trade with the speakers of another. however, when a sentence in the english language has fragments of unintelligible structure or a mixture of different languages, it could be regarded as a pidgin language. the nigerian pidgin is not far from this assertion of having fragments of languages combined and spoken as a pidgin. meanwhile, this pidgin spoken in nigerian has varieties. the creolized forms are the ones spoken in the south-south geo-political zones, places like delta, warri and edo, where it has already been made a lingua franca for easy communications. adegbite (2020, p. 77) says “in nigeria, pidgin serves as a lingua franca in some states of the federation and a trade language in some others. in edo, delta and rivers states for instance, pidgin can be considered as lingua franca. however, in yoruba, igbo and hausa speech communities, pidgin is considered as a trade language”. a language only exists in the competence of those who speak and regard themselves as speakers of that language. nigerian pidgin may have been a rub-off of contact languages like english, portuguese and french, notwithstanding its domiciliary is layered on indigenous languages being spoken in nigeria. it is realistic to say that nigerian pidgin came to being as a result of contacts made with immigrants, invaders, tourists and sailors. carl reinecke (2017, p. 539) posits that “the contact is a sine qua non for the rise of a pidgin and the use of make shift is a universal phenomenon to be witnessed wherever immigrants, invaders, tourists or sailors go”. adegbite (2020, p.76) in the same vein recounts that “its origin could also be traced to the business transaction between the people on the west coast of africa and the europeans, namely the spanish, portuguese and english”. evidently there are proofs that portuguese, french, dutch and finally english have contributed to the growth of nigerian pidgin. this is because of the contact the nigerian people had made with these countries during slave trade. since the nigerian pidgin has varieties, obiechina (1984, p.5) was able to summarize it when she says “the classification of the nigerian pidgin into variants and these variants are identified as follows: bendel, calabar, lagos, kano/maiduguri and port harcourt. the ones categorized as bendel variants are abraka, warri, isoko, sapel, agbor, itsekiri, agbaraha-oto, urhobo and ewu”. what a warri or isoko boy speaks in lagos is mutually intelligible for a lagos boy too. according to idiagbon (2015) the nigerian pidgin language is divided into three sections, the second and third sectionsaccordinglyare spoken by most nigerians in ajegunle. the variety is popularly known as waffy-ranky. it is not only spoken in ajegunle, but also in other suburbs of lagos. despite the important role of the nigerian pidgin in our society it has not been given the recognition it desires. not even a status role but then the nigerian hip-hop artistes have carved a niche for themselves through it. it is now the language of the people. a “get along language” used in making song in the nigerian music industry and words used in these songs after it has been released to the audience, trends and forms part of the nigerian pidgin lexico-graph. a post covid-19 example will be that of fire-boy’s “peru-para” released 21st july 2021 remixed 17th december, 2021. “para” here means “to harass, get angry at someone or to intimidate”. nigerian hip-hop music landscape has appropriation from local cultures to appeal to home grown sensibilities, thereby using nigerian pidgin and other indigenous languages for its rendition and by so doing, furnishing the nigerian pidgin language with lexico-graphical elements for its stances. most times, it is the nigerian pidgin; the type known as waffy-ranky that does the groove or the new-coinages from our indigenous languages. looking at the nigerian hip-hop language, one could observe that hip-hop has revolutionized from mere intellectual exercise to a combination of styles which thrive on hybridity of language. nigerian hip-hop artistes with the use of these hybridities produce new words, lexis, lects and coinages into the nigerian pidgin language making new trends and lexico-graphy registered in nigerian pidgin language. their songs enjoy tremendous audience and patronage because of these wide inclusions of nigeria languages and other indigenous coinages in the songs. these hip-hop artistes have used nigerian pidgin language with other indigenous languages to coin new items of vocabulary. for instance, following the lexical modification by which the nigerian lexicon on pidgin is recently piled on, there seems to be this huge dependency on the nigerian hip-hoplect. mafeni (1971, p.104) in this regard presents that “the examples of nigerian spoken pidgin both in meaning of specific expression, the creation of new lexical items via reduplication or some other derivational calquing which is a kind of compounding of loan words based on structures attested in the local language and nativization via phonological adaptation”. to further exemplify this dependency, the statement “na only you waka come ?” has a loan from efa and big foot song released 2011 and was said by the wife of the former president patience ebele jonathan on one of the women’s meetings held in portharcourt during her husband’s tenure as the president of the federal republic of nigeria. “you don come?” has only been the sentence for the above expression not until recently when she used “waka” in the expression it has been trending till date. so, sentences like “you don waka reach there na na?” becomes inevitable among the users of the nigerian pidgin language. if this example is anything to go by, then it is worthy to say that nigerian pidgin can fall back to events within and outside nigeria to coin new items of vocabulary thereby trending in nigerian pidgin communications. some trending words recently seen in the nigerian hip-hop songs by hiphop artistes are identified as follows: terry g’s “ginja ur swaggah” and“pass me d shisha”. olamide’s “confam ni”. flavour’s “skitsanwa”.phyno’s “ghost”, “alobam”and “goons mi”. d’banj’s “kokolects”, and “mamalects”. iyanya’s “kukere”. lil kesh’s “shoki”. psquare’s “kpai”. olu maintains “karmakazee” and “effizzie”. bracket’s “yori-yori”. don jazzy’s “dorobucci”. tiwa’s “eminado”. d’prince’s “goody-bag”,olumaintain’s “phoneversation”,faze’s “kolomental”. dj jimmy jatt’s “danfo-drivers” and “borrow-pose”. p’square’s “testimony”. d’banj’s “fall-hand”. baba frayo’s “denge–pose”. african china’s “nothing–dey kpa”. tiwa’s “doro-love”. tuface’s “chuku-chuku” and don jazzy’s “lookulooku” etc. this study is set out to bring out the trending lexis and sentence structures in nigerian pidgin through the instrument of the nigerian hip-hop songs being used by the nigerian hip-hop artistes in this post covid-19 era. the very medium of rendition is practically with the nigerian pidgin and a fusion of the indigenous languages for wider audience and communications. these emerging trends in nigerian pidgin seen in their songs will likewise answer for the purpose of this study. conceptual overview: an analytical over-view of nigerian pidgin historically, pidgin is simply known as a “trade language” the language that was born out of trade and manning of the plantation fields by speakers of another language. some african descents who were then in slavery or plantation setting in their different foreign lands like american, britain, spain, and portugal etc., found a way to communicate with each other since plantation labourers very often do not speak the foreign language. maybe this is why adegbite (2020,p.16) submits that “a pidgin language is generally understood to be a simplified language but whose grammar is very different”. le page (1982, pp. 222-3) wasn’t afraid to say the truth when he says “pidgins are formed when speakers of one language engage in trade with speakers of another, or work on plantations managed by speakers of another and neither knows the other’s language”. pidgins are no one’s mother tongue though it has been creolized among l1 speakers who have taking it to be their first language. pidgins are used primarily in trading. its origin could also be traced to the business transaction between the people on the west coast of africa into the europeans. namely: spanish, portuguese and the english. pidgin is a consequence of the fact that the two parties involved in trade along the coast could not understand each other’s language; adegbite (2020, p.76) looks at this definition and submits that “pidgin thus becomes a blend of indigenous language of the west african coast and those of the foreign traders. different forms of pidgin then developed namely: english pidgin, which is made up of west african languages and the english language, spanish pidgin made up of spanish and west african languages, french pidgin and portuguese pidgin made up respectively, of french, portuguese and west african languages”. this is his summary about the make-up of all existing pidgin languages all around the world. to add to the list, i will say that nigerian pidgin is made up of nigerian indigenous languages and the english language. pidgin does not have a defined grammar or model, though functional grammar looks at the conveyance of meaning,” a system of systems” that focuses on the way language is put together for the purpose of communication for particular purposes. pidgin has been branded contact, trade or auxiliary language. reinecke (2017) calls it “a minimum or makeshift language”. it is when men of different speech are thrown into contact and must reach an understanding. decamp (2002, p.13) also agrees with reinecke that it is a contact language. he comments that “pidgin functions only as an auxiliary contact language and is … used in trading or in any situation requiring communication between persons who do not speak each other’s nature languages”. considering this kind of situation, one would want to say that such people have different languages though contact has devised a language of communication among them. with the above deductions if certainly that pidgin came as a result of contact and as a result of communication needs which rose among people who have no common language then it should be agreed that there are varieties of pidgin languages lurking around the world. for instance if a cameroonian has no understanding of nigerian pidgin and comes in contact with a nigerian in trade, they will certainly produce another version of pidgin language that is neither nigerian or cameroonian. in the nigerian situation there may have been pidgin languages based on local language even before the emergence of nigerian pidgin english. for instance warri people have their own version of pidgin language called “waffy” which is used in the nigerdelta areas. one will ask why any contact will give rise to its own language? first, they want to communicate so anything can be done to achieve that purpose. this might prompt the dropping of the language on ground and concluding that communication is impossible and probably use some kind of dump barter to achieve communication purposes. meanwhile adegbite (2020,p.77) applauds that “in nigeria, pidgin serves as a lingua franca in some states of the federation and a trade language in some others”. reinecke (2017) states that “at a stage, groups will attempt to communicate on contact whereby making imperfect attempt at communicating in one of the languages leading to the development of a rudimentary contact speech form”. this stage is referred to as rudimentary or minimum makeshift and the term “pidgin” is also referred to this passive stage. it is to be assumed, of course, that a minimum makeshift language would disappear if the conditions which gave rise to it ceased to exist. however, for any pidgin to reach such a stage that we can give it a name and make it the object of study, the conditions that gave rise to it must be sustained, and the new language gradually will be “crystallized and expanded” (2017, p.538). the role of continuity is hereby expressed in sustaining a contact language and enabling it to develop into a clearly recognized speech form. continuous use of pidgin under stable conditions invariably leads to its use in a broader variety of situations. if it therefore reaches to a generation of speakers for whom it is a first language then we say that the pidgin has creolized. when it is creolized, it also implies and invariably depends on stabilization and expansion of pidgin. from the deductions so far, it is realistic to say that nigerian pidgin came to being as a result of contacts made with immigrants, invaders, tourists and sailors. reinecke (2017, p.539) (again posits that “the contact is a sine qua non for the rise of a pidgin and the use of make shift is a universal phenomenon to be witnessed wherever immigrants, invaders, tourists or sailors go”. evidently there are proofs that portuguese, french, dutch and finally english have contributed to the growth of nigerian pidgin. this is because of the contact the nigerian people had made with these countries dating from 19171969 when slave trade rounded–off. two vital factors have thus helped the growth of both a form of standard english and english based pidgin in nigeria. time and the attendant broadening of contact made from these countries. like the (edoid) kind of pidgin, formed from the portuguese and benin version of (npe). ryder (https://www.edo-nation.net/tve:htm) contributes that “igala and edo pidgin were gathered from stringed lexical items lent from them and then fitted into the structure of her own language”. for example it may be possible for one to indicate a ‘hungry state’ by calling ‘hunger’ and tapping one’s belly but the non-speaker who thus learns the meaning of ‘hunger’ may not know that ‘hunger beat/kill me’ is not the way one would say i am hungry’. it appears to us that contacts was sustained and the vocabulary of the new words expanded to cope with a broader scope of interaction in the life of the community also the nigerian speakers begin to experiment longer strings of the new speak. also jones (1971, p. 64) opines that “krio spoken in freetown in sierraleone and tokpisin in new guinea originated in nigerian pidgin” nigerian pidgin is widely spoken in nigeria today. in some areas it has been creolized while in some it is a second language acquired for communications when in contact. mafeni (1971) submits that urbanization is a factor for the spread of nigerian pidgin when he says: nigerian pidgin is essentially a product of the process of urbanization. while its origin lie historically on the coast, its development and spread is the result of contacts between africans. the rapidly growing towns of nigeria have increasingly become the melting pots of the many tribes and races which constitute nigeria and pidgin seems to be today a very widely spoken lingua franca, many towns and city dwellers being at least bilingual in pidgin and indigenous language. the above excerpt exemplifies how widely accepted nigerian pidgin is spoken even in the nigeria society. hall (1953) posits that “a pidgin that is any pidgin is assumed to be some kind of a marginal language that arises to fulfill specific communication needs in well-defined circumstances”. considering the above definition, hall mentions the criteria for classification of pidgin language. he says that “for a language to be true pidgin, two conditions must be met, its grammatical structure and its vocabulary must be sharply reduced… and also the resultant language must be native to none of those who use it…”. hall’s definition suggests that “the marginal nature of pidgin’s relates to a question of being limited as to lexis and structural flexibility. obilade (1993) describes typical speakers of nigerian pidgin as ‘essentially those as… restricted almost exclusively to the underprivileged or those who considers themselves underlings for the purpose of particular occasions”. beyond that, he painted another picture where he says nigerian pidgin is “… the language of the politicians who would identify with the people’, perceived by its speakers as a way of getting back at the standard english”. agheyisi (1971) also describes them as “… generally made up of unskilled labourers in government projects or agencies such as the public works department; petty traders, store keepers and market women; taxi and lorry (truck) drivers etc”. this definition might be according to age or season they were in. if that’s true then not everyone knows how to speak it; and it was used by common –citizens in the society. now everyone knows how to do a bit of a pidgin english even the professors and the politicians use it for their political rallies. most people in the nigerian setting do the nigerian pidgin. omamor (2017, p.48) makes distinctions between the nigerian pidgin and broken english when she concludes that: (i) np as a language is generally associated with specific areas in nigeria where it is in fact the first language of the bulk of those aged about 40-45 and below. (ii) the speakers of np referred to in (1) above cut across all social classes and background (iii) they do not usually see np as a special kind of tool for fighting any kind of battle whether psychological or socio-economic, it just happens to be the one language with which they feel most comfortable in informal conversation. marchese and sehmikal disclose this about nigerian pidgin when they say: …university level students reported using pidgin in all situations except when discussing courses … our own observation confirm that npe is very definitely the lingua franca of warri. we heard it being spoken in the market place, in government offices, department stores, schools, hotels, petrol stations… in the experience so far, most university lecturers tend to use it to discuss just anything outside the classroom. for instance, following the lexical modification by which the nigerian lexicon on pidgin is formulated, mafeni (1972, p.104) presents that the “examples of nigerian spoken pidgin both in meaning of specific expression, the creation of new lexical items via reduplication or some...other derivational calquing which is a kind of compounding of loan words based on structures attested in the local languages, and nativization via phonological adaptation is”. mafeni (1971) notes varied uses of nigerian pidgin even as it is used in the literary works by nigerian novelist, playwrights, poets, advertising, agents, radio and tv presenters. so nigerian pidgin is certainly far from being limited to one code, register or whatever methodology that yields the coinages of new items of vocabulary. also, adegbite’s (2020, p.77) example of nigerian pidgin english poses to be: 1. how far? (hello! how is everything?) 2. wetin de? (what’s up/ what’s going on? what is available?) 3. you do well. (thank you.) 4. make you no vex. (do not be annoyed) 5. e don do. (stop/it is enough. other categories will be giving us a wider focus for the sake of this research; we shall be concentrating on this sort of pidgin variant. the nigerian pidgin precisely does not have much distinctions. what a warri or isoko boy speaks in lagos is mutually intelligible for a lagos boy. according to idiagbon (1999, p.7) in his work on socio-linguist, he categorized into three sections, the second and third sections accordingly are the nigerian pidgin being spoken by most nigerians is the waffy-ranky spoken in ajegunle. the third classification is the hooligan’s version. this is being identified with touts, area boys or hoodlums. among these classifications the most important tag is the understanding of the intelligibleness in the language (nigerian pidgin). waffy-ranky which is a substrate of warri-pidgin integrated into many forms are however, befuddled with heavy slangs mainly characterized by neologism, clipping, sound symbolism and metaphoric elements. trends in nigerian pidgin: a nigerian hip-hop perspective the first hip-hop music was in south bronx city in the 1970’s at the streets of new york when disco and night clubs were beginning to shut-down due to some economic collapse. block parties were now held to keep people’s hope alive in the face of a dying economy. clive campbell a jamaican immigrant known as dj kool herc was the originator of hip-hop and the master of hiphop music. he would play hard funk and disco records on turn-tables, but he’s famous for inventing the “break” in hip-hop. it is in 1973, in school gyms and parks across the south bronx in new york city, that teens started playing records with a brand new sound. it has an african flavour, a caribbean echo, a latin hint, and a soulful beat. it became a new kind of music called “hip-hop” the pioneers of hip-hop music are run dmc, joseph summons, daryl “dmc” mc daniel, and jason, jam master jay, mizell who all met in queens, new york, high school in 1982 where they all started the hip-hop culture. many people thought hip-hop culture was a passing fad but it kept on growing and thrived with artistes like afrika bambaata, “bam and the mighty zulu nation”, grandmaster flash, theodore grand wizard, with the art of d-jing and scratches and sha-rock as the first female artiste. songs like “rock steady” by aretha franklin, “give it up or turn it loose”, “say it aloud i am black and proud”, by james brown motivated them and gave them awareness to stand and defend their identity. subsequently, artistes like dj kool herc, grandmaster flash and “the furious five”, “sugar hill gang”, kurtis blow, run d.m.c, whodim, salt-n-pepa, shek rick, doug e. fresh, ice t.ll, cool j, will smith, hammer, big daddy kane, eric b. & rakin, epmd, krs one, public enemy and queen latifah, heavy d & the boyz, snoop doggy dogg; mc lyte, nwa, a tribe called quest, tupac shakur, notorious b.i.g, ice cube, gheto boys, jay-z, mase p. diddy, nas and naughy by nature flooded the industry. by the late 80’s hip-hop really started to take shape and talented artistes emerged. these are artistes like heavy d, kool moe dee, and ll cool j, the fugees, jermaine dupri, wu – tang clan, dmx, misdemeanor elliot, common, busta rhymes, master p, outkast and most def, notorious b.i.g, tupac shakur, dr. dre, snoop doggy doggs, ice cube, and ice t. in the 1990’s, there was a native-tongue movement with de la soul, a tribe called quest, the fugees and queen latifah ushering them in a more eclectic, popular artistes in this era are lil’ bow wow, 50 cent, baby, kanye west, and the game, ja rule, ludacris, eve, nelly and ice cube. today, many more talented artistes are emerging from cities like chicago, huston, miami, st. louis, philadelphia, and oakland even from the nook and crannies of the world. hiphop has come a long way from its origins in the bronx city spreading to every part of the country even to the african countries. no one would have imagined that hip-hop would have dominated the media, commercials, tv shows, movies, clothing lines and magazine by the same 1990, the african american hip-hop music has rubbedoff on the nigerian musicians. at about this time, the nigerian hip-hop also emerged. employing the pioneering words of pupa orits williki, a renowned reggae musician in his interview with nigeria daily sun newspaper on the birth of hip-hop music in nigeria, remarks this when it says that “reggae has also evolved into many forms. today, it’s hip-hop. but hip-hop is reggae in the traditional roots rock reggae as played by the late bob marley, peter tosh and the likes of us who set out on the concept, were playing that because that was reggae in its traditional form” (daily sun 27). with such introduction on the birth of hip-hop in nigeria he was asked further questions that made him reveal that the original traditional form of reggae is hip-hop in nigerian setting. in the real sense anything done in the 90’s was also branded hip-hop. orits williki, was seeing hip-hop as an aspect of reggae, branding reggae as the root of hip-hop in nigeria. he says: what you see in nigeria today is still reggae but not in its traditional genre. it is today called hip-hop. though when you look at the culture they are very close and nearly the same. the difference is that while traditional reggae is deep spiritually the other one is not. (daily sun 27) moreover, the tie of hip-hop to a spiritual song is somehow arguable since reggae has always been the kind of music meant for rastafarians. though it is considered according to him that anything anyone does then is hip-hop. he mentioned the fore-runners of this kind of music as sonny okosun in his successive hits like “fire in soweto”, “papa’s land”, “holy wars”, “mother and child”, “togetherness”, etc. a plethora of these artistes are gboyega femi who is popularly known as terra cotta, yemi benson, boye gbenro, evi edna ogholi, majek fashek, ras kimono, orits williki, alex zitto, etc. it is barely a decade after hip-hop was born in new-york city’s poorest borough, the bronx city in the streets of hollis queen that the nigerian counter-part caught its own bug and nigerian hiphop music emerged. the history of hip-hop in nigeria has attained a status that will be called a colossal achievement. hip-hop has thrived and survived in the nigerian society. it has informed most of the developments in the society and the nigerian music as a whole has evolved within the past thirty years. the prospects has begun from the first phase of hip-hop was in 1991, the trio of terry, mouth mc, and junior released in a group called emphasis “which one you dey?” which they did in pidgin being the language of the street instead of the american rap. it got audience and paved way for nigerian hip-hop. they delivered their song with elements of drama. it ushered the second decade of hip-hop in nigeria. an era in which little or nothing was documented on. the trio took it to another level when they used pidgin in their style rendition. they showed more originality by owning the art and making it nigerian. even the instrumentations had indigenous content. reggae and disco music ruled in nigeria between the 80’s and late the 90’s and due to the success of the likes of majek fashek, mandators, christ okotie and evi edna ogholi and they sailed. some artistes had to inculcate the reggae culture into their hip-hop genre so it could sell. for instance daniel wilson aka mr. ragga muffin, blacky and even orits williki did apply this trend. the first rap music was by ron ekundayo “the way i feel” in 1993. other proponents of the first era include dizzy k, falola, rap master, lexy, nella, dilli i. jickson, etc.1998 marks the period of first hip-hop and rap group that emerged in nigeria. these nigerian hip-hop artistes have pioneered the hip-hop and rap movement in nigeria. it is a little wonder nigerian hip-hop has become one of the nation’s vanguards in the international entertainment community. other rappers who stood out in this area include cashman davis, weird mc, seyi shodimu, baba dee, zaaki, felix and moses etc. most of these artistes fizzled out as nigerians still were not ready to accept hip-hop over pop and reggae although some of them re-emerged much later in the following era. the late 90’s saw an emergence of young hip-hop acts everywhere from trybesmen to ruff, rugged and raw to maintain. blackface was a rapper in plantainshun boiz and just like emphasis in the first decade a “b” man group called “the remedies” emerged towards the end of the second era with the smash hit “shakomo” in 1997, and re-ignited the hiphop fire in the nigerian hiphop arena. the now defunct group which was made up of the trio of tony tetuila, eedris abdulkareem, and eddy montana after dropping another single “judile” before tony tetuila left to become a solo artiste based on irreconcilable differences. their split helped to create the first public major hiphop beef in nigeria as tony tetuila still upset with the spilt went on to release the beef track “omode meta” which featured ‘plantainshun boiz’ and ruff, rugged and raw. it is safe to say that their spilt gave birth to the major types of contemporary music common amongst the youth in nigeria today. one can still remember vividly how that song was called “yo pop” which today is called afro-pop. the end of the second decade was driven by the success of hip-hop with joint’s “monica”, “shakomo”, “allen avenue” and even 1999’s “shake body” by trybesmen’s “nu skool”. trybesmen, x-appeal, plantashun boiz, rasque, swatroot, apostles, maintain, ruff, rugged and raw, terry da rapman, lord of ajasa, mode nine, big lo, etc. in 2002,was a third face which includes when michael ugochukwu steven known as rugged-man released his disc track “ehen pt 1” where he targeted various hip-hop artistes, calling them wacks. it also brought other artistes like naeto c, da grin, ikechukwu, jesse jagz, sauce kid, ill bliss, etc.some of the features of third decade include clearly defined style, heavy play on words, use of metaphorical expressions, and use of punch lines and so on. the fourth decade of hip-hop artistes include tuface, d’banj, p’square, flavour, wizkid, davido, olamide, phyno, kcee, ice prince, d’prince, don jazzy, dr sid, chidnmma,waje, tiwa savage, omawumi, yemi alade, cynthia morgan, timaya, j martins, run town, sasha, 9ice, faze, blackface, de coque, skales, burna boy, falz, patoranking, simisola, adekunle gold, fire boy etc. these artistes seem to have moved hip-hop to the world standard because their performances have greatly improved that they collaborate with the american counter-parts in their songs. this example is seen in p’square’s hit song “chop my money” featuring akon and rick ross on “beautiful onyinye” and so many other examples. the likes of nigerian hip-hop artistes that rendered their songs in nigerian pidgin english are tuface idibia, nigga raw, timaya, p’square, falz, black face, d’banj, faze, etc. this is because pidgin slogans used in the songs easily appeals to the emotions and feelings of the nigerian audience who understand the language as such choice of pidgin makes it easier to communicate at different social levels. the nigerian pidgin language used in the lyrics of the hiphop songs gives the society a sense of culture, belonging and shared aesthetics. the influence has not only be felt by nigerians but it has traveled across nigeria to ghana where it was purportedly said that it came from nigeria. songs done in nigerian pidgin by nigerian artistes are examples of hip-hop songs done in nigerian pidgin are tuface idibia’s “e bi like say”, “if love is a crime”, “african queen”, “for instance”, “see me so”, etc. eldee’s “go yarn”, djinee “i no dey shame”, d’banj’s “celebrate”, “if i dey crase”, “tongolo”, “fall in love” “oliver twist”, etc. p’square’s “no one like you”, “obi m o”, “roll it”, “onyinye”, “bizzy body”, “miss u die”, “am i still the special man” etc. davido’s “aye”, “skelewu”, “gobe”, etc. wizkid’s “gidi girl”, “show you the money”, “on top your matter”, sound sultan’s, “area” (acoustic). 9ice’s “gongo aso”, faze’s “kpo kpo di kpo”, etc. some of these songs have contributed to the lexis and structure found in the nigerian pidgin. research questions 1. what is the extent of the communicative event with these trends in nigerian pidgin? 2. is nigerian pidgin a means to an end to these trends? 3. how has the ideational function of language expressed the post covid-19 era through the nigerian hip-hop songs? theoretical framework sapirwhorf’s linguistic relativity theory, it argues that language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but is itself a shaper of ideas, the programme and guide for the individual meaningful activity. in other words language determines or shapes our perception of reality. whorf’s identity poses that “language shapes thoughts” according to carroll (2004, p.376) whorf’s supposition further states that “languages are diverse in the way that they structure reality and linguistic differences might facilitate certain modes of thought”. this was certainly whorf’s position in his articles from (1925 to 1941). carroll (2004,p.376) postulation that “language shapes thought”, is commonly referred to as the whorf’s hypothesis. whorf’s hypothesis deals with linguistic determinism and relativity. linguistic determinism refers to the notion that “a language determines certain non-linguistic cognitive process”. that means learning a language changes the way a person thinks while linguistic relativity refers to the claim that the cognitive processes that are determined are different for different languages. thus speakers of different languages are said to think in different ways. whorf’s reasoning on these matters is revealed in carroll”s (2004,p.377) in a famous quote by him when he says: we dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. the categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they state every observer in the face ; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impression which has to be organized by our minds and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. we cut nature, organize it into concepts and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this wayan agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language. the agreement is of course, an implicit and unstated one. but its terms are absolutely obligatory; we cannot talk at all except by subscribing to the organization and classification of data which the agreement decrees. there are several notions here to consider. one is that language “carved up” reality in different ways. another is that these language differences are covert or unconscious that is, we are not consciously aware of the way in which we classify objects and it does influence our world view too. these main points can be outlined from whorf’s hypothesis. the structure of a language determines the nature of the speakers world view. different languages are assumed to lead to different world views. studies of colour terms have not proven support for whorf’s hypothesis other studies of the lexicon are more consistent with the hypothesis. finally, it involves the presence of a grammatical distinction in a language which may increase the ease of some cognitive processes. however, the absence of such distinctions doesn’t prevent these processes. lexical examples were also provided by whorf’s hypothesis, the use of lexical items for snow by the eskimos and the english speakers are different whereas the eskimos have a (100) hundred words for the word snow. these developments happen to make anyone understand the importance facets of their culture. the variety and register of these words can only make people see through the inhibition of their diverse cultures. this truth brings in the aspect of language sharpening reality. monogenetic/relexification hypothesis theory lays claim to the fact that pidgins’ underlying structural similarity is traceable to one common european source. it is based on historical evidence that points to the existence of a fifteenth century portuguese pidgin which is assumed to have been derived from an auxiliary language called sabir that was used in the mediterranean in the middle ages. according to wardhaugh, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the portuguese reflexified this language; that is, they introduced their own vocabulary into its grammatical structure, so that a portuguese based pidgin came into widespread use as a trade language. later, this pidgin was in turn reflexified into pidginised french, english and spanish. methodology to ascertain this emerging trends in the nigerian pidgin language, this paper has purposefully selected songs that are done by popular nigerian hip-hop since covid-19 era till date. this selection is done considering their level of acceptance in the society and the number of awards they have bagged. this paper also used “clacified” an internet ratings to choose the best top ten (10) musicians in nigeria which was assembled using each artistes’ total number of awards. ten (10) of them with one song each will be used for the purpose of this study. these ten according to clacified.com are: wizkid’s “ginger”. no. of awards (65), burna boy’s “anyboby”(35), d’banj’s “ikebe” (29), davido’s “fem”(29), olamide’s “infinity”(22), 2baba (21), tiwa savage (20), falz (12), patroranking (12) and ( simisola (12). data analysis and discussion this section will analyze these hip-hop artiste’s songs descriptively following the principles of critical discourse analysis as supplied by the two theories. sapirwhorf’s linguistic relativity theory, it argues that language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but is itself a shaper of ideas, the programme and guide for the individual meaningful activity and monogenetic/relexification hypothesis theory which lays claim to the fact that pidgins’ underlying structural similarity is traceable to one common european source. with the use of descriptive method as an analytical tool the data shall be presented and analyzed. the research focuses attention on the emerging trends in the nigerian pidgin in post covid -19 and the use of these emerging trends in language expression. text 1: wizkid’s “ginger” ft. burna boy lines 1: if you want make i ginger give me kokoro if you want me to perform, give me the key lines 5: no dey do like bolo don’t act like a fool. bolo is a person who is in denial of some acts, behaving foolishly. lines 8: come make i show you my kponono come let me show you my d*ck lines 25: before you run go dey shayo make you think shayo here means to go drinking and twice. eventually becoming a drunk. lines 42: i go freaky, freaky, freaky i go rewind freaky in norm lect (acrolect) means something that’s unusual in but here it involves the meaning in sound, and break-dancing. “i go rewind” to continue in the act. some way, weird, odd, wild, strange the onomatopoeic sound in djing that’s showing the extent of the urge text 2: burna boy’s “anybody” lines 8: forgeti say i fashi the artiste here wants to remind people he sometimes ignores some things. fashi means to ignore or forget. example: fashi am jor. lines 10:padimy friend, home boy or girl. lines 12: jejeli jeje “jeje” before now has been taken to mean slowly but it means gentle, polite, smooth form, meaning gently, politely, smoothly etc. and careful. “jejeli” here takes on an adver example: “she come speak to prof. ifechelobi jejeli on the matter after the meeting before she commot”. “she na jeje person”. lines 11: i dey kaku dey gbese “kaku” is a form of dance where you flex your shoulders. “gbese” was trending throughout 2019 2020 especially in the parties. it is a form of dance where you throw your left leg forward when you must have done a good dance move. gbese! lines 17: anybody wey no want to soji “soji” anyone that refuse to get revived or knack am something-get smart or be knowledgeable, hit the person. p’square’s “bizzy” says “boy you know say if i give you body you go soji” meaning you will be revived… lines 22: shey na because me sef i never talk shey is used as a tag question that requires a certification or confirmation after a shey” in nigerian pidgin requires no tag. sometimes “shey “ shey na you bi de vc na, pay us our money. statement has been made. example: “you dey come “it is because i have not said anything yet. also has rhetoric connotation. examples lines 24: i sha know say the time go come anyway i know the time will come . “sha” sets in an attitude of knowing the obvious. example : sha laugh, it’s funny. we go fight am out sha. lines 24: … gbekele go burst“gbekele” here depicts trouble or wahala. text 3 d’banj’s “ikebe” lines 20: i tell my body say no go die for this ikebe“ikebe” means bottom or nyash. lines 29: omoge shut the door omoge means fine, pretty, cute and beautiful girl. text 4 davido’s “fem” lines 4: e be like you don dey talk too much small talk, you don dey talk who talk fem -“fem” here according to this track by the artiste means shut up baddest “baddest” as the artiste brands himself means the coolest or toughest, the best among equals. lines 22: para for me 23: why everybody come dey para para, para 27: nawa 30bg we go para, para, para 28: dem go para for you “para” means to harass, get angry at someone or to intimidate someone. e choke is also trending. it is a street expression. it is by the same artiste, “it chokes”. it is by the same artiste, it means impressive or overwhelming. text 5 olamide’s “infinity” lines 24: oya take kalawoska “oya” mean let’s get it on here it means let’s take intoxicating substance. lines 25: cover me like babushka “juju high priest” or “babalawo”. lines 27: sangalo we like jay jay “sangolo” here in this context means to dribble lines 32: do what you do use rayamanta “juju” means black magic, the use of evil powers. you fit use juju text 6 2baba’s “give it to me” lines 4: omoge give it to me and bend down low fine, pretty, cute, beautiful etc lines 5: kwata kwata fight it, fight lines 9: sasa, sasa run – lines 36: i go show you level scatai will show you attitude to the highest texts 7 tiwa savage’s “koroba” lines 9: koroba koroba koroba koroba “koroba” is a name of a hair-style in yoruba but in this song the artiste points out to people’s problem or personal challenges in life. lines 10: koro oya carry your ay carry your personal challenges lines 18: small thing you turn mugu it means a fool example: the guy na mugu lines 23: yawa dey igboro trouble in the hood lines 35: kilamity tell me say you talk and do oga you made out with oga. texts 8 “falz’s bop daddy” lines 1: yea leggo let’s go lines 13: more badies worst things lines 14: what’s that it’s a drop top cadi eh -high personality lines 27: bigie [sic] man wey be life supporter big man texts 9 patoranking’s “i’m in love” lines 24: this love dey make me sha manya – this love gets me highly intoxicated (happy in the way love does) lines 26: even why brain just dey tanana “tanana” in warri variety means “to call” but in this context, it is the love felt that makes him get excited. it shares same similarity with “totori” lines 37: baby make you style up for dem here style up means to show them what you are made of. like show them what you’ve got. text 10 simi’s “one kain” lines 5: i like to paparazzi you “paparazzi you” here means to give the person a class or personality deserved. lines 24: feel one kain oh it means to feel awkward or unusual feeling or attitude, usually not good or nice. lines: you looking at me one kain oh your gaze is strange and unusual. an awkward look. when you really look at the emerging trends in the nigerian pidgin language per say via nigerian hip-hop song, it doesn’t only happen in texts (words). it also happens in context or contextual situations. for instance, in d’banj’s “feeling the nigga” it says “she’s feeling’ the nigga eh, and the way i package (eh!)”. the package there is different from package (packaging) as introduced by dora akunyili which means re-branding. now we have lagos package/lagos packaging meaning lagos –branding or outfit. often the hip-hop artistes focus on spoken discourse or its function according to use without regards to the forum or the audience involved but need to communicate their experiences in whichever manner it happened with their audience. if you look at the studied data, the nigerian hip-hop artistes particularly take the advantage of the indigenous languages around the nigerian environs to create a multilingual patch for themselves and adding meanings to these items to express their needs with the use of nigerian pidgin language. this intent facilitates the negotiation of construction of identity through the language choice. other west african countries like ghana and cameroun can easily identify a nigerian hip-hop song due to these creative coinages which afterwards constitute pragmatic and sematic extensions found in the use of sentences among nigerians. recently, words like “de koko”, “oringo”, “baddest”, “alobam”, “ogbe ni”, “lepa”, “para”, “koro” instead of corona, “doro”, “tongolo”, “alingo”, “eminado”, “backa”, dominate our lexis whenever we are set to converse in nigerian pidgin because of these nigerian hip-hop artistes. the nigerian pidgin in the post covid-19 era has experienced new lexical items that are presently trending in the nigerian society. these lexical items as seen in the above songs were used to express their experiences, feelings and other various situations they must have found themselves in during the lockdown. the above songs which were also elicited and critically analyzed following the recourse of discourse analysis were post covid-19 nigeria hip-hop songs and words like “fashi”, “gbese”, “fem”, “para”, “gbekele”, “babushka”, “sangalo” etc have emerged. these words are seen being used in our communications today, especially among the nigerian youths. conclusion right from the beginning, the nigerian pidgin has been making contacts with other languages either for trade or communication needs. 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(2002). an introduction to sociolinguistics (4th ed.). oxford: blackwell publishers. tracks: innocent ujah idibia, 2baba’s “give it to me” released 2021, nasecworld records ayodeji ibrahim balogun ,wizkid’s “ginger”released 2020, apple music’s uk album damini ebunoluwa ogulu,burna boy’s “anybody” released 2019 by spaceship entertainment oladapo daniel oyebanjo, d’banj’s “ikebe” released 2021 rexxie music davido adedeji adeleke, davido’s “fem” released 2020 “ a better time” olamide gbenga adedeji, olamide’s “infinity” released 2020, carpe diem tiwa savage’s “koroba” released 2020 clarence peters folarin falana, falz’s “bop daddy” released 2020, too xclusive patrick nnaemeka okorie, patoranking’s “i’m in love” released 2020,wilmer album simi adekunle gold, simi’s “one kain” released 2019 by xbm music the role of food and the politics of belonging in alain mabanckou’sblue white red udo okoronkwo-chukwu abstract writers and critics of francophone diasporic literature have many ways of approaching the questions of immigration and post-migration attitudes. the most consistent is their approach to african diaspora through the gender lens, race, culture, identity, and marginal opportunities. blue white red the debut work of congolese writer; alain mabanckou has been analyzed through the la sape fashion movement infrancophone migration by critics as a flipside work for presenting characters in flipside societies. it has also been read as the proverbial multifarious deterrent story about african youth’s transnational ambitions of accomplishment and citizenship. the functions of food in the politics of belonging for the undocumented migrant are important limitations in previous studies that require further research. the aim of this paper, therefore, is to address the ways in which mabanckou portrays food by exploring its intense symbolism in the experiences of undocumented migrants. this study will therefore fill the gap by investigating how food, food places and rituals as forms of resistance and control. it reveals that food is an empowering agency for the individual, community, as well as government. this research shows how food heightens collective memory, displacement, and socialization and enhances identityformation. keywords: diaspora, francophone, immigration, culture, identity, food, food places, introduction francophone diaspora literature has many ways of approaching the question of immigration and post-migration practices. the most consistent is immigration in relation to race, nationality, culture, and identity, with the cultural content of the two societies closely linked to colonialism. thus, for the francophone diaspora the experiences of african migrants in france date back to their colonial and post-colonial situation. this theme started gaining literary presence from the 1930s with the works of negritude writers like leopold sedar senghor and aime cesaire. their works as those of the anglophone pan-african authors relate their racial experiences in the west to the colonial history of the african continent. although the reasons for migration, then education, and now (political, economics, natural disaster, war, etc.) differ greatly, what remains unchanged is the treatment of the migrant in 21st century france. instead of reduction in the marginalization of blacks, the situation is exacerbating with globalization. consequently france as a once colonial state is faced with postcolonial immigration challenges that include former colonies, complex issues of integration and prohibition. in this context, most of the migrant literature possess these features and ways of improvement. subha xavier in the migrant text, making and marketing a global french literature (2016:p.12), describes the migrant text as the literature that takes into consideration the “economic, poetic and cultural strategies” a writer appropriates to explore the migration experience. this is significant since most of the writers are resident in different diasporic locations and their experiences bear witness to the themes they explore. the other way round migration literature is significant in combating dominant narratives; and investigates identity and nationality, providing literary enlightenment since literature is the outcome of social struggle (burge 2020:p.14). mabanckou thus through the issues raised in the narration contributes to the discourse on african migration in contemporary fiction. blue white red is a representation of central africa’s 21stcentury migration to france and engages the debate on contemporary issues of migration, belonging and france’s immigrations protocols. the text like veronique tadjo’slion des mon pere (2010), fatou diome’s the belly of the atlantic (2003) and daniel biyaoula”s l’impaase (1996), also queries some perceptions and attitudes emanating from the homeland’s postcolonial mentality. the different themes mabanckou tackles expose and deconstruct both countries’ prevailing national and transnational concept of belonging thereby presenting options for his characters. the text highlights the questions of colonial history of diffusion, acculturation, and perceptions in relation to cultural construction and migration. mabanckou in this novel has to a large extent contributed in positioning africa and the congo in the history of world literature by engaging contemporary conversation in transnational migration and what it means to be african at the center of the debate. in addition, the theme of migration offers mabanckou the liberty to transform his subjects and subjectivities in the ways they negotiate their dual identities. food and fashion are central in the identity formation and self-awareness his characters exhibit and in the multiple levels of the writer’s inquiry about home, migration, culture and authenticity. the functions of these two tropes in the black immigration story show that the experience for the african goes beyond accessing international borders. it is a deliberate method used by the author to depict the different levels of domination that exist in the societies. the various ways the characters and government utilize both to explore autonomy and control, and also draw attention to the failures of authorities, whether in the homeland or in the host country to their responsibilities. kathomi gatwiri and leticia anderson (2021:p. 28) emphasize that clear understanding of subjective migratory experience can only be possible when critics explore how “bordering practices” are engaged when “racialized bodies” enter international spaces and their mission to be incorporated in the host country. this observation begins with the difficult processes of entering western countries which underscore their suspicion of african migrants. gatwiri and anderson insist that modern ways of humanizing political dialogue on migration give indication of power use to regulate those seen as treacherous, atypical and difficult to be absorbed in the system. they see the trend as a result of universal social disparity, control, and degradation of the black race. blue white red highlights through the trope of food and fashion this conflict between the state actors and undocumented congolese migrants as the latter struggle to assert their individuality in an oppressive environment. the narrative is centered on two migrant groups, the parisians and the peasants, especially the exploits of moki who represents the parisians. life in paris and pointe noire the homeland is the fulcrum of the narration. within the two locations lie the distinction between a true parisian and a peasant. a parisian goes to france to live in the capital city, paris, unlike a peasant who lives in the province. the parisians are african dandies, men of style and members of la sape movement. thus, the text magnifies the distrust these groups have against one another. while the peasants go to france in search of higher education and work for economic growth, the parisian is driven by the desire to acquire fashionable taste and the means to impress those in the homeland. that is how moki, a highly respected sapeur captures the attention of his audience and inadvertently ensnares massala-massala, the protagonist. his web of lies is just to impress and maintain an imaginary status as “the real parisian” and foremost sapeurin pointe noire and paris. moki’s full name is charles moki and like most sapeur is in reality a man of low station in paris. he has however managed to upgrade his family from being dirt poor to a middle class repute by utilizing his meager resources to build a house and live flamboyantly at pointe noire. moki, on every visit delights his listeners, mostly young men with stories of his adventure. he paints this picture of opulence and ease, while in truth he is an undocumented migrant living obscurely in france. he enjoys the attention and respect of his people as a paris returnee with suitcases filled with clothes and other french commodities. however, his life in france is full of uncertainty and covert maneuvers for his daily existence. but his awestruck audience is unaware of this truth. in order to survive the hard life of the undocumented migrant moki and his friends devise several unlawful means to beat the system. to belong in paris for the undocumented congolese is to wear ‘”masks”, live complicated lives between “shadows and light”. the migrants are indeed in the magnificent city but are not part of it in the actual sense of it. to belong they must forge their own code to destabilize that of the enemy. as massalamassala discovers, moki and friends develop strategies “to pinpoint faults in this society they were not part of and penetrate a world that was closed to them” (p. 96).moki’s involvement in the clothing business is his strategy for survival in france that also gives him the privilege of maintaining the identity of a man of elegance even when the society constantly degrades him. in recent years, the crucial function of food in identity formation has increasingly dominated research interests of literary writers and critics of migrant literature. food plays multiple roles in the circle of life. it is significant for the development of the individual, community and government. the unique role of food is expressed more effectively in migrant fiction where it assumes the place of power and control for both the individual and the government. in the discourse of home and diaspora, amir and barak-bianko (2019) describes food as often generating grounds for actions and consequences thereby becoming a symbol of authority. the government appropriates this power to organize, discipline, and administer codes of conduct for the individual and groups. the migrants also utilize food to challenge the institution that oppresses and frustrates their continued existence. the food ways in the home country form the food pattern of migrants in the host communities and is recalled from their memory. recognizable food customs facilitate the retention of emotional attachment to the motherland. amir and barak-bianko further stress that cultural identity and food have symbolic correlation to the country of origin. the migrant is not absolutely distanced from his cultural values by reason of migration; in essence food is the bridge between the old life and the new one which contributes to hybrid identity formation. the result of this new life for the migrant is the aspiration to conserve his/her traditions by inculcating the food ways of the homeland “especially when one’s culture is not the dominant culture in that society” (sutton 2001, beokubetts 1995). food in immigration fiction challenges the nominal role of food in maintaining health. it underscores the basic, communal, cultural as well as the psychosomatic meaning of food practices in a migrant text (rozin 1980). thus food is an integral part of a text and with underlying meaning in fiction. through food and food rituals a writer especially in migrant narrative unfolds dominant issues in the dialogue. for the migrant characters in blue white red food serves as a connection to their cultural identity and a determining factor in their struggle for recognition in the host community. food enables them to reassert their congolese identity and sustain their memory of the motherland. the protagonist massala-massala’s frustration at the true state of his brothers in paris is relieved by the discovery of congolese foodways. his courage is further boosted with his nomination as the chef for all the undocumented inhabitants of rue du moulinvert (14 arrondissement, paris). as the latest migrant from the homeland, his memory is “fresh enough to remember that cuisine” (93). such food items as “manioc leaves, tubers, and smoked fish” transport him back to pointe noire when he says, “i forgot i was in france”. the migrants’ attachment to their native foodways shows that migration influences the practice not as much in its structure than in its substance (duru 2006). in fact migration strengthens the customary function of food in the way duru observes that the kola nut still retains its value in igbo society as well as in diaspora. such congolese food items as manioc leaves, foufou and smoked fish like the igbo kola nut are potent symbol of african food culture. to remember and maintain their congolese food practices they will need “food places” to offer them gastronomic sanctuary where the collective mealtimes produce a feeling of protection (amir and barak-bianko). moki’s crumbling paris home rue du moulin-vert and chateau rouge, the african market are the food places in the text that connect the congolese to other african migrants. as massala-massala expresses the market offers “exotic ingredient from our country, from the african continent.” the food items once seen as cheap by the locals now assume elevated importance as sources of pride. the food places are the meeting point for the migrants where they “sense home, eat home, and dream about home” (saber & posner). they are places of comfort and protection more especially for undocumented migrants as moki and his fellow citizens. in rue du moulinvert their manner of partaking in common feeding pattern remakes a cultural community far away from the fatherland which emphasizes the vital position of food in diaspora encounter (charon:p. 40). they live in the eighth floor of an abandoned and dilapidated building without lift and marked for demolition. overcrowded and bare the “tiny room” is “poorly lit and smelled of mildew” (91) with more than a dozen people. as undocumented migrants, their possession of the building and general presence in france is illegal as their tour visas have expired, and this controls their movement. massala-massala is coached on how to behave to avoid detection by law: “don’t sleep with a lit candle. knock on the door with our secret code: one knock, then wait a few seconds, then two knocks, and then cough-just once” (92). they devise these codes and attitudes of endurance in a society out to stop their progress. in spite of living in that limited space in paris, the migrants exercise great freedom in what they eat, how it is procured, prepared and sustain the ritual. this continuity of the human eating habit makes the food place also a hunting ground for the police who lurk behind the corners in the area. they comb the food places for vulnerable african migrants like the congolese who are without papers. jessica kwik (2008:p.36) in a study indicates that cultural food accomplishes communal functions. however, she observes that the undocumented immigrants do not enjoy this privilege, and their gatherings are usually clandestine. in blue white red the characters instead of being demoralized by their situation living like “felines…masters of the art of positioning their steps on the wood staircase without making it creak”(91), consolidate their one room into a sanctuary of strength, community and pride in congolese food practices. massala-massala’s kitchen duty leads to his re-discovery of his joie de vivre, a self-discovery that causes him to “start to smile again” (p.93). moreover, concealed in this character’s duty is the role of food as identity indicator for family, rank, gender, ancestry and other groups. congolese society, like most african societies, is patriarchal with gender restrictive roles. cooking is not a male task, but reserved for women. and as the only male in his family, massala-massala is not used to that chore. his confession “i knew a little about how to prepare dishes from our homeland” reveals typical african and congolese cultural food practice that is gender biased. nevertheless, in paris he is forced into what david sutton calls “prospective memory”, the end result of several dimensions of the connection between food and memory. sutton asserts that food possesses structure in the ordinary and practical circumstances within days, weeks and years enhancing remembering. prospective memory is the combination of structure and its repetitive nature that suggests the notion of planning in the present to remember food events in the future. thus, massala-massala’s new role as the providerof congolese “national dishes” for the other migrants requires the use of his memory of the homeland for his present and future food adventures in france. massalamassala’s declaration “i had watched my mother and sister prepare food.i can work miracles” portrays his past inexperience and his determination to change that in order to assign meaning to himself in paris. mabanckou uses the food motif to explore the immigration food practices of the african diaspora in general where the kitchen ceases to be the domain of women. the significance of food in the construction of diasporic identity and re-enactment of memory is exemplified in his meticulous engagement of the processes in congolese food ritual. he: prepared a big pot of salted fish with peanut paste and fine herbs. a main dish with soporific powers. we wanted to sleep at night to gain weight… my main dish was seasoned with semolina made according to our custom. i kneaded it. i made a dense dough with corn flour. the pot, uncovered, simmered on the hot plate. everyone served themselves, paper plate in hand. i received compliments from the greedy… all the occupants except me, kicked in money for the meal (95). massala-massala’s new identity formation is enabled by his memory, the simmering pot and the aroma it exudes invokes memories on which his changed identity as a cook is formed. sutton (74) indicates that ethnic food can modify identity once practiced in a new setting in the same way that migration enables a shift in identities by several altering situations. all his life in africa he had never practiced cooking, but his memory serves him well as he unconsciously assumes the role of mother africa in nurturing others. gassparetti and hannaford (2008), observe that the migrant confrontation often reinvents examples and conventions of activities previously lived in the migrant’s homeland. once massala-massala reveals his dish is made “according to our custom” he takes pride in the ability to prepare food in paris according to his tradition. this experience offers him the prospects for vibrant relationships and growth with the others. it is from the openness and trust that food enables that his future in france is decided and that goes to show that notwithstanding the place of performance the food ritual enhances community solidarity. as the crisis he suffered earlier on arrival is conquered by the task of cooking, massala-massala is able to understand the dilemma of his compatriots. they opened up to him on the reason why they rely on illegal means for survival. as the older migrants pool resources together to provide the food he prepares, they also take interest in his expectations and responsibility and decide on how he can also contribute his own part to the welfare of the community. for lonely migrants without family food in this way encourages empathy, self manifestation and social cohesion (douglas, 1984). food, therefore, is the binding element that provides the communal fraternity and socioeconomic direction for the occupiers of rue du moulin-verts. in their abandoned dwelling food gives them a sense of security and freedom that elude them from the outside. mabanckuo accomplishes the true representation of food as not just a mere source of sustenance but also establishes that the physical practice associated with food possesses deeper meaning for the migrant community. the food places as well as the practices associated to it are important part of the narration, thus categorizing the characters as marginalized and racialized bodies in paris. their status as undocumented immigrants confines them to the very limited space the food place like rue du moulin-verts offers “like cadavers tied to some sort of mass grave” (p.91). inside the building they struggle for space, light and air similar to the way french authorities consistently threatens to suffocate their ambition on the streets of paris. foodas a result is the corporeal and material approach that cultural distinctiveness is maintained by immigrants in a society with multiple cultures (d’sylva and beagan 2011). to succeed in paris they must ‘juggle shadows and light…and obliterate any natural urge for self-reflection” (p.97). all the undocumented migrants discard their masks for the day as soon as they converge in a place of refuge, like rue du moulin-verts after every evasive hustle of the day on the streets of paris. consequently, mabanckou draws from the food places trope to investigate and expand the marginal condition of the african diasporas beyond the people from central africa. the african market not only represents the link to african cultural food but establishes a larger community for other african nationals to transact their businesses. massala-massala is reminded “of the markets back home” as sellers flaunt their africanness through the display of cultural food, artifacts, national newspapers, medicines and herbs as well of the mystic powers of marabouts. like a typical african market chateau rougeis filled with the real ambiance of african marketplace where “old women piled their wares and doze off despite the brouhaha of the area” (95). in the commotion of “mass of humanity…passersby had to slalom between the several bowls of red yam from cote d’lvoire and crates of plantains from bobo-dioulasso” (95). the market is the centre of information from the homeland especially the political leadership of african and arab francophone countries with heads of the leaders boldly imposed on the front pages of african newspapers. the influx of african nationals in african markets places the latter as the melting pot of cultural identities for the migrants. africans from different nations facilitate their co-existence and are united, irrespective of their difference in language, religion, traditional ethics and practices. in the african market they do not pretend to speak the language of the host but rely on their own means of communication adding to their hybrid identity construct. in chateau rouge “africans speak in patois at the top of their lungs” as their dealings resonate in legitimacy alongside illegality. as a critical base for the african migrant community the food places are ultimately interrupted by “the excursion of state power” which introduces elements of control and stricture. it is a veritable ground for law enforcement agencies who prowl and profile immigrants in order to regularly check their status and business interests in the market. paradoxically, the african market also is a place of jeopardy for the african migrant irrespective of his/her status, because a documented migrant can be imprisoned or deported if unfortunately found on the wrong side of the law with the backing of the same law that legalized his permit. the host governments initiate control by applying two methods of “regulation” and “inspection” of food safety and to impose employment laws and status. these are employed to demonstrate state influence and they intensify the deprivation of the migrant group. in chateau-rougeas the africans hawk their goods they keep “their eyes open and necks craned like cautious storks to guard against a possible round-up by the cops” (p.95). operators of the “parallel market… the black market” that intermingle with chateau-rouge are generally on edge; their clandestine manner of transaction includes burying their wares inside clothes, by this means becoming “walking market stalls” (p.125). other migrants that deal in electronics plot means of undermining the police and their restlessness is as a result of their inability to prove ownership by providing receipts. on confiscation by the police these migrants are required to pay huge sums to get back their goods. to sabotage the police intelligence, the sellers resort to showing prospective buyers pictures of their merchandise kept in hotel rooms nearby, before the bargain is completed in “total peace of mind”. the relationship between the police and the migrants in the african market therefore is that of “cat and mouse”, with each engaging strategies to outwit the other. constant search of the african market challenges the security it is supposed to provide since the controlling presence of the law “sows fear, interferes with their daily life and prevent the community from enjoying the multilevel roles these places have” (amir and bara-bianko 73). the psychology behind the haunt of food places by agents of government is basically driven by the need for identity formation by both new and old migrants. it is the primary and only place where they can claim ownership as a community, reminisce on the homes they left behind and form new socioeconomic relationships. and it is through these food relations that massala-massala learns about the undocumented migrants “infinite ability to split oneself into two” and gets to meet the most important personalities in their world, moki’s “most trusted collaborators.” during his jaunts in the african market and as the other migrants partake in his food, he is able to demystify moki‘s image of a real parisian and the true meaning of “paris is a big”. their insignificance in paris rubbishes the slogan he uses back home to entrap his listeners. massala-massala realizes that paris is indeed the opposite of moki’s picture back home in pointe noire. he is quick to grasp the truth that in paris moki is a nonentity. he and the other migrants live on the margin and have to take up different names in order to function as there are no other alternatives. thus, for the protagonist to manoeuvre through the food places he has to navigate two identities at different times, from marcel bonaventure to eric jocelyn-george. the dual persona is a defense tactic, a representation of what the migrant will be and the way others expect him to live in the position he finds himself. the protagonist despairingly embraces the first new name marcel bonaventure, a name without a history but one that possesses the ability to “open borders…a permanent pass” (84). accordingly, massala-massala who has gained the acceptance of others as greenhorn must shade off his identity again as marcel bonaventure to enter their murky world as eric jocelyngeorge. prefet who is the brain behind the fake id has got it done “in a studio, with his own hands” avoiding the police or the city hall knowing it would be impossible through that avenue. he must do this to be able to move around and make a living as illegal congolese migrant in paris. his ability to sell off “one hundred and twenty-five transit passes” with “authentic checkbooks” will determine the success of his “blue-white-red dream” (112). 1. in addition, mabanckou uses this to instigate the cultural meaning of names in africa, how migration disrupts the continuity and dislocates identity. in africa every name is important to the family and carries a little history. for the protagonist the name massalamassalais his ancestral heritage and has its own history of continuity. surviving four generations and “repeated twice” in his vernacular massala-massala means “those who remain, remain, those who stay will stay”. the name suggests permanence of the family bloodline by the children who live to carry on the lineage. the protagonist believes the name to be “eternal, immutable…not something to change like clothing to dress appropriately at any given party”. migration as a result sullies the sacredness of african names, alters their history thereby making them worthless by the abandonment. however, the different identity formations are strategies migrants exploit to “legalise” their stay on their own dictate. in “food, identity, and cultural reproduction in immigrant communities”, fabio paresecoli (2014) affirms that within the food concept migrants are capable of establishing their own environment as well as determine their relationships with others. consequently, the experiences make them to undergo heightened understanding of their own powers and preferences. mabanckou utilizes the delay in prefet’s “white pipeline”; the channel he uses to authorize massal-massala’s “sojourn”, to reveal the dynamics of french immigration laws. the inconsistency in immigration laws and debates by successive government legislatures continue to make it difficult for law enforcement agencies like the police and immigration officers to apply the correct procedure. in the vagueness of the law migrants are left with the consequences of loosing legal status at any time as mabanckou asserts: …in the morning they determine your status was legal, and in the afternoon, with their fists on the table, laws, presidential decrees, and official newspapers in hand, they solemnly denied it and gave you an appointment in forty-five days and a list of documents to provide, some of which were in the possession of your great-grandmother (107). the above experience is the author’s critical condemnation of the policy of exclusion by western authorities to displace the african diaspora. western nations in so doing end up creating disenchanted communities of immigrants. the risk inherent in the governments’ politicking with african immigration is that it unsettles even those migrants who are documented. their residency status is precarious since they stand to lose it through the lapses of the administration. in blue white red, sans-papiers are those migrants with residency permit but who become undocumented as a result of difficult “draconian laws.” these laws are made for the political aspiration of politicians and also aimed at appeasing the citizens who often times are frustrated by the influx of foreigners. the african migrant is caught in this dilemma of belonging and unbelonging, butgoing home offers littlereassurance. the identity racket expert prefet who has not reunited with his family back home for the past twenty-five years is a good example. his strategy of beating the law includes not having a permanent address in paris “to shake the police who hounded him” (107). yuval-davis expounding on the notion of politics of belonging claims that the failure of government policies also affects citizens’ expectations. and it is in their inclination to please the citizens’ anticipated result from government that migrants’ rights are undermined. she goes on to state that the fundamental concern in the dispute should be ascertaining the limitations of belonging and the scope of the creation of “us” versus “them”. therefore, the binary social construct in france is represented in blue white red with the congolesemigrants and other african diaspora in the minority. they are excluded from government policies and projects that the majority “them” have exclusive right to. mabanckou appropriates hunger strike which is a political type of protest as far back as the late nineteenth and mid twentieth century, to engage the condition of african diaspora in the global discourse. in incarceration centers food is added to the many indignities suffered by detainees who are daily observed by the authorities. food therefore deepens their sense of discrimination and strain as its value and appropriateness turn out to be “another factor that intensifies the emotional difficulty” (amir and barak-bianko, p.73). in this context of starvation as a weapon, food is the ideal “prism” for investigating the system, given that governments regularly employ food as calculated means of exerting power (rene provost, p.577). as we confront the protagonist at the detention camp, food once again is the lens for probing migrants’ rights as well as state apparatus of control over detainees. the hunger strike for the recognition of the inmates’ basic rights is “called by the rowdy convicts” (p.138) to agitate for better conditions “in the establishment’s penal policies.” subjecting self to such extreme measure greatly empowers the hunger strikers who choose to control their own bodies through the rejection of food by this means power-shaming the authorities. the result of hunger strike is not absolute as it may go the way of the strikers or might be thwarted by circumstances. for instance the hunger strikers in the novel did not have the support of the protagonist who boasts “me, i ate…emptied my bowl with a healthy appetite and finished my bread down to the last crumb” (p.138). massala-massala who learned early that “the road to redemption passed through good behavior” (p.137) refuses to join the other inmates in the hunger strike. the plan will jeopardize “the path of redemption” that the camp offers him and his plan to start the process of re-entering paris as soon as his repatriation is effective. after exhibiting good behavior with the prison officials, staying out of all forms of trouble, and acquiring a skill in carpentry his deportation is executed. his stand is common with minority migrant communities who in spite of the difficulties suffered in the host country and the prospect of deportation, still nurse the desire for another attempt at re-migration. it is not surprising then that mabanckou highlights massalamassal’s becoming using the trope of food and food places. his arrest at the chateau-rouge by the police clarifies to the reader the relevance of the trope to his narration. in blue white red food acculturation, appropriation and hybridization do not only happen within the migration setting but also in the homeland in the way the returnee migrants behave and evidently among indigenous members of the homeland. more importantly, food is used to underscore the ironical display of affluence and parisian taste by a migrant whose life is filled with lack and denial in paris. moki’s delusional display is the reason for young people like the protagonist: france represents their ultimate aspiration to wealth. alongside the eating habit of the parisians is also the manner in which food is used to describe the congolese migrants that live at the provincial areas in france called the peasants. in the sight of the people they do not represent the real parisians. made up of educated professionals they always caution others about the lofty tales of paris as told by moki and other sapeurs. food and foodways in pointe noire, therefore, connote two classes of people, the poor made up of the local people and the peasants, and the rich who constitute the parisians and their family members. for the poor people food is a simple necessity of life without too much refinement. the second class is the affluent, those parisians as mokiand his father that have attained parisian taste and can afford their food. moki’s father takes pride in his son’s achievement and in the manner he takes his meals. he boasts to his admirers that his son’s eating pattern consists of three course meals: “an aperitif, an appetizer, a main dish and red wine from france, cheese, a dessert, and coffee…just like in france” (p.31). he prepares moki’s eating place outdoors, a nice table under a mango tree in the courtyard where he is openly seen. this is unlike the lowly village peasants who he claims “swallowed big pieces of manioc with a little bit of salted fish” and ordinary water. while moki eats outdoors the peasant eats on the ground with his relations. moki’s meals consist of european meals as bread for breakfast; the peasant eats manioc and foufou, a meal moki said lacks “dietary value” (p.39). food builds up the satirical situation in the novel by exposing the returnee migrants’ bogus claim of life of material success when in reality the opposite is the case. in paris moki and other pointe noire migrants who cannot afford three course meals make do with their african food. they eat manioc, foufou and other african edibles on the bare floor of a room without anyfurniture. the peasants’ efforts to disabuse the minds of the young people that listen to moki’s story of benevolent paris are rebuffed; making many of them fall into their trap like massala-massala. massala-massala is able to understand the tales as part of moki’s ploy in recruiting new migrants to be used to make money through the different schemes he introduces with prefet. another aspect the author engages is the role of food as a symbol of hospitality and family bonding. the gathering of family and friends on moki’s arrival from paris and his father’s willingness in providing food and drinks illuminates the cultural importance of food to the african. family visits aretreated with utmost kindness and respect because in african culture “hospitality is the highest principle” (p.35). whether in the celebration of life or death, entertaining visitors especially relations require tolerance even in the face of bad behaviour. moki’s father is forced to close his eyes to the “nuisance” of his numerous relations that come to felicitate with him on moki’s arrival from paris. he is a believer of the african tradition that sees success as belonging to the entire clan. a rejection of one’s own in times of celebration can bring the downfall of the entire family. moreover, in future celebration they may call for a boycott and as moki’s father reasons the shame can be monumental. being mindful of the adage “money has never mourned the dead” he refrains from the question “have you already eaten” for its implied insult and endured his guests’ offending mannerisms. the underlying weight of these african protocols surrounding food is that it promotes oneness and strengthens relationships among members. moki’s father’s interest is in maintaining the family ties which allows him room to host his visitors in future. in conclusion, mabanckou in using european, congolese foodways and eating places tells the story of african diaspora in a way that is new. the plight of undocumented black migrants in the novel echoes the notion of “the citizen and “the subject” in the politics of belonging. this categorization is fundamental in the analysis of the condition of the undocumented congolese migrants in france. as former colonial subjects their spatial rights to enter another country, in this instance france, the country of their colonizer is ideal but restricted. yuval-davis (2006) in discussing citizenship and belonging asserts that the idea of “the citizen” is often associated with a type of privilege. this comes with “a certain sense of entitlement”, a significant public empathy evident in various political schemes of belonging. citizens enjoy projects that validate their citizenship rights such as civil, political, social, and cultural and spatial security rights. she identifies spatial security right as the chief means of expression for citizens and non citizens controlled by the state authority. spatial defense consists of the right to go into another country for work, or education whether for long or short term purposes. yuvaldavis also extends spatial security right to those influenced by unaccommodating administrative rules “in the form of failed expectations” like documented and undocumented people on transit. as she correctly observes spatial rights for the migrant has continued to be a source of danger, a situation that is blamed for the many alliances migrants form as “defensive identity movement.” the futile expectations of migration are the reasons for their indulgence in alternative illegal means of survival. therefore, for moki, prefet, sote, massala-massala and others the push for crime is their inability to exercise these rights. references arnett, j. and wright, a. 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(2010). re-encountering cuban tastes in australia. the australian journal of anthropology, 15(1), 40-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1835-9310.2004.tb00364.x. 22 august 2021 diome, f. (2006).the belly of the atlantic.translated by lulu norman and ros schwartz. um: serpent’s tail douglas, m. (1984).food in the social order.london: routledge https://dio.org/10.4324/9781315824048. 22 november 2021 d’sylva, a. and beagan, b. l. (2011). food is culture, but it’s also power: the role of food in ethnic and gender identity construction among goan canadian women. journal of gender studies, 20 (3), 779-289. doi:10.1080/09589236.2011.593326. 30 september 2021 duru, m. c. (2005). when signifying goodwill is no longer enough: the igbo kola nut and gender among igbos in nigeria and belgium.food and foodways, 13 (3), 20121.https.//do.org/10.1080/07409710590931302. 18thseptember 2021 gasparetti, f. (2009). the cultural meaning of food and its polyvalent role on the construction of identity among senegalese migrants in italy. food and migration, school of oriental and african studies university of london. gatwiri, k. and leticia .a. (2020). subjective migratory experiences boundaries of belonging: theorizing back african migrant experiences in australia. international journal of environmental research and public health, 18 (1), 38.https:/./dio.org/ 3390/ijerph18010038. mabanckou, a. (2013). blue white red._translated by alison dundy.indiana: indiana university press onyemelukwe, i.m. (2018). analysis of alain mabanckou’sblue-blanc-rouge as a flipside 1 work. impact: international journal of research in humanities, arts and literature, 6 (12), 443-454. parasecoli, f. (2014). food, identity, and cultural reproduction in immigrant communities. social research, 81(2), 415-439. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26549625 provost, r. (1992). starvation as a weapon: legal implication of the united nations food blockade against iraq and kuwait.columbia journal of transnational law, 30, 577-589. rozin.p. (1980). human food selection: why do we know so little, and what can we do about it? international journal of obesity, 4, (4), 333-337. sutton, d. e. (2001). remembrance of repasts: an anthropology of food and memory. new york: berg publishing --(2010).food and senses.annual review of anthropology, 39, 209-223. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.104957. 15 july 2021 tadjo, v. (2010).lion de monpere. paris: actessud xavier, s. (2016). the migrant text, making and marketing global french literature. mcgillqueens university press. yuval – davis, n. (2011). the rise of contemporary autochthonic political projects of belonging”. the politics of belonging.us: sage publication contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 97 chapter 6 the role of industrial design practice in nigerian development, vis-à-vis visua communication design godwin o. uka and chidiebere o. onwuekwe department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract one of the cardinal objectives of the federal government of nigerian policy on education is the acquisition of required creative skills, abilities and competence both mental and physical as equipment for individuals to live in and contribute to the development of the society. in cognizance of the above-stated objective, it is imperative to say that education is an integral part of formulating a national ideology for a developing country like nigeria. this research paper discusses the role and contribution of industrial design in a developing economy introduction industrial design practice involves the application of design principles and techniques to the development of products and services that are aesthetically pleasing, functional, and usercentered. the industrial design process typically involves several stages, including research, ideation, prototyping, testing, and production. industrial designers work closely with engineers, marketers, and other professionals to ensure that the final product meets the needs of the target audience and is economically viable. industrial design practice has a significant impact on the economy and society. welldesigned products and services can improve people's lives, increase productivity, and promote economic growth. in addition, industrial design can help to address social and environmental issues by promoting sustainable practices and creating products that are accessible to people of all abilities. in recent times there is growing interest in the importance of industrial design. the reason for such growth and interest is that industrial design is being understood as a tool for enhancing products’ international competitiveness. in the continued quest for appropriate growth strategies all over the world, the function of industrial design has become formalized in most developed and developing countries. its practice is virtually established as the most viable tool for long-term corporate growth. rapid technological development, fast-changing consumer needs and tastes, shortened product life cycles and intense market competition, among several other corporate strategies, are being re-defined by fundamental changes in the market, changes in industrial infrastructure and growing sophistication in consumer needs. the role of industrial design practice in nigerian development 98 industrial design is increasingly regarded as invaluable in resolving the complexities of changes with the emotional and practical needs of the consumer. in this way, design can greatly enrich the nature and quality of the end product. the importance and awareness of industrial design, especially in corporations is dramatically growing compared to the past. in the corporate management stage, nobody thinks that the corporate business can make success with out-of-date design quality because industrial design is directly linked to the competitiveness of the products and the image of the corporation. nigeria is a country in west africa with a population of over 200 million people. despite being rich in natural resources such as oil, gas, and minerals, nigeria faces a number of developmental challenges such as poverty, high unemployment rates, poor infrastructure, and insecurity. one example of industrial design practice in nigeria is the work of nigerian furniture designer, oluwaseyi sosanya. sosanya's designs are inspired by traditional african art and culture and incorporate sustainable materials and production methods. another example is the fashion brand, maki oh, which uses traditional nigerian textiles and techniques to create modern, sophisticated designs. this reserag focuses on the role of industrial design practice in nigerian development, especially in the economic sector. design and the industry the beginning of the 21st century marks the digital age, it is clear that our lives have been transformed as never before. information technology is redefining just about all the paradigms within which we live and work, and design will be foremost among new disciplines because of its unique capacity to interpret new technologies and make them accessible to everyone. more than ever before, the creative forces of design have affected the competitiveness of corporations and nations so much that the digital age will itself be, ‘designed’; that is to say guided by knowledge, imagination and creativity. therefore, designers become protagonists of a new era of demand and they reach the opportunity in a globalized world with many cultures in progress. there is a widespread idea in the corporate field that the concept of ‘globalization’; the purpose of which is to cover the worldwide market with standardized products and the concept of ‘localization’ which is pursuing customers on the cultural achieved by industrial design. the “visual communication” of ideas is crucial to all design activities. in industrial design and architecture for instance, the utility of the designer’s product depends greatly upon the ability to communicate its function. the best designers take much care in integrating this visual language with their products. “good design” is a marriage of form, content and function. in selecting the appropriate language for the solution, the designer must first of all truly understand the ramification of the assignment. the response to that problem must be limited, of course, to the operational life of the product. therefore, for the designer” creativity” means his ability to work innovatively within the problem imposed by the client, with available technology, and with cognizance of the human social setting. design comes into play whenever it is necessary to give an appearance to a product idea, a corporate entity, or a brand. design is concerned with the determination of a hitherto indeterminate form. to reduce it to a simple formula, we can say: “design is the determination contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 99 of the indeterminate form of appearance”. design is accordingly not concerned with imitating but with inventing. design is external while art is internal. these can be explained in terms of the heart or the mind and the body relationship. design is external in that, its forms and application extend basic human functions and needs. these pertain to three primary areas – messages; as in our needs to communicate with each other; products, which enables us to extend the mechanical function of the body; environment, or control of condition around us. art is internal, in that its form affects the senses, and thereby influences the psyche, the emotion and the spirit. unlike painting and sculpture, which are the realization of artists’ visions and dreams, design fills practical needs. a piece of graphics design or product has to be placed before the eyes of the public and to convey a predetermined message. an industrial product has to meet consumers’ requirements. a good design, in short, is the best possible visual expression of the essence of “something” whether this is a message or product. to do this faithfully and effectively, the designer should look for the best possible way this “something” can be shaped, made, distributed, used and related to the environment. his creation should not only be just aesthetic but also functional, while reflecting or guiding the taste of time. design as a profession today is too generalized at best, and, at worst, it is misunderstood. it becomes a catchall for any forming or communication endeavour which does not bear the label of fine arts. the meaning of design can be approached from two different perspectives: firstly, design is the basic, intelligible order of a system or structure evident in any form. the graphics designer, industrial designer, or architect may often use such an order as a vehicle by which other functions or messages are made manifest. secondly, the design profession is a problem-solving activity. the problem or task most often originates with someone other than the designer. this is the client. design in this sense will therefore preclude a significant vital index o development. and development itself is considered a significant function of design; purposeful planning and structuring of resources to attain a desirable standard in the improvement of life and the general human environment. the role industrial design plays in the attainment of objectives and in the radicalization of the visions and inspiration of mankind is the preoccupation of industrial designers. industrial design is an important aspect of human daily life. this is so because all products that are used, operated or seen by people depend critically on industrial design for commercial success. with this in mind, a convenient means of assessing the importance of industrial design along two dimensions.economics and aesthetics. president bill clinton during president olusegun obasanjo’s visit to washington on the 29th of october 1999 stated: nigeria is a pivot on which the feature of all africa and much of the world will turn. the actual realization of the above-stated fact can only start from the institutions of learning. there is, therefore, a great need for a re-focus that will compromise re-thinking, re-discovery, and re-shaping the dignity of man, thereby re-designing the world around us. the proper management, implementation and achievability of the national objectives have almost eluded nigerian as a nation. it becomes imperative to say that, nigeria's society is at a cross-road when compared with other developing and developed nations, where exploration of creative and innovative ideas and skills is the order of the moment. the present study is designed to investigate the role of industrial design in nigerian development; this can help solve the nigerian developmental process. this paper therefore, is advocating the exploration of ideas, the role of industrial design practice in nigerian development 100 concepts and skills in our creative thinking through indigenous design, in salvaging the nation from its present state. graphic / industrial design is a creative process that employs art and technology to communicate and present ideas, with the control of symbols, types, colours and illustrations, the designer produces visual compositions meant to attract, inform and persuade a given audience. in other words, designers in the art of visual communication involve the use of images, words, and ideas to give information to the viewers. it can be used for advertising, for entertainment intended for the mind with the control of symbols, types, colours and illustrations. industrial design in a broader dimension is a process of creating the appearance of any design presentation or in website in an attractive, logical manner. when done successful it attracts attention, adds value to the message, enhances readership and readability, simplifies, and crate unity in a work of art. the design can all so be looked at as the process of visual communication and problem-solving using one or more of typography, photography and illustration. design can aid in selling a product or idea. it is applied to products and elements of company identity such as logos, colours, packaging and text as part of branding design. branding has increasingly become important in the range of services offered by designers. graphic designers often form part of a branding team. other examples of design for entertainment purposes include novels, vinyl album covers, and comic books. this could also include artwork used for t-shirts and other items screen printed for sale. creativity and innovation: the drivers of industrial design creativity throughout history has been a subject of extensive study from the perspective of behavioural and social psychology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, history, fine arts, industrial design, and research design among others. art is a part of the organic process of human evolution and therefore, it is something quite different from more or less arbitrary and ornamental activities, which are all the functions that people usually ascribe to it. a work of art, therefore, requires from its creator broad and scientific knowledge of the elements represented combined with extraordinary skilful techniques by an impelling and emotional urge to create. creativity and innovation are essential drivers of industrial design. creativity is the ability to generate new and original ideas or concepts, while innovation involves transforming these ideas into practical solutions that add value to the market. in industrial design, creativity and innovation are critical in developing products that meet the needs of users and solve complex problems. industrial designers need to be creative to develop unique and original designs that stand out in the market. they need to have a deep understanding of the needs and preferences of the target audience, as well as the latest trends and technologies in the industry. by combining this knowledge with their creative skills, industrial designers can develop innovative designs that are not only visually appealing but also functional and user-friendl creativity is more closely related to thinking abilities and to attitudinal development. it is a continual process for which the best preparation involves creativity itself. the act of creativity can be seen as that which provides the urge for continuing exploration and discovery. every child is born creative. the urge to explore, investigate, and discover, what is on the other side of the screen is not limited to human behaviour, but is experienced by the whole animal kingdom, (lower field and brittan 1975). for meaningful and purposeful creativity, the psychological and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/typography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/illustration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/idea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/packaging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/album_cover contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 101 physical restrictions that the environment puts in the way of developing the individual who inhabits his natural curiosity and exploratory behaviour must be considered seriously. one of the most commonly agreed-upon components of creative thinking is the ability to produce a large number of ideas. in a general sense, the idea of creativity means different things to different people in the world. in design education, scholars are always stymied by the need to make judgments about student evidence of creativity and most times feel the need to but rather to accept any industrial product as an example of creative response. this dilemma raises the issue of thinking about creativity at several levels and rendering judgment accordingly. the more we try to define creativity by identifying with specific sets of values, meanings, beliefs, and symbols, the more our creativity will be focused on how values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed, and the greater the chance that our creativity will become less restricted (bolaji 2007). runco (1994) opines that creativity is in terms of cognitive processes that lead to an original and adaptive insight, idea or solution. thus, creativity is the most essential of all human resources and skills (bolaji 2007). akinboye (2004) sees creativity as a tool that propels organizations, catapults careers, and generate potent growth and viable outcomes. creativity is at the heart of design, at all stages throughout the design process. the most exciting and challenging design is that which is truly innovative; the creation of a radical departure from anything currently on the market (baxter, 1995). for sustainable development in industrial design as it affects nigeria, creativity, generative thinking, perception dynamics, and constructive and design thinking should be the keywords. this is because creativity is an amazingly complex behaviour that is multi-factor ally determined . innovation; this is also important in industrial design because it involves the development of new and improved products and services that meet the changing needs of the market. innovation can come in the form of new materials, production methods, or design techniques. by incorporating new technologies and approaches into their designs, industrial designers can create products that are more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective. moreover, creativity and innovation also play a crucial role in enhancing the competitiveness of industries. by developing new and innovative products, industries can differentiate themselves from their competitors and attract more customers. this can lead to increased sales, revenue, and market share. creativity and innovation have been identified as important drivers of industrial design. here are some references from books and academic journals that support this idea: "design thinking: integrating innovation, customer experience, and brand value" by thomas lockwood and edgar papke. this book argues that creativity and innovation are essential in industrial design, and that designers must be able to develop new and original ideas that meet the needs of users. the role of industrial design practice in nigerian development 102 "innovation and entrepreneurship: practice and principles" by peter f. drucker. this book emphasizes the importance of innovation in industrial design and argues that companies must continually innovate to remain competitive. "the role of creativity in product innovation" by v.k. narayanan and g. srinivasan. this article explores the relationship between creativity and innovation in industrial design, and argues that creativity is a key driver of innovation. "design thinking and innovation at apple" by j. m. caroll and d. d. thomas. this article explores how apple has used design thinking and innovation to develop products that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. "creativity and innovation in product design" by n. a. tsekoura and d. v. pouloudi. this article argues that creativity and innovation are essential in product design, and that designers must be able to balance these two elements to create products that are both innovative and functional. these references demonstrate that creativity and innovation are essential drivers of industrial design. designers must be able to develop new and original ideas, incorporate new technologies and approaches, and balance creativity and innovation to create products that meet the needs of users and enhance the competitiveness of industries the challenges of industrial design practice in nigeria industrial design practice in nigeria faces several challenges that hinder its growth and development. some of these challenges include: limited access to funding: one of the major challenges facing industrial design practice in nigeria is limited access to funding. industrial designers often require substantial capital to invest in materials, equipment, and technology to create their designs. however, the lack of access to funding makes it difficult for designers to bring their ideas to fruition. limited local production capacity: another challenge is the limited local production capacity in nigeria. the lack of adequate infrastructure, such as power and transportation, makes it difficult for designers to manufacture products locally. as a result, many designers are forced to outsource production to other countries, which increases the cost of production and limits the potential for economic growth. poor intellectual property protection: intellectual property protection is weak in nigeria, which makes it difficult for designers to protect their designs from infringement. this has led to a situation where many designers are reluctant to share their designs or invest in the development of new products. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 103 • limited market opportunities: the nigerian market is still largely dominated by imported products, which limits the opportunities for local industrial designers. this is partly due to the high cost of production, which makes it difficult for local designers to compete with imported products. • limited education and training: there is a shortage of qualified industrial designers in nigeria, and the quality of education and training in the field is often inadequate. this limits the potential for growth and development in the industry. to address these challenges, the nigerian government and other stakeholders need to invest in infrastructure, provide funding and support for local designers, and strengthen intellectual property protection. in addition, there is a need for more investment in education and training to develop the skills and expertise required to support the growth of the industry. one way that industrial design can contribute to nigerian development is by helping local businesses and entrepreneurs to develop new products and services that meet the needs of nigerian consumers. by creating products that are designed specifically for the nigerian market, industrial designers can help to spur economic growth and create jobs. conclusion from the beginning of human civilization, humans have been particularly attracted to graphic design and have used it for decoration as well as to symbolize power. from murals to geometric designs on buildings to handmade illustrations, graphic design has been part of human expression for ages. flags and coins of emperors were perhaps the first examples of logos and branding. creativity and innovation are critical drivers of industrial design. industrial designers need to be creative and innovative in developing unique and original designs that meet the changing needs of the market. by incorporating new technologies and approaches into their designs, industrial designers can create products that are more efficient, sustainable, and user-friendly. the use of creativity and innovation in industrial design not only adds value to the market but also enhances the competitiveness of industriesthere are benefits associated with this dispensation that are rooted in exploration and innovation. thus, there are far-reaching benefits for any developing nation that makes creativity the centre of its philosophical ideology. methodologies that aid exploration and discovery of potentials, and a problem-solving ability which allows the learner the opportunity for creativity should be the focus of any curriculum transformation. creativity is not only about the development of innate ability but also about the development of skills borne out of constant practice or training. therefore teaching and learning processes that encourage memorization should be demystified. skill acquisition through technical and vocational training should be given priority. it is a known fact that creativity leads to productivity and development in all tiers of national endeavour. reativity and innovation are critical drivers of industrial design. industrial designers need to be creative and innovative in developing unique and original designs that meet the changing needs of the market. by incorporating new technologies and the role of industrial design practice in nigerian development 104 approaches into their designs, industrial designers can create products that are more efficient, sustainable, and user-friendly. the use of creativity and innovation in industrial design not only adds value to the market but also enhances the competitiveness of industries references akinboye, j. o. creativity, innovation and success ibadan-nigeria, stirling hordens publishers (nig) ltd, 2004. baxter, m.r. product design, practical methods for the systematic development of new products. new york. chapman and hall, 1995. bolaji, s.d. akinpelu’s educational philosophy and its implication to educational system in nigeria, unpublished master’s thesis submitted to the department of educational foundations, faculty of education, university of lagos, 2004. doodles, crafts and designs: industrial drawings from the smithsonian, smithsonian institution libraries, 2004. federal republic of nigeria, national policy on education 4th edition, p.6 (nerde press, lagos nigeria) 2004 "http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/industrial design lower field and brittan, l. creative and mental growth, new york. macmillan publishing co. inc, 1995. runco, a. m. encyclopedia of human behavior (new york: academic press inc), 1994. torrance, e.p. “non-test ways of identifying the creative child in gowan, demas and torrance (eds) creativity, its educational implications new york pp58-60, 1967. design week. (2018). "the rise of african industrial design." https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/16-22-april-2018/the-rise-of-african-industrial-design/ nigerian tribune. (2021). "the beauty of nigerian furniture designs." https://tribuneonlineng.com/the-beauty-of-nigerian-furniture-designs/ sosanya, o. (n.d.). "oluwaseyi sosanya furniture design." http://www.ososanya.com/about/ ethical apprehensions and the pedagogic millstone in camillus uka’swhen the wind blows iwunze davidson chimezie abstract among the numerous novels that inaugurate examination malpractice as a major malaise currently devastating the educational sphere and its multifaceted implications within the sociopolitical cum economical spaces of post-colonial nigeria, camillus uka’s when the wind blows stands out prominently. given his social vision, and his quest for academic meritocracy, uka’s absolute denunciation of mediocrity in the novel is aptly foregrounded. incidentally, the novel, in spite of the profundity of its pedagogical commitment and social vision, has not received the critical attention it deserves. in narrowing this gap, while relying on the ethical theory of utilitarianism by jeremy bentham which contemplates an individual’s action in relation to the pleasure or pain it imparts on the aggregate number of people involved, this paper contends that uka’s when the wind blows provokes not only some ethical apprehensions that demand exigent response but also underscores the dire sensationalism of examination malpractice and its attendant consequences on the lives of individuals and society as well. keywords: examination malpractice, education, ethics, camillus uka, when the wind blows introduction camillus uka’s predilection for quality education, and his commitment to reading culture as a prerequisite for a developing nation like nigeria to thrive in the comity of nations, forms the primary establishment of his social vision in when the wind blows(2007). an award winning contemporary nigerian writer educated at the university of nigeria, nsukka, ukah has authored eleven creative literature books among other literary engagements. his novel when the wind blows (2007) was listed for the nlng nigeria prize for literature in 2008, while in 2012 his entry, nkechi the heroine, won the ana/lantern prize. uka’s when the wind blows (2007) stands out conspicuously among the countless narratives that decry the decay of examination malpractices in the nigeria education system. beyond its thematic preoccupation and social vision, the frequent stylistic insertion of local idioms and proverbs distinguish the novel as a balanced narrative. the novel, however, is an eloquent signature of bastardization of educational standard in the nigerian society. it articulately underlines the phenomenon of cyclical structure of sowing and reaping, which synchronizes with the law of karma. uka’s engagement of mediocrity in the novel seems to be borne out of his disenchantment with compromise of meritocracy in the nation’s educational system. this, however, buttresses nnolim’s (2014) submission that “every generation of writers confronts the burning issues in its society and wrestles with them” (p. 158). elsewhere, uka (2020) has enunciated his belief in quality education accessible through a reading culture with a slogan “let’s go back to books, the sure ladder to excellence, read your books every day, read one book every week, read four books every month, read fifty two books every year and you will shine as a star” . it is, therefore, no surprise that when the wind blows (2007) demonstrates the projection of a reading cum studying culture which the protagonist of the novel, adaku, brazenly repudiated. awuzie (2017), in his analysis of the novel, identifies the challenges that have faced different generations of the african states and how african writers have been able to depict such challenges through their literary engagements. from the first generation that confronted colonialism through post-independence disillusionment and currently the issue of poverty among other challenges. he further distinguishes between poverty of the pocket and poverty of the mind, identifying poverty of the mind as the worst. he, however, reiterated that african writers do not revel in the deployment of evil occurrences in their environment but had to be realistic in the portrayal of societal happenings. differentiating between the two kinds of poverty, awuzie (2017) posits that: we have come to see that the survival of the youths of this generation is generally threatened by poverty of different kinds. first is the poverty of the pocket while the other is poverty of the mind. poverty of the pocket may be more bearable than poverty of the mind. hence, it is important to note that in a generation where poverty of the mind takes preeminence, what happened in bakare’s once upon a tower and ukah’s when the wind blows reign supremely. in such generation the youths would do anything to survive. (p.9) in the same vein, reflecting on the students’ desperation for “success” afolayan and inyang (2005) citing ike, reveal that “the inordinate scramble for the all-important certificate of secondary education (cse) could lead anxious students and unscrupulous men to any length” (p.92). a reading of the novel raises not only some ethical issues but also bears testimony against the character of adaku whose desperation for short-cut success structures the dominant discourse of this work. ethical apprehensions and the pedagogic millstone examination malpractice, when measured against the backdrop of utilitarianism, becomes an act that is egoistic in nature and does not promote the general good of the populace. in differentiating utilitarianism from egoism, julia driver (2014) notes that “egoism has to do with the scope of relevant consequences; while on the utilitarianism view, one ought to maximize the overall goodthat is, consider the good of others as well as one’s own good” (p.15). utilitarianism, therefore, is defined by jeremy bentham as “generally held to be the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good… that the theory is a form of consequentialism: the right action is understood entirely in terms of consequences produced” (p.6) (quoted by driver (2014). in consonance to the above thought, john stuart mill reveals that people desire happiness — the utilitarian end — and that the general happiness is “a good to the aggregate of all persons.” (p.81). therefore, this definition provokes a serious ethical concern since one’s action, to a very great extent, can cause serious consequences on the generality of people. driver (2014) citing bentham, discussing utilitarianism identifies the good with pleasure. he further advises human beings to maximize the good; that is, bringing about “the greatest amount of good for the greatest number” (p.5). bentham’s desire for legal and social reform influenced his thoughts on utilitarianism. the understanding is that morally fitting actions will not hurt others, but instead spread happiness or utility. driver (2014) reveals that bentham’s conviction was: influenced both by hobbes' account of human nature and hume's account of social utility. he famously held that humans were ruled by two sovereign masters — pleasure and pain. we seek pleasure and the avoidance of pain, they “…govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think…” yet he also promulgated the principle of utility as the standard of right action on the part of governments and individuals. actions are approved when they are such as to promote happiness, or pleasure, and disapproved of when they have a tendency to cause unhappiness, or pain. (p.6) in view of the above thoughts, however, any action which does not seek nor bring about the happiness of most people should be frowned at. bentham seems to be saying that humans should weigh the consequences of their actions on their fellow humans; whether it will bring happiness or pain to them. in when the wind blows, uka’s belief parallels with the principles of utilitarianism since the actions of the protagonist did not promote happiness of the society rather her actions inflicted so much pain on the people. however, stephen darwell (1995) views beyond the individuals’ actions and emphasizes on the motives behind their actions. he notes: that the moral sense is concerned with motives… it is the motives rather than the consequences that are the objects of approval and disapproval. but inasmuch as the morally good person cares about what happens to others, and of course she will, she will rank order acts in terms of their effects on others, and reason is used in calculating effects. (p. 16) however, both the protagonist’s motives and actions are contrary to the values of utilitarianism; they do not promote the happiness of many people. her involvements and subsequent attainments in life through corruption via examination malpractice simply underline the micro reflection of what is obtainable in nigerian society at large. an apparent manifestation of poverty of mind in the nigerian academic space is the undue recognition and scramble for “paper certificates” above skills acquisition and competency. the obnoxious crave for paper certificates instead of possession of skills and expertise has become an increasing goal among a large population of youths in nigeria’s educational system. to adie and oko (2016) “the quest for certificate in the face of poor academic performance has been identified as some of the major causes of examination malpractices in nigeria” (p.59). the enthronement of mediocrity in place of excellence seems to be a recurring factor that has not only reduced drastically the standard of education but has also affected almost every sector in nigeria. adie and oko (2016) further state that “the hues and cries about examination malpractice taking place at all levels of the nigerian educational system is nothing but a reflection of the decay in the value system of the society. the nigerian society is that which celebrates mediocrity and views cheating as being smart” (p.60).in fact in expo ’77(1980), the author chukwuemeka ike exposes the defiant justification of a mother whose daughter was arraigned for examination malpractice “is it only the lieutenant-colonels? who doesn’t cheat in this country? the people in power. top civil servants, contractors, judges, soldiers, policemen, pastors. who doesn’t cheat? (p.14)”. her mentioning of different professionals in the country as being guilty of cheating is, indeed, a grave indictment against society. ukah, through his protagonist adaku, reveals that “government establishments in such a corrupt country as mine suffered the fate of the public goat. such institutions best existed as monuments of twenty first century retrogression and civilized mediocrity; governed by the whims of pot-bellied godfathers” (p33). equally, citing nnolim, awuzie notes that “seeing the level of poverty in the country, ben okri lamented on the state of the country through one of his characters in the landscape within, thus: ‘i think ours is another damned generation of loss.’ (cited in nnolim,2009,p. 326). to omoregbe (cited in okaneme, 2013) such a generation is an immoral and a sick society: an immoral society is also a sick society. by immoral society we mean a society permeated with corruption, dishonesty, fraud, selfishness… such a society is sick and cannot be in sound order. its organs cannot function properly because they are not in sound health condition. life in such a society becomes increasingly difficult, insecure and unhappy (p.135). quoting maduemezia, anzene (2014) identifies that “examination malpractice is not a new phenomenon in nigeria. the first examination malpractice in nigeria occurred in 1914 during the senior cambridge local examination where papers were leaked before the scheduled date of examination”. (p.1). ironically, this establishes examination malpractice as old as nigeria given the fact that nigeria came into existence as a country in 1914 through lord lugard’s amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorates. the perennial effects of examination malpractice, as emphasized by the author, is deeply rooted and extended to various sectors of the nation’s polity like education, military, health, law among others. lawal (2017) accentuates: the devastating effects of examination malpractices are usually expressed through the erosion of creativity, resourcefulness, ingenuity, technical know-how, and moral values. industries and corporate organizations suffer because people who are qualified for the jobs are in the real sense not qualified for the jobs – they cheated their way through, most often through examination malpractices” (p.6). considering the subtle penetration of examination malpractice into the fabric of the society, and its colossal destructiveness, ukah bares its implications on the soul of nigerian nation on the long term basis. using hematology, the study of blood, to foreground his denigration of fraud in the novel demonstrates the author’s intention in exposing what is seen as a bane of nigerian educational system. nnolim on the cover back of the novel considers the use of hematology as a “touch of genius” on the part of the author, since blood is life essence. the usage of blood, which lays the life of human beings, undoubtedly, connotes the relationship blood shares with a nation as a living entity. metaphorically, the author uncovers the diseased blood (corruption) that has been responsible for the ailment of nigeria. it purely reveals the extent of mortal damage the nation has been reduced to; revealing its condition as being terminal. given the influence of power, and its tendency of abuse by a few individuals, most nigerian institutions have been subjected to the destructive nature of mediocrity. almost every facet of the nigerian state is bedeviled by mediocrity to the extent that those who are competent seldom gain employment to unleash their creativity. a “paper qualified” adaku, who meritoriously graduated as a medical laboratory scientist, secures employment both in a government owned and private hospitals at different times not necessarily out of excellence but through dubious means. subjecting her body as an instrument of job negotiation makes it possible for her to navigate her ways through the bureaucratic exigencies while retaining her job without difficulty. manipulating the system to suit her selfish inclination has been a trade she learnt well from her mother during her days in primary school. therefore, taking “shortcuts” to success has become a familiar path. to her “the end justifies the means”. however, this arrangement, in spite of its transient condition, becomes a currency through which adaku shops her immediate convenience without considering the long term implications. her educational itinerary, right from primary school to the university, has been one typified by examination malpractice. therefore, her obvious incompetency in the work place is only a reward of her many years of academic compromise. obasanjo’s assessment of a perpetrator of examination malpractice accurately defines adaku’s motivation. (cited in akinrefon, a.a, adeniyi, o.i,bamigbala, a.o. and ikpa, o.c 2016). to him “[t]hey see education as a means of meal ticket, getting a job and so must acquire the paper qualification by hook or crook. we must change that perception or orientation so that they will appreciate the intrinsic value of education which is the total development of the individual to be able to make meaningful contribution to the family, community and nation.” (p.177) sadly, nnolim (2008)identifies the novel as: a weeping novel, a lamentation at the depths into which corruption in [africa] has descended even in its educational engagements where parents and educators assist their children to thoroughly corrupt the system whose probity they are supposed and expected to uphold” (p.160). after her youth service while working in a hospital, she reaps her first fruit of “labour” which resulted in death. while on her many trips of truancy, a new head of department steps in and changes the course of events which, ultimately exposes her incompetency. in a twist of fate, she is “forced” to carry out a cross-matching test. unfortunately, she could not perform it which happens to be one of the simplest tests. impulsively she labels a wrong blood group to the specimen of the patient to avoid embarrassment. expectedly, the death of the patient is not only imminent, but also underscores the inevitable reward of retributive justice. mr. eze, the dead patient, happens to be the husband of the headmistress that compromised her integrity by accepting bribe from adaku’s mother during adaku’s common entrance examination. adaku’s escape from the wrath of the law, however, reinforces her power of manipulation as she engages the acting chief medical director in amorous relationship. to her “i have no other option than to grit my teeth and fight…i had fought all through my university days to date, fighting to eat my cake and still have it” (p.44). incidentally, her belief in manipulating events to her wishes paid off. the acting chief medical director pulls his strings and her case was dropped but after she had “used” and dumped him. adaku’s incompetency does not end in her professional terrain but it festers into her matrimonial home. she is so uninformed that she could not even contribute positively to her children’s home assignments. a common question of what organism causes malaria unsettles her deeply. she dare not give a wrong answer to a child that had corrected her severally in pronunciations! to rightly reflect her current state, she recalls that “the wind is blowing” (p.249). the wind is blowing and her negotiated engagements with education have started unveiling. her situation merely recalls the biblical parable of those who built their houses on rocky and sandy foundations. those who built on the rock escaped damages during a windstorm, while those who built on the sand suffered great loss. adaku basically builds her academics on a sandy foundation with ease, and the consequences of such endeavor have started unfolding! to further buttress the dire implication of academic “compromise” prevalent in nigeria educational system, the author incorporates the experiences of “half-baked” teachers whose academic ignorance and incompetency were clearly exposed. the story of inept english and agriculture teachers is relieved by adaku; while the english teacher fumbles at the teaching of “superlative”, the agriculture teacher explains away the concept of “shifting cultivation”. of primary significance to the breeding of “half baked” professionals, and the subsequent harvests of mediocrity in the socio-political and economic sphere of the nigerian state, is the illicit and active participation of the so called “defender of education” as accomplices. students, as represented by adaku, could not have succeeded in their illegal negotiation of short-cut accomplishments, if the teachers and lecturers had maintained their pledges of integrity. while adaku’s parents, through their “fat envelopes”, are able to influence their daughter’s way up to the secondary school; adaku extends and consolidates it to the university with her power of “female anatomy”. in fact, adaku’s harvests of brilliant performances are nothing but mere dramatization of mediocrity as well as an indictment on the educational institutions. if mrs. eze had remained unyielding in her pledge of integrity, she would not have lost her husband to incompetency! her earlier compromise many years ago manifested in a situation she least expected. adaku recalls disdainfully her moment of initiation into examination malpractice: i wished i could go back to that day and fight against my initiation into a practice that had become my undoing. their well-intended help assumed the stature of barbaric savagery. i hated them all the more. then a note of tragic coincidence struck me. the headmistress, mrseze, was the one whose husband died as a result of my incompetence. i remembered a saying that if one sees a fowl scratching at faeces, the person should chase it away because nobody knows who will eat the leg that had scratched the shit. how would she have known that the seed of incompetence she helped to sow would cause the untimely death of her husband? (p.127) the author seems to be sounding a strong warning not only to the vendors of education but also to humanity at large because whatever one sows one reaps. emenyonu (1994) rightly emphasizes that “nigeria believes that it can produce lawyers, teachers, politicians, engineers, scientists, and professors without educating them. when they go into the world to perform, they are equipped with mental mediocrity and emptiness of character… we are only reaping what we sowed with reckless abandon in our indiscretion” (p.64) given her dexterity in fixing problems, and reliance on manipulation of the system, the day of reckoning comes to her rather too soon thereby exposing the content of her intellectual ineptitude. while in the hospital, praying for the speedy recovery of her husband, she is called upon to cross-match her husband’s blood since the laboratory scientist on duty was not around. incidentally, the laboratory scientist on duty is found later malingering and frolicking with her boyfriend in the darkness of night; revealing the rot that has eaten deep into the fabric of sociopolitical and economic life of the nation where truancy is tolerated with impunity. as a “qualified” medical laboratory scientist, taking such a simple test would not have been a problem. unfortunately, this encounter exposes her as an educated illiterate. taking this case as an extended metaphor, the nigerian best brain is facing destruction in the hands of incompetent leaders at the helm of affairs. little wonder the authorial voice bemoans: i weep for this generation. i weep for a generation hunted by its own machination and ensnared by its own trap. i weep for a generation that squirms with the poison of its own concoction. look at how a wasteful and backward looking generation has cut itself off from the source of life giving water. you can see that that water was designed to flow from the old formidable buildings to water the new buildings. but now the chasm has created a gap. (p.166) it is pertinent to note that the author did not present a totally hopeless situation. in spite of the dwindling fortunes of education, there are a few persons who still believe in the tenets of perseverance and determination. ken, adaku’s husband, represents the author’s model of academic success whose life is nearly cut short by incompetent hands! considering the author’s redemptive message, and his projection of hope, the survival of ken in the novel stresses triumph of meritocracy over mediocrity. ken embodies a model of some graduates whose academic journeys are characterized by diligence, focus and hard work. similarly, in ike’s the naked god(1970) the author endorses the essence of merit and condemnation of fraud through the character of professor ikin who was being lured to compromise his stand over the position of a vice chancellor. he asserts that “… i would rather remain unqualified than accept a doctorate degree… arranged for me… i do not want an instant ph.d” (p.11). in other words, he prefers working for his success to mere acquisition of it. symbolically, that ken survived gunshots shows that there is hope for the nation’s education. ken epitomizes the sound product of academic thorough-bred who secured his educational status through devotion and resilience. ironically, ken’s marriage to adaku does not only unveil an intellectual mismatch at home front, where home is the foundation of the society at large, but also a mismatch that is threatening the existence of nigeria where a lot of socio-political and economic mismatches have pitched the nation at the precipice of destruction. juxtaposing the two individuals, the author is merely presenting the choice of meritocracy and mediocrity. he creatively, as well as deeply, carries out this vision through his novel substantiating the implications inherent in the choice one takes. already, some students have taken the path of “shortcut” to success just to “really survive at all costseven those that can barely read” (p.3) as enunciated by awuzie (2017). conclusion contemplating on the foregoing experiences of the protagonist, as well as its predictable repercussions both on established institutions and human lives, the author’s disenchantment with mediocrity is, indeed, sustained and quite revealing. adaku’s inability to carry out a simple test shows the extent of damage examination malpractice has caused in the educational system of nigeria, and the government’s insensitivity towards the dreadful state of the nation. those who are not qualified are gainfully employed at the expense of the competent ones. therefore, meritocracy becomes a lonely path seldom tread by the youths who are obsessed with instant success. however, the author degrades such enthronement of mediocrity by showing the eventual destruction of adaku’s certificate. adaku realizes, rather too late, that possessing a paper certificate without the corresponding knowledge is nothing but a lethal weapon in the hands of an amateur. when adaku’s actions, however, are weighed on the scale of humanity; it is found wanting! driver (2014) raises serious concerns: we are to promote pleasure and act to reduce pain. when called upon to make a moral decision one measures an action's value with respect to pleasure and pain according to the following: intensity (how strong the pleasure or pain is), duration (how long it lasts), certainty (how likely the pleasure or pain is to be the result of the action), proximity (how close the sensation will be to performance of the action), fecundity (how likely it is to lead to further pleasures or pains), purity (how much intermixture there is with the other sensation). one also considers extent — the number of people affected by the action. (p.5) adaku’s personality does not identify her as one who is capable of such contemplations because her egoistic nature will make such meditations impossible. she succeeded, through her actions, in bequeathing pain, unhappiness and misery to people in contrast to the ideals of utilitarianism. in conclusion therefore, the author’s portrayal and repudiation of acquisition of fake certificates, and its attendant consequences, is wholly sustained in the novel through evaluation of its thematic concerns, characterization and stylistic employment of narrative techniques like flashbacks, symbols and metaphors. however, the author does not stop only at the exposition and condemnation of the ills plaguing the educational system; he also offers a solution. in one of her nightmares, adaku recalls a sixty-five year old woman who embarked on academic redemption as a result of her inability to discuss or participate in a conversation with her white daughter-inlaw in the english language. despising shame and mockery, she eventually accomplished her goal of literacy and became proficient in the english language. it is the author’s practical way of presenting the possibility of redemption, notwithstanding the obstacles of: age, mockery, shame, impossibility etc. references adie, r.i and oko, s.u. (2016). examination malpractice: causes, effects and possible ways of curbing the menace. a study of cross river university of technology international journal of managerial studies and research. 4(1), pp. 59-65. afolayan, k.n and inyang, u. (2015).chukwuemeka ike’s detective novels and the crises of a nation.in k. ugbabe (ed), chukwuemekaike fifty years as a trailblazing novelist. ibadan, university press limited. pp. 87-102. akinrefon, a.a, adeniyi, o.i,bamigbala, a.o. and ikpa, o.c.(2016). examination malpractice in nigeria universities: factor analysis definition.bulgarian journal of science and education policy, 10(1), pp. 174-190. anzene, s.(2014). trends in examination malpractice in nigerian educational system and its effects on the socio-economic and political development of nigeria.asian journal of humanities and social sciences. 2(3), pp. 1-8. awuzie, s. (2017). “fake graduates” and the fate of the african society: camillus ukah’swhen the wind blows and rasakiojobakare’sonce upon a tower. open access library journal, 4: e4083.https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1104083, pp. 1-11. bentham, j. (1907). 1789 [pml].an introduction to the principles of morals and legislation., oxford: clarendon press. driver,j. (2014). the history of utilitarianism.stanford encyclopedia of philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/ emenyonu, e. (1994). ideas and challenges in nigerian education. lagos, new generation books. ike, c. (1970).the naked gods. london, theharvill press ltd. ike, c. (1980).expo ’77. london, fontana. lawal, i. (2017).how exam malpractice undermines nation’s development. the guardian newspaper, 26 october. mill, john stuart. (1998)1861 [u].utilitarianism.roger crisp (ed.), oxford.oxford university press. nnolim, c. (2009). contemporary nigerian fiction: issues in african literature. yenagoa, treasure resource communications ltd., pp. 228-243. nnolim, c. (2012). a new writer in a new context: camillus ukah’swhen the wind blows. ana review, 1, pp.158-164. okaneme, o. (2013).globalizing the fight against corruption in nigeria.asuu journal of humanities: a journal of research and development. 3(1), pp. 134-145. ukah, c. (2007). when the wind blows.owerri, lui house of excellent ventures. ukah, c. (2020, 7 august). the man camillus ukah [facebook update] retrieved from 1 literature in the contemporary society, an indispensable tool against the spread of coronavirus uche nnyagu, benedette onunkwo & ngozi adunchezor abstract the people of the world have in the recent time, demonstrated the belief that the world is dynamic by adopting innovative means of doing thing as a result of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. coronavirus has caused the death of many people all over the world. before now, hiv was the most dreaded virus until in2020 when coronavirus emerged. coronavirus is as dreadful as hiv, but coronavirus is curable with some recognized drugs unlike hiv. though hiv has no cure, when contracted, it can be managed by those living with the virus and they can go about their normal businesses without fear of transmission. coronavirus brought panic into the world, leading to total lockdown all over the world. the entire world was thrown into confusion and since 2020, efforts have been on top gear to arrest the virus as well as stop the spread. the researcher is of the view that writers can help to sensitize the people about the dangers of the virus as well as educate the people on the best preventive measures. this article thus, chronicled the dangers of the illness and gave suggestions on how the spread of the virus could be tackled. keywords: covid-19, literature, language, who, environment introduction although literature is a work of art, literary artist draws his or inspiration from what happens around him. therefore, literature serves as a means of understanding society as it aptly mirrors the happenings in society. inspired by realities in the society, the writer shapes the literature in such a way that the literature would have positive effect on the society. according to m.h. abrams, in its application to imaginative writing, “literature” is made to mirror the happenings in the author’s society. modern critical movements, aiming to correct what is seen as historical injustices, stress the strong but covert role played by gender, race, and class in establishing what has, in various eras, been accounted as literature, or in distinguishing between “high literature” and the literature addressed to a mass audience (152). by high literature, abrams is of the view that literature should educate and not solely entertain. abrams’ belief that literature should also entertain is widely upheld by many critics. since the neoclassical era, literature has always been used for sanitizing the society. uche nnyagu in literature and literate observed that john in dryden, a neoclassical writer in his “macflecknoe”, believes that satire is an indispensable tool for correcting impression (194).he goes further to disclose that when satire bites, the targeted feels the pains and thus, correction is made (194). literature does this by attacking the ills in the society in such a way that the targeted would feel the bite and make amends. nnyagu in addition, 2 affirms that literature acts as a gadfly in societies represented by the author. he quotes john dryden as believing that literature can only achieve the result of attacking the ills only when the targeted feels the bite (198). in his article “the novelist as a teacher” published in olaniyan, tejumola and atoquayoson’s african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory, chinua achebe enjoined new and aspiring writers to write about the contemporary issues and present good aspects of the african tradition to the world. according to achebe, “the writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of re-education and regeneration that must be done. in fact he should march right in front. for he is after all – as ezekiel mphahlele says in his african image the sensitive point of his community (105). achebe prescribes that a writer must reflect and interpret his society, his world; he must also provide inspiration and guidance and challenge. in his literature: structure sound and sense, laurence perrine believes that literature, especially literature on the broader sense, is read for the impeccable message that it carries (4). people believe what they read and so, writers put down contemporary ideas and happenings in their literature so that readers read and get exposed. a writer is believed to be a custodian, and he is a teacher teaching the audience what they ought to know about the society. writers write based on the experiences that they gather in society as the experiences provide inspiration to them. today, covid-19 is a novel virus; researchers research and write about it with the aim to get the audience abreast of innovative means of stopping the spread of the virus. it is obvious that literature would not be possible without language as language is a means of communication. according to wikipedia, language is a structured system of communication used by humans, based on speech and gesture (spoken language), sign, or often writing. it is the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture. language is a natural gift human beings are endowed with so every physiologically and mentally typical person acquires in childhood, the ability to make use, as both sender and receiver, of a system of communication that comprises a circumscribed set of symbols. what this entails is that language is basically acquired and not learned. a child born in a particular environment grows up in the midst of the people and soon, he begins to speak the language of the people without the language being taught to him or her in any formal means. the very first language the child speaks as the child begins to talk is the language of the immediate environment, known as the child’s mother tongue. as said, this language is acquired and not learnt. the need for a second language arises as one aspires to associate and intermingle with other people outside one’s immediate society. at this point, one learns and not acquires the second language. human beings all over the world are sociable, glaringly different from the lower animals basically because of man’s unique feature– adaptability. although in various societies of the world, people have dissimilar ways of life but persons from different societies still travel to places where their language is not spoken. soon after they had come into the new environment, they intermingle with other people who share different ways of life. 3 without the knowledge of the basic language skills, a new entrant into the society will certainly not be able to adapt. the ability to think and reason well is another major thing that distinguishes man from the lower animal. literature differentiates human beings from animals as it affords one the opportunity to understand and master a language. as already said, literature helps one to understand and master the tradition and culture of any society. literature uses language as a means of communication. with language, the writer reveals the tenets of a particular society to foreigners so that one coming newly to the society and who has read a work of art authored by a person from the society must have understood a bit about the new society. one of the writers of this research served nigeria during his national youths service corp (nysc) in ondo state. during his stay in the ondo, a yoruba land, a yoruba man who admitted that he had not been to any igbo society claims he understood much about the igbo society because he had read chinua achebe’s early novels especially things fall apart which he said, revealed a lot about the traditional igbo. from his argument, it is possible that one understands a place one has not been to if the person studies literatures by the people of the alien society about them. when one travels to an alien society, all he does is to first, learn the language of the new environment so as to be able to be assimilated in the society. without language, no literature would be possible. literature, no doubts, uses language to inform. coronavirus coronavirus, also known as covid-19 is a global pandemic. literature writers are tasked with the responsibility of using their works to x-ray the ravaging dangers of the pandemic so that the aim could be achieved. this article is centred on contemporary issue – the epidemic ravaging the entire world. creative writers use apt language in their literatures to pass across information with the aim to salvage the society. with apt language, it is believed that creative writers can use their works to educate the masses on the inherent dangers of coronavirus as well as proffer solutions on the means to get it arrested. historical overview of the virus as had noted somewhere in this research, coronavirus is a family of viruses that ranges from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars). many health experts believe that the new strain of coronavirus likely originated in bats or pangolins. the first transmission to human beings was in wuhan, china. on the outbreak of the dreaded covid-19 illness caused by sarscov-2, every citizen of every country was enveloped in fear as a result of the enormous dangers of the novel global threat. since the first transmissions, the virus has mostly spread through person-to-person contact.covid-19 is an acronym coined by the world health organization derived from “coronavirus disease 2019”. covid-19 is thus defined as an illness caused by a novel coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sarscov-2; formally called 2019-ncov). covid-19 was initially reported to the world health organization 4 (who) on december 31, 2019. on january 30, 2020, the world health organization declared the covid-19 outbreak a global health emergency. on march 11, 2020, the world health organization declared covid-19 a global pandemic. in recent years, covid-19 is the most dreaded disease which has enthroned panic and fear in the whole world. coronavirus is dreaded more than the deadly hiv basically because it kills the victim soon after being infected. unlike hiv, however, coronavirus cannot easily be managed and its mode of transmission is not only via one means. many countries of the world are trying various methods of containment in order to prevent the spread of the virus. with these worries, schools and universities closed and many resorted to online platforms and remote education. it was a mystery to many how information about covid-19 spread to all parts of the world resulting in blockages of borders. the reason for border blockages was to prevent immigration and emigration with the aim to stop the spread of the virus. since its first case in china, covid-19 has spread to almost every country worldwide. according to world health organization, 167515, global cases were reported, including 6606 deaths by march 16, 2020 (wikipedia). since the virus is believed to be highly contagious, and it passes easily from one person to another, public health and government officials around the world are working hard to contain the spread of the virus.the question is how did people get information about the dangers of the disease? and how is the information pertaining to covid-19 disseminated? according to laurence perrine, literature uses emotive language to make hidden facts known globally(3). he believes that every good literature should not only entertain, such literature should also educate the audience. according to him, when literature only entertains without educating, such literature is likened to a miniature golf or ping pong (3). today, many works of literature have been written and published on the deadly ailment. elizabeth u nwonwu, edmund n. ossai,chukwuma d. umeokonkwo et al, published “use of face mask as a covid-19 preventive measures among household heads in enugu” in journalof medicine vol.33, no 3, 2021. also, chikasirimobi goodhope et al published “covid-19 in subsaharan african countries: association between compliance and public opinion” in global journal of health sciences. vol. 14, issue7, 2022. some of the novels merely reveal the mystery behind the spread of the virus, others are written to show how terrible the virus is. in all, the essence of the literature, according to laurence perrine, is to educate the masses on the best way to avoid the spread of the virus in the interest of the society. literature writers use literature to educate the masses on the means of coronavirus spread and proffer solutions as well. to do so, the writers write probably about the fictional characters whose carelessness and stubbornness to abide by the rules, led to them being infected with the virus. literature in contemporary society literature performs a great role in the modern society; it acts as a check refraining individuals from going to the extreme in whatever they do. this is why it is said that literature writers are gadflies and they use their writings to correct impressions in the society. why literature informs, 5 it equally entertains. in his literature and society, david ker quotes jean paul sartre as believing that literature is useful in modern society(3). according to sartre in ker, like morality, literature needs to be universal so the writer must put himself on the side of the majority to be able to speak to all and be read by all(3). to be able to pass the information and educate the masses, literature is written in a language understood by the target audience. according to literary theorist, victor shklovsky, the purpose of literature (art, more broadly) is to defamiliarize, or make the familiar strange. it causes the reader to regard reality from a different perspective. this can be unsettling for the reader, who is attached to familiar ways of knowing the world. but by provoking the reader to see the world as strange, literature allows the reader to see the world anew. defamiliarization, thus, leads to new insights. (wikipedia) uche nnyagu in literature and the literate, observes that literature creates empathy and understanding. he believes that literature writers use imaginary persons to represent real persons in real society (12). like in real life, the imaginary characters struggle to come out of imposed conflicts and the audience reads to decode the real society and understand how to tackle similar problems through the struggles of fictional characters. this is why many critics believe that literature improves the human mind so that when someone reads, he or she literally reads the mind of others. this is because through the character’s internal thoughts which the reader seeks to access, the mind of individuals in real life is understood and an individual in real life understands a lot about himself or herself, others and the society at large. to kennedy, x.j, dana gioia and mark bauerlein in their handbook of literary terms: literature, language, theory, fiction (literature)helps to improve society as it imparts a world spun out of the author’s imagination (64). they believe that although fiction (literature) could be based on imagination, it thrives on reality and the author fictionalizes reality in a way that improvement is made. in the same vein, literature demystifies the author’s society in such a way that one who has not been to a particular society can understand the society via literature. this is why the yoruba who had not been to the igbo society but had read chinua achebe’s things fall apart disclosed to his friends that he would like to marry two igbo women. amazed, one of his friends cared to know why he preferred igbo women as his wives, the yoruba man responded that igbo women are submissive to their husbands, hence his reason for the choice. still incoherent to the friends, they asked him how he managed to know so much about igbo women when he had not been to the igbo society and he had not known igbo people well, the yoruba man responded that he does not need to live in igbo society to understand the way of life of the igbo when one could read a good novel authored by an igbo. according to him, okonkwo in things fall apart married three wives and the three wives of okonkwo remained submissive to him. the yoruba man is right to an extent but definitely, he fails to realise that society is dynamic and that achebe in the novel, represented life as it was lived in the early nineteenth century. it is incongruous to align things fall apart with the contemporary igbo society. the entire world is dynamic and igbo society like other societies of the world has greatly changed. today, igbo ladies abhor polygamy and no igbo woman would accept to share the love of her 6 man with any other woman. today, polygamy is almost seen as a taboo in igbo land and some other african societies, because the white man, after colonization, made some africans believe that their tradition, including polygamy was evil. many igbo people today who were ignorant of the way of life of the igbo in the past would read chinua achebe’s things fall apart and see life as it was lived by the traditional igbo people in igbo society then. that is the function of literature – to enable us understand life. today, to understand any part of the contemporary society, works by contemporary authors from the society are read and dissected for easier understanding of the society. literature therefore, allows a person to step back in time and learn about life. we can gather a better understanding of culture and have a greater appreciation of them through literature. we learn through the ways history is recorded, in forms of manuscripts and through speech itself. scholars are of the opinion that the level of civilization a society attains is dependent on the literacy level of the members of the society. literature is an art, written to include works in various non-fiction genres, used to pass across messages to the expected audience. this is literature in the broader sense which further includes non-fictional books, articles or other printed information. this being the case, literature concerns everyone who is able to read and understand that which is written. some societies remain undeveloped because of the illiteracy level of their citizens. literature is simply an eye opener and as matthew arnold observed, it helps to disillusion a folk who had been living in illusion (in abrams a glossary of literary terms, 124). a deep study of chinua achebe’s things fall apart reveals that the igbos in the nineteenth century were mainly polygamists and that the women were not jealous sharing the love of their husbands. okonkwo is used by achebe to symbolize the igbo who never believed that polygamy was a bad thing. he married three wives and the three wives were submissive to him. we understand a lot about the traditional igbo people in traditional igbo society through chinua achebe’s things fall apart. ernest emenyonu in his the rise of the igbo novel writes that achebe’s novels, including things fall apart, are set in historical perspective and they reflect the process of change in igbo society from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1960s (104). according to him, “things fall apart (1958), is set at a time when the early europeans were first coming to igbo land” (104). okonkwo in the novel married three wives and he is held in high esteem unlike his monogamous father unoka who is rather derided for being monogamous as a result that he is lazy. unoka’s laziness made him to be looked down by the people. he married only one wife and could not even maintain his lone hut. unoka not being praised for having only one wife is a clear indication that in a typical igbo society during the era, it was almost not a good thing to have only one wife. comparing things fall apart to ifeoma okoye’s behind the clouds, we observe that a great change exists between the igbo society in the 19th century and the same igbo society in the 20th century. in okoye’s era, as a result of colonial influence, men are expected to have only one wife each in line with timothy aluko’s one man, one wife. though a work of art, literature (on a narrower sense), mirrors society and allows us to better understand the world we live in. literature acts as a form of expression for each individual 7 author. an author is inspired by what happens around him, hence his work mirrors what happens in his or her society. writers of literature, according to chinua achebe in his “novelist as a teacher”, act as teachers and educators who use their literature to expose certain occurrences in their societies (103). as well, literature writers use their invented characters to educate the audience on the impending dangers in the society. literature is a source of entertainment. readers of novels get entertained when they read, we are equally entertained when we watch movies or listen to performers of poetry. even before the coming of the europeans to africa, in many parts of africa, raconteurs were paid to entertain the audience with interesting stories. but then, entertainment is not the top priority of literature. critics believe that literature, above other functions, should educate. bernard shaw, for instance, is quoted in patrick murray’s literary criticism as saying “but unless comedy touches me as well as amuses me, it leaves me with a sense of having wasted my evening” (30). good literature is that whose major priority is to educate. critics such as shaw and perrine admit that literature should, in addition to education it offers, also entertain. perrine adds that when the sole function of literature becomes entertainment, such literature does not worth any attention. in his words, if drama (literature) offers only entertainment without enlightenment, it seems to me as though it is a mere waste of time (3). by enlightenment, perrine believes that literature should educate the audience about the happenings and occurrences in a society and then proffer a solution to any envisaged ill. literature as an indispensable tool for curbing the spread of coronavirus it is a fact undisputed that literature is a means for societal reformation. as authors are inspired by what happens in their societies, their works profusely reflect on their societies. literature is interested in societal ills and it criticizes the ills in such a way that there would be reformation. today, coronavirus is a cankerworm ravaging the entire world. people’s lives are endangered and every society is in perpetual fear because of the outbreak of the virus. borders were closed to stop movement of people from a place to another as to ensure the stoppage of the spread of the virus. continued closure of borders would rather cause more hardship to the people as continued lockdown would not do the people of the world any good. with language, measures on how to curb the spread of corona virus are relayed to those who understand the language. part of the measures of curbing the spread of the virus includes: i. wearing of the facemask ii. constant hand washing in running water iii. sanitization of the hand iv. maintaining social distancing 8 v. avoiding handshake and hugging vi. avoiding crowded areas the above measures are to be strictly adhered to ensure that society is rid of the pandemic. to be able to disseminate the information, literature writers must use language that easily captures the intended message. they must understand that the essence of literature is to communicate and not basically to impress. with spoken language only, the information could not be effectively disseminated with effective result. literature writers use language effectively in their literature to achieve good results. the onus therefore, is on the writers to write about the dangers of the virus, the spread of the virus and the possible means of putting a stop to the spread. to pass the information well, the writer of a novel, for instance, invents characters who are recalcitrant and who refuse to observe the precautionary measures of covid-19 and so, they end up contracting the virus. literature writers, when in their works of art, hype the sufferings of those who out of their deliberate acts of recalcitrance, contracted the virus, and they also hype the pains the victims pass through, it will go a long way achieving the goal as the audience reads the literature and gets educated. this is why it is believed that literature reforms. anybody who reads such didactic works of art and sees the hyped sufferings of the careless characters and of course, how they ended as fantastically presented by the writer would certainly be educated and corrections be made. critics believe that literature writers have as their responsibility, to use their works to educate. as chinua achebe in “novelist as teacher,” enjoined african writers to mirror their societies in their literature and ensure that they use their literature to reform their societies (104), this article has thus, concentrated on how covid-19 has affected different societies in the world as well as suggesting ways of salvaging the societies and ensuring that the virus seizes to spread. according to david ker in his literature and society in africa, “achebe’s conception of the role of the artist in africa is not different from that of most of his fellow writers. the modern african writer is the product of his species. this is best exemplified in wole soyinka (7). the african critics underscore the indispensability of literature as a means of reformation and education. ker echoed achebe that the writer cannot be excused from the task of re-education and re-generation that must be done. according to ker, the writer should march right in front. by marching right in front, ker suggests that writers should write about what happens in their societies in such a way that through the writing, the members of the audience are educated (7-8). in early 2020, after a december 2019 outbreak in china, the world health organization identified sars-cov-2 as a new type of corona virus. the outbreak immediately spread round the entire world. the spread was rapid, mainly through person-to-person contact, with the virus ranging from mild to deadly. since the outbreak of the covid-19, many writers have in their various works of art, mirrored the dangers of the virus as well as its mode of spread with the 9 intent to curb the spread. chris bohjalian, a writer and a newspaper contributor, affirming that literature is the best weapon for fighting the spread of corona virus, says: someday soon, we are going to be turning the pages of this newspaper and will spot a review for a book about the pandemic spring of 2020. already, the nonfiction accounts are on their way, with their chronicles of the virus’s spread across the globe and the missed opportunities to contain it. as the new york times recently reported, fang fang’s “wuhan diary” arrived this month, with debora mackenzie’s “covid-19: the pandemic that never should have happened” not far behind. the novels will come next. i say this because we novelists depend upon journalists and historians to help us understand what really happened. inside the fictional structures i build are framing, wiring and plumbing that make a house a home, and a lot of what resides behind the fictional wallpaper and sheetrock is what actually happened. or could happen (28) bohjalian, by the above statement, is of the opinion that a literature writer does not work in isolation, he depends on the journalists and historians as well as on his physical experience. the partnership can only be possible when language is involved. christopher bollen in an article about chris bohjalian’s thriller novel, the red lotus, writes that bohjalian possesses one of the best-tuned antennas in contemporary fiction for absorbing the troubles…. (87).the red lotus, is described as a novel packed with deadly pathogens and paranoiac animal-to-human transmissions, was released right as new york city was shutting down over the spread of covid19. the author chronicled the dangers of the virus as well as educated the audience on the precautionary measures. bohjalian’s and other literary works have contributed a lot in fighting against the spread of the pandemic. without literature writers in a society, the society keeps wallowing in perpetual darkness. ker says that the old questions about the efficacy of literature in solving our contemporary problems have reappeared also in the form of questions about the relevance of our literature written in english to contribute materially to the development of our culture (33). in this era of coronavirus, writers all over the world have the responsibility of incorporating the theme of coronavirus pandemic in their works of literature. according to robin brooks, an assistant professor in the department of african studies, after covid-19 changed the world, brooks decided the edition could cover works from the past in ways that they examine what is happening today, particularly issues surrounding black lives. speaking on the responsibility of writers in the face of covid-19, brooks said that some people can see it in the sad sense, that some of the very issues that they have been tackling in their work for decades are still here. they are still major issues within the lives of black people, of course in the united states, but around the world. according to brooks, this covid-19 moment has outlined them but their work is still very much relevant to what we are facing in our lives right now (wikipedia). 10 in conclusion, covid-19 has brought a lot of hardship to the entire world. the economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating. millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty. the year 2020 thus has remained a history in the annals of the whole world. it was a year of total lockdown occasioned by the outbreak of the novel virus, covid-19. the covid-19 pandemic hogged the headlines through much of 2020, and we still have n0t seen the end. covid-19 enthroned fear in every society of the world. intra and inter country migration was banned and hardship became prominent in different societies of the world. writers of literature are tasked with the responsibility to write literatures whose themes would gear towards ensuring that the pandemic is laid to rest. as gadflies, literary artists are interested in misdeeds and abnormalities in society with the intent to remedy such through their writings. now that covid19 is ravaging the entire world, it is recommended that literary artists should integrate the theme of the threats of covid-19 and the mode of spread in their writings. the way the writers hype the dangers of covid-19 will make the entire society understand the need to follow the precautionary measures so as not to fall victim. literature writers must always remember that the essence of writing is to communicate. when literature fails to communicate, it becomes effort in futility. to be able to communicate, writers of literature should use appropriate language that would enhance understanding. literature should be made to inform and not to impress. works cited abrams, m. h. a glossary of literary terms: thomson wadsworth, 2005. achebe, chinua. things fall apart: heinemann, 1958. _____________. “novelist as a teacher” in olaniyan, tejumola and ato quayoson’s african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory: blackwell, 2002. bohjalian, chris. the red lotus. penguin, 2020. emenyonu, ernest. the rise of the igbo novel. heinemann, 1987. ker, david. literature and society. spectrum, 2004. kadiri, g.c. “style in the nigerian novels”. in e.j. otagburuagu, l.c. ogenyi& j.c. ogbodo (eds.), exploration on styles, stylistics and the language of literature.benak publishers, 2014. 11 kennedy, x. j, dana gioia& mark bauerlein. handbook of literary terms: literature, language, theory: longman, 2008. nnyagu, uche. mediocrities: alpus prints, 2019. __________. literature and the literate: scholars, 2018. perrine, laurence. literature: structure, sound and sense 3rd edn: harcourt brace, 1978. robbins, l. a. grammar and style at your finger-tips: penguin group, 2007. sapir, edward. language: an introduction to the study of speech: harcourt, brace and company. 1921. shklovsky, victor. bowstring: on the dissimilarity of the similar: dalkey, 2011. sweet, henry. history of language: dent jm, 1916. widdowson, h. g. stylistics and the teaching of literature: longman, 1975. subtextuality of narrative in the faction of uche nnyagu's dear mother michael uyanne, lucky onebunne & ozioma ajemba abstract this paper rationalizes the existential naivety of the infantile innocence, which was influenced by the external social construct of being like thers. the author is unaware of himself, therefore, he mirrors himself through the lens of his immediate tenor. the narrative structure of dear mother reenacts the events of the affective involvement of the participants and processes, through the lexical expressions which invoke nostalgic semiotics of the author’s experience. the conceptualised use of language in the text represents experience in language which was characterized by lexical consciousness. language is used here as an object of thought and worldview/ideology. ideational metafunction serves as the model used in this paper to extrapolate, through the textual analysis, the writer’s “undefiled” philosophy installed in his brain, which continued to expand on a vast scale, until it gave rise to the creation of dear mother: which unconsciously represents the writer autobiographically against his initial and extrinsic intent, that is, his mother’s biography. it is about encoding experiential meanings that involve the material world, the experience and value-system. the textin all -foregrounds the author’s formative inexperience which is a function of immediate and wider tenor. keywords: language, ideational, metafunction, semiotics, subtextuality introduction life is lined with a tread of conscious and subsconscious actions which shape events, that is every action done by human person is influenced by the intellect or fatalism, in which we are the actors. our actions and inactions are influenced or as the function of our epistemic experience regardless of its littleness, but the effect is enormous. this initiates us into the world of reality which tapers into practical experience. this experience is as a result of the chains of events that nurture every individual person to be conscious of the socio-psychology of himself and society. now, the thought of the individual person, the participant in the real-world situation, should have matured to the point of expressiveness and conscious experiences of his social cognition. linguistic language, that is language spoken or written within a socio-interactional domain, is only way of representing reality. because there are other ways, in what i call, symbolic language represents reality, for instance’ taking a photograph or making a drawing. these elements represent semiotic images that exist in the thought, in the consciousness and in the reality of an individual person. these representational images, lurking in the thought, consciousness or reality, facilitate in the negotiation of meaning which is being informed by the social forces of the participants. but the thoughts are controlled and limited to the confines of the visual images; because the photographer takes an image by standing on a particular place, and thus chooses what to include in that visual image, what to focus on, etc. however, in “linguistic” language, even though there are building codes to follow an individual person, the philosophy/worldview and the event/situation, which influence the choices the participant makes in the language, the participant. but, the participant, that is the language user, is not the lexical hub of the choice of the language, rather our society which is centrifugal and centripetal sociocultural force of the social linguistic variables or resources. construction of the order in our present social order, the way we confer in order to present our complex thoughts and ideas has been evolving to what wells calls “distinctively human semiotic” (halliday, 2003, p.69). it is a specific way of conversing which is being enabled by the process of language. this facilitates interactions, which influence the process that helps us to construct the microcosms in which we find ourselves living “our little universes of doing and happening, and the people and things that are involved therein” (halliday, 2003, p. 116). unconsciously, there is some semiotic activity during this language interaction that participants interpret of having two macrocosmic poles of orders (social and natural order) which they are fully part of its beingness. all through human existence and down the history lane, these reflective and contemplative forms of dialogue have employed dependably on the same resources, such as, spontaneous, ordinary, everyday and natural spoken language. these are seen, according to malinowski, as having some coefficient of weirdness, which is found in the more esoteric contexts of its use (malinowski, 1935, p.78). the entire dialogic construct is a social order which by definition is interactive. that is, at the micro level, where the individual person is known by talking and also listening to him, and he responds accordingly, in the same natural language. similarly, at the macro level, the dialogic construct is with nature which is also interactive, but in another guise (prigogine and stengers, 1985, pp. 41-44). so, “when we want to exchange meanings with physical or biological nature we have to process information that is coded in very different ways, and that may need to go through two or three translation before we can apprehend it” (halliday 2003, pp. 116-117). microgenesis of writers experience it is a process-oriented approach to the study of mental phenomena on the structural development of thought of an individual person. this highlights the development on a brief present-time scale of a thought, perception, an expression and an object of imagination, which outlines the existence of immediate experience that engenders this experience (microgenesis) “as dynamic unfolding and differentiation in which the ‘germ’ of the final experience is already embodied in the early stages of its development” (rosenthal, 2012, p. 1). so, he avers the major concerns of this immediate experience as the focal experience of any object that can be seen as a figure in the general field of consciousness, which as clothed in a percept, expression, thought and object of imagination (rosenthal, 2012, p. 1). in fact, focal experience posits to develop and stabilize despite its modality and content, by dynamic differentiation and unfolding. this immediate experience, in microgenetic field, validates a phenomenological and genetic theory of cognition which emphasises mental action or the acquisition of knowledge through intuition or thought, perception or experience, and expression or imagination. these cognitive elements are essential in the process of genetic differentiation and development. this theory of cognition, which is clothed in mental action of the acquisition of knowledge, is seen by the participant (the individual person) as first social, then individual. thus, the writer of the text is overwhelmed by social forces within his immediate experience. this influences his decision at the micro level of budding experience that is maturational. vygotsky, therefore, states that consciousness and the development of concept are at first seen as intermental phenomena shared among the participants, which later help them to develop their tailormade consciousness that evolved into intra-mental phenomena. moreover, in this objective and experiential world, so for the participants, language is the supreme symbolic mediating tool for the development of consciousness. in all, every individual person evolves, and as such, is endowed with the capacity of learning, a logical learning process which graduates to more mature participants acquiring new knowledge or skills. this continues to be acquired through social and interactional activities (madu, 2017, p. 35). ontology of faction in narration faction is a genre in prose writing which enables the writer to invite the audience or the reader to assess the “symbolic nature of an otherwise familiar series of events” (ufot, 121). similarly, soyinka states that, it is a genre which tries to fictionalize events and facts, in the proportion that determines fact to fiction is utterly dependent on the discretion of the writer (ix). so, in discourse of faction, the writer is allowed to narrate events he has experienced which he knows or he is aware of or he is part of. however, he has to fill the gaps if there are missing links in the story line. the author is also bound to reconstruct the circumstances by employing those narrative elements he and his audience or reader knows which would help them imagine what they do not know (ufot, 121). bamikunle observes, therefore, that faction is partly factual but chiefly imaginative and fictive construction or concoction of circumstances that are prevalent within those established facts that facilitate “logical connections coherent meaning to otherwise haphazard collection of facts”(86). thus, the author from the foregoing has experienced or participated in those events, which spurred him to writing of the text, therefore, the audience is presented with a feeling of deja vu. this narrative technique, used by the author in the story line, highlights the factuality of the factual places and characters. these elements foreground existential repetitive cycles of errors which are typical to the social factual events, and they are the attributes a prose work has to be seen as faction. so, a narrative of faction has to be an artful selection of familiar real-life events “which cohere to exemplify a preponderance of particular thematic concerns” showing a relationship that exists between the past and the present events. more importantly, the relationship between major development in the text and functional choices of the language, the author uses in relating the story at different stages (ufot, 2007, p. 122). stylistics and faction style is pattern recurrence. therefore, every stylistic pattern needs and seeks the company of another, that is, functional choices of linguistic pluralism in a context. in order to assert a reliable and coherent judgement about a style of a text, one needs “more than an isolated, erratic occurrence of linguistic form” (osundare, 2003, p. 30), which is the aggregate of frequencies of linguistic elements in two different forms. firstly, style represents more than one linguistic item, for example, a certain word in a text acquires some stylistic significant role viz-aviz other words. secondly, style must not be restricted to the phonological or morphological or lexical or syntactic observation, rather, it has to be a conglomerate of these observation made at different levels (enkvist,1964, p. 28). contextualism is a significant factor in arriving at this aggregate, because style is a product of frequencies of linguistic items in a certain context and thus, with contextual possibilities (enkvist, 1964, p. 29). it is necessary therefore in measuring the style of a passage, one has to compare the frequent linguistic items of other passages or texts that have the same context in terms of social background, time of composition, genre and so on (osundare, 2003, p.31). thus, style as a linguistic possibility, influenced by contextual variation or pluralism in a text, holds that language performs a lot of function in different contexts. as a result, any piece of language is assumed to represent the function of different functional levels, as ufot (2007, p.122) has aptly put that, the writers of these faction texts reflect a choice within the resource of possible choices, not only in the way the faction writers write but also in what they say. “it is therefore not only in their way of putting things that style resides. it resides also in their meanings so that any alteration of manner entails the alteration of matter” (ufot, 2007, p. 22). hawkes (1972, p. 16) vehemently observes that metaphor “is not fanciful embroidery of facts. it is the way of experiencing the facts”. it, therefore, denies us a literal sense, thereby, induces us to make sense, that is, we are left “to find interpretation of text beyond the truthfunctional meaning captured by paraphrase” (leech and short, 21). ufot (2007, p. 122) succinctly states that the identity that exists between style and meaning is firmly established, so, “the blend of fact and fiction is a choice between choices. it is a style which incorporates matter and manner”. (literary) pragmatics of texts/discourse it signifies a literary linguistic field that is saddled with the investigation of those peculiar influences that are associated with writers, which they endeavour to exert on their readers in the bid to establish a working co-operation by deploying the features of language (mey, 1999, p. 12). “such influences require consideration of the conditions of use of these properties when addressed to a specific audience, including consumers of literary work (al-hindawi & saffah, 2019, p.395). mey (1999, p.12) affirms that the pragmatic effects in question require a detailed exploitation of the entire contextual variables that are responsible for the use of the linguistic elements involved. in fact, mey (2006, p.549) specifically states that literary pragmatics is mainly interested in sole of the participant or the writer in societal production and consumption of literary texts. besides, crystal (2008, p.141) aptly declares that it is interested in applying pragmatic concepts to the production and reception of literary texts. large chunks of work done on, according to van dijk (1980, p.5) literary studies are mainly on the analysis of the literary text rather than on the process of literary communication. however, a pragmatic description of literature shows that in the context of literary communication, the production of a literary text is a social action. mcmahon (2014, p.234) is of the view that, the majority of contemporary literary pragmatics attempts to define literature as having an exceptional, functional and communicative status that equally operates on the principles which are similar to those found in nonliterary discourses. as a matter of fact, it is bent in restoring the importance of context in literary linguistics, which considers literary works as communicative acts. the perception of an utterance is dependent on the circumstances surrounding of the utterance that is being uttered, that is, the context. if the utterance is made in isolation, it would not make sense or may be misinterpreted. in essence, context in a text implies the political, cultural/ ideological and economic status of a writer, whose social actions and discourse are captured and described within the context of language of the narrative (mey, 1999, p. 36). similarly, allot (2010, p.38) affirms that the context of an utterance seeks to represent the source of information which enables the reader to decode what the writer intends to express. the readers are not likely to interpret the implicatures of the text, if they do not immerse themselves in the context of the narrative. as such, it would be difficult for the readers to achieve the optimal proposition conveyed or the desired illocutionary force/effect. there are certain pragmatic approaches that highlight the significance of being conscious of context and literary function as the crux of any interpretation of a literary text or narrative. these approaches, therefore, try “to restore the significance of context in literary linguistics, and consider literary works as a sort of communication” (at-hindawi and saffah, 2019, p.397). narrativity of a narrative narrativity is a collection of textual attributes of a story. simon-shoshan (2013, p. 229) states therefore that all texts exist the in continuum of greater and lesser narrativity, this depends on the number and the significance of the narrative attributes they bear. hence, when a text is referred to as a story, it means that it has the critical, mass of narrativity. he argues further that, most scholars of narrative have defined narrativity purely in terms of dynamism, to mean the extent in which a text reflects transition and change, but he added specificity which he refers to as “the extent to which a text focuses on a particular time or place, a unique event, or individual people and objects” (simon-shoshan, 2013, p. 229). almost all the texts contain a certain degree of narrativity, insofar as they are logical or rational to the contextual theme. to discuss the nature of narrative is to invite reflection on the point of culture and, perhaps, also on the nature of humanity itself. “so natural is the impulse to narrate, so inevitable is the form of narrative for any report of the way things really happened, that narrativity would appear problematical only in a culture in which it was absent-absent or, as in some domains of … intellectual and artistic culture, programmatically refused” (white, 1980, p. 5). so, being a pan global fact of culture narrative and narration pose less problems than simple data, thus, barthes (1977 p.76) states that “narrative is just there like life itself; international, transhistorical, transcultural”. having seen this as less problematical, narrative may be considered as the possible solution to the problem of general human concern. this concern encompasses the problem of translating “knowing into ‘telling’, and also the problem of fashioning human experience into a form assimilable to structures of meaning that are generally human rather than culture-specific” (white1980, p.5). though, readers may not be fully able to understand specific thought structure of other varied cultures, they would have far less difficulty in understanding a story that originated from another culture, however exotic that culture may seem to them. on that note, barthes (1977 p.79) affirms that narrative is translatable without fundamental damage in a way that a lyric poem or a philosophical discourse is not. this implies that apart from being one code among many a culture which may be used “for endowing experience meaning, narrative is a metacode, a human universal on the basis of which transcultural messages about the nature of shared reality can be transmitted” (white, 1980, p. 6). the ‘end effect’ of our experience of the world and/or our willingness to relate that experience in language, and in narrative has “ceaselessly substitutes meaning for the straightforward copy of the events recounted” (barthes, 1977 p.80). theoretical foundation there is semantic stratum of meaning, in systemic functional grammar, which is called metafunction, and it has three sublevels, which includes ideational metafunction (meaning), interpersonal metafunction (meaning) and textual metafunction (meaning). it is an approach developed by halliday (2003, p. 636) in his linguistic theory, where he presented language as a social variable in a social context. according to alaei and ahangari (2016), the theory that is behind model is functional rather than formal, so, it considers language as a resource used for communication, and not as a set of rules. in fact, systemic functional grammar states clearly that a particular aspect of a certain context defines the meanings that are possible to be interpreted or expressed. this paper chooses ideational metafunctional approach for the analysis. because, ideational meanings are the meanings about how we represent our experience in language which therefore construes a model of this experience (halliday and matthiessen, 2004, p. 61). ideational meaning is expressed through the transitivity or process type with the choice of process implicating associated participant roles and configuration (eggins, 2004, p. 206). besides, the pattern of ideational metafunction is realized by the transitivity system (anggreani, 2007, p.49). eggins (2004, p.206) asserts that forming the elements of this system are made up of participant, process and circumstance configuration which represent the real-life experiences: who is doing what, to whom, when, where, why and how. methodology the paper employs a qualitative research design. its concern is the textual analysis of the text in terms of metafunction, through transitivity system/analysis. moreover, qualitative study is a kind of interpretative inquiry which affords the researchers the opportunity to interpret what they see, read, and understand. these interpretations are based on the investigator’s background knowledge or prior knowledge, context and history. the transitivity system of analysis is three pronged: participants, processes and circumstances, like said earlier. analysis in text, that is, dear mother, was analysed based on the transitivity patterns of the clausal representations of experience, ideas, message; it also conveys information which expresses content. it is a structure that has forming elements that include participants, process and circumstances of transitivity. these clauses in transitivity system represent real-life experiences such as, who is doing what, to whom, when, where, why and how. the analysis comprises the process type, the circumstantial elements and the participant roles in literary unities of the text. material processes material processes are about the “doing “and the “happening” or about actions that are usually concrete, that is, tangible actions. here, they express the idea that something does something or something undertakes an action. this may be done to some other entity: it was a friday evening. i had visited as usual to spend the weekend with my parents. i was very fond of then so every weekend, as soon as the last lecturer for my class for the day, i would take my notebook and rush out of the class straight to the bus stand. the actor (the writer) is using the verbs (process material) to convey his experience to the reader what has happened or happening, at the time (circumstance). as i made to continue flipping the pages of the novel, she continued taking and i could no longer concentrate. i had told her that i was busy but she didn’t want to her. she accused me of not helping my mother. the writer is being rebuked by his grandmother (mama nnukwu) for not being helpful to his mother. the writer is relating an actual event, he experienced from his grandmother. he is trying to highlight real-world experience, and how he experiences it and whom he experienced it from. here, the intentional or unintentional performance of an animate or inanimate is externalised into the concrete embodiment of the action verb of happening or doing. the doer of the action is seen also as the “actor” with the optional “goal”, which is affected by the process and circumstances that show the verb in terms of condition, place, time etc. mental processes participants are always interested in concrete processes of doing. they often talk about what they feel, think and perceive not what they are doing. so, halliday (2003, p.118) avers that the processes which encode the meanings of thinking, feeling or perceiving are mental process. she took a deep breath. she knows i made a point and she sat battling with her mind on the best way to shatter my point. “nnaa, what you said is right but your father wants you to go to school…. the writer has read the mind of his mother by being conscious of the pervading circumstances. he was able to decipher the perception of his mother. the mother is the “phenomenon” who represents the trigger of the action while the perceived intention being communicated is the “senser”. ... i remembered how i quarrelled with my parents over education and i regretted ever stressing them. now, i understood that indeed, education is an eye opener…. i was invited to the government house to meet with the executive governor of anambra state, dr. chris nwabueze ngige. probing further, one can see that actions or doings in a physical or tangible sense are not the question. the question is about mental responses or reactions from the writer, about thoughts, perceptions and feelings. there are two obligatory participant roles in the processes which include, sensor (always a conscious being) and phenomenon (may be entities of any kind). in the mental processes, there is always a participant who is a conscious being. he is the one that perceives, thinks, wishes or detests. this participant is called “senser”. the entity (or entities) that the participant operates with in his purview is seen as the “phenomenon”. relational processes they are processes of description regarding abstract relations. attributive process assigns a quality or adjective to a participant called “carrier”, which is being realized by a noun or a nominal phrase while identifying process consists of an identified/token and identifier/value. moreover, attributive relational processes classify the entity that belongs to a particular or type of entity, and identifying relational processes/clauses assign definite identity to an entity. ifeoma was married and was staying with her husband in delta state. ngozi and her family were based in cameroon. sunday was staying with onyebuchi to learn his trade…. chinelo was the only person remaining and was staying with our parents. the verb that realizes the processes of “being” in the relational clauses is verb “to be” and linking verb. they capture the intensive and circumstantial clauses of the text in the story. … i had somebody who looks at my face to ask me if i want to go to the university. … though i had no penchant for agriculture. there are few verbs that realize the possessive relational clauses that encode meanings of ownership and possession between clausal participants. in this clause, attitudinal adjectives that evoke emotion whether objective or subjective, positive or negative at the level of adjectives and nouns in interpersonal function show that the writer’s attitudinal approach to the entities or phenomena in the text. this arouses a certain image and effect in the narrative and context, such as realization, understanding etc. verbal processes/ clauses there are three participant roles which include sayer, receiver and verbiage. the sayer is responsible for the verbal process. he is almost always a conscious participant. the receiver is the one that the verbal process is directed to, so, he is the beneficiary of the verbal message. the verbiage is nominalised statement of the verbal process, which expresses verbal behaviour. he was an avid reader and he enjoyed writing too. sayer proc.verbal receiver verbiage … i told your mother to come with me sayer processverbal receiver verbiage both direct and indirect report, verbal process stands in between mental and relational processes. they help to account for any form of “symbolic exchange of meaning or ideas in human consciousness with their linguistic representation of sayer” (haratya,2011,p. 262), the receiver and verbiage. behavioural processes behavioural processes are between material and mental processes, within the domain of physiological and psychological behaviours, such as staring, breathing, coughing, dreaming smiling, etc. the participant roles include, behaver and behaviour. i nodded my head behaver process behavioural circumstance i shook my head behaver process behavioural circumstance i was controlled by alcohol behaver process behavioural behaviour behavioural processes are in part about action, action which was experienced by a conscious being. they are processes of physiological and psychological behaviour. they have almost only one participant. behaviourals express a certain kind of “doing” that does not usually involve another participant. existential processes there is only one participant in the process and it is called existent. the process shows that something exists or ‘happens. they were usually identified by the use of the world “there” which is neither a participant nor a circumstance. it has no representational meaning or experiential function. thus, it is empty or dummy process. there were book piling on the table before him process existentive existent circumstance there was also a small radio on the table process existential existent circumstance conclusion the author taught that he is not writing about his mother, but indeed, he is writing about himself, his autobiography, but he presented his mother as the metaphor of his real existence. this makes the story real, though he footnoted some fictional sweetener, which makes the text a “living” faction. thus the author in order to convince the reader, he uses maive and simple language or child who is still under the tutelage of his mother. therefore, he owes his existence to the mother and also, the hub of his existential construct. the author sustained this literary form to foreground the import of a mother in the construction of humanity. the text saw a metamorphic change of philosophy and thought which is maturational. the language represents human experience and specificity, showing deployment of aesthetic idiosyncrasy and peculiarity of the genre of an individual text. as a result, the lexico-grammar of the text captures the meaning-making resource of a language, through the abstract network of interrelations of events, web of logic, mood and topic, for its optimal interpretation. the author was able to interface directly with the ecosocial environment of the space and time. 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(1980). the value of narrativity in the representation of reality. critical inquiry, 7 (1), on narrative. university of chicago press, 5-27. traditional laws and feminist trajectory in tsitsi dangarembga’s nervous conditions orji eze abstract indeed, the need for development in post covid-19 calls for deliberate promotion of gender equality and enabling laws within african societies. in recent times, there has been growing awareness in the development sector of the crucial significance of gender questions and laws for both understanding and promotion of egalitarian society. issues surrounding gender and law are therefore not peripheral but central for all round achievement and development in africa. therefore, there should be a paradigm shift in all approaches to harness the potentialities of women. this should serve as a gauge towards achieving complete social transformation, independence, equality, freedom and dignity of the african woman in a highly inhibitive patriarchal legal system. a feministic approach is used as a discursive and interpretive slate for understanding the paradigm shift as regards the nature of women’s oppression and domination on the one hand and total freedom from subordination and marginalization on the other from inhibitive cultural laws. a panoply of factors and forces (laws) have been noted, if not understood by most feminists in their multifarious feminism discourses to be responsible for gender inequalities, oppression and subjugation between opposite sexes around the globe. it follows that, in the absence of a holistic, stable, well-grounded, and coordinated strategic paradigm of thought and action to approach and settle womanbeings emancipatory agenda in the post covid-19 era, the success of women’s collective or individual determination to initiate radical social change and a total transformation of the conditions of their lives from traditional/cultural practices remain low in the face of restrictive and inhibitive laws even in our modern era. consequently, this paper makes an attempt to discover and uncover what some of these practices are and the different ways, in which they militate against, constrain male/female relationships in the african society and the world at large as could be seen in shona traditional society as portrayed in tsitsi dangarembga’s nervous conditions. this article advances the argument against the antagonistic reception of post covid-19 feminist trajectory against obnoxious norms in an african milieu occasioned by colonialism. to this end, such determinism for radical social change and law transformation by womanbeings is within the ambit of paper. keywords: feminist trajectory, traditional society, freedom, equality, colonialism introduction is being a woman actually a burden? as the shona traditional law requires, why would one not feel sorry for one’s brother’s death? in nervous conditions, the story is not after all about death, but about escapism from adverse societal restrictions; about entrapment; and about rebelliousness far-minded and isolated, women/daughters, whose rebellion may not in the end have been successful if not for their revisionist mind set against the burden of inhibitive cultural norms. feminists see society as patriarchal, that is, a society ruled and dominated by men. in this assumption, men “are the ruling class” and promulgate laws that favour them while women “the subject class” bear the brunt and burden of the unfavourable laws (sibanda 2016). they see the family in modern african societies as the key institution in oppressing women. they believe that women have always been oppressed and exploited and therefore revolutionary social change and transformation can present the possibility of their emancipation, equality, dignity and freedom. freedom from inglorious cultural practices for the african woman would require autonomy, responsibility and rejection of dependency and marginalization enshrined in the obnoxious traditional laws. for the radical african feminist, “freedom is acquired by conquest of the abrogative patriarchal domination, not by gift” (sibanda 2016). to ensure total freedom for women from some societal rules and regulations that keep them down, it must be pursued consistently, constantly, and responsibly. liberty and equality are not ideas located outside of man; or are they ideas which become myth. they are rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion. in this vein therefore, this study looks at the process of contesting the (shona) patriarchal and male-centered cultural traditional laws and assumptions that have become gender discriminatory, derogatorily inhibitive in approach and deteriorating in application. this paper is purposed to discover and uncover impediments, contradictions and challenges which forestall the triumph of women in achieving their liberation and emancipation in africa as projected by tsitsi dangarembga in nervous conditions. it follows that to secure freedom for the african womanbeings, the african black women’s emancipatory agenda and reclamation in post covid-19 must assume a collective struggle within their families which form a critical landmark toward human harmony and survival. therefore, the spectrum of modern african feminist thought is given a wider dimension in nervous conditions. this is a most welcome development primarily because it has filled the nostalgic problematic gender gap between male and female in unwarranted laws within the african milieu. patriarchal norms (laws) and gender inequality in nervous conditions the different social profiles and statuses of men and women in any society provide a window through which we establish the different challenges which women face and the limitations they encounter in dealing with and coming to terms with such challenges obtainable in that environment as the shona patriarchal society and traditional laws portray. damlegue lare describes a patriarchal society as: a society which lays too much emphasis on the social functions of men as public decision makers, heirs of family properties, community leaders and wisdom keepers, relegating women (to) secondary positions as home-keepers, child-bearers, housewives…the appendages of men. (lare 108) this conception clearly showcases the asymmetrical power relations between men and women and the different privileges the opposite sexes have in terms of access to opportunities. this is the case in most african patriarchal societies where power and socio-economic privileges are enjoyed by men more than women. again, it is all about the needs and sensibilities of women in a typically stereotyped african society (family) where they are not being considered a priority, or even legitimate. it is not about those days women felt the injustice of the society they were actually part of but what is also obtainable in present african society. feminism as orji eze opines, decries oppression and marginalization of women as upheld by the societal norms as well as the subjugation of womanhood in the world of men (34). but then, the situation every time is about women being thought and seen as an insignificant other in a society that belongs to both sexes. tsitsi dangarembga asserts through tambu that thinking about and feeling the injustice of it all, this is how one comes to dislike her own brother, father, mother and in fact, everybody. talcott parsons sees the role of women within the context of the family. according to him, a woman has an expressive role, while a man has instrumental role in the family (1959). a woman’s expressive role provides warmth, security and emotional support which are necessary ingredients for socialization. the man’s instrumental roles lead him to stress and anxiety. the expressive female according to ityavyar (12), heals the tension of the instrumental male by providing the latter with love, kindness and friendly understanding. today, the rural, back-house, timid, subservient, lack-lustre woman has been replaced according to helen chukwuma by “her modern counterpart, a full rounded human being, rational, individualistic and assertive, fighting for, claiming and keeping her own” (2). formerly, african female folks trained ambition revolved round marriage and procreation, with no individualism, no assertiveness as could be said of tambu’s mother, mainini. her female obligations according to traditional legal codes, ranged further to cooking the family meals, honouring her husband’s bed on invitation, and other times merging with the home environment peacefully. on the contrary, time has gone when woman’s individualism and freedom are asserted only through such positions. unexpectedly, prostitution appears to be the only way of bursting the legal system of male domination within the marriage institution as maiguru, tambu’s aunty does. in a show of defiance, she runs away from her husband's home for a brief interval but only to her brother’s house thereby substituting one male authority for another. on gender inequality, the traditional marxists argue that socialism is the more fundamental answer to female oppression. equality between the sexes can only be achieved in a socialist society where the forces of production are commonly owned. the wives cease to be merely producers of heirs to the husbands’ wealth, because there will be no private property to be inherited. with the transformation of means of production into social property, wage-labour will disappear as well as the proletariat (ityavyar 21). based on the biological inequality thought, socialist feminists in the work of shulamith firestone had argued that historically, women have borne the greater burden for the perpetuation of the species (1970). it is the biological inequality of the sexes that gave rise to case-like system in which men receive “ego gratification” and enjoy creature comfort from their domination of women. biological inequality has been extended to socio-economic inequality. feminists believe that sex inequality stems from these facts of biological inequalities and not from the mode of production or existence of private property as marx and engels claimed. they advise that women must go beyond nature to ensure liberation. even though they may have explained why men dominate women, they have not provided a plausible explanation of how women’s and men’s roles are socially constructed. consequently, the natural act of procreation even conspires against women in that without a man’s orgasm conception cannot take place. nowadays, it is a different story because that law and the game have long been changed in favour of the womanbeings. the capitalist mode of production and the ideological mode of patriarchy must be analyzed separately. roberta hamilton suggests that both marxist and feminist accounts must be used in the analysis of women in society (1978). feminism is then concerned with the study of how biological inequalities and differences are transformed into their social meanings and institutionalized. the first, requires a socialist revolution, the second, working on the preconditions of developing technology requires an overturning of that which has been considered natural (hamilton 91-2). there should be a blend between marxism and feminism such that while marxism deals with the social relations of women and men within a given mode of production, feminism will concentrate on forms of patriarchal ideology within a given mode of production. in furtherance, social biologists (robin fox, lionel tiger and murdock) – a group of early functionalists have explained gender differences. they argue that the biological differences between the sexes are the necessary and effective causes of the division of labour by sex in all societies; they believe that women are naturally inferior to men and this is inherited from our primate ancestors (1972). this according to them informs how tasks are assigned to men and women in society. tiger and fox evoke the concept of bio-grammar and project it as the most important determinant of sexual division of labour in society (qtd in ityavyar 1992). the bio-grammar programmes men for politics and economic activities outside the homestead, while it assigns women only reproductive and domestic responsibilities (ityavyar 1992). this is an inhibitive model for an egalitarian personality like tambu. she dismantles this view as she later on moves to the mission and ends up struggling to find herself and to keep a connection with the land she loves. tambu never opposed the core culture that supported her perspective and pursuit in life rather she metamorphosed through cultural contact and rebirth. this is seen in how she gradually blends when she is unaware of how to eat with a knife and fork due to the fact that the body, more specifically the hand, is used in her shona tradition to consume food. she undergoes an out of body experience which mirrors that sort of african rebirth when she states, “but i was slipping further and further away from her, until in the end i appeared to have slipped out of my body and was standing somewhere near the foot of the bed” (168). this occurs when her domineering uncle, babamakuru, tries to force her to attend the christian wedding of her parents. this resistance signals the death of the passive tambu and the birth of a young woman who knows what she needs to do to fight back. the interactions between her own culture and colonial culture induce within her a cultural schizophrenia characteristic of what elleke boehmer describes as “a process of both ‘reincarnation’ and self-splitting, in which tambu is forced to inhabit borderlines, at one and the same time losing, and yet retaining loyalty to, the traditions of the shona home” (qtd in giarola 228). one must understand that access to resources does not necessarily imply the power to control them because to control a resource is to impose one’s own definition upon the others resources. access can be determined by others, but control implies that one is the determining force. access and control over use is different from access and benefits derived from the mobilization of resources. women may always access the use of resources but may not always realize the gains from their use based on prevalent traditional laws and legislations. for example, in most of subsaharan africa, particularly in south-eastern nigeria, men own palm trees, but women process the palm oil and sometimes, the income goes to their husbands and at other times is used for subsistence in the family. women’s access to and control over natural resources have received considerable international and local attention as witnessed in the beijing declaration and platform for action in 1995, the nairobi forward looking strategies for the advancement of women in 1985 and the twenty-third special session of the general assembly of women in 2000, according to bashaw (2016). she believes that access to and control over natural resources have been characterized by a mix of rhetorical and political dimension which are far from the critical questions of locating where power really lies. she argues that it is only when access to and control over resources is problematized, that disparities in who has real control over the produce of the land stand out. against this backdrop, marvin harris believes that “women…control the nursery, and because they control the nursery, they can potentially modify any life style that threatens them” (qtd in chinweizu 26). the above assertion informs the observation of restricted female power seen in zimbabwe which is based on past african inhibitive socio-cultural law experiences that prevailed in that part of africa dangarembga hails from; there is a welcome diversion from the canon. her female characters have emerged strongly from their cultural cocoon, basking free from such inhibitive laws to a mixed reception of surprise and wonder from the african inhibitive paradigm that have kept them bound over the years. this generates important questions: where were they all the while when their mates were sold away to domestic slavery, when they were given away as child-brides to aged husbands of parental choice when they were denied the opportunity of school or any exposure? when they were deemed outcasts because they were not virgin brides and when after marriage they were victimized for infertility and derided for fecundity of the wrong sex? the answer according to helen chukwuma is very simple; the fire brand emancipated woman had not been born then (3). in dangarembga’s nervous conditions, the potential african modern assertive female character, the egalitarian and essential female, tambu has just emerged to challenge the status quo. drawing from the theory of the dysfunctional family, al gore posits that, environmental problems go beyond the way individuals relate with nature, but that equally has to do with the way we collectively determine our mutual relationship to the earth and one another (2007). in the family, before the scientific era, children easily locate their place in the world because they could define themselves in relation both to their parents and to a god who was clearly present in nature. but during the scientific era god is presented as having receded from the natural world to an abstract place, the patriarchal figure (the father) effectively becomes god’s viceroy, entitled to exercise godlike authority when enforcing the family’s rules. children and even women started getting confused about their own roles in the family system. the fathers were accorded godlike authority to enforce rules and along the line the strongest rule that emerged was that the rules cannot be questioned. the way these rules were enforced was through teaching the separation between mind and body and suppressing the feelings and emotions that might otherwise undermine the rules. as could be inferred from the novel, the most important unit in society is the patrilineage, or family line descending from a common “male” ancestor. at the time of the novel, adult males and their wives and unmarried children according their cultural law and practice often lived in the same homestead or cluster of homesteads. the extended family was a tightly knit unit; in the novel tambu’s uncle and aunt call her “daughter” and plainly regard her as such. her uncle, babamukuru, the school headmaster patriarch of the extended family exerts godlike authority over his relatives according to the traditional laws. as a stringent rule in tambu’s nuclear family, her mother, siblings, and any property they have belong to her father, a shiftless man who fawns over babamukuru for the handouts he gets from his more successful brother. yet tambu’s father wields authority in his own nuclear household. it is worthy of mention that according to shona traditional norms, at marriage a man gives to his prospective wife's family a roora, or bride-wealth, usually a mix of cash and cattle. the roora legitimizes the husband's right to his wife’s labour and to sexual access to her body. he also gains authority over her reproductive powers the right to possess all children born by her. according to traditional regulations, the wife's subordinate status manifested itself in daily stereotyped inhibitive customs. as the narrator portrays, the center of the traditional homestead is the hearth, three stones that supported cooking pots, above which sat a horizontal bar on which fish, meat, and maize cobs are dried. this is meant for the women to keep. it is their duty post. again, if there is a gathering, the women would sit on the ground, perhaps on reed mats, while men sat above them on a mud ledge. these customs had begun to change by the time of the novel, as reflected in the chairs and couches with which babamukuru’s home is furnished. despite this fact, it is questionable according to hyginus chibuike ezebuilo “whether the constitutional protection of gender equality is making a difference to women living in communities with strong commitment to traditional norms and practices” (252). he argues that these compromises on women’s right to equality can thus be interpreted to mean that “women, as opposed to men, do not have inherent rights” (253). despite the sexist customs and laws, women appeared to have exerted some leverage even in the traditional household. consequently, tambu, the narrator fights to hold on to her womanbeing instinct as she tears down the cultural veil and law while gaining access and control of her own resources. this is typical of modern african society where women undergo metamorphosis in unveiling inhibitive patriarchal laws and colonial entrapments for the gaining and regaining as well as asserting of their africanness, individualism and womanhood. the novel depicts characters whose roles are pivotal in the maintenance of folk culture where a synchronicity of body and cultural landscape are created for a common goal: the transcending of the african feminist trajectory. colonialism and stifling traditions against female emancipation in nervous conditions ngugi wa thiong'o in decolonizing the mind opines that the way in which colonial education estranged african children from their own families and cultures begs for reassessment. he explains that imposing english as the language of communication caused african children to suppress their authentic selves and assimilate into a colonial identity. he decries the fact that “language and literature were taking us further and further from ourselves to other selves, from our worlds to other worlds” (28). ngugi stresses the fact that colonial education begins with a deliberate disassociation of the language of conceptualization, of thinking, of formal education, of mental development, from the language of daily interaction in the home and in the community. to him, it is like separating the mind from the body so that they are occupying two unrelated linguistic spheres in the same person. on a large social scale, it is like “producing a society of bodiless heads and headless bodies” (ngugi 28). of course, our modern african woman assertive personality does not swallow everything there is in colonial education. this explains why the novel ends with the assertive tambu reassuring herself that she is capable of refusing to be brainwashed as she makes efforts to advance herself because she can no longer “accept sacred heart and what it represented as a sunrise on her horizon” (nervous conditions 203). babamukuru's homecoming with his wife and children from england, and the extended family’s reception of them at the ancestral siguake homestead is instructive here. tambu captures not only the excitement of the family at the arrival of their head, but also her disappointment with her cousins, nyasha and chido, who speak only english and have forgotten the shona language. babamukuru, together with the rest of the siguake patriarchy, decides to send nhamo to the mission school, to help improve the miserable economic conditions on the homestead. tambu is jealous, but concludes that babamukuru knows better; his decision must be wise and justifiable. tambu’s recognition of the invasion of her community by the upper echelon of her society does not sit well with her. this connection with and the recognition of her landscape as an integral part of her shona tradition influences her to radically criticize her brother, nhamo, for not liking to walk the countryside or to come home on holidays from the mission where he attends school. she also chastises nyasha and chido for forgetting their shona after going to england. a metamorphosed modern african woman, tambu’s growing and selling of her mealies demonstrates her freedom as well as connection between body and land, “the year i grew older, stronger and sturdier than any eight-year-old can usefully grow” (nervous conditions 20). this strikes a chord in the maintenance of the traditions which the shona people embrace. consequently, the landscape in dangarembga’s novel serves as a socio-cultural umbilical cord for tambu where the words of her grandmother enlighten her more by giving her a “history that could not be found in textbooks” (nervous conditions 17). this is also the same role the land plays in every black enclave, whether afro-american or the caribbean. one’s ancestral core values are seen as a symbol of identity and essentially a passage which connects the african woman to her ancestral heritage and existence. in nervous conditions, dangarembga through the character of mainini, acknowledges that “this business of womanhood is a heavy burden” (nervous conditions 16) due to some inhuman treatments from her husband as a result of colonialism and twist of societal values in favour of men. certainly, mainini is a victim of shona belief system and sexist laws and practices introduced by colonialism and infused in shona’s traditional way of life via white supremacist ideology and agenda. to this end, nervous conditions is a first-hand account of colonial experience under the governance of the british empire of the second half of the twentieth century. it brings up the voices of the formerly silenced african women as part of pioneer account of their perception of western intrusion. the narrative portrays the upsetting experiences of the era of colonisation and explores its insidious consequences on women living in such society. consequently, the narrator speaks back to the canon and exposes the suffering of its subjects (women), thereby depicting the grim atmosphere of the colonial project and shows the effects of the domination, oppression and discrimination suffered by native women. the novel as a life narrative reveals facts not recorded in history books. it raises the bar of resistance in the context of colonisation and it queries traditional notions of identity formation and common practices inhibiting women emancipatory agenda. with unique means for resistance and survival, the novelist offers a challenge to the existing beliefs. dangarembga also illustrates that irrespective of one’s gender and civilization, there is need for the male actors to maintain culture, values, and norms when she highlights babamakuru in his struggles between a western lifestyle and an african consciousness. this becomes evident when he forces tambu’s parents to engage in a western wedding which goes against the shona tradition and customary law, yet he beats nyasha into submission for not conforming to a traditional african woman’s demeanour. he curses nyasha and condemns her to whoredom thus proving that the body is as important to babamakuru in preserving morality as it is essential in the maintenance of cultural norms. colonially informed patriarchal laws (norms) and attitudes are also found in christianity and these have strengthened the traditional customs which men use to control women’s sexuality. tambu’s mother, mainini is a product of christian religious indoctrination, brainwashing, mental and psychological conditioning which prepare the ground for the creation of a model woman whose response to patriarchal repression is passive, hesitant, fragmented and fragmentary, devitalized and exhausted. she believes that it is the natural responsibility and duty of the woman to take care of the man and more importantly, that a woman ought to be unquestioning, obsequious and silent in order to effectively protect her man. tambu recounts more of her brother’s behavioural changes during his three-year residence at the mission (christian colonial school); to the pain of his mother but the delight of his father, he forgets the shona language and becomes estranged from his nuclear family. the family expects nhamo at the homestead, but he never appears. late that evening, babamukuru drives up and announces that nhamo has died after catching the mumps. babamukuru laments the fact that there is no other male child in the family to assume nhamo's duty, but suggests that tambu, now 13, “be given the opportunity to do what she can for the family before she goes into her husband’s home” (nervous conditions 56). after some resistance from her mother, mainini, tambu is allowed to attend school at the mission and live in babamukuru’s modern home with her cousin nyasha. less obvious but also embedded in the novel is the idea that african tradition and european colonialism were complicit in the subordination of women. tambu recalls the time before her uncle’s return from england, and relates how her relationship with her brother deteriorated when he tried to stop her from attending the local school. tambu’s family wanted to send nhamo and tambu to school; however, the family was poor and could not afford tuition fees for both children. when tambu complains that she loves school, her patriarchal father assures her that since a woman cannot cook books and feed them to her husband, she is much better off staying home and learning to cook and clean. this is an ideology patriarchal african african colonial society infused in tambu’s culture to suit and favour the male folk. the colonial system renders tambu and other native women doubly burdened. in the colonial context, female subordination is maintained by cultural consensus that regards women as second-class citizens. the narrator reveals the system of double oppression; the british colonial authority oppresses the indigenous men and in turn, the indigenous men themselves oppress their women. tambu explains that “the needs and sensibilities of the women in my family were not considered a priority, or even legitimate” (12). this informs tambu’s father, jeremiah siding with the oppressive system and operates as an antagonist to tambu’s educational prospect by saying “can you cook books and feed them to your husband?” (15). this he says in solidarity with the oppressive patriarchal colonial ideology as portrayed by ketu katrak assertion that “in general, female education, governed by victorian ideology and christian missionary zeal, was aimed at producing women as good wives and mothers” (50). this notion poses a direct threat to tambu’s highly desired education. dangarembga’s through her different female characters in the novel outlines the consequences of this british colonial thought as it affects women in zimbabwe. she further illustrates through her narrator the nuisances of the colonial rule that extended from 1890 to 1979 in rhodesia during which according to laurie vickroy “the white minority dominated and oppressed the native population and divested them” (22). again, frantz fanon in the wretched of the earth decries colonial system and ideology as he sees the colonial world as “a manichaean world, in which the world of the native is the negation of the world of the settler” (v). as a result, dangarembga goes beyond the limits of fanon’s canonical master narrative of post-colonial perception and literary criticism and presents patriarchal and colonial domineering and debilitating attitudes from women’s point of view. she explores more realistically the role of gender in the colonial context while underlining how the sexualities of native women are contained and mortified by colonialism, shona and western patriarchy respectively. she seems to imply that the condition of the female native has additional burdens as a result of the african colonially impacted patriarchal practices. the author illustrates this in nyasha’s desperate attempt to free herself from the patriarchal oppression. her struggle for emancipation within zimbabwe is a precarious matter, because her sexuality is a contested term. her uprootedness makes it increasingly difficult for her to belong within the constraints of traditional patriarchal norms embodied in and enforced by her father, babamukuru. nyasha cannot fulfil the traditional expectations (laws) of female obedience and silence. consequently, her father’s attempts to have a traditional daughter, obedient to his will, backfires in the terrible dramas around food. her european influenced view of women is at odds with the african concept of female subordination. nyasha’s struggle to free herself from the traditional expectations of her father ends tragically in her ailment when she attempts to take control over her life. in addition, the issue of patriarch society and colonial exploitations of women leads babamukuru and his family to drive tambu to the multiracial convent in salisbury, where she is to sleep in a segregated african section. after they left, tambu becomes so overwhelmed with her studies that she does not have time to see miss nyasha and the rest of her family. consequently, nyasha writes, complaining that she has become isolated from the girls at school, who consider her a snob and an unauthentic shona female. this is possible based on the colonial ideology of law of separate development, colour bar and divide and rule mentality entrenched in african by the british colonial masters. at this point, nyasha feels that she needs tambu badly which the colonial oppressional ideology in african milieu (school) could not permit them to fulfil their natural obligations to each other at school as she asserts that “in many ways you are very essential to me in bridging some of the gaps in my life” (nervous conditions 196). by the time they meet again, nyasha has grown overly thin, the result of a problem that began before tambu left for the convent. when nyasha’s father, a typical african patriarch, forced her to finish her food, she complied, then went into the bathroom and made herself throw up in order to free herself. this is a deviant approach and a way of rejecting the colonial infused patriarchal laws against the african woman. three months later, when tambu comes home on another visit, nyasha is looking skeletal. she grows weaker by the day, losing weight steadily, and studying herself into frenzy. her health deteriorates until she has a nervous breakdown. the autobiographical novel centres around two main female characters, tambudzai (tambu) and her anglicised cousin nyasha growing up in colonial rhodesia. it is a first-person narrative told from tambudzai’s point of view. dangarembga provides a sophisticated insight into the consciousness of a native coming-of-age character, tambu, in her colonial environment, who has to endure colonialism and patriarchal traditional norms (laws) and attended practices. tambu’s highly self-reflexive analysis of her predicament as a young african woman growing up in a colonial world arises to a great extent from her accurate observation of her same-age cousin nyasha, who suffers much more under the colonial situation in rhodesia. dangarembga’s novel outlines the consequences of the british colonisation of rhodesia in 1980. she illustrates the nuisances of colonialism and colonial ideologies that are not favourable to african women. this is portrayed in the prologue of fanon’s the wretched of the earth by jean-paul sartre’s assertion which depicts “the condition of native is a nervous condition” (v). as could be inferred in jean-paul’s preface to frantz, there are striking similarities between dangarembga’s book and fanon’s writings. it could be said here that colonial education of the heroines and the ethical choices they make in the face of colonial ideologies and inhibitive traditional norms and practices while growing up in changing societies are the preoccupation of many africans coming of age feminist writers like gloria ernest, chimamanda adichie, nawal el saadawi etc. in a number of their novels like dear kelechi, purple hibiscus, and woman at point zero respectively, the protagonists struggle with the alienation and patriarchal segregation which they experience from their different african cultures a result of their colonial education and their quest for emancipation. such novels point out scholars’ concern more than the individual experience. again, such authors bring to limelight the postcolonial cultural laws and practices that are not favourable to women while affirming the african female identity and individualism as they struggle to achieve independence and a sense of self-worth in the face of such obnoxious cultural norms. the novel illustrates how colonial patriarchy works on african men as representatives of colonial hegemony. in the epigraph to the novel, dangarembga omits the ensuing clause of fanon’s sentence, “the status of a ‘native’ is a nervous condition introduced and maintained by the settler among colonized people with their consent” (40). the three most colonially implicated male characters of the novel, babamukuru (jeremiah’s elder brother), nhamo and chido (babamukuru’s son), “give a sort of coerced consent to their status as agents of colonial hegemony” (fanon 41). the colonial system offers babamukuru a privileged position. he was able to receive colonial university education in south africa and attain his master’s degree in england. in return for his academic career and prosperity, which enables his position as the provider for his extended family, he has to fulfil many obligations. he works for the colonial system and is the headmaster of the mission school which tambu wishes to attend. he represents the system’s indirect ruler who works as a transformer between the colonial authority and the marginalised natives, and whose law “becomes the law of the white men” (fanon 42). therefore, babamukuru impersonates an african patriarchal traditional leader and the custodian of the cultural law. sugnet underlines, “with all his advanced degrees and christian ways, babamukuru is an impressive kind of ‘native,’ created by the british colonial system to serve its purposes” (fanon 43). fanon’s psychoanalytical work condemns colonialism for the disruptive forces it releases on the side of the colonised. he claims that colonialism “dislocated and distorted the colonised’s psyche” and “eroded his very being, his very subjectivity” (86). he further suggests that “the colonial experience annihilates the colonised’s sense of self” (87). nervous conditions mirrors his position with regard to colonialism. fanon describes the colonial condition “as psychopathological, a disease that distorts human relations and renders everyone within it ‘sick’” (88). the novel demonstrates, quite in fanon’s sense, how the process of colonisation distorts human relationships and erodes the very subjectivity of the colonised. tambu’s mother mainini makes consistent references to ‘englishness’, which she relates to colonialism. she identifies englishness as a deadly social disease, with an ability to destroy one’s identity and split families apart. it is depicted as a symbolic sickness that poses danger to the life of colonial society, brought about by the process of colonialism. she blames englishness for the alienation of her children. mainini warns tambu, “tell me, my daughter, what will i, your mother say to you when you come home a stranger full of white ways and ideas? it will be english, english, all the time” (187). when she speaks of the anglicised siblings nyasha and chido, she blames ‘englishness’ for their plight: “‘it’s englishness’… ‘it’ll kill them all if they are not careful’” (207). nyasha’s deep cultural hybridity shows the serious consequences of englishness as symptomatic of the infection of western influence. in black skin, white masks fanon analyses “the harm done to marginalised groups by continuous exposure to ‘a galaxy of erosive stereotypes’ (129), which causes them to develop feelings of inferiority, inadequacy, and self-hatre.” (89). similarly, in the novel, nyasha’s exposure to western concepts of beauty provokes in her feelings of inadequacy and thus the urge to adjust. nyasha has internalised the european ideal of female beauty and tries to adjust to it by reducing her food intake. she prefers angles to curves and disapproves of tambu’s traditional female physique, “pity about the backside… it is rather large” (92). in a possible transference of black skin, white masks onto nyasha’s character, she becomes the black person adopting white masks. the white mask causes a disturbing experience in a black subject because there is always a gap between the black skin and white mask. this gap is marked by the impossibility to transcend it. by putting on a white mask the black subject tries to make the fact of his blackness vanish, but never succeeds. this disturbs his or her psyche and shatters his or her very being. nyasha’s depiction in the novel supports fanon’s argument that “the colonial subject cannot escape the blackness of the skin and is ‘forever in combat with his own image’” (fanon 81). schatteman argues that nyasha “is an extreme embodiment of the white-masked black with her desire for slimness, her definite british accent and her western concepts of feminism” (92). nevertheless, her white mask cannot make the fact of her black skin vanish and thus, tragically, advances her into nothingness. the tension between performance and appearance prompts nyasha’s self-destructive behaviour and leads her into anorexia. this inescapable situation traumatises nyasha’s psyche, as for fanon “psychic trauma results when the colonised subject realises that he can never attain the whiteness he has been taught to desire, or shed the blackness he has learnt to devalue” (93). this situation of imitation “reflects the miserable schizophrenia of the colonized identity” (94). this tension suggests that colonial ideologies are always a matter of flux and agony. dangarembga demonstrates how colonialism disrupts and distorts mother-child relationships and hinders the female protagonists’ healthy identification with the mother. the mother’s role is especially important in nurturing and socialising her children. laurie vickroy emphasises jessica benjamin’s point that “the mother must have her own independent identity to be able to give the child the recognition it wants and guide its healthy development” (69). the oppressive system deprives mothers of their own identities and renders them (deeply conflicted between the social demands of motherhood, their own needs, and their children’s well-being). the novelist successfully presents how mothers are continually denied their point of view and status as subjects in oppressive, repressive and depressive systems and how their male counterparts’ limited scope of action becomes destructive of themselves and their children. she delineates how a mother’s role is compromised when mechanisms of oppressive control … limit her options and rights. tambu illustrates her mother’s subjugation: “for most of her life my mother’s mind, belonging first to her father and then to her husband, had not been hers to make up” (155). quest for education and radical instinct in nervous conditions through a wider lens and with a closer gaze at the importance of place and human actors, dangarembga situates her protagonist, tambu, in a zimbabwean culture where she fights to gain a western education while at risk of forgetting her roots. tambu, a young girl living in patriarchal zimbabwe, is eager to obtain an education which would serve as an escape route for a woman living in a society as hers. this gaining of an education comes at a price as tambu is forced to grow her own mealies, and then sells them to provide school fees for herself. pamela abbort, claire wallace and melisa tyler argue that radical feminism is “concerned with women’s rights rather than gender equality” (qtd in sibanda 2016). it is not motivated by the quest to minimize differences between women and men, but rather it sustains the belief that there is a female or feminine nature that has been concealed and or distorted throughout history; one that needs to be liberated and revalued. this is termed ‘gynocentrism’ (sibanda 2016). to the radical feminist, it is men who have fundamentally benefited from the subordination of woman. radical feminists see women as an oppressed group who had to struggle for their own liberation against their oppressors that is, against men. according to sibanda (2016), they reject any assistance from members of the opposite sex in their struggle to achieve the rights they desire. radical feminists also invariably agree that women should organize themselves independent of men. they also argue that women are not equal but morally superior to men. consequently, some radical feminists wish to see ‘patriarchy’ being replaced by ‘matriarchy’ (chinweizu 150). according to vukoicic radical feminism is a theory which rests on the assumption that all social activity is a result of certain restrictions and coercion, and although every social system contains specific forms of interactive constraints, they do not have to cause repression. she avers that, under patriarchy, however, interaction and communication are limited in a way that creates and maintains rigidity which is seen as oppression, while patriarchy takes central place where, and why, a fundamental power struggle between the sexes takes place. (vukoicic 2013) the above assertion suggests that, much of feminism has been inspired by the desire for something better than the matriarchist paradise. however, radical feminists find it politically expedient to present their demands in the language of liberation from oppression and oppressive laws. but then, chinweizu believes that it is hard without standing the word “operation” on its head, to fathom how their boredom, an affliction of the leisured and idle rich, can be taken as a product of oppression (118). still on this, one observes that in nervous conditions the education of boys take precedence over that of girls, for economic as well as other reasons. given the custom whereby a woman joined her husband’s family after marriage, the better economic investment was to educate a son, since the money he earned would stay in the family. “have you ever heard,” rants tambu’s father when considering sending his daughter to school, “of a woman who remains in her father’s house? ... she will meet a young man and i will have lost everything” (30). he dismisses her intellectual aptitude as of little use to him. undaunted, tambu resolves to be educated and learns later that her aunty maiguru had shown the same resolve: “i ... studied for that (masters) degree and got it in spite of all of them your uncle, your grandparents, and the rest of your family” (101). returning to zimbabwe with her degree, maiguru pursues teaching, almost the only profession open to african women outside domestic service. the african people by mid-century even today in the post covid-19 era were excluded from nearly every possible route to advancement; from the lands beyond the overcrowded, soil depleted reserved areas and from skilled jobs in government, mining, and business (beach 180). therefore, girls who attended school in rhodesia, studied reading, writing, and arithmetic, but the curriculum was largely directed toward training them to become good christian’s wives of african men. they received daily lessons in hygiene and bible study. at the secondary level, needlework and cookery appeared alongside other subjects. this type of gender conditioning was not limited to zimbabwe or, for that matter, to african people particularly women. during the 1960s such conditioning occurred outside the continent and found its bearing in countries of the colonized. similarly, one of the ways capitalism secures adherence to its rule as earlier observed is by teaching separation of people from the natural world and suppressing the emotion that might allow us to feel the absence of our connection to the earth. as a result, many dysfunctional rules internalized during infancy and early childhood is extremely difficult to change. this is why most rules on gender relations have subsisted in africa. but borrowing from gore, if the global environmental crisis is rooted in the dysfunctional pattern of our civilization’s relationship to the natural world, confronting and fully understanding that pattern, and recognizing its destructive impact on the environment and on us, is the first step towards mourning what we have lost, healing the damage we have done to the earth and to our civilization, and coming to terms with the new story of what it means to be a steward of the earth (237). as the novel opens, tambu describes how she gets a chance to pursue her education at the umtali mission school, where her uncle babamukuru, the head of the siguake family, was headmaster and academic director. this happened after the death of her brother, nhamo, who had first joined the uncle and his family to study at the mission. following his return with his wife and two children from england, babamukuru visited the homestead and convinced his brother, jeremiah, to send nhamo to the mission. nhamo had been at the top of the class in his first two years of primary school, which excited the uncle very much. at the mission his habits and attitudes towards his nuclear family and their ancestral homestead changed drastically; he would return to his rural home only when he was forced to help with the harvest. when he did come, nhamo bullied his sisters, tambu and netsai. if netsai did not heed him, nhamo would take a stick to her. tambu as a result of the bullying states flatly, “i was not sorry when my brother died,” but fears she is too harsh in her judgment of him (1). she ponders whether he was a victim of sexist ideology, which did not consider “the needs and sensibilities of the women in my family ... a priority, or even legitimate” (12). undaunted, tambu decides to earn the fees herself by growing maize for sale. her crop is nearly ripe when it begins mysteriously to disappear. when she learns that nhamo, her brother is the guilty party, she gives him his just desserts: “i sat on top of him, banged his head into the ground, screamed and spat and cursed” (22-3). mr. matimba, the local teacher, breaks up the fight, and helps tambu sell her crop in the city, where out of pity and indignation at what she thinks of as “child labour” and “slavery” a white woman contributes ten pounds for tambu’s school fees. when tambu takes her qualifying exam for sacred heart college, the nuns test her on louisa may alcott’s little women, set across the globe in new england a hundred years earlier, this novel follows four daughters and their prospects for marriages that will lift them out of poverty. the emphasis, endorsed by the colonial test giver ideologists, is on the young woman as prospective wife. actually, one of the four daughters, jo, chafes under the limitations placed on women and longs for the freedom enjoyed by men, but this does not keep her marriage too from being featured in alcott's novel. directly or indirectly, nervous conditions brings the joint sexism of traditional norms (laws) and colonial attitudes as well as practices to the forefront. jamil khader believes that the second part of the novel intertwines tambu’s story with events in the lives of other characters, especially her cousin, nyasha, her uncle’s wife, maiguru, and her aunt lucia (2006). after her brother’s death, tambu moves into her uncle’s house near umtali to attend the protestant mission school for africans. tambu describes her relocation in a spiritual vocabulary, describing it as an experience of reincarnation. “babamukuru was god; therefore, i had arrived in heaven. i was in danger of becoming an angel, or at the very least a saint, and forgetting how ordinary humans existed from minute to minute and from hand to mouth” (70). trusting in babamukuru’s wisdom and thirsting for education, tambu feels her transfer to this new place is the right step in her development. nyasha is excited to see her cousin. tambu, on the other hand, frowns on nyasha’s disrespectful attitude to her mother, maiguru, whom tambu considers “the embodiment of courtesy and good breeding” (74). when she knows that she will share a room with nyasha, tambu expresses mixed feelings. disappointly, the horizontal oppression unleashes the nervous conditions of all the characters in the novel. as such, the chain reaction of patriarchal oppression imposes a threat to the mental and physical health of the colonised women. maiguru and mainini both give numerous hints of the repressed rage they harbour over their assigned roles through their attempt to hide these feelings.” the oppressed women of the novel are frequently characterised by silence. in many instances in the novel, female characters refrain from uttering their opinions. they reluctantly comply with the traditional silence of women unless asked. especially for the partly western educated maiguru, the situation is difficult to endure. her excessive submissiveness to the patriarchal norms unnerves her extremely. mainini’s attitude of indifference is her reaction to oppression. tambu also suffers under the oppressive situation and often has a need to say what she thinks. justin edwards outlines pauline ada uwakweh’s argumentation that “silence is used as a patriarchal weapon of control” for the reason that “voicing is self-defining, liberational, and cathartic” (55). when the powerful babamukuru “tries to silence all the women in the family,” (56) his daughter, nyasha, accurately designates her father “a historical artefact” (edwards 162). the concept of a ‘historical artefact’ stems from frantz fanon (57) and dangarembga extends this concept to native women. her heroines demonstrate that not only native men, but also native women are not natural but ‘historical artefacts’ constructed by the oppressive colonial system. dangerambga according to renee scahatteman, describes the struggles of the young tambu against the immediate manifestations of “patriarchal law in her life” (59). mainini’s predicament shows her powerlessness and hopelessness in the face of stifling traditional norms and cultural practices, and even maiguru is denied agency, control and even identity on her own part as a woman. concerning all these characters, the novel shows how female “self and sexuality are constructed and controlled by indigenous patriarchal laws and british colonial practices,” (scahatteman 60) and how “patriarchy and colonisation collude to worsen women’s predicament” regardless of their academic prowess as charles sugnet opines (61). in the end, however, tambu experiences success in her academics, social relations, and english language skills. but at her new home the atmosphere is less than peaceful. tambu recounts the first crisis in the relationship between her uncle and nyasha: nyasha’s parents object to her reading d. h. lawrence’s “indecent” novel lady chatterley’s lover, which she brings to the dining room. a friendly, loving relationship develops between tambu and nyasha, who begins to disillusion tambu about the power structures of their society and to shake tambu’s naive convictions about right and wrong. nyasha points out the complexities of babamukuru and maiguru’s behaviour as well as those events shaping the history of rhodesia and the world. tambu feels sorry for maiguru, who has made sacrifices in her academic career (she has a master’s degree) to attend to her duties as a mother and wife, and who has no control over the money she earns from teaching as dictated by the traditional norms. more so, the novel shows the sharp edges of colonial education offered to native africans. the patriarchal colonial rule sought to maintain its hegemony by electing african men who received colonial education more their women. these men were catapulted to the colonial elite. this indirect rule facilitated the colonisation of the rest of the indigenous population through their ‘traditional’ leaders as custodians of the traditional laws (norms). thus, the colonial education of the african elite “served colonial economic and political needs” (sugnet 37). africans’ “status as agents of colonial hegemony” offered “privilege, material reward, and apparent security” (sugnet 38). colonial education, however, has a double edge. it represents “literary and cultural temptations of europe” and is a booster of “cultural transgression” (sugnet 40). by transmitting western values and belief systems, colonial education extinguishes the traditional values of the natives. it is an intricate tool to achieve the goal of colonial authorities, to colonise the mind of the natives. additionally, the intersection of education provided by the mission with the patriarchal elements of the shona culture increases women’s plight in the novel. though nyasha has gained a critical apparatus in england with which help she is able to analyse critically the whole traditional and cultural situations, she is incapable of leading a traditional and cultural shona life because she has also picked up english social expectations that disrupt her acceptance of patriarchal social norms. her hybrid identity poses her between the antagonistic cultures and renders her an outsider within her native shona community. dangarembga delineates how babamukuru oppresses his well-educated wife, maiguru, who holds a master’s degree in philosophy from london and has her own job. maiguru struggles to cope with the oppressive social situation. she has to give away her entire salary for the sustenance of babamukuru’s relatives and is unable “to stand up to her husband or protect her daughter” (52). tambu remarks, “… it was a great shame that maiguru had been deprived of the opportunity to make the most of herself, even if she had accepted that deprivation” (103). maiguru’s inability to act alone under oppressive circumstances and keep her salary to herself causes her daughter nyasha to lose respect of her. maiguru has to fulfil the traditional expectations of an obedient and good wife is spite of her european education. she is at pains to comply with the shona tradition and fulfil the obligations of a working wife and mother. caught in her powerless situation, she desperately laments, “i am not happy. i am not happy any more in this house” (175). as the only western-educated woman of her native community she is not accepted among other married women. her desperate situation shows how “english education…renders educated women into outsiders in their own communities.” (53) the crisis between nyasha and her father escalates, reaching a climax after the school christmas party. on the teenagers’ way home from the party, nyasha lags behind with her brother’s friend, andy baker, who wants to teach her a new dance. demanding to know why his daughter is late, babamukuru spies on her and then questions her about her tardiness, growing infuriated because she talks back to him. when he calls his daughter a “whore” and slaps her, she punches him back, at which point her father threatens to kill her, because there cannot be “two men in this house” (115). tambu realizes then just how universal gender oppression is: the victimization, i saw, was universal. it didn’t depend on poverty, on lack of education or on tradition.... men took it everywhere with them.... you couldn’t ignore the fact that nyasha had no respect for babamukuru when she ought to have had lots of it. but what i didn’t like was the way all the conflicts came back to this question of femaleness. femaleness as opposed and inferior to maleness. (nervous conditions 115-6) after this incident, nyasha grows isolated and detached, retreating into a private world that nobody else can reach. babamukuru, his family, and tambu return to the ancestral homestead for the christmas holiday. all the members of the extended family gather for an annual reunion, during which they held a dare, a patriarchal convention about family business. this affords the siguake patriarchal family the opportunity to discuss the relationship between lucia, tambu’s maternal aunty, and takesure, a cousin whom babamukuru had employed to help with the farm work so that takesure could earn the money to pay the bride-wealth for his second wife. takesure, however, has impregnated lucia, who shrewdly credits the baby to jeremiah, judging him to be the better man of the two. in fact, she later got involved with him. indignant at his brother’s sinful behaviour, babamukuru orders takesure to leave with lucia, but the two of them have stayed. initially kept out of the trial-like convention with the other women and children, lucia rushes in to confront takesure and his lies, and to make it clear that her interest in staying was to help her sister mainini out of the misery of her life with jeremiah. deciding that all this misfortune is because jeremiah and mainini did not have a christian wedding, he directs them to be remarried “in church before god” (147). one could assert here that nervous conditions is an exemplary novel of insidious trauma and frustration induced by patriarchal traditional laws (practices), colonial oppression and gender discrimination. the novel’s traumatic conditions move away from the corporeal schema of trauma and expose trauma deriving from psychological damage. the novel explores the traumatised condition of “the native” as a consequence of colonial intervention into the balance of traditional shona culture in colonial zimbabwe. dangarembga’s first-person narrator tambudzai provides a sophisticated view into the comingof-age consciousness of a teenage narrator struggling to cope and survive in a distorted african patriarchal colonial world. tambu’s complex identity provides the reader with an elaborate analysis of the sources underlying the traumatic nervous conditions of the colonised. this explains why tambu feels that her uncle is making a mockery out of her parents’ union and her own existence. she refuses to take part in the comedy of her parents’ church wedding. on the morning of the wedding, her emotions leave her weak and unable to get out of bed. she risks losing everything by refusing to attend the wedding. later, her uncle punishes her with 15 lashes and orders her to do all the housework for two weeks, during which lucia and maiguru give babamukuru a piece of their own minds about family matters. trauma studies as an area of cultural investigation came to prominence in the early-to-mid-1990s. cathy caruth is one of the leading figures in trauma studies, and argues that “a textualist approach to trauma can afford us unique access to history. she believes that “the analysis of cultural artefacts that bear witness to traumatic histories, can enable to gain access to extreme events and experiences” that constitute trauma (7). to this end, scholars of trauma studies like caruth query the western-biased approach to trauma and investigate the culture-bound deficiencies in trauma research. caruth declares in its most general definition that trauma describes an “overwhelming experience of sudden or catastrophic events in which the response to the event occurs in the often delayed, uncontrolled repetitive appearance of hallucinations or other intrusive phenomena (11). the very definition of trauma sets an emphasis on sudden, unexpected catastrophic events and, deriving from “the greek word meaning wound,” trauma has still predominantly a corporeal connotation in western psychoanalysis (caruth 15). however, the patriarchal colonial situation in african itself is inherently traumatising and has pathological consequences on the psyche of the colonised. thus, the definition of trauma has been expanded by the analogy of the corporeal wound to the wound of the mind. the feminist psychotherapist laura brown has argued that colonial trauma is an “insidious trauma,” by which “the traumatogenic effects of oppression that are not necessarily overtly violent or threatening to the bodily well-being at the given moment do violence to the soul and spirit” (qtd in roger luckhurst, 4). the novel, nervous conditions predominantly portray the expanded and revised notion of trauma, as trauma to the soul. therefore, disposing of her submissive, compliant image, maiguru explodes by stating that, when it comes to taking my money so that you can…waste it on ridiculous weddings, that’s when they are my relatives too…. i am tired of my house being a hotel for your family. i am tired of being a housekeeper for them. i am tired of being nothing in a home i am working myself sick to support (nervous conditions, 172). to show babamukuru that she is serious about what she is saying as a traumatised woman, maiguru walks out the door. she takes refuge at her brother’s house, until babamukuru brings her home; she is now less submissive and more genuinely happy than before the emotional outburst. the action of the novel advances quickly unveiling the horizontal oppression that unleashes the nervous conditions of all the female characters in a male world in the novel. as such, the chain reaction of patriarchal oppression imposes a threat to the mental, social and physical health of the colonised and subjugated stereotyped african women. maiguru and mainini both give numerous hints of the repressed rage they harbour over their assigned roles through their attempt to hide these feelings. conclusion the revival of traditions, culture, customs and the practices derived from them, after the demise of colonialism, imperialism, and apartheid will definitely require us to enter into a dialogue on the character of our ancestors and what is really indigenous. however, the process should take the context into consideration. some of the cultural practices, norms and customary laws that were necessary then are unnecessary now due to development, international global best practices, gender inclusiveness, equity and equality. for an ennobling gender consciousness and paradigm in an african critical scholarship on gender and nation building processes, tsitsi dangarembga’s nervous conditions is germane. she achieves this by depicting and locating girl children and mothers at the center of struggle to transform weakness and vulnerability into strength, while at the same time showing that women’s participation and collaboration with patriarchy in their oppression and subordination and marginalization potentially renders the fruition of their emancipatory agenda complicated. this observation is critically important especially in the context of a highly inhibitive zimbabwean shona patriarchal society and cultural practices in which women are socialized and induced to acquire those qualities which fit them into a relationship of dependence on men and those qualities being gentleness, passivity, submission, and striving to please men always. in africa, especially in the period of decolonization and independence, writers including feminist writers write about the liberation of african societies from colonial rule. it is believed then that those feminists ought to pledge their primary allegiance to the nation and its traditions (khader, 2016). at this point in time, affirming the potency of the african cultures and negating the colonial stereotypes about africans were more important than posing difficult questions about gender relations. feminist writers thus found themselves faced with a difficult dilemma; how could they praise african traditions and nationalist groups that made women second-class citizens? along with other writers, dangarembga responded through fiction that refused to condemn colonial exploitation alone for women’s miserable lot or to celebrate the national struggle as a step forward in the emancipation of the whole society. but she rather exposed the colonially induced patriarchal exploitation of the african women. dangarembga’s contributions through her critical works are also vital against the backdrop of identities of women that have been socially constructed in a much less positive way, “as those who are permanently vulnerable and neurotically lacking the impetus to struggle and triumph,” (muhwati e tal 2010). at the core of women’s oppression and marginalization subordination and domination, dangarembga uses her protagonist to open our eyes as readers to the importance of human actors and land in the preservation of african traditions as she secures freedom for the modern african women. the bodies for her protagonists and other characters alike prove that our africanness does not die when we leave the place from where we originate. tambu undergoes an out of body experience as a means of finding and recognizing her place within her garden of refuge and garden of domesticity. there is an emancipation of the body through which a mental breakdown (trauma) takes place for her and other females. again, the author directly implicates patriarchy as she indicts colonialism in connection with related specific cultural, religious and historical practices peculiar to the zimbabwean shona society. like other african feminist writers, dangarembga’s work reads as a literary attack against male power structures subtly erected by colonialism that have confiscated and misused power for the sole glory of patriarchy. she indicts the shona patriarchal society for being “malecentered and male oriented by ostracizing women from the circles of power management,” (damlegue 2015). in placing women and the girl child at the center of her focus and negotiating their subject position in zimbabwean and african milieu specifically, dangarembga’s conceptual and epistemological thrust enjoins the vision of other zimbabwean english fiction writers. nervous conditions, however, is not a conventional post-colonial novel; the novel is better seen as a radical revisionist feminism bildungsroman. although, it shows how colonial education pulled african children away from their roots and cultures, it also depicts how local patriarchal society worked hand-in-hand with colonialism to repress shona women. in other words, the novel refuses to celebrate native culture as long as it subordinates or sanctions the colonial subordination of women. finally, single educated young ladies and single mothers like tambu, nyasa, maiguru and mainini respectively whose actions and beliefs are immersed in the radical feminists’ consciousness are held up as ideal for emulation by women fighting in the various trenches for gender equality with men. while conceding the importance of women’s right to education and as people deserving right to question male sexism and oppression, radical feminism rather than africana womanism is preferred as a conceivable alternative for the africana woman in her collective struggle with the entire community as it enhances future possibilities for the dignity of africana womanbeing and the humanity of all. therefore, nervous conditions seems to suggest that the liberation of zimbabwean women and indeed african women in general cannot happen without education and language, which are often used to define culture and identity. and so, characterization in the narrative through women’s voices tell more about their victimization, at least in terms of schooling and equal cultural treatment. thus, tambu the narrator/protagonist represents her culture as being connected to the nation. meanwhile, a culture cannot exist without the nation’s support as culture can be perceived as a lived experience of the ordinary. works cited alcott, louisa may. little women. 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subordination, oppression and marginalization in the play “she no longer weeps,” (1987). accessed 30th march, 2020. www.academia.edu.com. sugnet, charles: “‘nervous conditions’: dangarembga’s feminist reinvention of fanon.” edited by obioma nnaemeka. the politics of (m)othering. routledge, 1997. vickroy, laurie. trauma and survival in contemporary fiction. university of virginia press, 2002. vukoicic, jelena. radical feminism as a discourse in theory of conflict. belgrade sociological discourse, year 3, no:5, june 2013. world health organization (who). anthology on women, health and environment, who/ehg/94.11. geneva, world health organization, 1994. world bank. “question and answer on land issues and the world bank”. prepared for the 2001 annual meetings of the board of governors world bank group and international monetary fund. washington, d.c., september 29 – 30, 2001, www.worldbank.com. accessed 10/04/2020. ---. world development reports 2000-2001.washington, d.c., world bank, 2000. the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 631 multilingualism, national and official languages in nigeria and india ifeanyi sunny odinye & ifeoma ezinne odinye xiamen university, china. email: ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com & ifeomaodinye@gmail.com abstract multilingualism is a common phenomenon in most nations of the world. it is a situation where more than two languages exist. in many countries like nigeria and india, there are hundreds of languages. when there are too many languages in a nation, it is usually very difficult to have a single working indigenous language as a national language. this is the situation in nigeria and india, where english language is the official language and it dominates the other indigenous languages including the national languages. in this paper, we are going to set a background for the study, define multilingualism, national language and official language, then list the recognized indigenous languages in nigeria and india, discuss national and official languages in nigeria and india, and finally draw a conclusion. keywords: nigeria, india, multilingualism, indigenous language, national and official language background to the study nigeria is officially known as federal republic of nigeria, she is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its federal capital, abuja. nigeria is located in west africa and shares borders with republic of benin in the west, chad and cameroon in the east, and niger in the north. according to toyin and matthew (2008:2): ‘nigeria is a large country in the west african region. covering 356,668 square miles, nigeria is roughly twice the size of california and three times the size of the united kingdom. the country is bordered to the south by the bights of benin and biafra, which are on the gulf of guinea in the atlantic ocean. on the west nigeria is bordered by benin, on the north by niger, and on the east by cameroon. in its extreme northeastern corner, lake chad separates nigeria from the country of chad. nigeria stretches roughly 700 miles from west to east and 650 miles from south to north, covering an area between 3_ and 15_e longitude and between 4_ and 14_n latitude’. nigeria is a federal republic modeled after the united states, with executive power exercised by the president with overtones of the westminster system model in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the bicameral legislature. the president’s power is checked by a senate and house of representatives, which are combined in a bicameral body called the national assembly. the senate is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from the capital region of abuja; members are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. the house contains 360 seats and the number of seats per state is determined by population. nigeria was a former british colony; she got her independence from britain in 1960. northern and southern nigeria was amalgamated in 1914. the name nigeria was taken from the niger river running the country. this name was coined by flora shaw, the ‘girl friend’ of lord lugard, a british colonial administrator of nigeria in 19th century. in 1967, nigeria had a civil war which the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 632 lasted until 1970. nigeria civilian government has been interrupted by military rule. the emergence of democracy in nigeria in may 1999 ended 16 years of consecutive military rule. according to toyin and matthew (2008:6-8): ‘the borders of the modern state of nigeria were established in 1914 when the british colonial government amalgamated the northern and southern protectorates of nigeria to form a unified colonial state…nigeria gained independence from the united kingdom in 1960…currently nigeria is in its fourth republic, and is experiencing its longest uninterrupted period of civilian rule ever. for most of the period since independence in 1960, however, the nigerian polity has been wracked with instability’. nigeria has an extensive history. archeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 bce (wikipedia, online). there are more than 250 ethnic groups in nigeria with more than 400 languages. the three largest and most influential ethnic groups and languages in nigeria are the hausa, igbo and yoruba. nigeria has population of about 150 million. in terms of religion, nigeria is roughly divided into two, muslims in the north and christians in the south. a very small population practice traditional religion. nigeria is the most populous country in africa, the seventh most populous country in the world, and the most populous black-race country in the world. she is rich in natural resources, her oil reserve have brought great venues to the country. it is listed among the fastest developing economies and also a member of the common wealth of nations. because nigeria is a multicultural and multilingual nation, she has problem of ethnocentrism, tribalism, ‘corruptionism’ and recently terrorism. since 2002, there have been clashes, particularly in the north of the country, between government forces and the islamist, militant and jihadist group called boko haram. nigeria also has a problem of national language among other problems. toyin and matthew (2008) put it this way, ‘nigeria is africa’s most populous country and the world’s eighth largest oil producer, but its success has been undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption, and an ailing economy. india the name india is derived from indus, which originates from the old persian word hindu. the latter term stems from the sanskrit word sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the indus river (oxford english dictionary, oxford university, retrieved 17 july, 2011, as quoted in wikipedia online). india is officially known as the republic of india, she is a country in south asia. she is the world most populous democracy, the second most populous country after china with over 1.2 billion people, the seven-largest country by geographical area. she shares border with pakistan to the west; china, nepal and bhutan to the north-east; burma and bangladesh to the east and bonded by the indian ocean on the south, the arabian sea on the south-west, and the bay of bengal on the south-east. also, india’s andaman and nicobar islands share a maritime border with thailand and indonesia. india is a home to the ancient indus valley civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, with india subcontinent was identified with her commercial and cultural wealth for much of her long history. the four of world’s major religions; namely hinduism, buddhism, jainism and sikhism; originated from india. india was a colony of britain like nigeria. gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the british east india company from the early 18th century and administered directly by britain from the mid 19th century. she got her the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 633 independence in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance which was led by mahatma gandhi. india is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting 28 states and 7 unions territories. she is a constitutional republic and representative democracy in which ‘majority rule is tempered by minority right protected by law. the constitution of india, which came into effect on 26 january 1950, states in its preamble that india is a sovereign socialist, secular, democratic republic. india is a pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic nation like nigeria. the indian economy is the world’s tenth-largest by nominal gdp and third-largest by purchasing power parity (ppp). india is one of the fastest growing economies but not without some challenges including linguistic problem. definition of terms multilingualism the term multilingualism is from latin words, multi (many) and lingua (tongue or language). according to fasold (1984: 9), there are four different kinds of historical patterns that can lead to societal multilingualism. these patterns are migration, imperialism, federation and border area multilingualism. according to the dictionary of language and linguistics (1996), ‘multilingualism is (1) ability of a speaker to express himself/herself in several languages with equal and native-like proficiency; (2) coexistence of several languages with a politically defined society as, for example, in india, canada, or switzerland’. multilingualism is a step ahead of bilingualism. an understanding of the concept of bilingualism will help in understanding what multilingualism is all about. it cannot be said that everybody is bilingual or multilingual but most people are either bilingual or multilingual. a bilingual or multilingual is not a person who speaks two or more languages perfectly like natives. some believe that a bilingual or multilingual understands, speaks, reads and writes in two or more languages like a native speaker. therefore, it is very hard to define bilingual and multilingual as well as bilingualism and multilingualism. there are both narrow and broad definitions of the concepts. some researchers have a narrow definition of bilingualism and multilingualism, and argue that only those people who are very close to native speakers in two or more languages should be considered bilinguals and multilinguals respectively. this definition is not generally accepted by linguists, scholars, language experts and researchers. they argue for a broad definition that view bilingualism and multilingualism as a common human condition that makes it possible for an individual to function, at some level, in more than one or two languages. from this definition, a bilingual or multilingual is not necessarily an individual with native-like competency or proficiency in two or more languages. there can be classifications of bilingual and multilingual person. some bilinguals or multilinguals possess high, mid, and low levels of proficiency in two or more languages respectively. contrary to what many people believe, most people around the world speak or use more than one or two languages. linguistics diversitymultilingualismis, according to mahapatra (1990:1) found in most present-day nations. in the webster’s encyclopedic unabridged dictionary of the english language (1996:940), a multilingual person defined as one ‘able to speak more than two languages with approximately equal facility’. kachru (1986:159) describes multilingualism as the ‘linguistic behavior of the members of a speech community which alternatively uses two, three or more languages depending on the situation and function’. for cook (2002:23), multilingualism is the natural potential available to every normal human being rather than an unusual exception: ‘given the appropriate environment, two languages are as normal as two lungs’. multilingualism is a situation in a community or nation where more than two languages are in use. in a the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 634 multilingual society or nation, not everybody is multilingual. a multilingual person is one who has some level of proficiency in more than two languages. multilingualism exists in both nigeria and india. national language and official language the concept of national and official languages is used interchangeably in some countries, hence their definitions are confusing. national and official languages are common features in multilingual nations like nigeria and india. in such countries, there are sections of population speaking languages different from the one that has been adopted as national or official languages as they are spoken by a majority of people (but not always, for instance urdu is a national and an official language in pakistan though with only 7% native speakers of the population). national language and official language are best understood as two concepts or legal categories with ranges of meaning that may coincide, or may be intentionally separate. some languages may be recognized popularly as national languages, while others may enjoy a high degree of official recognition. some languages may enjoy both the status national language and official language like urdu in pakistan and hindu in india. the term national language is used differently in different countries. in some countries, it is the main language, the language used in legislation, court, politics, education, etc at the national level, like hindu in india unlike igbo, hausa and yoruba in nigeria. every country of the world has a national language that reflects its collective identity to the world at large. a national language is often given prominence over other languages in use inside the country by the people. in fact, the language getting the honour of national language is often (but not always) one that is spoken by the majority of the population of the country. national language of a country is the one in which the government corresponds with international organizations such as un and other countries (this is not the case in nigeria). a national language is a language (or language variant, that is, dialect) which has some connectionde facto or de jurewith a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy. the term is used variously. a national language may for instance represent the national identity of a nation or country. national language may alternatively be a designation given to one or more languages spoken as first languages in the territory of a country (this is a case in nigeria). brann (1994) classified national languages in africa into four: 1. territorial language 2. regional language 3. language-in-common or community language 4. central language an official language is a language that has been declared by a government of a country, with a legal backing, to be the language of the government. an official language is patronized by the government and used widely, not just for communication, but also for correspondence. this is status and function of english language in nigeria. according to fasold (1987:73), ‘official languages are in place primarily for nationalist reasons, those concerned with the day to day practical tasks of governing. the nationalist function is concerned with nationalist motivations, the unifying and separatist functions, the link with the glorious past, and authenticity’. the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 635 indigenous languages in nigeria and india languages of nigeria nigeria is a country which is very rich – not only in terms of natural resources and human potential, but also in terms of languages and cultures. according to reference books like the ethnologue (grimes ed. 1996) and the index of nigerian languages (crozier & blench 1992), there are about 500 languages spoken in nigeria today. there are some major languages like hausa, igbo, yoruba, fulfulde, or kanuri, which are spoken by millions of first and second language speakers, but most nigerian languages are minority languages with only a small number of speakers. nigerian languages belong to the following language families: adamawa-ubangi, benue-congo, chadic, gur, ijoid, kwa, mande, saharan, semitic and west atlantic. some nigerian languages have developed orthographies and written traditions, but most are pre-literate until now. some nigerian languages are taught in primary and secondary schools and in universities in nigeria and even abroad, but most have hardly been documented. many nigerian languages are endangered, due to external influences and lack of interest in their use and development. the number of languages listed for nigeria is 521. of those, 510 are living languages, 2 are second language without mother-tongue speakers, and 9 are extinct. (source: gordon, raymond g., jr. (ed.), 2005. ethnologue: languages of the world, fifteenth edition. dallas, tex.: sil international. the following is an alphabetical list of nigerian languages: abanyom, abon, abua, abureni, acipa eastern, acipa western, aduge, afade, agatu, agoi, agwagwune ,àhàn, ajawa, ake, akpa, akpes, akuku, akum, alago, alege alumu-tesu, ambo, amo, anaang, áncá, arabic shuwa, arigidi, ashe, asu, atsam, auyokawa, awak, ayere, ayu, baan, baangi, baatonum, bacama, bada, bade,bakpinka, bali, bangwinji, barikanchi, basa, basa-gumna, basa-gurmana, bassa-kontagora, bata, batu, bauchi, beele, begbere-ejar, bekwarra, bena, berom, bete, bete-bendi, bile, bina, biseni, bitare, boga, boghom, boko, bokobaru, bokyi, bole, bo-rukul, bu, bukwen, bumaji, burak, bura-pabir, bure, buru, busa, cakfem-mushere, cara, cen , centúúm, che, cibak, cinda-regi-tiyal, cineni, cishingini, ciwogai, c’lela, como karim, cori, daba, dadiya, dass, daza, defaka, degema, dendi, deno, dera, dghwede, dibo, dijim-bwilim, diri, dirim, doka, doko-uyanga, dong, duguri, duhwa, dulbu, dungu, duwai, dza, dzodinka, ebira, ebughu, edo, efai, efik, efutop, eggon, ehueun, ejagham, ekajuk, eki, ekit, ekpeye, eleme, eloyi, emai-iuleha-ora, engenni, english, enwan, epie, eruwa, esan, esimbi, etebi, eten, etkywan, etulo, evant ,fali, fali of baissa, fam, firan, fulfulde adamawa, fulfulde benin-togo, fulfulde nigerian, fum, fungwa, fyam, fyer, gaa, ga’anda, gade, galambu, gamo-ningi, ganang, gbagyi, gbari, gbaya, northwest, gbiri-niragu, geji, gengle, gera, geruma, ghotuo, gibanawa, giiwo, glavda, goemai, gokana, gude, gudu, guduf-gava, gun, gupa-abawa, gurmana, guruntum-mbaaru, gvoko, gwa, gwamhi-wuri, gwandara, gyem, hasha, hausa, hausa sign language, hide, holma, hõne, horom, huba, hungworo, hun-saare, hwana, hya, hyam, ibani, ibibio, ibilo, ibino, ibuoro, iceve-maci, idere, idesa, idoma, idon, idun, igala, igbo, igede, iguta, igwe, ihievbe, ija-zuba, ijo southeast, ika, iko, ikpeshi, iku-gora-ankwa, ikulu, ikwere, ilue, irigwe, isekiri, isoko, ito, itu mbon uzo, ivbie north-okpela-arhe, iyayu, iyive, izere, izi-ezaa-ikwo-mgbo, izon, izora, janji, jara, jarawa, jere, jiba, jibu, jilbe, jimi, jiru, jju, jorto, ju, jukun takum, kaan, kadara, kagoma, kaivi, kakanda, kakihum, kalabari, kam, kamantan, kami, kamo, kamwe, kaningkom-nindem, kanufi, kanuri, kanuri central, kanuri manga, kapya, karekare, kariya, khana, kholok, kinuku, kiong, kir-balar, kirike, koenoem, kofa, kofyar, kohumono, koma, kono, korop, kpan, kpasam, kpati, kubi, kudu-camo, kugama, kugbo, kukele, kulere, kulung, kumba, kupa, kurama, kushi, kutep, kutto, kuturmi, kwa, kwaami, kwak, kyak, kyenga, labir, laka, lala-roba, lamang, lame, lamja-dengsa-tola, lamnso, laru, leelau, legbo, lemoro, lenyima, lere, leyigha, lijili, limbum, lokaa, longuda, loo, lopa, lubila, lufu, luri, maaka, the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 636 mada, mafa, mághdì, mak, mala, mama, mambila nigeria, mangas, marghi central, marghi south, mashi, mawa, mbe, mbembe cross river, mbembe tigon, mboi, mbongno, mbulabwazza, mburku, mingang doso, miship, miya, mom jango, montol, moo, mumuye, mundat, mvanip, mwaghavul, nde-gbite, nde-nsele-nta, ndoe, ndoola, ndun, ndunda, ngamo, ngas, nggwahyi, ngizim, ngwaba, nigerian sign language, ningye, ninzo, njerep, nkari, nkemnkum, nkoroo, nkukoli, nnam, nshi, numana-nunku-gbantu-numbu, nungu, nupe-nupetako, nyam, nyeng, nyong, nzanyi, obanliku, obolo, obulom, o’chi’chi’, odual, odut, ogbah, ogbia, ogbogolo, ogbronuagum, okobo, okodia, oko-eni-osayen, okpamheri, okpe, oloma, olulumo-ikom, oring, oro, oruma, ososo, otank, pa’a, panawa, pangseng, pe, peere, pero, pidgin nigerian, piti, piya-kwonci, polci, pongu, psikye, putai, putukwam, pyapun, rang, reshe, rogo, ron ruma, samba daka, samba leko, sambe, sanga, sasaru saya, sha, shakara, shallzwall, shamang, shama-sambuga, shanga, shau, sheni, shiki, shoo-minda-nye, shuwa-zamani, siri, somyev, sorko, sukur, sur, surubu, tal, tala, tamajaq, tawallammat, tambas, tangale, tanjijili, tarok, tedaga, tee, teme, tera, teshenawa, tha, tita, tiv, toro, tsikimba, tsishingini, tso, tsuvadi, tula, tumi, tunzuii, tyap, ubaghara, ubang, uda, uhami, ukaan, ukpe-bayobiri, ukpet-ehom, ukue, ukwa, ukwuani-aboh-ndoni, ulukwumi, umon, uneme, uokha, urhobo, usaghade, ut-ma’in, uvbie, uzekwe, vaghat-ya-bijim-legeri, vemgo-mabas, viti, vono, voro, vute, waja, waka, wandala, wannu, wapan, wãpha, warji, wom, yace, yala, yamba, yangkam, yedina, yekhee, yendang, yeskwa, yiwom, yoruba, yukuben, zangwal, zari, zarma, zeem, zhire, ziriya, zizilivakan, zumbun. languages of india india is rich in languages. there are a quite a number of languages spoken in india. some of these languages are accepted nationally while others are accepted as dialects of that particular region. the indian languages belong to four language families namely indo-european, dravidian, austroasiatic (austric) and sino-tibetan. majority of india's population are using indo-european and dravidian languages. the former are spoken mainly in northern and central regions and the latter in southern india. some ethnic groups in assam and other parts of eastern india speak austric languages. people in the northern himalayan region and near the burmese border speak sino-tibetan languages. according to lewis (2009) in ethnologue: languages of the world, ‘the number of individual languages listed for india is 452. of those, 438 are living languages and 14 have no known speakers’. the following is an alphabetical list of indian languages: aariya, adi, adi galo, agariya, ahirani, ahom, aimol, aiton, aka-bea, aka-bo, aka-cari, aka-jeru, aka-kede, aka-kol, aka-kora, akar-bale, allar, amri karbi, anal, andaman creole hindi, andh,angika, apatani pucikwar, aranadan, assamese, asuri, a’tong, awadhi, badaga, bagheli, bagri, balochi eastern, balti, bareli palya, bareli pauri, bareli rathwi, bateri, bauria, bazigar, bellari, bengali, bhadrawahi, bhalay, bharia, bhatola, bhatri, bhattiyali, bhilali, bhili, bhojpuri, bhunjia, biete, bijori, bilaspuri,birhor, bishnupriya, bodo, bodo parja, bondo, braj bhasha, brokskat, bugun, buksa, bundeli, byangsi, chakma, chamari, chambeali, changthang, chaudangsi, chaura, chenchu, chetti wayanad, chhattisgarhi, chin bawm, chin falam, chin haka, chin khumi, chin mara, chin matu, chin paite, chin tedim, chin thado, chinali, chiru, chodri, chug, churahi, darlong, darmiya, deccan, degaru, deori, desiya, dhanki, dhanwar, dhatki, dhimal, dhodia, dhundari, digaro-mishmi, dimasa, dogri, domari, dubli, dungra bhil, duruwa, dzongkha, eravallan, gadaba, bodo, gadaba mudhili, gadaba pottangi ollar, gaddi, gahri, gamit, gangte, garasia adiwasi, garasia rajput, garhwali, garo, gata’, godwari, gondi, gondi northern, gondi southern, gowlan, gowli, groma, gujarati, gujari, gurung western, hadothi, hajong, halbi, haryanvi, hindi, hinduri, hmar, ho, holiya, hrangkhol, hruso, idumishmi, irula, jad, jangshung, jarawa, jaunsari, juang, juray, kachari, kachchi, kadar, kaikadi, kalanadi, kamar, kamta, kanashi, kanauji, kangri, kanikkaran, kanjari, kannada, karbi, kashmiri, katkari, khaling, khamba, khamti, khamyang, khandesi, kharia, kharia thar, khasi, khirwar, khowar, kinnauri, kinnauri, bhoti, kinnauri chitkuli, kinnauri harijan, koch, koda, the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 637 kodaku, kodava, koireng, kok borok, kolami northwestern, kolami southeastern, koli kachi, koli wadiyara, kom, konda-dora, konkani, konkani goan, koraga, korra, koraga mudu, korku, korlai creole portuguese, korwa, koya, kudiya, kudmali, kui, kukna, kulung, kumaoni, kumarbhag paharia, kumbaran, kunduvadi, kupia, kurichiya, kurmukar, kurumba alu, kurumba attapady, kurumba betta, kurumba jennu, kurumba kannada, kurumba, mullu, kurux, kuvi, ladakhi, lambadi, lamkang, lepcha, lhomi, limbu, lish, lisu, lodhi, lohar gade, lohar lahul, lyngngam, magahi, magar eastern, mahali, maithili, majhi, majhwar, mal paharia, mala malasar, malankuravan, malapandaram, malaryan, malasar, malavedan, malayalam, maldivian, malvi, manda, mandeali, manna-dora, mannan, marathi, maria, maria dandami, marma, marwari, mawchi, meitei, merwari, mewari, mewati, miji, miju-mishmi, mina, mirgan, miri, mizo, monpa kalaktang, monpa tawang, mru, muduga, mugom, mukhadora, munda, mundari, muria eastern, muria far western, muria western, muthuvan, na, naga pidgin, naga angami, naga ao, naga chang, naga chokri, naga chothe, naga inpui, naga kharam, naga khezha, naga khiamniungan, naga khoibu, naga konyak, naga liangmai, naga lotha, naga makuri, naga mao, naga maram, naga maring, naga monsang, naga moyon, naga mzieme, naga nocte, naga northern rengma, naga phom, naga pochuri, naga poumei, naga puimei, naga purum, naga rongmei, naga sangtam, naga southern rengma, naga sumi, naga tangkhul, naga tarao, naga tase, naga thangal, naga tutsa, naga wancho, naga yimchungru, naga zeme, nagarchal, nahali, nahari, nefamese, nepali, newar, nicobarese car, nicobarese central, nicobarese southern, nihali, nimadi, nisi, noiri, oko-juwoi, öñge, oriya, oriya adivasi, pahari kullu, pahari mahasu, pali, paliyan, panchpargania, pangwali, panjabi eastern, panjabi western, pankhu, pao, pardhan, pardhi, parenga, parsi, pathiya, pattani, pengo, phake, phudagi, pnar, powari, purik, rabha, rajasthani, ralte, rangkas, ranglong, rathawi, ravula, rawang, rawat, reli, riang, rongpo, ruga, sadri, sakachep, samvedi, sansi, sanskrit, santali, sartang, saurashtra, sauria paharia, savara, sentinel, seraiki, shekhawati, shendu, sherdukpen, sherpa, shina, sholaga, shom peng, shumcho, sikkimese, simte, sindhi, singpho, sirmauri, sora, spiti bhoti, stod bhoti, sulung, sunam, surjapuri, sylheti,tamang eastern, tamil, telugu, teressa, thachanadan, thangmi, tharu chitwania, tharu dangaura, tharu kathoriya, tharu kochila, tharu rana, thulung, tibetan, tinani, tiwa, toda, toto, tshangla, tukpa,tulu, turi, turung, ullatan, urali, urdu, vaagri booli, vaiphei, varhadi-nagpuri, varli, vasavi, vishavan, waddar, wagdi, war-jaintia, yakha, yerukula, zakhring, zangskari, zou, zyphe. nigeria and india are similar in that both are multicultural and multilingual nations. it is likely assumed that both are facing the same problems of having too many ethnic groups with different cultures and languages. the next section will open us to the problems in choosing national and official languages in nigeria and india. we will also see how english language dominates other languages in both nations due to colonial history. nigeria and india were former british colonies and english language was inherited from the britain. official and national languages in nigeria and india nigerian official and national languages formal western type of education was introduced into the country by christian missionaries just before the middle of the nineteenth century. for about four decades after the initial date, both the nature and main thrust of language education in the country were completely left to those missionaries to decide (taiwo 1980:10-11). and given the well-known belief of most such missionaries, first, that african child was best taught in his native language (hair 1967:6). quite the contrary, members of the then elite were widely of the view that the people turned out under that system of education were not well enough suited to the job market of those days, whose the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 638 unsatisfied needs were for persons with training in english rather than in the indigenous languages (taiwo 1980:11). over the years the policy changed so well that interest in language education in the country shifted gradually away from the indigenous languages towards english language, the language of the colonial masterbritain. bamgbose (1976:12-13) affirms the above: ‘not only have some indigenous languages thus been taught in schools since formal western type of education was first introduced into the country, after the attainment of political independence in 1960, the wisdom of giving english so much importance in government and education also began gradually to be questioned. thus, some people felt, and openly canvassed in parliament for english to be replaced as official language by one of our indigenous languages some years after independence’. as a result of this, the federal government began to see the indigenous languages as a veritable and practical means of communication and as a way of preserving the people’s culture and national integration. for this to work, the federal government made it a law that every child in primary school must study two languages, namely: i) mother-tongue (if available for study) or an indigenous language of wide communication in his area, that is, language of his immediate community, and ii) english language; in junior secondary school, every child must study three languages, viz: (i) mother-tongue (if available for study) or an indigenous language of wide communication in his area, that is, language of his immediate community, (ii) english language, (iii) any one of the three major indigenous languages in the country, namely: hausa, igbo, and yoruba, provided the language chosen is different from the child’s mother-tongue; and in senior secondary school, every student must study two languages, viz: (i) an indigenous language, and (ii) english language. this policy or law on language use in education in nigeria was and still is not successful due to many factors. the teaching of these indigenous languages including the three major languages did not go well. lack of suitable pedagogical materials, qualified teachers, adequate funding, good supervision, and negative attitude from the people resulted in the failure in implementing the policy or law. the dominance and popularity of english language is another factor affecting the implementation of this policy. aito (2005) describes the dominance and popularity of english language this way: ‘english has for well over a century has continued to enjoyed the pride of place in the nation’s educational system. thus, whereas indigenous languages are rarely given more than three lesson periods a week on the school time-table, english never has less than five periods, and may even be given as many as seven or eight periods particularly in schools that prepare students for the oral english examination. avidly patronized by commercial publishers, the language enjoys a profusion of pedagogical materials, and in this respect contrasts sharply with the indigenous languages, the vast majority of which lack enough materials for teaching them as l1 even for a few years in primary school’. indian official and national languages in british india, english language was the only language used for administrative purposes as well as well as for higher education purpose. when india became independent in 1947, the india legislators had the challenge of choosing a language for official communication among hundreds of ethnic groups with different languages. the choices available were: 1) hindi, 2) english, and 3) hindi and english. the india constitution in 1950, declared hindi in devanageri script to be the official language of the union (india). unless parliament decided otherwise, the use of english for the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 639 official purposes was to cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, which is on 26 january, 1965. the idea of the changeover, however, led to opposition in the non-hindi speaking areas, especially dravidian-speaking areas in south india whose languages are not related to hindi. as a request of the opposition by non-speaking hindi indians, parliament enacted the official languages act, 1963, which provided for the continued use of english for official purposes along with hindi, till date. the individual states can adopt their own official languages, depending on their linguistic demographics. articles 345 of the india constitution authorizes the several states to adopt either standard hindi or any one or more of the languages spoken in that state as ‘official language’ which people of the state can use in all dealings with all branches of the local, state and federal governments. the ‘official languages’ sometimes called ‘national languages’ are numbered twenty two at present. india has no single national language; neither the constitution of india nor indian law specifies a national language. however, languages listed in the eighth schedule of the india constitution are sometimes referred to, without legal standing, as the national languages of india. the indian education system is truly multilingual in its character. indian government has introduced the ‘three language formula’ in its educational system, which requires every child to study two more languages other than their first language. this formula aims at developing and strengthening the multilingual character of india. the two languages are introduced simultaneously at upper primary level. at secondary level students are allowed to choose between sanskrit and a foreign language like french, german, arabic, etc. the whole system is complicated. unfortunately the ‘three language formula’ has not been successful. there are many problems in implementing the ‘three language formula’. for example, firstly, students are directly introduced to writing system without giving any exposure to spoken variety; secondly, there is no reference to the mother-tongue or home language in the formula; and finally, students never understand the purpose of learning these languages because they are not taught to use these languages meaningfully and very often the learning of these languages is considered a waste of time and energy. this negative attitude is only towards the indigenous languages unlike the english language. sridhar (2002) thus said, ‘english in india because of colonial history and its association with currently valued domain of higher education and administration, science and technology, international commerce, western culture and pop entertainment, is perceived as all powerful and ticket to upward mobility’. conclusion nigeria and india have many things in common historically, linguistically and otherwise. they were both colonized by great britain. both nations have hundreds of languages and ethnic groups. english language plays a dominating role in nigeria and india. both nations are facing the problem of choosing a single national language out of their more than five hundred indigenous languages. nigeria and india are democratic nations. however, they are different in some areas. india has more a billion people while nigeria has only 1.5 million people. india has a parliamentary system of government like britain while nigeria has a presidential system like united states. nigeria had a civil war and is still having some ethnic and religious crises. this is not the situation in india. multilingualism is a situation in a community or nation where more than two languages are in use. in a multilingual society or nation, not everybody is multilingual. a multilingual person is one who has some level of proficiency in more than two languages. multilingualism exists in both nigeria and india. multilingualism is a common phenomenon in most nations of the world. multilingualism has both advantages and disadvantages. in nigeria and india, multilingualism is a problem rather than a blessing. the governments of both nations have a long way to go in order to achieve unity in diversity, if it will ever be achieved. the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 640 references bamgbose, a. (1976). `language in national integration: nigeria as a case study,' read at the 12th west african languages congress, university of ife, ife, nigeria, march 15 20. brann, c.m.b. (1977). `language planning for education in nigeria: some demographic, linguistics and areal factors,' in bamgbose, a. (ed.) language in education in nigeria, vol. 1. lagos, nigeria: the national language center, federal ministry of education. brann, c.m.b. (1994). ‘the national language question: concepts and terminology.’ logos [university of namibia, windhoek] vol 14 cook, v.j. (2002), 'background to the l2 user', in v.j. cook (ed.) portraits of the l2 user, clevedon, multilingual matters (2002). crozier, d. and blench, r.m. (1992). index of nigerian languages (edition 2). sil, dallas. aito, e. (2005). ‘national and official languages in nigeria: reflections on linguistic interference and the impact of language policy and politics on minority languages’ in proceedings of the 4th international symposium on bilingualism, edited by james cohen, kara t. mcalister, kellie rolstad, and jeff macswan, cascadilla press, somerville, ma. fasold, r. (1984). the sociolinguistics of society. oxford: blackwell. fafunwa, a.b. (1974). history of education in nigeria, london: george allen & unwin. federal republic of nigeria (1981). national policy on education. revised. lagos, nigeria: nerdc press. federal republic of nigeria (1989). the constitution of the federal republic of nigeria, ilorin, nigeria: woye printers & publishers. gordon, raymond g., jr. (ed.) (2005). ethnologue: languages of the world (15th edition). dallas, tx: sil international. isbn 1-55671-159-x. (online version: http://www.ethnologue.com). greenberg, j.h. (1963). the languages of africa. mouton, the hague for indiana university, bloomington. grimes, barbara f. (ed.) (1996). ethnologue: languages of the world (13th edition). dallas, tx: sil international. (online version: http://www.ethnologue.com). hair, p.e.h. (1967). the early study of nigeria languages: essays and bibliographies, cambridge: cambridge university press. kachru, braj b. (1986). the alchemy of english: the spread, functions and models of non-native englishes. oxford: pergamon press. lewis, m. paul, ed. (2009). ethnologue: languages of the world (16th ed.). dallas, texas: sil international. isbn 978-1-55671-216-6. retrieved 19 june 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/special:booksources/155671159x http://www.ethnologue.com/ http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=92847456234 http://www.ethnologue.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/international_standard_book_number http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/special:booksources/978-1-55671-216-6 the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 631-641) odinye & odinye 641 mahapatra, b.p. (1990). ‘a demographic appraisal of multilingualism in india’ in d.p. pattanayak (ed.), multilingualism in india, 1-14. multilingual matters. oxford english dictionary, oxford university press (online version) sridhar kamal k. (2002). ‘societal multilingualism and world englishes; their implications for teaching esl’ in indian journal of applied linguistics, vol. 28, bahri publications, new-delhi. taiwo, c.o. (1980). the nigeria education system, lagos, nigeria: thomas nelson (nigeria) limited. toyin f. and matthew m. heaton. (2008). a history of nigeria, cambridge: cambridge university press. webster's encyclopedic unabridged dictionary english language, (online version) posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 1 nrq d{ka mgbaama n’ejije igbo xfqdx: obidiya, nwata bulie nna ya elu na ogbu mmadx ndx na-agx olekaibe chinenye .c. federal university of technology, owerri xm{ nd[ igbo bx nd[ na-anagh[ eji omenaala ha egwu egwu ma bxrxkwa nd[ hxrx nrq d[ka xzq e si ezi ozi bx nke mere ha ji were ya kpqrq ihe. nke a kpatara na onye igbo rqq nrq naedogh[ ya anya, q gawa na dib[a [chqpxta ihe q pxtara. q na-eme nke a iji gbochie qdachi nwere ike isi na ya pxta ma nabatakwa ihe qma ga-esi na ya pxta. nke a mere ka ebumnuche nchqcha a bxrx [chqpxta ma nrq q bx mgbaama n’eziokwu, ya na etu a ga-esi amata ama nd[ ahx site n’ihe nd[ mmadx derela n’ejije igbo. ihe e ji mee nchqcha a bx akwxkwq ejije igbo bx nd[ a hqrqla nke gxnyere, obidiya nke akqma dere, nwata bulie nna ya elu nke nwadike dere na ogbu mmadx ndx na-agx nke ben igbokwe dere. site na nchqcha e mere, a chqpxtara na nd[ igbo na-eji nrq kpqrq ihe n’eziokwu, na nrq bx ugegbe e ji ahx ihe ga-eme n’qd[niihu, na ihe e ji ama nrq ga-eme eme bx etu o si emetxta n’ahx, na nrq niile a hxrx n’ime akwxkwq qgxgx nd[ a b[ara na mmezu bx nke gos[r[ na nrq so n’otu xzq e si agba ama maka qd[niihu. n’ikpeazx, onye nchqcha chikqtara nchqcha a site n’inye ndxmqdx ka mmadx niile jiri nrq ha kpqrq ihe ka ha nwee ike [gbalahx qdachi nwere ike isi na ya pxta ma nabata nke qma sikwa n’ime ya. ma nke ka nke bx [kxziri qgbq na-ab[a n’ihu mkpa q d[ iji nrq eme ihe. qzq abxrx na nd[ odee ugbu a ga-akwalite nrq n’edemede ha ka qgbq nq ugbu a mata ihe ekwe na-akx. mkpqlite agxmagx abxgh[ qb[ara qhxrx n’ala igbo. q bx ihe ya na igbo so bido mana ihe d[ iche abxrx na q bx agxmagx qnx ka e nwere tupu qb[b[a nd[ qcha. q bx nd[ qcha bx nd[ kxziiri any[ etu e si ewere agxmagx qnx a tinye ya n’xzq ederede. agxmagx nwere ngalaba atq: abx, iduuaz[ na ejije. chinagqrqm (2013) kqwara agxmagx d[ ka ederede maqbx ekwurekwu e jiri asxsx chqq mma, nke na-enye qgxx maqbx qnxx obi a]xr[ pxrx iche. q gakwara n’ihu s[ na agxmagx anagh[ akwxrx ch[m maqbx chakee achakee ma q bxrx na a gbasogh[ usoro na xkpxrx nd[ d[ mma n’itinye ya n’qnqdx o kwes[r[”(pg.6). okoro (2012) si na agxmagx bx “echiche miri emi nke mmadx q bxla chere banyere otu isiokwu, ma bia were si na nkqwa asxsx na echiche a echere na-apxta ihe n’xd[ iduazi, ejije na abx (pg.6). moondy (1982) n’aka nke ya hxrx agxmagx d[ka echiche na-esi n’ime mmadx apxta n’ihi mmas[ mmadx nwere n’[kq akxkq”. echiche a na-egosi na xd[ akxkq ga-esi mmadx n’ime apxta ga-abx ihe nd[ na-eme na gburugburu ya na etu o si ahx ihe xwa. ya bx agxmagx bx ugegbe mmadx ji ahx ihe na-eme n’obodo. ihe nd[ ahx nq n’obodo q na-ahx bx omenaala ya. nke a mere ka omenaala bxrx qd[bend[, isi a hxrx kwawa okpu ma bxrxkwa isi sekpx nt[ na mba niile nke nd[ igbo so n’otu n’ime mba nd[ a. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 2 kalx (1978) kqwara omenaala dika otx nd[ si ebi ndu ha. q gakwara n’ihu si na q bx ihe akpachapxrx anya hazie, weputa ma nyekwa qsisa gbasara xzq obibi ndx ndi nwe ya (pg.3). omego (2006) kqwara omenaala d[ka usoro mmadx kwes[r[ isi akpa agwa bx nke a naamxta site n’aka nd[ mmadx nq n’obodo ma nyefekwaa ya n’aka nd[ nke na-ab[a n’ihu (pg.169). nke a na-egosi na ihe niile nd[ igbo na-eme site n’omenaala bx ihe bidoro na gboo ma bxrxkwa nke nrq so n’otu n’ime ha. qtxtx nd[ mmadx ekwuola qtxtx ihe banyere nrq. na nchqcha a, onye nchqcha chqrq [mata ma q bx eziokwu na nrq bx mgbaama ihe ga-eme n’ihu na etu a ga-esi amata ama a. ihe nrq bx nrq bx ihe nd[ na-eme na ndx mmadx oge q na-arahx xra maqbx ihe mmadx na ahx n’xra. ihe nd[ ahx nwere ike [bx ihe ga-enye ya obi a]xr[, [kpasu ya iwe, itinye ya xjq n’ahx n’ime nrq. mmadx nwere ike [hx qtxtx ihe q na-ahx n’ime xwa na nrq ma q bxkwanx ihe nd[ q na-ahxbegh[ mbx. mmadx nwekwara ike na-aga qtxtx ebe d[ iche iche na nrq ma ebe q garala mbx n’xwa maqbx ebe nd[ q na-ahxbegh[ kamgbe o ji pxta xwa. mmadx nwere ike [rqcha nrq teta cheta ya maqbx chefuo. ihe niile e kere eke na-arq nrq ma mmadx ma anxqh[a. q bxrx na [ hxtxla nk[ta ebe q na-ehi xra [ ga-aghqta ihe m naekwu. oge xfqdx o meghar[a xkwx ma q bx aka ya ma q bxkwanx welie qdx ya elu nke na-egosi ihe nd[ q na-eme n’ime nrq. etu ahxkwa ka q d[ na mmadx. mmadx nwere ike isi n’ime nrq tiri mkpu, tipxta na mpxta maqbx n’[he. nrq bx ihe mmadx na-amagh[ maka ya ruo mgbe q ga-ezute ya n’xra. nrq bx ihe na-eme n’ime mmxq bx nke kpatara na oge xfqdx mmadx anagh[ enwe ike nke aka ya iji zqpxta onwe ya n’ihe qjqq xfqdx na-adakwas[ mmadx na nrq maqbx hapx ime ihe q chqgh[ ime. nke a mere igbo ji na-ekwu okwu s[ na nrq bx onye nzuzu. akwxkwq nsq so n’otu ihe ji nrq kwara ngwa qrx. chukwu na-esite na nrq ekpughere nd[ mmadx qtxtx ihe d[ka o meere josef nwa jekqp bx onye a kpqrq onye qkanrq bx onye xmxnne ya jiri iwe refuo n’ala ijiptu ma o mechara bxrx pra[m minista d[ka o si rqq na nrq. (genesis 37:5). qfqmata (2004) si na nrq bx njete aka mmadx na-ejete n’ime xra q na-arahx nke onye ahx ga-anqzi n’ime ya na-ahxzi onwe ya ebe qzq, n’xd[r[ qnqdx ihe d[ka nrq (pg.241). q gakwara n’ihu s[ na nrq d[ xzq atq, nrq qma, nrq qjqq na nrq [ba. nrq qma bx xd[r[ nrq q na-abx mmadx nqrq n’ime ya, q na-ahxta onwe ya n’etiti ihe qma. nrq qjqq bx qnqdx qjqq, qdachi qjqq, izuzu qjqq nakwa mmegide qjqq na-adakwas[ mmadx oge q nq na nrq ebe nrq [ba bx xd[ nrq mmadx na-arq oge q na-ar[a qr[a [ba. eziqcha (2001) kqwara nrq d[ka q natara chi, q s[ na nrq bx ebe mmadx, chukwu na nd[ mmxq ozi na-enwe mmekqr[ta ma bxrxkwa xzq mmadx na-esi anata ozi site na chi. q kpqrq nke a nrq ime mmxq (pg. 23) baddeley (1980) kwuru na ndx na-anagh[ arq nrq bx ndx mmehie. (p. 105). oxford advanced learner’s dictionary (1948) kqwara nrq d[ka emume ma q bx mmetxta na-eme na ndx mmadx oge q nq n’xra. american heritage dictionary of english language kqwara nrq d[ka echiche maqbx mmetxta na-aba n’obi mmadx n’amagh[ ama oge mmadx na-ehi xra (pg. 354). posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 3 domhott (2002) kqwara nrq d[ka ihe na-eme n’ime mmxq. q s[ na nrq na-ebido n’ihe enwegh[ ihe q bx tupu q banye na nd[ gbara qkpxrxkpx. q gakwara n’ihu s[ na nrq nwere xd[ d[ iche iche nke gxnyere iyi egwu, ihe mgbagwoju anya, [ga njem nchqpxta na inwe mmekqr[ta nwoke na nwaany[. o mechiri okwu ya site n’[s[ na onye na-arq nrq enwegh[ ike n’ebe nrq q na-arq d[. nkwenye nd{ igbo banyere nrq nd[ igbo kwenyere na nrq. nke a mere ha ji ahx nrq d[ka xzq e si anata ozi n’aka nd[ichie lara mmxq ma q bx nd[ mmxq n’onwe ha. nd[ igbo anagh[ eji nrq egwu egwu qkachas[ mgbe ha rqrq ihe qjqq na nrq. osuagwu (1981) s[ “nd[ igbo nwere nkwenye d[ iche iche na-eme ka qtxtx nd[ mmadx na-eje na dib[a wee chxq aja d[ iche iche mgbe ha rqchara nrq. xfqdx nrq nd[ a bx anx qh[a [chx mmadx qsq na nrq. ha kwenyere na onye anxqh[a chxrx qsq na nrq na q bx ihe siri ike ga-ezute onye ahx. q bxrx na mmadx ekpokqta ego na nrq, e nwere nkwenye na onye ahx ga-atxfu efo”. echiche a gos[r[ na nd[ igbo ji nrq kpqrq ihe n’ihi na ha kwenyere n’xd[ nrq mmadx rqrq na-egosi xd[ ihe ga-adakwas[ onye ahx. nke a mere na mgbe q bxla onye igbo rqrq nrq qjqq, o teta n’isi xtxtx, o hie aka n’isi ya, gbapx xlxaka, gbxpx asq mmiri s[ chineke ekwekwala ihe qjqq tupu q mara ihe qzq q ga-eme n’ihi na igbo na-ekwu okwu s[ na-ekwe na mmadx bx ekwe na mmxq. ma q bxrx ihe qma, q ga-atxrx nd[ichie obodo ha mmanya ka ihe qma ahx rute ya aka. nro dika esi hx ya n’ ejije igbo xfqdx obidiya obidiya (akqma, 1977) malitere site n’[kqrq any[ maka esemokwu d[ n’etiti qnxma na oriakx. esemokwu a malitere mgbe oriakx bx onye hxrx onwe ya d[ka onye kpatara ego chqrq [nara qnxma ala ya n’ihi na o nwegh[ ego. e buuru okwu a gaa xlqikpe. mgbe e kpechara ya, ikpe laara qnxma ma oriakx jxrx iwere ihe majistreti kpere n’ikpe, ]xq iyi na ya ga egbu qnxma n’xzq egbe na mma. tupu nke a emee, obidiya bx nwunye qnxma rqrq nrq were kqqrq di ya. q kqqrq ya nke a mgbe ya na di ya na-akpar[ta xbxbq banyere nd[ enyi di ya, di ya chqrq [ga leta. obidiya: q gagh[ abx ugbu a. ala d[ qkx, oriakx nwere ike izi nd[ mmadx ka ha chee g[ n’xzq gbuo g[. echefuela m [ kqrq g[ otu nrq m rqrq nwanne echi gara aga. qnxma: { rqrq g[n[? obidiya: q na-eme m ka q bx na mmadx ka q bx na nrq. { nq na asa ahx, sachaa, na-abq isi. dimkpa mmadx atq abata ebe ahx, bulie okpiri kxq g[, [ daa n’ala na-agba s[kq s[kq. ha emie ala. etiri m mkpu. nd[ mmadx aza. qnxma: nrq a d[ njq, mana onye e ji rqq nrq abxgh[ onye ihe a rqrq na-eme (ihu 56) n’akwxkwq a, qnxma kwetere na nrq a d[ njq ma o nwegh[ ihe o ji ya kpqrq. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 4 nwata bulie nna ya elu nwata bulie nna ya elu (nwadike 1992) malitere site n’[kqwa ezinaxlq iloka na qb[b[a onyenkuzi nwa ya bx emuka b[ara ikpesa maka agwa emuka n’xlqakwxkwq. n’agbanyegh[ ar[r[q nne emuka bx ahxdiya r[qrq nwa ya ka q gbanwee agwa mana ar[r[q ya am[tagh[ mkpxrx q bxla. otu xbqch[ emuka si qrx na-alqta wee zute nd[ enyi ya abxq, okoroigwe na madxmere bx nd[ mere ka q ghqta na xd[ ndx q na-ebi n’xlq nna ya abxgh[ ihe kwes[r[ ya. nke a mere ka emuka nwee mkpebi na ya ga-agwa nna ya ka o nye ya akxnaxba nke ruuru ya ka ya wee nwee ike itinye isi ebe qkx na-enwu n’elu gaa biri ndx etu q mas[r[ ya. nna ya mechara nye ya ego nke ya. q wee tinye isi n’obodo a na-akpq ogbund[qma ebe ya na xmxnwaany[ na nd[ otu senti bqtxlx nqrq kpqq akx nna ya qkx. mgbe ego ya gwxrx, emuka gara were qrx [zx xmx anx n’aka otu onye qgaranya nq n’obodo ogbund[qma. ka ya n’ihe xwa nqzi na-ekwe n’aka ka nna ya iloka rqrq nrq gbasara ya. (n’xlq iloka q nq n’xra, rqq nrq ebe q hxrx emuka nwa ya) iloka: (na nrq) emuka emuka a a . q bx qsq ka [ na-agba? { gbarachaa, { lqta a na-agbalahi otule n’qsq? ma ka m jxqkwa g[; kedx nke [ d[zi etu a? kedx nke [ tachara ahx etu a taba n’qkpxkpx? { na-erikwa nri? uwe q gwxla n’ah[a? ncha q gwxla n’ah[a? q q g[n[? ego m bunyere g[ q gwxla? ya gwxla, lqtanx maka na mmehie ad[gh[ mgbaghara anagh[ ad[. a na-ajx nwa ajx? ya ka nd[ ala any[ ji aza aha ajxnwa e jirichaa otu aka tie nwata ihe, e jiri aka nke qzq dubata ya, hichaa ya anya. lqtawa, ejikwala anya ihere anwx. q bxrx na [ mxrxla akq, lqtawa b[a bara onwe g[ uru ezinaxlq m bx nke g[ lqtawa maka gidigidi bx ugwu eze (o teta, chakas[a anya, chqpxta na ya nq n’nrq) (ihu 59-60) posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 5 ka iloka rqchara nrq, nwunye ya bx ahxdiya rqkwara nrq nke ya. ahxdiya: di m, chefuo ihe nd[ mere mgbe ahx cheta na q d[gh[ mgbe q bxla obi nwa anagh[ eti nne. biko di m, olee ihe a ga-eme? obi agbawaala m. naan[ nrq qjqq nrq qjqq ka m na-arq gbasara ya bx nwata n’abal[ arqrq m ya nrq ebe o tukwu n’ukwu osisi, mmiri ana-ama ya. q kwxs[gh[ ebe ahx q nqkwa na-ar[q ar[r[q nri, na-ebeku g[ bx nna ya biko olee ihe any[ ga-eme? (ihu 63-64) ogbu mmadx ndx na-agx nke a bx ejije si n’aka igbokwe (1995) bx nke malitere site n’[kqrq any[ xd[ nrq mama obodo rqrq bx onye na-achqgh[ ka nwa ya hapx [lx nwaany[ q chqrq ka q lxq. mama obodo: (na-ata atx) ama m ihe na-atx m egwu oge q bxla m rqrq xd[ nrq a, anagh[ m arqcha nrq ya aghara imezu etu ahx m siri rqq ya (ya amaa xsx gbaa aka ya) txf[a! nwannxnnx ahx na-abx ya bee mmadx anwxq ebezila qzq. ihe a bx kpqmkwem xd[ nrq ahx m rqrq nke kpatara qnwx di m nke ahx bx ihe d[ka afq atq gara aga. nrq a ga-enwer[[r[ ihe ga ejikq ya na omume edogh[ anya nke obiqma nwa m na-eme ugbu a. egwu d[ m, q bxgh[ naan[ m n’ihi na agwq naan[ otu onye hxrx na-abx eke. (ihu p.6.) posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 6 ihe nd{ a chqpxtara site n’akwxkwq ejije igbo a hqqrq n’ime akwxkwq atq nd[ a, nrq niile a rqrq n’ime ha gbara ama ihe mere n’qd[niihu. xjq bara n’ime nd[ niile rqrq nrq n’ime akwxkwq atq nd[ a nke mere ha ji chqwa xzq mgbapx ihe a ga-eme gbochie ha ka ha ghara imezu. nke a pxtara na ha ji ya kpqrq ihe. obidiya mere nke a site n’igbochi di ya [ga ileta nd[ enyi ya n’xbqch[ q chqrq [ga. qnxma: na sqnde – ah[a, aga m eje ileta nd[ enyi m n’xmxabal[. obidiya: q gagh[ abx ugbu a, ala d[ qkx. oriakx nwere ike izi nd[ mmadx ka ha chee g[ n’xzq gbuo g[. (ihu 5). iloka mere nke a site n’[gq qfq maka mgbochi qdachi q bxla. iloka: chei! chukwu daalx ka q bx na nrq xd[ ihe a m hxrx bxrx na mmadx, nsogbu ad[. txf[akwa! (ihu 60) (q gaa bupxta akpa agwx ya, wepxta qfq gqwa, kxwa n’ala) chukwu ab[ama ekwekwala m fuo nga ihe m furu ekwekwala obi nwambaash[ gbuo nke m. ekwekwala m da nga ihe m dara. (ihu 61-62) mama obodo mere nke a site n’izi ozi ka a kpqqrq ya nwa di ya bx onye o chee na ya gaesi n’aka ya nweta enyemaaka etu a ga-esi mee ka q d[ mma. mama obodo: biko di m qma gbaghara m maka nsogbu m na-enye g[ awq anagh[ agba qsq ehihie n’efu ihe mere ede o jiri bee nw[[ biko nqrq ala. (ihu 8) ha niile nwere ihe mmetxta bx nke tinyere ha araume, ezuike n’ahx mere ha jiri chqwa xzq mgbapx, bxkwanx etu e si amata ama a n’ihi na nrq bx ihe mmxq, q bxgh[ ihe anxahx. nrq niile a b[ara na mmezu. n’obidiya, oriakx mechara zie nd[ mmadx ha b[a gbuo qnxma d[ka obidiya rqrq na nrq. qnxma nq n’xlq ya na-abq isi, chepx azx n’ezi. nd[ ogbu isi abata kxq ya okpiri n’olu, were akwa kechie ya qnx buru ya pxq (ihu 23). na nwata bulie nna ya elu emuka mechara lqta ma q d[ nk[r[ka ka onye ara d[ka nne na nna ya siri rqq ya na nrq. iloka: onye ara q bx, q s[ nga qbx ebe a a na-agwq posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 7 nd[ ara? (o let[px anya kwuo n’olu d[ elu) b[a, onye ahx o yikwara emuka nwa m? emuka: nnaa q bx mx o (ihu 65). n’ogbu mmadx ndx na-agx, nrq mama obodo mechara b[a na mmezu. obiqma nwa ya hapxrx nwany[ nne ya chqrq ka q lxq bx amarachi gaa lxq obiageri bx onye gburu ya site n’itinyere ya nsi na nri ya. obiqma: (n’ihe xfx) eriri afq m na-achq itibi etibi chaai, q na-afx m xfx ooo qb[[[, [ nq ebe ahx? (ihu 72) obiageri: (]xrxtx mmanya) d[ka m kwuru na mbx, any[ agagh[ echere ka otu afq gafee tupu any[ ebido lebawara akx na xba nd[ a obiqma hapxrx laa mmxq anya (ihu 77). nch{kqta nchqcha a e mere site n’akwxkwq ejije igbo nd[ a a hqrqla enyela aka [kqwapxta na nrq abxgh[ ihe a na-akpqnye n’imi n’agbanyegh[ na q bxgh[ nrq niile bx ozi. qtxtx mgbe ka nrq na-agba ama ihe ga-eme n’qd[niihu mere o ji d[ mkpa na a ga-eji ya kpqrq ihe iji gbochie qdachi nke nrq qjqq nwere ike ibute ma gbaa mbq ka ezi nrq a gbaara ama ya pxta ihe n’ihi na mgbe mmadx na-eme ihe site n’ama a gbaara ya, q d[ ka a gwqqrq ya qgwx. ndxmqdx – mmadx niile kwes[r[ iji nrq kpqrq ihe nd[ odee akwxkwq igbo ugbu a kwes[r[ itinye uchu n’edemede ha n’ihe gbasara nrq iji wee kxziere qgbq ugbu a na nd[ nke ga-ab[a n’ihu ihe ekwe na-akx. nd[ okenye kwes[kwara inye aka n’[kxziri xmxaka uru nrq bara n’ihi na o so n’omenaala igbo. ka nd[ igbo ghara [bx nd[ nq na mmiri na-asa ahx ncha na-aba ha anya n’ihi na ihe mmadx na-amagh[, tqrq ya. a txqrq q mara, ya amara… posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 8 nrxmaaka akqma, e. (1977). obidiya. ibadan: oxford university press. baddeley, a. (ed) (1980). academic american encyclopaedia vol. 13 (15th edition). new york. castle de van, r. hall, c. (1966). the content analysis of dreams. new york: appletoncentury crofts. chinagorom, c.l. (2013). uru ezi akanka n’agxmagx igbo ugbu a. owerri: i.o. publishers. domhoff, w. (2002). the scientific study of dreams. apa: apa press dornhoff, g.w. (2005). the dreams of men and women, patterns of gender, similarity and difference http://dreamresearch.nt/library/dornhoff-2005c.htm/ dreams (ed) (2000). the american heritage dictionary of the english language, fourth edition. eziqcha, e.u. (2001). the facts of dream. abuja: integrated publishers. hornby, a.s. (ed) 1948). oxford advanced learners dictionary. oxford: oxford university press igbokwe, b. (1995). ogbu mmadx ndx na-agx. owerri: perfectstrokes publishers. kalu, o. & nwosu, h. (1978). the study of african culture in african cultural development. enugu: fourth dimension publishers. lawrenson, d. & swubgwood, a. (1971). the sociology of literature. london: mac gibbon and kee. moonday, h.i. (1982). definition of literature; literary appreciation. london: longmans, green and co. ltd. nwadike, i.u. (1992). nwata bulie nna ya elu. obosi: pacific publishers ofomata, c.e. (2004). ndezu xtqasxsx igbo nke nd[ sin[q sekqnd[r[. enugu: format publishers nig. ltd. ogbalu, f.c. (2006) omenala igbo. onitsha: university publishers. omego, c. (2007). “a survey of language use and culture in igboland”. journal of nigerian languages and culture vol. 9. p. 168. osuagwu, b.i.n. (1981). nd[ igbo na omenaala ha. owerri: macmillan nigeria publishers. okoro l.c (2012 ederede igbo. owerri trumpeters concept the living bible (1985). nairobi: living bible international africa. the new encyclopaedia britannica. vol 14 (15th edition) chicago. ubesie, t. (1978). qd[naala igbo. ibadan: oxford university press. http://dreamresearch.nt/library/dornhoff-2005c.htm/ posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 162 the science of context in linguistic discourse chukwualuka michael uyanne department of english language and literature alvan ikoku federal college of education owerri mikeuyanne@gmail.com & grace chukwukaodialu obi-nwoye international secondary school department of languages abubakar tafawa balewa university bauchi abstract written discourse represents the writer’s intention and his meaning can be determined by analysing the discourse, using functional components of semantic system. co-text or extra-linguistic environment discloses what texts truly are, and equally facilitates the description of their true implicative meanings. in effect, the true meaning of the text is more important than the intended meaning of the writer. so, meaning is realisable in a specific contextual action of sifting of a text, as part semantic potential which is the determinate meaning. keywords: science, context, discourse setting a means by which the discourse value of an item is interpreted, based on the communicative context of an utterance is called linguistic tactics. it is the discourse value of utterance is that semantic resource, which the speaker or writer expects his hearer or reader to appropriate (chiluwa 61-62). so, (adegbite 37) it allows the interactants in a discourse to consider not only the linguistic context of posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 163 discourse, but also the “situational contexts to achieve the required result of matching, utterances with appropriate functions, which the speaker and hearer intend.” context and presupposition writers or speakers often employ presuppositions in designing their message on the assumption, that the hearer or the reader has already a degree of the preknowledge of discourse being communicated. so, the assumption of the writer on the other hand, inference is already known about the discourse is the presupposition. on the other hands, inference is truly based on the presupposition, because whether inference is right or wrong the reader (or hearer) should act on relevant information about the discourse. as a matter of fact, presuppositions are subtle means, in which the writer (or speakers) is derived; and the writers on their own intentionally allow some certain meaning to be encoded by way of intelligent presupposition (chiluwa 64). context and conversation analysis grice asserted that a speaker or a hearer is guided by some certain “conversational principles” to make the right references and interpret meaning beyond the linguistics content of an utterance (74). in additions, the conversational or cooperative principles works along with some maxims, in terms of the assumption that the (kempson 50) speaker does not say what is false, or irrelevant, or too much or to little.” this principle forms the base; a hearer can deduce other additional information, from an utterance, beyond some “truth conditional content” of a message.” this additional information is called implicature. conversational implicature actually occurs when the conversational maxims namely quantity, quality, relation (relevance) and manner are seemingly violated,” (chiluwa 65) therefore, “forcing the hearer to make additional assumptions in order to understand the speaker as conveying something true and relevant” (kempson 141). posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 164 discursive and linguistic context discourse analysis determines how people deduce meaning from the language they use, because language, social contexts and situations are tied together. and the interpretations of meanings are essentially based on what language is intended to do “in human affairs,” (brown and yale 1). it also accounts for the investigation of how “language users interpret what other language users’ intent to convey” (yule 3). in addition, it accounts too, “how what is written or spoken makes sense whether or not it is strictly grammatical” (chiluwa 66). more still, cook asserts that language-users do not often write or speak incomplete sentences, yet they communicate effectively (3). if this is done, the languageusers therefore can inform, influence and achieve social interactions. in fact, this goes beyond the mere study of linguistic forms of analysis of “what language is used for” (brown and yule 1). so, it is consonant with the study of discourse, thus the object of analysis is not just only a sentence or a “language above the sentence … or conversational exchange” (stubbs 1), but as cook posits, “anything from a grunt or a simple expletive, through short conversations and scribble notes…” he further asserts that this occurs as a result of “what matters is not its conformity to rule, but the fact that it communicates and is recognized by its receiver as coherent” (7). in the same vein, labov espouses that “the unit of analysis is not the grammatically defined clause or sentence but a functional unit …” therefore, chiluwa affirms that “the interpretation of meaning is possible because of the relationship, which exists between the units of analysis and the context of situation. as the study of language is use for communication, halliday and hasan declare that discourse analysis does not involve itself in analyzing just cohesive devices (10) that are found in texts, otherwise they would be restricted to text analysis. cook stresses further that restricting discourse analysis to “the search for what gives discourse coherence” (7) “would amount to ignoring important functional units as grunts, exclamatory signals like “hmm,” “hunh,” “yaa,” which is their own rights can be analysed as discourse” (chiluwa 67). discourse and acceptableness most often users of language are inclined to breaking grammatical or ‘coherent discourse’ rules. this has mainly influenced discourse analysis ‘to discourse there posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 165 rules and to describe the conversational structures they generate” (coulthard, 6). meanwhile, for a worthwhile analysis or interpretation of utterances, chiluwa says that language-users use their knowledge of linguistic forms and structure (67). in addition, coulthard writes that another area of concern is that discourse analysis shows the relationship that exists between discourse, the speakers and hearers, by and for whom it is produces, however, it is “a concern with how speakers take and relinquish the role of speaker; how social roles affect discourse options in terms of who speaks when and what they talk about; how non-verbal signaling works and how actual form of utterances is conditional by the social relationships between the participants” (11). moreover, discourse analysis is also concerns itself with the function and the purpose of a unit of linguistic data and how the data is analysed, both by the speaker (writer) and the hearer (reader) brown and yule 4). lyon takes and pragmatic model in the study of language in use, because he is interested in “investing in the use of language in context by a speaker/writer” and the relationship that exist between the utterance and speaker, in a particular context of language-use (35). courthard sees discourse analysis as being interested in the characterization of speaker’s/writer’s meaning and it is explained, in the context of use. in other to actualize this, he ascribes two functions to discourse analysis, which include portraying “the structure of supra-sentential text of social transaction by imposing some framework upon the data, explicitly or implicitly, and to offer a characterization of how, in the context of negotiation, participants go about the process of interpreting meaning” (8) even if, it is reciprocal as applied in conversation or non-reciprocal as also applied in writing/reading. on this note chiluwa espouses that this “structure-portraying” function is where text analysis and discourse analysis are related. therefore, in the interpretation-characterizing role, discourse analysis is involved in “the assessment of the communicative function of momentary messages, drawing upon general and specific background knowledge in the process of making inference.” more still, he adds that “the first type of inquiry in discourse analysis is the determination of interactive acts, designed them with some “larger interactional frame” while the objective of the second role is “the capturing of illocutionary force, drawing upon general pragmatic principle, an understanding of contextual expectation in the activity type under discussion, together with knowledge of how information may generally be structured and procedures of natural analogy” (68). posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 166 the interaction, text and context these elements form a procedure base, in critical discourse analysis. chiluwa writes that the description of text helps to show the formal properties of a particular text, which may be identified in vocabulary or in grammar found in the discourse type where the text hinges on. in analysis of these properties or features in the text, he declares that it means taking account of what other choices in the discourse type that could have been used instead.” furthermore, he maintains that fundamentally features of vocabulary or grammar must have those required discourse value,” such as ‘experiential,’ ‘relational’, or ‘expressive’ (56). fairchough describes experiential value as ‘a trace of and a cue to the way in which the text producers experience of the natural or social world (knowledge and belief)’ is represented, he further explains that relationships, that are enacted through the text in the discourage and finally that expressive value is also “a trace of and a cue to the producer’s evaluation of the bit of the reality it relates to, specifically with subjects and social identities” (111-112). “the values of textual features,” fairclough exerts, “only become real, socially operative, if they are embedded in social interaction, where texts are produced and interpreted against a background of “common sense assumptions,” which give textual features their value” (14). to properly analysis the discourse value of any text, in “terms of how socially operative it is as part of institutional and social processes of struggle (chiluwa 57). he affirms further that fairclough calls these discourse processes, “interpretation,” that is, the study and its reliance on the society and backgrounds hypotheses, in regard to the critical discourse procedure. more so, in further explanation of this interpretation, he writes that it can be achieved through the synthesis of what is in the text, and what is in the interpreter (taking the interpreter as a member of the society, and the resources that he involves in the interpretation). four levels of analysis of interpretation are identified, they include, the surface of utterance, that is, how the analyst can change the ‘strings of sounds, word or sentences meaningfully, drawing upon his knowledge of the grammar, phonology or vocabulary or the language”, secondly, meaning of utterance, that is, “how analyst interprets utterance based on his ability to combine the meaning of words and grammatical information to arrive at the meaning of the whole text.” this also helps the interpreter to draw the pragmatic conventions in the utterance that enables him determine how utterance performs actions. thirdly, local coherence, this enables the analyst to concentrate “on local” coherence relations within a particular part of text, that is, connections posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 167 between utterance pairs and sequence of pairs.” finally, text structure and point, this involves how a whole text hangs together to achieve a “global coherence” (fairclough as qtd in chiluwa 57). the analysis or interpretation of situational context is part of the above discussed “interpretation, if considered in respect to the properties of the physical context, the features of participants, that which has been said in the past and finally, the representations of societal and institutional social orders. situational context has four aspect of interpretation which include, what is happening, that is, topic, purpose, activity secondly, who is involved, thirdly the relationship that are involved and fourthly, the role language plays in what is happening or going on (chiluwa 57, fairclough 150). to fully appreciate an utterance, the individual and situations view point have to be based of the interpretation. so, this implies that language occurs all the time within the meanings that are usually expressed in words. according to fairclough, discourse is social practice and therefore utterances are determined by social conditions. this therefore brings texts, interaction and context “in an inextricable relationship in every communicative encounter,” (chiluwa 69, fairclough 156). language-user use language as a medium for self-definition and cultural identification, so discourse takes place in cognitive context or social context of cultural context (schiffrin 88). participants are involved in language and discourse, with some degrees of shared meaning or co-operative principle. the moods, traits, attitudes and relations of such users form the indispensable part of the context. (chiluwa 69-70). meanwhile, according to firth, a language or an utterance is considered to be nonsense, if it fails to have a coherent relationship with a generalized context of situation (63). however, even if the language may be grammatically acceptable, yet it fails to account for the ‘implication of utterance in some cultural acceptable and interpretable situation” it will not be seen as being meaningful at the level of semantic interpretation (chiluwa 70).moreover, for meaning to be seen as a social-oriented communicative business, either at the grammatical, paralinguistic or phonological level, it must be contextualized. (chiluwa 70). competence and context communicative competence is somewhat the summary of what has been said about the knowledge needed by a speaker or hearer, on how to use linguistic forms appropriately, it is more broadly-based than linguistic competence. this posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 168 brings it “closer to functional text grammars, particularly the systemic model, and virtually removes the gap … between theory and practice with linguistic competence and grammatical competence” (adejare 159-160). he asserts that “language-use in normal situation is not only recognized as an important element of competence, it receives a higher ranking than linguistic competence or grammatical competence” (16). so, campbell and wales define it as the capability or ability to produce and understand utterances which are not so much grammatical but appropriate in the context in which they are used (241). in addition, williams refers to it “as the ability to use language in its socio cultural, interpersonal aspects, beyond the sentence, that is, the discourse level” (16). this concept or model is the brainchild of hymes in his bid to emphasize that language competence comprises more than just being able to “form grammatically correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom” (schmitt 6). he espouses that this development helped to change the focus from language “correctness” (accuracy) to suitability of any language for a given context (appropriateness) (6). three main strands were developed in communicative competence, by canale and swain, namely grammatical competence – it is the knowledge of synaptic rules (sentence formation) of a given language. this knowledge alone cannot provide the user the ability to produce and interpreted utterances or language appropriately. secondly, sociolinguistic competence – it enables the user to know when to say, where to say and to whom. this is the ability to produce and understand utterances, which are appropriate to the context in which they are used. finally, strategic competency – it is the knowledge of using verbal and nonverbal strategic to communicate effectively. these strategies are categorized as the paraphrase of approximation, borrowing or inventing words, gestures, asking for feedback and reduction. hymes and communicative competence his ethnographic-functional model focused on the knowledge, which a communicator or user needs to communicate effectively and thereby, achieving communicative competence, which enables the user to use language in the appropriate context; that is, how language functions in discourse situation. though he does not entirely rejected chomsky’s approach, he broadens it, and gives greater or much emphasis to sociolinguistics and pragmatic factors (the skill that enables the user of language to know when to speak, when not to speak and posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 169 as to what to talk about with whom, when in what manner). so, hymes theorizes that the goal of every language user should be: to account for the fact that a normal child acquires knowledge of sentences, not only as grammatically, but also as appropriate. he or she acquires competence as to when to speak, when not and as to what to talk about with when, where, in what manner. in short, a child becomes able to accomplish a repertoire of speech acts, to take part in speech events, and to evaluate their accomplishment by others. this competence, moreover, is integral with attitudes, values and motivations concerning language, its features and uses, and integral with competence for, and attitude toward, the interrelation of language with the other code of communicative conduct (23). so, it takes a functional standpoint, which adopts pragmatic view of language study and further combines speech acts and interactional medium within a broader framework of inquiry. communicative competence is embedded in the ethnographic framework of language, that analyses language as organized social behaviour, and therefore it is important to the proper use of language in context towards discovering the functional roles of discourse in social life. “for example, it includes knowing how to formulate a yes/no question” (operator-np-vp?) and knowing that only certain types (for example, could you vp?) function as polite requests and knowing how to use them appropriate” (schmit 22). conclusion the primary advantage of the model foraged, so far, is that it is context-oriented which forms it premise on the functional use of language, regardless of its wellformedness or “correctness”. the deployment of the systemic-functional approach enables the researcher to incorporate some insights developed by other related areas of study, which include, communicative competence, pragmatics, discourse analysis. so, to achieve a workable framework for this study, concept like inference, implicature, background/shared knowledge and presupposition will be subsumed under the textual and contextual function of language. it is important in this study, because its situational components help to study language beyond mere abstraction or beyond grammatical analysis. it equally helps the researcher to analyse language from the view point of the language user and the context or situation of its use posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 170 works cited adegbite, wale. “pragmatics: some basic principles and procedures.” babajide (ed). studies in english language. ibadan: enicrownfit, (2000): 254269. adejare, oluwole. “communicative competence in english as a second languge.” new englishes: a west african perspective. bamgbose, ayo et al (eds.) ibadam: mosuro (1995): 153-177. brown, g. and george yule. discourse analysis. cambridge: cambridge university press, 1983. canale, m and m. swain: “theoretical bases of communication approaches to second language teaching and testing.” applied linguistics. elt journal 1(2003) 1-47. chiluwa, innocent e. discourse pragmatics of news headlines and lead stores in tell, the news and news-watch, 1996 – 2002. unpublished ph.d thesis of the university of lagos, 2005. coulthard, m. an introduction to discourse analysis. 2nd ed. london. longman, 1985. cook, g. discourse. oxford: oxford university press, 1989. fairclough, norman. language and power. london: longman, 1989. firth, j.r. papers in linguistics. london: edward arnold, 1957. fowler, roger., b. hodge, gunther. kress, and t. trew (1979) language and control. london: routledge andkegan paul. grice, h.paul. “logic and conversation,” harvard william jones” lectures 1967, in cole, pand y.l. morgan (eds). syntax and semantics: speech act., 3, new york: academic press, 1975. hymes, dell. (1972) ‘on communicative competence’, in pride, j. b. and holmes, j. (eds) sociolinguistics harmondsworth: penguin, 269–93. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 171 kempson, r. “grammar and conversational principle.” f.j. newmeyer (ed). linguistics: the cambridge survey. 2, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1988, 139-162. labov, william. sociolinguistic patters. philadelphia: university of pennsylvania press, 1972. lyon, john. semantics. cambridge: cambridge university press, 1977. williams, d. english language teaching. an integrated approach. ibadan: spectrum books limited, 1990. stubbs, michael. discourse analysis. oxford: blackwell, 1983. schmidt, gurly and jannis androutsopoulos. “lobbe doch. beziehungskommunikation mit sm”, gesprachsforschung 5 51-71, 2004. yule, george, the study of language. cambridge: cambridge university press, 1985. speech style-shifts in chimamanda adichie’s purple hibiscus lauretta chinyeaka abstract the focus of this paper is on the use of speech style shifts by interactants in dialogues. interlocutors engaged in verbal discourse employ different speech styles on different occasions. this is largely informed by the fact that no one speaks in exactly the same way on all occasions. many factors inform these shifts such as the speaker, the addressee, the setting, the topic of discourse and the purpose of discourse. using chimamanda adichie’s purple hibiscus, this study seeks to identify the speech style shifts in the dialogues of the characters and the motivations for the shifts .it also seeks to determine the way the shifts affected the relationships between the characters as well as the power structures that are at play. to achieve these objectives, eight sample excerpts purposively selected from the text were used as data while ethnography of communication was used as the theoretical framework. findings revealed that the different speech style shifts identified were influenced mainly bythe situation and social distance. key words: speech styles, style-shifting, speech event, social distance, power introduction there is usually a display of shifts in the style of speeches of characters engaged in dialogues in written prose just as there are between interlocutors in face to face interactions on different occasions. shifts in speech style take place sometimes within the same conversation depending on the degree of the attention to the clarity of the discourse. a shift in speaking may be as a result of a change in the self-image that the speaker wishes to project, in the type of information to be communicated, in the situation the interactants find themselves such as a noisy background, arrival or departure of other individuals, the context of the dialogue and in the impression that the speaker has about the listener, for instance where he has a hearing impediment. these shifts depending on the occasion may be very formal, less formal or extremely formal and casual such as when the relationship between the interlocutors is very close or when they belong to different social classes. these shifts in style may be due to the speaker, the addressee, the age or the social background of the addressee, the social background, social distance or the situation. when such necessary adjustment in speech style are not made, it would attract social sanctions in formal situations for instance or if the purpose is misconstrued by the interactants, problems such as feelings of inferiority, contempt or avoidance may arise on the part of the interactants of lower status while the one of higher status may exhibit an air of pride, arrogance or insult. in informal interactions also, if such style shifts in speech are not applied or where they are not appreciated it could mar relationships and also lead to breakdown in communication. this study seeks to identify the speech style shifts in the speech styles of the characters in purple hibiscus, what the motivation for the shifts are and how they affect the relationship between the characters. it showcases the different applications of speech style-shifts and the speech situations and speech events that informed the shift in the speech styles of the characters. to this end, the following questions were raised: what are the speech style-shifts in the text? what are the motivations for the speech style-shifts? how did they affect the relationship between the characters? synopsis of the novel purple hibiscus is the story of kambili, a young girl of fifteen years growing up in enugu in eastern nigeria. her father eugene achike is a strict catholic adherent who rejects in its entirety the heathen ways of his own father to the extent that he hardly takes care of him. he forbids his children kambili and jaja from relating closely with him saying that he contaminate them with heathenism. their father is also a strict disciplinarian who metes out stiff disciplinary actions against any member of his household who fails uphold his standards including his wife. a visit to their father’s sister, aunty ifeoma and her children at nsukka offers them the opportunity to experience life differently. the form of catholicism they practise is markedly different from the one they are used to. aunty ifeoma encourages her own children to speak their mind though guardedly. kambili and jaja become better able to voice their feelings. they also get to relate with father amadi, a young priest who is very close to aunty ifeoma and her family. kambili finds that she is attracted to the priest. while they are at nsukka where aunty ifeoma is a senior lecturer in the university, the students go on rampage against lack of water and electric light. kambili and jaja are still at nsukka when their aunty gets a distress call from a woman who is a neighbour to their grandfather (papa nnukwu) living at abba and she hurries to the village to bring him back to nsukka for medical treatment. the old man is nursed back to health but passes on while still staying with them at nsukka. eugene, kambili’s father learns of the demise and refuses to have anything to do with the pagan burial though he finances it. back home he subjects kambili and jaja to physical torture because according to him they had slept in the same house with a heathen. meanwhile ade coker, an editorial staffof the standard newspaper owned by kambili’s father gets killedwhen he opens an envelope with the state house seal allegedly for publishing an offensive article he was warned not to publish. soldiers also invade one of kambili’s father’s factories carrying dead rats in a carton and then closing the factory down saying the rats had been found there and could spread diseases through the wafers and the biscuits he produced. unable to cope with the husband’s continuous violence on her and the children, beatrice, kambili’s mother poisons her husband. jaja takes over the blame for the crime and is remanded in cell. aunty ifeoma and her children travel to america after her appointment with the university is terminated. she is accused of complicity in the student’s unrest by the university administration.the novel ends in an optimistic note. kambili has turned out more confident in her approach to life. jaja is about to be released from prison after thirty-one months. he is hardened but not broken by his experience there. beatrice, their mother is beginning to recover from psychological breakdown since after the death of her husband. conceptual framework speech styles yule (2010, p. 257) describes speech style as social feature of language use. speech style according to martin joos, an online source is the form of language that the speaker uses which is characterized by the degree of formality. (accessed 11:21 september12, 2020) ezeifeka (2018, p.136) asserts that they are linguistic options open to the speech community for particular events and activity types. she notes that they include: varieties (high/low, standard/nonstandard, dialects, register choices, formal/informal/casual etc.) and speech events where they are appropriate – political, academic, folk literature, casual conversations; degrees of formality within one standard language. in language use, speakers usually adopt different styles of speaking. they can speak very formally or very informally depending on the circumstances. wardhaugh (2010,p.47) posits that ceremonial occasions usually require very formal speech; public lectures somewhat less formal, casual conversations between intimate persons on matters of little importance may be extremely informal and casual. according to him, the level of formality chosen may be related to a variety of factors such as the kind of occasion, the various social, age and other differences that exist between the interlocutors; the particular task that is involved such as writing or speaking, the emotional involvement of one or more of the participants. holmes asserts that “language varies according to who is using it”.she notes that the addressees and the context influence our choices of code or variety be it language, dialect or style. joos identified the types of speech style as frozen style, formal style, consultative style, casual style and intimate style. frozen style according to him is the most formal communicative style that is usually used during respectful events and ceremonies. it is also used when one shows hesitation, disinterest or prejudice. frozen speech is used generally in a formal setting, does not require any feedback from the audience and is the most formal communicative style for respectful situations. intimate style is for very close relationships like couples, family, and best friends. it is used in conversation between people who are very close and know each other quite well because they have the maximum of shared background information. formal speeches are straightforward speeches. in this speech style, the speaker avoids using slang terminologies. what the speaker says is something that has been prepared beforehand. casual speech style is an informal communication between groups and peers who have shared background information but don’t have close relations while consultative speech style is used in semi-formal communication. in this type speech sentences are shorter and spontaneous and the speaker does not usually plan what he/she wants to say. a change from one to the other according to yule (2010,p.257) is called style-shifting. motivation for shifts in speech style shifts in speech style are motivated by a number of factors such as speaker, addressee, age of addressee, social background of addressee, social distance, the situation and the speech event. wardhaugh (2010, p. 47) avers that speakers can adopt different styles of speaking. he posits that speaker’s speech can be very formal or informal depending on the circumstances. ceremonial occasions according to him, require very formal speech, public lectures somewhat less formal, casual conversations quite formal while conversations between persons who are intimate on matters of little importance may be extremely informal and casual. he notes that the level of formality chosen may relate to a variety of factors. these factors include the kind of occasion; the various social, age, and other differences that may exist between the participants; the particular task that is involved such as writing or speaking; the emotional involvement of one or more of the participants and so on. holmes (2013, p.240) asserts that an addressee is an influence on style. she gives two examples to buttress her point thus: a) excuse me. could i have a look at your photos too, mrs hall? b) c’mon tony, gizzalook the first utterance according to her was addressed by a teenage boy to his friend’s mother when she was showing the photos of their skiing holiday to an adult friend. the second utterance was addressed to his friend when he brought his own photos of the holiday. she posits that the better you know someone, the more casual and relaxed the speech style you will use on them. people according to her use considerably more standard forms to those they do not know well, and more vernacular forms to their friends. this generalization, according to her, holds across different languages. holmes (2013, p. 241) also identified age of addressee as an influence on style. she notes that people generally talk differently to children and adults though some adjust their speech style or accommodate more than others. talking to younger brothers and sisters, even 3-year-olds, according to her, have been heard using sing-song intonation and ‘baby talk’ words like ‘doggie’ which they no longer use themselves. she observes that when talking or writing to a 6-year-old as opposed to a 30-year-old, most people choose simpler vocabulary and grammatical constructions. she adds that many speakers also use a different style in addressing elderly people, often with features similar to those that characterize their speech to children. such characteristics according to her include a simpler range of vocabulary and less complex grammar, the use of “we” rather than “you” to refer to the addressee and sometimes even the sing-song intonation which characterizes baby-talk. the social background of addressee was also identified by holmes (2013, pp. 242-243) as an influence on speech style. she illustrates it thus: a) last week the british prime minister mr. david cameron met the australian premier ms. julia gillard in canberra… their next meeting will not be for several months b) las’ week british minister david cameron met australian premier julia gillard in canberra…their nex’ meeting won’t be for several months these utterances according to her, illustrates a number of linguistic features which distinguish the pronunciations of newsreader on different radio stations. in (b) there is simplification of consonant clusters, so [la:st]becomes [la:s] and [nekst]becomes [neks]. the pronunciation of [t] between vowels is voiced so it sounds like a [d] hence meeting sounds like meeding. the definite article ‘the’ is omitted before the titles prime minister and premier and the honorifics mrs and mr disappear. and finally utterance (b) contracts will nottowon’t. all these features according to her have been identified as typical of the contrasting styles of newsreaders on different new zealand radio stations. holmes (2013,p. 240) observes that the speaker’s relationship to the addressee is crucial in determining the appropriate style of speaking. she points out that “how well you know someone or how close you feel to them – relative social distance/solidarityis one important dimension of social relationship”. many factors according to her, may contribute in determining the degree of social distance or solidarity between people such as relative age, gender, social roles, whether people work together, or are part of the same family and so on. these factors she notes may also be relevant to people’s relative social status. social distance according to an online dictionary is “the perceived or desired degree of remoteness between a member of one social group and the members of another, as evidenced in the level of intimacy tolerated between them.” it describes the distance between groups in society and is opposed to locational distance. the notion includes differences such as social class, race/ethnicity, gender or sexuality, and also the fact that the different groups mix less than members of the same groups. on situation as an influence on style, hudson (2001,p. 199) notes that many of the studies carried out have considered the effects on speech of variations in the situation. in two of such instances he reports that labov found out that shop assistants were more likely to pronounce the /r/ in fourth floor when he asked them to repeat it and he also found that people spoke differently in his interviews according to what they were talking about, and who they were talking to – their speech became less standard when they were talking about situations where they were in danger of dying than when talking about routine matters and it was less standard when talking to other members of their family than when talking to him. speech events can influence style. speech event according to ezeifeka (2018, p.136) is the basic unit of analysis in ethnography of speaking. she states that “it involves the particular activity or aspect of the activity that are directly governed by rules or norms of the situation.” instances she gave are lecture, inaugural speech, vote of thanks, convocation speech, sermon, welcome address etc. coulthard (1977, p.39) notes that speech event occurs in a non-verbal context which is the speech situation. he observes that speech events are the largest units for which one can discover linguistic structures and so do not have the same pattern with the situation. that is to say that several speech events can occur successively or simultaneously in the same situation just as different conversations can take place in a party. yule (2010, p. 145) adds that in investigating what is known about participating in conversation or any other speech event such as debate, interview and other various types of discussions, it is quickly realized that there is enormous variation in what people say and do in different circumstances. he observes that in order to describe the sources of that variation, account would be taken of a number of criteria. for example, according to him, we would have to specify the roles of speaker and hearer(s) and their relationship(s), whether they were friends, strangers, men, women, young, old, of equal or unequal status, and many other factors. all these factors, he notes have an influence on what is said and how it is said. we would have to describe what the topic of conversation was and in what setting it took place. power structure is another influence on speech style. pfetsch (2011) asserts that the various forms of relations between the negotiation partners are power. a power structure is an overall influence system of influence between any individual and other individuals within a group. longman dictionary of contemporary english defines it as the way in which the groups of people who control a country, society, or organization are organized. it comprises symmetrical and asymmetrical relationships. pfetsch (2011) avers that symmetrical relationships are characterized by a balanced mutual relationship based on similar allocations of power resources. asymmetry according to him “is a structure one can find among most social and political relations and in relations between unequal parties.” he further observes that it is a relationship between the small and the great, the weak and the poor.” the unequal allocation of power resources, he notes, can lead to a point when the most powerful party makes threats and exerts pressure. theoretical framework ethnography of communication ethnography of communication (eoc) formerly called ethnography of speaking, propounded by dell hymes is the analysis of communication within the wider context of the social and cultural practices and beliefs of the members of a particular culture or speech community. it is an approach to discourse analysis that takes into account both the communicative form which may include but is not limited to spoken language and its functions within the culture. the general aim of this qualitative research method includes being able to identify the communicative acts and /or codes that are important to different groups, the types of meanings that groups apply to different communication events, and how group members learn these codes, in order to provide insight into particular communities. the additional information derived may be used to enhance communication with group members, make sense of group members’ decisions and distinguish groups from one another among others. ethnography of communication was proposed by dell hymes as an approach to analyse patterns of language use within speech communities with a view to providing support for his idea of communicative competence which was reportedly a reaction to noam chomsky’s linguistic competence and performance. ethnography of communication is meant to describe the characteristics that an approach towards language, from an anthropological standpoint, must take. they are as posited by dell hymes outlined below: 1. investigate directly the use of language in contexts of situations so as to discuss patterns proper to speech activity. 2. take as context a community, investigating its communicative habits as a whole. in order words, rather than divorcing linguistic form from its function, the analysis of a culture’s or community’s communication, linguistic and otherwise, must occur with respect to the socio-cultural context of its use and the functions of the meaning conveyed. ethnography of communication in effect is concerned with the way a certain speech event fits into a whole network of cultural beliefs and practices, describing things that are external to talk itself: who the speakers are, where they are, what beliefs and customs are important to their lives. the stratifications in ethnography of communication according to hymes (cited in ezeifeka, 2018) are: i) speech community ii) speech style iii) speech situation iv) speech event v) speech act speech community – this refers to a group of speakers who share both linguistic resources and rules for interaction and interpretation. speech style – these are the linguistic options open to the speech community for particular speech events and activity types. these include varieties (high/low, standard/nonstandard, dialects, register choices, formal/informal/casual etc.) and speech events where they are appropriate – political, academic, folk literature, casual conversations, degrees of formality within one standard language. speech situation – this is the social occasion in which the speech may occur and it defines the appropriateness of speaking, the context of the speech event. speech event – this is the basic unit of analysis in ethnography of speaking. it involves the particular activity or aspect of activity that are directly governed by rules or norms of the speech situation. speech acts – this involves ways in which particular speech communities perform certain actions through speech, such as how thanking is done or requests are made in some speech communities. the speaking grid in order to analyse speech events, hymes proposed a classificatory grid for identifying and defining a speech event which he argues can be useful in discovering the culturally relative taxonomy of communicative units described above. he calls this the speaking grid: each letter representing a different possible component of communication. s – setting – (i) physical circumstances (ii) scene – subjective definition of an occasion. pparticipants(i)speaker/sender/addresser(ii)hearer/receiver/audience/addressee e – ends – purposes and goals/ outcomes a – act sequence – message form and content (discourse analysis), the words used to inform, direct, promise, request, mandate, question, invite, declare. k – key – tone, manner or spirit with which a particular message is conveyed: satiric, ironic, serious, light-hearted, joking, mocking, sarcastic, pedantic, pompous, sad, happy etc. i – instrumentalities – channel (oral, written, signed, multimodal). this also includes physical forms of speech drawn from community repertoire: dialect, code, register and whether the speech is formal, informal, frozen, consultative and intimate. code-switching may also be relevant here. n – norms of interaction and interpretation: specific properties attached to speaking interpretation of norms within cultural belief system. there are norms of greeting, addressing elders, cultural differences in loudness, silence, gaze return, body posture when talking to elders, comfortable conversational distance among strangers and among friends. g – genre – textual categories such as a lecture, sermon, vote of thanks, convocation address, a market transaction, a political speech, a marriage transaction, a welcome address and numerous such other genres. these different genres are text types with their unique internal structures which accord with different social goals. for instance, there is a difference between how a lecture is structured as different from an inaugural speech or a vote of thanks. each has its own internal patterning and schematic structures and this enables one to discover when the speaker switches from one genre to another, like when somebody in a lecture is asked to stop “sermonizing” in a situation where they digressed from lecturing which is an academic genre to a religious genre. research questions 1. what are the speech style shifts? 2. what are the motivations for the style shifts? 3. how did the style shifts affect the relationship among the characters? 4. what power structures are at work? methodology the speech style-shifts in the selected literary text, chosen because of the ingenious language use of the author are identified, the motivations for the style-shifts and the speech situations and speech events that informed the shifts in the speech styles of the characters are highlighted and subjected to hymes speaking grid. eight sample excerpts of the speech style-shifts would be used as data. data presentation and analysis excerpt 1 “how was your holiday, kambili?” ezinne leaned over and asked. “fine”. “did you travel abroad?” “no.” i said. i didn’t know what else to say but i wanted ezinne to know that i appreciated that she was always nice to me even though i was awkward and tongue-tied. i wanted to say thank you for not laughing at me and calling me a backyard snub the way the rest of the girls did, but the words that came out were. “did you travel?’ ezinne laughed. “me? o di egwu. it’s people like you and gabriella and chinwe who travel, people with rich parents. i just went to see my grandmother.” “oh,” i said. (p. 49) the speech style shift as showcased in the expression “me? o di egwu…” is from intimate to casual. the speech situation /speech event that informed the shift in the in the speech style of the character in the excerpt above is when kambili asked her ezinne, her classmate whether she travelled abroad during the holidays when they resumed classes. the motivation for the style shift was the situation. the interlocutors share the same linguistic background characterized by code-mixing/code switching english and the vernacular. excerpt 2 “you know eugene did not get along with ifediora?” aunty ifeoma’s whisper was back, fiercer, louder. “because ifediora told him to his face what he felt. ifediorah was not afraid to tell the truth. but you know eugene quarrels with that he does not like. our father is dying, did you hear me? dying. he is an old man, how much longer does he have, gbo? yet eugene will not let him into his house, will not even greet him. o joka! eugene has to stop doing god’s job. god is big enough to do his own job. if god will judge our father for choosing to follow the way of our ancestors, then let god do the judging not eugene.” (pp. 95-96) speech style shift as reflected in the expression “ojoka! eugene has to stop doing god’s job…” is from intimate to frozen style. the speech situation/speech event that informed the shift in the speech of the character in the above excerpt is when aunty ifeoma was complaining to kambili’s mother about eugene, kambili’s father’s behaviour towards their heathen father. she complained that eugene, not minding that their father was an old man with few more years to live yet will not let him into his house nor even greet him. the motivation for the style shift was the situation. the interactants share the same linguistic background characterized by codemixing/code switching english and the vernacular. excerpt 3 “papa nnukwu is sick?” amaka asked shrilly. “mom, when did you know?” “this morning, his neighbor called. she is a good woman, nwamgba, she went all the way to ukpo to find a phone.” “you should have told us!” amaka shouted. o gini? have i not told you now? aunty ifeoma snapped. (pp. 147-148) the shift style as showcased in the expression “o gini? have i not told you now? is from intimate to casual style. the speech situation/speech event that informed the shift in the speech style of the character was when amaka’s mother informed her that papa nnukwu, her grandfather was sick. she askedher when she got the information and that she should have told them earlier. this made her mother angry. the motivation for the the speech style shift was the situation and the setting. apart from the fact that it was a home setting, the interlocutors also shared the same linguistic background characterized by code-mixing and code switching english and the vernacular. excerpt 4 “eugene, our father has fallen asleep.” aunty ifeoma said. papa stared at her for a while, surprise widening the narrow eyes that so easily became redspotted. “when?” “this morning, in his sleep, they took him to the mortuary just hours ago.” “did you call a priestto give him extreme unction?” he asked. aunty ifeoma ignored him and continued to look at her at her hands, folded in her lap. “ifeoma, did you call a priest?” papa asked. “is that all you can say, eh , eugene? have you nothing else to say, gbo? our father has died! has your head turned upside down? will you not help me bury our father?” “i cannot participate in a pagan funeral, but we can discuss with the parish priest and arrange a catholic funeral.”aunty ifeoma got up and started to shout. i will put up my dead husband’s grave for sale, eugene, before i give our father a catholic funeral. did you hear me? i say i will sell ifediorah’s grave first. was our father a catholic? i ask you eugene, was he a catholic? uchugbagi! aunty ifeoma snapped her fingers at papa; she was throwing a curse at him. (pp. 186-187) the speech style shift reflected in the expression uchugbagi! is from intimate style to frozen style. the speech situation/speech event that informed the shift in the speech style of the character in the excerpt above was when aunty ifeoma and eugene were discussingthe death and burial of their late father. eugene recommended a catholic burial for their heathen father because he did not want to participate in a pagan burial. his sister, aunty ifeoma vehemently opposed the idea. the motivation for the shift in speech style was the situation. both characters were siblings who shared the same linguistic background that were characterized by code-mixing/ code switching english and the vernacular. excerpt 5 “they are telling mom to shut up” amaka said. “shut up if you don’t want to lose your job because you can be fired fiam just like that.” amaka snapped her finger to show how fast “aunty ifeoma could be fired.” “they should fire her, eh, so we can go to america,” obiora said. “mechieonu,” amaka said. “america?” i looked from amaka to obiora. aunty phillipa is asking mom to come over. (pp. 218-219) the shift style shift as showcased in the expression “mechieonu” is from intimate style to casual style. the speech situation /speech event that informed the shift in the speech style of the character in the excerpt was when amaka was recounting the experience their mother who is a lecturer in the university had as a result of the aftermath of students’ unrest. the administration threatened to sack her if she did not shut her mouth about the incident.obiora, her younger brother preferred that she be fired so that they can go to america to the chagrin of amaka. the motivation for the shift in speech style was the setting and the situation. the interlocutors were siblings and so shared the same linguistic background characterized by code-mixing /code mixing the english language and the vernacular (igbo). excerpt 6 “who sent you here?” aunty amaka asked. “we are from special security unit in port harcourt.” “do you have any papers to show me? you cannot just walk into my house” “look at this yeye woman oh! i said we are from the special security unit! …” “how you go come enter like dis? wetin be dis? obiora said, rising, the fear in his eyes not quite shielded by the brazen manliness in his pidgin english.” obiora, nodu ani,” aunty ifeoma quietly said, and obiora sat down quickly. (p. 225) the shift style shift reflected in the expression “look at this yeye woman oh!” is from consultative to frozen. the speech situation /speech event that informed the shift in the speech style in the character in the excerpt was when the men from the state security unit invaded aunty amaka’s home to carry out a search following the allegation of her involvement in the university students’ unrest. the motivation for the shift in speech style was the situation (linguistic) pidgin is a lingua franca in nigeria and so it is a common code especially among those residing in big cities. the men from the state security unit used it to address aunty ifeoma. the second speech style shift showcased in aunty ifeoma’s speech directed to her son in the vernacular which was from consultative to intimate was possibly meant to serve as a private instruction to her son because of the speech situation. the men from the state security unit obviously do not share the same vernacular code and so they were excluded. excerpt 7 who will teach amaka and obiora in the university? the educated ones leave, the ones with the potential to right the wrongs. they leave the weak behind. the tyrants continue to reign because the weak cannot resist. do you not see that it is a cycle? who will break that cycle?” “that is simply unrealistic pep-rally nonsense, aunty chiaku,” obiora said. i saw the tension fall from the sky and envelope us all. a child’s cry upstairs interrupted the silence. “go into my room and wait for me, obiora,” aunty ifeoma said. obiora stood up and left. he looked grave as if he had only just realized what he had done… her friend left soon afterwards. aunty ifeoma stormed inside, nearly knocking a lamp over. i heard the thud of a slap and then her raised voice. “i do not quarrel with you disagreeing with my friend. i quarrel with how you disagreed. i do not raise disrespectful children in this house, do you hear me? you are not the only child who has skipped a class in school. i will not tolerate this rubbish from you! i na-anu?” she lowered her voice then i heard the click of her bedroom door closing. (pp.239-240) the speech style shift as reflected in the expression “i will not tolerate this rubbish from you! i na-anu?” is from consultative to intimate style. the speech situation/speech event that informed the shift was when obiora, aunty ifeoma’s son made a rude remark concerning aunty chiaku’s effort to dissuade his mother from her plans to travel abroad. the motivation for the style shift was the setting and the situation. being mother and child, they shared the same linguistic code characterized by code-mixing and code switching english and the vernacular apart from the fact it was a home setting. excerpt 8 aunty ifeoma looked up from the forms she was going through. “amaka, ngwa , pick up a name and let fatheramadigo and do his work.” “but what’s the point then?” amaka said to father amadi, as if she had not heard her mother. what the church is saying is that only an english name will make confirmation valid. ‘chiamaka’ saysgod is beautiful. ‘chima’ says god knows best, ‘chiebuka’ says god is the greatest. don’t they glorify god as much as ‘paul’ and ‘peter’ and ‘simon’?” aunty ifeoma was getting annoyed; i knew by her raised voice, her snappy tone. “o gini?” you don’t have to prove a senseless point here! “just do it and get confirmed, nobody says you have to use the name!” but amaka refused. “ekwerom,” she said to aunty ifeoma, i do not agree. then she walked into her room and turned on the music very loud until aunty ifeoma knocked on the door and shouted that amaka was asking for a slap if she did not turn it down right away. (pp.266-267) the speech style shift showcased in the expression “o gini? you don’t have to prove a senseless point here” is from intimate to casual style. the speech situation/speech event that informed the shift in the speech style was when amaka was delaying in choosing an english name for her confirmation as required by the catholic church. she argued that igbo names were as good as english ones. the motivation for the style shift was the setting and the situation. the interlocutors shared the same linguistic background characterized by code-mixing and code switching, being mother and child. the second speech style shift reflected in the expression “‘ekwerom,’ she said to aunty ifeoma, i do not agree” is also from intimate to casual with a similar motivation. applying the speaking grid, we represent the speech events as follows: excerpt 1 s=setting: an interaction between kambili, the protagonist and her class mate, ezinne when they resumed classes after their holidays. p=participant: kambili and ezinne e= ends: the goal of the interaction is finding out where each of them travelled to during the holidays. a=act sequence: questioning and informing k=key: light-hearted i=instrumentalities: the interaction is oral. n=norms of interaction and interpretation g=genre: friend – friend interaction excerpt 2 s=setting: the interaction between kambili’s mother and aunty ifeoma, kambili’s paternal auntywhen the two were discussing about kambili’s father, eugene in the former’s bedroom. p=participants: kambili’s mother and aunty ifeoma k=key: serious, sad i=instrumentalities: the interaction is oral n=norms of interaction and interpretation: the interaction is usually on a friendly note. g=genre: sisters – laws’ interaction excerpt 3 s=setting: the interaction between aunty ifeoma and her daughter, amaka\ p=participants: aunty ifeoma and her daughter, amaka e=ends: the goal of the interaction is the reported sickness of papa –nnukwu, amaka’s grandfather. a=act sequence: informing, questioning k=key: serious, sad i=instrumentalities: the interaction is oral. n=norms of interaction and interpretation: parent – child interaction excerpt 4 s=setting: the interaction between eugene achike, kambili’s father and his sister, aunty ifeoma when they were the discussing the death and burial arrangement of their late father. p=participants: eugene achike’s father and his sister, aunty ifeoma e=ends: the goal of the interaction is settling of issues concerning the burial of their late father a=act sequence: informing, questioning and declaring k=key: serious, sad i=instrumentalities: the interaction is oral. n=norms of interaction and interpretation: the interaction is usually intimate. g=genre: brother-sister interaction excerpt 5 s=setting: the interaction between amaka, obiora and kambili when they were discussing the recent development in the university where aunty ifeoma, their mother is a lecturer. p=participants: amaka, obiorah and kambili e=ends: the goal of the interactionis the threat by th university admimistratonon aunty ifeoma’s appointment. a=act sequence: informing, asserting and reprimanding k=key: serious, pompous i=instrumentalities: the interaction is oral. n=norms of interaction and interpretation: the interaction is usually friendly. g=genre: cousin’s interaction excerpt 6 s=setting: the interaction involving aunty ifeoma, herso, obioraand men from the special security unit when they came to search her house following the university students riot and her alleged involvement. p=participants: aunty ifeoma, her son, obiora and men from the special security unit e=ends: the goal of the interaction is the search of aunty ifeoma’s house by men of the special security unit. a=act sequence: questioning, informing, and directing k=key: serious, pompous i= instrumentalities: the interaction is oral. n=norms of interaction and interpretation: the interaction is usually done in standard english. g=genre: security officials-defendant’s interaction excerpt 7 s=setting: the interaction involving aunty ifeoma, her friend, auntychiaku and her son, obiora when obiora made a rude remark in the discussion the two women were engaged in. p=participants: aunty ifeoma, her friend, aunty chiaku and aunty ifeoma’s son obiora e=ends: the goal of the interaction is the bid by aunty chiaku to dissuade aunty ifeoma from resigning from her job and travelling to america. a=act sequence: questioning, declaring and reprimand k=key: serious i=instrumentalities: the interaction is oral. n=norms of interaction and interpretation: the interaction is friendly. g=genre: friend-friend interaction excerpt 8 s=setting: the interaction involving amaka, her mother, aunty ifeoma and father amadi, catholic priest and a friend to the family when they were trying to convince amaka to choose an english name for her confirmation. p=participants: amaka, her mother, aunty ifeoma and father amadi e=ends: the goal of the interaction is the bid to convince amaka to choose an english name for her confirmation. a=act sequence: questioning, directing, and declaring k=key: serious, mocking i=instrumentalities: the interaction is oral. n=norm of interaction and interpretation: parents give instruction and children comply. g=genre: parent-child interaction discussion in excerpt 1, kambili’s inquiry from ezinne, her class mate on whether she travelled abroad for her holidays when they met on resumption of classes was what motivated the speech style shift from intimate to casual style. the style shift may have made kambili more uneasy in relating with her friend as she was already undergoing emotional tension and was eager to please her. symmetrical power relation is in force here as they were class mates. in excerpt 2, eugene, kambili’s father’s antagonistic attitude towards his aged heathen father who aunty ifeoma, sister alleged that he would not welcomeinto his house nor even greet him was what motivated the speech style shift from intimate to frozen style. on this style of speaking, holmes (2013,p.240) avers that “the speaker’s relationship to the addressee is crucial in determining the appropriate style of speaking” she observes that “how well you know someone or how close you feel to them … is one important dimension of social relationship.” the style shift may have more increased the strain in their relationship as siblings over the matter especially as she further charged him to stop playing the role of a judge over their father which god was big enough to play. symmetrical power relation is in force here which according to pfetsch (2011), “is characterized by a balanced mutual relationship based on similar allocations of power resources.” in excerpt 3, amaka’s loud expression of her displeasure at her mother’s failure to inform them earlier of their grandfather’s illness motivated the speech style shift from intimate to casual style. apparently amaka was very fond of her grandfather. more so, she and her brother, obiora were raised in a home where freedom of expression was encouraged quite unlike kambili’s own home. wardhaugh (2010, p. 47) posits that “…conversations between persons who are intimate on matters of little importance maybe extremely informal or casual.” the shift may have better heightened her annoyance at her daughter. in excerpt 4, aunty ifeoma’s indignation at her brother, eugene’s proposal of a catholic funeral for their latefatherwho was a notable heathen motivated the speech style shift from intimate to frozen style. on beinginformed earlier on of the death of their heathen father, eugene’s first response was whether she called a priest. he then went on to announce that he cannot participate in a pagan funeral but that they can arrange a catholic burial to the chagrin of his sister. the style shift heightened rift in their relationship as aunty ifeoma threw a curse at him. being members of the same family, symmetrical power relation is in force here. in excerpt 5, amaka’s recounting of their mother’s ugly experience with the university administration that threatened to sack her mother if she did not shut her mouth aboutthe incident and the younger brother’s sudden outburst that they should sack her so that they can go to america motivated the speech style shift from intimate to casual style. apparently her brother’s disposition on the issue contradicted her graver outlook. being his elder sister, the speech style shift may have helped in calling obiora to order. according to yule (2010,p. 145) … the roles of speaker and hearer(s) and their relationship(s), whether they were friends, strangers, men, young , old, of equal or unequal status… all have an influence on what is said and how it is said.” asymmetrical power relation is in force here. in excerpt 6, aunty ifeoma’s demand of the men from the special security unit to show her their search warrant when they announced their mission to search her house motivated the first speech style shift from consultative to frozen. the speech style shift may have instilled a sense of fear in aunty ifeoma especially as the very man that addressed her simultaneously pushed her aside. asymmetrical power relation is in force here which depicts social distance. pfetsch (2) notes that that asymmetry “is a structure one can find among most social and political relations and in relations between unequal parties” the unequal allocation of power resources according to him “can lead to a point when the most powerful party makes threats and exerts pressure.” the second speech style shift which was from consultative to intimate was motivated by aunty ifeoma’s fear of a possible assault on her son by the security men when he made an attempt at confronting them in a show of manliness. the shift in speech style which was done in the vernacular was possibly intended to serve as a private code to her son since the men obviously belonged to a different tribe. the style shift sent the message across to the son because he sat down quickly. asymmetrical power relation is also in force here. in excerpt 7, obiora’s rude interruption into the discussion between aunty ifeoma and her friend, aunty chiakumotivated the speech style shift from consultative to intimate style. aunty chiaku’s bid to dissuade his mother from resigning from her job and travelling to america met with stiff opposition from obiora who was possibly nursing hopes of his family travelling abroad. again, the discussion took place in his home. yule (2010,p.145) notes that “there is an enormous variation in what people say and do in in different circumstances” he points out that in order to describe the sources of that variationa description of what the topic of conversation was and the setting it took place should be made. the home setting also explains his mother’s disciplinary measures to arrest the situation. the style shift may have better driven her rebuke home to her son. asymmetrical power relation is in force here. in excerpt 8, amaka’s reluctance to choose an english name for confirmation motivated the first speech style shift from intimate to casual. she argued that igbo names glorify god as much as english names. the style shift may have helped to establish her mother’s position on the matter as she obviously expected her obedience. the second style shift from intimate to casualwas motivated by aunty ifeoma’s insistence on amaka’s compliance stating that she did not have to use the name. the style shift must have strained the mother-daughter relationship between them as she flouted her instruction. asymmetrical power should be reflected here though it was truncated by amaka’s obstinacy. from the above discussion, it is evident that language is dynamic. the different speech events thus informed the shifts in speech style from intimate to casual, intimate to frozen, intimate to casual, intimate to frozen, intimate to casual, consultative tointimate, intimate to casual and intimate to casual respectively. the different speech style shifts identified were influenced mainly by speaker’s relationship to the addressee, the setting and social distance. the shifts also depict more of asymmetrical power relations between the different characters than symmetrical. references adichie. c. n.(2006).purple hibiscus. lagos: farafina. coulthard, m. (1977).an introduction to discourse analysis concepts. essex: longman group limited. ezeifeka, c. (2018).discourse analysis: concepts and approaches.awka: patrobas. holmes,j. (2013). an introduction to sociolinguistics.(4thed.). new york:routledge. hudson, r. (2001). sociolinguistics (2nd ed.). cambridge: cambridgeuniversity press. joos, m. online dictionary. https://elcombus.com pfetsch, f.r.(2011). power in influential negotiations: symmetry and asymmetry dan negociations. 2 (16) pp. 39-56 retrieved from https://ww.cairn.info/reveu negotiations-2011-2 page-39.htm on 3 october, 2020 wardhaugh, r. (2010). an introduction to sociolinguistics (6th ed.). westsussex: wileyblackwell. yule, g. (2010). the study of language (4thed.). cambridge: cambridge university press. longman dictionary of contemporary english posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 56 pronouns in etulo adaobi ngozi okoye department of linguistics, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka ifynoels@gmail.com abstract this study is a preliminary investigation of etulo pronominal system. the purpose of the study is to identify the different types of pronouns in etulo, their tone patterns as well as their functions in simple sentences. data for the study was collected from etulo informants resident in adi, buruku local government area of benue state. five classes of pronoun are identified and they are the personal, demonstrative, interrogative, reflexive and indefinite pronouns. our findings reveal that to a large extent, the personal pronouns are identical in their segmental and tonal composition. reflexivity is expressed by attaching a noun àbuwò ‘self’ to the object form of the pronoun while possession is marked by a prefixation to the object form of the pronoun. the demonstrative pronouns comprise two proximal and two distal demonstratives that maintain an inherent tone pattern within a noun phrase. keywords: pronoun, etulo, language 1.0 introduction pronouns in most languages occur as independent word forms and usually have the same distribution as a full noun phrase. to use a pronoun effectively, it is often needful to identify the noun that the pronoun is standing in for i.e. the antecedent. pronouns also agree with the antecedent in number, person, etc. this study provides an account of the types, forms and functions of pronouns in etulo, the language of a minority group in benue state. etulo language belongs to the idomoid group of the west benue congo languages of the niger congo language family. etulo like most african languages is a tone language and in this study, high tones are left unmarked, low tones are marked with a grave accent (`), mid tones are marked with a macron ( ¯ ) while the rising falling tones are marked with a circumflex accent (^). posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 57 1.1 pronouns yule (1995:88) defines pronouns as words used in place of noun phrases typically referring to things already known. this lexical category according to him is often described in terms of person and number in the english language. pronouns substitute for noun and noun phrases. pronouns also refer directly to some aspect of the situation surrounding the speaker or writer. fromkin, rodman and hyams (2011:167) see pronouns as lexical items that can get their meaning from other nps in the sentence or in the larger discourse. there are subclasses of pronoun. such sub classes include the personal pronouns which are the main means of identifying speakers’ addressees and others. in the english language, mine, yours, hers etc are the possessive pronouns. they express ownership as in’ it is hers.’ other sub classes include demonstrative, reflexive and interrogative pronouns for bloomfield (1933:249), a pronoun is a grammatical element of variable reference which stands for some noun previously given, explicitly or implicitly in the context. he describes the pronoun in the light of its function in ‘derived sentences’ that is sentences within which nouns have been replaced with pronoun (masculine, feminine etc) as appropriate. for example, the utterance in 1.he will be here in a moment, presupposes the previous occurrence of some masculine noun or noun phrase to which the pronoun ‘he’ refers. hatch and brown (1995:234) opine that pronouns refer to nouns that have already been mentioned in the discourse or points ahead to a noun that is about to be mentioned. they distinguish between anaphoric and cataphoric reference. anaphoric points back in the discourse to a noun that has already been established while cataphoric reference points forward to its referent. for example in 2. christy essen is called the lady of songs, she sings traditional african music’. the pronoun ‘she’ is anaphoric. ruying (2005:1906) in his study on the pronominal system of english and mandarin observes that substantial differences exist in the morphology, syntax and semantic/pragmatic functions of the pronominal systems of both languages. he claims that mandarin personal pronoun forms are simpler than their english counterpart because there are no gender, animacy and case contrast in forms. also each person consistently shares the mandarin phonetic core and informaton such posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 58 as plurality and possessive case are all encoded by one common morpheme attached to the stem. this, contrasts the english pronominal paradigm where a common phonetic core cannot be extracted. syntactically, english has obligatory subject and uses co referential pronouns while mandarin is null subject ( or pro drop) and prefers zero anaphora. edo, a niger congo language spoken in benin city distinguishes three persons (first, second and third) and two numbers (singular and plural) in its pronominal system. the language also has four series of pronouns which are the subjective, objective, emphatic and copulative series (uchihara 2010:1). edo distinguishes pronouns according to the grammatical function of subject and object as well as the contrast between the non emphatic forms (subjective /objective) and emphatic forms. uchihara (2010:11) also claims the existence of logophoric pronoun and general person pronoun. the latter corresponds to impersonal or indefinite pronouns in other languages and is used when the speaker cannot or does not want to specify the human subject of a sentence as in 3 ā ) ōkpıa nī mà gp (3.pl) comp man det be good it is said that the man is good. the former however are special pronouns used to refer to person whose words, thoughts, knowledge or emotions are being reported in a stretch of discourse. edo uses the strong form of 3sg pronoun ((ı) yen) for logophoric reference as in 4 osagie ı yēn y(o) evbā osagie comp 3sg emph went there osagie said hei went there. in (3) above, ā is not specific on the human subject of the sentence while in (4), the person referred to with the pronoun ‘iyēn is understood to be the same as the subject of the main verb ‘say’ which is osagie. kari (2007:94) highlights a three way distinction in the pronominal system of odual, a language spoken in cross river state. he points out that an interesting and distinguishing feature of odual pronominal system especially as regards the personal pronoun is the distinction the language makes between inclusive and posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 59 exclusive first person plural. kari (2007:95) citing givon (1984:354) claims that the inclusive and exclusive pronouns pertain to the hearers’ inclusion in or exclusion from the referential scope of ‘we’ either dual or plural. this inclusion or exclusion according to him is not directly predictable from the speaker and hearer rather they are potentially ambiguous and it is only natural that they are given overt specification. he exemplifies as follows 5 èzìrǝ noò -ru 1pls 1pl pres perf come we (incl) have come 6 èzǝǝr noò -ru 1pls 1pl.pres perf come we (excl) have come the first person plural subject ‘èzìrǝ’ is used when the hearer is included within the referential scope while ‘èzǝǝr’ is used when the hearer is excluded. 1.2 pronouns in etulo 1.2.1 personal pronouns etulo distinguishes three types of personal pronouns. the three types of personal pronoun are the subject, object and possessive pronouns. etulo does not make any gender distinction in its pronominal system. it distinguishes between the first, second and third person. the first person is used by the speaker to refer to himself or to a group which the speaker is part of. the second person is used to refer to the hearer or to a group which the hearer is part of while the third person refers to persons or things excluding the speaker and hearer. in respect of number in the personal pronoun, the language distinguishes between the singular and plural pronouns. the language however lacks any overt distinction between the second person singular and the second person plural. 1.2.1.1 subject pronouns subject pronouns occur before the verb and function as the subject of a sentence. in isolation, the pronouns are produced in the following forms posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 60 table 1 singular 1st m/anî i 2nd abû you 3rd ò he/she/it plural 1st èjî we 2nd emâ you 3rd a they segmentally, all subject pronouns begin with a vowel. the first and second person singular subjects have the same tone pattern (i.e.) starting with high tone and ending with a rising falling tone. in etulo /m / and /anî / are used interchangeably as the subject forms of pronoun. 7 illustrate the use of these pronouns in the subject position. anî bâ wà 1sgs come 1sg pres perf i have come abû bâ wà 2sgs come 2sg pres perf you(sg) have come o bâ wà 3sgs come 3sg pres perf he/she has come èjî bâ wà 1pl come 1pl pres perf we have come posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 61 emâ bâ wà 2pl come 2pl pres perf you(pl) have come a bâ wà 3pl come 3pl pres perf they have come. in 7, all subject pronouns maintain their inherent tone patterns in sentences except the pronoun that refers to the third person singular subject which has a low tone in isolation and becomes high when used in a sentence. it is also observed that the present perfect marker is cv. the vowel of the verb stem agrees with the vowel of the present perfective marker. the form /wa/ is associated with the first, second and third person’s singular subjects as well as the plural subject pronouns. this is opposed to what obtains in the english language where the third person singular subject has a different form of present perfective marker. 1.2.1.2 object pronouns object pronouns occur after the verb, and function as the object of a sentence. these pronouns, in their isolation forms are identical with their subject counterparts both segmentally and tonally except the object pronoun referring to the third person singular and plural objects. object pronouns are also consistent in their tone patterns when used in a sentence. forms of object pronoun table 2 singular 1st anî me 2nd abû you 3rd n him/her plural 1st èjî us posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 62 2nd emâ you(pl) 3rd amâ they 8 illustrates the use of these pronouns in object positions ò kà dı anî 3sgs 3sg fut -see 1sgo he will see me m kà dı abû 1sgs 1sg fut -see 2sgo i will see you m kà dı n 1sgs 1sg fut -see 3sgo i will see him ò kà dı èjî 3sgs 3sg fut -see 1plo he will see us èjî kà dı ma 1pls 1pl fut -see 3plo we will see them. it is observed that the future marker has a cv form. /ka /the future marker remain the same and does not distinguish between number and person in the object forms of etulo pronouns. 1.2.2 possessive pronouns ownership in etulo is expressed by the use of possessive pronoun. this is achieved by prefixing ‘mgba’ to the form of the object pronoun. when the possessive marker ‘mgba’ is in associative construction with the object forms of pronoun, the last sound segment (a) is elided. forms of possessive pronoun: table 3 posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 63 singular 1st mgbanî mine 2nd mgbabû yours(sg) 3rd mgban his/hers plural 1st mgbejî ours 2nd mgbemâ yours(pl) 3rd mgbamâ theirs 9 illustrates the use of these pronouns in possessive noun phrases ìgbe mgbanî bag 1sgposs my bag ìgbe mgbabû bag 2sgposs your (sg) bag ìgbe mgban bag 3sgposs his/her bag ìgbe mgbejî bag 1plposs our bag ìgbe mgbemâ bag 2plposs your(pl) bag ìgbe mgbamâ bag 3plposs posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 64 their bag in a possessive noun phrase, the possessive pronouns retain their inherent tone pattern. also the possessive noun phrases do not undergo any alteration in segments. table 4: summary of etulo personal pronouns subject object possessive 1sg m/anî ‘i’ anî ‘me’ mgbanî ‘mine’ pl ejî ‘we’ ejî ‘us’ mgbejî ‘ours’ 2sg abû ‘ you’ abû ‘you’ mgbabû ‘yours’ pl abû ‘you’ abû ‘you’ mgbemâ yours 3sg o ‘he/she ‘ n him/her mgban ‘his/hers pl a ‘they’ emâ ‘them’ mgbamâ ‘theirs 1.2.3 reflexive pronouns reflexivity in etulo is expressed by the use of a construction which involves the combination of a noun ‘àbuwò’ and the object forms of the pronoun. the pronouns always succeed the noun as shown in the table below. table 5 àbuwò anî self 1sgo myself àbuwò abû self 2sgo yourself àbuwò n posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 65 self 3sgo himself/herself àbuwò èjî self 1plo ourselves àbuwò abû self 2plo yourselves àbuwò emâ self 3plo themselves below are sentence examples of the reflexive pronouns 10.m fo àbuwànî 1sgs hear 1sgposs i heard myself abû fo àbuwabû 2sg s hear 2sgposs you heard yourself o fo àbuwon 3sgs hear 3sgposs he heard himself èjî fo àbuwèjî 1pls hear 1plposs we heard ourselves a fo àbuwèmâ 3pls hear 3plposs they heard themselves posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 66 the noun /àbuwò/ ‘self’ remains the same for both singular and plural antecedent. it is also observed that the last sound segment of this form meaning self is elided except for the 3sg possessive pronoun where the last sound segment is retained. 1.2.4 demonstrative pronoun etulo has four demonstrative pronouns. these pronouns express contrast between distant and near and both substitute for objects which are known to both speaker and hearer.the four demonstrative pronouns in etulo are divided into two proximal demonstratives /nenì/’this’ and/nanì/’that’ and two distal demonstratives /tenenì/’these’ and /tananì/’those’. forms of demonstrative pronouns are shown below table 6 nenì this nanì that tenenì these tananì those in isolation, the proximal demonstratives /nenì/’this’ and/nanì/ ’that’ have highlow tone pattern. this tone pattern is maintained when they co-occur with other words. this is also true of the distal demonstratives tenenì/’these’ and/tananì/’those’. 11 illustrates demonstrative pronouns in noun phrases 11.òzû nenì house sg.prox this house òzû nanì house sg dist that house òzû tenenì house pl. prox these houses posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 67 òzû tananì house pl.dst those houses in the above construction, the demonstratives follow the nouns they modify. 1.2.5 interrogative pronoun: some of the interrogative pronouns identified in the study include: table7 lème who /what mòle how mt∫osìnè why làlʊnwʊᴐ why zòle where some illustrative examples of interrogatives are lème ze menâ who there who is there? ìjı abû lème name you what what is your name? the forms mt∫osìnè and làlʊnwʊᴐ can be used interchangeably to mean why as in 12 mt∫osìnè abu lı nwìkpᴐ why you be cry why are you crying? làlʊnwʊᴐ abu lı nwìkpᴐ why you be cry why are you crying posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 68 conclusion the pronominal system of etulo has been examined. our findings show that most forms of subject pronoun maintain their inherent tone and do not alter segmentally in simple declarative sentences. reflexivity is marked by a combination of a noun àbuwò meaning self and the possessive pronoun. it is however noted that the noun marking reflexivity does not vary in form irrespective of whether its antecedent is singular or plural. also observed is the fact that tense markers do not have distinct forms that reflect the differences in the forms of pronoun. references bloomfield, l. (1933) language new york : henry holt gigone, k (2003) reflexives and pronominals in ambiguous english sentences. retrieved from www.swarthmore.edu/socsci/linguistcs/papers . hatch ,e.and brown c (1995) vocabulary, semantics and language education. cambridge: cambridge university press kari, e. e (2007) the pronominal system of odual. studies in african linguistics volume 36(1) pages 90-113. kempson, r.m (1995) natural language interpretation in language and meaning in palmer f. r (ed), essays in honour of sir lyons .cambridge : cambridge university press. lyons, j (1995) introduction to theoretical linguistics. cambridge: cambridge university press fromkin, v., rodman, r. and hyams, n. (2011). an introduction to language. wadsworth: cengage learning. ruying, q. (2005) from nominal to pronominal person reference in the early language of a mandarin-english bilingual child. proceedings of the 4th posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 69 international symposium on bilingualism, cohen, m. k, rolstad, k. and macswan, j. s.( eds) ma; cascadlla press. uchihara h (2010) pronominals in edo – a descriptive study. retrieved from http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~uchihara/pronominals. yule g (1995) the study of language. cambridge university press: cambridge. how “necessary preoccupations” can enhance curriculum development in african universities osita nnajiofor abstract i propose in this paper that “necessary preoccupations” can reduce the alien, oppressive and euro-centric curriculum in african universities. a manifestation of the euro-centricism is the clear denial of a proper space for african philosophy in our institutions of higher learning. it is observed that almost all african universities offer courses in british philosophy, american philosophy and european philosophy with little or no attention given to courses in african philosophy. the products of these systems eventually are clones that are groomed to imitate the european thought and life. how can this anomaly be reduced in african universities and in the continent in general? i claim that african philosophers and scholars should begin to preoccupy themselves with necessary things that affect the continent with little regards to the sentiments of the western writers. the welfare and needs of the africans should be given priority in the formulation of curriculum in african universities. the curriculum should incorporate phenomenological and substantive issues and executed through a conversational approach. keywords: curriculum, necessary preoccupation, african universities, africa, euro-centricism introduction education is an indispensable tool for national development and self-realization. it is a critical tool and an instrument for achieving the overall national aims of every nation. this development includes fostering social norms and the development of social and intuitional capacities. as a result, education helps in the development of intellectual and mental capacities of every members of the community. this is why etieyibo observes that “if education is important for the development of the intellectual mental capacities of individuals, then at least within the formal aspect of education, it is imperative to pay attention to content of what forms the education curriculum, namely, subjects, lessons and topics to be taught and learned” (etieyibo, 2018, p.8). the above named does not exhaust the content of a good curriculum but for the sake of this essay, these ones are of essence to our focus. almost all nations acknowledge the potency of education as a foundation to any developmental height. to achieve this, they mapped out aims and aspirations in their national policy on education. this means that the height of any nation is dependent on the value they placed on education, its content and their planners. the celebrated leadership author john maxwell observes with james bryant that “public education is a great instrument of social change….education is a social process, perhaps the most important process in determining the future of our country, it should command a far larger portion of our national income than it does today” (john maxwell, 2010). in africa, it is sad to note that this major pillar of development is grossly neglected. as a result, africa cannot exercise full control to this epistemic resource and its abounding heritages. in fact it is alluded that “much of what is taken for education in africa is in fact not african but rather a reflection of europe in africa”(higgs, 2008, p.458). the reason for this according to higgs is that “the norm for educational achievement and success for african children and students is that of western european elitist culture, where the english language is socialized and the internalization of bourgeois european values is seen as the index of progress (2008, 456). as a result, the effect of the intellectual domination is still evidenced in the financial dependence of african universities to their european counterparts. it also extends to the total fidelity by african universities to the use of foreign languages, training, orientations, research results and curriculum materials (adams, 1975. p.57). it is pertinent to note that greater percentages of the content of the curriculum in african universities are contributions of scholars from outside africa. the uncritical assimilation of western education has instilled a wholesome european mentality within african scholars and their students. this intellectual hegemony and intellectual dominance will continue if african universities do not rise to work hard for their intellectual independence. i believe that one of the ways that african universities can achieve their authentic intellectual independence is through a foundational and african oriented curriculum.it is despicable and worrisome also that after about two decades of independence from their colonial masters, african universities are not matured enough to claim intellectual independence and ownership of their educational contents. they are not yet fully acquainted with african problems and challenges that should inspire a formidable curriculum that is african orientedand problem solvingdriven. the above preliminaries is to set the stage for what this essay is all about, which is an attempt to reduce the continued intellectual dominance by the west through an african inspired and welfare driven curriculum for african universities. the first major step in achieving this is to know what curriculum is all about. the second section is an attempt to expose what should constitute a good curriculum and those saddled with the responsibility of developing a good curriculum. the third section ushers us into the dynamics of curriculum development in african philosophy. finally, this paper proffers what it terms a ‘necessary preoccupation’ as one of the ingredients that will enhance the development of curriculum in africa. curriculum, content and planning the need for rapid change and the effect of globalization in our society has made it a sine qua non to adjust our education system in order to be relevant in our contemporary world. however, it is regrettable that most of the resources and materials used in african schools are just an imitation of western educational models which are unsuitable to african system. it is expedient that african institutions halt mimicking wholesomely the western inspired models and look inwards to develop an original and ethno-based education models. it is foolishness when institutions whose character is majorly ethno-provincial keep masquerading as replica of oxford and cambridge without showing the same productivity as the original places they are mimicking. to end this ugly trend, there is urgent need for a radical re-orientation in our ivory tower on the use of suitable materials that can fit well in our african environment. adams was extreme on his call for this re-orientation when he opines that “an african staff working with western ideas is not africanized. no, for a university to be truly african requires that such an african staff be paid with african funds and also should be working with african materials” (1975,p.57). adam’s prescription is simply a call for africa’s educational resources to be relevant and be in tandem with african environment but with universal appeal. it is good that before proceeding with our task in this section, to look at the meaning of a curriculum. curriculum and its meaning the word curriculum represent in its original latin sense, a race ground, a run way, or a course which one runs to reach a goal. in education, rugg (1947) sees curriculum as the life and programme of the school. it is an enterprise in guided living, the stream of dynamic activities that constitute the life of young people and their elders. it is guided living in the sense that the educational activity is planned in a systematic way so that the individual child can learn survival skills for useful living in the society. for tyler (1963) curriculum is simply all the learning experiences of students which are planned and directed by the school to attain its educational goals. tanner and tanner have criticized this definition by tyler on the ground that it failed to demonstrate how school learning experiences differ from those which are not under the auspices of the school. onwuka (1981) sees curriculum as a reflection of what the people feel, believe and do. he opines that a curriculum must be seen as a deliberate, systemic and planned attempt, not only to change the behavior of children and youth, but also to enable them gain social insight and build a better society. these definition as good as it seem on the paper are not a reflection of our african ambience. most of the curriculum in our universities are systematic but are not proafrican and most of them do not arm african students with skills to survive in our contemporary world. our school administrators simply copy what is obtainable in western nations or america which makes our students a mole of western ideas. post-colonial africa is replete with diverse challenges ranging from the effect of colonialism, slavery, neocolonialism, poverty, illiteracy, diseases etc. there is therefore an urgent need for a curriculum that is capable of decolonizing africa’s subjugated mind and transform her citizens to emerge from an authentic african ambience. this curriculum should be capable of transforming african fading values to a more authentic african values and less of a western or oyibooji as gloria chukwu asserts. it is on this similar tone that chimakonam (2016) asserts “that training philosophers in universities in africa with the western curriculum amounts to deploying a misfit tool to a local problem”. content of a curriculum on the content of a curriculum, it is of utmost importance that a good curriculum must incorporate the prevalent conditions, peculiarities and trends in contemporary society and figure out some workable educational aspects that will better africa’s living conditions. the contemporary curriculum should above all also address some vital social problems in africa. it is on this premise that warner et al. (1973) urges that “education for the future is useless unless it prepares learners to meet problems that are new and that neither they nor anyone else has ever encountered before. all professionals in education programme need an image of tomorrow to plan their curriculums” (walter et al., in eyibe, 2007) from walters propositions it is interesting to deduce that a good curriculum should be futuristic in content and hence prophetic in academic dimensions. it should determine the need of the hour to determine the need of tomorrow. this is why it is a misfit to use 18th century curriculum in this 21st century. this calls for constant revalidation and an update of our educational curriculum on yearly or decade basis to maintain local relevance and content. it is this shortage in the futuristic content of our contemporary curriculum that spurred dedmon (2012, p.126) to lament that our system of education was shaped by the needs and structure of the old-fashioned industrial age. she observes that school subjects were chosen in a hierarchy designed to prepare citizens for jobs in an emerging industrial society. the quest for globalization requires an urgent need to discard the industrial system of education and to incorporate in the minds of african students with the tools of analysis, problem solving, constructive questioning, and a facility for teamwork and co-operation, in order to transform the present african battered educational system. to satisfy 21st century education requirements, the content of a curriculum is expected to be elastic, flexible, and expansive as possible. according to etieyibo: it is elastic, flexible and expansive when it is capable of incorporating as much possible many diverse cultural norms, values and worldview. unless of course one is a “cultural imperialist” or “western universalist” namely, subscribes to the view of some superior and dominant culture.2 this idea of an elastic, flexible and expansive curriculum is what, it seems to me, discussions about the decolonization, africanization and transformation of the curriculum is more or less about (etieyibo,2016, p. 9). the above submission reveals the need for a curriculum to be open and assimilate what needs to be assimilated and jettisoned or reform every imperialistic or domineering values and norms. robinson in (dedmon, 2012, p.151) advised that such (imperialist) system does not need reformation but a revolution. robinson however observes that the major challenge of this revolution is the courage to question what most of us have taken for granted. what have africans taken for granted in her educational system? chimakonam is of the opinion that one of the things that africa has taken for granted is the content and structure of her curriculum. the mis-education or improper education of children can arise from poor quality teachers, a poorly structured curriculum, and incorrect deployment of the curriculum, lack of resources or through bad education policies that either did not take the future seriously or miscalculated in the education equation…central to these is the structure of the curriculum. in our context, that curriculum would be that of education (chimakonam 2016, p.513). having attempted to demonstrate the importance of a curriculum, it is expedient also to x-ray the personalities saddled with the responsibility of structuring a good curriculum. who should structure a curriculum? in the light of the above, chimakonam (2016, p.514) absolved philosophy from this task. he pointed out that the task of philosophers is simply to create ideas while the formulation of a curriculum is simply the responsibility of the ancillary sciences.eyibe has some reservations in leaving this task to ancillary sciences alone because for him, they lack the necessary epistemic paraphernalia in discharging this duty. in eyibe (2000), “it is becoming increasingly evident that science and technology education studies are so important a subject to be left in the hand of scientists, technologists and engineers alone, who in spite of their hard work, lack forum and central meeting point to discuss pedagogy and compare notes on the advances they might have made in the course of their research and discoveries”. continuing, eyibe notes that science should as a matter of fact refrain from isolating her tasks from real world anxiety and troubles. they should no longer feel that they are only constrained in dealing with the immutable laws of newton but they should also focus on patterns of biological growth, of politics, economics, sociology and psychology. it is evident from above that any field that plays an exclusive role will find it extremely difficult to structure a credible curriculum. this is where philosophy as the mother of all sciences comes to mind. philosophy is a discipline that looks towards the future with her tools of innovations, creativity, problem solving, love of learning, constructive and original questioning, a facility for team work and co-operation. philosophy is that discipline that can unite scholars, professionals and even laymen in curriculum planning because a good curriculum should accommodate and address the problems of the society. to achieve this mandate, the roles of scholars, parents, citizens and educators are necessary for good curriculum planning. it is at this juncture that i submit that philosophy being an arrow head of all intellectual exercises is more advantaged to make special contributors to curriculum planning. curriculum in african philosophy over the years there has been a serious enquiry on the existence of philosophy in africa and also the existence of african philosophy? these two enquiries may be confusing but it is needful to distinguish them for easy comprehension. philosophy in africa refers to africa’s participation in the universal enterprise of philosophy while african philosophy presupposes a distinct way of doing philosophy. it differs from western, eastern, or american philosophy not in kind but in approach. (segun 2014, p. 3) the newness of african philosophy has elicited great debate on its existence, nature, content, scope, space and relevance. on the cheerful note, uduigwomen (2009, p.2), observes that the controversy regarding the existence of african philosophy is long dead and buried; and for him, the debate is a matter of mere historical interest. this newness has led to the probing of the nature and content of african philosophy, that is, the teaching, studies, writings materials and its general practice. some allude the relative youth of african philosophy to the paucity of the above resources. according to this view, african philosophy is still anticipating their aristotle and descartes to provide them with the necessary systems and methods for critical reflections. the clear manifestation of this is the clear denial of proper space for african philosophy in world’s institutions of higher learning and regrettably even in africa’s institutions of higher learning. it is observed that almost all african university offer courses in british philosophy, american philosophy and european philosophy with minute of them offering courses in african philosophy. okeja justifies this claim when he observes that “african universities all have traditional western courses and just one course titled african philosophy. all levels of thought classified as african philosophy are lumped up in a single course that goes by the name african philosophy” (2012: p. 666). there is urgent need to rise up and promote african philosophy to stand shoulder to shoulder with western, american and even eastern philosophy. segun citingasouzu advocates that; the progress and stagnation of african philosophy depends largely on the attitude of africans themselves who have the primary duty to patronize and promote it. in our institution of higher learning, a conducive atmosphere has to be created for the promotion and patronage of ideas, systems and methods of african philosophers in view of promoting african philosophy. that is to say, the thoughts of regional philosophers should be studied and made available to students and should be brought to compete with each other (asouzu 2004, p.111). unfortunately, this call for patronage and promotion of african philosophy in african universities are being frustrated and scuttled even by africans themselves. african universities still consider it absurd and not worthwhile for african philosophy to be included in their curriculum. moore presents this despicable picture even in south african university thus; again, in almost all departments of philosophy at south african universities, african philosophy has unsurprisingly not been considered worthy of inclusion in the philosophy syllabi. the current changing political and social conditions have, however necessitated reluctant recognition of the possibility of the existence of african philosophy as a legitimate reason5. despite these gains, vestiges of old eurocentric conceptions still remain and manifest themselves in veiled or disguised denial of african philosophy(moore 1996, p. 61). in the footnote of his writing, moore observes that “even black universities with the exception of university of zululand have not considered it wise to attach african philosophy in their curriculum”(ibid). he laments that even unisa who tried the experimentation ended up opening a separate unit for african philosophy. in line with moore, njoku in adams, also observes that “whether an african student is reading philosophy, political science, economics, or natural science, he finds it all alike by current methods of teaching: that all the significant ideas appear to have been contributed by people outside his own culture”(1975, p. 59). furthermore, adams categorically states that africanizationcannot be complete as long as the majority of materials and ideas studied in africa come from outside africa. etieyibo lends his voice to aver that the africanization project is imperative because of the general saying that “charity begins at home”. if “charity begins at home,” then it seems important that the africanization project ought to begin in philosophy departments in universities in africa. but we may also say that part of the reason for talking about the africanisation of the curriculum in universities in africa is that this is motivated or dictated by pragmatic reasons. for one may think that it is to get universities in africa to see and appreciate the need, importance, and urgency of africanizing the philosophy curriculum than it is to get universities elsewhere….to see and appreciate the need, importance and urgency of doing so (2018, p.16). it is this need and urgency of africanizing philosophy curriculum that inspired chimakonam to model a transformative and critical framework of an african focused curriculum to tackle the alien, often irrelevant and oppressive education system taught in our universities. chimakonam (2016) introduced three procedures for africanizing philosophy curriculum to avoid deploying western misfit tool to our local problems. the outlined models are as follows: the narrative of balance (b model), the narrative of displacement (the d model) and narrative of competition (c model). the narrative of balance (b model) is structured in such a way that an equal number of courses of the same unit are factored in a curriculum, where one is african and another western. the reason for this balance is to attract the gains of western thought and maximizing its advantages to the circumstances of life in africa. the narrative of displacement (d model) according to chimakonam entails introducing a whole set of african philosophy curricula to substitute the already existing curricula in universities in africa which are dominated by western philosophy courses. the rationale behind this model is more or less to claim an intellectual territory for african philosophy. the narrative of competition (the c model) is modeled to allow the thriving of two units in the department of philosophy: the western and african. an assessment mechanism will be put in place to monitor the thriving of these units. between the two units, any one that is capable and more enterprising can out do the other. the narrative of displacement and competition has the tendency of producing a philosophy curriculum that contains mechanism for overcoming what chimakonam (2016) describes as “logomania” which has the tendency of cloning african students to think like their european tutors. in chimakonam’s words “in the foremost challenge with this procedure is that african children will emerge from schools not knowing how to think originally, but rather would be groomed to imitate the european forms of thought and life” (2016:p.520). the narrative of balance seeks to incorporate western and african philosophy in one curriculum so as to vacillate between two valued and three valued thought models. the b-model, though attractive but might lead to what amos wilson calls “falsification of african consciousness.” it might starve the african child of the needed creativity and originality. conclusively, chimakonam chose b-model above the c model and d-model but has some reservations on the capital intensity of the balance model and the disastrous effect it will create in the system should narrative fail to materialize. the need for “necessary preoccupation” in the development of our curriculum it is on the invitation of chimakonam to further engage on these models that i propose the engagement of what jennifer vest calls “necessary discourse” in the development of our curriculum. vest was critical of the “perverse preoccupations” of the ethno-philosophy, excavationistsand professional school philosophers who contend that societal development and cultural sophistication are defined in the lens of the acquisition of western technology and christianity.these philosophers believe that the european wayof thinking is the only way worth discussing and other forms of philosophy like witches are simply not worth bothering with.as part of our decolonial project, the migration by african philosophers from “perverse preoccupation” to “necessary preoccupation” becomes expedient in order to position african philosophy from her place to her destined space. vest (2009, p.20) believes that african philosophers have devoted their precious time engaging in “perverse dialogues” by striving endlessly to destroy the myth of savagery perpetuated by the colonial west whichportrayed africans as 'non-rational. she queried the rational for these perverse engagements thus: why should africans prove they are rational, thoughtful, intellectually sophisticated persons? to whom must they prove this? why must african philosophy be defined in terms of a reaction to foreign misrepresentations? why must we as black people devote our greatest minds to engaging in dialogues designed to prove our humanity? (vest 2009, p.20). there are many challenges that should occupy african philosophers especially those things which have kept them at the back side of the world. these are the things that should bother african philosophers and not in engaging dialogues that questions their humanity.vest (2009, p.20) believes strongly that “the project of african philosophy is best served by eschewing such engagement or at the least by being aware of the obfuscating role such dialogues has for african philosophy”. vest (2009) contends that concerns of african philosophers should be a necessary preoccupation which debates on african lebenswelt andnot philosophizing to curry favor from the western audience. debates on african ontologies should be thoroughly and rigorously done not minding how it fits into existing discourses that are authored by western writers. if there is a widespread belief in witches in many parts of africa, perhaps a debate on the ontology of witchcraft is necessary, regardless of how it fits into existing discourses of primitive religions authored by western writers. if there is a widespread belief in intimate ontological relationships between humans, animals, plants and inanimate objects, then perhaps an african metaphysician should explore this idea, regardless of how it might be disparaged by european thinkers who might classify such beliefs as animistic and therefore not worthy of investigation. perhaps the ideas of important men and women ought to be studied by sage philosophers whether or not they can be compared to the ideas of socrates. perhaps african languages ought to be studied for their epistemological insights regardless of whether similar insights can be found in anglo-american analytic investigations of language (vest 2009, p.20). vest strongly believes that efforts such as these will lead to a conscious conversation by african philosophers in their field of endeavors. it is these necessary debates that i propose that should form the bulk of the curriculum in african universities, such curriculum should also factor in africa’s communal and social life in a substantive way. mkabela and luthuli(1997, p.1) had this model in mind when they submit that: a welfare concern, where the basis of communalism is giving priority to the community and respect for the person. it also involves sharing with and helping persons. educational discourse (curriculum) within this african frame of reference would help african people function in relation to one another in their communal tradition. such a functioning would promote a collective effort directed ultimately at the good of the community (mkabela and luthuli (1997, p.1). the necessary preoccupation is demonstrated and validated by service and community oriented curriculum which will instill discipline, creativity, ingenuity and hard work in the mind of african youths. to this end, higgs (2008) advice is timely, “education, then, in the indigenous african setting cannot, and indeed, should not, be separated from life itself. it is a natural process by which the child gradually acquires skill, knowledge, and attitudes appropriate to life in his or her community an education inspired by a spirit of ubuntu in the service of the community”. this necessary preoccupation which is powered by service and community oriented curriculum should also prioritize phenomenological and substantive issues affecting africans which has retarded her progress. phenomenological issues are those challenges that currently bedevils africa in our contemporary times namely: poverty, election malpractices, rigging, marginalization, illiteracy, terrorism, diseases, wars, perverse traditions, gender inequality, bad governance, corruption, racism, erosion, desertification, religious intolerance, injustice, banditry, kidnapping, cybercrimes, ritualism and all manner of insecurities etc. these are some of phenomenological issues plaguing african continent but sadly they are not captured in our curriculum. instead african universities are preoccupied by subjects that have little or nothing to further the progress of her citizens. what has the study on the commentaries plato to do in the rescuing of the displaced communities ofagatu in benue state of nigeria who were displaced by boko-haram? the content of the curriculum should also be substantive in that it should focus on building the episteme of african philosophy with phenomenological raw material of thought through a rigorous and critical engagement of individual african philosophers with one another’s thought which leads to the creation of original, innovative and rigorous episteme geared toward a synthesis borne out of contestation and protestation in a complementary way using the african mode of thought (chimakonam 2015, p. 465).this means that the content of our curriculum should be conversational in approach where rigorous and creative struggle of ideas are entertained by the proponent and opponent so that original and innovative ideas will emerge at the end of the encounter. conclusion education is one of the indispensable tools for human development and self-realization. education helps the development of intellectual and mental capacities of the members of every community. in africa, this indispensable tool of development is seriously neglected. this neglect ranges from: from poor quality teachers, poorly structured curriculum, and incorrect deployment of the curriculum, lack of resources or through bad education policies. central to these is the structure of the curriculum. in african philosophy for instance there is clear denial of proper space for african philosophy in africa’s institutions of higher learning. african universities all have traditional western courses and with few courses in african philosophy. this marginalized state necessitated urgency for africanizing philosophy curriculum to balance the oppressive education system taught in our universities. i have proposed in this essay that only a “necessary preoccupation” will enhance the development of our curriculum in african universities. references adams, b (1975).africanizing the african university, indiana university press: indiana, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 51-59. www.jstor.org/stable/4185521. asouzu, i (2004).the method and principles of complementary reflection in and beyond african philosophy. calabar: university of calabar press. chimakonam, o. (2016). “can the philosophy curriculum be africanized? an examination of the prospects and challenges of some models of africanization”. south african journal of philosophy 35 (4); 514-522. chimakonam, o. (2015).“transforming the african philosophical place through conversations: an inquiry into the global expansion of thought (get)”, south african journal of philosophy, 34:4, 462-479, doi: 10.1080/02580136.2015.1104795, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2015.1104795 dedmon, t.(2012). born to create, stepping into your supernatural destiny. destiny image publishers, shippensburg. pa, usa. etieyibo, e. (2016). “afri-decolonization, decolonization, africanization and the task of africanizing the philosophy curriculum. in e. etieyibo(ed)decolonization, africanization and the philosophy curriculum. london: routledge taylor and francis group. eyibe, s. (2009).modern curriculum development, onitsha:adson educational publishers fafunwa, a, b. (1967). new perspectives in african education. lagos: macmillan and co., ltd. higgs, p. (2008). “towards an indigenous african educational discourse: a philosophical reflection”, springer, revue internationale de l'education,vol. 54, no. 3/4, [living together: education and intercultural dialogue].pp. 445-458. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40270043 john c. m. (1997).becoming a person of influence, nashville:thomasnelson inc. onwuka, u. (1981).curriculum development for africa. onitsha: africana publishers. segun, t. (2014). “the prefix “african” and its implication forphilosophy in africa”, filosofiatheoretica: journal of african philosophy, culture and religions. calabar 3 (2). pp. 1-18 tanner, d. and tanner, l (1975). curriculum development theory and practice. new york: macmillian publishers. tyler r. w. (1963).basic principles of curriculum and instruction. chicago and london: university of chicago press. religion, trauma and the index of ‘madness’ in nawal el saadawi’s god dies by the nile ijeoma anyachebelu abstract in africa, there are many societal factors that tend to enfeeble the woman. the text god dies by the nile projects religion as one such factor that is used to weaken the psychological universe of the female gender, for whereas the man is the overlord who receives the divine mandate and deviously interprets it to suit his whims and purposes, the woman conferred an inferiority status is conned into passive obedience. this paper, therefore, exploring the trauma and post-colonial theories interrogates the nexus between religion as a debilitating societal construct and the attendant psychological injury that often results in creating mental incontinence for the woman. the paper concludes that religion should be more liberal and ‘wear a human face’ in advancing its practices in order not to push one beyond the edges. keywords: religion, trauma, female gender, psychological universe, religion introduction despite the surge of awareness raised concerning the relations of power between african men and women, one discovers that the african woman is still held in bondage by structures put in place by a society that favours, fosters and maintains male domination. in line with this view, ayo kehinde avers that, ‘to a great extent, african women are relegated to the background in the social, political and economic arenas of their societies’ (169). to him, african women are, ‘. . . relegated to a position from which they function as mere appendages to men’ (169). in traditional, as well as non-traditional societies, the woman is an archetype of injustice, inequality and subjugation upheld in many institutions of the african society. although almost every institution of the african continent manifests female suppression and domination, the religious institution records by far the worst kind of domination against women. corroborating this claim, attoh franca purports that, ‘religion is an instrument of female oppression and marginalization ... and [that] entrenched male domination into the social structure of society ... enforce patriarchy’ (159). in africa, the dominant religions are christianity and islam. in the christian religion, the holy bible charges women to be submissive to the man. oftentimes, this scripture is quoted without recourse to the follow up injunction to men to love their wives. the point here is that a man that loves his wife will not resort to either physical or psychological battery of the woman. when the man loves the woman, there will be understanding, mutuality and trust. but the alternative is the case as men often cite the submissive/docility verse as an excuse for cruelty and tyranny. in islam, the woman does not fare any better as religious norms are held onto as justification to keep the woman physically, psychologically and mentally oppressed. in the ubiquitous field of trauma hermeneutics, one finds that trauma is often associated with breathtaking experiences that threaten individual well being, as well as that of the larger community. however, sadiya abubakar contends that it equally involves, ‘day-to-day experiences or activities that can lead to mental frailties’ (122). trauma refers to a deep searing mental wound that overwhelms its victim emotionally, mentally and psychologically. while negin heidarizadeh purports that it is a ‘state of mind which results from an injury . . . a devastating and damaging experience’ (789), inette swart claims that trauma, ‘. . . brings to mind associations of pain, shock, disillusionment, life altering experiences, human aggression and betrayal . . .’ (194). trauma defines a horrific distress that leaves a mental imprint that destabilizes the self and the mind, sometimes resulting in neurosis. neurosis refers to a mental impairment that involves systems of stress like fears, worries and anxieties plaguing the victim but without a radical loss of touch of reality. it is a malaise caused by unpleasant experiences that distort the victim’s quality of life. olley b argues that ‘neurosis is basically psychogenic, that is, they are largely determined more by happenings in the individual’s environment and past experience ... it could be a learned response to certain traumatic situations’ (317). thus, saadawi’s fiction uses the life, psychology and mental dissonance of zakeya; the protagonist of the story to chronicle the dilemma rampant in the lives of many african women. the text, god dies by the nile foregrounds symptoms of mental impairment that materializes when religion is used as an oppressive tool to continuously subjugate the woman subjecting her to intense pain and aggravation. theoretical framework the theoretical framework of this paper is trauma theory as exemplified by cathy caruth. it is adopted here to explore trauma as a wound with an intense pain, not on the body but on the mind. building on freud’s ideas as suggested in his beyond the pleasure principle, caruth purports that trauma is a ‘. . . wound inflicted . . . upon the mind . . . [a] breach in the mind’s experience of time, self and the world . . .’(3-4). at the core of caruth’s trauma theory is the issue of delay and belatedness. drawing from the freudian model, caruth views trauma as an emotional response that is often delayed. this delayed response is categorized as posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) by the american psychiatric association. caruth defines ptsd as, a response, sometimes delayed, to an overwhelming event or events, which takes the form of repeated, intrusive hallucinations, dreams, thoughts or behaviours stemming from the event. . . the event is not assimilated or experienced fully at the time, but only belatedly . . . to be traumatized is precisely to be possessed by an image or event (4). hence, caruth contends that the victim of a shocking event is thrown off balance by the intensity of the shock that the individual is unable to come to terms immediately with the happenings of that unexpected event. but with its return, the individual is haunted by such occurrence. again, working at the intersection of trauma and literature, caruth views literary texts as a repository whereby the nature of trauma is revealed by its victims. as such, trauma theory often deals with narratives that tell the agonies and sorrows of either the author like in narratives about the holocaust for instance or it tells the agonizing experiences of characters within the trauma novel, thus capturing the core essence of literature as an avenue that, ‘. . . offers its readers a clearer, deeper understanding of the opaque events being reported in the press and on tv, whose shadowed truths the half-light of journalism fails to illumine’ (rushdie, 338). on the other hand, with religion used as a construct that imposes an inferior status on the woman, she is likened to the postcolonial ‘other’. although the concept of ‘other’ was conceived by emmanuel levinas, edward said in his text orientalism, expounded on the term. for said, ‘other’ represents a predisposed image that the west harbours towards the orient, that is, africa and countries of the middle east. lois tyson claims that ‘othering’ is a practice used to belittle others aside from one self seeing them as inferior; ‘it divides the world between ‘us’, the ‘civilized’ and ‘them’the ‘others’the ‘savages’. the ‘savage’ is usually considered evil as well as inferior (the demonic other)’ (366). ‘othering’ establishes the master servant dialectic through opposition, domination and frequent vilification of this ‘other’. it views in the marginalized groups a perception of weakness and minority in order to pursue selfish interests. however, although the concept of ‘othering’ is used basically in the study of the relations between the west and third or developing world, it can also be found in groups or categories of people in relations to race, gender, ethnics or religion. thus, the emphasis in this paper is that in the text, the author views religion as a tool of othering that bridges gender relations in zakeya’s kafr-el-teen into ‘us’ and ‘them’. while the men are regarded as recipients, interpreters and transmitters of divine will and messages, women are seen as passive receptors and practitioners of this divine will. it is no wonder then that some religious teachings and dictates are false and hypocritical, tilted and twisted to suit men’s patriarchal purposes. in essence, viewpoints revolving around patriarchal interpretations of religious creeds define and shape the individual and socio-cultural context of the woman, constantly suppressing her into silence and in its belated return, drives the woman into a state of mental impairment. religion, trauma and ‘madness’ in god dies by the nile god dies by the nile is set in the village of kafr el teen in rural egypt where the mayor is god, his word is law, and his passions reign supreme. his reign of terror is made possible by his minionssheikh hamzawi, sheikh zahran and haj ismailwho, seeking to be in favour with their lord, exert and enforce his ‘divine will’ on the natives who have been silenced and robbed of their own will with the mere mention/ inclusion of ‘allah’ to some dubiously devised scheme. most importantly, el saadawi’s god dies by the nile captures the devastating effects of this patriarchal instigated religion on the mind and psyche of the womenfolk centring on the character of zakeya. a powerfully built woman, she is industrious and enterprising, rising, ‘...before the crimson rays of dawn ... before the cry of the cock, the bark of a dog ...’ (1) to attend to her business. the strike of her hoe as it hits the earth shows that she is physically strong and even when the men take a break for a midday meal, she does not. notwithstanding, zakeya is an inwardly broken woman. she has been weakened by events and circumstances around her and the memories that often return to haunt her. she carries about her a deep sense of loss and pain, constantly squatting in the dust at the entrance of their home, morosely watching the world and quietly accepting her fate. this act of constantly squatting in the dust on the front porch denotes a crushed entity; a woman who cannot reconcile her image of a peaceful and loving god with the ‘god’ who takes and takes from them; a ‘god [who] wants [them] to pay him something. yet he knows [they] own nothing . . .’ (100). thus, zakeya is inwardly confused, seeking to believe but not wanting to believe. her traumatic situation stems from the fact that she is overshadowed by patriarchal figures that assume divinity status in her community and forcefully drain her existence. this hostile social and religious climate subdues and renders her mute. postcolonial studies acknowledge that lines are often drawn between ‘us’ and ‘them’; ‘the saints and the devils’. in the novel, el saadawi highlights these divides between the mayor as nobility, the one who was, ‘... above suspicion, above the law and above the moral rules which governed ordinary people’s behaviour’ (124); the one who the natives in their hearts fear and not really god. he is their god, for, ‘he holds their daily bread in his hands and if he wants, he can deprive them of it. if he gets angry their debts double, and the government keeps sending them one summons after the other ...’(134). as a representative of government, he uses his position to exploit and to, ‘. . .spend the money he squeezed out of them on his extravagant way of living, and his extravagant tastes in food, tobacco, wine and women’ (17). the mayor as the ‘god’ of kafr-elteen can make people in his bad books disappear and those who stand in his way are silenced forever. by reason of their association with the mayor, sheikh hamzawi, zahran and haj ismail are equally elevated to a ‘god’ status. together, they epitomize the oppressive recipients and enforcers of divine will. they in the name of ‘god’ mete out untold hardship to the people. they impose unjust taxes and confiscate their land when they cannot pay. on account of this, the people get, ‘. . . more and more hungry. all they have to eat is some dry bread and wormy salted cheese. . .’ (160). similarly in the novel, divides exist between alpha males and weakened females. these alpha males are the godhead, making rules that suit their whims and caprices and ensuring that their laws are obeyed. by this means, nawal el saadawi demystifies the mystery of the alpha male. she elucidates that the intent for this gender based master-servant dichotomy is to pursue selfish purposes, thereby fostering wickedness and injustice on the perceived weaker sex. in the novel, the amorous mayor having set his eyes on zakeya’s twelve year old niece, nefissa, sent sheikh zahran to acquire her for him. at the young girl’s refusal, zahran began preaching, you people are free to do what you like. it looks as though you are fated not to enjoy all the good which allah wants to bestow on you. there are hundreds of girls who would jump at a chance to work in the mayor’s house. but he chose your daughter (27). (emphasis mine) ‘all the good which allah wants to bestow on you’ unfortunately begins with a beating, ‘beat her. don’t you know that girls and women never do what they’re told unless you beat them? (27). ‘allah’s goodness’ then extended to an unwanted pregnancy and to the young girl’s disappearance from town. on being accosted, the mayor in all sainthood replied, ‘girls and women have lost all morality . . . men have always been immoral. but now the women are throwing virtue overboard ...’ (51). this is to say that it is acceptable for men to be immoral while the same standard is not applicable to the women. here, el saadawi foregrounds the hypocrisy prevalent in human relationships even in this religious community. to the african, family is everything. as against the individualism of the western world, communalism is deeply entrenched in the heart of the african. this is probably best captured in the african philosophy, ‘ubuntu’. ubuntu is an african philosophical thought that accentuates ‘being self through others’ (jacob and andrew, 82). it emphasizes the importance of empathy, interconnectedness and the achievement of a sense of self through others or reliance on the strength of others. in igbo, the phrases ‘igwebuike’ or ‘mmadu ka eji aka’ succinctly puts ubuntu in perspective. based on the foregoing, it becomes understandable that even though a physically dependent woman, zakeya relies on the strength of her family for her complete wholeness. this experience was denied her; for she suffered loss when nefissa disappeared from the village. to heighten her pain, kafrawi her brother and nefissa’s father is equally taken away to gaol for killing elwau, an unsuspecting victim that bore the blame for impregnating nefissa. needless to say, all these were frame ups by sheikh zahran in order to cover the mayor’s tracks and preserve his ‘sainthood’. in a meeting with haj ismail, sheikh zahran acknowledged that, ‘kafrawi is not capable of killing a chicken, and you know that very well . . . we are god’s slaves when it’s time to say our prayers only. but we are the mayor’s slaves all the time’ (68/69). albeit an indirect acknowledgment, zahran still pointed to the mayor as the killer of elwau. kayode ogunfolabi argues that what makes up the traumatic is the constant return of the lacuna that engineered the event of which the victim or trauma survivor is unable to account for. in zakeya’s situation, she has been deeply scarred by the many forceful departures from her family. first of all, her son galal was conscripted into the war and while others returned, he did not. secondly, nefissa, then her brother kafrawi. she carries about her a deep sense of loss with its attendant anxiety and pain. she mournfully laments; i wonder where you are, galal my son. i wonder whether you are alive or dead. . . and now kafrawi has also been taken away. who knows if he’ll ever come back. o god, were not galal and nefissa enough? did you have to take kafrawi also? we no longer have anyone left, and the house is empty . . . (85) alongside zakeya’s dilemma, the constant return of the lacuna of her traumatic situation is her persistent worry and panic over the return of the ones who went away. it does not help that in her mind ‘god’ is responsible for all her predicament. with a profound angst in her voice, she says to zeinab, ‘those who go never come back . . .’ (85). as against zeinab’s optimism and belief that god will help vindicate her father and bring back their loved ones, zakeya was not so sure, her belief in a ‘god’ who is gracious, merciful and good has been grossly marred and she is now uncertain of this ‘god’. wanting to believe but not seeing enough of this ‘god’s’ goodness to believe, she voices her inner anguish to her little niece, ‘. . . allah alone is not enough’ (86). continuing she retorts, i have not ceased praying and begging god to help us. and yet every day our misery becomes greater, and we are afflicted with a new suffering . . . many a time have i prayed to god, called upon him, beseeched him to have mercy on us, but he never seemed to hear me, or to respond (86/89). here, the pronoun ‘he’ and ‘him’ used in qualifying ‘god’ shows a belief that god is male and his refusal to help shows that he is merciless as against what zakeya has been brought up to believe. her doubts, pessimism and loss of faith thus signify her emotional response to her dilemma. the mind is, indeed, a reservoir of memories, and in trauma narratives, memories are important; for memories trigger testimony. felman and laub in ogunfolabi explains that the objective of testimony in trauma narratives is to empower the trauma victim to bear witness to the past, ‘. . . in order to undermine the tyranny of the past’ (43). for zakeya, her account of pain follows an unusual structure. her descent into neurosis unearthed her deep seethed pain and fears. neurosis has been defined earlier as a mental disorder that involves obsessive thoughts, anxieties and systems of stress. at the root of neurosis is apprehension and phobias. according to olley, past happenings and experiences in the individual’s environment are identified as causative factors. in zakeya’s case, the reader comes in contact with a catalogue of repressed ill addressed woes. hence; she was lying on a mat with her husband abdel moneim . . . but he got up at once and started to hit her on her head, and chest. then he kicked her in her belly which was pregnant with child . . . she could feel his fingers around her breasts, feel them creep down to her belly and between her thighs. his heavy body bore down upon her with all its strength, pressing harder and harder down on her flesh . . . he started to beat her again. for it was like that. every time a son of hers dies he would strike out at her blindly, and beat her up with anything he could lay his hands on. and the same thing would happen whenever she gave birth to a daughter (88/89). secondly, the ‘hearer’ bears witness to the testimony of big/huge iron gate or big iron bars. we would recall that zakeya constantly squats in the dust in her front porch facing the huge iron gate of the mayor’s exquisite house. this obsessive anxiety with the big iron gate seems to be the ‘genesis’ and ‘revelation’ of her trauma. in a conversation, she says to zeinab, ‘the devils are looking at me from behind the bars of the window’ (98). to allay her fears, zeinab replied, ‘it’s the door of the mayor’s house . . . (98) (emphasis mine). thus, the mayor here is the devil and the originator of zakeya’s troubles. on the other hand, the big iron gate symbolizes something insurmountable, perhaps, the religious nature of her community that places a limitation on the womenfolk. it suffocates and chokes life from them and cuts off any aspiration for liberation. in this little community, silence is the order of the day and any attempt to find voice is cruelly muted. thirdly, we witness an inner longing for companionship and its denial. zakeya relates that she had, ‘. . . given birth to ten sons and six daughtersbut the only child who had lived to grow up was galal. all the others have died at different ages, for life was like that. one never knew when a child would die . . .’ (89). continuing in a low voice, she whispers, ‘galal is the only one that grew up to live. but now he has gone and will not return. kafrawi also is gone, and nefissa. the house is empty, and zeinab is young. and i am too old to be of much use . . .’(89) fourth is other inexpressible laments and pain that has no end. for her, ‘... all the pain in life ... seemed to be as long as the length of her life, as long as the long hours of her days and night’ (96). moreover, zakeya’s continuous hallucinations with a ‘stranger dripping blood’ and ‘cutting off her head’ reveals a ptsd involving a gruesome, bloody female circumcision. perhaps the most horrible blow that ‘god’ dealt zakeya is the design to and the acquisition of zeinab; the only remaining support system that zakeya had and the unjust capture and confinement of galal who miraculously returns from sinai to claim and marry zeinab. haj ismail and zahran confirm that the ‘god’ of kafr el teen, ‘... burned with such a desire for zeinab that only death could put an end to it. sooner or later he was going to lay his hands on her, for like all gods he believed that the impossible did not exist’ (70). the mayor himself acknowledged that the, ‘... youngest is always the most tasty’ (18). he lecherously admires ‘her firm rounded buttocks [and] . . . her pointed breasts [moving] up and down with each step’ (18). even the smaller godhaj ismailburnt in wanton sexual lust and desire for this young girl. the narrator again recounts that the eyes of haj ismail, ‘... gazed at her fixedly, inflexibly, cruelly cutting through her dress, feeding on the beauty of her legs, on the curving flesh, on the fullness of her thighs and belly, on the petal-like skin and the waist narrow and slender, on her back rising up like a powerful stem’ (84). to acquire zeinab, haj ismail used the one means he knows would not fail. he used religion to exploit zakeya’s pain, further poking into a mental wound that had begun to fester. he says to zeinab, ‘your aunt zakeya is sick. she is sick because you have continued to disobey allah, and she has encouraged you to do that. but allah is all merciful, and kind, and he will forgive both of you on the condition that you obey, and do what he asks of you . . . (115). continuing with this charade, he commands; zeinab is to take another bath with clean water from the nile . . . then do her prayers at the crack of dawn. once this is over, she is to open the door of your house before sunrise, stand on the threshold facing its direction and recite the first verse of the koran ten times. in front of her she will see a big iron gate. she is to walk towards it, open it and walk in. she must never walk out of it again until the owner of the house orders her to do so. he is a noble and great man, born of a noble and great father, and he belongs to a good and devout family blessed by allah and his prophet (116). while this is going on, zakeya would remain alone at home, work on the fields and pray for forgiveness in order to drown her pain of loneliness. to highlight this deplorable situation, one would ask, what exactly does zakeya need forgiveness for? for being a woman or for being a tormented woman by the pain and trauma she had borne within her bosom for a long time. to this, karl marx avers that religion is the opium of the masses. he believes that religion is used to make people feel better about the distress they experience when being exploited and deceived. consequently, ‘god’ is used to make zakeya and zeinab feel better even when they are being brainwashed, deceived, exploited, ravished, rampaged and laid naked to the bones by a male dominated oppressive syndicate. the mayor however knows the truth and the game that was played as, ‘laughter was welling up inside him. speaking to himself in an undertone, he said, ‘devil, son of a devil. what a cunning rogue you are, haj ismail’ (119). zakeya’s final action in the selected text has been touted as murder, for at the end, instead of squatting at the threshold overlooking the mayor’s big building; zakeya actually crossed the threshold and struck a hoe on the mayor’s head. perhaps this assertion is true, for murder is murder and the killing of another human being is unjustifiable but then again, as stated earlier, trauma is caused by deep psychological scar that ‘distorts an individual’s sense of self and standards by which one evaluates society’ (michelle balaev, 2008). based on this view, it is inferred that zakeya’s sense of self and society have been distorted; she is now a psychological wreck that is prone to abnormal behaviours. the call here therefore is that, in order not to blow to full psychotic states; religion should be more liberal and empathetic. furthermore, it is imperative that zakeya’s action is not considered a personal vendetta against the mayor for zakeya is an embodiment of all female suppression in an oppressive sociocultural and religious setting and there has to be a definite move to unseat structures that threaten the complete wholeness and wellbeing of femalehood. conclusion the african is naturally predisposed to religion and a belief in the divine. unfortunately, religion in africa has been the preserve of men. in the holy bible for instance, st. paul in 1st timothy 2:12-14 and 1st corinthians 14:34-35 forbade women to talk because she is blamed for man’s fall from grace. this unfortunate state of affairs has made women more vulnerable to exploitation and oppression from the male folk. el saadawi’s god dies by the nile projects a discourse that traces a trajectory between religion and female oppression. her treatise buttresses that religion is a man-made construct and being forcibly pushed into silence in the face of oppression tells on the psyche and unnerves the victim. in essence, zakeya’s anxieties, pain and trauma can be said to be a metaphor for the oppressive situation that most african women go through. however, pain forges a new perspective and understanding of the self. it, therefore, behoves african women to take decisive actions and initiatives, seeking solutions to their problems and challenges, for no one should be made to remain silent and dormant in the face of inhumanity and injustice. works cited abubakar, sadiya. ‘art as narrative: recounting trauma through literature’. irainternational journal of management and social sciences. vol 8, no 1, july, 2017. pp 118123. http://research-advances.org/index.php attoh, franca. ‘gender, religion and patriarchy: a sociological analysis of catholicism and pentecostalism in nigeria’. advances in social sciences research journal. vol 4, no 14, july 25, 2017. balaev, michelle. ‘trends in literary trauma theory’. mosaic, vol.41, issue 2,2008, pp149-166. caruth, cathy. unclaimed experience: trauma, narrative and history. london: john hopkins university press, 1996. el saadawi, nawal. god dies by the nile. london: zed books, 2007. heidarizadeh, negin. ‘the significant role of trauma in literature and psychoanalysis’. 1 procediasocial and behavioural sciences. 192 (2015) 788-795. www.sciencedirect.com kehinde, ayo. ‘patriarchal suppression and neurosis: african women’s plight in j.m coetzee’s in the heart of the country’. african study monographs. vol 27, no. 4, december, 2006. pp 169-185. mugumbate, jacob and nyanguru, andrew. ‘exploring african philosophy: the value of ubuntu in social work’. african journal of social work. vol 3, no 1, august, 2013. ogunfolabi, kayode. ‘biracialism and trauma in kaine agary’s yellow yellow’. tydskrif vir letterkunde. vol 56, no 2,2019. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8419-5631 olley, b. o. ‘abnormal psychology’. psychology: perspectives in human behaviour. (eds) bola udegbe, helen osinowo, shyngle balogun, gbenga sunmola. ibadan: freedom press. okoye, chike. introduction to commonwealth literature. awka: besing books, 2013. swart, inette. ‘from trauma to well-being: how music and trauma can transform us’. the journal of transdisciplinary research in southern africa, vol. 10, no.2, 2104, pp. 193207. rushdie, s (ed). ‘may 2003: j.m coetzee’. step across this line. london: vintage, 2003. pp 338-340. tyson, lois. critical theory today: a user friendly guide. new york: garland publishing, 1999. texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 41 chapter four texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design mary emodi-nnoruka, chika chudi-duru, & vivian okpalauba introduction exture and patterns are parts of the vocabulary of art and design. texture is a formal element of design, and pattern is a form of repetition. texture is the surface quality of an item. it is how something feels when touched, or looks like it would feel if touched. a drawing of a tree stump could show rough outer bark and a smooth inner surface. texture adds variety and interest (stout, 2000). pattern in design is a repetition of certain elements in an orderly manner to form a design layout. motif a motif is a unit of design. a motif can be described as what constitutes a major theme in patternmaking or pattern arrangement. motifs in pattern making are to be repeated at regular intervals, several times. it could also be said that the decorative design is composed of a basic unit often referred to as a motif, an isolated shape or figure that is repeated all along the length and width of the cloth by weaving or printing. t chudi-duru, c. c., et al 42 fig. 1: a motif. source: emodi, 2021 classification of textile motifs according to naik &wilson (2009), they are broadly classified and grouped as naturalistic, ethnic, geometric, stylized and abstract. naturalistic motifs this could also be referred to as realistic motifs naturally depicting real objects. it could be flora-fauna, utility articles, sculptures, architectural objects, animal skins, human figures and any other derivative of nature. ethnic motifs they are inspired by traditional design works from different native cultures, for instance, african, indian, north american, european, south american, greek, roman, japanese, persian, byzantine, gothic and many others. they are occasionally considered tribal motifs. texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 43 some designers are greatly influenced by ethnic motifs and ethnic textiles. geometric motifs this comprises entirely geometric shapes and forms or a design may be constructed on a geometric foundation. the design or pattern which is repeated or multiplied indefinitely by either weaving or printing must show an exact repeat no matter how elaborate it is. stylized motifs these motif designs distort the real objects. the source of inspiration for a stylized design is generally recognizable, the object is either abridged or exaggerated in such a way as to give it an unnatural form. abstract motifs here, the form of the real object is used as motif designs in such an unrealistic shape and irregularities that probably no one would possibly recognize or identify it. uses of motifs 1. motif is used to serve as a major theme in pattern making. 2. motifs can be used to create texture in designing some surfaces. 3. it is used to enhance the surface of the design. 4. motif is used to create a rhythmic flow in pattern making. chudi-duru, c. c., et al 44 repeat pattern system this is a way of arranging motifs creatively in a repeated way to achieve rhythm and balance. there are different methods which can be used to repeat motifs in pattern making. in basic design, a repeat pattern system is the art of organizing and arranging various elements of art or elements of design in a meaningful and orderly manner. the arrangement of these elements should be done according to certain principles of art which are the guiding rules. pattern is an arrangement of repeated motifs to create rhythm, in lines, shapes, colours and textures. pattern is a decorative design that appears mostly on clothes, walls, paper, carpets etc. there are several types of pattern arrangements, ndubisi (2010). however, there are some basic repeat patterns, networks or design layouts that are very necessary to the textile artist/ designer. they are briefly discussed below. simple repeat pattern this is a repeat method where motifs are arranged beside each other on each row, both vertically and horizontally. an example is placed below: texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 45 fig. 1: simple repeat pattern. source: emodi, 2021 mirror repeat pattern: mirror repeat pattern is a method whereby the motifs are arranged to reflect one another in design. an example can be seen below: fig. 2: mirror repeat pattern, emodi, 2021 brick repeat pattern: a brick repeat pattern is a repeat method where motifs are arranged in a brick-laying pattern. an example is placed below: chudi-duru, c. c., et al 46 fig. 3: brick repeat pattern, emodi, 2021 half drop repeat pattern half drop repeat pattern is a repeat method that has the motifs arranged in a half-drop way/style in a design. below is an example: fig 5: half drop repeat pattern, emodi, 2021 texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 47 diamond repeat pattern diamond repeat pattern is a repeat method that takes after a diamond effect. in a diamond repeat pattern, the motifs are arranged in angles that are not right angles. an example is seen below: fig.6a: diamond pattern layout. source: https://www.pinterest.com/guygecko/cool-pattern-designs/ fig 6b: diamond repeat pattern. emodi, 2021 counter change repeat pattern this refers to patterns in which the motif and the background reverse in colourtwo-colour symmetrical patterns. chudi-duru, c. c., et al 48 fig.7: counter change repeat pattern. source: https://sewguide.com/fabric-design-pattern-repeat/ ogee repeat pattern the repeated ogee pattern is an s-like curved shape with two arches that come to a point and intersect to create an interesting graphic. fig.8: ogee repeat pattern. source: https://www.printmag.com/design-education/fabric-patternsdeconstructed/ texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 49 scattered pattern in this layout the motifs are scattered randomly; there is no symmetry or any formal arrangement to the motifs; the motifs are placed in a repeating fashion but without a specific plan or calculation. this repeat utilizes a random arrangement of various motifs to create a very organic, non-linear design. it is very popular for floral patterns and more. elements of the design are “tossed” onto the fabric, fig. 9: scattered pattern arrangement. source: https://www.printmag.com/design-education/fabric-patternsdeconstructed/ border design pattern this is designed so that the motifs are placed on the edge of the fabric. some of them are found to be placed as border designs on laces, fabrics for furnishing, tablecloths, sarees and some other fabrics. chudi-duru, c. c., et al 50 fig.10: border designs. source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/354025220691847133/ some other repeat patterns there are probably an infinite number of repeat types. one could argue that there are triangle repeats and hexagon repeats (like diamond/ogee repeats) and many others. essentially, however, all repeats are iterations of the brick, block or drop repeats. texture texture denotes the quality of surfaces and the characteristic physical structure of objects. people feel their surroundings by looking at and touching surfaces. the materials around can be distinguished by feeling diverse textures, which helps to recognize familiar substances when seen or touched to identify unusual or unfamiliar textures(preble et al., 2002; gatto et al., 2000). textures may be rough or smooth, coarse or fine, crisp or clingy, soft or stiff, thin or bulky, opaque or sheer, shiny or dull, heavy or light, or any combination of these characteristics. in essence, there is a visual texture and a tactile one. when an artist attempts to represent texture in texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 51 two-dimensional work such as drawing, it is visual texture, but for three-dimensional objects, it is tactile or actual texture with a physical feel. such effect can be manipulated with tools, for example, metal sculpture, and woodwork. some call the tactile texture 'simulated'. ideelart (2017) an internet blog, has observed that texture in art can be perceived in at least two ways: through touch (physical texture) and sight (visual texture). physical texture gives an artwork a sense of object-ness. it associates it with the concrete physical world. . it further mentions that it can affect mood, evoke psychological associations, bring attention to a medium, or divert the focus towards materials used in a work. texture is one of the elements that can be manipulated to make art and design more innovative and interesting and “heighten an emotional impact” on the observers (preble et al., 2002). it is an important element of art and design. it is associated with a sense of feel, which draws all the viewers' physical and mental attention to the artwork. some examples of textures applied to art and design works are explained therefrom. one of the earliest ways abstract painters experimented with texture is through a process called impasto. a painting in impasto means that the painter has applied the paint to the surface in thick layers. an impasto work is considered painterly since it gives prominence to the physical marks made by the painter. postimpressionist painters like van gogh used impasto to create drama and to affect the way light interacted with the https://www.ideelart.com/magazine/impasto-painting chudi-duru, c. c., et al 52 surface of their images since impasto layers create shadows and highlights. starry night by vincent van gogh (1889). van gogh’s famous post-impressionist painting of a village in the silhouette of a starry sky is an example of three-dimensional texture. the scene is rendered in impasto painting technique, with thick, visible brushstrokes standing out from the surface of the canvas(master class staff, 2022). plate 1:starry night by vincent van gogh (1889) the museum of modern art. 73.7 cm × 92.1 cm (29.01 in × 36.26 in), oil on canvas, source: google.com/search?client=firefox-bd&q=vincent+van+gohs+starry+night+painting. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=apq-wbstl2ptust0a9alvc4vkvi-1ppdsw:1649945888012&q=museum+of+modern+art&stick=h4siaaaaaaaaaopge-luz9u3mdg3jc9u4gaxmzkysrxks5ot9msyi0stc-iti0r0gbg8vyjbkic_obekmz9veauib2lxammuqn6agm9-smprnojjuckovszd7ewcdabfmc0wvwaaaa&sa=x&ved=2ahukewilwba035p3ahvd1bokhqm2dxaqmxmoaxoecfqqaw https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=apq-wbstl2ptust0a9alvc4vkvi-1ppdsw:1649945888012&q=museum+of+modern+art&stick=h4siaaaaaaaaaopge-luz9u3mdg3jc9u4gaxmzkysrxks5ot9msyi0stc-iti0r0gbg8vyjbkic_obekmz9veauib2lxammuqn6agm9-smprnojjuckovszd7ewcdabfmc0wvwaaaa&sa=x&ved=2ahukewilwba035p3ahvd1bokhqm2dxaqmxmoaxoecfqqaw texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 53 plate 2: texture is applied to the ceramic owl using materials such as gauze. source: teacheroz.com/apah-elements.pdf in sculpture, david by michelangelo (1501–1504): sculpted during the italian renaissance. according to the master class staff (2022), michelangelo's masterful sculpture of the biblical king david was chiselled entirely out of marble. in sculpting it, michelangelo's use of texture yielded a shiny, smooth surface that emphasizes the subject's physique (master class staff, 2022). chudi-duru, c. c., et al 54 plate 3: david by michelangelo (1501–1504): marble sculpture, 517 cm × 199 cm (17 ft × 6.5 ft), galleria de’ll accademia, florence, italy, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_ (michelangelo). le chat by alberto giacometti (1955): modern sculptor alberto giacometti is most famous for his sculptures of long, skinny figures constructed with roughly-applied passages of bronze. in le chat, he turned to a cat as his subject matter, which is also constructed with a hard, bumpy texture in opposition to the typical soft fur of a cat (master class staff, 2022). texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 55 plate 4: le chat by alberto giacometti (1955). bronze with brown patina. metropolitan museum of art. dimension:11 in. × 31 1/2 in. × 5 1/4 in. (27.9 × 80 × 13.3 cm). source: metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/489980 lujan (2013) reveals that in textile and fashion designs, texture describes the body and surface of the fabric. textures may be rough or smooth, coarse or fine, crisp or clingy, soft or stiff, thin or bulky, opaque or sheer, shiny or dull, heavy or light, or any combination of these characteristics. she further mentions that because textures have many characteristics, they can enhance or detract from a garment's design. they also affect the illusions of scale and shape of the figure. during weaving, in textile designs, texture is created through the construction of threads and fabrics. varying types of fabric, like silk, cotton or wool, all have different qualities. texture can also be created with added elements, like embroidery, crochet lace or embellishments. some textile designs decorated with visual textures are placed below: chudi-duru, c. c., et al 56 plate 5: chudi-duru (2017). akwete traditional hand-woven fabric. textures in textile design (weaving). source: dimension two and a quarter yardage. medium: synthetic yarns. plate 6: chudi-duru (2017). printed fabric textures in textile design on cotton fabric inspired by akwete hand-woven fabrics. source: dimension three yards. medium: fabric ink and acrylic. when used in graphic design, texture refers more to the sense of feeling. texture is a characteristic component of graphic design that uplifts the presence of other visual elements like patterns, colours, illustrations, content, and more. graphic design is customized to deliver a message to grab the viewer's interest (white 2018). texture, repeat pattern system as formal elements of design 57 plate 7: texture in graphic design. source: google.com/search?q=textures+in+graphic+design&client=firefoxb questions 1. define repeat pattern system 2. what is a motif? 3. design a unit of motif 4. with the aid of a designed motif, arrange a pattern on a surface. 5. explain the importance of texture in art and design. references chudi-duru, c.c. (2017).exploration of akwete weaves motifs for adaptation on printed textiles for apparel production. unpublished phd thesis submitted to the department of industrial design, ahmadu bello university, zaria, nigeria. chudi-duru, c. c., et al 58 gatto, j., porter, a., & selleck, j. (2000). exploring visual design: the elements and principles (3rd ed.). worcester: davis publications lujan, n. (2013). fashion feasibility. retrieved from https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/c312/welcome.html on 10-04 -22 master class staff (2022). how to use texture in art: 4 examples of texture in art. retrieved from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/texture-in-artexplained#what-is-texture-in-art on 11-04-22. naik, d.s &wilson, j.a (2009). surface designing of textile fabrics. new age international (p) ltd., publishers. delhi india. ndubisi ogomma a. (2010) a hand book on textile, emyn nigeria, hugetez publisher. preble, d., preble, s., & frank, p. (2002). art forms: an introduction to the visual arts (7th ed.). upper saddle river: prentice hall. stout, j. (2000). design: exploring the elements and the principles. lecture note: iowa state university. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/4hfiles/statefair/eehan dbook/eehjpdesign4h634.pdf. assessed 12/4/2021 white, e. (2018). 7 tips on how to use textures in graphic design. retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/textures-in-graphic-design-7tips-use on 14-04-22 https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/c312/welcome.html%20on%2010-04 https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/c312/welcome.html%20on%2010-04 https://www.masterclass.com/articles/texture-in-art-explained#what-is-texture-in-art https://www.masterclass.com/articles/texture-in-art-explained#what-is-texture-in-art https://www.extension.iastate.edu/4hfiles/statefair/eehandbook/eehjpdesign4h634.pdf.%20assessed%2012/4/2021 https://www.extension.iastate.edu/4hfiles/statefair/eehandbook/eehjpdesign4h634.pdf.%20assessed%2012/4/2021 https://elearningindustry.com/textures-in-graphic-design-7-tips-use https://elearningindustry.com/textures-in-graphic-design-7-tips-use section j: educational insights 40. tech-proficiency and utilization of web-based teaching system among english and linguistics lecturers of state universities in south-south region of nigeria omonigho josephine akporokah abstract this study investigates tech-proficiency and utilization of web-based teaching system among english and linguistics lecturers of state universities in south-south region, nigeria. a descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. the entire population of 113 was used for the study. the instrument used for the study was researcher generated scale, titled technology proficiency and utilization of web base teaching tools questionnaire. the instrument was validated by 10 experts and had a content validity index of 0.99 and a reliability index of 0.93. the researcher administered a total of 113 copies of the instrument and retrieved 105 representing a return rate of 92.92% and the 105 returned questionnaire were analysed with percentage. the result from the data analysis revealed that the technological proficiency of the lecturers were poor with the aggregate of 16.1% of the lecturers having high tech-proficiency (very efficient), 27% were moderately proficient and more than half of the lecturers (56.9%) were not proficient in using web base teaching tools. also, it was found that the level of utilization of web base teaching tools among the lecturers was poor. (5.7%) of the lecturers have consistently utilized the above mentioned wbtt in teaching the students. hence, it recommended among other suggestions that government and educational stakeholders should design and implement web base teaching tools training, workshop and conference for lecturers in order to assist lecturers improve their technological skills and gain better knowledge and awareness of the various web base teaching tools. keywords: linguistics, tech-proficiency, web-based, teaching, universities introduction among the many fields that have come to recognise the importance of "technology" in the twenty-first century is education. this is because in many nations, technology has replaced traditional means of communication as the primary means through which information travels. people's ways of thinking, working, and living have been profoundly impacted by the technological advancements that have become commonplace in modern civilization (ghavifekr&rosdy, 2015). therefore, educational institutions that are responsible for training students to effectively perform in "a knowledge-based society" should seriously consider incorporating ict into the instructional practices that they employ (ghavifekr, afshari&amla salleh, 2012). in the subject of education, the practice of incorporating computer-based communication into the regular educational process is known as "information, communication, and technology integration" (icti). educators are seen as pivotal figures when it comes to preparing students for the modern digital age through the use of information and communication technology (ict) in their daily classes. this is because ict has the potential of creating a classroom that is both interactive and responsive to students' needs (arnseth&hatlevik, 2012). when we talk about the benefits of networking learning communities to address the problems given by globalisation in the present day, we are not just referring to the advantages of improving and increasing the quality, accessibility, and cost-efficiency of the delivery of instruction to students (albirini, 2006, p.6). in order to adequately support teaching and learning and information resources, the adoption of new icts is not a one-time event but rather a series of ongoing and continual efforts (young, 2003). one of the recent breakthrough in icti is web base teaching tools. web based teaching tools (wbtt) is an internet mediated teaching approach that allows students and teachers to break lines of communication without physical convergence. according to levy (2017), wbtt is a form of computer-based education, in which students need access to the internet for the purpose of sharing and discussing course materials. this style of teaching derives from the idea of distance learning because it typically does not involve instructor-learner or trainee-instructor face-to-face meetings (tampere university of technology, 2007). the wbtt is made possible today through a plethora world wide web (www) networks such as google meet, microsoft team, zoom meeting, twitter and facebook. however, google meet, microsoft team, and zoom has been the most utilized by educators (ramirez, 2022). wbtt is growing in popularity as more and more people acquire access to the internet and realise that its ability for bidirectional information flow makes it a perfect environment for a teaching and learning. however, according to ramirez (2022), the explosion of interest in wbtt was spurred by covid-19. he went further to posit that technology giants such as microsite creativity in building plat that make video conferencing seamless were responsible for 1 the quick adoption of wbtt. the internet is employed as a vehicle for the provision of educational content, there are countless options for involvement both among students and with the educational system itself. most e-learning courses focus on making the most of these kinds of features to help students learn and remember information better. undoubtedly, wbtt has improved educational system. the usage of wbtt makes it possible for education to be more personally fulfilling and relevant to students (finger & trinidad, 2002). on the other hand, students will benefit from the integration of ict in situations in which they are not constrained by the prescribed curriculum and available materials, but rather in situations in which they can participate in technology-based learning activities that are intended to arouse their curiosity and interest in the topic at hand. in addition to this, it is designed to assist teachers in the process of creating engaging and interactive classes for their pupils. it has been demonstrated that incorporating ict into teaching environments results in improved instruction, which in turn leads to more engaged and successful students (finger & trinidad, 2002; jorge et al., 2003; young, 2003; jamieson-procter et al., 2013). hermans, tondeur, van-braak, and valcke (2008) identified the stages of integration, augmentation, and complementing as the three key stages for information and communication technology (ict) to be highly regarded and considered by the instructors. wbtt is a strategy that is becoming increasingly popular among educators as a means of assisting students in the process of learning and becoming proficient in complex ideas and skills. the utilisation of wbtt is at the core of the "improvement technique," which places an emphasis on the topic that was just discussed. for example, microsoft powerpoint can be used to present the topic in a very original and unique way, so opening the floor for discussion and allowing ideas to flow freely. a complementary method is one that makes use of ict tools and resources to augment and reinforce what pupils already know. because students can acquire their notes from a computer, send in their work via email from home (as long as they do so on time), and read up on material from other web sources to complete the assignment, this strategy enables students to be more productive (hermans et al., 2008). however, transition to wbtt has not been smooth in developing countries as obtainable in developed countries. the schools in africa, especially, public schools are finding it very difficult to acculturate wbtt. ghavifekr, and rosdy (2015) found out that majority of tertiary institution lecturers are yet to be skilled in the use of wbtt. nordin and allias (2021) discovered that most university faculties have not fully implemented the use of wbtt due to lectures difficulties in utilization of the tools, poor technical condition, insufficient ict facilities, resources and equipment, power failure and lack of high speed internet access. utilization is the ability to use or put things into use for its essence. hence, the utilization of wbtt is the ability of lecturers or teachers to apply interned mediated learning platforms in teaching and learning process. nordin and allias (2021) also agree that utilization wbttis practical applications of microsoft team, zoom, google meeting and others in teaching and learning. ukegbu and ebeniza (2015) hold that a low utilization of wbtt in nigeria. however, science inclined lecturers were utilizes the wbttthan any other sets of lecturers (nordin&allias, 2021). for lecturers to utilize wbtt effectively and efficiently, they must be proficient in the ict tools such as constructing interactive power point, understanding how to share slides, manage video conferencing among others. these skills are collectively regarded as technological proficiency (tech-proficiency). tech-proficiency is the ability to use technology to communicate effectively and professionally, organize information, produce high-quality products, and enhance thinking skills (clifford, 2022).based on this explanation, there is acongruence between education and technology as productivity and efficiency can both be improved through proper integration. nevertheless, most lecturers in nigeria, delta state inclusive are still struggling to grapple with the necessary skills that ensure effective integration of ict into education. nwani et al. (2022) note that the tech-proficiency of lecturers in enugu is low. prensky (2012) pointed out that difficulty in teaching present generation of students is their new emersion in digitized system which the teachers “digital migrants or visitors” are not yet fully acquainted with. the south-south region of nigeria consists of six states. each of these states has one state university except for edo and rivers states that have two state owned universities. the states include akwa ibom state, bayelsa state, cross rivers state, delta state, edo state, and rivers state. there are eight state universities in the south south region which include: akwa ibom state university, uyo, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, delta state university, abraka, edo state university, uzairue,niger delta university, amassoma, ignatius ajuru university of education, rumuolumeni, rivers state university, nkpolu-oroworukwo, and university of cross rivers, calabar. all the university have a department that offers english and language studies except akwa ibom state university, uyo. hence, seven state universities were included in the study. the universities offer english language and literature courses and have evolved into a powerful citadel of learning in nigeria. however, what remains unclear is whether the lecturers have efficiently integrated ict tools into the teaching and learning process. also, it is unclear how proficient the lecturers are in the use of ict tools especially those offered through www. furthermore, extensive literature search revealed a paucity in literature on the wbttutilization and tech-proficiency of nigeria university lecturers. the little existing literature focused on web-based tools and instructional delivery in selected secondary schools in owerri education zone 1, imo state (ukegbu&ebeniza, 2015), challenges of teaching digitized generation of students (oriji&torunarigha, 2019), information technology and information systems it/is usage between students and faculty of nigerian universities (oluebube et al., 2013) and student-teachers readiness and attitude towards utilization of ict in studying business education in delta state, nigeria (onajite, 2022). however, none of the aforementioned studies specifically examines the utilization and tech-proficiency of web-based teaching system among english and linguistic studies lecturers in state universities in south-south region, nigeria. the nexus of the present study. this study investigatestech-proficiency and utilization of web-based teaching system among english andlinguistics lecturers in state universities in south -south region of nigeria. objectives of the study the present study is therefore set to investigate the utilization and tech-proficiency of web-based teaching system among english andlinguistics lecturers in state universities in south-south region of nigeria. specifically, two objectives were addressed: 1. to determine the tech-proficiency of lecturers in english and linguisticsin state universities in south-south region, nigeria; 2. to ascertain the level of utilization of web-base teaching tools of english andlinguistics lecturers in state universities in south-south region, nigeria. conceptual discourse many scholars have attempted to define "utilization," but it is challenging to arrive at a universally applicable definition (petersen, 2007; simbulan, 2007). an overly narrow concept of utilization, according to nielsen (1993, 2000), can hinder the development of educational software and wbtt. to allow for more time and energy to be spent on actual learning, rather than just dealing with the software itself, technical utilization seeks to reduce the mental strain caused by that learning's interface. on the other hand, the majority of traditional utilization concerns the educational process and the practicality of pedagogical software, including the requirements of uniformity, learner satisfaction, fewest possible clicks and the least possible strain on the user's memory (nielsen, 1993; scheidermann, 1998). therefore, the concept of utilization needs to be expanded to include concerns that are central to education. differences and similarities across learning theories are highlighted by studies in the field (lin & hsieh 2001). however, a variety of learning theories are used in k-12 and higher education settings. the capacity to use or make use of things for what they are at their core constitutes utilisation. as a result, the utilisation of wbtt refers to the capacity of lecturers or teachers to incorporate internet-mediated learning platforms into the process of instructional delivery. additionally, nordin and allias (2021) came to the conclusion that use wbtt refers to the actual, hands-on applications of software like microsoft team, zoom, google meeting, and others in the classroom. ukegbu and ebeniza (2015) discovered that nigeria has a relatively low use rate of wbtt. however, teachers with a scientific bent were more likely to use the wbtt than academics from any other category (nordin&allias, 2021). educational videos, sensory stimulation, data storage, database use, guided exploration, brainstorming, music, and the world wide web (www) are just a few examples of how technology-based teaching and learning may enrich the educational experience (finger & trinidad, 2002). on the other hand, students will gain from ict integration in situations where they are not constrained by the prescribed curriculum and available materials, but rather where the emphasis is placed on experiential learning through the use of technological tools. it also provides assistance to educators in developing engaging and interactive lessons for their students. researchers have found that when ict is used in the classroom, students' active learning skills improve and the learning process as a whole benefits (finger & trinidad, 2002; jorge et al., 2003; young, 2003; jamieson-procter et al., 2013). tech-proficiency refers to the ability to use technology in a way that allows one to communicate clearly and in a professional manner, to organise information, to generate high-quality goods, and to improve one's thinking skills (clifford, 2022). according to this explanation, there is a lot of congruence between education and technology due to the fact that proper integration can improve both productivity and efficiency. despite this, the majority of lecturers in nigeria, including those in the state of delta, are still grappling with the necessary skills that ensure an effective integration of ict into education. according to nwani et al. (2022), the level of technological expertise of enugu's lecturers is quite low. this can be partially explained by the fact that the majority of today's lecturers are digital natives or second-generation internet users. according to prensky (2012), one of the challenges of teaching students of the current generation is that they have recently become immersed in a digitised system, while their teachers, who are referred to as "digital migrants or visitors," are not yet completely familiar with this system. university lecturers are allowed to employ whatever pedagogical methods and learning theories they and their students find most effective. still, instructors need to consider the context of each class when determining the best method of instruction to use (karagiorgi&symeou, 2005). lecturers, however, should keep in mind that wbtt are more student-centered than other approaches (john & sutherland, 2009). wbtt design, especially at the tertiary level, involves an adaption of a constructivist platform and the incorporation of pedagogical utilization difficulties in order to obtain maximum learning benefits. figure1: process of wbtt utilization in education figure 2: conceptual op generationalization of variables figure 2 illustrates the various technical skills and pedagogical skills lecturers need to have in order to effectively utilize wbtt. first, it was established that tech-proficiency and pedagogical skills harnesses each other. secondly, efficient combination of tech-proficiency and pedagogical skills gives lecturers the ability to utilize the wbtt efficiently which then leads to an improve learning experience both for students and lecturers theoretical framework this study is built on the organizational adaptation theory (oat). these theory was not propounded by any single individual, rather it was theory that sprang up from a series of studies on the interplay between environment and organizational performance. notably, there were foundational studies that gave light to oat. the first was the study of chandler alfred d. in 1962. another crucial study that brought oat to limelight were cyert and march (1963) study on “organizational behavioural theories” and lawrence and lorsch (1967) that investigate the concept of “fit” between organizational sub-environment and their administrative structure. in all of these studies and their various arguments, the bottom point was that every organization, in whole or just in part, will transform their structures or procedures to cope with a changing environment, such as a shifting economic landscape, new legislation impacting their field, new technology or advancement in existing ones or the introduction of a new parent organization. the organizational adaptation theory offers a clear explanation on the need for every organization to adjust their modus operandi to suit trends in the industry (sarta, durand & tech-proficiency basic computer application, advanced computer application, graphic design, power point design, video creation internet surfing and virtual engagement pedagogical skills content development learner control, learning activity, collaborative learning, motivation, flexibility, and feedback. effective utilization of wbtt utilization improved educational experience vergne, 2021). educational industry is not an exception as technological advancement has opened up another form of classrooms design and management that allows remote learning and virtual interaction. hence, it behoves on lecturers across all universities to brace up and improve their tech skills in order to remain relevant and effective in the reaching and learning environment as changes in methodology and students’ characteristics demands. in this regard, this study argues that lecturers tech-proficiency will determine their utilization of wbtt. hence, the conceptual framework illustrated above. empirical studies on wbtt utilization and tech-proficiency teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of technology in the classroom were analysed by ghavifekr and wan rosdy (2015). one hundred and one educators from 10 different kuala lumpur, malaysia, public secondary schools were given a survey questionnaire at random. spss was used to do both descriptive and inferential analyses on the quantitative data. according to the findings, incorporating ict into the classroom greatly benefits educators and students alike. one of the primary determinants in the success of technology-based teaching and learning is instructors' well-equipped preparation with ict tools and facilities, as evidenced by the findings. teachers' participation in ongoing professional development training was also found to have a significant impact on student achievement. in their research, nordin and allias (2021) looked at ict usability issues in the classrooms of malaysia's universities. instructors' perceptions of their own enjoyment of teaching and their experiences with implementing web base teaching and learning approach (wbtla) in the classroom were surveyed to identify usability issues and obstacles. although there was consensus across lecturers on the technical and pedagogical usability and the extent to which these challenges might be solved, there was less agreement regarding the contextual usability and the extent to which these challenges could be overcome. so much depends on how much money and effort individual schools are prepared to put into acquiring new equipment and training for their faculty. the professors believe that wbtla will succeed despite the issues they have uncovered. igere (2021) studies the benefits and drawbacks of using technology for education through the lens of three main goals. a total of 370 lis students were included in the analysis. for this survey, we used all 370 respondents as our sample size, and we were able to collect 230 responses online. there were a total of 24 questions on the survey used for the research. percentages were used to determine trends in the data. the results showed that students do engage with the e-learning system, but they do so primarily through text and audio on their mobile devices (not laptops). the high cost of data subscriptions, the high cost of devices, the lack of user-friendliness in the technology, and the occurrence of epileptic or power outages were also found to be barriers to effectively utilising the implemented e-learning system. it was therefore suggested that educational institutions subscribe to data and work to make their online education platforms more intuitive for their students. onajite (2022) studies the mindset and preparedness of future teachers at colleges of education (henceforth coe)in delta state to use ict in their study of business education. the study used a descriptive survey as its method of research. 1,318 nce business education student-teachers from two of delta state's four colleges of education made up the study's population. six hundred and fifty nce business education student-teachers from two colleges of education in delta state were randomly selected at a 50% probability using proportionate stratified random sampling for this study. all of the hypotheses were tested using a t-test at a 5% level of significance, and the data was analysed using mean scores and standard deviation. the results show that studentteachers in coes in delta state showed high levels of readiness and positive attitudes toward using ict in the study of business education. but the research showed that the student-teachers in delta state coes lacked the necessary skills in various computer packages to make effective use of ict for business education. methodology this study adopted descriptive survey design of a mixed method. the population of the study was 113 lecturers in the departments that offers english and language studies.this population were found in seven state universities in south south region of nigeria. ambrose alli university, ekpoma, delta state university, abraka, edo state university, uzairue,niger delta university, amassoma, ignatius ajuru university of education, rumuolumeni, rivers state university, nkpolu-oroworukwo, and university of cross rivers, calabar (see table 1). table 1: population of the study and sampled participants s/no state name of university faculty department staff population sample size 1 bayelsa state niger delta university amasoma arts english and french 14 14 2 cross rivers state university of cross rivers, calabar communication technology language and linguistic science 18 18 3 delta state delta state university, abraka arts english and department of language and linguistics 15 15 4 edo state ambros alli university, ekpoma, arts english and modern language studies 12 12 5 edo state edo state university, uzairue arts, management and social sciences english and literary studies 16 16 6 rivers ignatius ajuru english and 14 14 state university of education literary studies 7 rivers state rivers state university, nkpooruworukwo humanities english and literary studies 21 21 total 113 113 the entire population of the study was used for the study because the population is small and can be surveyed. the instrument used for the study was researcher generated scale titled technology proficiency and utilization of web base teaching tools questionnaire (tpuwbttq). the instrument consisted of twenty three (23) items. the instrument was sectioned into two – section a and b. the section a, contained items that were used to collect the demographic parameters of the respondents while section b consisted of 18 items structured in yes or no format. these items were used to collect data on the tech-proficiency and utilization wbtt among the lecturers. the instrument was validated by 10 experts and had a content validity index of 0.99. using the lawshe table value (0.99), the minimum cvi for six validators, instrument was adjudged valid. according to zeraati, and alavi (2014), the lawshe table gives the minimum cvr/cvi needed to retain the item on the scale and to adopt a scale for study. test retest approach was used to generate two sets of data used for the instrument reliability test. cronbach alpha correlation analysis was conducted and a score of 0.93 coefficients was obtained. this implies that the instrument is highly reliable. according to kamalu and tamunobelema (2015), any reliability coefficient from 0.70 and above is high and should be adjudged reliable. the researcher administered a total of 113 copies of the instrument and retrieved 105 representing a return rate of 92.92% and the 105 returned questionnaire were analysed with percentage to address the research questions. results table 2: demographic parameters of respondents demography category f % male 45 42.9 gender female 60 57.1 total 105 100.0 20-29 11 10.5 30-39 28 26.7 age 40-49 47 44.8 50-59 16 15.2 60 & above 3 2.9 total 105 100.0 single 10 9.5 marital status married 76 72.4 widowed 5 4.8 others 14 13.3 total 105 100.0 assistant lecturer 2 1.9 lecturer ii 12 11.4 lecturer i 26 24.8 rank senior lecturer 33 31.4 reader/ 8 7.6 associate prof 14 13.3 professor 10 9.5 total 105 100.0 bsc 2 1.9 academic qualification msc 47 44.8 ph.d. 56 53.3 total 105 100.0 table 2 shows the demographics characterization of the respondents. the result revealed that 42% of the respondents were male while 57.1% were females. 10.5% of them were within the age of 20-29 years; 26.7% were within the age of 30-39; 44.8% were within the age of 40-49; 15.2% were within the age of 50-59 while only 2.9% were 60 years and above. marital wise, the majority of the respondents were married (72.4%), 13.3% were in other forms of marital relationship, 9.5% of them were still single while 4.8% have lost their spouse. 1.9% of the lecturers were graduate assistant; 7.6% were assistant lecturers; 11.4% were at the rank of lecturer ii; 31.4% were lecturers i, 24.8% were senior lecturers, 13.% were associate professors and 9.5% were professors. in terms of academic qualifications, more than half the population (53.3%) had ph.d, 44.5% has masters degree while only 2.9% had bsc. the tech-proficiency of english and literary studies lecturers table 3: analysis ofwbtttech-proficiency of english and literary studies lecturers s/n o how efficient can you perform the following task very efficient moderately efficient not efficient 1 conducting online class zoom, microsoft team etc. 7(6.7%) 16(15.2%) 82(78.1 %) 2 creation of a very good interactive power point slides 25(23.8%) 31(29.5%) 49(46.7 %) 3 creation of video lessons using obs, canva etc 1(1%) 4(3.8%) 100(95.2 %) 4 supervise students through google document 12(11.4%) 27(25.7) 66(62.9 %) 5 receive and score students assignment through microsoft team 18(17.1%) 38(36.2%) 49(46.7 %) 6 received and reply students assignment through email 45(42.9%) 57(54.3%) 3(2.6%) 7 teach through whatsapp 25(23.8%) 37(35.2%) 43(41.0 %) 8 creation of online survey 2(1.9%) 17(16.2%) 86(81.9 %) aggregate 17(16.1% ) 28(27.0%) 60(56.9 %) table 3 shows the analysis of the lecturers’ tech-proficiency. the result revealed that only 6.7% were very efficient and 15.2% were efficient in conducting online class zoom, microsoft team etc while a large proportion (78.1%) were not. 23.8% were very efficient and 29.5% and were moderately efficient in the creation of a very good interactive power pointslides whereas 46.7% were not efficient in creating interactive power point slides. creation of video lessons using obs, canva etc (very efficient (1%), moderately efficient (3.8%), not efficient (95.2%); lecturers’ ability to supervise students through google document (very efficient (11.4%), moderately efficient (25.7) and not efficient (62.9%)); receive and score students assignment through microsoft team (very efficient (17.1%), moderately efficient (36.2%), but not efficient (46.7%); in terms of receiving and replying to students assignment through email (very efficient (42.9%), moderately efficient (54.3%), not efficient (2.6%)); teach through whatsapp(very efficient (23.8%), moderately efficient (35.2%), not efficient 43(41.0%)); and creation of online survey (very efficient(1.9%), moderately efficient (16.2%), and not efficient (81.9%).on the aggregate, only 16.1% of the lecturers had high tech-proficiency (very efficient), 27% were moderately proficient and more than half of the lecturers (56.9%) were n0t proficient in using web base teaching tools. this simply connotes that state university english and linguistics lecturers in south-south region of nigeria have poor tech-proficiency in utilizing wbtt. figure 3: percentage analysisof wbtttech-proficiency of english and literary studies lecturers the data in figure 3 revealed that the wbtt the lecturers were most proficient in utilization was email communication.while the wbtt the lecturers were least proficient in was use of canva and obs to prepare video course. level of utilization of web base teaching tools table 4: analysis of the level of utilization of web base teaching tools among english and linguistic lecturers s/no wbtt yes % no % 9 whatsapp group 6 5.7 99 94.3 10 zoom meeting 31 29.5 74 70.5 11 microsoft team 16 15.2 89 84.8 12 google meet 5 4.8 100 95.2 13 telegram group 2 1.9 103 98.1 14 facebook live 0 0.0 105 100.0 15 youtube live 0 0.0 105 100.0 16 dialpad meeting 0 0.0 105 100.0 17 freeconference 0 0.0 105 100.0 18 lifesize go 0 0.0 105 100.0 average 6 5.7 99 94.3 the data in table 4 reveal that 5.7%, 29.5%, 15.2% and 1.9% of the lecturers have conducted classes using whatsapp, zoom, microsoft team, google meet respectively. on the aggregate, only 5.7% of the lecturers have consistently made utilized the above mentioned wbtt in teaching the students. thus, there is very poor utilization of wbtt among english and linguistic lecturers of state universities in south-south region of nigeria. figure 4: percentage analysis of the level of utilization of wbtt among the lecturers figure 4 reveals that none of the lecturers have made use of facebook live, youtube live, dialpad meet, freeconference and lifesize go in teaching and learning. perhaps, this could be due lack of awareness of these free tools. discussion the main focus of this was the determination of the technological proficiency and utilization of web base teaching tools such as zoom, microsoft team, google meet among others. in this, a conceptual framework was developed which explains that a technological proficiency affects pedagogical proficiency and vice versa. however, a possession of both enables lecturers to effectively utilize web base teaching tools. considering the new trends in education, communication and information dissemination, which was intensified by the emergence of covid-19, it is expected that english and linguistic lecturers would have improve their technological skills. unfortunately, the result from the data analysis reveal that the technological proficiency of the lecturers were poor withthe aggregate of 16.1% of the lecturers having high tech-proficiency (very efficient), 27% were moderately proficient and more than half of the lecturers (56.9%) were not proficient in using web base teaching tools. similarly, the level of utilization of web base teaching tools among the lecturers as well. on the aggregate, 5.7% of the lecturers have consistently made utilized the above mentioned wbtt in teaching the students. the poor level of utilization of wbtt could be a result of the poor technological skills of the lecturers. this results is similar to the findings of igere (2021) poor utilization of e-learning facilities among information and science lecturer’s difficulty in applying e-learning system, high cost of data subscription, high cost of devices, technologies not user friendly and epileptic or power failure.eze et al. (2018) found slightly different result when they analysed the utilization of elearning facilities in high educational institutions – a case of madonna university. according to their result, lecturers are comfortable with the use of e-learning facilities, the facilities are not maximized. this means that the lecturers were not utilizing the facilities adequately. this could probably be as a result of the poor technological proficiency as discovered in this study. conclusion and recommendation based on the findings of the study, it is concluded that lecturers in state universitiesin southsouth region where english and linguisticsare taught are deficientin using technology to effectively integrate web base teaching tools. hence, it recommends that government and educational stakeholders should design and implement web base teaching tools, trainings, workshops and conference for lecturers in order to assist lecturers improve on their technological skills and gain better knowledge and awareness of the various web base teaching tools. also, lecturers should try and utilize internet learning resources to help them become more technically skilled in web base educational process. finally, lecturers that do not have good basic computer application skills should contract private tutors for training on basic computing covering ms word, excel, power point and coral draw. this will help them in efficient design of web-based learning materials such as slides, infographics and others. references abidoye j.a adelokun a.k. fakokunde j.o (2014). the level of utilization of e-learning tools among tertiary institutions students in ondo state: a case study of adeyemi college of education ondo. journal of information engineering and applications, 4(9), 19-23 arnseth, h.c., &hatlevik, o.e. 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(2003). integrating ict into second language education in a vocational high school. journal of computers assisted learning, 19, 447-461. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 113 chapter 8 the making of meaning in the the nsibidi visual method godwin o. uka department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract this paper focused on the need to give the nsibidi art culture of eastern nigeria an artistic visual design identity based on their traditional and modern visual communication design approach. there is the need therefore to differentiate between traditional and modern visual communication design experiences. the exploratory design analysis which is used is based on the concepts ideas and materials for the old and new methods of the nsibidi culture. it has been analyzed and synthesized into a more dynamic indigenous system of visual communication in nigeria that will enhance the general development of the society. the analyses of signs, symbols, posters and other artworks were carried out based on their artistic, aesthetic and functional design mainly as it concerns the nsibidi visual method of communication design in modern times. the research attempted to harmonize the traditional and the modern method to develop a new visual communication method based on their culture and technology in recent times. the nsibidi had a definite operational way of communication. the culture just like their close neighbour could also reduce these signs and symbols into simple codes for confidentiality, security, affection and economic transitions among themselves. introduction communities, societies and others worldwide have modes and means of communicating ideas, feelings and messages to each other. the igbo who employ different means is not an exception. traditionally, igbo and other societies in southeastern nigeria employed different modes of communication in reaching out and doing business with each other. the nsibidi method is one of the ways of communication in the eastern part of nigeria, which is indigenous to the people of southeastern nigeria. it is also used by neighbouring ibibio, efike and igbo communities in nigeria. aesthetically compelling and encoded, nsibidi does not in anywhere correspond to any one spoken language of the world. it is an ideographic script whose symbolism refers to the abstract concepts actions or things and those used to facilitate communication among the people speaking different languages of that area. the intra and inter-ethnic nationality of visual communication methods assisted communities in eastern nigeria to improve and advance their present level of general development. visual communication is a study through visual aids and is described as the the making of meaning in nsibidi visual method 114 conveyance of ideas and information in a form that can be read or looked up. visual communication in part or whole relies on vision and is primarily presented or expressed with two or three-dimensional images; it includes sign, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, colour and electronic references. it also explores the idea that a visual message accompanying text has greater power to inform, educate, or persuade a person or audience. one of man's valuable tendencies, which are common to all communities and nationalities irrespective of place and time, has as one of its objectives the achievement of specific developmental goals. this success and continuity of such gregariousness and subsequent developmental achievements, in turn, depends largely and often wholly on the methods and levels of communication, for any form of interaction aimed. thus communication is the inevitable binding force for any form of interactions aimed at development'. the early artist did not in all cases consciously start what we refer to today as artistic visual communication. rather, some of them gave meaning to and adapted images and symbols as artistic. they, later on, built their visual abilities and functionalities on and around such interpretations and adaptations. some of the comprehensive and figurative representation of their experience was pictures simplified into signs. sketches and designs have been turned into sophisticated pieces. by imagination, meaning has been read into clouds in the sky which are seen as forming objects like human beings, galloping horses and so on. the same can be said of spilling liquids on the flour, many of the shapes and forms can be attached to some meaning. the jews used specific dressing as a very significant visual communication of virgins (nelson, 1990. p. 287. communication must have a source and target. parson (1978.36) elaborates on the essential term involved in communication. according to him, the person who initiates and sends messages is referred to as the 'transmitter', the subject matter being communicated as the 'message', the route of communication as the ' form of communication', and whosoever the message is directed as the 'receiver' or audience. all over the world, from the pre-historic to the present time, visual communication has passed through various stages. this has consequently affected human development. in the context of this paper, therefore, there is a need to differentiate between traditional and modern visual communication design. urdang (1991 pp 276, 511) defines 'tradition' merely as custom, practice or habit. on the other hand, he refers to 'modern' as current, contemporary, present-day or latest. traditional visual communication in the nigerian context is considered a type of communication that was devoid of western influence while the ' modern’ is what has been influenced by the western world. communication is a way of passing a message from one person to another. hornsby (1995 p. 229) says communication is to make something known; exchange information, news or ideas with somebody; to make one's idea or feels clear to others. this information exchangeability and clarity of the same are dependent on the communication technique employed. innovation in indigenous visual communication the innovation of new things, ideas, or ways of doing something is one way of changing and developing the environment and society. artists (uli and nsibidi) have introduced new ways of representing their works in the contemporary era. innovation and creativity have increasingly come to be seen as africa’s response to their condition or, to put it differently, as the expression contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 115 of local agencies in africa. communication in any setting is an important aspect of human activity. most means of human communication are carried out using putting a line around something or by drawing a sign or symbol to name it and further enumerate its characteristics nsibidi comprises nearly a thousand symbols that can be drawn in different media as gestures, on the ground, on the skin (as tattoos), on houses, and in art forms, such as masks, and textiles. though it is enjoyed as an artistic practice by the general public, deeper knowledge of the nsibidi symbols is restricted to the member of men's association of a certain society in a community, which once controlled trade and maintained the social and political order of the society. nsibidi is used on wall designs, calabashes, metals, leaves, swords, and tattoos. it is important to state that it is primarily used by the ekpe leopard secret society, which is mostly found across cross river among the ekoi, efik, igbo people, and other nearby communities. the symbols are at least several centuries old: early forms appeared on excavated pottery as we as what are most likely ceramic stools and headrests from the calabar region, with a range of dates from 400 to 1400 ce. there are thousands of nsibidi symbols, of which over 500 have been recorded. they were once taught in a school to children. many of the signs deal with love affairs; those that deal with warfare and the sacred are kept secret. nsibidi was divided into a sacred version and public, more decorative versions are used by women. traditionally as it concerns the original owner of the tradition that is before the british colonization of the area nsibidi was divided into a sacred version and a public, more decorative version which could be used by women. the ikpe from enyong written in nsibidi as recorded by j. k. macgregor nsibidi was used in judgment cases known as 'ikpe' in some cross river communities. in case of any dispute between communities, people or individuals or as the case may be the record is of an ikpe or judgment case. artistically the illustration can be demonstrated with the visual below court (a) the court was normally held under a tree as is the custom, (b) the parties in the case, (c) the chief who judged it, (d) his staff (these are enclosed in a circle), (e) is a man whispering into the ear of another just outside the circle of those concerned, (f) denotes all the members of the party who won the case. two of them (g) are embracing, (h) is a man who holds a cloth between his finger and thumbs as a sign of contempt? he does not care for the words spoken. the lines round and twisting mean that the case was a difficult one which the people of the town could not judge for themselves. so they sent to the surrounding towns to call the wise men from them and the case was tried by them (j) and decided; (k) denotes that the case was one of adultery or no. 20. the making of meaning in nsibidi visual method 116 figure 1: nsibidi symbols in design visual communication design indeed is an essential part of our daily lives. design skills acquired in visual communication are used to persuade and communicate specific information and messages that can inspire thoughts using symbols, signs, words and images informing good design for effective problem-solving through practical application. the use of signs, symbols and motifs in communication is described as the conveyance of ideas and information in a form that can be read or looked upon. it in part or whole relies on vision and is primarily presented or expressed in two or three-dimensional images and texts. the term "visual" presentation in graphics communication is used to refer to the actual presentation of information to the public through a visual medium such as text, images, symbols, and a combination of other graphics elements via any of the following graphic media: posters, billboards, labels, flyers, calendars, package postage stamps and a lot of others. graphics designers predominantly use this method of visual communication in their professional practice, nsibidi was first documented in the western world by t. d. maxwell, district commissioner of calabar, nigeria. in 1904, he discovered that nsibidi signs were used as decorative symbols on calabashes and native pianos during the exhibition of native goods. no historical evidence is available that can help date the creation or evolution of nsibidi as a cultural concept but few writers on nsibidi insist that it is of considerable age as it possesses a certain amount of conventionality about its sign language. it is understood from the available literature that it evolved from traditional visual communication as a sign and body language. it can be seen as a logographic system of communication that is popular with the southeastern people, particularly the cross-river region of nigeria. nsibidi is referred to by macgregor (1909:209) as “the native name for writing, used in the calabar district of the eastern province of southern nigeria, more largely up the cross river and the inland”. macgregor then a presbyterian missionary posted to teach at hope waddel training institute, calabar. kalu (1978:77) describes nsibidi as an ancient script, that existed before the coming of the europeans. kalu (1978:84), umoetuk (1985:40) and ubom (1987:75) agreed that contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 117 nsibidi was an ancient pictographic writing used within and around south eastern state before the coming of the colonial masters. they stated that nsibidi was not restricted to secret societies but that it was secularized to meet the economic and social needs of the people. ubom further stated that it was used for the identification of labels, public notices, private warnings, declaration of taboos, amorous messages, reckoning goods and money, keeping records and body decoration. most nsibidi symbols are also used for their body adornment as enumerated by umoetuk (1985:40-49). isichei (1983) states that nsibidi writing forms worked on the same principle as chinese writing. he further states that these writing were in the form of tattoos on the human body, paintings or incisions on calabashes, stems, house walls and drawings on the ground. nsibidi signs or objects serve economic, political, cultural and social functions; it is used within secular and sacred systems in sending public notice, public warning, and recording goods and money as well as for decoration. nsibidi transmits and conceals various kinds of information using a wide fluid vocabulary of geometric and naturalistic signs placed on objects. nsibidi as a symbol is important to visual communication design because it has been described as a fluid system of communication that has hundred of pictographic signs. in the traditional era, it was used for messages, cut or painted on split palm stems, it is a kind of primitive secret writing, chiefly carried out using poke work on calabashes, canoes, stools and so on, but occasionally by marking on the body and face (talbot 1912:308, 1969:932). this traditional motif known as nsibidi is generally associated with or originated from the ekoi people of southern nigeria. it is primarily used or employed by the ekpe secret society of akwa ibom state, nigeria. nsibidi is a means of transmitting or communicating in secret terms the ekpe symbolism. it is a form of drawing or design used or found on walls, calabashes, metal, leaves, swords and as tattoos. nsibidi as a visual communication design concept is used for recording decisions, facts, thoughts and communicating messages. the type of messages varies but the most frequent are short messages and letters sent at a distance. these motifs are still in use by contemporary artists in their work and linking it with visual communication. visual communication has been in existence from the older generation (the time of our forefathers) through the use of traditional motifs, symbols, and patterns, which are art forms and also part of our cultural heritage. some of these traditional nigerian motifs include uli design of the igbo culture of nigeria, the nsibidi design of southern nigeria, and islamic motifs of northern nigeria to mention but a few. the artist victor ekpuk and his works the artist and his works who have engaged in the innovation of re-creating indigenous art forms, nsibidi and uli concepts of representation here presented and discussed victor ekpuk attended the obafemi awolowo university, iie-ife, with a ba degree in fine and applied arts (specializing in painting), during his years in the university, he was an active member of ona group of artist. this group encouraged the use of traditional or indigenous motifs such as uli, nsibidi and others in creating contemporary artworks. victor has for long being producing and exhibiting artworks, especially with uli and nsibidi motifs. the making of meaning in nsibidi visual method 118 victor was born into a culture where nsibidi is an open secret. nsibidi ceremony is usually performed among members of ekpe and ekpo secret societies. during ceremonial rites of passage, some nsibidi signs were painted as decorations on the bodies of maidens. nsibidi is an ancient form of sacred communication among the male secret societies of the ibibio, efik, ejagham and igbo (ohafia) peoples of southeastern nigeria. it uses mime, speech, and placement of objects and graphic symbols that represent concepts. being secret codes of communication, their meanings were revealed only to initiates. some aspects of these signs are secularized and used for public notices and record keeping. the graphic aspect of nsibidi thus becomes one of africa’s indigenous writing systems. victor ekpuk derives his artistic creative artistic inspiration from different sources (uli art, nsibidi and others) are nigerian indigenous communicative visual ideas. in his renderings mainly on black and white backgrounds as a narrative to his art, employs many mediums from sand to black and colour marker to creatively express both traditional and contemporary human experiences, which are so evident in almost all his works. according to ekpuk, his limited knowledge of nsibidi signs today is from a memory of observations and documented anthropological archives. he further stated that what immensely inspired the direction of his work has taken the past two decades as a professional visual artist and his contact with nsibidi has inspired the essence of an ancient art form to express contemporary experience. he now resides in the u.s.a victors as among the exponent of this new innovation into indigenous traditional art form, began an exploration of nsibidi traditional visual communication and writing system in nigeria from which he has developed a style of drawing and graphics means of communication. critical looking at his works, forms are reduced to their linear essence, depicting the interplay between art and writing in the form of drawing. his works showcase a wide spectrum of meaning that is deeply rooted not only in african culture but in global contemporary art discourse. some of his works are here presented and discussed plate 1: “kiss and tell” shows two figures presented in abstract form, these figures seem to be having fun by kissing each other. according to the artist as interviewed by egwu 2013 the title came about as a reference to “don’t ask don’t tell which use to be the official position of gays and lesbians in the united states military. plate 1: kiss and tell. ekpuk contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 119 there are red oval shapes seen in the heads of the figures. the background of the work has tiny nsibidi designs which form an oval shape and the upper parts of the figures are inside the oval-shaped design. another work titled “fiestpad blues” by victor used bright colours. he used orange, blue, and green in addition to black to harmonies the design. lines are used to create designs in different ways; an eye can be seen and under it are blue dots. three figures presented abstractly can also be seen, the one in the middle appears to be the mother and the other two her children, one in her front and the other at her back on a bicycle. according to the artist interviewed by egwu 2013, the artist noted that the work was inspired by his memory of the netherlands properly when visited the country. he further stated that the bicycle is very central to the everyday life of the dutch people. plate2: night watch (54" x 45") victor ekpuk victor in this work made use of lines in “ night watch” plate 2 to form animals, one of the animals has half its body with dots around it like that of a leopard, and another seems to have ornaments on it, and there are about four houses, two with doors and the other with none. the background of the work has small dots all around forming a circle. a moon can also be seen in the pictures treated in blue with a candle-like object around it. the artist made use of lines and shapes of different wavelengths in his rendering. plate 3: escape goat. victor ekpuk plate 3 is titled “escape goat”; here symbols are used to form a square with an opening in it that has the picture of two figures carrying an animal probably as suggested by the title of the work. the animal is being carried on a stick with the figures holding each end of the stick. in other the making of meaning in nsibidi visual method 120 parts of the work, there are figures of animals that seem to be running, and also pictures of what appears to be a hunter chasing or hunting the animal. the title of the work expresses the human condition. plate 4 is titled “child in the wilderness”, here the artist made use of lines ranging from bold lines to tiny lines, the child is presented abstractly and these tiny lines form a circle around the head, the hands of the child have the look of wings and it has one foot. also it appears to have very features on its face such as the eyes and nose, it does not seem to have a mouth. there is also a red spiral circle at the top. according to the artist as interviewed by egwu (2013) the artist was considering a state of loneliness in a world of chaos. the figure in the middle is a stylized form of akwaba doll from ghana, he explores the aesthetics of classical african sculpture in this work. plate 4: child in the wilderness. victor ekpuk plate 5 titled “uyan iban” shows an abstract figure with a foot, and a very large head that has what looks like the brain treated in white and red dots, with black underneath. it also has an outer circular layer around it. the figure has tiny streaks of hair, about four stranding out on its head; while the other parts went down in such a way that one can say is a female figure. this work is one of his recent renderings or drawings; here he tries to explore the female aesthetics in the hairstyle of the ibibio culture of south eastern nigeria. “uyan iban” means beautiful maide plate 5 uyan iban. victor ekpuk contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 121 plate 6 is titled “bird call”, the artist made use of lines to create different forms, abstract faces, figures, and shapes when looked at closely. the lines and forms depict an aspect of the igbo and ibibio cultures of nigeria. the bird is done with red colour and blue and white dots on its body. the bird has a very long leg, with its claw. the background of the work has a mixture of white and yellow patches; there are also blue patches that can be seen at closer observation. plate 6: bird call. victor ekpuk. analysis of victor ekpuk’s works the aesthetics philosophy of nsibidi rendering where that ideas and forms are reduced to their essence, forms the basis of victor ekpuk’s works. sometimes there are specific uses of nsibidi signs in his compositions, if the subject matter demands it at other times, he uses symbols. there are times when symbols are not used at all. the general idea of his work is not so it could be read literally, grasping the essence of the work is equally important. the artist believes that his styles of artwork have aroused conversation about literacy, writing and other modes of communication in africa. victor in his innovative thinking and exploration believes that his works have added to the conversation that challenges the eurocentric notion of africa as an illiterate culture some of his works are meant to explore the aesthetic pleasure of the composition rather than meaning. “kiss and tells” (plate 1). in this presentation, the artist depicts an experience of two women lovers kissing on the street of the netherlands. the artist asserts that the title came about as a reference to “don’t ask don’t tell “it used to be the united official position of guys and lesbians in the united state military. plate 2 “fiestpad blues” was inspired by victor’s memory of the netherlands. the bicycle was central to the everyday life of dutch people. the figure in the centre is a woman and her two children on a bicycle. plate 3 titled “night watch” expressed a typical nightlife where lines were employed to form animals. a moon is depicted shining and watching over them in a cluster can also see up the pictures treated in blue with candle-like objects around them. in this work, one can see a combination of different techniques and media that indicates an experiment with different materials. the contemporary mood is seen in the night watch and it is the relative simplicity of the making of meaning in nsibidi visual method 122 this particular work that seems modern and i think is influenced by modernist art forms and shapes. it is visible clear that the animal forms in this work “night watch” the artist was inspired by terracotta equestrian figurines of the niger region in mali. it is important to observe that the artist's works are highly stylized and relatively simplified in terms of forms and functions which make his works wear a contemporary look. plate 3 titled “escape goat” expresses the situation about the human condition; the pictures depict a statement or show hardship. plate 4 titled “child in the wilderness” the work depicts loneliness in a world full of chaos. the figure represented in the middle of the work is probably a stylized form of akwaba doll from ghana, here he tries to explore the aesthetics of classical african sculpture. on closer observation, one can see the amalgam of symbols and can recognize signs that could further explain the representation “uyan iban” plate 5 is one of victor’s recent drawings where he explores the female aesthetics in ibibio culture, “uyan iban” means beautiful maiden, and the focus here is on the hairstyle. plate 6 titled bird call, here is the idea and forms of nsibidi's aesthetic philosophy in his lyrical presentation of lines and various images within a certain environment. the finding of this paper indicates that visual communication design is an essential part of our daily lives. design skills acquired in visual communication are used to persuade and communicate specific information and messages that can inspire thoughts using symbols, signs, words and images informing good design for effective problem-solving through practical application. graphics designers predominantly use this method of visual communication in their professional practice; nsibidi transmits and conceals various kinds of information using a wide fluid vocabulary of geometric and naturalistic signs placed on objects. nsibidi as a symbol is important to visual communication design because it has been described as a fluid system of communication that has hundreds of pictographic signs. artist 8n general in recent time has have engaged in the innovation of re-creating indigenous art forms, especially using nsibidi and uli concepts of representation in the eastern part of nigeria conclusion the ideas or ways of doing something new are one way of changing and developing our environment. uli and nsibidi artists have introduced new ways of representing their works in the contemporary era. africans have embraced creativity and innovation as a way forward towards the expression of our artistic ingenuity to the whole world. creativity and spontaneity may succeed in limiting uncertainty leading to more stable living conditions in africans. changes brought by creativity and spontaneity can be subsumed under the more general framework of a quest for order which can be assumed to lie at the heart of any kind of socialization. the symbols, signs and motifs used by nsibidi and uli artists are a form of visual presentation and communication which indeed form part of our daily living. in the traditional setting these signs, symbols and motifs were used by the past generations to communicate messages, ideas and information in a form that can be read or looked upon for aesthetics and other purposes. the term "visual" presentation in graphics communication is used to refer to the actual presentation of information to the public through a visual medium such as text, images, symbols, and a combination of other graphics elements via a particular media of presentation. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 123 a lot of modern nigerian artists have been using these indigenous images in this contemporary period for aesthetics, function and other purposes. among these artists are uche okeke, aniakor, obiora ude uchukwu, el anatsui, tayo adenaikke, godwin o. uka, kyris ikuemmessi, chijioke onoura, ekene to mention a few and victor ekuk whose works have been used for this analysis. victor’s technical proficiency in drawing, design, composition and surface manipulation are basic tools that convey his visual imagery that captures and sustain the attention of viewers. this paper has tried to analyse and expose indigenous symbols, images, signs and their role in visual communication using victors works as case study. pointing the way forward more similar research papers are encouraged thereby. references arnot a.s. (1937) “art and industry in arochukwu” nigeria. no. 12, pp9-11 isichei elizabeth (1975) a history of the igbo people, london: macmillan, p. 3. jefferys, m.d. w (1957) ‘negro abstract art or ibo body patterns’. s. a.m. a. b. (south african kalu, o.u. (1978 ed). “writing in pre-colonial africa; a case study of nsibidi”, african cultural development. enugu: fourth dimension publishers. macgregor, j.k. (1909). “some notes on nsibidi” in the journal of the royal anthological institute of great britain and ireland. vol. 30. murrey k.c. (1972) ‘ibo body painting’ unpublished notes and drawings museums association bulletin) no. 6, pp. 219-229 talbot 1912:308, 1969:932). peoples, iv, pp95-96 ubom, i.p. (1987); “cultural development in cross river state” in akwa ibom and cross river state: the land, the people and their culture: abasiattai monday b. (ed), calabar, wusesn press limited. udechukwu obiora (1981) uli and li: aspects of igbo and chinese drawing and painting. nigeria magazine nos. 134-135 umoetuk, o. u. (1985); “body art in ibibio culture” nigeria magazine; vol. 53 no. 2 april-june. willis elizabeth a (1987) a lexicon of igbo uli motifs in nsukka journal of the humanities number 1, june 1987 contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 143 chapter 11 fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation in nigeria godwin o. uka and kasi jockeil ojike department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract the quest for design in general and graphic design practice in particle has led to the conceit of creativity and innovation often used interchangeably in design practice. in most instances, creativity is usually considered as an internal and national process of creating a new idea, while agreeing that innovations are the fulcrum of the implementation of such ideas. this position unwittingly placed the idea as a global force and appears increasingly inevitable, as many experts find it difficult to establish and maintain a competitive edge despite an increase in the number of indigenous innovations and creativity. this in turn has affected indigenous enterprises and sustainability, especially in the digital era. hence, this paper seeks to examine the fundamental issues in graphic design and how visual data could help to formulate creativity and indigenous innovation, using the theory of diffusion of innovation and visual perception that supports indigenous creative endeavour in nigeria. the underlying logic and finding of the paper hence the recommendations thereafter reflect on the question of indigenous innovation and creativity in the graphic design concept. introduction there is always a need to progress and change in any developing nation, which could be as a result of new technology and possibilities or because of changes in the world. innovation could be used as a term to mean progression and adapting to changing conditions. the opposite of innovation is 'stagnant' or, at least, 'complacent'. a readiness to do something new is required for innovation. but anything new is viewed as a risk in most african developmental processes or still as a distraction from the normal routine. there is every need to commit resources to anything new. innovation and creativity in the african context have increasingly come to be seen as a response to the condition africa has been subjected to by the world. innovation and creativity describe the adaption of tradition to new challenges. african appropriation of external inputs, the endeavour to integrate these inputs into their lives, and most importantly, their response to the ever-new situations that result from innovation itself are important for future development. fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 144 innovation can happen if there is a readiness to try new things and if a habit of exploring new possibilities is developed, it will help and be beneficial to african development. creating a climate of acceptance for every new possibility is very difficult. there is a need for someone to be sensitive to what is happening elsewhere in the same field and to what is happening in the world. there are many myths about creativity. there is the belief that creativity is a mysterious talent that some people have and others can only envy. anyone can learn and practice the thinking skill of creativity. some people might be better than others, as with any skill such as driving, cooking, tennis or soccer, art and design and others. innovation is the introduction of something new to an organization or culture. one might do this by copying someone else, by systematic, intuitive, logical design or still through direct and deliberate creativity. however, there must be a readiness to explore and implement new ideas. innovation means putting into effect something new for any organization, association, community or nation. there may be many sources for what is 'new'. a professional designer’s role is to enhance living by applying a developed sense of aesthetics and utility to the design of a human-made world. innovation through creativity africa can be seen as a laboratory of a multiplicity of actors engaged in experimenting and exploring with a multitude of innovations. empirical studies can be either in-depth case studies or follow a comparative approach. in addition, some comparative studies may even include cases from regions outside africa. the envisaged research may include all fields of fine and applied arts or industrial design (global exchange, environmental and climatic change. however, in this respect specific attention to socially relevant innovations and emerging orders may be identified for example cities as spatial emphases of change; artists, designers, musicians and young people as particularly innovative actors; new forms of political order; religious groups, or civil society associations as new forms of group association. these efforts may all be linked to particular worldviews, normative frameworks, concepts of belonging, or the moral order of social relations. urban social environments appear to open up increasingly to a creative blend of various cultural expressions in film, music, literature and art and design as well as in new fashions and lifestyles. some of these expressions form the background to new social movements with new discourses on social and political life in general. a special emphasis on young people and youth movements may be helpful to further explore this sociocultural change. from a generational perspective, youth has always been perceived as a non-conventional entity which must be tamed to make it conform to the order of society. in this sense, it is a phase of life open to uncertainty, exploration, experimentation and innovation and this renders youth one of the most promising topics to research in the quest for order framework. creative originality is not just limited to creating and originating a system of ideas out of nothing but artful and careful combination, coupled with a well-established pattern of thought by a process of cross-fertilization is needed to save the system from the state of mythology. it is therefore imperative to develop a new reasoning ability to think aright, explore possibilities and to be able to discover and combine meaningfully, as many ideas and experiences as possible to http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/innovation-maintenance.php contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 145 create new forms of knowledge. exploring the mind can be achieved with daydreaming, meditation and also thinking about thinking. what makes an individual tick? what are one's hopes, dreams, and fears? what does one do well? what could one do better? start practising observing oneself – this might be a great start. creativity is more closely related to thinking abilities and attitudinal development. it is a continual process for which the best preparation involves creativity itself. the act of creativity can be seen as that which provides the urge for continuing exploration and discovery. every child is born creative. the urge to explore, investigate, and discover, what is on the other side of the screen is not limited to human behaviour, but is experienced by the whole animal kingdom, (lower field and brittan 1975). one of the most commonly agreed upon components of creative thinking is the ability to produce a large number of ideas. in a general sense, the idea of creativity means different things to different people in the world. murray (1966) states “… the creative process of the african artist is quite distinct from that of his western counterparts”. there is the need to take due account of this distinction in any comparative analysis. creativity exists everywhere in people’s life. it can be found in designing and packaging, processing and production, fabric and fashion, sign and architectural design, applied science and technology, visual arts, theatre, music, film (video production) and a host of other activities. creativity in the modern dispensation is used as a powerful tool to attract attention to a nation or country's powerful endowment. creativity can be meaningful to an individual if it is ideologically and culturally inclined. runco (1994) opines that creativity is in terms of cognitive processes that lead to an original and adaptive insight, idea or solution. thus, creativity is the most essential of all human resources and skills (bolaji 2007). akinboye (2004) sees creativity as a tool that propels organizations, catapults careers, and generate potent growth and viable outcomes. creativity is at the heart of art and design, at all stages throughout the design process. the most exciting and challenging design is that which is truly innovative; the creation of a radical departure from anything currently on the market (baxter, 1995). the more people try to define creativity by identifying with specific sets of values, meanings, beliefs, and symbols, the more our creativity will be focusing on how values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed, and the greater the chance that our creativity will become less restricted ( bolaji 2007). one major way to spark creativity is through exploration. exploring exposes one to new things. new things are inspiring. while exploring one might stumble across a new way of doing something, a new thing to do, or something more subtle. sometimes one uncovers a bit of information that clicks with things he has been thinking about and completes (or helps to complete) the picture he has been developing in his mind. other times one may discover a tool, a process or an approach that others are using which is unrelated but still inspiring in its ingenuity. exploration can fuel one's creativity. exploration is the act of travelling or searching within and around a terrain (including the immediate environment, the world and space or even an unknown region for the discovery of resources or information for a particular project. exploration in art could take different forms, for example a visit to the city especially where one lives, or the nearest one and spend a day walking through the streets. also, a visit to local, independent shops, clothing stores, antique shops, craft shops, toy stores, markets, museums, and art galleries/workshops are great places to seek out. fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 146 others are new parks, beaches, monuments, and other gathering areas. as an artist or designer, it helps to have a goal, or set of goals, to provide some structure to your creative wanderings. artists and designers are no longer constrained to the physical realm for their explorations, the internet and the world wide web; there are vast tracks to be explored without ever leaving their homes. graphic design plays an indispensable role in the industrialization of any nation. that is no matter the type of industries being established, be it advertising, printing or publishing companies, graphics design services would be needed if the products of the industries are to reach the general public and infect if they are to be marketable. the importance of teaching graphics cannot be overemphasized because of its educative and industrial power as well as its career prospects. the teaching of graphics would help the growing ones develop creative minds as well as discover themselves early. besides, it would lay a good foundation for students who wish to do higher studies in graphics design. with the characteristic changes being brought about by scientific and technological developments and the need for education to be dynamic to respond to the changing needs of africa and the world in general, graphics still have a big role to play. exploration and experimentation with indigenous material the designer in the process of exploration and experimentation with indigenous and unconventional materials can produce aesthetical functional and functional art objects. the indigenous materials for creating good design and production include can include beads, pop, wood, sand, paper, and plastic among other elements. the environment is a good enabling place or field for any explorative engagement for the designer. one major way to spark creativity is through exploration, exploration can fuel one's creativity and exposes the designer to new things, which can be inspiring. the designer while trying to explore things around him stumbled across a new way of doing something more subtle and innovative. other times one may discover a tool, a process or an approach that others are using which is unrelated but still inspiring in its ingenuity. the designer can travel and search within and around his terrain (including the immediate environment, the world and space or even an unknown region for the discovery of resources or information for this particular project. most of his design works reference the creative expression as found in nature. the designers are no longer constrained to the physical realm for their explorations, their immediate environment has influenced the creative exploration. it makes the designer conscious of the environment to use whatever is at his disposal to produce artwork which can serve aesthetic purposes and at the same time solve industrial problems. that way the graphic designer becomes an agent of environmental conservation and makes a brilliant contribution to technological research aimed at giving the nation a place in the global scheme of things. the designer employs unconventional materials in the production of functional but aesthetic products in the form of graphics presentations in different media to enhance the aesthetics of the environment examples of designs produced within the borders of this experimental area are two-dimensional designs such as cards, posters, and calendars made with a combination of fabrics, papers, wood and a myriad of other materials. others are three– contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 147 dimensional works such as aesthetically rich and functional interior designs that include lampshades and clocks created in organic and geometric forms. office and home collections are made also made created ranging from flower vases, pen holders, and racks, to mirror stands, tv trolleys and other pieces of furniture. in the area of product design, prototypes of a variety of industrial goods are made out of pop, paper, clay, and similar media. other examples are functional devices like speakers and recorders that are used with other electronic gadgets or independently powered with electricity. presentation and analysis creative design ideas and concepts plate 1: lamp holder, wood and paper, 2 by 3, © olugu peter the artist in his exploration and experimentation with indigenous and unconventional materials produced an aesthetically functional lamp holder. the materials used in the design and production include, beads, pop, wood, sand, paper, and plastic among other elements. other examples of designs produced within the borders of this experimental area are two-dimensional designs such as cards, posters, and calendars made with a combination of fabrics, papers, wood and a myriad of other materials. fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 148 plate 2: customized card, paper, 2 by 3, isougie faith plate 2 is a customized card in a three-dimensional format, with aesthetically rich and functional interior designs that can be used at home or in the office. in the area of product design, prototypes of a variety of industrial goods are made out of pop, paper, clay, and similar media. plate 3: decorative lamp stand, 2 by 3, onuche damian in plate 3, the designer has through his explorative tendency designed/ created and produced an aesthetically rich and functional interior design lamp in organic and geometric forms. this could be used in the office and at home. in this area of product design, prototypes of a variety of industrial goods are made out of pop, paper, clay, and similar media. other examples are functional devices like speakers and recorders that are used with other electronic gadgets or independently powered with electricity. the dominant colours in the work are orange and black. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 149 plate 4: flower vase, 2 by 3, agbi adrian plate 4 titled flower vase is an aesthetically rich interior design work for the office and home collections, the artist's creative weight has been thrown into practice and pedagogical, enterprise exposition. his creative and innovative design has made him the focus of artistic discussion in many circles in and around nigeria and abroad it is a colourful abstract pineapple design, with a combination of yellow, green and red, which have epitomize the visual aesthetics of the design. plate 5: pawpaw design, 2 by 3, marcus idea this particular design is explorative and experimental of visual ideas employing unconventional materials in the production of functional but aesthetic functional products in the form of graphics presentations to enhance the beauty, and aesthetics of the environment. the fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 150 artist assembles unconventional materials in the form of various colours and appearance of actual and different sizes of composition in enhancing his work. these works are richly characterized by dots, circles and other design elements characterized by linearity, dot, and geometric shapes mostly in perspective in producing creative expression in product design format. the representation of colours in this design is another key element. different colours were employed due to cognitive processing; culture and personal experience here added meaning to the new change of environment. it is important to know the meaning behind the design to bring information across to the viewer's appropriate. plate 6: 2 by 3, designer: josh his recent works have accommodated a wide range of media. his creative exploits in his rendering. the artist assembles unconventional materials in the form of various colours and appearance of actual and different sizes of composition in enhancing the environment. he employs two and threedimensional geometrical visual images repenting chains of effects in exquisite dramatic organization visual organized. in other works in this experimentation and this area of product design, prototypes of a variety of industrial goods are made out of pop, paper, clay, and similar media. other examples are functional devices like speakers and recorders that are used with other electronic gadgets or independently powered with electricity. the dominant colors in the work are orange and black. plate 7: flower vase, 2 by 3 inches, designer: contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 151 examples of designs produced within the borders of this experimental area are twodimensional designs such as cards, posters, and calendars made with a combination of fabrics, papers, wood and a myriad of other materials. others are three–dimensional works such as aesthetically rich and functional interior designs that include lampshades and clocks created in organic and geometric forms. office and home collections are made also made created ranging from flower vases, pen holders, and racks, to mirror stands, tv trolleys and other pieces of furniture. in the area of product design, prototypes of a variety of industrial goods are made out of pop, paper, clay, and similar media. other examples are functional devices like speakers and recorders that are used with other electronic gadgets or independently powered with electricity. his expressive use of brilliant and pure hues in fearless, skillfulness and imperative plate 8: untitled, 2 by 3, designer: ezema wisdom in plate 8 one can see a significant manifestation of the designer’s creative enterprise in this work. it creates an avenue for collaborative research between graphic artists and engineers and other professionals in the applied sciences. here the designer employs unconventional materials in the production of functional but aesthetic products in form of graphics presentations in different media to enhance the aesthetics of the environment. it makes the designer conscious of the environment to use whatever is at his disposal to produce artwork which can serve aesthetic purposes and at the same time solve industrial problems. that way the graphic designer becomes an agent of environmental conservation and makes a brilliant contribution to technological research aimed at giving the nation a place in the global scheme of things. fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 152 plate 9: untitled, flex banner, 2 by 3 inches, designer: andiokoro one major way to spark creativity is through exploration. exploring exposes one to new things. new things are inspiring. the designer while trying to explore things around him stumbled across a new way of doing something more subtle. one can see through this fruitshaped object on a base. other times one may discover a tool, a process or an approach that others are using which is unrelated but still inspiring in its ingenuity. exploration can fuel one's creativity. the designer in this particular has explored by travelling and searching within and around his terrain (including the immediate environment, the world and space or even unknown regions for the discovery of resources or information for this particular project. most of his design works reference the creative expression as found in nature. the designers are no longer constrained to the physical realm for their explorations, their immediate environment has influenced the creative exploration conclusion the works presented are the outcome of exploration and experimentation by the graphic designers. there are benefits associated with this dispensation that are rooted in exploration and innovation. thus, there are far-reaching benefits for any developing nation that makes creativity the centre of its philosophical ideology. methodologies that aid the exploration and discovery of potentials, and a problem-solving ability which allows the learner the opportunity for creativity should be the focus of any educational endeavour or curriculum transformation. the need for a paradigm shift from theoretical and paper certification to a practical application of knowledge necessary for future employment and skill development in the art and design for selfemployment is very necessary for african development. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 153 references akinboye, j. o. (2004) creativity, innovation and success. stirling-hordens publishers ltd, ibadan-nigeria. anya, a.o. (1982) the environment of isolation. the ahiajoku lecture, ministry of information, owerri, nigeria baxter, m.r. (1995) product design. practical methods for the systematic development of new products, new york: chapman and hall bolaji, s.d. (2007) akinpelu’s educational philosophy and its implication to educational system in nigeria, unpublished master’s thesis submitted to the department of educational foundations, faculty of education, university of lagos. lowerfield and brittian, l. (1995) creative and mental growth. macmillan publishing co. inc., new york. murray, j. (1966) introduction to african art. camelot press ltd, london. rodney, w. (1982) how europe underdeveloped africa, ikenga publishers enugu, nigeria. runco, a. m. (1994) encyclopedia of human behavior. academic press inc. new york. exchange structure and topic development in selected igbo phone-in media programmes thecla udemmadu & juliana akpulu abstract exchange structure is a sequence of discourse moves -by at least two speakers that forms a topical or subtopical unit. a minimal exchange comprises of initiating move plus a contribution by another speaker, and topic negotiation is the act of selecting or highlighting a topic for deliberation in a discourse. this study focusses on the exchange structure and topic development in selected igbo phone-in programme as little or no research has been done on the topic using igbo phone-in programmes for illustrations. the purpose of this academic exercise is to investigate how igbo phone-in programmes are arranged, and to highlight how topics are developed in igbo phone-in programme using sinclair-coulthard (1975) ‘birmingham model’. data for this study were collected from federal radio corporation of nigeria (frcn), enugu. the fingings show that phone-in programme is organized hierarchically into act, move, exchange and transaction structures, also, that in phone-in programme, as a conversation, the presenter was the host of the programme, the guests (if any) were the resource persons, while the listener/caller was the target audience. the researcher recommends more researches on similar topics. keywords: exchange, structure, topic development, igbo phoneprogrammes introduction discourse analysis studies how people achieve certain communicative goals, perform certain communicative events and present themselves to others through the use of language. it focuses on how people do things beyond language and the ideas and beliefs that they communicate as they use language, (paltridge, 2006, p.6). discourse also focuses on the structure of naturally occurring spoken language as found in such ‘discourses’ as conversation, interviews, commentaries and speeches, (crystal, 1987, p. 116). this study investigates the structure and topic development in broadcasting in the igbo language with particular reference to selected phone-in radio programmes. the methodology for data collection was through on-the-spot monitoring of the programmes, dubbing of some interactive live-programmes from the selected electronic media station. sinclair and coulthard’s (1975) theoretical framework was adopted. the data illustrate the various features of interactions in the phone-in programmes, and the strategies used by participants in the negotiation of meaning. the findings of this work would go a long way in defining the different roles different participants play in broadcast live-programmes. emphasis of this study is only on phone-in programmes. the phone-in programme selected is titled “ka ọra malụ”, the topic discussed is “global food crisis” presented by mr. nat. obikpo of federal radio corporation of nigeria, (frcn), enugu. this form the bases of the analysis. the study is segmented into: the introduction, concept of phone-in programme, theoretical framework, analysis of data, then, the findings and the conclusion concept of phone-in programme phone-in programme is a type of media programme recently introducedin nigeria’s electronic media stations (that is, radio and television) in the late 1990s. it is a programme in which the members of the public are given the privilege of participating in a live media discussion through the use of telephones or cellphones. lawan (2008,p.9) affirms that one of the remarkable innovations which technology has brought into the media industry in the recent times is the phone-in programme. it is a device which allows the listening audience to participate in radio and television programmes live and direct through the use of the telephone. it therefore, allows the audience to air their views about government activities, to participate in ongoing discussions, to debate as well as inform the public and government of what is happening in their environment. he further says that with the recent influx of various types of cellphones, and easy access to call centres, this type of programme has helped the less-privileged and the poor to be heard and their needs addressed by the government. the radio and television broadcasting is that aspect of mass communication that involves a simultaneous transmission of information, idea, knowledge, belief etc. to a dispersed and heterogeneous audience through the electro-magnetic spectrum or airwave. radio disseminates audio signals through the air wave while television transmits audio-visual signals through a similar process. (agbanu and nwammuo, 2009,pp. 17-18) theoretical framework sinclair-coulthard (1975) ‘birmingham model’ of exchange structure will be discussed under this section as it will aid the analysis of the data of this study. mccarthy (1991,p.22) states that, one of the models for the analysis of spoken interaction is sinclair-coulthard ‘birmingham model’. this is because it is useful for describing talk in and out of the classroom. it captures patterns that reflect the basic functions of interaction and offers a hierarchical model where smaller units can be seen to consist of these smaller ones. the ‘act’ is at the bottom of the hierarchy. different ‘acts’ form a ‘move’, which is the next at the hierarchy. it is followed by ‘exchange’. ‘exchange’ is made up of different ‘moves’. the different ‘exchanges’ form a ‘transaction’. ‘transaction’ is at the apex of the hierarchical model. the structure of discourse a rank at any point in time is made up of one or more units below it. sinclair and coulthard (1975) write that the basic assumption of a rank scale is that a unit at a given rank, for example, a word is made up of one or more units of the rank below the morpheme, and combine with other units at the same rank to form one unit at the rank above a group. the unit at the lowest rank has no structure. the smallest unit at the level of discourse will have no structure although it is composed of words, groups or clauses at the level of grammar. each rank above the lowest has a structure which can be expressed in terms of the unit next below. the unit at the highest rank is one which has a structure that can be expressed in terms of lower units, but does not itself form part of the structure of any higher unit. it is for this reason that ‘sentence’ is regarded as the highest unit of grammar. the bare bones of the hierarchy (or rank scale) can be expressed as follows: transaction exchange move act the lowest rank is what is referred to as ‘speech acts’. sinclair and coulthard (1975, p.20) simply call them ‘acts’. the model is very useful for analyzing patterns of interaction where talk is relatively in structures, such as between doctors and patients. all sorts of complications arise when one tries to apply the model to talk in more informal, casual, and spontaneous contexts. so, this model has been adopted to this study as it could provide insight into the analysis of face-face interactions in igbo phone-in programmes. according to sinclair and coulthard (1975, p.21), utterance is defined as everything said by one speaker before another begins to speak. exchange has two or more utterances. (102) teacher‘can you tell me, why do you eat food?’ (103) pupil‘to keep you strong’ (104) teacher‘to keep you strong’. ‘yes, to keep you strong.’ ‘why do you want to be strong?’ the obvious boundary occurs in the middle of the teacher’s second utterance, which suggests that there is a unit smaller than utterance. following bellack (in sinclair and coulthard, 1975), this feature is called a ‘move’. however, the example above is not an isolated one; the vast majority of exchanges have their boundaries within utterances. a typical exchange in the classroom consists of an ‘initiation’ by the teacher, followed by a ‘response’ from the pupil, followed by ‘feedback’ to the pupil’s response from the teacher. these categories correspond very closely with bellack’s moves (in sinclair and coulthard, 1975); soliciting, responding and reacting. while looking at exchanges one noticed that a small set of words‘right’, ‘well’, ‘good’, ‘o.k’, ‘now’ recurred frequently in the speech of all teachers. it is realized that these words functioned to indicate boundaries in the lesson; the end of one stage and the beginning of the next. exchanges combine to form transactions and it seems probable that there will also be a number of transactions types concerned mainly with giving information, or directing pupils’ activity, or question-and-answer routines.it is realized that ‘moves’ were structured and so another rank is needed with which to describe their structure. this is called ‘act’. ‘act’ and ‘move’ in discourse are very similar to morphemes and words in grammar. by definition, ‘move’ is the smallest free unit although it has a structure in terms of ‘acts’. there are three major acts which probably occur in all forms of spoken discourse. they are elicitation, directive, and informative. they appear in classroom discourse as the head of ‘initiating moves’. an elicitation is an ‘act’, the function of which is to request a linguistic response. but, sometimes the response may be a non-verbal surrogate such as a nod or raised hand. a directive is an ‘act’, the function of which is to request a non-linguistic response. it is simply an acknowledgement that one is listening. an informative is, as the name suggests, an act whose function is to pass on ideas, facts, opinions, information and to which the appropriate response is simply an acknowledgement that one is listening. elicitation, directives, and informatives are very frequently realized by interrogatives, imperatives, and declaratives respectively, but there are occasions when this is not so. our focus in this work is to see whether the sinclair and coulthard rank scale can fit into igbo phone-in programme. move ‘move’, according to sinclair and coulthard (1975) is made up of ‘acts’. ‘move’ itself occupies places in the structure of exchanges. it is also the minimal interactive unit; that most analytical problems centre on this rank first and foremost. there are five classes of ‘move’ and these realize two classes of exchanges‘framing’ and ‘focusing’ moves realize boundary exchanges. ‘opening’, ‘answering’, and ‘follow-up’ moves realize teaching exchanges. each of these ‘moves’ has a different function.‘framing moves’ are indications by the teacher that he regards one stage in the lesson as ended and that another is beginning. ‘framing moves’ is one of the features of all spoken discourse. shop assistants often use them to indicate that they have finished serving one customer and are ready for the next. they occur more frequently in classroom language because they are carefully structured by one participant. framing moves are realized by a marker followed by silent stress, ‘right’. ‘framing moves’ are frequently, though not always, followed by ‘focusing moves’ the function of which is to talk about the discourse, to tell the children what is going to happen or what has happened. ‘focusing moves’ have an optional ‘marker’ and ‘starter’, a compulsory ‘head’, realized by a metastatement. an opening move ends after the responder has been selected. ‘prompt’ and ‘clue’ can also occur in a ‘post-head’ position in opening moves. this means that the structure of a teacher’s opening move is(signal) (pre-head) head (post-head) (select). this can be illustrated below: class of move structure of move classes of act opening a group of people use symbol to do their writing. they use pictures instead pre-h(ead) starter of writing in words. do you know who these people are? h(ead) elicitation i’m sure you do post –h(ead) prompt joan sel(ect) nomination table 1 topic development the issue of topic raises two basic questions: ‘how do participants in a conversation introduce new topics? ‘how do they move from topic to topic?’ topic is defined, on the formal level, as stretches of talk bounded by certain topic and/or phonological one. it could take a semantic framework and try to express the content of different segments of talk according to single-word or phrasal titles. it could use interactive criteria and say that something is only a topic if more than one speaker makes an utterance relevant to it. an overall pragmatic approach is to say that topics are strings of utterances perceived as relevant to one another by participants in a talk. a purely surface cohesional view states that topics end where chains of lexical cohesion peter out. topics can be the reason for talk or they can arise because people are already talking. the interactive features of topics can also be taught and practised, such as the use of markers, both opening ones (by the way, incidentally, i meant to ask you, talking of x) and closing ones (still, anyway, so there we are), or summarizing a stretch of talk and reacting to it with an evaluation (sounds awful, it was all rather resettling, quite strange, really), (mccarthy, 1991,p.91). in support of the above assertion, coulthard and montgomery (1981, pp. 68-71) point out that pretopic acts include the following: markers, summonses, metastatements. topic-carrying acts include the following: informative, elicitations, directives and accusations. bloor and bloor (2007, p. 107) add that one of the attributes of power is some degree of control over input to a discourse which is topic control. in the case of face to face interaction in some situations it includes control over turn-taking and hence, over the content of the discussion. mccarthy (1991,p.69) notes that topics unfold interactively, rather than ‘existing’ as static entities. in the same vein, wardhaugh (1985,pp.139-140) refers to topic as a ‘consensual outcome’. speakers can throw topics into the ring, but whether they are taken up or die depends on the speaker(s), if one speaker insists on pursuing his topics, ignoring the wishes of others. this is precisely when deviance into monologue or complain to friends is recognized. topics unfold, and the vocabulary used by the speakers offers openings for possible development, which may or may not be exploited. turn-taking in the classic ethnomethodological setting, discourse analysts have observed how participants organize themselves to make turns at talk. in any piece of natural english discourse, turns will occur smoothly, with only little overlap and interruption, and only very brief silences between turns/on average (less than a second). people take turns when they are selected or ‘nominated’ by the current speaker, or if no one is selected, they may speak of their own accord (self selection). if neither of these conditions applies, the person who is currently speaking may continue, (sack et al., 1974). while the current speaker is talking, listeners are attentive to the syntactic completeness or otherwise of the speaker’s contribution, and to clues in the pitch level that may indicate that a turn is coming to a close. there are specific linguistic devices for getting the turn when one is unable to enter the normal flow of turn-taking or when the setting demands that specific conventions be followed. these vary greatly at the level of formality and appropriacy to different situation, (for example, ‘if i may, mr. chairman’, ‘i wonder if i might say something’, ‘can i just come in here’, ‘hang on a minute’, ‘shut up will you, i can’t get a word in edgewise’). there are many linguistic means of ‘not’ taking the turn when one has the opportunity, or simply of making it clear to the speaker that one is attending to the message. these are usually referred to as ‘back channel’ responses. these responses consist of vocalizations such as ‘m m, ah-ha’, and short words and phrases such as ‘yeah’, ‘no’, ‘right’, ‘sure’. back-channel realizations vary interestingly from culture to culture. another feature of turn-taking is the way speakers predict one another’s utterances and often complete them for them, or overlap with them as they complete (mccarthy, 1991,p.69). utterances by one speaker are an invitation to a response by another; the initiating utterance puts an obligation on the responding speaker to make his turn both relevant to the previous turn and a positive contribution to the forward moving of the discourse. one of the problems associated with turn-taking is the fact that some dominant and garrulous speakers often grab too many turns (gender can be a factor here). the other problem is the question of culture-specific conventions. problems of dominant speakers can be partially solved by giving people with such tendencies restricted rules in activities so that other participants will often rise to the challenge of a major speaker role. the culture-specific problems are more complex, for instance, in some cultures, silence has a more acceptable role than in others. other features of how turns are given and gained in english may also prompt specific awareness training where necessary. these include body language such as inhalation and head movement as a turn-seeking signal, eye contact, gesticulation, etc. as well as linguistic phenomena such as a drop in pitch or rise of grammatical tags. paltridge (2006,p.5) contributes by saying that in an ordinary conversation for example, the overlapping of speech may be an attempt by one speaker to take over the conversation from the other person. if the other person does not want them to take over the conversation, he may increase the volume of what he is saying and just keep on talking, not letting them interrupt him. in a different situation, however, overlapping speech may just be a case of co-operative conversational behavior such as when one speaker gives a feedback to another speaker, mirroring what they are saying as they speak.firth (1935) in sinclair and coulthard (1975, pp.2-7) says that people’s interests again were in the function of utterances and the structure of discourse. such questions as the ones below are asked about turn-taking: ‘how are successive utterances related?’ ‘who controls the discourse?’ ‘how does he do it?’ ‘how, if at all, do other participants take control?’ ‘how do the roles of speaker and listener pass from one participant to another?’ ‘how are new topics introduced and old ones ended?’ ‘what linguistic evidence is there for discourse units larger than the utterance?’ (see also johnstone, 2008). in normal conversations, for example, changes of topic are unpredictable. participants are of equal status and have equal rights to determine the topic. thus, while one speaker can usually control the direction of the discourse as long as he is actually talking, a succeeding speaker, who is bored, bemused, or has something only partly relevant that he wants to contribute, can change the topic completely. the dominated person will tend to use the items that the person in control gives him, only if he tries to reverse the roles will he try to introduce new vocabulary. bloor and bloor (2007,p.105) state that it is self-evident that people who engage in spoken dialogue have to take-turns in speaking. about five percent (5%) of speakers’ contribution overlap, and sometimes speakers may try to shout each other down, but, if the interaction is not to breakdown completely or change into a monologue, they must grant each other opportunities to contribute. in informal spoken discourse practices such as public debates, committee meetings and legal trials, turn taking is tightly controlled and is in some instances conventionally recorded (as in a religious service) or has its control assigned to a participant. bloor and bloor (2007) further remark that within the boundaries of a media interview, the interviewer has considerably more power than the interviewee and has right, within limits, to choose topics, and turns, although this can be challenged. a major situational factor is the audience. the participants are aware that this is not a private conversation but a performance. topic development in igbo phone-in programme this section covers the exchange structure in radio phone-in programme which includes: topic negotiation, turn taking and adjacency pairs. topic negotiation in igbo phone-in programme topic negotiation is the act of selecting or highlighting a topic for deliberation in a discourse. the role of topic selection in a phone-in programme is mainly that of the presenter. the presenter determines the topic of the discourse and how to go about it. he poses the questions to the resource persons. the listener to a great measure also helps in selecting the topic by his questions. but, it is left for the presenter to decide whether to or not to highlight a caller’s idea or question. the presenter uses all the available techniques to make sure that the topic is well addressed. he does this with caution so as not to flout any of the co-operative principles, (grice,1975). the presenter is solely in charge. he calls the guests or the caller to order, should they deviate from the topic or pattern of the rule of the game. sometimes, if a desired answer is not given by the resource person, the presenter reframes the question. for instance, structure of move classes of act presenter kedụ nkwadebe gọọmentị enugwu steeti nke ị bụ onye isi n’ụlọ nzukọ omebe iwu enugwu steeti ji dị ọkpụrụkpụ gbakwụnyere nke ‘chairman’ kwuruiji wee chedo nri. kedụ ebe a ga-adọba nri a ụdị na ụtụtụ, efifie, anyasị ụmụaka na okenye ga na-erinri. o nwere, gwa anyị ma ụnụ erugo n’atụmatụ a n’ihe ụnụ ji n’akamaka ọrụ ugbo? h elicit hon. ugwuja daalụ, eeem s marker ọ dị m ka gọọmentị enugwu steeti gbara na mmadụ adị ewe ihe o deberọ. ichekwa nri bụ nke abụọ mana nke izizi bụ i nwete godu ya bụ nri. ‘so’, ọ dị m ka gọọmentị enugwu steeti bido godu run’inwete ya bụ nri. kee ka e si bido na nke ahụ? ka anyị sirikwu e n’izizi, anyị ekwugo ‘pasentị’ atụmatụ ego ọrụ e debego duru maka ịkọpụta ya bụ nri. pre-h clue anyị ma na mbido afọ a, ozugbo gọọmentị enugwu steeti batara n’ọchịchị dịka ‘chairman’ si kwu, igwe e ji akọ ya bụ nri yabụ ‘tractor’ ọ dịiri anọ na abụọ gọọmentị enugwu steeti butere kesaa. o kwere ndị mmadụ nghọta na ọ bụrụ na chukwu nye aka ‘by september’ a gaebido ụlọakwụkwọ nri. ịmụta ka e si arụ ọrụugbo bụ‘the agricultural aspect’ mana ịkọpụtabụ ‘the farming’. ihe a na-eme nke ahụ bụ maka na onye ọ bụ na jechara ya bụ ụlọ akwụkwọ pụta ị chọghịzi ma a ga-ewe gị na ‘redionaịjirịa’ ka ị bịa kwube maka ọrụ ugbo. ọọ gị nwa ejebezie n’obodo gị akụma ọ bụ igboetiti ma ọ bụ nsụka ma ọ bụ anịnri. mgbe ị na-eruzi na ya bụ anịnri ma ọ bụ igboetiti ‘tractor’ adịgo, gọọmentị enugwu steeti bunyere ndị kansụl…. h reply presenter daalụ sọọ eem s marker ọ pụtaziri na onye ọ bụrụ ụmụakwụkwọ, sị wee yandị imt nọ anyị nso ma ọ bụ ndị esut, ijee ebe ụmụakwụkwọ na-erinri a sịgị na ọ bụ ‘zero,one, zero’, ma ọ bụ ‘zero, zero, one’, ma ọ bụ ‘zero’ nụnwa bụna e rirọn’ụtụtụ, e rirọ n’efifie. ‘one’ bụ nke anyasị. ị ma na ihe m chọrọ ka m si n’ọnụ gị mata bụ ma mbọ enugwu steeti na-agba m aka nriọọ nkwa e kwere ekwe bụ kwuoro olileanya, maka na a sị na ogoli nwaanyị ṅụọ iyi, o gbughị ya egbu ọ nara ya nwa. pre-h clue table 2 here, the resource person who is also a politician is busy outlining all the efforts of the government in increasing food production and ignored or paid less attention to the preservation of food which was the presenter’s question. the presenter, being in control of topic negotiation, later called his attention back by reframing the question. as the pilot of the programme, whenever the presenter feels he is satisfied with a particular topic, he switches over to another. for example, a) structure of move classes of act presenter o nwereife m chọọịjụ ‘chairman’ pre-h clue kedu maka ndị okenye anyị? ike ọ ka dị fa ịkọ ọrụ ugbo ugbua? h elicit table 3 b) structure of move classes of act hon. a ma ntufuya, a ma ntufuya. h reply presenter ọ dị mma. daalụ sọọ s marker ị ma na mmm. o nwee ife m chọọ ị jụ ‘chairman’ tupu m anabata onye nụ nwa. kedụ ka, ị ma oge ụfọdụ fa na-aga bịa ịfụ ị̀ na-agwa anyị n’ebe a na onye ọ bụ na nọ n’enugwu steeti kwadobe na a ya aracha aka, nri ga-adị…. h elicit ụnụnwana-anọ na ntụoyi. e megheeụzọ “ndịaa nwaaanyị.” pre-h clue kedụ agbamume ụnụ gaenye fa ka fa nwee ike ị bata? kama ka a gbanyụọ ntụoyi ka ụnụ wee nụrụ onu fa, karịa ma e tinye ntụoyi “ndịa anwaa m” ọ nachighaa azụ h elicit table 4 in the above examples, the presenter switched over to another topic when he felt satisfied with the previous one. so, the presenter is in-charge of the topic negotiation. turn-taking in igbo phone-in programmes in turn-taking, it is the sole responsibility of the presenter to determine who speaks at a particular time. he nominates the speaker and directs the discourse. for instancea) structure of move classes of act presenter daalụ. eee ọ dịkaonyesiimeobodo wee bịabụ ‘chairman’ nsụkakansụlga-azaya. s sel marker nomin ate table 5 b) structure of move classes of act presenter kedụ etu e si wee gbaa ogige? kedụ ihe ị kpọrọ ya oge a? h elicit ‘honorable’, ị gbara ogige? sel nomina te table 6 c) structure of move classes of act presenter eee daalụ sọọ ajụjụ a ọ jụrụ dị ka otuto toro ngwere n’isi ma ọ bụ ube a sụrụ n’afọ. ị ma a naejinka were ewepụya s pre-h marker clue kedụ ife ị ga-aza ‘chairman’? sel nomina te table 7 when any of the participants (the resource person or the listener) is deviating from the tune of the discourse, it is the responsibility of the presenter to call him to order. this is seen in the exchange belowpresenter eloo caller 12 ọọ chinọnso ugbọka presenter ugbọka, gaa n’iru chinọnso caller 12 biko nna m ukwu, achọrọ m ka m ‘mekie contribution’ presenter biko gaan’iru caller12 n’ebe ndị ugbọka nọ, ị ghọtaraihe m na-ekwu? presenter gaan’iru na ha na-egentị. ndị ugbọka na-egentị caller12 ugbọka so na ndị na-akọpụta nri n’enugwu steeti ‘more especially’ n’ebe a na-akọpụta ‘rice’. ha na-akọpụta ‘rice’ ọfụma mana o nweghị ‘any support’ ndị enugwu steeti gọọmentị na-enye ha ‘more especially’ ha anaghị ewetere anyị ihe e ji akọta ‘like tractor’ ụnụ na ‘emention’ taa ‘there’. ya ka m chọọ, ọ bụrụ na gọọmentị anyịbụ sullivan chime ka o nyetụrụ anyị aka kwụsị afụfụ ụmụ nwaanyị na-atacha n’imeobodo dịka akpụ, ịkọpụt aakpụ. anyị na-akọpụta ya gbanyụụ. ka ọ bụziị chọta ‘means’ a ga-eji wee na-ebupụtaya ‘the thing’ bụ ‘the issue’. ị ghọtara ihe m na-ekwu? presenter eee anyị na-anụ ife ị na-ekwu. daalụ caller 12 ọọya ka m na-ayọgị. ọ bụrụ na ụnụ bịara, ‘honorable member’ nọebe a. ọọ ka ozi ruoro anyị gọvanọ ntị. ka o nyeturu anyị aka ‘sọlvụọ problem’ anyị na-enweriebe a. presenter ‘honorable member’, onye a rụrụ aka n’ọnụ ji ọgụ. kwa ị nụrụife ọ gwaragị n’ugbọka. hon. eee biko chin......... caller 12 (interrupted) gọvanọ anyị bịa........ hon. chinọnso, chinọnso. ihe anyị na-ekwu......... caller 12 (interrupted) ọọ presenter (interrupted) gee ntị na ‘honorable member’ naaza gị hon. o ru mọnde caller 12 (interrupted) a aa hon. i jekwuru ‘kansụl chairman’ unujụọya caller 12 (interrupted) aaa hon. yabụ ‘tractor’ e bunyere caller 12 aaa hon. enugwu steeti butere kee ka e si eme ya? caller 12 (interrupted) yaa ị na---hon. chee chee presenter (interrupted) chere ka a bịa. gee ntị table 8 in the above discussion, the over-zealous caller was interrupting the resource person (honorable member) unduly, but the presenter mediates by politely calling him to order. the presenter, as the host, helps in making his programme lively and interesting by highlighting any important point raised by any of the participants. for instance, caller 8 eee mmụnwa na-echesị ka e jee n’imeime obodo kọwatara ha mkpa ọdịijiọ́gụ̀ na-arụ ugbo kama i debereya ‘tractor’ n’ihi na ọ ga-eme ka agụụ kakwue njọ. presenter hahaha (laughs). daalụ. eee ọ dị ka onye si ime obodo wee bịabụ ‘chairman’ nsụka ga-aza.ọ sị, ị nụrụ ife o kwuru nu maka ọ́gụ̀ maka na ndị ji ‘tractor’ a ana-ekwu okwu ya ọ bụrụ ojezuruigbo mana ọgụjezuru igbo. kedụ nkwado o kwesịrị ka e nye ndị ji ọgụ na mmaakọ maka na ife ọ bụ na nwere uru ọ bara. table 9 b) caller 11 ife ụnụ na-ekwudịmma. mana ana m a sị na gọọmentị ga-enyere ndị ọrụugbo aka, maka na o nwere onye ọrụ ugbo na-arụ ‘one, two, three’. maka o nwere onye ị ga-asị yarụba ugbo ọ ma na ọ gaghịarụta ‘one, two, three’ o yereekwe. presenter daalụsọọ. eeem, ọ na-ekwu ọ bụrụ na e wete ego wee kwado ndị ọrụ ugbo ha enwee ike rụọ ‘one, two, three’. eeem, onye aghọtarọya. ị ma na asụsụ a ọ sụrụ dịka nke ndị mmmm ndị mgbago mgbago. a sịgị na ọ rụrụụ ‘one, two, three’, ama m nọọ ụnọenu ka a na-ekwumakaya. table 10 c) caller 2 ee, onye erubere ogo ịnụ nwaanyị. ị ma na okorobịa na o nwere onye kụrụ egwu sị na okorobịa iji nwaanyị sikwere ike. eee m agbọghọ iji di sikwere ike presenter okorobịa iji nwaanyị siri ike. agbọghọ iji di sikwuru ike. table 11 d) caller 6 ….n’ime onwe ha ka ha ga-anọkwanụ dozie ya. nne gị tinye ya ọnụ o kwue ihe i mere ‘expect’. nne nke nwaanyị tinye ya ọnụ, ha agaba ebe a naemere ‘expect’ presenter ‘yes and’ onye na-ekwu a na-ene ya ọnụ ka ọ mara na ọ ya ekwu nke ye ewe iwe. e ye asịna ọ‘sidegoru’ mmadụ. ọ bụrụzie na ọọ onye kọrụ, onye nyụrụ ife na-esi o bedozie aka ebe ahụ wee mebibe ife. “a marịnaoye ‘a support’ nwaya . na a marịama.” table 12 the above examples are illustrative of how the presenter helps to project or highlight some questions or contributions of the caller. from all indications, it has been established that the presenter has the responsibility to initiate exchanges, control and pilot the affairs of the discourse. he is in-charge of turn-taking and negotiation of topics. adjacency pairs in igbo phone-in programmes in conversation analysis, the most basic pattern is the ‘adjacency pair’, which is a pair of turns that mutually affect one another. examples of everyday adjacency pair are greetingsgreeting, compliment-thanks, and apology-acceptance. such pairs consist of two parts: a first pairpart and a second pairpart. first pair-part second pair-part a: good morning b: hi, good morning a: congratulations on the new job b: oh, thanks. these adjacency pairs proceed smoothly and are well formed in terms of the cultural context in which they typically occur in english. a greeting gets a greeting in return, and congratulations prompt a thank you. these are examples of ‘preferred sequences’. but consider this: a: hi, how’s it going? b: drop dead! this would probably be perceived as a ‘dispreferred sequence’, which is a problem for the speakers. (schmitt, 2002).for mccarthy (1991,p.119), some examples might be, greetinggreeting, congratulations-thanks, apology-acceptance, inform-acknowledgement, leave-takingleave-taking. in the igbo phone-in programmes, there are instances of adjacency pairs as in the discussions below: first pair-part second pair-part caller 2o tego aka m ji, m na presenter… i gbune emeri, i gbune emeri gaa n’iru… chorusewene iwe, iwe gị adịna ọkụ caller 2daalụnụ. ana m ekene in the above interaction, the caller was complaining that he had been calling the line to participate in the programme but all to no avail, but the presenter charged him not to regret but to go ahead with his submission to the programme, in the same vein, the resource people unanimously pleaded to him not to be annoyed. the caller then thanked them. here, there is an indication of adjacency pair; apology goes with acceptance. first pair-part second pair-part caller 4baịbaị sa hon.daalụ this is an example of leave taking which goes with leave taking. there are several instances of greeting which is accompanied with greeting, as in: first pair-part second pair-part presenterhelo caller 5helo presentereloo caller 9helo another evidence of adjacency pair is where greeting is immediately followed by greeting, first pair-part second pair-part caller 2kedụ? presenterọ dị mma presenterkee ka unu mere n’alọ lọndọn? caller 5anyị dị mma caller 6kee ka i me? presenteradịkwa m mma ooo in adjacency pairs, compliment moves with thanks as in, first pair-part second pair-part caller 12… tenkị yuu presenterdaalu sọọ first pair-part second pair-part presentertoochukwu, i ye caller 3amemmm anụta ezigbo di oo presentertoochukwu, i ye anụta caller 3oo nnene di oo nne caller 3ka chi vo presenter ka o fo in the first segment of this discourse, the presenter wished the caller a good husband which the caller accepted by responding ‘amemmm’. when the compliment was repeated she accepted. then the second segment was leave taking ‘ka chi vo’ followed by another leave taking ‘ka o fo’ first pair-part second pair-part caller 17… don, jisiike ooo presenterdaalụ oo nne oo here, there was ‘compliment’ which moves with ‘thanks’ summary and conclusion it was discovered that phone-in programme is organized hierarchically into act, move, exchange and transaction structures. apart from ‘act’, others such as ‘move’, ‘exchange’ and ‘transaction’ have structure. ‘act’ is at the lowest rank, followed by ‘move’ which has elements like ‘select’ (sel), ‘signal’ (s), ‘pre-head’ (pre-h), ‘head’ (h), ‘post-head’ (post-h). ‘head’ is the only compulsory element in the ‘move’ structure. other elements are optional. ‘act’ has different classes such as the ‘marker’, ‘elicit’, ‘clue’, ‘nominate’ and ‘reply’. investigation carried out indicated that in phone-in programme, as conversations,the presenter was the host of the programme, the guests (if any) were the resource persons, while the listener/caller was the target audience. in the hierarchy of a social stratification, the resource person is regarded higher than the presenter. this is because of his position in the society and his wealth of knowledge especially as it concerns the theme of the day’s discussion. on the other hand, the presenter is higher when it comes to topic-negotiation and turn-taking. the presenter is in full control, as he is the pilot of the airwave at that point in time. he introduces the topic and changes it at will. he determines who speaks and when. the research recommends that the electronic media houses in the south-east geo-political zone should create more phone-in programmes in the igbo language. this would avail igbo listeners of the opportunity to participate in such programmes in their indigenous language. references agbanu, v. &nwammuo, a. (2009). broadcast media. enugu: rhycekerex printers. bloor, m. & bloor, t. (2007). the practice of critical discourse analysis: an introduction. london: hodder arnold. bussmann, h. (1996). routledge dictionary of language and linguistics. london:routledge coulthard, m. & montgomery, m. (eds.) (1981). studies in discourse. london: routledge and kegan paul. crystal, d. (1987). the cambridge encyclopedia of language. new york: cambridge university press. grice, h. (1975). ‘logic and conversation’. in p. cole & j. morgan(eds.). syntax and semantics vol. 3:s peech acts. new york: academic press. pp. 76-88. firth, j.r. (1935). on the analysis of conversation: sequence and social, retrieved on 1st july. 2022 johnstone, b. (2002). discourse analysis. oxford: blackwell. lawan, b. (2008). ‘media and indigenous language: their roles in achieving the millennium development goals in nigeria’. a paper presented at the annual national conference of the school of languages, federal college of education, obudu, cross river state, 7th-11th july, 2008. mccarthy, m. (1991). discourse analysis for language teachers. new york: cambridge university press. owuamlam, e. (2008). elements of broadcasting: an introduction. owerri: top class agencies. paltridge, b. (2006). discourse analysis. london: continuum. sacks, h., e. schegloff, & g. jefferson (1974). a simplest systematics for the organisation of turn-taking for conversation.amsterdam: john benjamins. schmitt, n. (ed.) (2002). an introduction to applied linguistics. london: hodder arnold. sinclair, j. &coulthard, r. (1975). towards an analysis of discourse, the english used by teachers and pupils.oxford: oxford university press. wardhaugh, r. (1985). an introduction to sociolinguistics. oxford: blackwell sociophonetic investigation of speech perception among students of rivers state university, unkpolu, port harcourt ojonugwa joseph abstract this study was carried out to probe listeners’ use of sociophonetic details in speech perception. the study was premised on the theory of model of social recognition. the population of the study was students of rivers state university of science and technology. spoken materials were used as instruments for data collection. descriptive and interpretative tools were used for the analysis of data collected. it was found that the combination of linguistic and dialectical tokens exhibited by the speakers helped the listeners to identify the regional dialect of speakers. it was revealed also that speakers index their ethnic background using phonetic variables. also, the study found that individuals’ stereotypical attitudes affect their judgments when perceiving a speech. the study concludes that no natural human utterance offers linguistic information without simultaneously indexing some social factors. keywords: sociophonetic variation, sociolinguistics, speech perception, social information and phonetic variables. introduction the aversion of much of sociolinguistics to perception has been, to some extent, more apparent than real. many sociolinguistic studies, especially instrumental studies, have succeeded in divorcing speech production from speech perception. however, perception issues may play a hidden role in studies that ostensibly address production. linguistic scholars have always recognised that language varies systematically (i.e. non-randomly) across speakers, regions, social groups and contexts of use (foulkes, 1997, p.259). studies of phonological development have nevertheless generally treated most forms of variation simply as an inconvenience that complicates the task of acquisition. according to labov (1968, p.273), phonetic variation in speech production is now known to correlate with a number of factors, including social characteristics of the speaker and the formality of the situation. research has proved that speakers are not constant in the phonetic realization they produce but shift depending on the style they construct in giving context. the background above helps to demonstrate how individuals have (not necessarily conscious) knowledge of sociolinguistic variables and that they can use this knowledge in perception of speech. while the majority of linguistic theories do not attempt to account for socially conditioned variation, socio-perceptual studies, together with sociolinguistic work in production, provide evidence that sociolinguistic variation is not systematically ‘noise’ that is flittered out during the processing and storing of speech events; the relationship between social and linguistic information must be stored in the mind in such a way that it can be accessed during speech perception. thus, if linguistic theories aim to provide an accurate representation of linguistic variation, they must account for the richness of social theory, the gradience (change) of phonetic detail, and the probabilistic distribution of linguistic variables. furthermore, results from socio-perceptual studies also have implications for our understanding of sound change and of language-based prejudices: if both a listener’s exceptions regarding a speaker and the object in the environment can affect how their speech is perceived by others, what does this say about sounds that are stored and associated in memory with the speaker. it is crucial that we understand the relationship between how sounds are perceived and what types of social judgements are made based on exposure to those sounds. likewise, if we hope to understand how sound change occurs, we must explore the extent to which stored memories of sounds are affected by factors in the listener’s environment as well as the cognitive processes underlying the perception of speech (orager, p. 474). sociophonetic variation: an overview in view of the diverse fields of reference of sociophonetics, it is pertinent to specify precisely what is meant by sociophonetic variation. according to foulkes (1997, pp. 409-410), it refers to variable aspects of phonetic or phonological structure in which alternative forms correlate with social factors. these factors include most obviously those social categories which have been examined extensively by sociolinguists and dialectologists: speakers’ gender, age, ethnicity, social class, group affiliations, geographical origin, and speaking style. he further notes that, correlation may be with more than one social category simultaneously, and variation may be observable within the repertoire of an individual speaker or across groups of speakers. in case of sociophonetic variation, then, variable forms can be said to index some or other social categories. wells (1982, p.35) notes that ‘the relationship between linguistic form and social category is arbitrary, and sociophonetic variation represents a pattern of behavior learned by speakers through the experience of using language in social interaction”.in other cases, though, indexicality may be of natural categories or phenomena and linguistic variation may be non-arbitrary. for example, it is usually possible to distinguish the voices of adult males, adult females, and children through the gross and direct acoustic consequences of major differences in vocal tract dimensions. acoustic differences according to (layer, 80; layer & trudgill, 79) can therefore be used to index the natural biological categories of age and sex. layer & trudgill believe that, physical variation between speakers may yield phonetic differences that index individuals. there may, however, be no clear dividing line between learned and non-leaned behaviour or between arbitrary and non-arbitrary phonetic variation (79). foulkes (1997, p.411)supports this by saying that, the socially-constructed category of gender overlaps considerably with the biological category of sex, and the phonetic cues for gender (such as relatively high fo which is the lowest frequency at which a medium will freely oscillate) may be parasitic on phonetic differences derived from biological differences. there is evidence that male-female differences emerge in children’s speech will before the onset of puberty produce large differences in vocal tract (gunzburger& keurs,1987, p. 87). the phonetic variants observed in the speech of an individual are reflected in the way an individual perceives sounds. for example, an individual’s regional origin can predict not only how they pronounce sounds but also how they perceive them (ladefoged and broadbent, 1957,p.57; willis, 1972, p.72; fridland and okamoto,2009,p.9). however, the link between an individual’s production and perception is not straightforward. some research suggests that, speech perception may not always be affected when there is a change in production, even when the change in production is a potentially long-term shift (evans and iverson,2007,p. 7). some groups of listeners appear to use phonetic cues during perception that they do not use in their own production but that are used by other groups (thomas,1992,p. 2). thomas also found out that, listeners of different ethnicities or social groups and from different regions used some of the same phonetic cues in the preceding diphthong to identify whether a consonant was voiced or voiceless (as in tide and tight). this provides evidence that individuals can have the ability to use phonetic cues during perception even if they do not use those cues in production. perception studies phonetic variation in speech production is now known to correlate with a number of factors, including social characteristics of the speakers and the formality of the situation (labov, 1968, p.72). although studies of perception are still largely assigned to the realms of experimental phonetics or psychology, sociolinguists have been recognizing the importance of perception, erik, (2002, p.115). several lines of experimental inquiry has been studied far less by sociolinguists than has speech production. one reason according to erik(2002, p.15), is that, speech perception is daunting at first. examining it requires careful attention to experimental design, a considerable amount to preparation and in many cases, use of a speech synthesizer. even so, research on speech perception can be highly productive. speech perception is the process by which the sounds of language are heard, interpreted and understood. the study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonology and phonetics in cognitive psychology and perceptive in psychology. research in speech perception seeks to understand how listeners recognize sound and use this information to understand spoken language. speech perception has application in building computer system that can recognize speech, in improving speech recognition for hearing and language-impaired listeners, and in foreign language teaching. the process of perceiving speech begins at the level of the sound signal and the process of audition. the speech sound signals always have a number of acoustic cues that are used in speech perception for social category. the cues differentiate speech sounds belonging to different phonetic categories, but it is not easy to identify what acoustic cues listeners are sensitive to when perceiving a particular speech sound. production, perception and exposure the phonetic variants observed in the speech of an individual are reflected in the way that the individuals perceived sounds. individuals’ regional origin can predict not only how they pronounce sounds but also how they perceive them (ladefoged and broadbent, 1957, p.97; willis, 1972, p.247; fridland and okamoto, 2009, p.9). however, the link between an individual and their perception is not entirely straightforward. some research suggests that speech perception may not always be affected when there is a change in production, even when the change in production is a potentially long-term shift (evans and iverson,2007, p. 3820). according to drager qtd. in thomas. in regard to the effect of diphthong qualities according to thomas (1992, p.20), the responses during the perception experiment were similar despite only one of the subject groups in the production demonstrating much stronger patterns relating the phonetic cues of the diphthong to the voicing on the constant. this provides evidence that individuals can have the ability to use phonetic cues during perception even if they do not use those cues in production. similarly, in perception study, sounds undergo a merger (janson and schulman, 1983, p. 334). they further stressed that listeners who maintain a distinction were not always accurate at identifying tokens, even when they were produced by someone who also maintained a distinction. hay et al. (2006, p.459) conducted an experiment in new zealand which also investigated the perception of sounds that were involved in an ongoing merger. in contrast to janson and schulman’s 1983 results, hay et al. (2006, p.20) found that listeners were highly accurate at identifying distinct tokens, even if they did not maintain a distinction in their own speech. according to drager (2010,p.475), exposure to other dialect affects both speech processing and ability of listener to identify social characteristics of the speaker. clopper and pisoni (4) found that, previous exposure of a dialect affects accuracy at identifying the regional origin of the speaker. in phoneme and word identification tasks, even relatively small amounts of exposure to speech can cause listeners to adjust their categorization (norris, 2003,p. 231). however, listeners only appear to be affected by such exposure if the variable is interpretable as an idiolectal (speaker-specific) feature rather than a dialectal (generalizable) feature (kraljic et al., 2008, p.58). while differing degrees of exposure to other dialects can affect how sounds are perceived, previous exposure affects perception differently for different types of task depending on whether they require short-term or long-term storage (summer and samuel,2009, p. 489). attachment of social information of a speaker in speech recognition and perception there is ample research which provides evidence that social information (both personality trait as well as broad social categories) can be extracted from auditory input in fairly consistent (though not necessarily accurate) ways. researchers have investigated the degree to which listeners can identify a speaker`s ethnicity (buck 1968, p.28); (tuckers and lambert, 1969,p. 469), (purnell et al., 1999, p. 20), gender and sexuality (munson and babel, 2017), regional dialect origin (bush, 67; preston, 99; williams regional dialect origin (lambert et al. 69, (addington, 1968, p. 498), preston 99; (bayard, 2000, p. 220). in an experiment examining listeners’ perception of the speakers of the speakers origin, clopper and pisoni, 20) found that although listeners were not especially accurate when identifying the actual regional origin of the speaker, they responded in ways consistent with one another and appeared to be using a small set of phonetic cues when assigning a region. in speech perception experiment where listeners were asked to identify the speaker’s ethnicity, accuracy was inversely proportional to the number of ‘atypical’ variants: variants considered atypical for speakers of that ethnicity. foulkes (1997, p.10) conducted an experiment in tyneside where they played tokens of children’s speech to adults. they found that when identifying the sex of a child, listeners appeared to use a number of different acoustic cues, including whether or not the child produced a laryngealised voiceless stop, a variant associated with males in the region. when listeners from other regions were asked to complete the same task, they did not display the same sensitivity to the realisation of the stops. this provides evidence that individuals are sensitive to socially conditioned variation when perceiving speech. the ability to associate some perceived characteristic of the speaker with the phonetic variants that speaker tends to produce appears to be highly productive. there is some evidence that even a small amount of exposure to phonetic patterns distributed over novel, previously unencountered groups can affect listener’s categorization of a speaker into one of the groups (docherty et al,2008, p. 8). more experiments along these lines are necessary; particularly needed are ones which control the patterning of phonetic variables. while the design of such an experiment becomes increasingly complex as the number of variables increases, such investigations are promising ways to shed light on how a listener’s perception of another’s persona is formed. social information and speech perception the relationship between phonetic and social information during speech perception is not unidirectional; the phonetic variants perceived can affect what characteristics are attributed to a speaker, and the characteristics attributed to the speaker can influence how sounds are perceived. research has it that, within the speech of a single individual, the focus of a periodic energy of the alveolar fricative /s/ is higher than for the patatal fricative /s/. the acoustic boundary between /s/ and /s/ according to drager (2010, p.476) depends in part on vocal size and therefore tends to be higher for females than males. what this mean is that, it is possible for a token of /s/ produced by a male to have its turbulence focused in a similar frequency range as a female’s token of /s/. there is evidence that the perception of phonetic variables can also be affected by other social characteristics attributed to the speaker, including dialect area, ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc. (drager, 2010, p.11). using photographs to manipulate the perceived socio-economic status and age of speakers in a perception experiment, hay et al (6) found that participants’ accuracy at identifying distract tokens of the diphthongs depended on the social characteristics of the person in the photograph. in addition to effects from social information attributed to the speaker, there is evidence that the dialect of an experimenter can affect performance on perception tasks (hay et al,2006,p.6). in a study on the perception of tones of the speaker, brunelle and jannedy, (2007,p.7) found an interaction between the dialect of the experimenter, the dialect of the participant, and the tone. similarly, hay et al (2006,p.6) reported an interaction between the dialect of the experimenter and the participant’s degree of merger. the work discussed above helps exemplify just how malleable speech perception can be. depending on what information is present at the time of perception, listeners can shift in how they perceive sounds. while any model of speech perception is bound to be incomplete, that social information can affect how sounds are perceived suggests that it should ideally be included. theoretical framework this work adopts the exemplar-based model of social recognition. this theory assumes that knowledge of linguistic structure is built up by representing memory the totality of linguistic experiences that an individual has. this theory was propounded by robert nofofsky in 1986. the theory is a proposal concerning the way humans categorize objects and ideas in psychology. it argues that individuals make category judgments by comparing new stimuli with instances already stored in memory. the instance stored in memory is the “exemplar”. the new stimulus is assigned to a category based on the greatest number of similarities it holds with exemplars in that category. for example, the model proposes that people create the “bird” category by maintaining in their memory a collection of all the birds they have experienced: sparrows, robins, ostriches, penguins, etc. if a new stimulus is similar enough to some of these stored examples, the person categorizes the stimulus in the “bird” category. various versions of the exemplar theory have led to a simplification of thought concerning concept learning, because they suggest that people use already-encountered memories to determine categorization, rather than creating an additional abstract summary of social recognition. this recognition may therefore include a potentially vast set of detailed sociophonetic traces based upon the tokens an individual has heard, and a parallel set of traces bearing articulatory information about tokens that the individual has uttered. it will be apparent from the foregoing that sociophonetic data have been collected to address a wide range of theoretical issues, reflecting the range of disciplines that have contributed to the development of sociophonetic as a field of linguistics. methodology the methods used in speech perception research can be roughly divided into three groups: behavioural, computational, and more recently, neuro-physiological methods. the researcher has adopted the behavioural method to simulate how speech may be processed by the participant to produce the behaviours that are observed. the method experiments are based on an active role of the participants, i.e. subjects are presented with stimuli and asked to make conscious decisions about them. this type of experiment helps to provide a basic description of how listeners perceive and categorize speech sound. with the aid of technological assisted recording tools, there were collected a combination of spoken materials (speeches) to reflect the natural repertoire on how the elements use language to construct their social categories. based on the data collected, the descriptive and interpretative technique to analyse the data. the data collected were analyzed using careful auditory analysis in relation to the research questions, to determine how linguistic variants can index social meaning. data presentation and analysis having looked at the different manifestations and interpretations of speech perception within the scope of sociophonetics, this section deals with the presentation and analysis of data collected. listeners identify regional dialect of the speaker using his speech within this category, the researcher introduced an event in which recordings of speakers of different dialects are played to the listeners/subjects in which listeners were asked to identify the dialect of voices speaking english, as to whether the speaker was of ekpeye, ikwerre or ogoni ethnic nationality. the stimuli, which included nonsense words, real words, and sentences were played either in original form, low-pass filtered, high-pass filtered, or center-clipped. the filtering provided some indication about whether listeners could base their identifications on prosodic factors. as it turned out, listeners were generally able to identify the dialect of the filtered stimuli 95% or more of the time. another experiment involving identification of the dialect of speakers was carried out in a more compound manner. the researcher played to listeners four variants of //, as in caught, uttered by speakers of different dialects. the researcher asked the listeners to rate the variants on scale of most – to – least ikwerre-sounding and most-to-least ogoni-sounding and then to guess where each speaker came from. the aim was to test reactions to the raised monophthongal variant // that occurs around the diatectal sound, and the result showed that it ranked high on the ikwerreness scale and low on the ogoniness scale. listeners use speakers’ utterance to ascertain ethnicity perception experiments testing the ability of listeners to identify the ethnicity of speakers have involved playing recordings of different ethnic groups in the study area, generally either field recording or tapes of speakers reading a story, to subjects who were asked to identify the speakers’ ethnicity. using this method, it was found that, listeners could identify the ethnicity of speakers much of the time or even nearly all the time. the researcher conducted another investigation on whether the speakers’ intonation could serve as an element for ethnic identification. four corps members’ belongings to the two regions submitted their speeches in a way to initiate conversational speech. listeners were therefore asked to focus attention on intonation. the results showed that sentences with more diagnostic into national cues were identified more accurately than those with fewer cues. taken together, these studies have shown that, under certain circumstances, listeners are capable of accessing a wide variety of cues to determine whether a speaker speaking or the speaker whose voice was heard belonged to a certain ethnic nationality. while all these studies have demonstrated that listeners can often identify the ethnicity of a speaker, the researcher`s major limitation is that he could not determine what features listeners rely on to make the identifications. nevertheless, it is not yet clear which ones listeners use in real-life situations or which ones are most needed or important. stereotypical attitudes of the listeners influence the perception of sounds this question examined how stereotypes can affect listeners’ perception of speech. in examining this, the researcher arranged the listeners in away to hear the speech/sound and watch a video of a speaker altering a different sound tend to perceive the sound that they “lip-read” from the video, and not necessarily the sound they hear. the results showed that listeners altered their perception of a speaker’s speech when there exists any sign of stereotypes. in another development, listeners simultaneously watched a video of a male or a female uttering /s/ /s/ vowel sounds. the results showed that listeners altered their perception of the fricative depending on the sex of the speaker that they saw altering such sounds, shifting the /s/-/s/ boundary to lower frequencies for male faces and to higher frequencies for female faces. the results of this exercise showed that speech perception is always influenced not just by the physical attributes of sounds but also by gender stereotypes. discussion of findings the result of the dialectal tokens in the speech stream of the speaker indexing his social category shows that the combination of linguistic and dialectal tokens exhibits by the speakers helps the listeners to identify the ethnicity of speakers much of the time or even nearly all the time. this finding agrees with the work of drager (2007, p. 11) which states that, there is evidence that the perception of phonetic variables can also be affected by other social characteristicsattributed by the speaker, including dialect area, ethnicity, socio-economic status etc. the result on whether the speech of the speakers shows the possible ethnic nationality to which they belong reveals that speakers index their ethnic background using phonetic variables as a reflection of both of their personal character traits and their origination with a particular ethnic nationality. this finding agrees with the work of foulkes (1997, p.10) which states that individuals are sensitive to socially conditioned variation when perceiving speech. the result shows that judgments of the listeners about speakers when perceiving their speech depend on the individuals stereotypical attitudes or beliefs about the speakers since listeners also map phonological patterning not only against the meaning of the word in question but also against other dimensions of that particular tokens such as the region and the dialect of the speakers. this finding agrees with labov (1968,p.473) which found that phonetic variation in speech is now known to correlate with a number of factors, including social characteristics of the speaker and the formality of the situation. conclusion in sum, speech perception experiments provide a means of investigating research questions concerned with language change, linguistic variation, and the storage of linguistic variables in memory, questions that could not be addressed as completely by focusing solely on speech production. the better we understand how sounds are stored in memory and the more we uncover about the nature of the indexation between the mental representations of linguistic variations and social information, the better we will be able to interpret sociolinguistic patterns in speech production and the more complete our understanding of sounds change and stereotype formation will be. references addington, d. (1968). the relationship of selected vocal characteristics to personality perception. speech monographs. 35, 492-503. bayard, d.(2000).the cultural cringe revisited: changes through time in kiwi attitudes towards accents. new zealand english. 3, 297-324. brunelle, m. and jannedy s.(2007). social effects on the perception of vietnamese tones. the proceedings of icphs xvi, saarbriucken. buck, j. (1968). “some acoustic parameters of speech and their relationship to the perception of dialect differences”. tesol quarterly 1( 1) 20-30. bush, c.n. et al (1966). “judging personality through speech: a french canadian example”. journal of communication 16, 305-321 chambers, j. (2003). the handbook of language variation and change. oxford, uk: blackwell. clopper, c. and pisoni, d. (2004) perception of dialect variation. journal of phonetics. 32, 111140 docherty, g. et al. (2008). perception evaluation of sociolinguistic variability: how do listeners learn? paper presented at the 11th conference on laboratory phonology. wellington: victoria university of wellington. drager k.(2010). sociophonetic variation in speech perception. language and linguistics compass. 4/7, 473-480. erik.t. (2002). perceptual cues used for ethnic labelling of hyde country. paper presented at the annual meeting of the america dialect society san-francisco. evans b. and iverson p.(2007). plasticity in vowel perception and production: a study of accent change in young adults”. journal of the acoustical society of america 121, 3814-26. ferdinand d. (2007). language and society. the proceedings of icphs xvi, saarbriucken, fodor m. (2014). perception theories. cognitive psychology. 2, 32-48. foulkes, p.(1997). historical laboratory phonology investigating |p|>|f|>|h| changes. language and speech. 40, 249-276. fridland, v and okamoto, s. (2009).the influence of regional vowel shifts on front vowel perception. paper presented at nwav 38. ottawa: university of ottawa. gunzburger, s. d. andkeurs, t. m.(1987). voice identification of prepubertal boys and girls by normally sighted and visually handicapped subjects. language and speech. 30, 47-58. hay,j et al. factors influencing perception in the context of merger in progress. journal of phonetics. 34, 488-84. janson, t. and schulman r. (1983).non-distinctive features and their use. journal of linguistics 19, 321-36. johnson, l and park, t. (1979) phonetic and linguistic markers in speech. cambridge: cambridge university press. jurafsky, d.(2003). probabilistic modelling in psycholinguistics: linguistic comprehension and production. papers in laboratory phonology 4, 11-23. kraljic, t. et al.(2008). accommodating variation: dialect, idiolects and speech processing. cognition107, 54-81. ladefoged, p. and d. b.(1957). information conveyed by vowels. journal of the acoustical society of america 29, 98-104. liberman kin et al.(2004). perceptual similarity and articulatory reinterpretation as a source of phonological innovation. papers from the institute of linguistic, university of stockholm. 8, 30-52. munson, b.(2010). levels of phonological abstraction and knowledge of socially motivated speech-sound variation.a commentary of paper by clopper. norris, d. (2003). perception learning in speech. cognitive learning psychology 2, 204-38. orager, m. (2009). phonetic accommodation in children’s code-switching: the cambridge handbook of linguistic code-switching. cambridge: cambridge university press purnell, t. et al.(1999). perception and phonetic experiments of american english dialect identification.journal of language and social psychology 18, 10-30. sumner, m. and samuel a. (2009). the effect of experience on the perception and representation of dialect variants. journal of memory and language of social psychology. 18, 487-501. thomas, e.(2002). perceptual cues used for ethnic labelling of hyde country. paper presented at the annual meeting of the america dialect society san-francisco. thomas e.(2000). spectral differences in |ai|. offsets conditioned by voicing of the following consonant. journal of phonetics 28, 1-25. thomas, p., william, i. and john, b.(1999). perceptual and phonetic experiments of american english dialect identification. journal of language and social psychology. 18, 10-30. tucker, r.w. and negro, l.(1969). reactions to american dialects. social forces. 47, 463-8. wells, j. accents of english.(1982). cambridge: cambridge university press. labov, w. (1968). the social motivation of a social change. word journal. 19, 273-309. willis c. (1972). perception of vowels phonemes. journal of speech and hearing research. 15, 246-255. climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 184 chapter 14 child creativity and entrepreneurship development: a case of skill acquisition godwin o. uka, elizabeth o. ogbu uka, and kosisochukwu l. g. uka fine and applied arts department, university of nigeria, nsukka, department of psychology, university of nigeria, nsukka, and spring of life international school enugu keywords: creativity, development, skill acquisition background of the study the world is changing rapidly in all fields of endeavour, most especially in education, and selfdevelopment. these changes are particularly prominent or evident as it applies to a media device and entrepreneurship activities. creativity is as natural and necessary for children as fresh air and sunshine. by exposing children to creative experience, there are given the gift of rich and memorable childhood education, while laying the foundation for a lifetime of creative expression all topped off with a heaping helping of important learning skills for their future development. when children are exposed to the creative experience, there are given a special gift and a rich and memorable experience of their, lifetime. creativity focuses on the process of forming original ideas through exploration and discovery. in children, creativity develops from their experience with the process, rather than concern for finished products. creativity is not to be confused with talent, skill, or orientation. creativity is not about doing something better than others, it is about thinking better than others, it is about thinking, exploring, discovering, and imagining. creativity can be found in art, and music, but could also be found in science and any other discipline. art, music, dance and drama are examples of areas one can find creative ideas. creative ideas and thoughts are found in all aspects of a growing child’s life and can be learned from daily tasks. there is always a need to progress and change in any situation, especially in children’s education which could be a result of new technology and possibilities or because of changes in the world. innovation could be used as a term to mean progression and adapting to changed conditions. the opposite of innovation is 'stagnant' or, at least, 'complacent'. a readiness to do something new is required for innovation. but anything new is viewed as a risk in most african developmental processes or still as a distraction from the normal routine. there is every need to commit resources to anything new. skill acquisition is one of those things children should focus their attention on or should be encouraged to focus their interest and attention on.. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 185 innovation can happen if there is a readiness to try new things and if a habit of exploring new possibilities is developed it will help and be beneficial to african development. creating a climate of acceptance for every new possibility is very difficult. clearly, there is a need for someone to be sensitive to what is happening elsewhere in the same field and to what is happening in the world. there are many myths about creativity. there is the belief that creativity is a mysterious talent that some people have and others can only envy. anyone can learn and practice the thinking skill of creativity. some people might be better than others, as with any skill such as driving, cooking, tennis or soccer, art and design. innovation is the introduction of something new to an organization or culture. one might do this by copying someone else, by systematic, intuitive, logical design or still through direct and deliberate creativity. however, there must be a readiness to explore and implement new ideas. innovation means putting into effect something new for any organization, community or nation. there may be many sources for what is 'new'. africa can be seen as a laboratory of a multiplicity of actors engaged in experimenting and exploring with a multitude of innovations. empirical studies can be either in-depth case studies or follow a comparative approach. in addition, some comparative studies may even include cases from regions outside africa. the envisaged research may include all fields of fine and applied arts (global exchange, environmental and climatic change, and political influence), national and local levels – economic, legal, social, art and culture, religious and linguisticand finally household and families, intimate personal or generational relationships. a special emphasis on young people and youth movements may be helpful to further explore this socio-cultural change. from a generational perspective, youth has always been perceived as a non-conventional entity which must be tamed to make it conform to the order of society. in this sense, it is a phase of life open to uncertainty, exploration, experimentation and innovation and this renders youth one of the most promising topics to research in the quest for order framework. creative originality is not just limited to creating and originating a system of ideas out of nothing but artful and careful combination, coupled with a well-established pattern of thought by a process of cross-fertilization is needed to save the system from the state of mythology. it is therefore imperative to develop a new reasoning ability to think right, explore possibilities and to be able to discover and combine meaningfully, as many ideas and experiences as possible to create new forms of knowledge. exploring the mind can be achieved with daydreaming, meditation and also thinking about thinking. what makes an individual tick? what are one's hopes, dreams, and fears? what does one do well? what could one do better? start practising observing oneself – this might be a great start. creativity is more closely related to thinking abilities and attitudinal development. it is a continual process for which the best preparation involves creativity itself. the act of creativity can be seen as that which provides the urge for continuing exploration and discovery. every child is born creative. the urge to explore, investigate, and discover, what is on the other side of the screen is not limited to human behaviour, but is experienced by the whole animal kingdom, (lower field and brittan 1975). one of the most commonly agreed upon components of creative http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/innovation-maintenance.php climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 186 thinking is the ability to produce a large number of ideas. in general sense the idea of creativity means different things to different people in the world. murray (1966) states “… the creative process of the african artist is quite distinct from that of his western counterparts”. there is the need to take due account of this distinction in any comparative analysis. creativity exists everywhere in people’s life. it can be found in designing and packaging, processing and production, fabric and fashion, sign and architectural design, applied science and technology, visual arts, theatre, music, film (video production) and a host of other activities. creativity in the modern dispensation is used as a powerful tool to attract attention to a nation or country's powerful endowment. creativity can be meaningful to an individual if it is ideologically and culturally inclined. runco (1994) opines that creativity is in terms of cognitive processes that lead to an original and adaptive insight, idea or solution. thus, creativity is the most essential of all human resources and skills (bolaji 2007). akinboye (2004) sees creativity as a tool that propels organizations, catapults careers, and generate potent growth and viable outcomes. creativity is at the heart of art and design, at all stages throughout the design process. the most exciting and challenging design is that which is truly innovative; the creation of a radical departure from anything currently on the market (baxter, 1995). the more people try to define creativity by identifying with specific sets of values, meanings, beliefs, and symbols, the more our creativity will be focusing on how values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed, and the greater the chance that our creativity will become less restricted ( bolaji 2007). one major way to spark creativity is through exploration. exploring exposes one to new things. new things are inspiring. while exploring one might stumble across a new way of doing something, a new thing to do, or something more subtle. sometimes one uncovers a bit of information that clicks with things he has been thinking about and completes (or helps to complete) the picture he has been developing in his mind. other times one may discover a tool, a process or an approach that others are using which is unrelated but still inspiring in its ingenuity. exploration can fuel one's creativity. as an artist or designer, it helps to have a goal, or set of goals, to provide some structure to your creative wanderings. artists and designers are no longer constrained to the physical realm for their explorations, the internet and the world wide web; there are vast tracks to be explored without ever leaving their homes. the motivation for this study is triggered by our passion for creativity in the development of children and youth into fulfilled productive adulthood. a well-informed child today is certainly a good representative and an ambassador of his fatherland in future. technologically, the world is advancing with lots of speed. also in the western world, every child has access to technology and a system of "creative learning" which empowers the child for every kind of profession in society. this is deeded gives assurance that there is great efficiency and productivity in a nation whose manpower is active, creative and entrepreneurship balanced methodology creativity is as natural and necessary for children as fresh air and sunshine. by exposing children to the creative experience, we give them the gift of a rich and memorable childhood while laying the foundation for a lifetime of creative expressionall topped off with a heaping helping of important learning skills. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 187 literature review creativity focuses on the process of forming original ideas through exploration and discovery. in children, creativity develops from their experience with the process, rather than concern for finished products. creativity is not to be confused with talent, skill or intelligence. creativity is not about doing something better than others; it is about thinking, exploring, discovering, and imagining. creativity is found in obvious art, and music, but can also be found in science and play. because we think of art, music, dance and drama as examples of creative ideas, we may have forgotten that creative thought is found in all aspects of a growing child's life and can be learned from daily activities. for example, a trip around our environment can rival a lot of creative ideas. providing the opportunity for creativity is as easy as allowing children to draw with crayons on black paper, to bang a pot with a wooden spoon in time to build an inviting reading area within blanket and cushions or to hop and hop to favourite children’s recordings. something as easy as drawing on a blank surface is surprisingly important. research shows that children who draw frequently do better in reading and math and will shine at focusing on learning task choosing their drawing materials empowers children and open their eyes to the world around them. what can we do as teachers to help creativity take hold? when a child presents you with a drawing and says “look at what i, made respond by saying, "tell me about your drawing or ask what you like about your drawing. this open-ended response let the child evaluate his creativity while initiating a conversation about the work at hand. by not assuming anything about the childs work of art the door to self-evaluation and communication opens. how can teachers encourage creativity? encouraging creativity in you is a process where teachers must open their channels of following accepting and turning over some control to the children themselves. teachers must emphasise process rather than product. they should provide a classroom environment that allows children to explore and play without undue restraint. more, they should adapt to children's ideas rather than trying to structure the children's ideas to fit the adults. finally, they must accept unusual ideas from children by suspending judgments of children's divergent problem why is creativity important for early childhood? this unrestricted exploration helps children connect in their brains; it helps them learn and is fun. it allows youth to practice a wide range of skills that are useful not only for life, but also for learning skills, youth practice when participating in art activities including fine and motor skills. creative skills help children grow in physical, social cognitive and emotional development. children also practice imagination as they invent new ways to create art. why is creative art an important part of the child art curriculum? by engaging in art activities children practice a variety of skills and progress in all areas of development. creative art activities focus on the process of the products, meaning what the climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 188 children do while creating art(feeling, painting between their fingers, holding a pencil or experiencing the stickiness of glue) is more important than what the finished product looks like. these experiences foster growth and development more than colouring a provided picture or having a care provider assist children in glueing precut triangle to a plate to make a sun. why is art and creativity important? art and creativity teach problem-solving which a critical skill for success in life is. by engaging in artistic activities and study, children develop confidence in their abilities, and they learn how to innovate. art encourages risk-free exploration, and it is this freedom that builds confidence. how does technology affect children's creativity? with every piece of technology you assign your childreneach one a new source of notifications and directionother more divided their attention becomes. a developing child's attention is the key to creativity as it helps keep the mind focused on fleshing out or solving problems. why is creativity important to a child's development? what is important in any creative act is the process of self-expression. creative experiences can help children express and cope with their feelings. creativity also fosters mental growth in children by providing opportunities for trying out new ideas and new ways of thinking and problem. why are creativity and imagination important for the development of a child? imagination fosters cognitive and social development. everyone bones to raise children who reach the highest intellectual and social-emotional potential. in early childhood education, critical thinking skills and creative problem-solving abilities are goals for children's development. what is the importance of creativity? why is creativity important in the classroom? the most important reason to teach with creativity is one that is rarely assessed but is key to a child's educational success; they will love school. making things is joyful. learning a new skill, collaborating and creating something meaningful is satisfying, happy work. five ways to encourage creative thinking; 1. make children question things 2. provide opportunities to express their intelligence 3. teach them multiple ways to solve problems 4. trigger their curiosity 5. engage them with activity boxes 6. encourage children to read for pleasure 7. give them free time and space 8 avoid rewarding children for exhibiting creativity contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 189 multimedia has become a huge force in the world's culture, industry and education. practically any type of information we receive can be categorized as multimedia, from television to magazines, to web pages, to movies, multimedia is a tremendous force in both informing the public and entertaining us. multimedia as the term indicates means more than one; it connotes means of communication from different sources. it was coined by the advertising industry to mean buying ads on tv, radio, outdoor and print media. it was originally picked up by the pc industry to mean a computer that could display text in 16 colours and had a sound card. the term was a joke when you compared the pc to the apple macintosh which was truly a multimedia machine that could show color movies with sound and lifelike still images. multimedia is simply multiple forms of media integrated. media can be text, graphics, audio, animation, video, data, scanner, digital camera and so on... multimedia in education has been extremely effective in teaching individuals a wide range of subjects. the human brain learns using many senses such as sight and hearing. while a lecture can be extremely informative, a lecture that integrates pictures or video images can help an individual learn and retain information much more effectively. using interactive cd roms can be extremely effective in teaching students a wide variety of disciplines, most notably foreign language, music and art history. several terrific software packages allow you to create multimedia presentations on your computer. perhaps the best and most widely known is microsoft's powerpoint. with powerpoint a user can mix text with pictures, sound and movies to produce a multimedia slideshow that's great for boardroom presentations or a computer kiosk but difficult to distribute. the basic elements of multimedia on a computer are: • text • still images • sound • movies • animations • special effects text, still images and the video portion of movies are functions of your monitor, your video card and the software driver that tells windows how your video card works. your monitor is essentially a grid of closely spaced little luminous points called pixels which can be turned on and off like tiny light bulbs. for the sake of simplicity, we'll extend our above example to say that the little bulbs can be lit with several colours. just how close together those points of light are packed is a function of your monitor. the number of colours that the luminescent points can display is a function of the monitor in concert with the video card. (if you're wondering what a video card is, follow the cable from your monitor to your computer. advertising is perhaps one of the biggest industries that use multimedia to send their message to the masses. where one type of media, let's say radio or text can be a great way to promote an item, using multimedia techniques can significantly make an item being advertised better received by the masses and in many cases with greater results. climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 190 as technology progresses, so will multimedia. today, there are plenty of new media technologies being used to create the complete multimedia experience. for instance, virtual reality integrates the sense of touch with video and audio media to immerse an individual in a virtual world. other media technologies being developed include the sense of smell that can be transmitted via the internet from one individual to another. today's video games include biofeedback. in this instance, a shock or vibration is given to the game player when he or she crashes or gets killed in the game. in addition as computers increase their power new ways of integrating media will make the multimedia experience extremely intricate and exciting. text when pcs were in their infancy running under ms-dos they only displayed text in one size and one color. most of those early monitors were outgrowths of dumb terminals and had green or amber displays on a black background but for dramatic effect, it could be reversed. they ran in two modes: text and graphic. in graphic mode, a program had to light up (turn on) each pixel. the screen was 640 pixels wide and 480 high so to clear the screen in graphics mode a program had to turn off 307200 pixels. text on those early pcs was displayed using the ascii charter set which was a series of 2 numbers that could be sent to the monitor. each of those two-digit numbers represented an alpha-numerical character. for example, the ascii character code for a lowercase a is 97 while the uppercase is 65. a text charter was 8 pixels high and 8 pixels wide so when a program sent a character 65 to the screen a helper systems program called ansi.sys would send a signal to the proper location turning on and off 64 dots appropriately to make an image of the letter a. innovation and creativity in the african context have increasingly come to be seen as a response to the condition africa has been subjected to by the world. innovation and creativity describe the adaption of tradition to new challenges; african appropriation of external inputs, the endeavour to integrate these inputs into their lives and, most importantly, their response to the ever-new situations that result from innovation itself. there is always a need to progress and change in developed and developing nations, which could be as a result of new technology and possibilities or because of changes in the world. innovation could be used as a term to mean progression and adapting to changed conditions. the opposite of innovation is 'stagnant' or, at least, 'complacent'. a readiness to do something new is required for innovation. but anything new is viewed as a risk in most african developmental processes or still as a distraction from the normal routine. there is every need to commit resources to anything new. innovation can happen if there is a readiness to try new things and if a habit of exploring new possibilities is developed it will help and be beneficial to african development. creating a climate of acceptance for every new possibility is very difficult. there is a need for someone to be sensitive to what is happening elsewhere in the same field and to what is happening in the world. there are many myths about creativity. there is the belief that creativity is a mysterious talent that some people have and others can only envy. anyone can learn and practice the thinking skill of creativity. some people might be better than others, as with any skill such as contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 191 driving, cooking, tennis or soccer, art and design and others. innovation is the introduction of something new to an organization or culture. one might do this by copying someone else, by systematic, intuitive, logical design or still through direct and deliberate creativity. however, there must be a readiness to explore and implement new ideas. innovation means putting into effect something new for any organization, community or nation. there may be many sources for what is 'new'. innovation through creativity africa faces the challenge of managing uncertainty and innovation. as a consequence, academic research has to face the challenge of describing the nature of the ensuing quest for orders and the forms taken by innovation. it has also to understand the stakes for individuals, communities and social science research itself. in addition, research is necessary to describe and understand the socio-economic framework and, thus, the conditions under which individuals experience uncertainty. africa can be seen as a laboratory of a multiplicity of actors engaged in experimenting and exploring with a multitude of innovations. empirical studies can be either in-depth case studies or follow a comparative approach. in addition, some comparative studies may even include cases from regions outside africa. the envisaged research may include all fields of fine and applied arts (global exchange, environmental and climatic change, and political influence), national and local levels – economic, legal, social, art and culture, religious and linguisticand finally household and families, intimate personal or generational relationships. however, in this respect specific attention to socially relevant innovations and emerging orders may be identified for example cities as spatial emphases of change; artists, designers, musicians and young people as particularly innovative actors; new forms of political order; religious groups, or civil society associations as new forms of group association. these efforts may all be linked to particular worldviews, normative frameworks, concepts of belonging, or the moral order of social relations. urban social environments appear to open up increasingly to a creative blend of various cultural expressions in film, music, literature and art and design as well as in new fashions and lifestyles. some of these expressions form the background to new social movements with new discourses on social and political life in general. a special emphasis on young people and youth movements may be helpful to further explore this socio-cultural change. from a generational perspective, youth has always been perceived as a non-conventional entity which must be tamed to make it conform to the order of society. in this sense, it is a phase of life open to uncertainty, exploration, experimentation and innovation and this renders youth one of the most promising topics to research in the quest for order framework. creativity is more closely related to thinking abilities and to attitudinal development. it is a continual process for which the best preparation involves creativity itself. the act of creativity can be seen as that which provides the urge for continuing exploration and discovery. every child is born creative. the urge to explore, investigate, and discover, what is on the other side of the screen is not limited to human behaviour, but is experienced by the whole animal kingdom, (lower field and brittan 1975). one of the most commonly agreed upon components of creative thinking is the ability to produce a large number of ideas. in a general sense the idea of creativity http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/innovation-maintenance.php climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 192 means different things to different people in the world. murray (1966) states “… the creative process of the african artist is quite distinct from that of his western counterparts”. there is the need to take due account of this distinction in any comparative analysis. creativity exists everywhere in people’s life. it can be found in designing and packaging, processing and production, fabric and fashion, sign and architectural design, applied science and technology, visual arts, theatre, music, film (video production) and a host of other activities. creativity in the modern dispensation is used as a powerful tool to attract attention to a nation or country's powerful endowment. creativity can be meaningful to an individual if it is ideologically and culturally inclined. runco (1994) opines that creativity is in terms of cognitive processes that lead to an original and adaptive insight, idea or solution. thus, creativity is the most essential of all human resources and skills (bolaji 2007). akinboye (2004) sees creativity as a tool that propels organizations, catapults careers, and generate potent growth and viable outcomes. creativity is at the heart of art and design, at all stages throughout the design process. the most exciting and challenging design is that which is truly innovative; the creation of a radical departure from anything currently on the market (baxter, 1995). the more people try to define creativity by identifying with specific sets of values, meanings, beliefs, and symbols, the more our creativity will be focusing on how values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed, and the greater the chance that our creativity will become less restricted ( bolaji 2007). one major way to spark creativity is through exploration. exploring exposes one to new things. new things are inspiring. while exploring one might stumble across a new way of doing something, a new thing to do, or something more subtle. sometimes one uncovers a bit of information that clicks with things he has been thinking about and completes (or helps to complete) the picture he has been developing in his mind. other times one may discover a tool, a process or an approach that others are using which is unrelated but still inspiring in its ingenuity. exploration can fuel one's creativity. exploration is the act of travelling or searching within and around a terrain (including the immediate environment, the world and space or even an unknown region for discovering resources or information for a particular project. exploration in art could take different forms, for example a visit to the city especially where one lives, or the nearest one and spending a day walking through the streets. also, a visit to local, independent shops, clothing stores, antique shops, craft shops, toy stores, markets, museums, and art galleries/workshops are great places to seek out. others are new parks, beaches, monuments, and other gathering areas. as an artist or designer, it helps to have a goal, or set of goals, to provide some structure to your creative wanderings. artists and designers are no longer constrained to the physical realm for their explorations, the internet and the world wide web; there are vast tracks to be explored without ever leaving their homes. reward for excellence competition opinion of res competition participant; i and my mother got information from a distant relative about the competition and i was very excited and overwhelmed because i have never participated in a competition the next day, i started to have second doubts about my qualification for the competition when my mother has already sent the application form. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 193 on august 7th 2021, where the 1st and 2nd stages will be done for all the participants in enugu state, the 1st stage is the screening test; we were given a puzzle to find 20 words in 2 minutes and those who could get more than 10 words, would later be given 3 words to spell and if they could get 2 out of three and 3 out of three, would be qualified to advance to the 2nd stage, the three words given to us are, ape, anomaly, apathy. in the 2nd stage, we were called individually to spell one word and there are the following words were given to the junior category • amphibian • archaeology • autopsy • aversive • astronomical • aftermath • alacrity • apparition • agnostic • articulate • asylum • antipathy • arraying • aviary • aloft • artefact there were approximately 30 participants from spring of life and fountain of wisdom school and approximately 250 participants from other schools. most of them won awards, prices and incentives for further development. it is important in any creative and innovative act that allows the process of self-expression, especially through a skill acquisition program. creative experiences can help children express and cope with their feelings. creativity also fosters mental growth in children by providing opportunities for trying out new ideas and new ways of thinking and problem. imagination fosters cognitive and social development. everyone bones to raise children who reach the highest intellectual and social-emotional potential. innovation through creativity africa faces the challenge of managing uncertainty and innovation. as a consequence, academic research has to face the challenge of describing the nature of the ensuing quest for orders and the forms taken by innovation. it has also to understand the stakes for individuals, communities and social science research itself. in addition, research is necessary to describe and understand the socio-economic framework and, thus, the conditions under which individuals experience uncertainty. conclusion climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 194 creative originality is not just limited to creating and originating a system of ideas out of nothing but artful and careful combination, coupled with a well-established pattern of thought by a process of cross-fertilization is needed to save the system from the state of mythology. it is therefore imperative to develop a new reasoning ability to think right, explore possibilities and to be able to discover and combine meaningfully, as many ideas and experiences as possible to create new forms of knowledge. exploring the mind can be achieved with daydreaming, meditation and also thinking about thinking. what makes an individual tick? what are one's hopes, dreams, and fears? what does one do well? what could one do better? start practising observing oneself – this might be a great start. a skill acquisition. childhood education through skill acquisition is critical thinking skills and creative problem-solving abilities are good goals for children's development. references akinboye, j. o. (2004) creativity, innovation and success. stirling-hordens publishers ltd, ibadannigeria. baxter, m.r. (1995) product design. practical methods for the systematic development of new products, new york: chapman and hall bolaji, s.d. (2007) akinpelu’s educational philosophy and its implication to educational system in nigeria, unpublished master’s thesis submitted to the department of educational foundations, faculty of education, university of lagos lowerfield, e. and brittan, l. (1995) creative and mental growth. macmillan publishing co. inc., new york. murray, j. (1966) introduction to african art. camelot press ltd, london. rodney, w. (1982) how europe underdeveloped africa, ikenga publishers enugu, nigeria contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 195 index a abstraction; 31, 36 adenaike, tayo; 123 aesthetics; 21, 101, 106, 110, 122, 142, ajayi, ayo; 128, 133 ajayi, bayo; 133 all programmers’ congress; 164 amaefuna, chuka; 131 amifor, john; 128, 133 anatsui, el; 124 aniakor, chike; 123 animation, 3d; 11, 108 14, 20, 158, architecture; 1, 14, 144, art criticism; 10, 11, 12,13, 22, 34, 70, 73, 78 art history; 1, 9, 10, 12, 132 art, non-objective; 38 art therapy; 43, artistic process; 18, 188,193 artistic; 43, 44, 48 asymmetrical balance; 36 b baker mr; 131 baker, mrs; 131 baroque; 36 benin; 133, 137 buhari, muhammadu; 164 c ceramics; 1 9, 13, 14, 29, 109, 110, 126, 131, 137 classicism; 36 climate change; 173, 174,181 corruption; 163-164, 166-167 creativity quadrat; 163, 164,188 cubism; 37 d da vinci, leonardo; 69 dada; 37 dangote; 170 department of fine and applied arts, ahmadu bello university, zaria 131 development; 166 dimmagio, paul; 70 dominance; 37 e earth in our hands; 179 edgerely, samuel; 139 ekeada, felix; 127, 128, 131, 133 elaboration; 37 environmental graphics design (egd); 136, 140 enwonwu, ben; 135 esie; 133, 137 exploration; 52, 99, 118, 154, 155, 161 expressionism; 37 f fashion industry; 94 film; 3, 21, 52, 100 firth, clifford; 131 g genre; 37 global warming; 180 climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 184 goldsmiths college of artists, london university; 131 gradation; 38 groundnut pyramid; 170 h howard, saul; 80 i iconography, 10, 25, 34, 38, 68, 77, 82 ife; 133, 137 igboanugo, paul; 130 igbo-ukwu; 133, 137 ikatia, grey; 128, 133 ikwuemesi, krydz chu, 123 illustration (s); 139 manuscript 1, book 1, visual 8, copy, 134 industrial design; 1, 29, 97-103, 169,189, innovation, 2, 3, 6, 30, 82, 111, 94, 96, 101, 104, 114, 117, 118, 122, 152, 153, 163, 164, 165, 168, 170, 185, 190, 191, 193 ipcc, 174 it’s still a beautiful world 182; j jewellery; 11 k king saul; 43 kramer, edith; 45 l let’s share the world together; 181 lost wax-38 m maldiochi, kathy; 48 max, karl; 70 mother earth needs our protection; 178 motif; 38 murray, k. c.; 106, 110, 134, 139 n naturalism; 38 naumberg, marsaret; 45 ngu, ugbodaga clara, mrs; 131 njelita, osita benjamin;131, 127, 128 nok; 133, 137 nsibidi; 105, 11, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 122 nwagbara, ogbonnaya; 131 o oguibe, olu; 80 okpara, anthony ukwaoma; 133 okpara, anthony ukwuoma; 133, sheba, eben, 133 onabolu aina; 134, 138 onobrakpeya, bruce; 78 onuora, chijioke, 123 owo; 133, 137 p photography; 13, 78, 106, 132 plaster of paris (pop); 157, 159, 160 pollution; 142, pottery; 1, 14, 27, 115 printmaking; 1, 13, 78, 80, 135, 139 contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 185 q quantitative research; 88 r realism; 38 research methodology; 50, 53 research, 4, 48, 50-64 researcher(s); 92 rhythm; 38 rhythm; 38 romanticism; 38 s scale; 39 sculpture; 1, 8-9 10, 13, 78, 110, 111, 127, 133 self-expression; 2, 29 sensual; 39 sensuous; 39 simmel, georg; 70 smes; 169 social research; 57 sociology research; 87 style; 9 artistic, 12, aesthetics, 14, formal, 15 suleiman, hassan, mr; 131 surrealism; 39 t tension; 39 textile; 9, 13, 73, 115, 139, 177 texture; 39 tsoede; 133, 137 tv trolleys; 160 u uche okeke; 122 udechukwu, obiora; 78, 80, 110 uli; 105, 108, 110,111 unity; 39 v value; 39 visual effects; 177 visual pollution; 142,144 w weber, max; 70 section c: english usage and grammatical concepts 7 trends in sentence meaning: a conceptual review basil f. ovu and queen e. anyanwu abstract every language, regardless of its name and users, is meant to express meaning. this can be through a lexical or structural means. lexical meanings are expressed through the various lexical relations inherent words while the structural meanings come through the ways words are manipulated to generate meaning. both processes are language specific. this paper, therefore, focuses on one specific aspect of structural meaning known as “sentence meaning” functions in the english language. the paper identifies three major types of meaning a sentence can generate in english, viz: conceptual meaning, associative meaning and thematic meaning. the paper argues that conceptual meaning is universal, stable and not affected by contextual colouring or emotional overtones while associative meaning open-ended, unstable and heavily influenced by the diverse historical epochs within the language. the paper goes further to argue that thematic meaning depends on how information is organised within a language. the concludes that sentence meanings depend on how lexical items in a sentence are organised and the relative interpretations that speakers of the language assign to them, any disparity between speakers or a writer’s intention and what the listener or reader interprets the expression to be, will be a breakdown in communication. thus, to avoid any breakdown in communication, all the factors which may disrupt the free flow of information between the encoder and decoder must be eliminated to make for easy flow and sequential presentation of information. keywords: structural meaning, conceptual meaning, associative meaning, thematic meaning introduction every language, regardless of its name and users, is meant to express meaning. this expression of meaning manifests in two principal forms – lexical and structural. lexical meaning refers to the various forms of meaning expressed by lexical items in that it is not analysable beyond the domain of words (ndimele, 2007). on the other hand, structural meaning refers to the meaning that a sentence generates as a result of how lexical items within the sentence are positioned. this comes in various ways such as ambiguity, presuppositions, entailment, etc. (saeed, 2016, p. 87). thus, structural meaning is usually determined not by the individual meanings of the lexical items but rather the structural relationships between the words. how the words are organised determines the meaning that will be attached to the sentence. for example, the meaning of the following two sentences varies on the basis of the relative positions occupied by the lexical items: (1) john killed the rat. (2) the rat killed john. sentence (1) shows that john was the one that performed the act which resulted in the death of the rat but in (2), the reverse is the case. however, the meaning of the individual lexical items remained consistent in each case, viz:  john = [+male, +human, +animate, etc.]  rat = [+male, -human, +animate, etc.]  killed = [+animate, +concrete, +action/motion, etc.]. the set of semantic features above combined with the position of the individual lexical items to determine the overall meaning of the two sentences such that each would elicit different reactions from the reader or listener. but nothing inherent in the words forces the particular reading or meaning attached to the sentence except their structural positions in the sentences. this explains why the semanticists insist that lexical meaning is more stable than structural meaning in that the former is fixed while the latter is decomposed. accordingly, saaed (2016) remarks that the semantic relations that hold between sentences are not only restricted to the words in the sentences but also depend on syntactic structure of the sentences. aspects and dimensions of sentence meaning sentences generally express three major types of meaning such as conceptual meaning, associative meaning, and thematic meaning (ndimele, 1999). conceptual meaning refers to the cognitive, denotative, logical, primary or central meaning expressed by a word or a sentence. it is the “ordinary, basic dictionary meaning of a word [or sentence] which is stable and not affected by contextual colouring or emotional overtones of either the speaker or hearer (ndimele, 2007). as ndimele has rightly observed, conceptual meaning is universal in that all the speakers of the same language share this type of meaning when considering a linguistic expression. in this case, the sentence is given the same interpretation by the people who speak the same language. hence, words like “boy” and “girl” possess the following conceptual meanings: [+human, +male, adult] and [+human, -male, -adult] respectively and their basic meaning remains consistent and universally accessible to the users of the language. associative meaning on the other hand, refers to the type of meaning that “a word conveys over and above its ordinary, basic or commonly shared sense” (ndimele, 2007, p. 34). in this case, associative meaning is “unstable, open-ended and variable” because it is the type of meaning that is influenced by sex, experience, the historical epoch in which the expression is used, or the society and culture. for instance, the word “gay” in elizabethan england meant nothing short of the state of being happy but the word has over the years acquired the meaning of a homosexual male. it is on this note that barnwell (1980), leech (1981), and ndimele (2007) have all recognized five subcategories of associative meaning to be connotative, collocative, affective, reflected and stylistic meaning. ndimele (2007, p.36) posits that connotative meaning uses non-criteria semantic features unlike conceptual meaning. according to him, the linguistic expression is infused with both purely conceptual meaning and the individual language users’ personal experience which they bring to bear on the expression. thus, an expression like “emeka is nothing but a woman,” may contain either a positive or negative connotation depending on the context. even an overtly negative expression may have a positive connotation depending on the context. for instance, “jane is a bad girl” may constitute an expression of approval and endearment or that of disapproval and reprimand depending on who uses it and where it is used. where the sentence is uttered by a fellow girl before her peers, being “bad” may mean that jane is a very smart girl who outwits men rather than fall victim to their antics. on the other hand, if the same expression is used by an older woman, for instance, her mother, her character and moral virtues will likely be called into question. it is in this regard that ndimele (2007, p.37) makes it abundantly clear that the major determinant of whether a sentence should be given a conceptual or associative meaning is the context in which the sentence is or has been used. he, therefore, asserts that while conceptual meaning is “determinate and non-open-ended, associative meaning is indeterminate and non-open-ended”. accordingly, connotative meaning varies from culture to culture, society to society or even from individual to individual. for instance, “fox” is associated with cunning or deception such that if an individual is called a fox before a western audience he or she will be immediately associated with the art of deception. the same applies to tortoise in igbo society and spider among members of the akan tribe in ghana. in other words, the range of possible connotations an expression may invoke in language users depends on the shared experiences of the individuals. however, unlike conceptual meaning, connotative meaning cannot be universally shared. collocative meaning on the other hand deals with “the habitual co-occurrence of individual lexical items” (crystal, 2008, p. 86). it is the meaning that lexical items express within a sentence which depends solely on the company they keep. according to ovu (2010), collocation may be viewed from both grammatical and semantic angles. from the grammatical angle, he notes that any violation of the collocational requirement of lexical items normally results in ungrammaticality although it may not affect the intended meaning of the expression. for instance, he observes that expressions like “congratulate for” instead of “congratulate on”, “shout on” instead of “shout at” etc. are all instances where the collocational restrictions of lexical items have been violated. violation of semantic collocates, on the other hand, results in oddness rather than ungrammaticality as in the expression (3) below: (3) the stone is now pregnant. leech (1981) had earlier observed that the lexical relation of synonymy shows the extent of collocational variations. for instance, while animals may “wander” human beings usually “stroll”. also, we “tremble” with fear but “quiver” with excitement. thus, words are compulsorily bound to keep their appropriate company just like human beings do. this also helps to maintain the fine distinction between grammaticality (syntactic considerations) and acceptability (semantic considerations). affective meaning conveys the attitude of a speaker or writer towards his or her listener or reader as well as “the subject-matter of discourse”. ndimele (2007, p.39) opines that the choice of certain words can either trigger a positive or negative emotional response based on how it is perceived. for example, while “fat” bears a neutral connotation “flabby” and “plump” have negative and positive connotations respectively. in this regard, the choice of either word depends partly on the speaker or writer’s attitude and the actual shape of the individual being described. the use of interjections, according to ndimele (1999), exemplifies the canonical instances of affective meaning in language. again, affective meaning may run into a continuum of lexical choices such as father, dad and daddy or mother, mum and mummy used to describe one’s parents. in the case of reflected meaning, a sentence is usually given more than one conceptual meaning with one of the meanings arising out of sustained usage or metaphorical extension. according to ndimele (2007), this type of meaning is found mainly in the use of polysemous words. leech (1981), on the other hand, maintains that words like “ejaculation”, “erection”, “intercourse” and even “turgid” through constant usage have acquired some kind of reflected meaning where they are stripped of their innocent, non-sexual connotation to their current status in the english language where they conjure sexual images whenever they are mentioned. the internet and social media have also given a word like “adult” a reflected meaning where it almost unambiguously refers to pornography. hence, “adult sites”, “adult films” etc. refers to pornographic sites and films. in this regard, a man may not use the word “gay” to describe himself unless of course, he wants to acknowledge that he is a homosexual unlike what used to obtain in the past when the word simply meant “happy” or “light-hearted”. against this backdrop, ndimele (1999, p.40) has stated that among the many shades of meaning that an expression may conjure by virtue of reflected meaning, one is usually prominent as a result of frequency of usage such that others may disappear with time. stylistic meaning refers to the associated pattern of word or sentence usage which makes it suitable to a given communicative situation. variations in stylistic meaning are usually captured even in the dictionary entries for words with labels like “rare,” “formal,” “informal”, “popular”, “written”, “spoken”, “colloquial”, “taboo”, etc. in order to guide the language users towards understanding suitability of the relevant words to a given discourse situation. thus, ndimele (2007, p.40) illustrates stylistic meaning using simple requests in english as in the following examples: (4) might i have your book? (very formal or rare) (5) may i have your book? (formal) (6) can i have your book? (casual or less formal) thus, while “offspring”, “children” and “kids” may refer to the same concept their stylistic meanings vary such that their usage is dictated by the communicative or discourse situation. apart from conceptual and associative meanings which have been explored hitherto, there is also another kind of meaning known as thematic meaning. this type of meaning depends on how a speaker organises his message to indicate focus or emphasis. thus, thematic meaning shows whether the message is new or given and what part of the sentence is emphasised above others. quirk and greenbaum (1973) and radford et al (2009) have all observed that thematic meaning is enhanced by the speaker using such grammatical devices like clefting, passivisation, topicalisation which result in structural paraphrase (ogbulogo, 2005). furthermore, ogbulogo (2011, pps. 34-35), has identified various ways in which sentence meaning can be analysed such as paraphrase; ambiguity; vagueness; tautology; presupposition; entailment; anomaly; contradiction and analyticity. according to him, paraphrase occurs when two superficial structures possess the same underlying meaning. hence, he states that “paraphrase is to sentence what synonym is to words”. in this case, paraphrase may be lexical and structural paraphrases. lexical paraphrase can be seen in the sentences below: (7) mary is a spinster. (8) mary is unmarried. in (7) and (8), spinster and unmarried are synonymous thereby making it possible for the two sentences to contain the same underlying meaning. the difference in meaning between the two sentences lies in the substitution of spinster with unmarried. on the other hand, structural paraphrase is achieved through some transformational processes like clefting, pseudo-clefting, topicalisation, passivisation, etc., where the arrangement of the original sentence is altered. this can be illustrated in sentences below, where (9) is the basic and the rest (10-13) represent the various transformations (paraphrases) of the basic sentence: (9) john bought a blue car. [basic] (10) it was a blue car that john bought. [clefting] (11) what john bought was a blue car. [psuedo-clefting] (12) a blue car was what john bought. [topicalisation] (13) a blue car was bought by john. [passivisation] ndimele (2007), however, distinguishes between paraphrase and ambiguity. according to him, in a paraphrase two sentences have one underlying meaning while in ambiguity, one sentence contains two or more meanings. supporting him, crystal (2008,p. 22) observes that ambiguity refers to a situation where a word or construction “expresses more than one meaning”. thus, an ambiguous word or structure has more than one possible interpretation. again, linguists generally differentiate between lexical and structural ambiguities (jackson & amvèla, 2001; akmajian, demers, farmer, & harnish 2004; ndimele, 1999; saeed, 2016; crystal, 2008; umera-okeke, 2008). according to akmajian et al. (2010: 242), lexical ambiguity is caused by the presence of one word which may be interpreted in two or more different ways within a single construction while structural ambiguity takes place when no particular word is ambiguous, rather the “ambiguity is due to structural relations in the sentence. hence, the use of bank as in (10) below illustrates lexical ambiguity. (14) i saw the bank this morning. in (14) above, the ambiguity in the sentence comes from the word bank which has several meanings. a dictionary entry for bank contains different meanings like financial institution; side of a river; a place for storing things (e.g. blood bank), as well as other meanings as in a mass of earth, cloud or fog (longman active study dictionary, 2008: 53). a question then arises as to which of these meanings was intended by the user of the above sentence, especially as each of them can pass as a possible interpretation of the construction. this particular fact seems to have influenced ovu (2011:16) who observes that lexical ambiguity can be triggered by the use of homograph, homophone, homonym and polysemy. according to him, homography, which refers to a situation when two distinct words are spelt alike but pronounced differently, induces ambiguity especially in written discourse in that the reader may be clueless as to the appropriate pronunciation of the ambiguous word and the meaning to assign to it as in (15) below: (15) the man smiled and took a bow. ovu (2011) observes that sentence (15) is ambiguous in that it has two possible interpretations namely, bow as in /bəu/, meaning “a hunting device or instrument” and /bau/ meaning “to bend oneself” (p. 18). ovu, therefore, argues that although the above expression is an acceptable english sentence, a closer look at it proves it to be ambiguous. he observes that one who reads the sentence may want to know if the man smiled and bowed down or that he smiled and picked a bow (perhaps to shoot at an animal). he concludes that the sentence is ambiguous as a result of the dual meaning invested in the word bow, stressing that it is communicatively desirable to recast the sentence in order to reflect the exact meaning intended by the user. similarly, he identifies homophones as one of the sources of ambiguity in a sentence. accordingly, while it is true that homophonous words by their nature are not usually ambiguous when they are written since their spellings often provide a clue to the meaning intended by the user (although sometimes spelling errors may occur as a result of wrong pronunciation), they usually pose difficulty to interpret in conversation as one may find in a dictation class where the listener finds it difficult knowing the particular meaning intended by the speaker (ovu, 2011). this is illustrated in the table 1 below: table 1: homophone-induced ambiguous sentences spoken forms written equivalents [hi: went tə δi: aɪl jestədei] he went to the aisle/isle yesterday. [δə gɜ:l wɒz fӕsɪneɪtɪd baɪ maɪ ɔ:rəl skil] the girl was fascinated by my aural/oral skill [δə flauə ɪz tu: ɪkspensiv] the flour/flower is too expensive. [δə bɔɪ wɒz puld aut əv δə si:] the buoy/boy was pulled out of the sea. [məust hɒspitəlz dəunt ju:z bɪə veri ɒfn] most hospitals don’t use bier/beer very often. culled from ovu (2011, p. 19) based on the analyses recorded in (ovu, 2011,pps.19-20), the ambiguity in table 1 above takes the following pattern: the phonological word /aɪl/ may be written as either “aisle” (meaning a passageway) or “isle” (meaning an island); the phonological word /ɔ:rəl/ may be written either as “oral” (relating to the productive aspect of spoken language delivery) or as “aural” (referring to the perceptive aspect of the speech); the phonological word /flauə/ is also ambiguous because it may either be heard as “flour” (referring to corn or cassava powder) or “flower” (referring to part of a plant). in the fourth sentence the ambiguity lies in the word /bɔɪ/ which has two wordforms, viz: boy and buoy, referring to a male youth and safety device respectively while in the last sentence, the ambiguity was caused by the presence of the word /biə/ which may either be heard as bier or beer, referring to a stretcher and a type of alcoholic beverage. it is important to know that none of those meanings identified above was forced into the sentence, rather each of them is justifiable both on syntactic and semantic grounds. furthermore, homonyms also contribute to ambiguity in sentences. according to ovu (2011), writers have consistently confused homonyms with polysemy. in his words, the true nature of homonyms has been misunderstood by many writers. to some, homonyms include cases where words have identical spelling (i.e. homographs) and/or where the words have identical sounds (homophones). this view is however wrong because doing so will only amount to subsuming what should ordinarily be treated as real homonyms within polysemy. a better approach would have been to distinguish homonyms from polysemy. this is particularly important given the fact that polysemous words mostly result from a metaphorical extension of meaning (p.21, emphasis in the original) thus, ovu remarks that one principal observation to make about homonyms is that their meaning does not emanate from a common core unlike in polysemy. yet each can contribute to ambiguity as the sentences below illustrate: (16). those men are gay. question: are they happy or are they homosexuals? (17). jane’s lock is better than anyone else’s. question: is the speaker talking about jane’s hair? or her performance in a game? (18). they can fish. question: is the speaker talking about ability to fish or about someone’s occupation? e.g. the job of preserving fish in cans to sell it. (19). she cannot bear any child. question: is she barren or is she hostile towards children? sometimes an ambiguous expression produces a ridiculous interpretation as can be seen in the sentence below: (20). prostitutes appeal to the pope. question: is it that the pope admires prostitutes or that they solicit help from him? extra linguistic knowledge (or our understanding of a real-world situation) would make us accept the latter interpretation and reject the former bearing in mind that the pope by virtue of his position as a pious religious leader would neither contemplate going to patronize prostitutes nor even admire them! however, nothing in the individual words suggests that this second interpretation is better except that the alternative meaning sounds rather unexpected and mischievous. in the case of polysemy, which is a term originating from the greek word poly i.e. many and semeion meaning sign, a reference is made to “words or other items of language with two or more senses” (mcarthur, 1996, p.715). so polysemy is used for situations where “the same word has two or more different meanings” (jackson & amvèla, 2001 p.58). but it needs pointing out that polysemous words often have related meanings. it is this relatedness of meaning that distinguishes polysemy from homonymy especially as polysemy is usually a product of metaphoric extension of meaning (cf: ovu, 2011, p.21). saeed (2016) has noted the traditional distinction between homonymy and polysemy. he maintains that “polysemy is invoked if the senses are judged to be related…polysemous senses are listed under the same lexical entry while homonymous senses are given separate entries” (p.64). furthermore, lexicographers often depend on the ideal native speaker/hearer’s intuition and/or what the lexicographers themselves know about the historical development of the words whenever they want to know whether different lexical items share common semantic primitives. in fact, this method was reported to have been used by editors of collins electronic dictionary in categorizing the following words: barge, court, dart, fleet, jam, pad, stem, stuff, watch, etc. into homonymy and polysemy respectively (jackson & amvèla, 2001 p.191). thus, polysemous words usually have different but related senses or meanings. ambiguity arises when other words that occur with the polysemous words fail to provide sufficient clues to clarify the meaning of the keywords as the sentences below illustrate: (21) i need the paper. (22) there is a mouse under the table. (23) my glasses have broken. (24) refill the barrel. owing to the various meanings attached to the words in italics each of them turns out to make the sentence ambiguous. to disambiguate them, more words are needed in the sentence as in the following examples: (25) a. there is amouse under the table; kill it (i.e. a rodent). b. there is amouse under the table; use it to replace the damaged one. (i.e. computer accessory). (26) a. my glasses have broken because the water is too hot. (i.e. cups) b. my glasses have broken, so i can’t read well. (i.e. spectacles) (27) a. he refilled the barrel with bullets (i.e. part of a gun) b. he refilled the barrel with wine (i.e. a storage vessel). ndimele (2007, p. 61) has further observed that regardless of the number of meanings a polysemous word may generate, one of such meanings is usually central to the word while others are mere “metaphorical extension” of the sense of the word. i.e. meaning acquired by the word through constant usage. this is illustrated in words like surfing the internet, foot of a hill, computer virus, computer mouse, eye of a needle, banking of an aircraft which are a mere metaphorical extension of the original meaning. aside from the above instances of ambiguity, scholars have identified cases of structural ambiguity which also relate to sentence meaning as illustrated below: (28) he killed the woman with a knife. (29). call me a taxi. (30). flying planes can be dangerous. (31). visiting relatives can be boring. in each of the examples in (28-31), the ambiguity stems from the structural patterns of sentences rather than the individual words that make them up. on the other hand, vagueness may arise due partly to the attempt by the writer to express his or her thoughts in a more colourful and literary language. (32) the sun smiled to her beauty (personification) (33) the ocean surged and rocked crest by crest to welcome a brand new season (34) she drove, moved with all the fury within her little frame to escape the aborted town. (35) colourless green ideas sleep furiously. ogbulogo (2011) has observed that vagueness arises because of “the incompatibility of the semantic properties of some words” in some sentences. while vagueness may be deployed as a literary device by seasoned authors, it nevertheless becomes a source challenge when the language user fails to match words appropriately. in this case, vagueness results from the violation of collocational meaning of words in a sentence. in the case of tautology, ogbulogo (2011) opines that it arises when there is unnecessary repetition of words without making the meaning of the sentence clearer as in (36) below: (36) john is an unmarried bachelor. (37) the dead man is no longer alive. ogbulogo (2011, p.64) distinguishes tautology from mere redundancy. according to him, redundancy occurs when new linguistic elements are introduced into a sentence without affecting the meaning while tautology is a ridiculous repetition. on the other hand, ovu (2010) maintains that the effect of semantic redundancy is less dramatic than tautology. for instance, in the sentence “she ate the food without no salt” is tautological while “the man reversed back” is redundant. however, it seems that in reality the distinction between tautology and redundancy is harder to establish than the authors have shown. another type of sentence meaning is the one called anomalous sentence. like vagueness, anomalous sentences are a result of collocational meaning violation. for example, while “tall” and “long” are closely related semantically, they do not colligate nor collocate with the same type of nouns. thus, there may be long ropes, long essays, long journey but there is tall building, tall man, tall tree, etc. non-observation of this rule results in an anomalous sentence. sentences that are ambivalent are capable of expressing double meaning in a way that they express a dual proposition. ambivalent sentences are used in a way that either yes or no is a valid response to it. for instance, a sentence like the following is ambivalent: (38) are you a student or a christian? in this case, any response to the question may be valid in that the listener may be a christian and a student at the same time. another example was the answer given to macbeth by the three witches which was neither true nor false; which also deceived him into waiting to be defeated by macdoff. theoretical framework the paper is anchored on the version of semantic theory developed by katz and fodor in 1963, modified in katz postal (1964). according to this theory, semantic rules like syntactic rules are recursive and infinite in that the range of possible meanings like sentences in a language is both large and infinite. also, the relationship between a sentence and its meaning is not arbitrary in de saussure’s sense nor unitary; rather it depends on the interaction of both the syntactic structure of the sentence and its lexical contents such that the meaning of a word is determined by its function. thus, this theory obviates the fact that two sentences may differ in meaning despite sharing the same exact number of words. this can be illustrated in (39-42) below: (39.). john killed fred. (40.). fred killed john. (41.). the snake frightened mary (42.). the movies delighted mary. the above view of sentence meaning is now called katz-fodor and katz-postal hypothesis. according to saaed (2016:250), the katz-fodor and katz-postal hypothesis is a semantic parallel to chomskyan syntactic theory in that it aims at specifying the meanings of lexical items; explicitly accounting for how the meaning of lexical items builds up into sentence through what they called projection rules in order to derive a universally applicable metalanguage. specifications on the meaning of lexical items are achieved through the use of a dictionary that pairs lexical items with semantic representations (i.e. in the lexicon) while the rules that account for how sentence meanings are built from lexical meanings are known as projection rules which are achieved with introduction of semantic components. conclusion the position taken in this paper is that sentence meanings depend on how lexical items in a sentence are organised and the relative interpretations that speakers of the language assign to them. where there is a disparity between speakers or a writer’s intention and what the listener or reader interprets the expression to be, there will be a communication breakdown. accordingly, several factors can play a role in disrupting the free flow of information between the encoder (i.e. speaker or writer) and decoder (i.e. listener or reader) such as failure by the encoder to structure the message in manageable units for easy flow and sequential presentation. or when the decoder is ill-prepared to listen or read what is being relayed to them. references akmajian, a., demers, r.a., farmer, a.k., and r.m. harnish (2010). linguistics: an introduction to language and communication (6th ed.). cambridge: mit press barnwell, k. (1980). introduction to semantics and translation. us: summer institute of linguistics cruse, a. (2000). meaning in language: an introduction to semantics and pragmatics. oxford: oxford university press. fromkin, v., rodman, r. and n. hyams (2018). an introduction to language (11th ed.). uk: wadsworth/cengage learning. geeraerts, d. (2010). theories of lexical semantics. oxford: oxford university press. jackson, h. and e.z. amvéla 2001. words, meaning and vocabulary: an introduction to modern english lexicology. new york: continuum. leech, g. (1981). semantics. london. penguin books longman active study dictionary (2008). new ed. uk: pearson longman. murphy, l. m. (2003). semantic relations and the lexicon: antonymy, synonymy and other paradigms. cambridge: cambridge university press. ndimele, o.m. 2007. semantics and the frontiers of communication (2nd rev.ed.). port harcourt. uniport press ltd. ogbulogo, c. (2011). concepts in semantics (2nd ed.). lagos: sam iroanusi publications ovu, b. f. (2011). “lexical sources of ambiguity in english and daily communications.” in nwachukwu, u. i. (ed.). oluọha journal of languages. vol. 1. (1). alvan ikoku federal college of education, owerri. pp. 15-26. quirk, r., and greenbaum, s. (1973). a university of grammar of english. london: longman. radford, a., atkinson, m., brian, d., clahsen, h., and a. spencer (2009). linguistics: an introduction. (2nd. ed.). cambridge: cambridge university press. rahman, t. (2010). linguistics for beginners: basic concepts. oxford: oxford university press riemer, n. (2005). introducing semantics. cambridge: cambridge university press. saeed, j. i. (2016). semantics. (4th ed.). malden: wiley blackwell tambunan, h.a. (2009). “the analysis of lexical and structural ambiguity in your letters of the jakarta post”. unpublished m.a. thesis: university of sumetara, utera, indonesia. umera-okeke, n. 2008. semantics and pragmatics: theories of meaning and usage in english. awka: fab educational books. yule, g. (2020). the study of language (7th ed.). cambridge: cambridge university press. chapter 8: adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface design on african wax prints for nigerian fashion contributed by chika chudi-duru introduction surface decoration is the outward decoration given to the fabric. according to naik and wilson (2009), surface designing refers to the external embellishment given to a fabric. they further defined it as a structural and applied design on any substrate. and mentions that there are countless varieties of decorations that are used to enhance the surfaces of fabrics but their techniques differ. the clothes and type of embellishment depend on the specific end-use. the most prevalent techniques used to enhance some textile materials to aid their consumer acceptance are dyeing, printing, painting, embroidery, weaving and industrial surface finishes. each technique has its own characteristics for instance, dyeing is carried out to add colours to the fabric using dyes, printing is used to impress an image onto a surface using paint or ink (sleigh-johnson 2009), weaving is used to create structural and decorative designs (naik and wilson (2009), by combining basic and fancy weave structures. varieties of woven designs can be achieved by blending different fibres, and sources. the other surface finishes without adding any colour produce some peculiar pattern effects which transform the physical appearance of the fabric. another technique of embellishing the surface of the fabrics through threadwork is called embroidery. a lot of nigerian fashion designers have used adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 121 embroidery and other techniques in enhancing african wax fabrics to make them more appealing to wearers and buyers and also to reduce monotony. in past and present times african wax fabrics have been utilized extensively in fashion. elsworth (2009) in bada (2013) says that in the fashion industry today, and all over the world, the nigerian culture is being borrowed and incorporated into styles, signatures and works of partakers of the industry. he also said that the simple wearability of such materials as african wax prints has made the fabric not only a runway creation but everyday and even red carpets and movie premier wear of choice for the hollywood big names. djirackor (2013) proclaimed that just as africa is not one big country, african print comes in many distinct types of styles applied to diverse fabrics, with their printing techniques and purposes. super wax, dutch, java, super print, ghana wax, cote d'ivoire wax, togo wax, nigerian wax, veritable wax, bogolan, batik, bazin, kente print and mud wax prints are some of the various prints used for both traditional and contemporary african styles, which non-africans most commonly and indistinctly refer to as african print. he further stated that bold colours, stark combinations, and a wide range of patterns from geometric, animal and floral to even political messages and portraits of public figures—all are used to create garments for both men and women. therefore, this study was theoretically guided by the creative ideas of some nigerian fashion designers such as deola sagoe, amaka osakwe, lisa folawiyo and ituen basi who have been experimenting and reinventing indigenous nigerian fabrics to turn them into contemporary fashionable wear (jennings 2011) so that they will not go into extinction. they have been experimenting with indigenous fabrics to come up with appropriate cloth to suit the current trends in nigeria. for instance, lisa folawiyo (jewel by lisa is her cloth line) in arise fashion shows at new york fashion week for spring /summer 2010 and paris fashion week for chika chudi-duru 122 autumn/winter 2010/11 showcased the results from an exploration carried out on the embellishment of the african print cloth with sequins, beads and crystals to give it a new look to suit the contemporary fashion globally. she further introduced her own custom–made african wax print-inspired prints on cotton, georgette and royal or shantung silk fabrics which she introduced into contemporary fashion. she also showcased some apparel she produced with batik and mud cloth-inspired prints on velvet, linen, silk, satin and chiffon to typify african style. it has been observed by this study that most african contemporary designers working towards international fashion seasons have always combined culture in their designed apparel. this study also agrees with ituen basi who changed the african wax fabrics to adorable apparel through her patchwork on the fabrics, plaiting with the pieces of fabrics to form part of the clothes and colour-blocking techniques to suit the recent trends in fashion. she further redesigned adire and aso-oke by combining them to form styles which are being worn in contemporary fashion in nigeria. all these concepts that centred on re-invention and transformation helped this study to practically explore the possibility of using punch needle embroidery to enhance african wax fabrics to add something new to the variety of embroidered african wax fabrics, add value to them and aid their sustainability. african wax fabrics and embellishment african wax prints are common fabrics found in africa especially west africa to be precise. they are of different categories of quality due to the processes of manufacturing. they are usually produced in the industry using hundred per cent cotton fabrics with batik printing. these wax prints are visibly present in the international and african fashion scenes. nigerian fashion designers have begun to utilize these african wax prints to produce some apparel for different kinds of occasions which can withstand any kind of competition outside the continent because they believe adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 123 that they are indigenous to them. some of these fabrics are constructed into different styles of wrappers, blouses, shirts, trousers, gowns, dresses, clothing accessories – earrings, bangles, hats, necklaces, bags, shoes, slippers, hand fans, bowties, ties, hair ruffles, bands and other fashion accessories. the african wax prints bear some surface designs which are in the form of printed designs with dyes, resin and printing inks based on african culture and worldview. some of these designs are named after some personalities, cities, recent happenings in the society, buildings, sayings and occasions. to further enhance the surface of the already sewn wax prints to make them more appealing to the onlookers and attract more patronage, they are either beaded, embroidered with machine and hand or decorated with swarovski stones, crystals and other trimmings but it is rare to find any of these wax-printed fabrics to the best of this study’s knowledge which has been decorated with punch needle embroidery as an added surface decoration. this is the main thrust of this paper. this study embellished some sewn african wax-print fabrics using the needle punch technique of embroidery. designing of clothes with embroidery in nigeria the endorsement on most african clothes that usually projects their origin is the type of embroidery applied to them. many designers of african descent utilize embroidery designs on their sewn apparel. once those designs are seen by an onlooker, they are recognized as african designs. each part of african embroidery can be distinguished from one another based on their motif designs which showcase different ethnic cultures and worldviews. in nigeria for instance, the history of embroidery dates back to centuries (uduma, 2012), it is an essential part of nigerian fashion which is cannot be neglected because of its symbolism. it occupies an important place in traditional nigerian fashion. even though western clothes are being utilized by many people, embroidered clothes in nigeria will not be ignored. they are still chika chudi-duru 124 worn for important ceremonies. according to ikande (2018), embroidery is an excellent addition to a sewn outfit. it is one of the ancient and common types of fabric decoration in nigeria. each feature of the design and pattern adds value to the cloth. uduma (2012), further mentions that history has it that the art of embroidery has been in practice by the nupe, hausa and yoruba in nigeria for a very long time (heathcote 1976). most of these embroidery were usually done by hand while recently, some are done with the aid of embroidery machines. these embroidery designs are done on capacious clothes known as babaringa / agbada. different types of stitches are used to embroider different designs on these apparel to depict prestige and status. according to saidu (2013), running, straight, chain, open chain, ladder, stem, satin, blanket and cross stitches are used in hausa embroidery. he further observed that some motifs embroidered on those hausa clothes are dagi (northern knots), aska biyu (two knives), aska tara (nine knives), linzami, gidan biyar (five coloumns), tambari etc. some of the yarns used are cotton, wild silk or imported threads (saidu, 2013) on traditional hand-woven or imported fabrics which could be made of natural or synthetic fibres. uduma (2012) is of the view that embroidery that the art of embroidery was not practiced by the igbo, but rather they had uli body designs which were converted to embroidery designs by the missionaries for table linens in the town of arochukwu. most cloth designers, still repeat old designs on fabric while constructing traditional clothing. they usually turn these clothes into pieces of artworks that are decorative and intricate based on their tradition but for fashion purposes. researchers like heathcote (1979) and umar (2010) to mention but a few have written extensively on hausa embroidery however, it has been observed by this study that not much has been done as regards utilizing punch needle embroidery in decorating indigenous african clothes. therefore, this study seeks to address the issue of decorating african wax printed clothing with punch adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 125 needle embroidery technique to suit the contemporary fashion in nigeria. plate 1: machine embroidery. source: chika chudi-duru (2019) plate 2: machine embroidery. source: chika chudi-duru (2019) plate 3: machine embroidery. source: chika chudi-duru (2019) hand needle embroidery this is the art of decorating fabrics or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. it has also been defined as the ornamentation of textiles with decorative stitchery, (ganderton 1999). it is an ancient craft which comprises a lot of history and embroiderers all over the world use the same stitches. she further mentions that design patterns vary from place to place but the techniques of stitching remain the same. the art of embroidery dates to ancient egypt and china. history has it that this needle art developed from the task of mending clothes. as people used their needles on holes and torn seams they found out the decorative chika chudi-duru 126 possibilities of sewing. embroidery arts have always relied on several basic stitches as their foundation. the invention of embroidery machines in the 19th century was a major development in the practice of embroidery. this development enabled the availability of massproduced, machine-embroidered goods to be available to those who could not afford hand-embroidered products. home embroidery machines were not common until the 20th century. before clothes and other items of domestic furnishing were mass produced, they were made at home and decorated with embroidery. embroidery was used to decorate the household linens and garments. in different countries of the world, people concentrated on their own type of embroidery and these were given different names. during the medieval period, workshops located in agranorthern india, created magnificent embroidered art for medieval rulers. persian embroidery was used to decorate clothing items which conferred status and beauty on its owners. in many regions of the world, hand-embroidered items were used to showcase the high status of their owners. for example in the middle east, the upper class were the only ones that could afford hand embroidery. persia, india, the orient and european countries regarded embroidery to be a mark of distinction. in african communities, embroideries can also be found in different communities such as in senegal, togo, nigeria, cote d’ivoire, cameroon, ghana and many others. in nigeria, embroidery is found on hausa and yoruba caps, and some men’s and women’s traditional clothing. this is usually done by machine or hand using various embroidery stitches and threads. there are a total number of 264 hand stitches according to ganderton (1999). they are as follows: chain, buttonhole, or blanket, running, whipped running, double running, back, split, threaded back, stem, cable cross, couching, satin couching, pearl, coral, double knot, chain, square chain, twisted chain, cable chain, broad chain, rope, scroll, paris, fern, bosnian, chevron, thorn, cross, long-armed cross, zigzag, herringbone, closed herringbone, adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 127 shadow, basket, wheatear, russian chain, petal, zigzag chain, rosette chain, loop, vandyke, ladder, blanket, buttonhole, closed buttonhole, single feather, up and down buttonhole, open cretan, feather, closed feather, double feather, chained feather, pekinese, laced button hole, interlaced band, magic chain, singalese chain, threaded chain, guilloche, raised chevron, backstitched herringbone, raised lattice band, double herringbone, twisted lattice band, butterfly chain, raised chain band, diagonal woven band, striped woven band, portuguese border, straight, arrowhead, seeding, st. george cross, ermine, square boss, star, woven star, woven cross, french knot, pistil, bullion knot, danish knot, four legged knot, sword, fly, sheaf filling, crown, sorbello, palestrina knot, link, lazy daisy, berry, long tailed daisy, detached wheatear, tulip, woven spider web, ribbon rose, ribbed web, buttonhole wheel, shisha, damask darning, double darning, brick and cross filling, satin, surface satin, encroaching satin, long and short, buttonhole filling, stem filling, leaf, open fishbone, attached fly, close fly, cretan, close cretan, romanian couching, bokhara couching, spiral couching, couched filling, laid trellis, back stitch trellis, japanese darning, cloud filling, wave filling, window filling, pulled wave filling, three sided , honeycomb filling, russian filling, diagonal raised band, ridged filling, punch, cobbler filling, step, mosaic filling, diagonal satin filling, ringed back stitch filling, algerian eye, outlined diamond outlet, hem, ladder hem, serpentine hem, antique hem, italian border, four sided, chevron border, diamond border, laced insertion, insertion bundles, cretan insertion, knotted insertion, buttonhole insertion, needle weaving bars, zigzag clusters, corded clusters, antwerp edging, sailor edging, looped edge, half chevron, scalloped edge, ring picot edge, buttonhole eyelet, overcast eyelet, square eyelet, upright gobelin, gobelin filling, parisian, hungarian, hungarian diamond, single twill, double twill, bargello, chevron, hungarian ground, straight cushion, scottish diamond, diamond, long stitch triangles, lozenge, straight milanese, double brick, brick filling, long and short brick, chika chudi-duru 128 basket filling, half cross, basket weave tent, tent, trammed tent, gobelin, encroaching gobelin, reverse sloping gobelin, canvas stem, florence, cashmere, diagonal, byzantine, jacquard, moorish, milanese, mosaic, cushion, scottish, checker, cross, diagonal cross, double cross, upright cross, diamond cross, smyrna cross, double leviathan, diagonal tweed, broad cross, cross-corner cushion, brighton, rice, plaited gobelin, greek, plait, fishbone, fern, fir, rhodes, half rhodes, star, eye, diamond eye, fan, rya, turkey, houndstooth, knitting, old wheatsheaf, tied gobelin, french, pineapple, arrow etc. (ganderton 1999). these stitches remain the fundamental techniques of hand embroidery today. some of these embroidery designs have some peculiar names given to them for easy identification and selection. these stitches are grouped into four – a. lines and borders b. filling stitches c. openwork d. needlepoint border stitches these are the largest and most extensively used group of stitches. they include flat, looped and knotted techniques. they are used to create broad, decorative straight lines, frames and edgings. they can also be worked in straight or curved rows, singly as outlines or repeated to form a filling to cover a larger area. some examples are paris, fern, bosnian, chevron, thorn etc. composite border stitches they are the most decorative group of stitches and can be worked in single rows or repeated to produce multi-coloured fillings with intricate surface textures. it could be a combination of two or even three stitches and some of them could be created by embellishing the basic outline and border stitches with interlacing. some adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 129 examples of this type of stitches are pekinese, laced buttonhole, interlaced band, magic chain, singalese chain etc. a blunt needle should be used to carry out this exercise and the fabric should be mounted in an embroidery frame so as not to misrepresent the stitches. filling stitches under filling stitches, there are powdered filling, isolated, open and solid filling stitches. powdered filling and isolated stitches these stitches are worked singly and vary in size. the larger ones are usually for emphasis while the smaller ones are repeated to form a powdered filling. the stitches can be arranged in different ways to form a dense textured surface. ganderton (1999) believes that a design often requires a powdered filling to be contained within an area which has been defined with an outline or border stitch. some examples are as follows: arrowhead, straight, seeding, st. george cross, ermine, star etc. open and solid filling stitches according to ganderton (1999), open fillings do not cover the background completely, while solid fillings are dense and should be worked in a thick thread that covers the cloth completely. some of them have developed as shading stitches using different closely related coloured threads. the constant repetitive usage of these stitches, can produce a slight three-dimensional effect, especially for flowers and foliage. the fabric to be utilized for this practical should be mounted in a frame for all the filling stitches. some examples of these stitches are damask darning, double darning, brick and cross filling, satin, surface satin, long and short, buttonhole filling etc. chika chudi-duru 130 pulled fabric stitches these stitches are used to decorate household linen but their variety and elaborate patterns become more noticeable when coloured threads are used. they form all over designs which vary in their thicknesses. the fabric should be mounted in a frame but should not be stretched too taut so that the stitches can be worked evenly. strong threads are recommended by ganderton (1999) for this exercise to match the background fabric and also pull each stitch tightly to draw the fabric threads together. some examples are window filling, three-sided, honeycomb filling, russian filling, punch etc. drawn threads and insertion stitches these stitches developed as a method of producing a decorative neatened edge on a piece of fabric. they are usually worked on even weave fabric from which various lines of threads have been pulled out. the remaining threads are bunched together with tightly pulled stitches to form a regular pattern. insertion stitches are also known as faggoting. they have developed from their old patterns of seams to a group of intricate stitches which can be utilized on plain or even weave fabric. the two edges being joined must be mounted on paper so that the stitches can be stitched evenly. some examples of these stitches are single hem, serpentine hem, antique hem, italian border, four-sided, chevron border, diamond border etc. cutwork and edging stitches these kinds of stitches give a decorative finish to a hem and look exactly effective when worked in a thick twisted thread. ganderton (1999) advises that the stitches should be spaced repeatedly, and can be used on even weave or plain weave fabrics. they can be used to decorate collars, mats and garments; they could also be combined with satin stitch to create designs. these designs can be worked on with or without a frame. some examples are antwerp adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 131 edging, scalloped edge, sailor edge, looped edge, buttonhole eyelet, overcast eyelet etc. straight needlepoint stitches this group of stitches includes stripes, zigzags, diamonds and other geometric patterns which be stitched horizontally or vertically so that the thread lies parallel to the grain of the canvas. these stitches can be worked without a frame but one must be careful and the thread, yarn or wool used must be thick enough to conceal the background completely. some examples are upright gobelin, gobelin filling, parisian, hungarian, hungarian diamond, single twill etc. diagonal needlepoint stitches these stitches are worked at a slant across the thread intersections. this can distort the square weave of the canvas even when the fabric worked on is mounted on a frame. therefore ganderton (1999) advises that the finished piece should be stretched and blocked back into shape. some of these stitches are done using single or double canvas. the thickness of the thread or yarn must be matched to the weight of the canvas to conceal the background completely. some examples are half cross, basket weave tent, tent, gobeline, encroaching gobelin, canvas stem, florence, cashmere, diagonal byzantine etc. cross and star needlepoint stitches these stitches include all the stitches that are worked with a combination of horizontal, vertical and diagonal stitches. cross stitches feature two or more straight stitches that cross over each other while the individual stitches that constitute the star stitches are discharged from a central point. ganderton (1999) suggests that the heavier cross variations should be utilized on double canvas because they conceal better while other stitches should use single canvas. she also advises that the thread should be thick enough to chika chudi-duru 132 cover the entire canvas and should all be worked in a frame. some examples of these stitches are cross, diagonal cross, double cross, upright cross, diamond cross diagonal tweed, smyrna cross etc. looped and tied needlepoint stitches this group includes advanced stitches which can be used when unusual textures and multicoloured are required. plate 4: hand needle designs adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 133 looped rya and turkey stitches are used traditionally for rugs and are appropriate for stitching elevated areas in a design to achieve a luxurious finish when trimmed. the tied and twisted stitches consist of long straight stitches held down with shorter stitches to achieve a thick, ridged effect. the stitches in this section should be worked in a frame on a single canvas, ensuring that the thread and yarn used cover the entire background thread. some examples are rya rug, turkey, houndstooth, knitting, old wheatsheaf, tied gobelin, french, pineapple arrow etc. punch needle embroidery punch needle embroidery is also known as needle punching, needle punch work, punch needle work, punch needle work, punch work or igolochky. this is a technique that uses a hollow needle that is threaded with a thread or fibre. when the needle is punched into the fabric, it leaves a little loop of thread on the other side. the loops are repeated to fill the design created. bird (1981), defines a punch needle as a technique involving the punching and looping of a thread or ribbon in a particular design through a ground cloth. this group of loops are called piles. they can be of various sizes, looped or uncut. the special needle is thin, hollow and varies in length. the point of needle is pointed and very sharp. the thread goes down the length of the hollow needle and exits through an eye at the point. harer (1972), finds out that the origin of punch needle embroidery is not clear. some people trace its origin to ancient egypt, while others cite medieval europe – (britain, germany, and russia) as its place of origin. according to poskin (2017), the punch needle has been around for a very long time. she further mentions that ancient egyptians used hollowed bones from birds’ wings as needles for the craft and it’s been used through the ages to depict a lot of things from floral scenes to portraits. however, this punch needle embroidery has been utilized by some artists to produce some works like landscapes, abstract designs, designs on chika chudi-duru 134 plain cloths, portraits etc. but this embroidery has not been utilized effectively to enhance african wax fabrics. therefore, this study sought to address that issue by conducting an exploration of using punch needle embroidery on african wax fabrics to see if it will be appropriate as a surface an additional surface design on african wax fabrics just like machine embroidery. according to steward (2009), to produce this work a fabric with a design drawn on the reverse is placed in a tensioning frame like an embroidery hoop. with the help of an embroidery hoop, a series of loops are made on the surface of the fabric, using the fingers to hold the loops initially in place. these series of loops give the design a carpet-like appearance and a soft texture depending on the type of thread used. as the needle is punched through the fabric, a gauge on the needle determines the length of the loop. there are varieties of punch needles but the differences are in the materials they are made from – plastic or metal handles and the ability to adjust the length of the loops which is responsible for the height of the finished design. a threader is also needed and it is very important to place the fabric tight in a hoop or frame with an interlocking lip. the fabric usually utilized for this experiment is tightly woven quite unlike some other stitches. this enables the loops to be attached firmly to the fabric. the fabric is usually 65% polyester and 35% cotton. if there is a fabric that one is not so sure of, a fusible interfacing could be attached to the back using an iron. the punch needle makes use of a variety of threads. any thread or fibre that can pass through the punch needle even a 2mm ribbon can be utilized. this study observed that since the design to be punched is not on a plain fabric, there is no need for tracing paper, pencils and a lightbox because the designs are already on african wax fabrics. the outlines are usually the first places to punch using the particular colour for that area before filling the inside. the stitches should be as close as possible ensuring that the background is fully covered. once a mistake is made, it could be corrected by carefully adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 135 and slowly pulling the stitches from the back. once they have been removed the fingers are run over the fabric to put it back into place. constant ripping can weaken the fabric. studio exploration the materials needed for the punch needle embroidery experiment are: a. embroidery hoop b. punch needle c. threads or yarns of different sizes and colours d. a pair of scissors e. punch needle threader f. african wax fabrics plate 5: embroidery hoop plate 6: punch needle plate 7: acrylic yarn chika chudi-duru 136 step 1. stretch the fabric the african wax fabrics was stretched in the embroidery hoop after attaching the fusible was interfacing at the wrong side of the fabric. once the punching started, precaution was taken by making sure from time to time that the hoop was still holding the cloth tightly. plate 9: stretching the fabric in the embroidery hoop. adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 137 step 2. load the punch needle the punch needle was loaded by inserting the threader tool into the needle. the threader was inserted vertically through the top of the needle and sent down and out through the bottom of the tool. the thin wires of the threader were pried open to run the embroidery floss through. the tab at the top of the threader was used to pull the needle back out through the top of the needle to enable the threader to come completely out of the punch needle tool. this brought out the embroidery floss up and out from the top of the needle. after this initial step, the tip of the threader was inserted horizontally through the second hole in the tip of the needle. the floss was pulled further out through the first hole previously threaded and ran through the wires at the tip of the threader. the tab was pulled back out of the hole to complete this segment of threading the needle. plate 10: threading the punch needle with the acrylic yarn. step 3. punching chika chudi-duru 138 the punching was started from the outlines of the designs before filling the inside. the thumb was to hold the tail in place as the first rows were punched. this study observed that the shorter the distances between the punches, the tighter the loops were. the first rows were not very straight but it was corrected by filling them in. when the designs were done, the areas that were not previously missed were filled in. in this studio exploration, the work was not done from the inside like on plain fabrics because of the interfacing at the back of the fabric. this interfacing was used to fortify the fabric. it was done side by side in a continuous line. as the work progressed, the big loops were trimmed so as not to catch them on something and unravel the work. plate 11: punching exercise plate 12: the finished work conclusion over the years till date, embroidery has been an essential part of nigerian fashion. this has been used to display prestige and rank adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface … 139 traditionally for men in some societies in nigeria. in nigerian contemporary fashion to be precise, both men and women from different tribes and tongues wear clothes decorated with hand or machine embroidery as a surface design but the use of punch needle embroidery on clothes has not been sufficiently utilized in the nigerian fashion scene. also, its utilization of african wax fabrics has not been adequately showcased in nigerian fashion. the experiment carried out on african wax fabrics using the punch needle technique proved that this technique is appropriate for further enhancement and produced good results. the clothing produced could be used for different occasions. the utilization of this technique has given birth to a reduction of boredom emanating from the common machine and hand embroidery. this study is of the view that the punch needle technique should be used to decorate some clothing made with african wax fabrics in contemporary fashion to create variety and also sold for economic purposes. it strongly suggests that some people should be encouraged to acquire the skill of using this punch needle to embellish african wax fabric wears, practice it as a vocation and utilize it to earn a living. in line with the above, this technique of decorating a textile surface will be popularized and employed often in nigerian contemporary fashion. references bird, g. (1981). russian punch needle embroidery. mineola (ny): dover publications inc. ganderton, l. (1999). stitch sampler, the ultimate visual dictionary to over 200 classic stitches. dorling kindersley limited, 80 strands, london wc2r. heathcote, d. (1979). the embroidery of hausa dress vol. 1, phd dissertation, department of fine arts, ahmadu bello university, zaria. chika chudi-duru 140 haver, m.m. (1972). big book of quilting: hundreds of tips, tricks and techniques. wisconsin: krause. ikande, m. (2018). best agbada embroidery designs. retrieved from www.naija.ng/ 1147926-best-agbada-embroiderydesigns on 20-3-2018. poskin, a. (2017). punch needle abstract art: a modern twist on a not-so-modern craft. retrieved from www.apartmenttherapy.co/how-to-make-modernabstrac-art-using-punch-needle-techniques-248815 on 5-2-2018. saidu, a. (2013). a historical survey of handmade cloth embroidery in daura local government area, katsina state. a thesis submitted to the school of postgraduate studies, ahmadu bello university, zaria. nigeria. steward, m. (2009). punch needle, the complete guide, cincinnati, ohio. krause publications. uduma,k. (2012).nigeria fashion: through the years. retrieved from www.africanheritage.wordpress.com/ 2007/01/12/nigerian-fashion on 7-10-2018. asogwa, ayorinde & onwuekwe 85 chapter seven types, lettering and layout ayorinde s. oluyemi, chibuzor asogwa, & chidiebere onwuekwe introduction ettering entails the art of constructing letters of the alphabet as well as numbers for certain uses. although today, the narrative has changed with the advancement of technology. letters are deployed to communicate to specific audiences. the use of lettering dated back almost two thousand (2000) years ago and may have been derived from the babylonians, egyptians, romans, and greeks. historically, the art of lettering started in ancient egypt. this egyptian form of writing is called hieroglyphics. hieroglyphics is a pictorial form of writing. also, babylon has its form of ancient writing called cuneiform. until the year 1450, all letters were handwritten, it was a german called johannes gutenberg who invented the printing machine and this made room for different typefaces of lettering in use today. the two factors that control lettering are; legibility and structural shape. lettering offers immense satisfaction, but it is a subtle activity that needs time and patience. lettering helps to convey meaning as regards skills and originality. a letter is a symbol that represents a sound as pronounced in speech. it is one of the units of the alphabet. the method l types, lettering and layout 86 adopted in writing this alphabetic symbol is called the art of lettering. typefaces can be regarded as the physical features of a letter. there are several categories of typefaces, but we are going to limit ourselves to the foundational types; as follows; romans (serif): in roman lettering, there is no uniformity in their thickness. they have what are called thick and thin features. they also have ornamental projections known as serifs at the top and bottom of each letter. thus it is called the roman style of lettering example; a, b, c a, b, c a, b,c block types (san serif): these types of strokes are uniform because they are without ornamental projections, they are referred to as san serif examples. a,b,c a,b,c a,b,c times new roman bookman old style bodoni black antonio futura sans swiss asogwa, ayorinde & onwuekwe 87 italics: these are letters that tilt towards the right direction. they are generally believed to be less formal and usually create variety and emphasis in writing, examples are as follows: a,b,c a,b,c a,b,c scripts or cursiva this can be likened to an imitation of hand-written letters. it is full of decoration and takes a lot of time to write. it is usually employed as the first letter of a word, for example; a,b,c a,b,c , , gothic: before the invention of the printing machine, books were written by hand. the art of using a free hand to write beautifully with the aid of a pen is called calligraphy. it is also called script writing and cursive writing. antonio futura sans swiss edwardian script alison cinderela types, lettering and layout 88 old english despite the advancement we are witnessing in printing technology, the art of calligraphy is still visible in greetings care designs, certificates, invitation cards etc. pen and ink are the chief materials needed for calligraphy. there are readymade pens with different nibs made purposely for calligraphy. however, if these readymade calligraphic pens are not available quill feather sticks can be carved to a desirable shape as alternatives. a,b,c we should note that capital letters are referred to as uppercase while small letters are called lowercase. legibility factor in types legibility is otherwise known as readability. the primary purpose of a typeface is to transfer information. to attain this goal, it must be legible, i.e. the recipients of the information should be able to decode it with as little effort as possible and reassess the symbols to objects and process what they represent. this is generally agreed upon, but it is more difficult to agree upon how legibility can be assessed and even measured (wendt, 1994). readability talks about the speed and ease of understanding and comprehending the text (mills & weldon, 1987; woods, davis, & scharff, 2005) asogwa, ayorinde & onwuekwe 89 lettering construction in lettering construction, horizontal and vertical lines are used as guides expect for letters m and w, three horizontal boxes by five vertical boxes should be applied to attain regular squared boxes known as a grid. these boxes should be measured and their measurement can be 1cm by 1cm or any other dimension. letter i requires one horizontal box by five vertical boxes. capital letters which are also known as upper cases can be categorized into three forms in lettering construction. they are; triangular form: this has a v w circular form: this has o c d rectangular form: this has m n h e and i. spacing is important in lettering construction because it distinguishes words and sentences and makes the expressions readable. small letters which are also known as lowercase are not of the same height as the capital letters. the height difference is due to the upper and lower projections that the lowercase letters possess. these projections are also called descenders and ascenders. to construct small letters, three horizontal boxes by three vertical boxes are suitable for letters without projections. the letters are; a o e u c v x s, for the letters types, lettering and layout 90 with ascenders and descenders, three horizontal boxes by seven vertical boxes will be suitable. materials required for lettering • a good ruler • a soft pencil of hb or b grade • a soft pencil eraser • a good pair of mathematical compasses • paper or board on which to write, ink paint etc. parts of typefaces • capital letters are referred to as upper case for example “a” • small letters are referred to as lower case for example “a” • in lower case letters the upper stroke as the letter ‘d’ is called ascender. • the downward stroke as in the letter ‘p’ of the lowercase is called the descender while the round part is called the body. • the short cross line at the end of the main stroke of certain styles of typefaces is called the serif. • the top of the a is called the apex. • the slanted lettering is referred to as italic. • the inside curve of the c is referred to as the counter. asogwa, ayorinde & onwuekwe 91 letter spacing: spaces between letters, or types of characters are equal and take the space of a letter, although it can be modified. mid spacing: mid spacing are spaces between words. this should take the size of one character e.g. ‘a’. letter adjustments: vertical letters should be spaced equally except in some cases as example av, mv, ta, da, ov, ka, etc. the importance of lettering cannot be over emphasized as it has a high demand in projecting a highly complex advertising displays. this is shown in posters, book covers, sign board design etc. method of lettering after drawing the guidelines with a hard pencil ‘h’ series, sketch the whole letters. draw all the vertical and horizontal line with ruler, t square and triangular protractor, outline all carefully full in the centres with fine and bold inks. fig 1: using the grid system to construct letters types, lettering and layout 92 creative lettering to be creative in lettering is to present and incorporate peripheral elements besides just letters. an example is the creation of ornamental letters, modified letterform, anthropomorphic letters and to mention just a few. lettering for emotive design emotive design engages people by eliciting feelings through the effect of design elements. in lettering, typefaces as design elements have various emotion which they can evoke in the psyche of people especially while building brand for either products or services. script typefaces can be related to feminine, special, and fanciful feeling. decorative typeface can relate to nonchalant and excitement or high-spirited feeling. rounded typefaces (.i.e. puffy letterform whose strokes have round edges) can be related to fun and welcoming feelings. serif can be related to luxury, respect, and glamour. san serif can be related to straightforward, sensible and neutral feeling. lettering design for signage and wayfinding many buildings such as hospitals, terminals and airports, office buildings, supermarkets and other public facilities require signage and wayfinding. the problem that often arise when inside the building, including hospitals is people who were inside the building can be confused in finding directions, especially in conditions of panic. asogwa, ayorinde & onwuekwe 93 today, there is a paradigm shift in materials deployed for environmental sign design. lighting has become an integral part of 3-dimsenional signage that every tom, dick and harry craves to own one neon-lighted signage in their shops, irrespective of the cost. outdoor sign design is an aspect of environmental beautification. this is so because signages provide vital information and direction for an existing business, and again, serves as a cost-effective marketing tool for small and medium-scale businesses. plate 1: a sample of outdoor neon sign. source: https://www.amazon.in/bottle-business-signage-decorationspersonalized/dp/b09xgs5dl8 computer generated lettering desktop programs such as coreldraw, adobe indesign and illustrator changed the tactile world of graphic design. nowadays, many hand-drawn techniques types, lettering and layout 94 of lettering of the past can be executed with computer applications. for instance, large stencils can now be arranged and printed on multiple a3 papers through a grid system built-in on the coreldraw application, and joined later using masking tape. this technique makes room for easy stencil handling and extra-large stencil prints on various surfaces such as walls, and vehicles. questions 1. what are the various classifications of letters? 2. what are the parts of letters? 3. construct letters using the grid system 4. making use of hand lettering to express the following emotion: fun, honour, love, peace, fear 5. give account of the significance of lettering as job opportunity for graphic designers references mills, c. & weldon, l. (1987). reading text from computer screens. acm computing surveys, 19(4), 329-357 wendt, d. (1994). legibility. in: font technology. springer, berlin, heidelberg. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/ 978-3-642-78505-4_12 current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 1 an optimality theory analysis of nŋwɛ syllable structure esther phubon chie epse asonganyi university of buea, buea, cameroon introduction in the early forms of generative phonology, the syllable played no role (clements and keyser, 1983). syllables are often considered as the phonological “building blocks” of words. they can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter, or its stress pattern. it is also considered “the smallest unit of speech that normally occurs in isolation, consisting of either a vowel alone (as in the pronunciation of the pronoun oar, ore, awe, i, eye, air, heir, err, our, hour, or, ah, etc.) or a combination of vowels and consonants (as in the pronunciation in, of so, it, two, four, salt, road, etc.)”. some consonants can be pronounced alone and may or may not be regarded as syllables (syllabic nasals in most african languages), but they normally accompany vowels, which tend to occupy the central position in a syllable. according to clements and keyser (1983), the primary set of core syllable types, cross linguistically contain the following sequences: (1) a. v (some languages allow v-initial syllables e.g. v or vc). b. cv (every language allows cv syllables i.e. no language bans c-initial syllable and on the other hand, no language equally bans v-final syllables. c. cvc (some languages allow final consonants e.g. vc or cvc). it is worth noting here that these are patterns of output syllable inventories but not restrictions on both morpheme and input shapes. languages of the world have preferred syllable structures. traditional work on internal structure of the syllable has arrived at the conclusion that the syllable is a phonological constituent which consists of zero or more consonants followed by a vowel and ending with a shorter string of zero or more consonants. the importance of these three spans has long been recognized and various names have been given to sub-parts of the syllable. they are generally referred to as the onset, the nucleus and the coda respectively as in the nŋwɛ example below where the major parts of the syllable are indicated. (2)  / \ o r | / \ | n c | | | x x x | | | ŋ á ŋ ‘bell’ current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 2 the syllable is the prosodic category organising segments in sequences according to their sonority values. each syllable has a sonority peak (nucleus), usually a vowel, possibly surrounded on both sides by margin segments of lower sonority, usually consonants (onset and coda), (kager, 1999: 91). to obtain sensible words, the different pertinent, distinctive, invented, and organised elements have to be combined. the main objective of this paper is to investigate the potentiality of optimality theory (ot) and to see whether one can depend on it to generate syllable structures cross linguistically and apply that general perspective on a particular language like nŋwɛ. consequently, this study is divided into four sections. the first section of this paper contains an introduction and a general presentation of ot, taking into account its components (lexicon, generator and evaluator) and also the constraints (faithfulness and markedness). the second section involves a presentation of the syllable, the syllable structure constraints and the ranking of these syllable structure constraints in the language. the third section on its part is concerned with the application of ot to the analyses of the syllable structures in the language. in this regard therefore, syllable constraints are applied using some nŋwɛ data. finally, the fourth section summarises the paper presenting the findings of the work. general presentation of optimality theory linguistics, just like every other science, has known successive developments in the course of its evaluation to the extensive fieldwork and fine-grained analysis of data from languages of different families. from this large body of research a broad picture emerges of ‘unity in variety’: core properties of grammar (with respect to sub-system of sounds, words, phrases and meaning) in a set of universal properties. grammars of individual languages draw their basic options from these limited sets, which many researchers identify as universal grammar (ug). each language, thus, reflects in a particular way the structure of its specific characteristics. ot, which was developed by prince and smolensky in 1993 presents a very different view of phonological studies and is now also used in the study of syntax and language acquisition. it is a constraint-based approach as opposed to the derivational approach inaugurated by chomsky and halle (1968) in the sound pattern of english (spe). the derivational approach normally takes the form “x becomes y in the context of z” (x→y/-z). according to mccarthy (2002) “optimality theory is the circulation of grammatical well-formedness which is accomplished by the optimalization of a set of constraints on structures and on input-output disparity, instead of through serial application of rule subject and filtering constraints.” the fundamental ideas of optimality theory are, firstly, that there are no rules; everything is done by constraints. secondly, that all constraints are allowed to be violated. it is not the violation as such that fails a candidate’s output but the ranking. if one constraint is more important, and more highly ranked than another, then any candidate that violates that one is rejected and the remaining candidate may be acceptable even if it goes on to violate the lower ranked constraints. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 3 in optimality theory markedness is built into grammar in the form of universal output constraints, which directly state marked or unmarked patterns. in optimality theoretical terms, constraints are violable. the violation of a constraint is not a direct cause of ungrammaticality, nor, the absolute satisfaction of all constraints is what depicts the optimal candidate. constraints are intrinsically in conflict, and every logical possible output of any grammar will necessarily violate at least some constraints. languages differ in their ranking of these constraints. each violation of a constraint is avoidable, yet the violation of a higher ranked constraint is avoided more forcefully than the violation of a lower ranked one. at the heart of ot lies the idea that language in general and every grammar in particular is a system of conflicting forces. these forces are embodied by several constraints, each of which makes a requirement about some aspects of the grammatical output forms. while constraints are universal, the ranking is not; differences in ranking are the source of cross-linguistic variation. for a given input, the grammar generates and later evaluates a set of output candidates, from which the optimal candidate is selected, which is the actual output. evaluation takes place by ranking the constraints starting with the higher ranked before moving to the lower ranked ones, each of which will eliminate some candidate’s output, until a point where only one output survives. the optimal output candidate is one which is harmonic with respect to the set of ranked constraints, that is the one that violates the least constraint(s). harmony is a kind of relative well-formedness condition taking into account the severity of the violation of individual constraints as determined by their hierarchical ranking. ot allows ranking of variation present in human languages and it also constraints that which is not possible in some languages. components of optimality theory grammar lexicon: contains lexical underlying forms of morphemes, which form the input. generator: generates output candidates for some inputs, and submits them to the evaluator. evaluator: evaluates the different candidates that have been generated by the generator and selects the optimal candidate. the roles of gen, eval, and con are illustrated schematically below using the nŋwɛ word: /è-gwíd/ ‘maggot’. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 4 3) input: /è-gwíd/ gen candidate set: è-gwíd è-gwídí è-gwí gwíd è-wídí eval (constraints) optimal output: [è-gwíd] ‘maggot’ from the diagram above, we see that /è-gwíd/ ‘pepper,’ is used as the input. from the input, the gen creates many candidates, namely, /è-gwíd/, /è-gwídí/, /è-gwí/, /gwíd/ and even /èwídí/. note that gen can create many more candidates from this input other than the ones mentioned. eval on its part uses the different constraints (faithfulness – universal constraintsand markednesslanguage specific-) to select the optimal candidate. this theory is different from the others because it shows that constraints are conflicting and the primary action in ot is comparative. constraints in ot mccarthy (2002) identifies two main constraint types: faithfulness and markedness, some of which are used in this paper. faithfulness constraints faithfulness constraints ban disparity between input and output forms as follows: a) max-io: input segments must have output correspondents (‘no deletion’). b) dep-io: output segments must have input correspondents (‘no epenthesis). they require that output forms preserve the properties of their basic (lexical) forms, expecting some kind of similarity between the output and its input. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 5 markedness constraints markedness constraints are language specific. they require that output forms meet some criterion of structural well-formedness. they take the form of prohibitions of marked phonological structures. examples of markedness constraints relevant to nŋwɛ are: a. vowels must not be nasal. b. syllables must not have codas. c. syllables must have onset. d. complex onsets are not allowed. e. complex codas are not allowed. the relevant syllable markedness constraints in nŋwɛ used in this paper are presented below. according to kager (1999) syllable constraints take the following format: a) onset *[v (‘syllables must have onsets.’) b) no-coda *c] (‘syllables are open.’) c) *complexons *[ cc (‘onsets are simple’) d) *complexcod *cc] (‘codas are simple’) nŋwɛ syllable structure constraints the ranking of nŋwɛ syllable structure constraints the basic syllable structure constraints, max, dep, onset, and no-coda, are ranked here in dominance order suitable for nŋwɛ. two points which are crucial here are: whether onsets are required and/or whether codas are forbidden. also, if either is, how is that enforced? the answer to these questions will determine the ranking of markedness constraints with respect to their faithfulness counterparts. attention will be paid first to the question that is related to onset and codas. not all the syllable types in the language have an onset, which means that onset is optional in nŋwɛ. this goes to illustrate the fact that onset is dominated by the faithfulness constraints. this relation of dominance is represented as dep>>max>>onset. on the other hand, not all the syllable types in the language have codas, pointing to the fact that codas are optional in the language thus, not forbidden. this and in accordance with what has been discussed, results in ranking no-coda lower than the faithfulness constraints as follows: dep>>max>>no-coda this means that the relative order of the markedness constraints on the one hand and the faithfulness constraint on the other in nŋwɛ shows that the faithfulness constraints dominate the markedness ones and this can be represented in as dep>>max>>onset>>no-coda. it is necessary to examine this ranking to see whether it succeeds in determining the true output if it were to evaluate particular inputs. first, i take as the input cvc and try to examine the best candidate as shown in the analysis in the following table (a table on which constraints are ranked horizontally in a descending ranking from left to right, and output candidates are ranked vertically in a random order. the cells on the different tables contain violation marks ‘*’ incurred by each candidate for the constraint heading the column and the current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 6 optimal candidate is marked by the index .the dotted lines separating two constraints indicate that the two constraints have no particular ranking i.e., either of the two can be ranked first (kager, 1999: 3). in this table markedness constraints are ranked over faithfulness constraints. (4) input: /cvc / output: *[cv] /cvc/ onset no-coda dep max a) cvc *! b) cv.cv * c) cv * table 1 it is shown in the table that ranking markedness constraints over faithfulness constraints results in the wrong output. candidate (c) which is the cv syllable type emerges as the optimal candidate whereas (a) is supposed to be the optimal candidate. if faithfulness constraints are ranked over markedness constraints we will have the right output. (5) input: /cvc / output: [cvc] /cvc/ dep max onset no-coda a) cvc * b) cv.cv *! c) cv *! table 2 in the table, the constraints are ranked in a reverse order and the correct output is obtained. obviously, the postulated ranking of constraints is successful in determining the true output of the input cvc, since candidate (a) emerges as the optimal candidate. nŋwɛ syllable structures nŋwɛ canonical syllable types include v, cv, cvc, and n while the derived canonical syllable structures are cgv, ncv, ncvc, nccv, and ncgv. other syllable types can be seen to occur in a combinatory manner in the language. an observation about the syllable types in this language is that not all the syllables begin with a consonant, which means that onset is optional in the language; therefore there are ‘onsetless syllables’. analysis of nŋwɛ syllable structures the v syllable structure here, the onset constraint is ranked with respect to faithfulness constraints in order to determine whether onsets are required or not. on the other hand, faithfulness current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 7 constraints are ranked with respect to each other so as to show the onset requirement in nŋwɛ. to do so, let me take the input /v/ and evaluate a set of three candidates, each of which exhibits a single violation of one of the four constraints in question, against different constraint hierarchies showing the possible relative ranking. a) v violates onset b) (v) violates dep c) vv violates max when v is taken as the optimal candidate, it means that the constraints, which are violated by v, must appear very low in the constraint hierarchy related to the syllable structure. therefore, in order to get the optimal candidate /v/ in nŋwɛ, faithfulness dominates markedness. this means that constraints under faithfulness dominate those on markedness to get the optimal candidate in this language as said above. consider the example and table below. (6) /óî/ ‘mother’ /m ̀/ ‘yes’ markedness constraints will still be ranked over faithfulness constraints here so that we see whether the optimal output will be derived. input: /óî/ ‘mother’ output: * [bóî] /óî/ no-coda onset dep max a) óî *! b) bóî * c) óîg *! * * table 3 input: /óî/ ‘mother’ output: [óî] /óî/ dep max no-coda onset a) óî * b) bóî *! c) óîg *! * * table 4 considering tables 3 and 4, the correct ranking would be to have faithfulness constraints outrank markedness constraints as earlier seen above in the cvc analysis in tables 1 and 2. this is so because if the ranking is reversed, candidate (b) will emerge as the optimal candidate being a cv structure and not a v structure which is the input. it is realised that onset is not required therefore making it possible for onset and no-coda to be lowly ranked, permitting dep and max to dominate them in order to get the optimal output. therefore, the constraints are ranked in the order dep>>max>>nocoda>>onset. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 8 the v syllable type can combine with other syllable types to form words in the language. therefore, i consider the constraints and the ranking that derive these combinations as follows: v.cv combination in this combination the first syllable contains a vowel and the second is made up of both an onset and a nucleus. consider the examples and table below. (7) à.bè ‘profit’ e ̀.fó̀ ‘father’ à.bo ‘hand’ e ̀.sa ̄ ‘market’ a ̀.lí ‘blood’ input: /à.bè / ‘profit’ output: [à.bè] / à.bè/ dep max onset no-coda a) à. bè * b) à.bèt *! * * c) à.b *! * table 5 it is assumed in this paper that the right ordering for the constraints would be faithfulness over markedness because if the reverse is taken as seen in the first and third tables above, the wrong output is gotten. there would be no need for the comparison of the ranking of the constraints since the right output is already obtained. therefore, in table (5), the gen produces candidates from the input which violate onset and nocoda. this does not disqualify all the candidates, since these are the lower/lowest ranked constraints in the language. candidate (a) is the optimal candidate and this is due to the fact that it satisfies the highest ranked constraint thereby violating the lowest ranked constraints as seen above. on the other hand candidates (b) and (c) violate dep and max which are the two highly ranked constraints thereby disqualifying them. the v.cvc combination a similar ranking hierarchy will be used at this point to see if it derives this syllable structure present in the language. examples are given below. (8) è.sáŋ ‘broom’ e ̀.lùɂ ‘honey’ a.tɛ́m ‘hut’ a ̄.fɛ́m ‘breeze’ e ̀.bu ̀ɂ ‘mushroom’ input: / e ̀.lùɂ / ‘honey’ output: [e ̀.lu ̀ɂ] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 9 / e ̀.lùɂ/ dep max onset no-coda a) le ̀.lùɂ *! * b) è.lùɂ * * c) è.lù *! * table 6 the optimal candidate (b) satisfies all the faithfulness constraints and equally violates all the markedness ones, which are lowly ranked. here the constraint hierarchy is maintained since it is what is used in nŋwɛ. when it comes to determining the optimal candidates in syllable structures, stating the right ranking of the constraints is important and needs to be handled with great care because the wrong ranking change will give priority to the wrong candidate and violate the correct syllable structures of the language. consider another combination under the v syllable type, which is an open one. the v.cv.cv combination this is also a complex syllable structure combination and it is mostly present in trisyllabic words, which are numerous in nŋwɛ verbs. the centre syllable is closed but the beginning and the final syllables are open. examples are given below. (9) a.dì.dì ‘chin’ a ̀.kó́.ró ̀ ‘waist’ à.ʒó ̀.gó ́ ‘afternoon’ à.la ́.ku ̀ ‘foot’ e ̀.kì.bì ‘plum’ /input: / a.dì.dì/ ‘chin’ output: [a.dì.dì] / a.dì.dì/ dep max no-coda onset a) a.dì.dìɂ *! * * b) a.dì.d *! * c) a.dì.dì * table 7 in the table above, candidates (a) and (b) are eliminated because they violate the top-most ranked constraints dep and max. these two candidates violate them in order to satisfy the lower constraints onset and no-coda, and this is not accepted in nŋwɛ, since onsets and codas are optional elements in the language, leaving candidate (c) to emerge as the winner. interestingly, one would expect to have the v.cvc.cv syllable type in nŋwɛ. however, this is not the case because, vcv combination can only syllabify to v.cv and not vc.v and the cvcv combination can also only syllabify to cv.cv and never cvc.v. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 10 the v.cv.cvc combination the v.cv.cvc combination in nŋwɛ is made up of three different canonical syllable structures which are v, cv and cvc which have already been discussed above. the analysis of this syllable combination combines the three different syllable structures in the language. examples include the following. (10) a ̀.té.sék ‘mat’ a ̀.kí.mó́k ‘charcoal’ a ̀.té.tà̀ŋ ‘irish potatoes’ input: /a ̀.té.ta ̀̀ŋ/ ‘irish potatoes’ output: [a ̀.té.tà̀ŋ] /à.té.tà̀ŋ/ dep max onset no-coda a) à.té.ta ̀̀ŋ * * b) à.té.ta ̀̀ŋ.é *! ** * c) a ̀.te ́.ta * ** table 8 from the table above it is realised that candidate (a) is the optimal candidate because it violates the least ranked constraints. the first syllables do not have onsets and do not have codas. nothing is inserted or deleted from the syllables i.e., input is exactly like output. candidate (b) violates dep once and violates onset and no-coda twice because of the vowel /é/ which is inserted to create a new syllable. candidate (c) on its part violates max and onset but doesn’t violate no-coda because the second and third syllables do not have codas. the cv syllable structure this is the syllable type which is considered to be universal. no language prohibits the cv syllable structure, thus no language prohibits onsets or require codas. this means that these languages have ‘onsetful syllables’, open syllables, and may allow codas. hence, languages have optional consonant initial syllables but never ban them and optional vowel final ones but never require them. apparently, there are two operations according to clements and keyser (1983) which are responsible for producing the three less natural core syllables from the most natural one, cv. the first involves the deletion of the initial consonant of the cv syllable type to have a v, or it can as well be considered as being the first of the two steps towards producing vc. the second one involves adding a final consonant to the cv syllable type to have cvc. this predicts the different operations to be used to get the cv structure in nŋwɛ. consider the data and table below. (11) ŋó ‘snake ŋó ‘sun’ be ‘pick’ teà ‘not’ tʃě ‘urinate input: / tʃě / ‘urinate’ output: [tʃě] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 11 / tʃě/ dep max onset no-coda a) tʃě b) tʃěb *! * c) ě * table 9 the cv syllable structure is universally optimal because it doesn’t violate any of the syllable structure constraints. no alternative analysis, therefore, can be more adequate than what is presented. the basic cv syllable theory constraints are: onset, no-coda, nuc (nucleus), *complex, dep, max etc. this is obviously due to the simple fact that this syllable type doesn’t violate any of the universal constraints. there are other syllable combinations, which fall under this syllable type, and they are presented below. the cv.cv combination it is a combination with no coda and it has its nucleus in the final positions of each of the syllables and an onset. this is therefore analysed as shown below. (12) lefó ‘eight’ tó́ɂó́ ‘tomorrow’ beró ‘nose’ lɛ́dá ‘write’ óŋa ́ ‘suck’ input: / lɛ́da ́/ ‘write’ output: [lɛ́dá] / lɛ́dá / dep max onset no-coda a) lɛ́.á *! * b) lɛ́dá c) lɛ́d.áp *! * * * table 10 in table (10) above, the optimal candidate (b) satisfies all the constraints, thereby evolving as the optimal candidate, while, candidate (a) violates max and onset due to the deletion of the consonant /t/ in the onset position of the second syllable. the last candidate violates dep, onset and no-coda due to the transfer of the consonant /d/ from the onset position of the second syllable to the coda position of the first syllable, thereby, leaving the second syllable with no onset. it also violates no-coda twice because of /t/ and /p/ at the coda positions of the two syllables. the cv.cvc combination this combination is mostly present in disyllabic and polysyllabic words in the language. consider the examples and the analysis in the table below. (13) lèke ̄ŋ ‘pot’ be ̀ve ́d ‘oil’ bɛ́bɛ́g ‘lizard’ lèle ̄ɂ ‘yam’ current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 12 lèfók ‘indian bamboo’ input: /le ̀ke ̄ŋ/ ‘pot’ output: [le ̀ke ̄ŋ] /lèkēŋ/ dep max onset no-coda a) lè.kē *! b) lès.ke ̄ŋ *! ** c) lèke ̄ŋ * table 11 in table (11) above the first candidate violates max because of the deletion of the consonant /ŋ/ at the coda position of the second syllable. candidate (b) is eliminated due to its violation of dep and no-coda despite the fact that it satisfies the highly ranked max constraints. the optimal candidate is (c) because it violates the lowest ranked constraint. the cv.cv.cv combination with the cv.cv.cv combination, it is realised that no matter the length of the syllable, it is still an open syllable. it is also universally optimal despite the fact that it has three different syllables which are all cv. the analysis of this structure is similar to that of the cv.cv syllable structure in table (11) above. this is because they have certain characteristics in common. these characteristics include the following: they are open, hence, have no codas and they all have onsets. it is worth noting that this syllable type is so rare in the language. examples include the following. (14) letoŋe ‘ear’ lègódʒó ̀ ‘now’ lèbróɂeà ‘nine’ bèɳaróà ‘sand’ ŋáɂáse ́ ‘bend down’ input: /be ̀ɳaróà/ ‘sand’ output: [be ̀ɳaróà] /bèɳaróà/ dep max onset no-coda a) bè.ɳa.róà b) bè.ɳa.róàp *! * c) be ̀ɳ.a.róà * * table 12 from the table above it is realised that candidate (a) is the optimal candidate because it doesn’t violate any of the constraints. all the syllables have onsets and do not have codas. nothing is inserted or deleted from the syllables i.e., input is exactly like output. candidate (b) violates dep and no-coda because of the consonant /p/ which is inserted in the coda position of the last syllable. candidate (c) on its part violates onset and no-coda because the second syllable doesn’t have an onset and the first syllable has a coda. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 13 the cvc syllable structure the focus here is to determine whether it is banned or optional. to do this, i have to take the input /cvc/ and evaluate it with a set of three candidates and see their exhibition of the violation of the constraints. consider the analysis below. a) cvc violates no-coda b) cv.cv violates dep c) cv.(c) violates max it is realised in this case that cvc which is the optimal candidate violates no-coda and satisfies onset. therefore, since it is the optimal candidate, the constraint violated by it must appear very low in the constraint hierarchy as follows: dep>> max>>no-coda. therefore, the constraint hierarchy that is to be used is dep>>max>>onset>>no-coda. again when both faithfulness constraints are highly ranked on the table, the candidate representing the very same input is designated the winner, even if such a candidate violates the other constraints, which in this case are the markedness constraints. see the data and table below. (15) to ́ŋ ‘basket’ bu ̌k ‘our’ luàŋ ‘hot’ zuàŋ ‘dry’ ŋaàŋ ‘bell’ input: [luàŋ] ‘hot’ /su/ output: [luàŋ] /luàŋ/ dep max onset no-coda a) luà * b) luà.ŋ *! c) luàŋ * table 13 when the same line of argument as that above is pursued, an inevitable conclusion is arrived at, i.e., dep>>max>>onset>> no-coda so, candidate (c) wins. therefore, codas in nŋwɛ are optional. it is also realised that if codas would have outranked the pairs of markedness constraints, then codas would have been forbidden in the language and the banning would have been reinforced by either deletion or epenthesis that is being decided on by the relative ranking of dep and max. the banning of codas is not a functional element in nŋwɛ due to the fact that they are optional, not forbidden characteristics. this syllable type doesn’t really have combinations with other syllable types. it has a few words with cvc.cvc and cvc.cv combinations. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 14 analysis of some derived syllable structures the derived syllable types in the language result from the modification of the canonical syllable types as a result of some phonological processes such as devocalization and prenasalization or both. it is worth noting here that the focus of this paper is not to discuss these phonological rules but to handle these derived syllable structures using optimality theory. looking at the syllables that are derived here, it can be observed that some of them contain complex onsets which means that complex onset is optional in nŋwɛ. this goes to illustrate the fact that *comlpex (onsets and codas are simple) is dominated by the faithfulness constraints. a structural well-formedness constraint is needed to capture the margin of complexity of these syllable types since they are made up of more than one consonant in the same environment. this relation of dominance can be represented as follows: dep>>max>>onset>>no-coda>> *comlpex. from the above ranking, it is seen that *comlpex is the least ranked of all the constraints; therefore, all the other higher ranked constraints take precedence over this constraint. worthy of note is the fact that all the markedness constraints here can be interchanged but we shall still have the same result. some of the derived syllable structures will be analysed here. cgv syllable structure this syllable type is made up of a consonant, a glide and a vowel. glides are considered as consonants in this work since they occur on the consonant chart of the language. this syllable type exists mostly with verbs in the language. examples include the following. (16) /fie/ [fjə́] ‘give’ /kui/ [kwí] ‘receive’ /dió/ [djó́] ‘say’ /zió / [zjó ́] ‘plant’ /gui/ [gwĭ] ‘laugh’ input: /kui/ ‘receive’ output: [kwí] / kui/ dep max onset no-coda *comlpex a) kwí * b) kwít *! * * c) kw *! * table 14 from the table above, the optimal candidate is (a) because it violates only *comlpex which is the least ranked of all the constraints. candidate (b) violates *comlpex, dep and nocoda because /t/ is added in the final position of the syllable thereby violating a no addition constraint, as well as codaless and simple codas constraints. candidate (c) on its part violates both *comlpex and max because the final vowel /í/ is deleted and the candidate is made up of two consonants. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 15 ncv syllable structure examples include the following: (17) ǹʒì ‘sheep’ m ̀bú ‘dog’ m̀bɛ́ ‘flute’ ǹtá ‘thigh’ n ̀tɛ́ ‘five’ input: /ntɛ́/ ‘koki beans’ output: [n ̀tɛ́] /ǹtɛ́/ dep max onset no-coda a) tɛ́ *! b) ǹ.tɛ́p *! * c) ǹ.tɛ́ table 15 from the table above it is realised that candidate (c) is the optimal candidate because it doesn’t violate any of the constraints. the two syllables have onsets and do not have codas. nothing is inserted or deleted from the syllables i.e., input is exactly like output. candidate (b) violates dep and no-coda because of the consonant /p/ which is inserted in the coda position of the last syllable. candidate (a) on its part violates only max because of the deletion of the syllabic nasal. worthy of note is the fact that *comlpex constraint is not necessary in the table above since there are no complex onsets or codas. nccv syllable structure examples include the following. (18) ŋ̀kró ̌ ‘handle’ ǹtrɛ̌ ‘distance’ ǹdró̌ ‘dress’ ǹkrū ‘monkey’ ŋ̀kru ̀ ‘rope’ input: /ŋ̀kró̌/ ‘handle’ output: [ŋ̀kró ̌] /ŋ̀kró ̌/ dep max onset no-coda *comlpex a) ŋ̀kró̌p *! * *** b) ŋ̀kró ̌ *** c) ŋ̀kr *! *** table 16 in table (16) above, candidate (b) emerges as the optimal candidate because it violates the least ranked constraint *complex. candidate (a) violates dep, no-coda and *comlpex. this is seen in the insertion of the consonant /p/ which violates dep and forms the coda of the second syllable. candidate (c) violates max, and *comlpex which equally disqualifies it to become the optimal candidate. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 16 ncgv syllable structure examples include the following: (19) /ŋ̀kuó ̌/ [ŋ̀kwó̌] ‘gun’ /n ̀zió́/ [ǹzjó́] ‘palm nut’ /n ̀ʒió́/ [n ̀ʒjó́] ‘mirror / ŋ̀guí/ [ŋ̀gwí] ‘wife’ /m ̀biə̀/ [m ̀bjə̀] ‘cricket’ [m ̀bjə̀] ‘cricket’ input: /nbjə̀/ output: [m ̀bjə̀] /m̀bjə̀/ dep max onset no-coda *comlpex a) m̀.bjə̀ * b) m̀.bjə̀k *! * * c ) m̀.bə̀ *! table 17 from the table above, the optimal candidate is (a) even though it violates *complex. candidate (b) violates dep, no-coda and *complex because a /k/ sound is added in the final position of the syllable thereby violating a no insertion constraint and a codaless constraint. candidate (c) on its part violates max because the consonant /w/ is deleted creating a simple onset. conclusion in conclusion, it can be said that ot shows high potentiality in serving as a theory for the analysis of the syllable structure of nŋwɛ. throughout this paper, attention has been on a set of more general issues in ot as far as the syllable is concerned. it has been shown that syllable-dependent processes like any other phonological processes, involve interactions of ‘markedness and faithfulness constraints. a change (deletion, insertion) is made at the cost of some faithfulness constraint, but only to avoid the violation of higher ranked constraints. when a look is given to the 17 tables of this paper, it is realised that all the candidates (a), (b), and (c) emerge as the optimal candidate at different times and different tables in the analyses. this is due to the manner in which the selected candidates are arranged and also due to the ranking of the constraints. it is therefore due to this ranking that the following are suggested as the constraint ranking orders for nŋwɛ syllable structure. (a) dep>>max>>onset, (b) dep>>max>>no-coda, (c) dep>>max>>onset>>no-coda (d) dep>>max>>no-coda>>onset and finally; (e) dep>>max>>onset>>no-coda>> *comlpex. since gen generates all logically possible candidates for a given input, ot grammar needs no rewrite rules to map inputs onto outputs. the evaluation of these candidate analyses is the function of the evaluator, the component of ranked constraints. it has equally been current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 17 noticed in this study that candidates generated by the generator must not look exactly like the input in order to arrive at the optimal output as illustrated in the last five tables. the discussions in this paper reveal that in nŋwɛ just like other languages, faithfulness constraints outrank the language specific counterparts as far as the syllable structures are concerned. references chomsky, n. and m. halle. 1968. the sound pattern of english. new york: harper and row. clements, g. n and s. j. keyser. 1983. cv phonology: a generative theory of the syllable. cambridge, mass: mit press. kager, r. 1999. rhythmic vowel deletion in optimality theory. in derivations and constraints in phonology. (ed.) iggy roca, pp. 463-99. new york: oxford university press. mccarthy j. 2002. a thematic guide to optimality theory. cambridge: cambridge university press. njika j. 2001. “the internal structure of nŋwɛ narratives: a study in discourse analysis and application.” diss. university of yaounde i. nkengsong p. 2014. “syllable structure in nŋwɛ”. long essay for the award of a b.a degree in linguistics. university of buea. phubon, e. c. 2014. the syllable structure of kejom (babanki). in epasa moto: a multidisciplinary journal of arts, letters and the humanities of the university of buea, pp 32-60. vol. 32 no.4. prince, a. and s. smolensky. 1993. optimality theory: constraint interaction in generative grammar, ruccs technical report. no. 2, piscataway, n.j. cambridge, massachusetts: blackwell. chapter 5: exploring negative-positive drawing: an experiment contributed by chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe introduction drawing as a form of art does not cease in the use of lines to make a picture on a two-dimensional surface, but also includes the use of colours, tone and other elements, added with lines to make representation on a flat surface. in fact, throughout the history of visual representation, humans explored various unconventional materials in creating drawings on various surfaces. palaeolithic drawings between 10,000 to 25,000 b.c. were discovered on cave walls and roofs in nothern africa and southern european countries such as in lascaux, dordogne and chauvet cave in ardeche valley both in france. “the famous wall paintings at lascaux, in dordogne include a wide range of animal species and a few human stick figures painted with earth-coloured pigments – brown, black, yellow and red. they are ground from ocher, hematite and manganese and applied to the natural white limestone surfaces of the walls. the lascaux artists created their figures by drawing an outline and filling it with pigment (adams, 2000 p. 25). those images were assumed to be their day-to-day experiences. many civilizations utilised drawing in bringing various art projects into reality. egyptians, greeks, romans, dark age artists, rennaissance, pop and modern artists employed drawing with miscellaneous materials in expressing their styles. over the years, so many materials have been put to use in drawing. from a chibuzo asogwa, chidiebere onwuekwe 80 preliminary study carried out via interviews and observation, the student artists of the department of fine and applied arts of nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, nigeria, have exhausted the use of common materials such as pencils, oil and chalk pastels, crayons, ink and brush, in creating drawings. thus there is a need to explore unconventional materials in making drawings. among such drawing effects is inverted drawing. inverted drawing involves making a visual representation on a black surface with white material, creating a sharp contrast to the dark background in lines. example of such type of drawing is scrapeboard and silverpoint techniques. such techniques are less prevalent in some departments and art schools in nigeria because of a lack of materials. correction pen is a prospective material for drawing because of its ability to make continuous markings. in making corrections to writing errors, correction pens are a handy and simple instrument. these pens have an ink, marker, or mistakecovering fluid that dries quickly, enabling a seamless repair of errors on paper. this research hereby explores experimental drawing, with materials such as black cardboard papers and correction pen and ink to create various genres of drawings such as portrait, landscape, still life, scenes and the human figure. again, the research will deploy the photoshop application as a tool to invert the outcome of the research into positive replicas, thereby attaining varieties in materials. purpose of the study the study aims to achieve the following:  to experiment with unconventional materials as media for delineations on paper  to explore photoshop filter effects to achieve a contrasting look on the finished drawings exploring negative-positive drawing: an experiment 81  to experiment with further effects in photoshop, to achieve unique visual textures on the scanned drawings  to prove through explorations that artists can employ materials other than pencil, pen, charcoal, and others, as media for drawing. literature review: trends in drawing in the twenty-first century digital drawing is an example of an emerging trend in the art of drawing, following the advent and advancement of the personal computer (pc). digital drawing refers to the use of digital tools and software to create artwork. unlike traditional drawing, which typically involves using physical materials such as pencils, charcoal, or ink, digital drawing relies on digital devices such as tablets, styluses, and computer programs. with the increasing availability of digital tools and software, many artists have started exploring the potential of digital drawing. according to bozalek, et al. (2018), digital drawing tools enable artists to create complex and intricate designs with ease, and also provide new opportunities for collaboration and sharing. digital drawing has become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly among artists who work in illustration, animation, and graphic design. urban sketching is another recent trend in artistic delineations. it is a form of drawing and painting that involves creating sketches and artworks of urban environments such as streets, buildings, and people. it typically involves drawing on location, rather than in a studio and often involves capturing the scene quickly and with a loose, expressive style. according to larkins (2021), urban sketching allows artists to capture the unique character and atmosphere of urban environments and also provides opportunities for social interaction and community building. urban sketching has gained popularity in recent years, particularly with the growth of social media platforms such as instagram and chibuzo asogwa, chidiebere onwuekwe 82 facebook, where artists can share their work and connect with other artists from around the world. experimental drawing is not exclusive to the recent happenings in drawing. many contemporary artists are pushing the boundaries of traditional drawing techniques by experimenting with unconventional materials and methods. according to atkinson and campbell (2018), experimental drawing can involve anything from using found objects as drawing tools to creating works that incorporate performance or installation elements. this is the main concern of this work as it tries to explore groundbreaking possibilities in the art of drawing. last, but not least is collaborative drawing. it involves multiple artists working together on a single artwork, which has become increasingly popular in recent years. according to jones and strickland (2019), collaborative drawing can lead to the creation of complex and dynamic artworks that reflect the perspectives and experiences of multiple artists. theoretical framework the theory adopted for this study was “materiality theory”. materiality theory is a theoretical framework in art history and criticism that emphasizes the importance of materials and material processes in the creation and interpretation of art. this theory posits that the physical properties of materials and the ways in which they are manipulated by artists have a profound impact on the meaning and significance of the artworks they create. one influential proponent of materiality theory is the art historian and critic, james elkins. in his book, "the object stares back: on the nature of seeing," elkins argues that the material properties of artworks are an essential aspect of their meaning and value and that our experience of art is deeply connected to the sensory and tactile qualities of the materials used. another influential figure in materiality theory is the philosopher and cultural critic, bruno latour. in his book, "we exploring negative-positive drawing: an experiment 83 have never been modern," latour argues that the modernist view of the world as divided between human subjects and inanimate objects is deeply flawed and that the material world is in fact an active participant in the creation and interpretation of culture. in recent years, materiality theory has gained increasing attention in art historical and critical discourse. for example, in the article "materiality and the practice of contemporary sculpture" (2016), art historian jenni sorkin explores the ways in which contemporary sculptors are using unconventional materials and fabrication techniques to challenge traditional ideas about sculpture and its relationship to the physical world. materials the materials required for the drawing experiment are as follows:  photographs of human model  photographs of objects and scenes  pencil  correction pen  eraser  160 gsm black cardboard paper  a flatbed scanner,  di printer methods step a: negative drawing making reference to photographs of human models, landscapes, and still life compositions, sketches are made with the lead pencil on black paper. the details of the sketches are later traced out using a correction pen. it is important to shake the pen appropriately before reuse, to ensure an easy flow of fluid from the nib of the pen. line drawing is the most applicable to this technique. it is pertinent to avoid shading because it is almost chibuzo asogwa, chidiebere onwuekwe 84 impossible to achieve using this technique, except for a few thin strokes or cross-hatching techniques. plate 1: sample picture, posed by nancy ugwumba, 2013. photo credit: ade ogunbiyi after tracing the drawing the artist erased the pencil marks. in case there is a need for correction in the drawings, it is usually done with a black permanent marker or black ink with a brush, as the case may be. this abruptly covers unwanted lines or strokes in the drawing, creating a quick illusion of erasure in a given space. the appropriate shading techniques for negative drawing are crosshatching and strokes. they will make the drawings retain their linear characteristics and picturesque effects. exploring negative-positive drawing: an experiment 85 plate 2: drawing rendered with correction pen on black paper © chidi onwuekwe, 2013 step b: positive duplicate the drawing is scanned onto adobe photoshop layout when it is completed. “photoshop is a programme powered by adobe incorporated, an american software producing company” (onwuekwe 2012 p. 224). otaka (2008) describes photoshop and its possibilities thus: it is a professional image editing application. adobe photoshop delivers a comprehensive environment for professional image editing. with its integrated web application, adobe photoshop delivers a comprehensive environment for professional designers chibuzo asogwa, chidiebere onwuekwe 86 and graphics producers to create sophisticated images for print, web, wireless devices and other media (p.22). there are so many artistic effects that can be applied to drawings scanned onto photoshop layout. after saving a copy of the scanned drawing, the artist converted the drawing to grayscale and selected ‘levels’ and ‘curve’ properties to adjust the contrast between the dark and light tones of the image. using the ‘invert’ property, the artist converts the white portions of the image to black and vice versa. plate 3: drawing scanned onto photoshop layout and edited with ‘auto level’ effect, thus defining sharp contrast between tints and shades. © chidi onwuekwe, 2013 exploring negative-positive drawing: an experiment 87 the invert property allows colours to turn into their complementary counterpart as seen on the colour wheel. once the “ctrl + i” button is pressed, highlight areas of pictures turn shade, the darkest areas of a picture turn white, including the eyeballs, various tones of red turn to various tones of green, dark blue turns to orangs while lemon and yellow turn into various degrees of violet. usually, the human skin which is brown in colour turns to various tones of tinted and shaded blue. plate 4: drawing with colours reversed with “ctrl + i” as the keyboard shortcut to ‘invert’ effect on adobe photoshop. © chidi onwuekwe, 2013 once the ‘invert’ key is activated on photoshop, the negative drawing appears like a regular pen and ink drawing on white paper. the artist prints the drawings and places them beside the negative. both of them seem like negative films and processed prints in photography. chibuzo asogwa, chidiebere onwuekwe 88 plate 5: negative and positive of the same drawing showing contrast. © chidi onwuekwe, 2013 findings despite the realization in the research, some problems were stumbled upon. first, the use of a correction pen in drawing was rigid and constrained, unlike pencil and ink. next, the flow of ink from the nib of the pen was usually difficult to control. consequently, the achievement of thin lines on distant objects, human eyes and other factors that require detail in drawing, was obstinate. shading was limited to cross-hatching and strokes only, hence the achievement of the smudgy mid-tone shading effect in the inverted drawing is impossible. moreover, the achievement of realism was awkward because the job was done negatively. in this aspect, abstraction or semi-naturalistic expression would pose a great success. while working, the artist would be unsure of the exploring negative-positive drawing: an experiment 89 semblance of his drawing to the original picture because drawing with white on black surfaces creates a false visual illusion. for instance, while sketching the eye, the lens and iris are white while the ball of the eye is enclosed in a black space. these factors restrained the artist’s freedom of expression with lines and other elements of art. conclusion a sample portrait was made using white correction pen on 160 grammage black textured cardboard paper. the finished drawing was scanned onto a photoshop layout and inverted to create a positive duplicate of the drawings. when the positive was printed, it resulted to duplicate of the original negative drawing, which entails one art piece with two visual effects. these drawings can serve various purposes. they can be exhibited in art shows, used for reference, or published as illustrations accompanying texts in children’s book, and so on. to the use as rough descriptions of a prospective art piece. questions explain the step-by step approaches of attaining the two results of this study using still life drawing as a niche, deploy the following processes explained in this work, with a view to achieving the same result references adams, l. s. (2000) a history of western art. chicago: mcgrawhill higher education. atkinson, d., & campbell, d. (2018). experimental drawing: drawing performance, installation, and site-specificity. journal of drawing research and creativity studies, 3(1), 1-14. chibuzo asogwa, chidiebere onwuekwe 90 bozalek, v., et al. (2018). drawing in the digital age: exploring the impact of digital technologies on drawing practices in higher education. arts and humanities in higher education, 17(4), 371-385. elkins, j. (1996). the object stares back: on the nature of seeing. harvest books. jones, j., & strickland, r. (2019). collaborative drawing as a social practice. drawing: research, theory, practice, 4(2), 219-235. larkins, e. (2021). urban sketching: empathy, creativity and community. journal of urban design, 26(3), 314-327. latour, b. (1993). we have never been modern. harvard university press. onwuekwe, c. o (2012). a digital draw and paint approach to illustration with adobe photoshop. awka journal of research in music and the arts (ajrma). (8) 220-231 otaka, j. (2008). graphic design software application in nigerian print media. first degree project. department of fine and applied art, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. sorkin, j. (2016). materiality and the practice of contemporary sculpture. art journal, 75(3), 38-54. doi:10.1080/00043249.2016.1214670 section h: poem still heart alex asigbo still heart to the memory of auten romiwa enaye, who died a death and killed a dream and it happened that on a certain day in a certain month at the university of port harcourt in the year of our lord, nineteen hundred and ninety-two, the circle came together to deliberate. and they spoke and said that at such and such a time, they would of need fulfill certain objectives. for then, they reasoned that their chosen profession is still in need of fresh blood, fresh ideas and fresh hands. thus, they resolved that at such a time, they must of necessity; provide all these to their chosen profession. and there and then, the circle initiated a ritual. and they gave it to themselves as covenant that at a particular time, in certain evenings, they are to wander abroad from their rooms to a certain secluded area. and that spot is to become privy to their most private confessions. but that is not the end of the story for there they are to regurgitate and meditate on certain issues, prevalently those concerning eve and how it is that this sly creature, soft of bone and build could tame adam – taut and strong. and they drew freely from experiences of members of the circle – analyzing, dissecting and formulating theories as to what adam could do if he must free himself. and it happened that on a certain day, the one that was to die came to the circle and declared himself free of a daughter of eve who before now was known to be his mistress. whereupon, the circle fell to question and to discern what might have inspired his new found love for freedom and how he intends to stay free and friendly to this daughter of eve. and he, the one that was to die, made a boast and said that such a feat he had achieved even though in the opinion of the circle, that was no mean feat. a bet was straight away placed but within a few weeks, the one that was to die, capitulated. no, no, he stayed free, thanks to the circle, but unfriendly and to that score, a poem was written by the one that was to die and promptly replied by the cynic of the circle. the story did not end there for then a plaque came into the circle. for then, two of the four members of the circle were bitten by the “born again” bug. whereupon, it threatened to break the union, for then, the two saw their former habits and indulgences as unworthy of their holy selves. and it was a tough time indeed for the circle for a bond forged strong and tight was strained to breaking point. we all felt the strain and knew that we must do something to correct such an anomaly. and we set to work, each in his individual way on how we might save a precarious situation until providence struck and the one that was to die was “debugged”. and it proved quite a reunion for the circle for he was by far, the most infected of the bug. still the story did not end there for the circle was not complete without its intellectual wrangling and debates. indeed, so vast a field did we cover that we were easily the pivot of the class. from the greeks to the romans, the english, the french, the germans, the russians, the scandinavians and the africans – none were spared our avid readings. and we enjoyed every bit of it, challenging ourselves, routinely. and he, the one that was to die was called gus de bois and regular jerry, after jerry in albee’s zoo story, for he like the rest of us was always in search of something. (himself?). and the rest of us were called by various other pseudonyms, each according to occasion and inclination. and we thrilled “the crab” with our writings; for not a week was to pass without something novel from our bleeding pens. and even our lecturers took heed to their actions in front of us fearing a rejoinder from our ever active pens. and often times our notice board bore the brunt of attacks as the butts of our stories vented their spleen on the hapless notice board for we wrote under various pseudonyms hence could not be easily traced. and there came a certain day in the month of december, nineteen hundred and ninety-three being a year of our lord that the one that was to die fell severely ill and we in hospital to see him that was to die. whereupon he fixed his eyes on us and volunteered to pay whatever debts he might be owing to members of the circle and we stupefied, inquired if he was planning to die. he, laughing, waved it aside and we rested the matter there and the one that was to die got better and returned to the circle to continue our debates. and it happened that on a certain day in the month of february nineteen hundred and ninetyfour, it being a year of our lord, the one that was to die undertook a journey that was to be his last to lagos, to be followed shortly by the cynic of circle, we having finished our programs at the ivory tower. and it happened that as was his wont, he did not call on the cynic; whereupon, my sister-in-law stood on my neck for me to go and check on the one that was to die. and it happened however, that i did not go to see my friend but rather, returned directly to our station where about a week later, an ill wind carried it to our ears that the one that was to die was dead; whereupon i took the next bus to lagos to dispute such news. and for two days i could not summon up the courage to go, lest my fears be confirmed but on the third day, i no longer could bear the suspense and so set forth for their house. upon knocking on their door, out came the sister. a glance at her face told me all i needed to know. my friend was dead and the circle whittled. and but still clinging unto a hope i knew was gone, i asked – where was austen? and she, in response started a ululation but soon to calm down and acquaint me with the particulars of his death. for on the eight of march of that same accursed year, he had complained of a headache and promptly to his doctor went. on the ninth however, he was spotted making his peace with god for soon to get worse was he and back again to the doctor where the one that was to die, died a peaceful death the following day being the tenth of the month. and on the twelfth, that marvelous work of god was interred at ikoyi cemetery. and he the dead one, my friend was an epicure to the core, for now he takes an intellectual quarrel with him to the grave – to settle with christopher marlowe who dared write a play about three centuries ago that disagreed with the dead one’s conception of verisimilitude. ah, of a truth, the dead one quarrelled with many an author. and we ink slingers wrote with utmost caution, lest the dead one should spot a flaw. ah, such a one, the dead one! but austen romiwa enaye is not dead but lives on – in the hearts of members of the circle, who have vowed to live the dream. and anytime i pass by his abode, i say a silent prayer for the peaceful repose of a friendly soul. and anytime i pass by his abode, i always doff my hat to the memory of him that was to have been great but who bowed too soon to death. i doff my hat and i pause to ponder how it is that such a one as he could die such a death on god’s earth. i realized then the value of the preacher who preached a sermon in the holy book and said that all was vanity. and i realize that when all is said and done, man returns to dust with his dreams – food for the worms. and i realize that all our struggles here on earth are to no purpose as we will soon leave all that behind. adieu my friend! adieu austen romiwa enaye! salute! we’ll see brother! posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 121 un resolutions and the emergence of subsidiary agencies in the 20th century onuegbu, festus c. department of history and international studies nnamdi azikiwe university, awka email: onuegbufestus@rocketmail.com abstract arguably, the united nations has always been looked at as ‘the most competent and credible international platform’ that has continued to effectively exist, so to say, to initiate meaningful actions towards tackling the multivariate challenges confronting the international system and humanity in general since its inception in 1945. the organization, inundated with this enormous but no less intriguing task, has on many occasions, with the instrumentality of its diplomatic machinery, passed noble ‘resolutions’ in form of purposive recommendations to ensure committed collaboration, corporation, and consensus among states in areas of critical international concern. thus, these resolutions that bring nation-states into a common undertaking in specific areas of global interest consequently usher in regimes in those areas with emergence of ancillary or subsidiary agencies to the un. it is against this backdrop that this paper, taking the path of the functionalist theoretical construct as the relevant framework of analysis, attempts to examine the circumstances and the underpinning variables that informed the emergence of these subsidiary agencies to un, and the dynamics that predicate their continued international existence. although, it is strongly contended that their emergence is functional to peace and stability universally, their inherent drawbacks cannot be vaguely denied. therefore, the advocacy is that states should put in more diplomatic commitments and international sacrifices devoid of ‘high politics’ and less consideration of ‘sovereignty bigotry’ in order to improve on universal peace and global understanding. keywords: resolution, regimes, concensus, funcitonalism, sovereignty. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 122 1.0 introduction no doubt, the treaty of westphalia of 1648 accorded nation states their status with the concept of inviolability of territorial sovereignty as a major defining parameter. however, as these emergent nation-states began to enjoy their sovereign existence, the protection and defense of this very sovereignty became strategically inevitable. many nation-states, in fragrant disregard of ‘mutual coexistence’ of one another, had often been embroiled in wars and other forms of conflicts that have been at heavy cost to international peace and security. as holsti (2002:38) notes, “war and threat of it have become a fashionable instrument states resort to in achieving their policy goals in international arena”. thus, the preoccupation of states in war and conflicts denies them the needed attention to engage themselves meaningfully in compromise and consensual cooperation, hence there are mutual but challenging grounds that require cooperation and diplomacy other than war and conflicts. thoughtfully, the emergence of the united nations at the end of world war ii in 1945 was primarily occasioned by the vagaries of war and the need to maintain global peace and security. no sooner the un began to man this arduous task of preventing further war and maintain international security for global peace and stability than it came to the realization and identification of other challenging problems, other than war, that constitute major threat to universal peace, which if unaddressed could plunge the international system into a web of insecurity and wars, and mar the very foundation and mission of the un. “this broadening of the mandate and oversight capacity of the un”, according to benneth (1988:26) “came with the understanding that many challenging problems faced by states in this interdependent world cannot be resolved by sovereign independent state action only anchored on the vestiges of ‘traditional sovereignty’. rather, there is the overriding need for concerted efforts of these states in form of international consensus and cooperation with great commitments. brown (2005:120) enumerates these critical areas other than war itself to include issues of human rights, global environment, international trade and world economy, disarmament and weapons proliferations, migration and refugee question, development and democracy issue, outer space and sea resources, terrorism, and so on. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 123 the united nations, in trying to coordinate and regulate the behavior and actions of states in these areas of international concern has adopted several ‘resolutions’ and ‘conventions’ in many organized fora to ensure commitments and cooperation of states thereof. many of these un resolutions and conventions are today part of international law, and some of them have metamorphosed into institutionalized subsidiary agencies of the un. hence umozuruike (2005:6) notes: resolutions and conventions serve as international morality and agreements which are left on the moral will of the states to be obeyed or not to be obeyed; thence constant usage and further diplomatic protocols on them transform them into part of the working document of international law or/and, existing operational agencies of regulatory character. that is to say, many of the un resolutions have established regimes in different areas of international engagement. however, it is important to point out that not all resolutions and conventions of the un have been institutionally transformed into working agencies. many of them are still subsisting as ‘mere international morality’ and some as existing document of international law that have not, and may not emerge as subsidiary institution of the un. in this light, how the institution of un and her resolution instruments predicated the emergence of subsidiary international organizations and agencies engages this study. however, this cannot be done effectively without a relevant theoretical framework of analysis. 2.0 theoretical foundation for better understanding of the background and the rationale behind the emergence of the united nations subsidiary agencies as international institutions, functionalist theoretical tool of analysis becomes most appropriately relevant framework. it emerged in the international political scholarship in the 1940’s, and was developed by david mitrany. it has attracted many other scholars like joseph nye, ernest hass,j.p sewell, paul taylor, a. j r groom, john burton, christopher mitchell and banks. functionalism assumes that a ‘working universal peace is constructed by encouraging forms of co-operation among states which by-passed formal, but posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 124 traditional, sovereignty and, limits the capacity of these states to act as sovereigns. ‘ordered, stable, and peaceful world is a function of cooperation among severing states on several specific ‘issues-areas’ which are of common interest to them’ (mitrany, 1985). thus, there are technical problems that challenge the continued existence of sovereign states, and which are beyond their individual capacity to curb. in this context, cooperation of states with an ‘institutional character’ is imperative. taylor and haas (1998:113) contend that the functional institutions must exchange information of technical nature, and be vested with power of decision to gradually transcend the states’ sovereignty. in otherwords, the underlying assumption is that the problems functional cooperation is supposed to solve are essentially ‘disaggregated’ and technical, and need a technical solution. this heavily borrows from the pluralist and complex interdependent schools that see relationship as a ‘disaggregation’ rather than as one ‘whole’. the contention is that different ‘issue-areas’ such as security, finance, environment, human rights, or terrorism display different modes of mutual dependence among nations, (keohane and nye, 1987). the proponents of functionalist school see progress made in any specific but disaggregated ‘issue-area’ in international system as a direct function of collaboration and commitment of states in moderation of their sovereignty (olson, 20000). thus, the intention of functionalism is to achieve ‘global stability’ and ‘order’ through ‘global governance’ and not ‘global government’; hence, the ‘debordering of states’ that is sought by globalization is crucial here. nevertheless, this analytical construct as an effective tool of analysis bears some inadequacies in its rationale of assumptions: (a) its rationality that states would always be willing to compromise their sovereignty and cooperate with others; (b) the assumption that the administration of technical problems by functional and collaborative institutions is devoid of national politics of states; (c) and its firm belief that every cooperation produces functional institution that cuts beyond states ‘boundaries’. however, it still remains most elaborate and ambitious attempt made not just to understand the growth of international institutions, but also to plot their trajectory into the future, and to come to terms with the implications. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 125 3.0 un resolutions and the emergence of subsidiary agencies it is obvious, since its creation in 1945, the united nations has diplomatically established many subsidiary ‘agencies’ in response to many challenges confronting the world, and which demand serious attention. ‘these agencies, so to say, are ‘collaboratory’, ‘advisory’, and ‘regulatory in character, and operate on either ‘permanent’ or ad hoc’ basis. they are created to take charge of, and address issues in specific areas and ensure international diplomatic cooperation thereof, (harret, 2000:86). in otherwords, they are specific purpose oriented and they ensure diplomatic compliance, cooperation and commitment of states in their areas of operations. as a matter of focus and convenience, the paper cannot discuss all the subsidiary agencies that took their establishment from the united nations ‘resolutions’ but rather select some cases in the issues-areas of ‘disarmament’, ‘environment’, human rights’, and trade in terms of their emergence and continued existence. 3.1 disarmament question apparently, there is a mutual relationship between ‘arms control’ and ‘disarmament’ on one hand and ‘international peace’ and ‘security’, on the other hand. this is recognized and acknowledged in the united nations charter by its founding fathers. it is against this backdrop that article (11) of the united nations charter charges the general assembly with ‘the responsibility for considering principles of cooperation relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments’, and making recommendations with regards to such principles to the members of the security council, or to both’. secondly, the security council is charged with ‘the responsibility of formulating plans to be submitted to the members of the united nations for the establishment of a system for the regulations of armaments’, (www.un.org/charter.documents ). however, the destructive acquisition of lethal weapons by states that culminated to the devastating second world war, and the regrettable utilization of the manhattan project (atomic bombs) by the united states against hiroshima and nagasaki in japan in the immediate aftermath of the war, coupled with the soviet union’s test of her atomic bomb in early 1947 seriously called the attention of the nascent united nations institution on how best to pursue disarmament. http://www.un.org/charter.documents posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 126 responding to these threatening challenge, the united nations on 24th january 1946 passed a ‘resolution which called for the establishment of an atomic energy agency to put forward proposals for the elimination of, from all national armaments, atomic weapons and all other weapons qualified for mass destruction, (dunne, 2006). after much diplomatic heat raised by the competing forces of ‘united states-sponsored baruch plan’ and ‘soviet union-sponsored gromyko counter plan’, the united nations, in much favour to the baruch plan, established ‘the atomic energy commission in july, 1946. on december 14, 1946, the united nations adopted resolution 41(1) which called for security council’s consideration of a ‘draft convention’ for the creation of an international system of control and inspection, and for the prohibition of atomic weapons and other weapons of mass destructions. this led to the emergence of ‘the commission of conventional armaments in 1947. however, on 11th january, 1952 the united nations’ general assembly adopted ‘resolution 502(vii) merging the atomic energy commission and the commission on conventional armaments into one agency known as ‘the disarmament commission. as vogts (1980) argues, “the ideological rivalry between the united states and the soviet union derailed the efficacy of this commission”. the disarmament commission ceased to exist in 1956, and ‘the ten nations committee on disarmament supported by the general assembly’s resolution 1378(xiv) of 20th november, 1959, came up. in 1962, the ten nations committee on disarmament was increased to eighteen nations committee on disarmament. from november 1962, when the general assembly adopted ‘resolution 1762a(xvii) that prepared the way for the negotiation of ‘partial test ban treaty’ in 1963, to 1973 when two important resolutions-3093a and 3093b were adopted by the united nation calling on the permanent security council members to reduce their military budgets by 10 percent, many resolutions were adopted by the united nations in her pursuit of world disarmament. the striking example in this period was the one that informed the negotiation of ‘nuclear nonproliferation treaty of 1968’. in 1975 conference on the review on nonproliferation treaty, the need for a comprehensive test ban became obvious once again, and the adoption of ‘resolution 3484(xxxx) became necessary, calling for views of member states on the strengthening of the role of the united nations in the field of disarmament. this led to the setting up of conference on the committee on disarmament in february, 1976. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 127 today, there is disarmament commission and the international atomic energy agency, taking charge of general disarmament, and weapons verifications and nuclear investigations respectively. united nations continues to adopt resolutions on the question of global disarmament in order to manage world security. stone (2005) thus, contends that united nations efforts towards disarmament would only be effective and enforceable when powerful and nuclear club nations will commit their loyalty to the process. 3.2 the challenge of global environment no doubt, the need for global sustainable development has, since the 1958 law of the sea conventions, influenced the activities of the united nations. several ‘resolutions’ adopted by the general assembly on matters of environmental protection and safety have formed the basis for the emergence of world commission on environment and development: an agency of the united nations set up in 1983 to propose advisory opinions and recommendations on issues bordering on world environment. the race in space technology between the soviet union and the united states in the 1950s and 1960s drove the united nations to pass some resolutions emphasizing the need to protect the outer space to ensure environmental safety, (umozuruike, 2005). in 1961, resolution 1721(xvi) predicating that international law applies to ‘outer space’, and the outer space and celestial bodies are not subject to national appropriation. resolution 1962(xviii) and 1885(xvii) of 1963 further declared the legal principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space. these two resolutions also exhort states not to orbit nuclear weapons around the earth surfaces. thus, the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963 prohibits the explosion of nuclear weapons in outer space if it would cause radioactive debris outside the territory of the state exploding it. in 1972 came the united nations convention on international liability damage caused by space objects, and the convention on registration of objects launched into the outer space in 1976. in 1970, resolution 2749(xxiv) declared the ‘deep seabed’ was ‘the common heritage of all mankind, and laid down the principles of its future exploitation. the first international attempt to deal with the environment came at the stockholm conference in 1972. the stockholm conference offered the ground for posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 128 the systematic extension of international cooperation, and the current practice of recommendations and directives for the utilization of rivers and oceans, control of pollution, and military uses of the environment, (machowsky,1982). thus, the united nations environmental programme (unep) became established in 1972 with governing council of 58 member states, an environmental co-ordination board, and a small secretariat based in nairobi, kenya. it facilitates and promotes the development of international law on environmental protection and preservation. all these efforts reflected in different united nations’ resolutions in protection and preservation of the environment led to the establishment of world commission on environment and development in 1983. earlier in 1982, the united nations convention on the law of the sea made for the establishment of ‘international seabed authority’. the authority would manage and control the exploitation of the resources in the interest of all mankind. the montego bay convention envisioned the authority to be based in kingston, jamaica while the tribunal would be in hamburg, germany. however, the world commission on environment and development, as a subsidiary agency of the united nations, made its first report in 1987 setting out goals and recommendations in its area of mandate. moreso, the vienna convention for the protection of the ozone layer in 1985; and both the montreal and london protocols on the same subject in 1987 and 1990 respectively are of major relevance thereafter. with the earth summit of 1992 in rio de geneiro, brazil and kyoto protocol of 1997 calling for drastic reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide by 5.2 percent from the 1990s level, there is big hope for the emergence of a more effective agency in this direction, the failure of copenhagen summit in 2010 notwithstanding. 3.3 human right issues the 1948 universal declaration on human rights was a clear recognition of the need to safeguard and guarantee the rights of individuals against the arbitrariness of their states by the united nations. more in this direction were the 1958 geneva convention on human rights and the 1968 tehran conference on human rights. in 1966, the general assembly adopted the international convention on civil and political rights, and the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights through its ‘resolution’ 2200a/63 that came into force in 1976. the covenant set up a ’18-man human rights committee’. the committee studied posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 129 reports submitted to it by states and gave expertise opinions to parties. it transmitted its reports and comments to the economic and social council (ecosoc) of the united nations. as refugee question has become a major threat to human rights in conflict situations and disaster periods, the united nations responded in this direction in 1974 with the adoption of resolution 3274(xxix) mandating the united nations high commissioner for refugees to offer diplomatic protection to stateless persons (fabunsi, 2000). it should be noted that the international refugee organization (iro) was set-up under the united nations but could not make much progress as a result of cold war rivalry. however, it was dissolved and the office of the united nations high commissioner for refugee was created to take its place with extended powers, after the 1951 united nations convention on refugees. today, united nations human rights commission, and the office of the higher commissioner for refugee are subsidiary agencies of the united nations. according to alli (2000), the ohchr is guided in its work by the charter of the united nations, the universal declaration of human rights, subsequent human rights instruments, and the 1993 vienna declaration. on the issues of the human rights as it relates to international law and humanitarian intervention, the united nations has through its resolutions established international regimes against human rights abuses in form of crimes against humanity, genocide, rape, torture, and many other war crime related offences. specifically on the war crimes, the united nations in 1993 set up the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia (icty) in the hague. a year later, the international criminal tribunal for nuremberg was established and the tribunal derived its precedent from the criminal tribunal for japanese war leaders (newafrican, 2009). also established was the international criminal tribunal for rwanda (ictr). the icty and the ictr were specifically drawn up to redress the atrocities and human rights abuses perpetrated in the former yugoslavia in the early 1990s and the genocidal killings in rwanda in 1994 respectively. for effective trial and dispensation of justice the statutes of these special war crime tribunals were incorporated into the international criminal court (icc) statutes in the rome treaty of 2000. icc, as a subsidiary agency of the united nations, started its operation in 2002. and there has been another special war crimes tribunal established in 2002 at sierra leone to try culprits of liberia-sierra leonean human rights abuses. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 130 looking at the humanitarian intervention angle of safeguarding human rights internationally, the united nations right from the 1950 ‘uniting for peace resolution 377a’ in the korean peninsular, has taken a major and sustained leap in establishing ad hoc intervention agencies or missions in troubled spots around the world where human rights are severely threatened. several resolutions have been adopted by the united nations in responding to crisis, leading to establishment of intervention missions in places like somalia, camboudia, former yugoslavia, liberia, sierra leone, congo, burundi, rwanda, sudan, kosovo, pakistan, iraq, and kuwait. however, from the indications observed at the 1993 vienna human rights world conference that led to the establishment of the office of united nations high commissioner for human rights, it seems that one day the united nations may establish a permanent military intervention force with a strong mandate to safeguarding international human rights. 3.4 the politics of trade and development matters the role of the united nations in the emergence of subsidiary agencies in trade and economic development matters globally cannot be easily left out in this nature of discussion. since the creation of the united nations, it has gone beyond the primary idea of maintaining peace and security to embrace challenges emanating from global economic inequality and trade imbalances. initially, her efforts in this area were coordinated by economic and social council, (ecosoc). however, the emergence of newly independent states as members of the united nations in the 1960s, mostly in the camp of non aligned countries, brought pressure to bear on her to go beyond the ‘mere coordination efforts of ecosoc’ in addressing problems of economic nature. although affiliate international organizations to the united nations like the international monetary fund (imf) and the world bank (ibrd) were making contributions in this area, the new demands of the third world nations needed genuine but radical shift in actions. having recognized this new demand, the united nations promoted the general agreements on tariffs and trade (gatt) in 1947, after an earlier attempt to establish international trade organization failed, to negotiate trade terms between the developed nations and developing nations. the resolution adopted by the united nations in 1964, which was strongly pushed by the block of 77 nations from the non-aligned camp, led to the establishment of united nations conference on trade and development (unctad) which is often called the posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 131 g77. in 1965, the united nations decided to merge the united nations special fund (sunfed) and expanded programme on technical assistance (epta) into one body known as united nations development programme (undp), as one of her subsidiary agencies, (benneth, 1988). in the 1970s, the third world countries still demanding for “economic relations founded on equity and common interest of all states”, according to (machowski, 1982), influenced the united nations to adopt resolution 3201(s-v1) on may 1, 1974 entitled ‘declaration on the establishment of a new international economic order’ (nieo). in december, 1974 the united nations adopted the ‘charter on economic rights and duties of states’. nevertheless, after many ‘rounds of trade negotiations’ by gatt since its establishment without much successes as a result of divergent interests of the developed and developing nations, it wounded up in 1995 after the uruguay round of trade negotiations, and became replaced with world trade organisation (wto) in 1995. it is important to note that the need to fashion an equitable criteria for global economic relations is still very much dominant as the activities of most of the international economic and financial organizations are still met with protest march and stiff resistance from developing countries. however, the declaration of ‘development decades’ from 1960 to 1980s by the united nations general assembly and the harsh economic realities faced by the developing nations in the 1960s and 1970’s further accentuated their vehement urge for equity-ruled global economy and trade relations. 4.0 conclusion it is very clear that united nations play important role in ensuring diplomatic cooperation in many ‘issue-areas’ other than its initial thrust of maintaining peace and global security. in doing this crucial but multivariate function, the united nations makes ‘recommendations’ and ‘declarations’ in form of ‘resolutions’. these resolutions may transform into operational ad structural functional subsidiary agencies while some cannot go beyond ‘mere international morality or ‘conventions’ as part of international law, (umezuruike, 2005). the subsidiary agencies, so far created, can either be of international or ad hoc in structure and operation. the emerging agency may be envisioned to take diplomatic overtures in a given area or to add to, modify, further define, or broadening an already existing agency in that area of specificity. in most cases the united nations posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 132 resolutions have encouraged the emergence of not only subsidiaries of universal character but also regional agencies; hence, the emergence of regional economic commissions, human right commissions, and charters attest to this claim. these agencies outside regimes, operate through ‘persuasion’ of, and ‘recommendation’ to states. they do not necessarily possess more power to enforce decisions on states. however, the subsidiary agencies of the united nations have not smoothly and progressively tackled the problems they came to resolve. the reason may not be far-fetched. the vested interest of states especially the advanced nations has sometimes derailed the efficacy of those agencies and the strict observance of the resolutions. thus, there is the prevalence of states pulling out of ‘treaties’ and repudiating ‘agreements’ once entered into, when their interest runs contrary to them. this has gone a long way to reducing the states’ capacity in mobilizing both technical and financial support these agencies need to maintain their continued effective operations. despite these draw backs, with the presence of viable international civil societies and public opinions, ‘the epistemic communities’, the continued emergence of these agencies that seek diplomatic cooperation, collaboration, and consensual commitment of states will diminish the prevalence of conflicts in the world. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 133 references fabunsi, a.a. (2000) the role of the united nations in conflict management, ibadan: spectrum books. olson, a.w. (2000) theoretical issues in international relations, new york: mcgrew hill publication. brown, chris (2005) understanding international relations, london: pelgrave macmillian. mitrany, d. (1986) the functional theory of international politics, birmingham: lighmall press association. harriet, gary (2000) the role of international organizations in international politics, new york: lantern press company. holsti, j. (2002) understanding international relations, new york: mcgraw hill publication. machowski, j. (1982) “current development in international economic law” in m.a ajomo (ed) proceedings of the seventh, eight and ninth annual conferences of the nigerian society of international law, lagos: niia publications. benneth, l.a. (1988) international organization: principles and issues, new jersey: prentice hall, 4th edition. nassin, n.d. (2009) “targeting african: the case for and against the icc”, new african vol. 28, no. 12 vogts, m.a. (1980) the united nations special session on disarmament: a report, a menograph series of nigerian institute of international affairs, lagos. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 134 taylor, p. and haas, e. (1998) a study of the united nations: an institutional approach, new hampshire: nixon foundation series. keohane, r. and nye, j.s. (1991) understanding the united nations in a hegemonic world, new york: princeton university press. stone, r.h. (2005) prophetic realism: beyond militarism and pacifism in an age of terror, new york: t & t clark international. umozuruike, u.o. (2005) introduction to international law, ibadan: spectrum books. alli, w.o. (2005) “freedom from fear: a new vision of collective security” in w.o. alli (ed) challenges of the united nations reform: proceedings of a colloqium, lagos: niia publications. wambu, w.c. (2010) “our views of the united nations”, www.un.org/charter/document accessed on 26/05/2014. http://www.un.org/charter/document interrogating creativity and innovation in graphic design curriculum 124 chapter 9 integrating new trends in the graphic design curriculum in nigerian universities godwin o. uka and chidiebere o. onwuekwe department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract the field of graphic design is constantly evolving, with new trends and technologies emerging all the time. to prepare students for careers in this dynamic field, it is important to integrate these new trends into the graphic design curriculum in nigerian universities. this research explores the benefits and challenges of integrating new trends in graphic design curricula, as well as some of the most important trends that should be included. by integrating new trends such as augmented reality, minimalism, and bold typography into the curriculum, nigerian universities can ensure that their graphic design graduates are well-equipped to meet the demands of the industry. however, challenges such as limited funding, a shortage of qualified faculty, and resistance to change may make it difficult to implement these changes. the research method employed was literature review. despite these challenges, integrating new trends in graphic design curricula is essential for ensuring that nigerian universities produce graduates who are competitive in the global job market. keywords: curriculum, graphics design, education, nigeria introduction graphic design curriculum standards are guidelines that define the knowledge and skills required for students to successfully pursue a career in graphic design. these standards provide a framework for designing and delivering courses in graphic design education at all levels, from high school to graduate programs. the graphic design curriculum standard in nigeria is designed to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to become competent graphic designers in various industries. the standard is set by regulatory bodies such as the national board for technical education (nbte) and the national universities commission (nuc), which provide guidelines for institutions offering graphic design programs to follow. in addition to these organizations, individual schools and universities often develop their graphic design curriculum standards. these standards may be tailored to the specific needs and goals of the school or program and may be based on the guidelines provided by professional organizations. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 125 one notable institution for graphic design education in nigeria is the yaba college of technology (yabatech), which offers a national diploma (nd) and higher national diploma (hnd) in graphic design. other institutions offering graphic design programs include the university of lagos, ahmadu bello university, university of nigeria nsukka, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, federal university of technology, minna, and the lagos state polytechnic, among others graphic design education in nigeria typically covers a range of topics, including design principles, colour theory, typography, illustration, digital technologies, and professional practices. many programs also provide students with hands-on experience through practical projects and internships. this research explores the benefits and challenges of integrating new trends in graphic design curricula, as well as some of the most important trends that should be inclusive of them. purpose of the study given the problem of the study, the paper shall ascertain the following; • to investigate the need to integrate graphic design curriculum standards in nigeria universities and other tertiary institutions • recent development in graphics design • to investigate the problems and prospects of incorporating new trends in graphic design curriculum standards in nigeria universities and other tertiary institutions graphic design education in nigeria graphic design education in nigeria has seen significant growth in recent years (ugwu, 2018), with an increasing number of institutions offering graphic design programs at various levels (ogbonna & okwuagbala, 2020). graphic design education in nigeria is typically offered at the tertiary level, including polytechnics, colleges of technology, universities, and specialized schools of design (aina, 2013). many of these institutions offer degree programs in graphic design, such as a bachelor of arts (ba) in graphic design, bachelor of fine arts (bfa) in graphic design, and bachelor of science (bs) in graphic design (ogbonna & okwuagbala, 2020). some institutions also offer diploma and certificate programs in graphic design, which may be shorter in duration and focus on specific aspects of the field (ogbonna & okwuagbala, 2020). graphic design education in nigeria typically covers a range of topics, including design principles, colour theory, typography, illustration, digital technologies, and professional practices (aina, 2013). many programs also provide students with hands-on experience through practical projects and internships (ugwu, 2018). interrogating creativity and innovation in graphic design curriculum 126 one notable institution for graphic design education in nigeria is the yaba college of technology (yabatech), which offers a national diploma (nd) and higher national diploma (hnd) in graphic design (aina, 2013). other institutions offering graphic design programs include the university of lagos, ahmadu bello university, federal university of technology, minna, and the lagos state polytechnic (ogbonna & okwuagbala, 2020). however, graphic design education in nigeria faces challenges such as inadequate funding, insufficient resources, and outdated curricula (ugwu, 2018). additionally, there is a need for industry partnerships and collaborations to ensure that graduates are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to compete in the global marketplace (aina, 2013). despite these challenges, graphic design education in nigeria continues to grow and evolve, with a growing number of talented designers emerging from nigerian institutions (ogbonna & okwuagbala, 2020). with continued investment in graphic design education and the support of the design industry, nigerian designers are well-positioned to contribute to the growth and development of the design industry both domestically and internationally (aina, 2013). graphic design education policy making in nigeria the graphic design curriculum standard in nigeria is set by regulatory bodies and professional organizations to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to become competent graphic designers. the nbte, for instance, has a set of curriculum requirements for the national diploma (nd) and higher national diploma (hnd) programs in graphic design. these requirements include general education courses such as mathematics, english, and general studies, as well as specialized graphic design courses such as graphic design studio, typography, packaging design, and advertising design. the nbte also requires that institutions provide practical training and industrial attachment opportunities for students (nbte, 2016). similarly, the nuc has guidelines for the bachelor of arts (ba) and bachelor of science (bs) programs in graphic design. these guidelines specify that programs must include courses in design fundamentals, drawing and painting, graphic design studio, typography, and visual communication, among others. the nuc also requires that institutions provide students with practical training opportunities and that faculty members have relevant industry experience (nuc, 2014). in addition to these regulatory bodies, professional organizations such as the nigerian institute of graphic arts (niga) also play a role in setting standards for graphic design education in nigeria. the niga provides professional development opportunities for graphic designers and advocates for high standards in graphic design education. analogue teaching approach for graphics graphics design teaching then involves the arrangement of flat layouts of text and images for books, magazines, newspapers, advertisements, publicity sheets, posters, package and other products of printing processes. design disciplines include, but are not limited to) contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 127 graphics design, industrial design, textiles, fashion design, interior design, architecture, environmental design; experimental graphics and also all 2d and 3d designs of the web pages. graphic works are mainly produced on flat surfaces, which include all forms of print, printmaking, engraving, typography, photography, illustration and poster design. others are advertising and publicity, television graphics, edition design and fiction, exploration of indigenous graphics design forms and materials, product and package design, creative design of machine parts and tools, architectural and sign graphics and recently the world web and the computer interactive media, motion or multimedia have become part and parcel of graphics design. graphics is a field of applied arts, which is directly connected with mainly two-dimensional picture art, and only packages, products and animation are three-dimensional. package design is a small-size poster that informs the prospective purchaser about the content of a product. digital teaching approach to graphics a graphic design project now may involve the stylization and presentation of existing text and either preexisting imagery or images developed by the graphic designer. elements can be incorporated in both traditional and digital forms, which involves the use of visual arts, typography, and page layout techniques. graphic designers organize pages and optionally add graphic elements. graphic designers can commission photographers or illustrators to create original pieces. designers use digital tools, often referred to as interactive design or multimedia design. designers need communication skills to convince an audience and sell their designs/products. the work of the graphics designer is to communicate visual problems as presented by the client. in so doing, the designer starts by defining the most appropriate approach to implement creative and aesthetic solutions, which is a process of visualization. recent developments in graphics design with the characteristics changes being brought about by scientific and technological developments and the need for education to be dynamic to respond to the changing needs of africa and the world in general. environmental graphics design (ecd) encompass many disciplines including graphics, architecture, interior, landscape and industrial design, it is all so concerned with the visual aspects of way-finding, communicating, identity and information and shaping the idea of creating an experience that connects people to place. recently, environmental graphics design was changed to more accurately reflect the expanding nature of communication in the built environment to society for experimental graphics design. augmented reality (ar) is a technology that has recently been integrated into graphic design, providing designers with new opportunities to create interactive and immersive experiences for users. ar involves the overlay of digital information, such as 3d objects, sound, or text, onto the real world through a device such as a smartphone or tablet. in recent years, the use of ar in graphic design has been explored in academic literature. elbaek and olander (2018) investigated the potential of ar in graphic design education and found that it has the potential to enhance creativity and engagement among students. similarly, rasmussen and skov (2018) examined the use of ar in print advertising and found that it increased viewer engagement and recall of the advertisement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/writing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/interactive_design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/multimedia interrogating creativity and innovation in graphic design curriculum 128 another aspect of ar in graphic design is the creation of interactive packaging design. according to the textbook "design for sustainable change: how design and designers can drive the sustainability agenda" by anne chick and paul micklethwaite (2019), ar can be used to create engaging and informative packaging designs that provide users with information on the product, its origin, and its environmental impact. for example, a food package could be designed with an ar component that allows consumers to view information about the ingredients, nutritional values, and sustainability credentials of the product. in addition, ar has also been used to create innovative and engaging designs for exhibitions and installations. a study by fernández-vara and mateas (2018) explored the use of ar in a museum exhibition, finding that it increased visitors' engagement and understanding of the exhibition's content. another development in graphic design is minimalism. in graphic design it is a design style that focuses on simplicity, using a minimal amount of design elements to create a clear and concise message. this design approach has been widely discussed in academic literature and design textbooks, highlighting its effectiveness and versatility in various design contexts. helen armstrong (2019), avers that minimalism in graphic design emerged as a reaction to the complexity and clutter of previous design styles. it emphasizes the use of negative space, simple typography, and a limited colour palette to create a visual language that is clean and uncluttered. this design style can be applied to various design projects, such as branding, packaging, web design, and print design. the effectiveness of minimalism in graphic design has been widely researched in academic literature. in a study by eppink and toet (2019), they found that minimalist design improved visual processing and attentional processes, leading to better recall and recognition of visual information. similarly, in a study by tuch, bargas-avila, opwis, and wilhelm (2009), they found that minimalist designs were perceived as more aesthetic and usable than designs with more visual complexity. another recent development in graphic design is the use of bold typography. now it is a popular design technique that has been used for many years in various design contexts. bold typography involves the use of heavier weights of typefaces to create a more significant impact and emphasis on the message being conveyed. this design approach has been widely discussed in academic literature and design textbooks, highlighting its effectiveness in various design contexts. bold typography has also been discussed in the context of branding and marketing. in a study by bell, chakraborty, and yu (2018), they found that bold typography was perceived as more attention-grabbing and impactful than regular typography, leading to higher recall and recognition of brand names. bold typography can be used to create a unique brand identity and stand out in a crowded marketplace. benefits of integrating new trends in graphic design curricula integrating new trends in graphic design curricula has several benefits, as supported by the following references: • keeping up with industry demands: according to faisal, nasir, and ikram (2020), "integrating new trends and skills into the graphic design curriculum can produce graduates that have skills that meet industry standards and are equipped to meet the demands of the market." contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 129 • improved creativity: kim and joo (2018) found that "exposure to new design trends and technologies can increase creativity in graphic design students, leading to improved design quality and innovation." • enhanced relevance: according to khaing, sein, and khaing (2018), "integrating new trends in graphic design curricula can help to ensure that programs remain relevant and up-to-date, which can help to attract new students and maintain the quality of the programs offered." • meeting global standards: the international council of design states that "design education must prepare graduates to meet the demands of a rapidly changing profession, while still maintaining high standards and ethical values" (icod, 2017). • improved competitiveness: according to nielsen and stelter (2017), "graduates who are trained in the latest trends and technologies will be more attractive to potential employers, and will have a competitive advantage in the job market." challenges of integrating new trends in graphic design curricula integrating new trends in graphic design curricula presents several challenges, as supported by the following references: • resistance to change: according to hiltz and hendricks (2019), "one of the biggest challenges in integrating new trends in graphic design curricula is the resistance to change from faculty and staff who may be comfortable with traditional teaching methods and content." • limited resources: kim and joo (2018) note that "integrating new design trends and technologies can be challenging due to limited resources, including time, funding, and access to new software and hardware." • lack of industry input: according to khaing, sein, and khaing (2018), "integrating new trends in graphic design curricula can be challenging if there is a lack of input from industry professionals, who can provide insights into the latest trends and technologies." • resistance from students: jibril and saidu (2019) argue that "some students may resist the integration of new trends in graphic design curricula, preferring traditional teaching methods and content." interrogating creativity and innovation in graphic design curriculum 130 • lack of teacher training: according to faisal, nasir, and ikram (2020), "integrating new trends in graphic design curricula can be challenging if faculty members are not adequately trained or experienced in the latest trends and technologies." conclusion graphic design curriculum standards provide a framework for designing and delivering courses in graphic design education. these standards help ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue a career in graphic design and help maintain the quality and relevance of graphic design education the integration of ar in graphic design has provided new opportunities for designers to create engaging and interactive designs. as the technology continues to evolve, we will likely see even more innovative uses of ar in graphic design in the future. the effectiveness of minimalism in creating clear and concise messages has been demonstrated through research, and its versatility in various design contexts makes it a valuable tool for designers. as sustainability and social responsibility become more important considerations in design, minimalism in design is likely to continue to be a popular and effective design approach. bold typography is a popular and effective design technique. its versatility in various design contexts, such as branding, marketing, and information design, makes it a valuable tool for designers. the use of bold typography can add impact, emphasis, and contrast to a design project, improving its readability, comprehension, and memorability. integrating these new trends in graphic design curriculum in nigeria poses several benefits respectively: keeping up with industry demands, improving creativity, enhancing relevance, meeting global standards and improving competitiveness, and challenges thus: resistance to change, limited resources, lack of industry input, resistance from students. inferring, and integrating new trends in graphic design curricula is essential for preparing students for the demands of the industry and ensuring that programs remain relevant and up-todate. it can also increase creativity and innovation, meet global standards, and improve graduates' competitiveness in the job market. references aina, s. o. (2013). graphic design education in nigeria: challenges and prospects. global journal of arts humanities and social sciences, 1(4), 30-38. armstrong, h. (2019). graphic design theory: readings from the field. bloomsbury visual arts. bell, r. l., chakraborty, g., & yu, r. (2018). the effectiveness of typeface design on brand perception. journal of advertising, 47(1), 35-49. doi: 10.1080/00913367.2017.1360571 chick, a., & micklethwaite, p. (2019). design for sustainable change: how design and designers can drive the sustainability agenda. routledge. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 131 elbaek, l., & olander, s. (2018). augmented reality in graphic design education: a study of the potential for developing creativity. the design journal, 21(1), 63-80. doi: 10.1080/14606925.2017.1343563 eppink, j. j., & toet, a. (2019). minimalist designs enhance processing of visual information. journal of cognition, 2(1), 1-8. doi: 10.5334/joc.56 faisal, m., nasir, a., & ikram, a. (2020). curriculum development for graphic design education in pakistani universities. journal of education and e-learning research, 7(1), 15-24. fernández-vara, c., & mateas, m. (2018). augmented reality in museum exhibits: designing immersive experiences that promote visitor engagement and interaction. in j. r. parker, d. wang, & j. lu (eds.), advances in computers and technology in education: volume 2 (pp. 137-148). springer. hiltz, a., & hendricks, j. a. (2019). integrating emerging technologies into the graphic design curriculum: a case study. international journal of technology and design education, 29(1), 23-38. international council of design. (2017). international design education standards: the first step to a common language for design education worldwide. retrieved from https://www.icod.org/images/strategic_priorities/ico-d_education_standards_2017.pdf jibril, a. b., & saidu, i. (2019). curriculum review of graphic design programme in nigerian tertiary institutions. journal of education and practice, 10(16), 22-31. khaing, m. h. y., sein, m. k., & khaing, k. m. (2018). the study of graphic design curriculum and pedagogy in myanmar universities. international journal of creative design and innovative technology, 7(1), 10-20. kim, j., & joo, y. (2018). an analysis of changes in graphic design curriculum trends: from convergence of media and technology perspectives. journal of open innovation: technology, market, and complexity, 4(2), 18. national board for technical education (nbte). (2016). curriculum for national diploma and higher national diploma in graphic design. abuja, nigeria. national universities commission (nuc). (2014). benchmark minimum academic standards for undergraduate programmes in nigerian universities: visual and applied arts. abuja, nigeria. nielsen, l. r., & stelter, r. (2017). design education for the 21st century: the urgent need for a broadened perspective. design issues, 33(1), 78-90. nigerian institute of graphic arts (niga). (n.d.). about niga. retrieved from http://niga.org.ng/about-us/ interrogating creativity and innovation in graphic design curriculum 132 ogbonna, e. j., & okwuagbala, c. n. (2020). graphic design education and training in nigeria: an overview. international journal of research and scientific innovation, 7(7), 32-36. rasmussen, m. k., & skov, m. b. (2018). augmented reality in print advertising: exploring consumer engagement and recall. journal of advertising research, 58(4), 446-457. doi: 10.2501/jar-2018-029 ugwu, c. c. (2018). the current state of graphic design education in nigeria. international journal of social sciences and humanities review, 8(3), 25-35. a gricean analysis of president muhammadu buhari’s channels tv interview chinwe udoh & vivian ejiaso abstract conversationalists are noted to cooperate in every interactive discourse situation they find themselves in, thus, the affirmation of the cooperative principle as propounded by the philosopher, paul grice. the essence of this is to have successful discourses. in being cooperative, speakers or writers are to adhere to the maxims of cooperative principle, but this is not always the case as there are instances of non-observance of these maxims which results in conversational implicature. it is said specifically that political discourses are enveloped with non-observance of maxims to achieve different socio-political goals of having them in political discourses. this study analyzes the interview of president muhammadu buhari in order to unveil the maxims of non-observance (flouting, violation and opting out of maxim) therein. eleven responses were randomly selected for this analysis. the study adopted the theory of cooperative principle and discovered that violations, flouting and opting out of maxims were used in order to structure the political discourse to achieve a desired goal. keywords: political speech, maxim, cooperative principle, political discourse, conversational implicature introduction language is a powerful means employed by humans in communicating their ideas, convictions, cultures and opinions. it is a tool used to convey information from one person to another; from generation to generation. in human relations, language is used in conversations basically to share ideas or pass on information. conversationalists, in conversations, try to meet the needs of the other participant(s) by cooperation. according to grice, for interlocutors to have successful conversation, they must make contributions as much as is required and try to operate in the “cooperative principle” in order to achieve frictionless communication. speakers in any specific sociocultural context based on discourse, are expected to employ the cooperative principles to achieve their goal(s). interviews are instances of conversation that involve conversational feature of adjacency pairs, which can be described as a pair of utterances where the second contribution is functionally dependent on the first, such as those found in a greeting or question-answer sequence (lambrou, 2014, p.143). interviews are instances of interactional discourse situations that involve two or more participants that take turns in contributing information for their conversational exchanges. interviews are also evident in political discourse. the interview of president muhammadu buhari is an instance of a political discourse. studies on political discourse have been in existence as researchers investigate the nature of political discourses. how political actors employ languagein such discourse situations and the effect, more or less, created by such discourse are also the goals of researchers. there has been little or no study that has been conducted to investigate the non-observance of gricean maxim of cooperation in the interview sessions of president muhammadu buhari. therefore, the researchers focus to explore the non-observance of cooperative principles maxims in the responses of the president of the federal republic of nigeria during an interview session. political discourse there exist different aspects of discourse such that it ranges from media to school to politics etc. in political discourse, which has to do with any “political actor” (graber 1981 cited in wilson 2001, p.398) – say,a politician, a government agency, a parliamentarian among others, language is a powerful means employed for communication and most especially to achieving a desired end. these “political actors” wield political power, which to igwedibia (2016,p.253) “has to do with the position of being in charge over people’s behavior, making decisions and controlling of general resources of society.” for paul chilton (2004, p.4) “language and politics are intimately linked at a fundamental level” and he further adds that “political activity does not exist without the use of language (60). this is to say that language plays crucial role in discourses of political nature. according to paul chilton as cited in igwedibia (2016,p.253), politics is “the art of governance and power” while language is “the universal capacity of humans in all societies to communicate.” cooperative principle it is generally assumed that in conversational exchanges, conversationalists cooperate with each other. gricean cooperative principle (cp) proposes that every conversation has a way in which to follow in order to be successful. the basic conversational principle that guides the pattern to follow for successful interlocution between interlocutors is the cooperative principle, which is why leech opines that “the cp enables one participant in a conversation to communicate on the assumption that the other participant is being cooperative” (1983, p. 82). according to grice as cited in thomas (1995, p.63) “without the assumption that the speaker is cooperating according to the cp, there is no mechanism to prompt someone to seek for another level of interpretation (of meaning)” conversationalists cooperate on the basis of assumptions which the cp suggests. cooperative principle, for mey (2001, p.72) is important because “otherwise communication would be very difficult, and perhaps breakdown altogether”. the cooperative principle is stated as follows: “make your conversation contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged” (grice, 1975,p.45). according to this gricean cooperative principle, four rules or maxims, which are conversationally based, that fall under the cp, are expected to be adhered to if the participants in interactional discourse are to cooperate with each other and these are called gricean maxims: quality maxim, relation maxim, quantity maxim and manner maxim. these maxims specify what participants in interactional discourses have to do in order to converse in a maximally efficient, rational, co-operative way: they should speak sincerely, relevantly and clearly, while providing sufficient information (levinson, 1983 p. 102). quantity maxim: this maxim has it that participants should make their contributions as informative as required for the current purpose of exchange in the discourse. it proposes that not too much nor too little of information should be provided, rather the exact or right information needed for that exchange should be provided. quality maxim: this proposes the truthfulness of one’s contribution in an exchange. here, participants in discourse should not say what is believed to be untrue or what the evidence for is lacking. maxim of relation: proposes being relevant in making contributions for exchanges. that is, participant in discourse should provide information that is relevant to the topic or subject matter of the discourse in question. manner maxim: this maxim proposes perspicuity. in any discourse exchange, this maxim says that information that is contributed should be clear, brief and orderly. thus, the information provided should be that characteristically marked by clarity, orderliness and brevity. when all the maxims are observed in interaction discourses, no implicature will be generated but when the maxims are not observed, conversational implicature will be generated. conversational implicature in making communicative contributions, speakers leave out most information implicit which invariably leads to other participant(s) making inferences to understand the meaning conveyed. this is the basis for implicature. in discourses, the non-observance or breaching of the conventional or prescribed rules or maxims of conversational cooperation: be truthful, be informative, be perspicuous, be relevant, results in what grice called conversational implicature. according to kempson as cited in ezeifeka (2018, p. 87) “conversational implicature of an utterance is, by definition, assumptions over and above the meaning of the sentence used which the speaker knows and intends that the hearer will make, in the face of an apparentlyopen violation of the cooperative principle, in order to interpret the speaker’s sentences in accordance with the cooperative principle”. conversational implicature are results of breach or non-observance of the cooperation maxims for successful conversations. they are generated or triggered by model users exploiting a maxim (fetzer 2011, p. 43). for grundy, conversational implicature arises because the addressee assumes that the speaker is essentially cooperative, despite flouting (non-observance of) a maxim, and must therefore be intending to convey an implied meaning (2008, p.98). he further says that implicature must exist in order to save such utterances (that raised implicature) from simply appearing to be a faulty contribution to a conversation (2008,p.98). the nonobservance of maxims could manifest in these forms: violation of maxim, flouting maxims, opting out of a maxim, infringing maxim and suspending maxim. violation of maxim maxim violation is one way of breaching the maxims for successful cooperation in interaction discourses. to violate maxims simply means to surreptitiously break the maxim which is unknown to the other participant. it is the intentional or deliberate act of participant(s) or a speaker to avoid adherence to the cooperation maxims in discourses. thus, maxim violation is an ostentatious observance. according to grice (1975,p.49) as quoted in thomas “violation” is the ostentatious non-observance of a maxim. if a speaker violates a maxim, s/he “will be liable to mislead” (1995, p.72). thomas further added that “violation means to say something that is ‘true’ in order to imply an untruth” (1995,p.74). when a speaker decides to be uncooperative, intentionally he/she fails to obey the maxims, thereby violating them. for lambrou (2014, p.143), violating a maxim is a situation “whereby the hearer is not aware that what is said is breaking the maxim, for example, by a speaker lying or changing the topic, so that they may be misled as a result”. for ezeifeka, “a speaker who lies, who deliberately sets out to deceive, or who gives information which he/she is not sure of, is violating all the maxims” (2018,p.84). it occurs when a speaker in a conversation intentionally tries to cause a certain level of confusion or misunderstanding to the addressee or when he or she wants to achieve a particular purpose in discourse (mangilaya, 2020, p.199). according to zebua, rukini and saleh (2017, p.104), speakers can be said to violate a maxim when they know that the hearer will not know the truth and will only understand the surface meaning of the words. flouting of maxim a maxim is flouted “when a speaker blatantly fails to observe a maxim, not with any intention of deceiving or misleading, but because the speaker wishes to prompt the hearer to look for a meaning which is different, or in addition to, the expressed meaning” (thomas, 1995,p.65). the participant in an interlocution does not deliberately want to flout the maxim but maxims are flouted in everyday conversation (ezeifeka 2018,p.81) because flouting maxims happens when a speaker intentionally exploits cooperative maxims in the assumption that the hearer can decipher the underlying meaning in the discourse. when maxims are flouted, the hearer or addressee, on the one hand, is aware that the maxim is being broken, and also, there is additional meaning that the hearer has to interpret. lambrou (2014, p.143), on the other hand, suggests the speaker “blatantly fails to observe a maxim at the level of what is said with deliberate intention of generating an implicature” (thomas 1995,p.65). infringing on a maxim to infringe a maxim is when a speaker who, with no intention of generating an implicature and with no intention of deceiving, fails to observe a maxim (thomas 1995, p.74). “when a speaker unintentionally fails to observe a maxim because of such factors as lack of sufficient knowledge of the subject matter, old age dementia, nervousness, lack of attention, drunkenness and other such extraneous factors beyond the speaker’s control, a maxim is infringed on” (ezeifeka 2018, p.85). this occurs when there is disability or problem in speaker’s utterance, even when intentionally the speaker does not want to make any implications. this usually manifests in situations where the speaker is a learner of a second language thus insufficiency in language competence and proficiency, or in children too. for mbisike (2021,p.164), in infringing the maxims, the speaker or writer unintentionally fails to observe the maxims due to inadequate capabilities and weak comprehension of the language. suspending a maxim when a maxim is suspended, the speaker has no obligation to observe the maxims and the hearers are not also expecting the maxims to be observed” (ezeifeka, 2018,p.85). for thomas (1995,p.77), suspension of maxims may be specific to culture or specific to particular events. opting out of a maxim: this is when the speaker indicates unwillingness to cooperate in interaction discourse. in opting out of a maxim, the speaker chooses to unwillingly cooperate in the way the maxims require and equally states categorically the choice for not cooperating” (ezeifeka 2018, p.85). for thomas (1995,p.74), “a speaker opts out of a maxim by indicating unwillingness to cooperate in the way the maxim requires”. this unwillingness maybe as a result of the position of the speaker in public life so for some reasons (maybe legal or ethical according to thomas 1995,p.74) she/he would not want to appear uncooperative or generate false implicature, or it may be that the speaker wishes to withhold some information that may hurt a third party if revealed. an instance is a priest who hears confession in confidence of the penitent, he will not reveal the information he got for reasons not to hurt the penitent. data the data that was used for this study is the samples of eleven responses of president muhammadu buhari in the interview session that was done by the channels tv on the fifth day of january 2022. this data was collected in order to explore some non-observance of maxims of cooperative principle as propounded by h.p. grice which, according to him, is important in order to have successful interactional discourse. methodology this study adopted a descriptive research design. this design was employed as it is considered most suitable and appropriate for this study. according to chukwuemeka (2002,p.34), descriptive research design is a “type of survey research that tries to unravel the essential elements or characteristics of any phenomenon… [and it is] concerned with the collection, presentation, analysis and interpretation of data for the purpose of describing practical beliefs, attitudes on-going process etc.” a qualitative approach was adopted for data analysis in this study. this helped in interpreting the diverse meanings generated by implicatures in the responses of president muhammadu buhari. synopsis of president muhammadu buhari’s interview with channels tv the president of the federal republic of nigeria, president muhammadu buhari, gives political speeches to nigerians mostly when occasions call for such or he engages in discourses of political nature, say interviews. political speech ranges from inaugural speeches, independenceday speeches and so on. this paper explores some of the comments/responses of president muhammadu buhari with channels tv during an interview session. the political discourse analyzed in this paper is the interview held by the channels-tv on the 5th of january 2022, wherein the president of the federal republic of nigeria was exclusively interviewed. it is the sole aim of this research to explore the language of politics, how the president communicates information to nigeria by non-observance of the maxims of cooperative principles and the resultant effects created by such political discourse. the president of the federal republic of nigeria does not usually grant interviews but he accepted to have one with the channels-tv at a very significant point in time for the nation. one would see the significance of his grant to have an interview at such a strategic time in the political history of the nation and when his tenure as president is coming to a close. there will be a presidential election in 2023 and parties avail themselves of any opportunity to promote or praise their political parties in order to win the minds of and have the votes of the masses. such conclusion could be deduced from the aforementioned turn of events in the political affairs of the nation. application of the theory of cooperative principles to buhari’s interview with channels tv on the 5th of january 2022 the gricean theory of cooperative principle, which suggests that in every human communication, interactants are expected to operate on the maxims of quality, quantity, manner and relation to have seamless interlocution was adopted for this study. going against or not observing these maxims of “cooperation” in communicative discourse engenders conversational implicatures. here, eleven utterance samples that showed non-adherence to the maxims of cooperative principles were brought to the fore in order to ascertain how politicians manipulate language to achieve their goals. in order to have near error-free sentences/utterances, the researchers corrected some errors in the transcript of president muhammed buhari (pmb)’s responses as seen via the link https://mandynews.com/buhari-interview-with-channelstv/ but not to alter the content or what his responses are. the contents of his responses were also supplemented with information from businessday through this link: https://businessday.ng/news/article/buharis-channels-televisioninterview/ conversation part one interviewer: “in your new year’s speech, and in that speech, you told, and i quote, the persistent insecurity in certain parts of the country may have threatened to unravel the incremental gains achieved. did you envisage the enormity of the task when you promise to tackle insecurity as president and commander-in-chief of our country?” pmb: “well, i think you can recall that uh when i was campaigning right 2015 there were three fundamental issues: security, economy and fighting corruption and for nigerians to be fair to this administration is to try to find out from the time we won the election in 2015 to now if the three promises we made: improving security improving the economy and trying to fight corruption well securing the country in the northeast. if you ask anybody from borno state, from yobe state, from adamawa state, there are a number of local governments about 18 that were in the hands of boko haram none of any(these) local governments now is strictly in the hands of boko haram or israel. so in that respect, we have done something the economy don’t forget and i challenge so many people to go and check with the central bank, cbn or nnpc the production from 1999 to 2014 was 2.1 million dollars a day average production at the average cost of a hundred american dollars per barrel. when we came somehow the militants were unleashed in the south-south, production went down to half a million dollars a day and i think as him by some fabulous coincidence the fries again collapse to about 37 dollars per barrel but look at which we did within the time frame and the resources available to us relative to the government we inherited.” analysis here, it is clear that the president flouted the maxim of relation in the sense that his response was irrelevant or not direct as contained in the question, which asked him if he foresaw the enormity of the task he would be faced with as he tackles the problem of insecurity in the nation. while answering, he also brought in enormous information about his campaign in 2015, cbn and nnpc productions which were not contributing to what is required for the current exchange, which flouts the maxim of quantity. also, the maxim of manner which projects brevity, clarity, orderliness and precision was flouted as the response of pmb was devoid of the quality of brevity, clarity and orderliness. despite the flouting of maxims, it could be implied that the pmb has achieved success in his administration as he tried to justify this by making reference to cbn, nnpc and the issue of security that has been solved in borno, adamawa and yobe states. conversation part two interviewer: “well, the economy and security are two very pressing areas, mr. president, and i’m sure that over and over again we’ll keep going there, you talked about how the militants were unleashed some people would say that president yar’adua also faced that crisis, uh, when he ascended uh when he became president, and that was one of the reasons why he had to, you know, to come up with the amnesty program but i’ll take you back again to security; you’ve spoken about the progress we’ve made in the northeast, and that is true the camps are being emptied; the northwest continues to be of concern where we see bandits, uh, you know, unleashed in many parts of the northwest, sometimes getting to the north-central of the country. would you say that we understand fully the problems we’re currently facing in terms of security in the northwest?” pmb: “in the northwest, is the same people, the same culture, stealing each other’s animals killing each other burning villages so i think the only language the unseen we discuss it thoroughly with the law enforcement agencies the service chiefs the inspector general of police is to go after uh you know the terrorists we level them terrorists and we are going to deal with them with such and i believe if you go to those constituencies in the northwest and north-central within the last four weeks, there are improvements in the security that is improving the skills.” analysis the maxim of relation was flouted as seen that the responses of pmb were a deviance from the topic of the question. he was asked if the problem in terms of security being faced in the northwest was fully understood in order to be able to proffer solution. instead of responding in the affirmative or negative, he talked off-topic. manner maxim on the other hand was flouted as clarity, orderliness and brevity were lacking in the response of the president which hindered cooperativeness. quality maxim was flouted as there were no evidence in the utterance of pmb to support his statement that security has been improved in northwest and north-central. also evident is the little information given, with regard to the question of if the problem of security in the nation is fully understood, which is against the proposition of quantity maxim; to give the right amount of information. despite the maxims flouting, the addressee understands that the problem is being understood which resulted in occasions of meeting to bring heads together and solve the problem. conversation part three interviewer: “you asked we’re persisting on the economy just for a few minutes you announced an economic projection plan that of lifting 100 million nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.mr. president where are we on that? how many people have been lifted out of poverty so far?” pmb: “i can’t tell you off-head, but i’m telling you that we are truly our nigerian population 35 years and below are the majority and they don’t care how government is going to make it let them get job for them but i’ve just told you that land only 2.5 percent of the arable land would learn is being cultivated so we are going to turn our attention for the time remaining for us to agriculture but clear land machinery and so on probably unfortunately that is political problem in the south there is problem of land ownership very serious one is based on families and the ruling classes and so on but luckily uh mostly in the north that all land belongs to government so government can take areas and so on. so, i think for the time remaining for us for those 17 months will turn a lot to agriculture.” analysis the response of pmb showed maxims flouts. maxim of quantity was flouted in that he gave too little information regarding the question of the number of nigerians that has been hoisted from poverty in the nation and too much information on that (about arable lands, agriculture, land ownership) which he was not asked. he flouted the maxim of manner as he did not adhere strictly to the sub-maxims rules of brevity and clarity. he was asked a very clear question which was to state the total figure of nigerians that have been helped to be out of being paupers. the maxim of relation was also flouted as it is overt that the president did not respond on-topic, which was to state where the country is in the economic projection to lift 100 million people of nigeria out of poverty, rather he deviated from the topic. the quality maxim was also flouted with regard to non-provision of the evidence to the data of the question that was asked, rather he provided the information on what is not in relation to the question. inasmuch as maxims were flouted in the utterance of pmb, the underlying meaning conveyed through his response is that efforts are made to secure lands in order to reinvest in agriculture thereby creating employment and avenues to lift people from poverty. conversation part four interviewer: i’d like to take you up on the issue of the chinese loans only because of your administration is the person the country is taking significant number of chinese loans and there is a possibility that we might be seeing the nation taking more to fix and build the much needed infrastructure in the country. there are fears that will be many quarters with these loans that the nations the nation nigeria might be being plunged into a dead trap. are we? pmb: well, we take that where it is necessary. i told you now of something that i’m sure you know what it used to be between lagos and the iranian not to call to the rest of the country but we’ve got the chinese to help us in the rain in the roads how can we turn that down? if we turn that down maybe between lakes inviting now you have to work so the chinese are welcome anybody that is prepared to come and help us our infrastructure has told you the roads the rail and power will be welcome.” analysis here, maxims of cooperative principles were flouted. the maxim of manner was flouted as in the comment of the pmb, the sub-maxims of brevity were not observed; he did not answer the question of if the country is being plunged into debt trap by his administration’s chinese loans. the quantity maxim was also flouted as little or no information was provided to the question he was asked about the fate of nigeria with the persistent chinese loans that his administration has got, while too much information was provided on road network construction which is irrelevant to the question, thus flouting the maxim of relation. in spite of the flouting of maxims of manner, quantity and relation, the speaker intends to convey the use of the chinese loans which has become of great importance in the nation’s road network creation especially in lagos. but his response did not specify how and when the loans would be paid and what fate nigeria has if it is not paid. conversation part five interviewer: “is it true, i mean because the farmers-herders this crisis um was one that was a big challenge a few years back and maybe a few months back as well it’s come down somewhat but some people are attributing it to the seasons. they think it’s about the weather and that now that we’re entering the peak of the dry season perhaps you could see a resurgence again. would you say that we have dealt with that problem once and for all or do you fear that it could rear its head again.” pmb: “we cannot do much about the weather but about the security, we have taken steps and we are seeing the results and we thank god for that. for the weather we can only pray and hope that the weather they are mentioning the climate change and so on nigeria we are very susceptible to such issues because of our population and the size of the country population is the size of the country” analysis maxim of relation was flouted because the response of pmb was not in any way related to the question of if the herders’ resurgence has been tackled or it would rear its head again. furthermore, the maxim of quantity was flouted as less information regarding the question, if there will be resurgence of herders or the problem has been dealt with, was given and too much that was irrelevant was provided. the manner maxim is flouted here because the response of pmb was neither brief nor orderly and it tilted towards ambiguity. quality maxim was also flouted as there is no evidence to support the statement of pmb that there are steps which have been taken to solve the issue of security. the meaning implied from the maxim flout is that the issue of weather is beyond what could be solved as it is unpredictable but that of security would be and some measures are being put in place to tackle it. conversation part six interviewer: “i made that reference to weather because you know people believe that when things get dry up north that’s why you begin to see the herders coming down south and that’s when we see the resurgence of the conflicts between farmers and herders so that’s why i made reference to the weather. do you think that that has been sorted once and for all?” pmb: “yes, the ministers of agriculture from out of auduogbe to mahmood now one of the issues i discussed with them personally is to go and get the gazettes of fast republic especially from the northern states there are certain rules and grazing grounds and the cattle rearers are confined to those areas those that go outside that one are arrested and farmers are encouraged to come and lay their claims if they don’t have the money their cattle were sold and the farmers are settled so we said we have to go back to the system again to try and make sure that we prepare the grazing areas, astronomers, windmills you know even veterinary developments (departments) so that the herders don’t stray into people’s farms and into the towns and so on so really we are working on that” analysis here, maxims were violated. the maxim of quantity was violated as too much information was provided with regard to the question of whether the issue of farmers-herders conflict would resurface. the manner maxim was also violated with non-adherence to brevity and clarity. pmb was not orderly in his response which also contributed in not being concise in his response. there exists speaker’s intended meaning which the addressee implies. from the responses, it could be inferred that certain measures are being set, such as rules of cattle grazing, reporting of damages made by herders on farmers’ lands etc., to ensure that the issues of conflict will be sorted out. conversation part seven interviewer: “the concern here, mr. president, is finding a lasting solution.what in your mind do you think can help bring a lasting solution to these issues: credit crime (herder’s crises) crises and issues of banditry?” pmb: “there is a problem of culture and from our culture, you have to study it to understand it the life of nomad herder though a lot of kids they depend entirely on them they sell the milk they sell the animals to pay tax and so on and by saying sugar or salt or something is the entire way of life so if those cattle who are taken away from them they normally become very wild because the only thing they know is a cultural problem and the way we it starts from the bottom upwards the leadership to make sure that the grazing areas and the water points are secure to them they don’t have to go through some people’s farm to go to the water points one say you have got 50 cows after eating grass they will just head where to drink” analysis maxims were violated here. the maxim of quantity was violated. there is evidence of too much information, that does not necessarily contribute to the question asked, that was given by pmb. on the other hand, this too much information further violates the maxim of manner as his response did not observe briefness to aid current exchanges. out of the pmb response, the utterance that reads “…leadership to make sure that the grazing areas and the water points are secure to them…” is relevant to the question of what he has in mind as a lasting solution to the issues of banditry and herders’ crises, therefore other utterances could be said to not be contributive for the exchange. inasmuch as maxims were violated, the speaker’s meaning of trying to justify the actions of the cattle rearersis implied and it is from the understanding of the way of life of the nomads that the solution to the issues of banditry and herders’ crises could be solved be solved. conversation part eight interviewer: “even governors, for example, suggested that we need to bomb these bandits in their forest. are you looking in that option uh a full military assault on them because what is on the minds of an average person in the northwest is to see a situation where these bandits are taken out totally? the kidnapping, the killings of innocent nigerians in that in that region” pmb: “well, i told you what we have done. we met at least uh four times with the sub’s chiefs and other law enforcement agencies each meeting taking at least four hours we have discussed thoroughly what to do with the situation luckily i have a military background from the civil war now so we discuss on what we understand and we try to secure and make it safe for the leadership at communities level because it’s very important the best intelligence you get it from the local leadership because they know who is who in their areas of responsibilities you have to you have to talk to them but you must make sure they are safe because the bandits or whatever you call them they can be a source of insecurity to them or to their members of the family and you are very conscious of that but i ask you to please try and check within the last six weeks and so that is an improvement in the north west and north central” analysis the response of pmb was not relevant to the question asked as such violates the maxim of relation. his response was very far from the question of if he would permit full military assaults on bandits. he rather responded on a different topic by mentioning his meetings with sub chiefs and the duration of the meetings and also his military background which are not in any way related to the questioned posed to him. too little information regarding the question was given by pmb which violates the maxim of quantity. quality maxim was also violated in that there was no evidence to support the claims of pmb that he held meetings with sub-chiefs and to support the improvement in north-west and north-central that he mentioned, for instance. more so, his response was ambiguous which violates the maxim of manner. in as much as there is nonobservance of maxims which came in the form of maxims violation, the addressees could deduce the meaning of president muhammadu buhari’s utterances which were implied. the implicature is that he would not want a full military assault of the bandits rather he has started working handin-hand with local chiefs and sub-chiefs in order to facilitate the tracking of such bandits since they are familiar with people in the territories or constituencies. conversation part nine interviewer: as much as i wanted us to move on from the economy and when i was asking the question about the chinese loans one we wonder where the nation was when you took over office in 2015: our debt stock at that time was about 12 trillion now it is about 32 trillion, inflation rate was about 90 it is now sitting about over 15 percent, unemployment rate was about 8.9 percent it is now 33.28, exchange rate was about 197 nah to a dollar is way over naira to a dollar so people will look back economically speaking and say look um before you took over office some of these indicators were fair and now the figures are not friendly at all.” pmb: well, i’m not sure how correct the calculations are but all i know is that we have to allow people to get access to the farms as i said we just have to go back to the land we have to go back to the land what we have done so far as i said we have achieved some successes and people ought to measure our successes vis-a-vis the problems when we started you have given your figures as you as you calculated but the important thing is this that uh the farms that you know produce uh machinery and so on tractors and so on we have to use the infrastructure and we have identified the infrastructure we need we have to make the real writing we have to make the roads and if you have listened to the minister works and housing how much of the roads we have built and rehabilitated and how much of the rail we have done and if you talk to the minister of transportation the planned transportation from lagos to ibadan then to the east then from port harcourt to maiduguri and then from here to kano and even up to up to niger. i think we need to appreciate what we have done with what we have within the time we have been here um maybe in 2014 and so on. i told you from 2014 to back to 1999 how much we are earning and the problem now petroleum industry is becoming more complicated and unreliable let me put it that way.” analysis maxims of cooperative principle were violated in the responses of pmb to the interviewer. the quantity maxim was violated as pmb did not give the exact information to the data about the state of the nation’s economy which were presented to him. he rather dwelt on the need to go back to agriculture, and made unnecessary reference to 2014 to 1999 state of the nation’s economy in comparison to his administration 2015 to 2022. his response was also irrelevant to the interviewer’s statement, thus violating the maxim of relation. he deliberately did not adhere to the maxim of relation as he tried to praise the success of his administration without doing justice to the question he was asked. the manner maxim was also violated in the sense that the statements of pmb was not brief, clear nor orderly. the implicature here is that the pmb administration has been working given his points on road networks creation, for instance. also, his response implies that the state of the nation’s economy in his administration is way better than what there was from 2014 to 1999 which means they have success to account for. conversation part ten interviewer: mr. president as we wind down now i don’t know i think that sometimes you must sit and reflect about when you know you tried many times to be leader of this country and you succeeded in the fourth attempt and i’m sure that you had your goals for this country when you had, when you ran for office the many times you offered yourself um when you think and look at where nigeria is and the way forward. do you fear for this country? do you fear for our oneness and our unity?” pmb: no, i don’t. i don’t, because to be frank with you, from 15th january 1966 i have been in all the trouble in this country including being in detention for more than three years. i think nigerians, they make noise. i think to get better deal but they know that we are better together than separate. i sincerely believe in that they are just yeah they just make noise so that they can get better ideas.” analysis here, pmb flouted the maxim of quantity that he provided too much information to the question he was asked; information that was not needed such as his time of detention. in the process of giving too much information, he also flouted the maxim of manner which upholds briefness and orderliness as part of its sub-maxims pmb continuously repeated pieces of information he had given which resulted in maxim of manner flout. although maxims of cooperative principles were flouted, there is meaning that underlies the utterance of pmb. by his response that nigeria is better off united than separated, he would not want any situation to give grant of secession to any group or tribe in the nation. more so, the nation will hold her presidential election and he would not want any state to break out in his administration. thus, he tried to defend the importance of the togetherness and his sweat or work towards it by mentioning his time of detention. conversation: part eleven interviewer: “you don’t have any favourite for 2023 in your party?” pmb: no, i wouldn’t because he may be eliminated if i mentioned. i better keep it secret.” analysis it is clear that the non-observance strategy adopted by the pmb is that of opting out of maxim and the reason for the unwillingness to cooperate is evidently presented in the structure his utterance took, which is not to hurt the person or cause the person’s death by revealing his identity. the implicature from this is that the president of the federal republic of nigeria has a candidate who he would want to vie for the presidency position in the forthcoming presidential election that will be in 2023. conclusion in every conversation, it is generally assumed that the interactants operate on principle of cooperation in order to have successful conversation in any discourse-specific contexts. the gricean cooperative principle upholds this and gives four super-maxims with submaxim(s) each that govern cooperation in conversation, but interlocutors are bound to ignore or not observe them this is prevalent in all human discourses. in political discourses, it is believed that “political actors” do not always abide by these maxims, and this generates implicatures. this study on political discourse revealed that the maxims of cooperation were flouted, violated and opted out, which invariably generates implicatures. thus, maxims of cooperation are non-observed or participants fail to observe them at times in their conversational discourses. references chilton, p. (2004). analyzing political discourse: theory and practice, routledge: taylor & francis group. chukwuemeka, e. o. e. (2002). research methods and thesis writing: a multi-disciplinary approach, hrv publishers, enugu, nigeria. ezeifeka, c. (2018). discourse analysis: concepts and approaches, awka: patrobas nigeria ltd. fetzer, a. (2011). pragmatics as a linguistic concept. in b. wolfram& r.n. norrick(eds.) foundations of pragmatics. berlin: walter de gruyter gmbh & co. pp. 23-50. grice, h.p. (1975). logic and conversation. in p.cole &j. morgan, (eds.). syntax and semantics. 3. newyork: academic press, pp. 41-58. grundy, p. (2008). doing pragmatics, (3rd ed). london: hodder education. igwedibia,e. a. (2016). analyzing the political speeches on “race and economic renewal in america” in the light of the theory of conversational implicature, mediterranean journal of social sciences, mcser publishing-rome-italy, 7 (3) si, doi_10.5901/mjss. 2016.v7n3sip53 wilson,j. the handbook of discourse analysis. d.schiffrin, d.tannen, and e. heidi (eds). usa: hamilton, blackwell publishers. lambrou, m. (2014). stylistics, conversation analysis and the cooperative principle: the routledge handbook of stylistics.m. burke(ed). https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315795331.cha8 leech, g. n. (1983). principles of pragmatics.new york: longman group limited. levinson, s. (1983). pragmatics. cambridge:cambridge university press. mangilaya, v.m. (2020). a rat in a maze: analysis of violation and flouting of maxims in margaret atwood’s the handmaid’s tale, journal of english education and applied linguistics. 9 (2) mbisike, r. c. (2021). a survey of infringements of gricean maxims in some perlocutionary inscriptions on medicine packets, journal of pragmatics, 3, (2), pp.160-172. mey, j. (2001). pragmatics: an introduction (2nd ed).usa:blackwell publishing. thomas, j. (1995). meaning in interaction: an introduction to pragmatics, routledge: taylor & francis group, london & new york, usa. zebua, esterani, divi rukmini &piursail saleh (2017). the violation and flouting of cooperative principles in the ellen degeneres talk show, journal of language and literature, 12 (1). sociolinguistic significance of names in igbo culture: the umuchu example afam ezechukwu abstract in nigeria, the igbo people of the south east have unique names. umuchu is one of the towns in igbo land. the indigenous or people of umuchu believe that a name has more than the attitude of ‘what-is-in-a-name’ that has destroyed that heritage through modernization and globalization. names to umuchu people are an embodiment of their mentality and life style which symbolically reveals their culture and sentiments, aspirations, beliefs, hopes, fortunes and values. this study examines umuchu names from ancient to present to ascertain the extent the names have changed because of western or european influence. this study also examines the naming conventions, values of life and love of life in comparison with the present trend of ‘modern’ names. it reveals that names are not ordinary tags or labels in umuchu but are tied to the bearer for life. the research method used in this study is the descriptive and survey approach using interviews. the findings of the research reveal that up until today, names in umuchu still have their original ideas and meanings hence they are much more than mere tags or labels or means of identification. it is recommended that parents and guardians should continue to give children names that are of great values because they have powers to ward off negative spiritual forces. finally, traditional names and naming in umuchu is a priceless heritage which is done according to the thoughts, beliefs, experiences and philosophy which guard and guide the namebearer to a successful life. key words: sociolinguistic significance of names; psychological effects of name on the bearer and spiritual effects of name on the bearer. introduction the history, philosophy and ideology of the igbo people are encapsulated in the name they bear which umuchu town is not exempted. a typical igbo name is not just seen as emblems or compulsory badges every person is expected to bear for identification. a name is as important as people’s history and umuchu people take pride in their history, culture and ancestry. according to umuchu people, names are used to examine the way igbo people view life in its completeness as they concern personal, family and general life experiences which most of the times have cultural and philosophical undertones. child naming is one of the important rites in african societies and umuchu in particular. names have meanings and may well identify the social, cultural, political, professional and religious background of the person bearing it as well as the person giving the name. names are not arbitrarily given but are sociocultural tags that function as communication tools which carry a variety of meanings. personal names are not just empty labels but are interpretations that parents, the extended family as well as the society give to their people. in support of this opinion, banki (1987) observesthat in many african languages, personal names have a strongopinion: “in many african languages, personal name have a strong, socio-cultural and ethno-pragmatic bearing that go beyond mere identity or preferentiality… what is obvious is that african names have strikingly semantic and semeiotic load. in other words, they have communicative functions. personal names in nigeria are multifunctional despite their mono-referential status” (p. 46). the branch of onomastics that deals with the study of personal names including their etymology, root meaning and forms is anthroponomy. anthroponomy identifies, specifies and differentiates between names of members of a group of individuals. it defines a name as a word by which an entity is identified, designated and distinguished from another, agyekum(2006pp.206235). according to ubahakwe (1981,p.27) ‘an indigenous african name of the whole personifies the individual, tells some story about the parents and or the family of the bearer, and in a more general sense points to the value of the society into which the individual is born. previous studies on names based on available literature, a number of studies have been conducted on igbo anthropomyms. they include ubahakwe (1981and 1982), ezenwa-ohaeto (2021) and onukawa(1982), which also form part of igbo name. a close look at first names in igboand umuchu in particular indicates that every personal name is motivated by one situation or another which point to the meaning of the names. hence, names and naming has come to stay as far as there is birth. though so many have studied names in different shades as already seen but none covered the area under study, therefore, this study is novel because it has given attention on sociolinguistic significance of names in igbo culture: an umuchu example. this study hopes to cover a significant gap and contribute to knowledge as it will complement available studies on igbo names in nigeria and umuchu in particular. the sociolinguistic significance of names will be studied under the following subheadings: psychological effects of a name on the bearer, spiritual effects of a name on the bearer, relationship between name and language and socio-cultural analysis of names. is there any relationship between names and languages? there is a relationship between igbo names and igbo language. this is because names are expressed through spoken and sign languages, which igbo people use for the expression of their thoughts, beliefs and daily practices as well as experiences that have their philosophy and culture. names are the vehicle which carries the weight of their cultural linguistic burden. the meanings of igbo names are reflected in the culture of the igbo people which makes the names to be appreciated. according to mcphenon (2009, p. 532)“…when names are not used properly, language will not be used effectively, when language is not used effectively matters will not be taken care of…. thus, when the exemplary person puts a name to something it can certainly be spoken, and when spoken it can certainly be acted upon”. this shows a shift connection between names, language and the people’s culture. names perform the role of vehicle which carries the weight of their culturelinguistic burden of the people. it carries meaningful language of the people which itsmeaning is mainly derived from linguistic rules governing the use of words. owing to the fact that igbo names are inherently meaningful, most of them turn to be complete sentences in themselves, thus: 1. ihedikachukwuadighi – there is none like god. 2. kwenyerechukwu – believe god / agree with god 3. marachukwu – know god. 4. febechukwu – worship god. 5. so chukwu k’anyi ma – only god we know 6. chim-bu-odogwu – my god is a warrior. 7. chimzuruoke – my god is complete. 8. chimemezugo – my god has completed it. religious and cultural identity of umuchu the people of umuchu believe in the existence of a supernatural force controlled by good and bad spirits. like in most religions, their belief system is equally hinged on superstition which is often seen in good and bad omens. there was also the existence of ancestral worship which was a traditional religious practice that involved the worship of the dead relatives. in social science, identity is seen as the way that individuals label themselves as members of a particular group. therefore identity simply mean who, you are, a condition of being a certain person from a certain area. it is who you are, if a person asked you who are you, definitely, what comes to mind is that the person wants to know the name and other variables that will identify you. culture reflects the identity of a people, the people, values and beliefs. it influences the nature, values and beliefs. it is the foundation of each specific ethnic group which the specific value and beliefs from previous generation will pass to the subsequent ones like in the area under study. it is not only encompasses the external aspects of a person’s life but also influences beliefs as well as the shared value of (umuchu people) that shapes the way a person thinks, behaves and views the world. it is people’s way of life that incorporates the totality of what they are. naming is a vital aspect of people’s cultureumuchu inclusive. naming is what identifies an individual from umuchu and makes him outstanding among others. in other words, it is a person’s identity. socio-political significance of ancestor worship in umuchu the people of umuchu believe that death does not separate the dead from the living. the dead are believed to live in communities in a sub-terrain region which is the counterpart of their earthly abode. from there, they communicate with their earthly relations and interceded on their behalf against the wrath of the gods. the living reciprocates by making sacrifices of food and drinks to those ancestral spirits. umuchu people believe that ancestors oversee the conduct of the living and it made them abstain from some negative behaviour for fear of incurring their wraths. this link between the living and the dead further explains the people’s belief in reincarnation. socio-linguistic significance of names the school of thought that believes that a name is just a name which william shakespeare belongs, maintain that there is nothing special in a name, but the first piece of information we have about a person is his name. it’s often the first thing you learn about someone with which we form judgments about people very rapidly. this first information is very important in such a way that it can lead one in a positive or negative direction, which can also set the stage for future interactions. also, there is this expression that says: your name is you. your name speaks for you. this expression means that a name an important part of a person. umuchu people express their experiences: fear, anticipation, joy, terror, belief and unbelief of frustration, disaster, and anguish about life through names. through names, igbo people expose the state of their inner selves, igbo names are characteristically contextual, ideological and historical. they represent significant element of a person and or family and serves as a perpetual mark in the history of the house, (ezenwaohaeto, 2021,p.14). igbo names are used as pointers, labels, that designate the bearers and there are also some relationship between some igbo names and reputation. above all, the fact remains that names have meanings amongst the umuchu people and names are used as storehouse of experiences and belief. in umuchu, parent or name giver gives names to his child to reply his or her neighbour’s mockery. such naming has allusive connotation. for example; ‘chinasaramokwu’god replies my mockers. this may be from a motherwho has a delay in child birthfor a long period after her marriage, which her follow women kept mocking her until the baby girl arrived to her mother’s relief. others are: ‘emeremgini’what have i done?; ‘emereuwaonu’do not boast over good fate of the world; ‘obumnaeke’am i the creator?; ‘obumneme’am i the doer? parents or name givers also give names that are ego boosting in recognition of the incomparable gains of kinship hence, ‘izukammananneji’no relationship/bond is stronger than that of siblings; ‘somadina’may i not live alone or i am not alone. psychological effect of a name on the bearer: there is a deep psychological effect of names on the bearer which could either be positive or negative. a person’s name according to deluzain (1996) has an impact in building his or her self image or concept. according to psychologists, names determine the messages name givers send to the child. they go further to explain that these messages are very subtle, but sometimes they take the form of jokes, teasing and even ridicule especially within the peer group. at best, the joking and teasing can make the child’s self conscious about their names and reluctant to have any contact with other children out of fear of being cajoled. at worst, especially when insensitive adults think the joke and nicknames are funny and actually use them too, it can undermine healthy personalities. if a child had a name that encourages his peers to jeer at him or her, makes his peers jeer or like him or her, it will make the child build a negative or positive self concept.in support of the above, seeman(1980,p.129 asserts that“ethnic tradition, religion and ancestry, gender, social class, birth other; physical appearance, time and place of birth, rearing all contribute to a sense of identity. although identity is a complex concept… many of its attributes can be telescoped into a single morpheme-the name given to a child at birth”. spiritual effect of a name on the bearer the spirit behind a name follows the bearer. names do not only possess unseen powers; they also behave like words of power used to influence the mind, body and spirit according to school of thought. another school of thought believes that ‘a good name can bring a harmonies flow of sound current or word of powerto our professional and personal life and simultaneously inviting the inflow and outflow of god’s bounty/blessing. with a full understanding of the power of the spoken words, name givers can choose names that will bring or attract blessings to the bearer. furthermore, because the spirit behind a name follows the bearer, therefore name givers should always give names that should be beneficial to them, the syllables of a person’s name do not only hold a reinforcement of sound that is sweet to the ear only but also has a meaning that defines one also. as surname remarks heredity, proper name is a stamp of identity. name contains treasure and that treasure is in its meaning asumuchu people believe. theoretical framework the theoretical framework of this study is anchored on john staurt mill’s (1964) distinction between denotation and connotation, which was endorsed by mostly western onomastcians that have approved mill’s terminology by shifting from the connotation and denotation distinction to an opposition between two categories of meaning thus; the lexical meaning and the onomastic meaningmeaning of names. in turn, this opposition is dependent upon the division between the two dimensions of language: the body of proper names and the body of words that constitutes the rest of the language. this classification is of the opinion that proper names are typically devoid of any lexical meaning. even when a lexical meaning of a name is acknowledged, it is done as the onomastician’s construct rather than the actual property of the name. according to botman (2006) ‘the meaning of african names is summarized in a cluster of three categories of meaning, the lexical meaning, the onomastic meaning which is anchored on each tradition of naming practices and the socio-pragmatic that is centred on the cultural knowledge of the onomastic code of conduct.the interpersonal relationship partners of the onomastic communication, and the situational contexts that generate communication.names are not just ordinary lexical label rather of more importance is the use of their meaning in day to day practices. methodology data for the study were randomly selected from different families in umuchu through interviews and observations. sociocultural analysis of the umuchu names: umuchu names are unique and different in their sound, structure, forms and meaning. this section is on the breakdown of the nature of umuchu names. the names discussed in this section are traditional and contemporary umuchu names and will be discussed under the following subheadings: circumstantial names theophoric names fatetied name social circumstance temporonym circumstantial names these are names based on circumstances surrounding the birth of a child. examples are: i. ahamefuna: may i not lose my name: interpretation: prayer from parents that have suffered or experienced delayed child birth. ii. chukwudumogu: god leads me in battles or fight. interpretation: parents naming their child after a long fight against lack of conception was finally won with god’s help. iii. ekpereka: prayer is greater iv. interpretation: parents who suffered severe difficulties before conception/ delivery which was won through prayers. v. chikaodiri: it is left for god : interpretation: the circumstance that surrounds the conception of the child is only left in god’s hand. vi. ogechukwu: god’s time: interpretation: god’s time is the best, after all struggles it finally happened at god’s own time. vii. obioha: the heart of the people/ people’s need interpretation: many people willed and desired that the child should come and eventually it happened. viii. maduonaenye: if it were up to man to give kids… interpretation: childlessness makes parents give this name that if humans give children, no one would have. ix. chimaobim: god knows my mind: interpretation: family saying out of circumstances that surround the child’s birth that it is only god that knows the heart not man. x. chinazaekpere: god answers prayers: interpretation: a child conceived/born as a result of answered prayer. xi. okwudirichukwu: leave every dispute for god. interpretation: after experiencing mockery from friends and family members. xii. chimzurum: my god is sufficient for me. interpretation: after several horrible experiences such as confusion of hidden pregnancy, missing items/ utensils. xiii. uzoma: good way: interpretation: from parents that have experienced difficulties in their journey of life and now have a better life. xiv. rapuruchukwu: leave everything to god interpretation: from parents that have beenmocked, cajoledand accused of many ills. xv. nzubechukwu: god’s will interpretation: parents accepting the gift ofa child as the total will of god for them against their own wish or choice. xvi. ngozichukwuka: god’s blessings are greater interpretation: blessings from god are the greatest, and, the child should also be a blessing to them and the world. theopheric names these are those names given to children to reflect the religious belief of the parents or the name giver, faith of a people is enshrined in the name they give their children in umuchu. it may either be faith in god or deity they ran to during their period of agony. a. anaelechukwu: looking unto god: interpretation: looking unto god for solution to life’s problem. b. onyedikachukwu: who is like god? interpretation: parents showing their faith in god and expressing that nobody is like him. c. echezonachukwu: never forget god: parents showing their total commitment togod and promising not to forget him d. ikemdinachukwu: my strength is in god: interpretation: parents showing their source of strength in god alone. e. chinedum: god leads me interpretation: through the name a family shows that god leads them. f. chidinma: god is good interpretation: an expression of the goodness of god g. mmesomachukwu: god’s kind/ good gesture: interpretation: family expressing the goodness of god to them in all odds. h. ekenedirichukwu: thanks be to god interpretation: name giving to appreciate god for his benevolence to the parents of the child. i. oluomachukwu: god’s good work interpretation:it is only god who does good work. j. jesunaachi: jesus is the king/ ruler interpretation: parents stressing on the kingship of god as the supreme god. k. chukwudalu: god, thank you/ thank you, lord interpretation: family expressing their gratitude to god for the gift of a child. l. eberechukwu: god’s mercy interpretation: parents showing that this gift shows god’s mercy towards them not that they merited it. m. ochezechukwu: god’s throne interpretation: this child should endeavour to be righteous because she is god’s seat/ dwelling place. n. oluebubechukwu: wonderful work of god interpretation: parents showing that this gift is god’s miracle. o. sochukwuma: only god knows/ only god understands how the child was born: interpretation: parents saying that their faith is in god alone and only he knows about them. p. chukwunenye: god gives interpretation: children are gift from god. fate-tied names: these are names that were given according to the fate of the parent for the child: a. ifeoma-iheoma: good/beautiful things interpretation: usually a female name showing that the child is a good thing. b. nkiruka: the future will be better/best interpretation: family saying, no matter the present circumstances, tomorrow or the future will be better. c. ogoamaka: generosity is good interpretation: encouraging to continue being generous.. d. akuabata: wealth has come interpretation: from a father who welcomes his first daughter. adaeze: princess: often to a first daughter of a king. e. chibuuzo: god first/god is the head interpretation: parents pointing that it is god who leads. f. onyemaechi: who knows tomorrow, it is fate-tied. g. obioma: kindheart interpretation: parents showing that it is god’s kindness that pays and as such telling the bearer to be always kind. h. chekwubechukwu: hope in god interpretation: parents saying that their only hope is in god. i. okwuchukwu: god’s word/ prophecy interpretation: parents showing their dependence on god’s word and telling the bearer of the name to live by the word of god. j. febechi: continue to worship god interpretation: parents telling the child to continue to worship god that he /she came through the worship of god. k. daberechi: depend on god interpretation: parents disclosing their total dependence on god who gave them victory. social circumstances these are names given to a child to mark social circumstances of one’s personality or achievements. these are some of the social circumstances of naming in umuchu: ego booster, supremacy of child over other things, supremacy of kinship, supremacy of gender and others 1. in umuchu parents give some names as ego bolster to assert their intellectual higher social class which they enjoy over their rivals examples: ugooji: an iroko tree that stands out. agunaechemba: a lion that guides a town. 2. another social circumstance that manifest in umuchu names is supremacy of child over any other thing, in which children enjoy wealth as in the following: onweremadu: he that has people is more than riches. madukaejiaka: it is in people that one is greater. madukaku: people are more than riches/wealth. 3. another is recognizing the incomparable benefits of kinship through children, thus: somadina: may i not live alone. ikwuka: kinship is supreme. other names given according to social circumstances in umuchu are: a. nneka: motherhood is supreme interpretation: pointing to the greatness of a mother and showing her importance in a family. b. omumuamaka: children are good interpretation: parent showing their pride in their children as important/ integral part of their wellbeing. c. omekannaya: one who behaves like the father interpretation: a father showing his strength in his child and sees himself in the child. d. ikemefuna: may my strength not get lost interpretation: from parent praying that their effort should not get lost. e. ihunanya: love interpretation: it is true love of god that one survives not by strength or struggle. f. ikenna: father’s strength/wealth interpretation: parents telling the child that he is a son of their youthfulness. g. nkemdirim: let mine remain for me interpretation: parents telling fate to leave theirs for them usually after experiencing great losses/ setbacks. temporonym: these are names given in reference to the period of birth, or an event of the community or family. a. obiageriaku: whoever comes/is born will enjoy wealth interpretation: parents insinuating that the child that came during the time of affluence. b. obiarananma: one who arrived at the right time interpretation: the child came at the appropriate time when everything is right. c. obianuju: a child that came in the midst of plenty /came in the midst of plenty interpretation: that one who came in the midst of plenty at the pick of their high social status. d. aghaegbunam: may the battle of life not kill me interpretation: telling the child that he was born in the midst of war but he survived. in umuchu, some names reflect social, political and religious circumstances that surround one’s birth. some of the names are: ndukwe or ndudi: if life permits. these names demonstrate that life determines whatever a man does. ndukaku: life is worth more than wealth: precious of all riches to be possessed by man. this does not mean that the igbo (umuchu) people do not search or struggle for wealth, but the point is any pursuit of wealth that puts life in danger is totally discouraged because nduadighiabuo – life has no duplicate. onwubiko/ onwuhara: death, please: it is a kind of prayer and request for death to spare someone’s life. for a family that has sadly witnessed the death of a number of her children such a name is for any subsequent surviving child. it demonstrates also a kind of disgust over the painful effect of death. ozoemena: may it not happen again: it has almost the same meaning/ implication as onwubiko; a prayer that death may not strike again because life is preferred to death. onwudiwe: death is wicked, merciless/wrathful if death is so, then life is therefore seen as kind, good, lovable and to be desired above all. for the people of umuchu, good life must be loved and death dreaded. however, in as much as they manifest value for life through their names, the sight of the fact that life is absolutely a gift from god is never lost. that is why they have such names as: chinenyendu: god gives life god is seen as the source and giver of life and no other. chinwendu: god owns life and not man. he gives at will to whom he wills. chikwendu: god permits life. if god permits we shall live and achieve our goal. ndudinakachukwu: life is in the hands of god and never in men or riches. it is often shortened as “nakachi” chibundu: god is life; an identification and personification of god with and as life, hence, the need for complete respect for life. tochi, kelechi: praise god/ thank god for the gift of life, praise him for same. conclusion: from the above, the researcher concludes that igbo names in umuchu are not merely nominal. they contain and convey values. therefore, to the people of umuchu names are the epitome of the bearer or family’s genealogy which mirrors the values of the society as well as the attatchment to the bearer. it serves the purpose of preserving and maintaining the historical event, a link between the past in relation to the present and possibly helping in the future action of the bearer. the researcher finds that names children bear are as a reflection of their parents’ thought and life’s pains. a good name is of great value to umuchu people, they are not collected from a book. they are from imagination of the heart and are created from events and situations. hence, they are innumerable.a good name has great powers to fight all negative forces that surround the bearer every day because name follows the bearer, therefore, the force of a good umuchu name is more powerful and prevailing than negative force, umuchu people should continue to make good use of them and refuse to allow the changing world around steal their priceless heritage in naming (their) children according to belief, experience and philosophy, which have powers to ward off negative force. references agyekum, k. (2006).the sociolinguistic of akan personal names. nordic journal of african studies, 15(2)-206-235. batoma, a. b.(2009). onomastics and indirect communication among the kabre of northern togo. nordic journal of african studies. daris, a. w.(2005).non-descriptive meaning and reference: an ideational semantics. oxford: oxford university press. deluzain, h. e. (1996). names and personality. home articles. https://wwwbehindthename.com/ articles/2.php. essien, o. (2004). naming in nigeria: an exploration of enterprise amongsome ethnic groups. in language and culture in nigeria: a festschrift for okon essien. by n.ozo-mekuri. (ed). port-harcourt: national institute for nigerian language and emhai printing. ezenwa-ohaeto, n. (2021). afamefuna: an encyclopedia of igbo names. nigeria: anchor publishers. ezegwu, j. personal interview. 09 march, 2022. seeman, m. v. m d.(1980). name and identity.canadian journal of psychology 25, no 2. ubahakwe, e. (1981).igbo names: their meanings and their structure. ibadan. daystar press. ………………..(1982).the culture content of igbo personal names. in f.c.ogbalu and e.n. emenanjo, (eds) igbo language and culture. vol 2 onitsha: university press ltd. yule, g. (2014). the study of language. cambridge: cambridge university press. mbonu, c.(2010).hand maid: the power of names in theology and society. oregon: wip and stock publishers. kripke, s. k.(1972).naming and necessity. cambridge, mass: harvard university press. onwuka, p.(2021). personal interview. 26 december, (2021). insult terms against women in nollywood movies chinyelu nwaenyi abstract this descriptive study tries to explore insult terms against women to investigate how these insult terms represent women in the selected nollywood movies using sara mills’ feminist stylistics (1995) approach. the objective of the study is to investigate the characteristics of insult terms used by the characters, what the components of these insult terms are and their effects on the female characters. it used qualitative methodology to investigate the phenomenon and data were collected by observing and taking note of insult terms in the selected nollywood movies between the year 2017 and 2020 by purposive sampling technique. the movies are intervention, sex and love, isoken, jenna, sophia’s heart, gold statue and love you two. the findings revealed that insult terms against women are common in nollywood movies. the study concluded based on the findings that the users of language should be made conscious and aware of the dangers of insult terms which can lead to negative results. it recommended among other things the need to change these representational practices in order to bring about a change in the thinking of the people. keywords: feminist stylistics, insult terms, language, nollywood, movies, introduction gender discrimination in language has different manifestations in different historical periods and cultures. language as a part of culture and society is the main means of learning culture. people use it to express, share and disseminate their thoughts and experiences. many degrading words for women insult them directly (for instance, slut, bitch, frigid, twat,cunt,prostitutes, etc) by referring to them sexually or in terms of appearance, and there are more of such terms for women than for men (cameron, 1992) which can be as a result of patriarchal institutions. patriarchal society gives absolute priority to men and to some extent, limits women’s human rights also. it is a system whereby women are kept subordinate in a number of ways. this subordination takes various forms, for instance, discrimination, disregard, insult, control, exploitation, oppression, violence, within the family, at the place of work, and in society.inclusive languageis thus championed in the name of shifting from the gendered nature of language, and the unequal gender relations it is constantly conveying, to a gender-neutral version. insults are an interesting linguistic phenomenon, representing the diachronic of language change, especially regarding semantics. an insult can be said to be a disrespectful abusive remark.insult terms are abusive terms used by males, in particular, to undermine, derogate or marginalize females. they are directed at a particular person, usually to refer to females as less than human.through verbal abuse, insult terms are oriented “toward frightening, intimidating, and silencing the other” (megarry 2014:p.50). they have the basic intention of hurting the target emotionally as well as manipulating existing words to add explicit overtones. according to ivanishcheva, bolgova, shadrina, gushchina and nikonov’s (2018:p.217), insult term has three features: “focus on humiliating honour and dignity, the indecent form and deliberate nature of the act”. they are of the view that an addressee of insult receives a negative characteristic, which is expressed in an indecent form. in other words, “when insulting someone, a speaker wants to get the addressee’s reaction and wants to confirm or improve his or her status” (ivanishcheva etal, 2018:p.217).thus, women are more likely to be on the receiving end of insult terms than men. a word or phrase can be said to be an insult when it is disproportionately applied to a member of a particular gender, and which generally bears some connection to societal expectations or norms placed upon that gender.in other words, it is understood as the humiliation of the honour and dignity of another person, which is expressed in an indecent form. when a speaker uses insult, that speaker invokes not only the lexical meaning of the word, but also the hearer's past experiences of hearing the word. the use of a word constitutes an act of affiliating oneself with the group of people who generally use that word—it follows that if a word is saliently associated with a group of people or a history that is considered to be sexist, then the use of that word may be considered an act of sexism.certain words are simply deemed to be more insulting when attributed to women than when attributed to men. this is not surprising, particularly when it comes to words that denote sexual promiscuity or aggressiveness. scholars are of the view that, not only that certain terms are more insulting when applied to a particular gender, but also that insults behave differently depending on the speaker’sgender. words such as ‘bitch’, ‘prostitute’, ‘slut’, ‘whore’ are used in order to affirm the idea of male domination over women and show their inferior position. these terms consider women as shallow and trivial.moreover, given the findings of preston and stanley (1987), terms denoting promiscuity are almost exclusively used to refer to women. words like ‘ugly’ and ‘fat’ (which are frequently used in a disparaging manner) depict physical unattractiveness and in insulting contexts, both terms are used primarily for women.a word like ‘frigid’is used against women to derogate them on the basis of perceived sexual inflexibility. if one is to assume that the ways various groups are derogated reflects cultural norms and expectations pertaining to those groups, then this pattern may be seen as evidence of a larger cultural pattern through which different expectations are placed on the sexual behavior of women. words such as ‘nag’, ‘bossy’ and ‘clingy’ are not left out. these words are used against womenboth in insulting and deprecating contexts. the word ‘nag’ particularly applies to someone referred to as a wife, mother, or where there is intimate relationship between the speaker and the target of the term. with insult terms, women are disproportionally targeted. the root causes of this are fundamentally linked to the persistent unequal power relations between women and men. it is a form of violence against women and girls that perpetuates and exacerbates gender inequality. in fact, every woman and girl is a potential target of insult terms. these insults terms often take place when women stand against discriminatory or traditional cultural and religious beliefs or customs. they can harm directly or indirectly, or even both. they may directly offend, denigrate, humiliate or frighten the persons they purport to describe or harm indirectly and with equal or even much greater brutality by motivating others to think and act against the persons in question.insult terms take place in all forms of social interaction such as at school, in the family, in social circles, in the public space, at work, via emails, websites and media especially movies. this paperexamines insult terms against women in seven nollywood movies since movies are a picture or reflection of everyday human life. the purpose is to identify and analyse insult terms against women as used by the characters in the movies. nollywood movies film, as a powerful instrument used for shaping and re-shaping individuals and the society at large, has grown very influential. krings and onome (2013: p.75) observe that the term ‘nollywood’ describes the “entire nigerian film industry and the entire video film industry”.marston, woodward, and jones(2007:p. 54) equally describe it as the popular title for the nigerian film industry, noting clearly that its videos are “produced in many of the 250 tribal languages in nigeria, though yoruba, igbo and english are numerically dominant”.in the same vein, haynes and okome (2000) submit that nollywood film content draws from popular imaginations that give it popularity among the masses.being a visual medium, the audience’s interest is primarily sustained by what they see in the film and not necessarily the story. considering the kind of issues treated in these films which permeate the thoughts of its audience, propelling them to reason alongside the filmmakers’ views of their environment and behaviour, social change is unarguably catalyzed. thus, the primary goal of this study is to examineinsult terms against women in selected nollywood movies since movies are reflections of the way society works. the growth of insult terms against women have inspired serious harm in several ways which are disseminated by many means which include media especially movies. the male dominant language used in movies has made women the target of discrepant. it is noted that in most of the nollywood movies, the language used is pervasively gendered, which selects or carries ideological constructs of the community. the language is discriminative and biased. women receive no better treatment in the language they are addressed by. in other words, such language is used to mute women when they appear to challenge traditional male roles which are manifested through the language the characters, males in particular, use in the movies since the language pervades patriarchy ideologies and hence continues to subjugate women to continue obeying the male dominant system. insult terms have received relatively little empirical attention in nollywood movies. thus, to address this gap, the researcher undertakes a descriptive approach in examining insult terms used against women in selected nollywood movies.therefore, this paper seeks to answer the following questions: i. what are the characteristics of insult terms used by the characters? ii. what are the components of these insult terms? iii. what are their effects on the female characters? literature review bruti (2009) explores the frequency of prototypical structures and lexemes for compliments and insultsin the pavia corpus of film dialogue. she concludes that for insults, the picture is more complex as mismatches in translation occur in all classes. the most common ones are especially shifts in register and style, in particular in racial insults, where deviance may alter the picture of the whole social network. pardo (2015) analyzes the insults in quentin tarantino’s films and their translation into spanish by highlighting the possible problems when translating insults into spanish, providing specific examples in english of the insults collected from the seven films (reservoir dogs, pulp fiction, four rooms, jackie brown, kill bill vol i and ii, death proof and inglorious basterds), and concludes that from a linguistic perspective, the defining characteristic of tarantino’s films is the ability to introduce bawdy language in every film bypassing american censorship. corrizzato (2015) compares the original version of the screenplay of the film bamboozled (2000) with the italian dubbed text, offering an analysis of forty-four compliments and forty-four insults. the findings demonstrate that the contrastive analysis demonstrates that the most noteworthy discrepancies between the scripts are due to the transposition of lingua-cultural elements. moreover, while the illocutionary force of dubbed utterances often coincides with the original, slang expressions and sub-standard linguistic traits are almost always weakened or neutralized. pavesi and formentelli (2019) focus on two major categories of insults and explore contrastively their overall frequency across languages in films, the distinction between genuine and mock impoliteness and the structural complexity of forms. the results substantiate the function dubbing serves in cross-cultural mediation by activating an array of frames of reference that allow the new receiving audiences to experience foreign communication practices from their native language perspective. theoretical framework this study adopts the theoretical framework of sara mills’ (1995) approach to examine the insult terms and also the effect of the usage of these insult terms toward the female characters.this theory was proposed by mills to prove how women are often marginalized in social life even in movies. in the modern world, our actions and thinking are greatly influenced by the characters in the media.among these, the movies hold a prominent position.feminist stylistic approach deals with the representation of women in a text, but for the sake of this study, movies would be used in place of texts.mills (1995) believes that the media is not neutral. it is affected by the position of power around it, that is, the text (movie) might represent female as object due to male domination over the text (movie) creation.mills (1995) asserts that while constructing their characters, the writers (producers) make their linguistic choices in connection with gender stereotypes. she views characters as nothing more than words that are constructed and understood on the basis of different stereotypes that exist about men and women in society. in this way, mills (1995) finds that characterization, language and gender are interconnected. feminist stylistics provides us with such tools that could uncover the hidden bias in characterization. through texts (movies), the writer (producer) can also communicate to the readers (viewers) and introduce a certain ideology without having a direct contact because “texts are invaded by the social cultural norms, by ideologies, by history, by economic forces, by fashion, by gender and racial stereotyping, and so on”(mills 1995:p.157) . however, this does not mean that the writer (producer or script writer) does not have any power or control over their work rather they are subject to the interaction with those forces. through analysing the language that is used in the texts (movies), the readers (audience) understand the meaning beyond the lines. here, the viewers’ expectations, their values, political affiliation, belief and norms play an important role in presenting a movie to the audience. mills (1995) proposes three levels of analysis: word level analysis which focuses on sexist language and its meaning in the movie, sentence level analysis which looks at naming, ready-made phrases, metaphors, transitivity choices, jokes or humour that carry ideology that look down on females, and discourse level analysis which scrutinizes the character or role, fragmentation, focalization and schemata. feminist stylistics is mainly concerned with the analysis of how feminist ideology is expressed through the choices of language (mills 2006). in other words, feminist analysis of representation of women in the selected movies is a perspective much focused on the language aspect. thus, feminist analysis is concerned with describing sexism in a text (movie). according to mills (2006:p.221), “rather than assuming that notions of gender are simply a question of discriminatory messages about sex difference embedded in texts, feminist stylistics is concerned with unraveling the complex messages which may be deduced from texts and also with analyzing the way that readers piece together or resist these messages”. therefore, the aim of feminist stylistics is to investigate the way text (movie) writers (producers) employ linguistic features which specifically project male or female values, and also to consider the way readers (audience) advertently or inadvertently identify specific gendered meanings in texts (movies). feminist stylisticians have tended to favour analyses that display an engaged and political standpoint in their linguistic description of certain texts (movies), so they have been particularly successful at pointing out the depiction of female characters as powerless and ineffective, especially when compared to their male counterparts. according to burton (1982:p.201), “stylistic analysis is not just a question of discussing ‘effects’ in language and text, but a powerful method for understanding the ways in which all sorts of ‘realities’ are constructed through language”. however, using this approach, this study aims to discover whether or not the characterization is gendered, whether or not the characterization is informed by stereotypical knowledge about men and women, whether or not there is any bias involved in the production of male and female characters. methodology this study adopts the descriptive qualitative method to explore insult terms against women in selected nollywood movies by purposive sampling. the population is the movies while the samples are the insult terms. data are obtained from the conversations among the characters by watching the movies, analyzing data and classifying data. in order to accomplish this, the researcher gathers the data by observing and taking note of insult terms against women insevennollywood movies;“intervention” produced by remi ibinola (2017), “sex and love” produced by ruth kadiri (2017),“isoken” produced by jadesolaosiberu (2017),“jenna” produced by charles brian nnoshiri (2018), “sophia’s heart” produced by steph okolie (2018),“gold statue” produced by tadeogidan (2019) and “love you two” produced by susan oriahi (2020). analysis this study finds out that there are phrases or sentences that contain insult terms based on ideology and stereotypes that are used by the characters based on mills’ (1995) approach. presentation of data and analysis exchange 1 tari: yes, alex will totally understand. his parents have totally given up on him. they’re just hoping he would, ehh, impregnate one girl by mistake. alex: dude, trust me, mehhn. that’s never gonna happen. tari: you see and yet they look at him like the stable one when men like me still exist. i’m engaged… alex: com’n shut up. what do you mean you are engaged? you call that thing engagement, that caging that you’ve caged that girl for how many years? you see that song lucky dube sang, “i’m a prisoner”, he sang it for her. release that girl and let her go. tari: you don’t even know what’s up. i don’t blame you because of the way you live your life. girls live for that title, ‘i’m engaged’. they love it because it gives them a sense of, ehmm, you know, belonging, credibility, assurance and ehh, you know, stability. (jenna) here, we see the age old belief that women are only good enough for marriage being reinforced by tari. according to him, women aspire for nothing more than being engaged. tari’s statement that girls live for the title, ‘i’m engaged’, is a big slap on the face of every woman because it gives the impression that marriage is all women live for. another example is seen in the exchange below taken from the movie, gold statue. exchange 2 akitade: christy, christy, are you alright? christy: very much alright, akitade. akitade: you abandoned your home and business in lagos only to end up in ilesha feasting prisoners? christy: (sobbing) aki, our child is in trouble. how can we abandon him? adewale is in the hands of criminals of this town. if it’s cooking and giving food, drinks, anything that will give him his favour or his freedom, i’ll keep doing it until he leaves that place. my son is never a troublesome child and i know there’s something wrong, you refuse to say it. something is going on for him to attempt to steal a car. akitade: well, maybe we don’t even know our child. christy: ahh, we know our children. adewale is never a troublesome child and i know that god will expose whoever it is. we have never had any problem with any of our children, do you realize that? akitade: well, he obviously hid his true character from us. if he had succeeded in stealing the car, christy, would we have known about it? christy: i reject it. my son is not a thief. akitade:why do women choose to live in a land of perpetual fantasy when they are confronted with stack reality like this? (gold statue) the above statement implies that women imagine and reason like children. they always like to fantasize with their heads in the clouds instead of being realistic and practical. further examples are found in the movie, love you two, as shown in exchange 3. exchange 3 loretta:we cannot stop talking about it. your mother keeps blaming me like it’s my fault. ronald:sowhose fault is it? loretta: are you asking me? as far as i’m concerned, i am very very fine. so maybe you should go to the hospital and get checked. ronald: what are you insinuating? loretta: all i’m saying is that i’m very very fine, there’s nothing wrong with me. ronald: listen, if there’s anyone who needs to be checked, that will be you not me. loretta: why should women be blamed all the time for childlessness? ronald: because women are the ones who do all kinds of nasty things and get their womb ruined. that’s why. (love you two) in the conversation above, women are presented as those who live a wayward life, that is, they are depicted as prostitutes. they are blamed for everything. such stereotypical statements are not only derogatory, but degrading as well.further examples include the following from the movie intervention. exchange 4 arit: (phone conversation) hello. tunde: yes, hello. may i speak with arit, please. arit: yes, who is this? tunde: this is tunde da silver. i believe you are expecting my call. arit: ahh, yes, hi, good evening. tunde: well, i understand you want a date or some sort. arit: no, i never asked for a date. i just asked that we should meet and get to know each other based on ehmm… tunde: quite frankly, whatever you need to know about me, you can find it in business magazines or whatever gossip blogs or publications you females indulge in. (intervention) the statement above depicts women as gossips. they are presented as jobless people that only engage in gossip to keep themselves busy. more examples of this view of women are seen in the movie sex and love. exchange 5 stanley: (laurel hits him on his face)what’s wrong withyou? you want to kill your only brother because of a woman? laurel: you’ve had this coming for a long time. you won’t be satisfied until you’ve had everything i wanted. stanley: you should be thanking me for saving you from that money-thirsty-bitch. for your information, i didn’t force the ring on her hand, she accepted. laurel: will you just shut up? stanley: you shut up and listen to me.money controls the heart of a woman. you better get a crib of your emotions and stop this game you are playing. (sex and love) from the statements above, women are presented as people who can do anything whatsoever for the sake of money. though stanley forced the ring on christie’s finger, he still claims that she accepted the ring willingly to prove to the brother that with money, he can get any woman he wants; with money, every woman dances to his tune. exchange 6 steve: so what of these ladies, clara and ada? have you heard from them? fred: no, i haven’t. why? steve: because this whole scenario seems to me like ehmm, a woman’s retaliation. fred: you could be right. i mean given the fact that these two women at one point threatened me at the same time. you could be right, but look, steve, ehm, no. i don’t want to get them involved in this. steve: and why? fred: look, these are women, steve, these are women, alright? you bring them into the picture, you know, they begin to dig up old holes and then they complicate matters for me, no. i just want to concentrate on finding my wife. steve: you should never underestimate the power of any woman, no matter how small you think she is. never. (sophia’s heart) from the statement above, women are seen as people who are capable of doing any kind of unimaginable evil, as people who can never be trusted at all. the same thing is applicable in the movie, isoken: exchange 7 friend 1(female): when are you two gonna need a bestman? osaze: so guys, i think we should just allow these ladies bond with … friend 2(female): no, that’s an escape strategy, no. friend 3(male): don’t you ladies need to compare notes on asoebi or something? isoken: because we are women automatically we would have to talk about asoebi? friend 3: mmh, we have a feminist here. (isoken) the statement above shows that the only thing women discuss whenever they are together is asoebi; they don’t discuss any reasonable issue. discussion of findings the results of the findings from this study are discussed in line with the research questions that were raised at the beginning of the study. research question 1: what are the characteristics of insult terms used by the characters? as shown in the exchanges above, the characteristics of insult termsused by the charactersare: insult terms focus on the humiliation of females’ honour and dignity, they come in an indecent form and are done deliberately.for instance, in exchange 5, the phrases ‘money-thirsty-bitch’ and‘money controls the heart of a woman’are deliberately used by stanley in an indecent manner to humiliate the honour and dignity of christie (a female character) who he believes is proving hard-to-get, therefore, he should get her by all means, but fails in the process. moreover, in exchange 1,we see tari deliberately insulting females by saying that “girls live for that title, ‘i’m engaged’. they love it because it gives them a sense of, ehmm, you know, belonging, credibility, assurance and ehh, you know, stability.”this is also humiliating because invariably he presents females as those who must depend on males to be complete.here, insult terms are used by males as tools for promoting destructive ways of thinking about their targets which are females. research question 2: what are the components of these insult terms? insult terms are usually abusive terms used to undermine, derogate or marginalize others. in the movies used in this paper, males are seen using these insult terms to make females feel less human. therefore, the components of these insult terms can be said to be that an addressee (females in this case) of insult receives a negative characteristic, and the second one is that this negative characteristic is expressed in an indecent form. in exchange 7, “don’t you ladies need to compare notes on asoebi or something?”this means that women do not engage in reasonable conversations; as long as men are concerned, the only thing they (women) talk about is asoebi. even when isoken tries to correct the notion, he refers to her as a feminist.this is also seen in exchange 6, where fred makes a comment like, “look, these are women, steve, these are women, alright? you bringthem into the picture, you know, they begin to dig up old holes and then they complicate matters for me”. he does not even believe that a woman can find a solution to his problem rather he sees women as those that can never be relied on (those that will complicate matters for him). looking at the examples in exchanges 6 and 7, these components are clearly seen because isoken and her friends receive the negative characteristic which is presented in an indecent manner. fred’s comment is not left out here as we can see how he characterized women negatively in an indecent form as well. research question 3: what are the effects of these insult terms on the female characters? words are powerful. while positive words can boost one’s self esteem and self-image, negative words can have long-lasting detrimental effects. insult terms affect women in many different ways and trigger a series of singular emotions and feelings. the way a person reacts to an insult depends on the event, the person, the environment and the stakes involved.insult terms can have the effect of silencing women, obliging them to adapt their behaviour and limit their movements andparticipation in diverse human activities since they are expressions thatdenigrate or stigmatize a person.since insults strike directly at a person’s feelings, self-esteem, pride, identity, and ego, no matter why an insult happens or when it happens, the truth of the matter is it leaves a scar. they can greatly impair psychological development and social interaction. conclusion this study investigates insult terms against women in nollywood movies. insult terms play on hidden desires and vulnerabilities and are highly imaginative and ingenious. like jokes, insult terms depend on timing and must touch a vital nerve. this is to say that they unleash anger.from the findings, the norms and practices that define women as inferior to men and impose controls on them, are present everywhere in our families, social relations, religious, laws, schools, textbooks, factories, offices, and media especially movies. the results of this study show that female characters are represented negatively. on the basis of the findings, this study makes the users of language conscious and aware of the dangers of insult terms which can lead to negative results. it is, therefore, recommended that these representational practices need to change in order to bring about a change in the thinking of the people. references bruti, s. 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(2019). gold statue (motion picture). nigeria. grand media projects production. okolie, s. (producer) and williams, a. (director). (2018). sophia’s heart (motion picture). nigeria. da’vic studios. osiberu, j. (producer) and osiberu, j. (director). (2017). isoken (motion picture). nigeria. tribe 85 productions. oriahi, s. (producer) and akaemeh, e. (director). (2020). love you two (motion picture). nigeria. eaglesville multimedia productions. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 163 chapter 13 climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach godwin o. uka and elizabeth o. ogbu uka department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka department of psychology, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract this paper answered calls from scholars to attend to a research gap concerning the visual representation of climate change. scholarly research has proven that climate change is a critical issue in most parts of the world. this serious problem has not adequately been addressed. this paper, therefore, focused on one research question; how can visual communication images help in addressing the issue of climate change adaptation in nigeria? global warming in its totality does not only affect the environment but also individuals and species in one way or the other. it is quite clear that not everybody or persons in society are literate enough to understand or know about the extent of trouble or damage the issue of global warming exerts on the ecosystem. imagery plays a role in increasing the sense of importance of the issue of climate change (saliency), or in promoting feelings of being able to do something about climate change (efficacy) – but few, if any, images seem to do both. communications strategies should assess the purpose of their messages, especially regarding salience and efficacy. these image employed by the artist is intended to make people feel that climate change is important) and second, for efficacy (‘this image can do something about climate change’). adopting visual analysis as a methodology of enquiry, this paper examined visuals in educating people on the adverse effect of climate change on the environment. findings from this study led to the conclusion that, through analysis of the changes in visual designs which very often is impelled by social, cultural, religious or political forces, the entirety of nations regarding the environmental issue can be adequately addressed. introduction climate change is a continual rise in the average temperature of the earth's climate system, which is usually caused by individuals as a result of adding excessive amounts of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere which is quite harmful to mankind. the effect of adding an excessive amount of greenhouse gasses can be seen, when the ice melts in some parts of the world especially the north poles, sea level change the ecosystem in a very great magnitude and a climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 164 lot of other human activities. one such negative effect on the ecosystem is the negative interaction between species becoming more common across the globe leading to a decrease in the amount of fresh water. climate change and public engagement, the 2007 united nations’ intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) report stated that climate warming is ‘unequivocal’ (solomon et al., 2007). there are two road responses to the issue of climate change; mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (anticipating and adjusting to the inevitable impacts on society). both adapting to and mitigating climate change will become increasingly important, and have major impacts on the way people live their lives. the media act as powerful agents shaping, translating and interpreting information (bell, 1994), and people rely upon media representations to help interpret and make sense of the many complexities surrounding climate science, governance and decision-making (moser and dilling, 2007). through scholarly research, it has been proven that climate change is a critical issue in most parts of the world, this serious problem has not adequately been addressed, which may be due to a lack of ideas to diffuse the matter, insufficient funds/lack of revenue, lack of commitment by the authorities that is people in power. there could be more reasons or factors which may or may not be associated with the fact that most individuals are hardly enlightened about the global warming issue. global warming in its totality does not only affect the environment but also individuals and species in one way or the other. it is quite clear that not everybody or persons in society are literate enough to understand or know about the extent of trouble or damage the issue of global warming exerts on the ecosystem. countries in sub-regions have the lowest per capita global warming missions in the world. the consequences of this might result in africa taking the largest share of the problem associated with the climatic change. it is quite evident that part of the impact has already started unfolding in so many forms such as art quakes, air/ sea/water pollution, oil spillage, droughts, population displacement, famine and a lot of others. the issue of climatic change has caused or inflated high level of malnutrition and poverty, especially in africa. due to a low level of awareness, global warming tends to be very slow but gradually affecting millions of people and other species in the environment. in this context therefore, it is quite possible to create awareness and educate the people through visual communication and psychological approach, to address the issue, so that humanity and other living and nonliving things could be saved. by this approach, society, in general, could influence change to the ways and means in which people interact with the earth and the ecosystem giving proper and adequate orientation. psychologically speaking, individuals who are specially trained on such problems have related issues who understand the problem of climatic change could be employed to help foster solutions to the treating global problem. the solution to this problem or ways of tackling it is to be well exposed and better understanding of the factors that contribute to the situation faced by humanity. the information regarding global warming is not an easy one, if not properly handled can render society powerless, to effect possible changes to this life treating phenomenon. human resources and creative ingenuity have to be employed in the process. the use of visuals in educating and enforcing change can be a psychological factor in learning and understanding the environment. visual communication helps in creating awareness among the people concerning contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 165 global warming or climatic change adaptation. it could be a very powerful medium for creating awareness and learning new things because anything that controls the eyes can invariably control the mental processes positively. visual communication design concepts can be used to educate people about climate change and adaptation, in this way the individual understands and becomes cautious about his environment or ecosystem. people are more prone to wild impulsive behaviour during the full moon than at other times (rotten & kelly, 1985). when the eco-system is disrupted by the people, the conduciveness of the weather is no longer there; they become irritable, likewise, individuals become more irritable and aggressive when the weather is hot and steaming than when it is cool and comfortable (anderson, bushman & groom, 1997; rotten & cohn, 2000). exposure to a pleasant smell in the air makes people more helpful to others, (baron, 1997). that is to explain further that the physical environment does influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, invariably ecological variables, affect persons either positively or negatively, which is the essence of preserving the environment. therefore people are supposed to be educated through visual cognition on the way to make the environment to be adaptable. it is no longer an argument but a confirmed fact that climate change is real. therefore a strong awareness needs to be created in a new, interesting and attractive way to catch the minds and attention of individuals in society. this campaign and awareness can effectively be carried out with visuals in the form of posters; flyers; flex bannerss and other forms of communication that will help broaden the perception of the general public on global warming. therefore the urgent need to employ appropriate strategy in dealing with the issue of climatic change is very necessary. scientists, psychologists and artists including national orientation agencies and other organizations have in one way or another other engaged artists in creating visuals for climate change adaptation. this effort has helped in bringing changes to climate change in a particular way and makes the issues meaningful in everyday discourse. stamm et al (2000) see climate change as a mass communication problem that has yet to be solved. visual representation in a wider view is to clarify data, illustrate concepts, and engage a public informed through an everincreasing arsenal of computer graphics and new media tools. they are documented advantages and problems associated with using images as a tool for visual communication in general and in the specific context of climate change. visual communication design representation can convey strong messages, and make them easy to remember. images can condense complex information and communicate its content which is perhaps new and hard to understand. visual presentation (images) can provide the basis for narrative, personal thought processes and conversation which also contributes to people's memory and issue awareness. visualization as a graphics concept offers a lot of opportunities to communicate ideas in an instant using many different media in a variety of contexts such as awareness-raising campaigns, participatory planning exercises, education and so on. in a specific way, visual communication strategy has been used to bring environmental issues into the public eye via emotional visual appeals, highlighting the valuable role of such information in representing environmental issues like climate change adaption. climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 166 myer (2013) asserts that a person's response to an image is not simply a rational one, but has an emotional, or affective component, and must consider the ethical and practical issues inherently tied to the use of visual presentation of climate change science. it is better to be conscious of the fact that some visions or visual presentations might instil feelings of fear or unease about the future. strategically, this is one way in which people's attention could be attracted and motivated to act, because in this case of climatic change, it is difficult to appeal to people's positive desires. in other words, the use of negative imagery needs to be managed properly because anxiety responses to sustained emotional visual appeal can simply end up triggering defensive psychological or cultural responses. the effectiveness of visual presentation as a stimulus for behavioral change depends on how people interpret them, and responds. concept visualization and creation for the future will be subject to alternative interpretations, because people's perceptions, attitudes and behavioural disposition influence the kind of reactions they will have to different images representing climate change, the messages they take away and also whether they act based on information contained in the visual presentation. this paper develops and evaluates a systematic and effective approach to communicating climatic change to the public. as far as climatic change is a global issue with wide-ranging impact, the message on it must communicate more effectively with many different groups, including partners, opinion former and stakeholders. the paper centres on the potential for concept visualization as a graphic idea in the design and production of visual messages of climatic change adaption. concept and idea visualization for climate change by artists have considerable potential as a medium for communicating messages that can influence people's behavioural intentions. the role of imagery in shaping perceptions of climate change bauder (2010), examining the impact of imagery on public perception of 2009 mexico oil spill, shows how imagery is key to shaping perceptions of real-world issues: ‘following the news, many believe that gulf oil spill was an important but abstract story – until [imagery] became widely available showing plumes of oil gushing into the water at a furious pace, hour after hour and day after day’. in communicating complex concepts and abstract issues to the public, the use of imagery is an effective solution to global environmental change. in creating awareness of global warming some challenges may occur because of the nature of the intended message which can be abstract or complex, for example reaching out or communicating information via media of communication are often consumed with deep attention into it and in most cases discarded with getting to the intended pubic. it has been observed that global warming is very challenging in terms of communicating its effect on humans; however, the truth about it lies in the fact that its principal culprit which is carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gasses tend to be colorless gasses. this lack of direct experience makes it difficult and it's only a problem that requires effective use of signal, symbols or illustrations that explains any phenomenon by experts that have knowledge of global warming that is appropriate in this situation. visual communicator on climate change adaptation believes that a sufficient amount of fear through visuals could serve as an effective motivator that can increase positive response to the issue of global warming. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 167 this paper among other things is strongly suggesting the use of visual communication that could affirm rather than threaten the sense of self and basic world-view by the public. fearevoking images and risk information could be used but limited and always combined with messages and information that provides specific, pragmatic help in realizing doable solutions. visuals for this campaign should provide social support and affirmation through visual gain by framing climatic change and solutions in ways that can link them to more salient issues such as improvement in the economy, kids well fair and development, and general health and safety of people. the use of visual in communicating information or messages has long been recognized in different fields of human activity which ranges from commercial, media, political campaign and a lot more. the cognitive advantage of visual information overwritten or verbal has been documented widely. for example, when mentally visualizing conditions that cannot be seen directly in the real world, like famines in remote countries, global warming, or the design of a proposed building. it's very important to note that, the intent of this visual illustration is not just to inform or engage emotion but also to influence the behaviour of the people through adverts and announcements of global warming or climate change adaption. this paper considers the visual works of artists for effective use of proper visualization on climatic change by using posters that could create awareness about global warming to all humans. the power of images harper 2002:24 writing on the symbolic power of images ‘talking about pictures: a case of photo elicitation’ opined that, “images produce a different kind of information, evokes feelings, and memories that are due to the photograph's or object’s particular form of representation”. it is therefore clear, that, meanings are extended to all forms of visual presentations because of the evoking powers of images. an image in any design work is seen as a representation of the form of a person or thing in art, such as graphics, textiles, a painting or a photograph. clement emeka akpang (2015) stated that images “as a form of visual representation of something, images constitute broader categories as drawings, prints, stamps and so on”. he further states that images possess varying visual powers, representational and even abstractly contemplative as forms of communication and visual connections. what this alludes to is the fact that, the visual representation of images possesses powers capable of influencing not just people’s emotions, but their thought processes and actions. the various theme and subject matter on climate change is largely responsible for this effect as well as the composition of the images, which can draw viewers and force them into contemplation or connection with an event, occurrence and so on. this ability to create connections or draw viewers into contemplative meanings making through themes and subject matter, encapsulate one of the greatest powers of images. this will be followed by a discourse and visual analysis of the poster as the crux of this paper, exploring the visual effects on climate change adaptation. climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 168 presentation of visuals plate 1: title: mother earth needs our protection medium: flex banner size: 2 by 3 artist: ugwu chijioke plate 1 titled “mother earth needs our protection” is a poster that shows the world map, with two hands clutching it; it is an illustration depicting a pregnant woman. the hands were cropped out and merged with the world map to create an effect. in the work, the artist tries to compare the vulnerability of the earth to the fragility of the unborn child who needs absolute protection and care from the mother. this is from the hazards arising from man's activities like the inauguration of numerous industries, a gigantic amount of chemicals that emanate from these industries causing environmental pollution, and thus contributing to the temperature rise that causes global warming. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 169 plate 2: title: earth in our hands medium: flex banner size: 2x3 artist: ugwu chijioke the earth's ozone layer protects all life from the sun's harmful radiation but human activities have damaged this protection. the artist in this work represented the depletion of the ozone layer, showing a broken world with images from real life trying to bring it back to normal. visual representation of climatic change that occurs over a long time which carries uncertain consequences in future may be problematic in representation. the role of imagery in shaping perceptions of climate change bauder (2010), examining the impact of imagery on public perception of the 2009 gulf of mexico oil spill, shows how imagery is key to shaping perceptions of real-world issues: ‘for many following the news, the gulf oil spill was an important but abstract story – until [imagery] became widely available showing plumes of oil gushing into the water at a furious pace, hour after hour and day after day’. when communicating complex concepts and abstract issues to members of the public citizenry, imagery has been an effective global environmental change 23 (2013) in the global warming context, social learning is beginning to be accelerated through the use of visual communication of their motivating the substantial policy, technological and lifestyle changes. visual on climate change highlights the impact of climate change as illustrated in plate: 2 titled "earth in our hands". climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 170 plate 3: title: global warming medium: flex banner size: artist: ugwu chijioke the artist, in plate 3, illustrates how the earth gets warmer and warmer due to pollution and carbon dioxide. this poster raises awareness to the general public to practice the reduction, reuse and recycling of these things that cause global warming. one of the greatest challenges that confront humans today is climate change. this is a result of human activities on earth. society is dominated and driven by ideas and products from science and technology, which has increased global temperature and its greenhouse effect. in the above work the artist created a physical burning effect of the globe, to strike home the issue of climatic change. here a picture of the earth is seen surrounded by tongues of fire, which depict the impending doom as a result of the change. the dominant colors in the work are red and black. red signifies the danger of controlled human actions and black signifies the intended doom. global warming is an international problem or disaster. its effect and control have dominated virtually all facets of modern life. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 171 plate 4: title: let's save the world together medium: digital art size: 2x3 feet artist: ugwu chijioke “let’s save the world together" in plate 4, here is an artistic representation of gaseous emissions from increasing industrial and so-called technological advancement. it is a monochromatic abstract design. the different tones of blue showing this climate change gave it an artistic expression. the cloud formation was seen over high-rise industrial buildings. their colour variations are due to differences in temperature as it affects humans. in the above poster, the artist gives his perspective through his work. here the artist uses flames from industrial waste to tell the general public what could lead to global warming and the danger of welcoming it. this poster has been designed particularly to help promote awareness of global warming or climate change to help save the world. climate change and environmental sustainability: a visual communication design approach 172 plate 5: title: it's still a beautiful world medium: poster artist: ugwu chijioke plate 5: titled "it's still a beautiful world", is the artist's representation of the hope for the future if man should reverse the harmful or adverse effects of climate due to man's activity on earth. the little girl represents that hope, and she pulls back the curtain to reveal a new world free from environmental degradation as against the already polluted one. in this poster, there is a proper distribution of elements of design to control the viewers' attention and eye movement and that is intended to make a difference in how the viewer processes the information. this includes graphical images and text together. the representation of colours in this poster is another key element. different colours were employed due to cognitive processing; culture and personal experience here added meaning to the new changes in the environment. it is important to know the meaning behind the poster to bring information across to the viewers appropriately. conclusion visual communication indeed has played a critical role in many environmental issues. climate change adaptation is one of the most pivotal environmental challenges of our time that requires the use of imagery in educating people on this global issue. the psychological approach to learning and creating awareness cannot be overlooked. moreover, the use of visuals in communication makes information less boring. the visuals will bring to the knowledge of everybody about the burning issue of climate change adaptation. evidence abound of the effectiveness of visualization as a planning tool and its ability to enhance cognition. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 173 references anderson, c. a., bushman, b. j. &groom, r. w. (1997): hot years and serious and assaults. empirical tests of the heat hypothesis. journal of personality and social psychology, 73, 12131223. bargh, j. a. (1997). the automaticity of everyday life. in r. s. wyer (ed.) advances in social cognition. 10, 1-61 mahwah, nj: erlbaun. bauder, d., (2010). arresting images of oil spill help drive the story. associated press, newyork. bell, a., (1994). media (mis)communication on the science of climate change. public understanding of science 3, 259–275.bingham, s., 2007. climate change: a moral issue. in: moser, s., dilling, l. (eds.), creating a climate for change: communicating climate change and facilitating social change. cambridgeuniversity press, cambridge (chapter 9). clement emeka akpang (2015) images that speak: delineating nigeria’s modernity through the graphic configuration of postage stamps. mediterranean journal of social sciences mcser publishing, rome-italy, vol 6 no 4 s2 july 2015 harper, d. (2002). ‘talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation’ visual studies, 17(1), 13-26 rotten, j., & kelly, i. w. (1985) much ado about the full moon: a meta-analysis of lunar lunacy research. psychological bulletin, 286-306. rotten, j. & cohn, e. g. (2000) violence is a curvilinear function of temperature in dallas: a replication. a journal of personality and social psychology, 78, 1074-1081. stamm keith r., clark fronai & elbacas paula regnolds (2000). public understand science. uk. 219-237 solomon, s., qin, d., manning, m., chen, z., marquis, m., averyt, k., tignor, m., miller, jr., h.l. (eds.), 2007. climate change 2007: the physical science basis, summary for policymakers. intergovernmental panel on climate change, cambridge university press, cambridge toluwani and onwuekwe 95 chapter eight the basics of basic photography david t. toluwani and chidiebere onwuekwe introduction hotography is the science, art, application and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically utilizing an image sensor, or chemically through a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. cox (2022) defines photography as “the art of capturing light with a camera, usually via a digital sensor or film, to create an image.” photography can serve many purposes and have many facets. photography can tell a story, it can capture a moment in time, can document, and can be art. there are many technical uses for photography as well as social and creative ones. how we use and interact with photography is highly personal and will differ from one person to the next. photography can be an art form, but not all photographs are created to be artworks or forms of artistic expression. it took time for photography to be truly recognized as a valid art form. however, in the present day, many art museums and art galleries now exhibit photographic artworks (eden gallery, 2021) typically, a lens is used to focus the light reflected or emitted from objects into a real image on the lightsensitive surface inside a camera during a timed exposure. p https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/electromagnetic_radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image_sensor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_film https://www.eden-gallery.com/news/art-galleries-vs-museums/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lens_%28optics%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/focus_%28optics%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/real_image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/camera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/exposure_%28photography%29 the basics of basic photography 96 an electronic image sensor produces an electrical charge at each pixel, which is electronically processed and stored in a digital image file for subsequent display or processing. the result with photographic emulsion is an invisible latent image, which is later chemically "developed" into a visible image, either negative or positive depending on the purpose of the photographic material and the method of processing. a negative image on film is traditionally used to photographically create a positive image on a paper base, known as a print, either by using an enlarger or by contact printing. colour photography started to become popular and accessible with the release of eastman kodak's "kodachrome" film in the 1930s. before that, almost all photos were monochromatic – although a handful of photographers, toeing the line between chemists and alchemists, had been using specialized techniques to capture colour images for decades before. you’ll find some fascinating galleries of photos from the 1800s or early 1900s captured in full colour, worth exploring if you have not seen them already. over the years, photography has grown to become one of the creative careers that cut across many other disciplines, there has been debate over who a professional photographer is, the ideal tricks for practice (great shots), and who should be addressed as a professional photographer. with the ease of accessing a camera device and the sophistication of technological mobile phoneenabled cameras, many seem to have acquired the label. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/charge-coupled_device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pixel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image_processing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image_file_formats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_emulsion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/latent_image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_developer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/negative_%28photography%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/positive_%28photography%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_processing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_print https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/enlarger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/contact_print https://timeline.com/photos-earliest-color-images-f48ea4ae8e9f toluwani and onwuekwe 97 however, either joining the field as an amateur, intermediate or professional, there exists basic entry knowledge that every practitioner or hobbyist of the trade who loves to shoot on camera modes other than auto mode must possess. this is because being partly a scientific device as much as an art tool, the mechanism of the camera is structured in such a way that its exposures and outputs are determined by the mastery of its internal components and settings that govern the exposure triangle (shutterspeed, aperture and iso). (toluwani, 2021) the camera a camera is an optical instrument for recording or capturing images, which may be stored locally, transmitted to another location, or both. ... the word camera comes from camera obscura, which means "dark chamber" and is the latin name of the original device for projecting an image of external reality onto a flat surface. the camera is also a remote sensing device as it senses subjects without any contact. the modern photographic camera evolved from the camera obscura. the functioning of the camera is very similar to the functioning of the human eye. the first permanent photograph of a camera image was made in 1826 by joseph nicéphore niépce. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/remote_sensing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/human_eye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photograph https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/joseph_nic%c3%a9phore_ni%c3%a9pce the basics of basic photography 98 parts of a camera (front) plate 1: the parts of a camera. source: google.com 1. shutter button: press this button to release the shutter. the shutter button press has two stages: half-pressing the button activates the af function while pressing it down fully releases the shutter. 2. red-eye reduction: if the red-eye reduction is enabled on your camera, half-pressing the shutter button will light up this lamp when you use the built-in flash. 3. self-timer: when you set the self-timer, this lamp will blink for the duration of the timer until the picture is taken. 4. lens mount: this is the section that connects the interchangeable lens to the camera body. to attach the lens, you line up the lens mount index (see f3) on the lens with the corresponding one on the lens mount and turn the lens clockwise until you hear a click. https://snapshot.canon-asia.com/article/en/3-speedlite-features-you-might-not-know toluwani and onwuekwe 99 5. red index: align the mark on the lens with this mark when you are attaching or detaching a lens. 6. lens release button: press this button when you want to detach the lens. the lens lock pin retracts when the button is pressed, enabling you to turn the lens freely. before shooting, lock the lens into place by turning it until you hear a click. 7. mirror: the mirror is unique to dslr cameras. it reflects light from the lens into the viewfinder, which lets the photographer see the shot through the viewfinder in real time. the mirror flips up immediately right before the shutter release (the shot is taken). 8. mike: this is a built-in microphone for capturing the audio sound during movie recording. the microphone used may be monaural or stereo depending on the camera model. 9. built-in flash: when needed, you can fire the flash to capture a shot in a dimly lit scene. the flash may be automatically fired in some modes parts of a camera (rear) it is important to note that the camera has several functions, just like the knobs and buttons seem to be many, even from the simplest to most complex cameras. in recent times high definition cameras bear multiversal functions, a sequel to their dynamic abilities during usage. the basics of basic photography 100 plate 2: the parts of a camera. source: google.com 1. the eyecup prevents external light from entering when your eye is in contact with the eyepiece. a soft material is used to reduce the burden on the eye and the forehead. 2. the viewfinder eyepiece is a small window on the camera which you look through to compose your photo and establish a focus on a subject. when shooting using a viewfinder, external light is reduced. this allows you to put full attention on the subject right before your eyes, which in turn makes it easier to track moving subjects. 3. lcd monitor: the captured image as well as text information such as the menu can also be displayed on the lcd monitor. also, you can magnify the display image to check the details. some camera models have a vari-angle lcd monitor, which allows you to alter the angle of the monitor during toluwani and onwuekwe 101 live view shooting, making it easier to capture lowangle or high-angle shots. 4. menu button: use this button to display the menu for adjusting the different camera functions. after selecting a menu item, you can adjust the camera settings in greater detail. 5. playback button: this is the button for playing back images you have captured. pressing the button once displays the last image you captured or showed on the lcd monitor. 6. wi-fi lamp: this lamp indicates the wireless connection status. 7. access lamp: the lamp appears blinking when there is data transmission between the camera and the memory card. do not open the card slot or battery compartment cover while the light is blinking. doing so may cause the camera to malfunction. 8. set button/multi-controller: the multicontroller keys are directional buttons that allow you to: move between menu items, move a magnified display to a different point during image playback, and move the af point during af point selection the basics of basic photography 102 9. iso speed setting button: press this button to adjust the sensitivity of the camera toward the light. iso speed is an international standard that is determined based on the sensitivity of negative films 10. quick control button: pressing this button displays the quick control screen (further explained in the section "settings on the quick control screen"), which allows you to confirm various camera settings at one glance and adjust them. 11. display button: by pressing the disp button, you can turn the display on/off, toggle between different information displays in image/movie playback mode and during live view shooting, and display the camera’s major function settings when the menu is displayed 12. erase button: use this button to erase unwanted images 13. focus point selection button: use this button to go into af point (autofocus) selection mode during af shooting. you can then select any of the af points manually using the multi-controller keys. 14. live view shooting/ movie shooting switch: use this button to turn on or turn off the live toluwani and onwuekwe 103 view function. pressing the button once displays the live view image on the lcd monitor, and the camera is ready for live view shooting. 15. dioptric adjustment knob: use this knob to adjust the clarity of the viewfinder image according to your eyesight. to do so, turn the knob while looking through the viewfinder. (takahashi, 2018) types of camera kevin (2021) enumerated various types of cameras still in existence today. they are as follows: digital single lens reflex camera plate 3: dslr. source: kevin (2021) dslr stands for “digital single lens reflex”. if you’re looking to take your photography to a more professional level, consider getting a dslr camera. they have been the go-to camera for many professionals in the digital age. when you look through the viewfinder of a dslr you’re seeing through the lens with the help of a https://photographycourse.net/what-is-a-dslr-camera/ the basics of basic photography 104 mirror and prism. these are inside the camera body and allow you to view images the right way up. when you take a photo, the mirror flips up so light enter through the shutter and reaches the sensor. compact cameras compact cameras are small and designed for easy use. this type of camera is often called a point-and-shoot camera because they are so quick and easy to take photos with. everything is automated so you do not have to pay much attention to capturing an image. if you want something of an upgrade from your phone, but do not want to carry a larger camera, this is the type of camera for you. most cameras use focus-free lenses or autofocus for focusing, automatic systems for setting the exposure options, and have flash units built in (wikipedia, 2022) film cameras the film is not dead. many beginner photographers are using film cameras to develop their style and skills. many experience photographers prefer the look and feel of photos taken with film. the main difference for digital photographers who pick a film camera is the lack of a screen. using film you have to learn to be patient. you also need to be sure of your settings because you would not know if you get something wrong until your film comes back from the lab. this can certainly help hone your skills. taking time to understand what you are doing while using film is a good https://amzn.to/2dk5hjc toluwani and onwuekwe 105 challenge. most film cameras work the same way dslr cameras do. range finder film cameras are like mirrorless cameras but without an electronic viewfinder or screen. they all have a lens and a shutter to control the light. the film you load determines the iso. action cameras for adventure seekers and adrenaline junkies, action cameras are a no-brainer. action cameras are perfect for the outdoors. they can withstand rough weather conditions, they are shockproof, lightweight, and highly durable. this type of small action camera includes 4k video, screens, and high fps rates. choosing the right action camera will depend on what you're planning to use it for. but most of the action cameras available have similar features. plate 4: phone camera. source: kevin (2021) smartphone cameras there is no doubt that the smartphone camera has been the widespread choice of photography for everyone, the smartphone camera is the most popular choice of https://photographycourse.net/smartphone-cameras-vs-dslr/ the basics of basic photography 106 camera for everyone, everywhere. the main reasons are because they are so easy to use and they are always with us. mobile photography may get a bad rep, but when it is the only camera you have on you, it can get the job done surprisingly well. storing all your photos on your device and having the option to upload them immediately also appeals to many people. you can capture all the candid moments, landscapes, and portraits without much effort. with new iphones and androids coming out every year, the quality of smartphone cameras has improved dramatically. instant cameras compact instant cameras are back and they are a fun option. instant cameras are not only fun and easy to use, but there are different types available when it comes to "instant" photography. they cover a wide spectrum of photography styles. these range from toyish point-and-shoots to advanced instant cameras, polaroids, and more. instant cameras are like a hybrid of vintage analogue and digital photography. so you are getting the best of both worlds when you use them (kevin, 2021) the mirrorless camera today, with the advent and advancement of technology, camera types have evolved from the dslr camera which revolutionalized photography to morden mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras (milc) or what toluwani and onwuekwe 107 is also known as the digital single-lens mirrorless (dslm) camera. unlike dslr cameras, the mirrorless camera works without a reflex mirror and allows light to pass through the digital sensor directly which enables the displayed image on the lcd screen to be adjusted in settings before it is shot. according to (masterclass, 2020), this provides a straightforward approach to capturing images by trapping light onto the viewfinder and the camera sensor directly and allowing for a more stable captured image. examples of mirrorless cameras include the nikon z 9, sony alpha 1, fujifilm gfx 100s, canon eos r3, sony alpha a7 iv, fujifilm gfx 50s ii, nikon z fc, sigma fpl and panasonic lumix gh6 advantages of a mirrorless camera better shooting speed: the mirrorless camera allows photographers to shoot at a higher shutter speed rate and with better-focusing aptitudes. lightweight and compact size: the mirrorless camera comes with a smaller sensor and is lightweight hence is easier to be carried around than the dslr camera. electronic viewfinder (evf): a unique feature of the mirrorless camera is its ability to display captured images on the lcd directly as a live view through the image sensor, allowing for easy image adjustments and re-setting before snapping them. settings like exposure, brightness, the basics of basic photography 108 saturation, and contrast can be adjusted before snapping your photo. image stabilization: unlike dslr cameras, the absence of a mirror reflex mechanism makes the mirrorless camera less prone to camera shake and improves image quality. silent mechanism: a mirrorless is best for discreet and quiet shots. irrespective of the type of digital camera being used (compact, waterproofed, bridged dslr or mirrorless), a good knowledge of how the camera works is essential for every camera handler. genres of photography genres of photography entail different aspects and subcategories of photography. depending on the need and uses, they are black and white photography, experimental photography, travel photography, landscape photography, advertising photography, wedding photography, hdr photography, fashion photography, aerial photography, street photography, sports photography, portrait photography, still life photography, abstract photography, and photojournalism (markus, 2021) portrait photography this aspect of photography covers the recording of the human head and bust. portraiture is arguably one of toluwani and onwuekwe 109 the most popular types of photography. today, virtually anybody can practice this genre of photography with their smartphone (adorama, 2020). portrait photography can be useful in a variety of projects, be they commercial or political. portrait photography gives viewers the chance to connect with the subject of a photo. unlike advertising photography, the subject of a portrait may or may not be made to look flawless. portraits can include headshots or full-body shots, and they can encompass several emotions and imagery plate 5: portrait photography. photo credit: emeka obi, (2021) the basics of basic photography 110 still life photography plate 6: still life photography. source: https://www.adorama.com/alc/17-types-of-photography-whichniche-is-right-for-you/ like portrait photography, still, lives can be used for both artistic and commercial purposes. still lives often tell a story through inanimate objects. these types of photographs are unique, as they typically work well for stock photos (depending on the content) and art galleries alike. the impersonal nature of viewing objects makes still-life photography a "safe" medium in many ways. travel photography in defining travel photography, it comes down to the story; the photographer captures new places and experiences and we get to view it from their perspective. toluwani and onwuekwe 111 they try to capture the feelings that they're having at that strange place. they also learn landscape photography as they have to capture different beautiful landscapes. landscape photography landscape photography is perhaps one of the most traditional photography styles, and it’s no mystery as to why; our world has fantastic views. capturing landscapes through photography is a powerful skill, as it often allows honest documentation of nature. landscape photography is capturing an image that embodies the spirit of the outdoors. it carries a sense of being there to see something incredible. when viewers look at your work, their hearts should jump. you want them to feel the same emotions that you felt, standing in the middle of nature and bringing back something amazing. advertising photography as you may have guessed, advertising photography falls on the commercial end of the photography spectrum. advertising imagery sojourns in the cultural space of making meaning to the target audience, often relying on photography for the delivery of its message, while at the same time shaping the destiny of photographic representation (langmead, 2005). this style is used by brands, freelancers, businesses (small and large), and many others to market products and services. https://photographylife.com/landscapes/how-light-creates-emotion-in-photography the basics of basic photography 112 plate 7: hair repair oil shot with a camera and used to design an advert. source: https://rusaliniliev.com/en/ product-photography advertising photography can be utilized across several platforms, especially as social media and product design continue to develop. fashion photography fashion photography is a high-end genre focused on showcasing clothing and products. this style of photography is commonly associated with magazines like elle, vogue, vanity fair, and other lifestyle features. this toluwani and onwuekwe 113 popular genre is growing fast across university campuses, as many young people utilize this style in their fashion/beauty blogs. the diy appeal of blogging has arguably begun a fashion photography revolution, specifically in females 16-25. aerial photography aerial photography, or high-angled photography, became a reality through the invention of flight. aerial photography was utilized during world war ii, as a way to document enemy landings. at the peak of world war ii, british planes managed to complete one-hundred flights a day, capturing over 50,000 images to interpret daily. drones are now the best devices used in capturing aerial photographs. drone photography is the capture of still images and video by a remotely-operated or autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (uav), also known as an unmanned aircraft system (uas) or, more commonly, as a drone. ... a recent high-end camera designed for drone use, the 80mp ixu 180. drone cameras are helpful, especially by law enforcement, in surveillance, monitoring crowds, and even identifying threats. this kind of surveillance is also vital in monitoring borders to prevent any criminal activities and alert authorities. the basics of basic photography 114 street photography street photography can feature the presence of people, animals, objects, and events. whether artistic, political or simply a tool for mapping, street photography captures its setting uniquely. street photography continues to resonate with artistic photographers as well as lifestyle photographers, due in part to the blog ability of such images. even google maps has done a great deal to provide accessible street imagery; google street (an extension of google maps) allows a full, 360-degree view of various roads. sports photography when it comes to art, sports photography can often be overlooked. athletics bring to mind coordination, business, and entertainment, but are not often affiliated with creative expression. plate 8: photograph of an athlete. source: google.com toluwani and onwuekwe 115 however, sports are emotionally charged, and games and athletes can change course unexpectedly. art is famously difficult to define, but art (photography, specifically) is often used to capture the truth. by shooting an athlete, coach, or even a fan at the right moment, photographers can take a genuine moment and make it permanent photojournalism photojournalism’s core purpose is, to tell the truth objectively and without bias. this mission has become deeply controversial in some circles, with famous accounts of photojournalists shooting tragedies, such as the photos of famished children suffering and dying in kwashiokor in biafra. plate 9: children ravaged by kwashiorkor. source: https://guardiannewsusa.com/nigeria-millions-commemoratebiafran-war-anniversary/ https://www.creativenonfiction.org/online-reading/girl-surf the basics of basic photography 116 experimental photography photo manipulation involves the transforming or alteration of a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. some photograph manipulations are considered to be skilful artwork, while others are considered to be unethical practices, especially when used to deceive the public. other examples include being used for political propaganda, to improve the appearance of a product or person, or simply as entertainment or practical joke (wikipedia.org) plate 14: manipulation is done by assembling two or more photos. source: johnny montage, 2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image_editing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image_editing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photograph https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/propaganda toluwani and onwuekwe 117 this aspect of photography, experimental photography uses photo manipulation to alter our perceptions as well as our expectations. photographers often use this type of art to tell a story or create art specific to their cause (e.g. cover art, fantastical photographs, and even adverts). the darkroom a darkroom is a workshop used by photographers working with photographic film to make prints and carry out other associated tasks. it is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and photographic paper. various equipment is used in the darkroom, including an enlarger, baths containing chemicals, and running water. darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century. darkrooms have many various manifestations, from the elaborate space used by ansel adams to a retooled ambulance wagon used by timothy h. o'sullivan. from the initial development to the creation of prints, the darkroom process allows complete control over the medium. lighting in photography the essence of photography is light. "the very word photography is derived from two ancient greek words; photos, meaning ‘light’ and graphos, meaning ‘writing'. literally, photography means writing with light" https://www.vandelaydesign.com/ultimate-list-of-photoshop-manipulation-tutorials/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_paper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/photographic_paper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/enlarger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ansel_adams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/timothy_h._o%27sullivan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/timothy_h._o%27sullivan the basics of basic photography 118 ( northon 1993: 21). basically, light illuminates the given subject that will be recorded in the camera. without lights, there will be nothing for the camera to expose. simply put, light is the medium which the camera uses to record images. grundberg (2009) in his article on photography, submits that "light is the visible portion of a broad range of energy called electromagnetic radiation which also includes invisible energy in the form of radio waves, gamma ray, x rays, infrared and ultraviolet radiation". both the eye and the lens of a camera detect the narrow band of electromagnetic waves as colours. studio photography came into existence with the inception of commercial photography in the early twentieth century. advertisers paid expensive fees to run advertisements and they in turn demanded high-quality photographs to communicate their ideas. in a photo studio, ambient light, ultraviolet or daylight is usually minimal space is limited as well. to consolidate such shortcomings, controllable lights and sets are put up in a photostudio. therefore, it is in the interest of the photographer to control and manipulate studio lights to spur interest in his photos. light has various characteristics and should be understood by a neophyte and a professional photographer. light can be absorbed, scattered (reflected) or refracted. pegram (2009;32) in his book titled “lighting techniques”, explains the phenomena of refraction and reflection thus: toluwani and onwuekwe 119 when light waves move from air to glass, the light slows down. if it strikes the glass at an angle, it will also change direction. this is known as refraction...when light is not reflected or transmitted, it is absorbed. consequently, black velvet backdrops, which absorb virtually all of the light that strikes them are often used in photography. these two characteristics are observed as a behaviour of light in photography. pegram also situates that reflection also entails when light hits a flat, reflective surface like a mirror, the reflected waves will always come off the flat surface at the equal and opposite angle at which the incoming wave of light struck the surface. some equipment is used in achieving reflection. the umbrella reflector is an example of such equipment. the light attached faces the umbrella, when lit, its beam bounces off the interior of the umbrella, providing soft, diffused light for the subject. many umbrella units are sensitive to flash units and trigger their light once an exposure is made to highlight the subject. like the camera, light can focus on the subject from many directions, creating beautiful effects on the subjects. they are front lights, sidelights, backlights and overcast lights. pegram (2009: 35) believed that "front light comes directly in anterior of the subject". norton (1993:30) enunciated that " sidelight gives dimensions to the subject". this means that side lighting defines the texture and form of the subject, giving it a sharp contrast between the highlights, mid-tones and shadows. on the basics of basic photography 120 backlight, pegram affirmed that it occurs when the light source is directly behind the subject. the situation of light in a photo studio a photo studio is an enclosure owned by a creative entrepreneur, who employs photographers for commercial photography. onwuekwe (2017: 4) explains the perfect arrangement of lights and subjects in a photo studio with the diagram above. he explained the various lights and their positions, including their functions in the studio, thus; the key light is usually situated in front of the subject. depending on the position and angle, when placed in front of the subject, it creates a sharp contrast, casting a shadow on the opposite side where it illuminates. the fill light is the subordinate light located opposite the key lamp. it usually eliminates shadows cast on the subject by the key light. a hair light is a small light placed above the subject. the hair light illuminates the hair and separates the subject from the background. background light eliminates shadows on the background and lightens it such that the subject stands out from the background, thereby creating a sharp contrast between the subject and the background. the backlight is placed directly behind the subject. it creates a beautiful outline of the subject. toluwani and onwuekwe 121 fig 1: an illustration portraying the placement of lights, camera and set in a photo studio. source: onwuekwe (2017) sidelight, for example, evokes feelings of romance and nostalgia, whereas light from below creates a sense of terror. hard shadows create more of a sense of drama than soft shadows, and cool colour tones convey more negative emotions than warm light (taylor, 2019) camera modes the aperture priority, shutter priority, program mode and other camera modes are effective modes to engage while shooting as they help to provide a combination of both auto and manual mode settings for effective shots. from the above-mentioned camera modes (aperture priority, shutter priority), the photographer sets the basics of basic photography 122 his desired parameter while the camera automatically adjusts its end to compensate. for instance, while using the aperture priority mode (av/a), the photographer sets his aperture while the camera automatically provides the appropriate shutter speed for the object or scenery in focus, conversely, the shutter priority (tv/v) provides an automated aperture setting for the already selected shutter speed. the program mode which also belongs to the creative zone is auto-driven and sets its shutter speed and aperture automatically and independently when exposed to any given sensitive light. other camera modes are: landscape mode: it sets the aperture to a maximum depth of field and switches off the in-built flash. portrait mode: sets a wide aperture to blur the background of the image and overrides all other settings. night portrait mode: this setting fixes other settings and combines the in-built flash with a slow shutter speed. sport mode: sets a high shutter speed to freeze motion. closeup mode/macro mode: allows centralized focus on subjects that are only a few inches away. the above-mentioned modes are great auto-driven parameters that aid good shots and could be explored by photographers when on deadlines. toluwani and onwuekwe 123 exposure in photography, exposure refers to the control of light in the camera and how this affects image output. it is the amount of light that hits the digital sensor at a given time and measures how light or dark a photographic image is (carroll, 2016). the context of overexposure and underexposure of images in photography (ie. the phenomenon of being too bright and too dark) is determined by the regulation of the aperture, shutter speed and iso or their effective combinations either in manual mode or automated in the aperture priority (av/a) mode, shutter priority (tv/s) mode or programme camera (p) mode (toluwani, 2021). carroll asserts that a ‘perfect’ exposure does not exist, he submits that the movement of the exposure by a step or two upward or downwards is all that is needed to adjust an underexposed or overexposed shot. the histogram graph in a camera device according to carroll is used to monitor the ‘clipped’ and ‘blown out proportion (distribution of light) of the captured image where the clipped shadows represent the areas that are pure black and without details and ‘blown out’ highlights represents areas that are pure white and without details. (carroll, 2016). the basics of basic photography 124 figure 2. an illustration of a digital camera histogram guide. source: carroll, 2016) https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-isobeginners-guide-photography/ a properly exposed photograph will have a balanced histogram graph with a balanced spread of light, dark and shadow spikes while an underexposed or overexposed photo will not. plate 16. example of a correctly exposed photograph. source: (carroll,2016) https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-isobeginners-guide-photography/ toluwani and onwuekwe 125 plate 17. example of an underexposed photograph. source: (carroll,2016) https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-iso-beginners-guidephotography/ plate 18. example of an overexposed photograph. source: (carroll,2016) https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-iso-beginners-guidephotography/ to cover the best dynamic range, photographers take multiple shots with slightly different exposure settings which leads to the creation of a series of photographs that are correctly exposed, underexposed and overexposed. this technique is called exposure bracketing the basics of basic photography 126 exposure compensation while using the automated dial modes from the creative zones of the camera (tv/av/p), exposures might turn out not properly exposed as expected because of the locked-in auto-parameters, hence exposure compensation dial is used to alter the overexposure or underexposure of the image captured by the camera, this allows photographers to adjust the brightness or darkness of the exposure as desired. exposure compensation parameters range from -2 to +2, -3 to +3 or -5 to +5 depending on the camera device and make figure 3. illustration of exposure compensation belt. source: (carroll,2016) https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-isobeginners-guide-photography/ shutter and the aperture aside from the auto mode in the dslr (digital single-lens reflex) camera, the milc (mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera) or the bridge camera, the manual mode allows photographers to adjust the aperture and shutter speed independently of each other like old single reflex-lens (slr) camera versions. as creative controls, both the aperture and shutter settings aid the toluwani and onwuekwe 127 exposure of accurately exposed photographs and hence are fundamental to the operation of any camera and the creation of creative photographs. aperture setting the aperture is the degree of opening in the camera lens for light to come in. (ryan, 2013) likens it to the opening of the human pupil (eyes), which adapts to high and low lights, ( ie. the larger the opening, the more light is allowed in and the smaller the opening the less light is let in). the aperture opening is equally adaptable in size and calculates the intensity of light hitting the image sensor, it is measured in 'f-stops. changing the f-stop value means changing the aperture size to either larger or smaller, but unlike the human eyes the aperture measures in reverse, “the larger the opening, the less light is allowed in and the smaller the opening the more light is let in” (carroll, 2016; ryan, 2013). figure 4: illustration of aperture openings at different f-stops. source: https://capturetheatlas.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography/ often, f-stops numbers become confusing and difficult to interpret but ryan, (2013) explains thus; the basics of basic photography 128 “these aperture numbers are simply based on a measured opening at the front of the lens. this measurement is relative to the focal length of the lens. for example, a 100 mm lens with an effective opening of 50 mm at the front of the lens would make this an f:2 lens. (2 x 50 = 100)” as illustrated below. consequently, the choice of aperture affects the depth of field of a photographed image. depth of field is the amount of the image that is in focus (sharp). a wide aperture will produce a shallow depth of field. the illustration below graphically explains how aperture size affects depth of field. figure 5: descriptive illustration of the relationship between depth of field and aperture. source: https://capturetheatlas.com/what-is-aperturein-photography/ shutter speed shutter speed is the length of time the image sensor is exposed to the light that reaches the opening of a camera lens (aperture), it controls how motion is toluwani and onwuekwe 129 represented in an image. a fast shutter speed freezes motion in a photographed image while a slow shutter speed blurs motion in a photographed image, shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second and is often referred to as exposure time, the shutter speed can be as fast as 1/10,000 of a second or as slow as several minutes (carroll, 2016). knowledge of both fast and slow shutter speed fractions can be adopted for various creative shots; from freezing waterfalls to blurring candid movements in sceneries. plate 19. depiction of a slow (1/2 second) shutter speed on a waterfall using a tripod. source: (carroll,2016) https://petapixel.com/apertureshutter-speed-iso-beginners-guide-photography/ in plate 21, rakesh rocky (n.d) on flickr used an iso of 1250 and a large aperture (f/2) with a high shutter speed of 1/4000s to achieve the exposure. the shutter speed setting is therefore an ideal way of experimenting https://www.flickr.com/photos/22905496@n07/ the basics of basic photography 130 with capturing motion in landscape and sports photography. figure 6: illustration of the effect of different shutter speeds on the sense of motion. source: (carroll,2016) petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speediso-beginners-guide-photography/ iso iso deals with light sensitivity in photography and refers to how sensitive the camera's digital sensor is to light, iso numbers can range from 50 to over 14000. a high iso allows a photographer with a handheld camera to shoot at a higher shutter speed, say at an 800 iso setting, despite the advancement in technology and the fact that most contemporary cameras are developed to toluwani and onwuekwe 131 handle iso well, caution must be taken not to excessively increase the iso parameter as it often leads to image noise (graininess). composition in photography every visual artist is guided by the elements and principles of design and rules that guide their visual metaphors, the rule of thirds is one of such universal guidelines that creatives use for segmenting the plane of their art artboard, another is the golden ratio which stipulates 1.618 to1 for subject placement. in photography, the rule of thirds remains a significant guideline, it places the subject (point of interest or the appeal point) of an image in the right or left a third of the frame, leaving the other two-thirds more open (adobe, 2022). “that means the corners of the central square are the intersection points in your grid where you want to place the focal point of your shot. it’s called the rule of thirds, but you can think of it as giving you four crosshairs with which to target a shot’s important elements. this will help you balance your main subject with negative space in your shot to nail an effective photographic composition that will draw the viewer’s eye.” (adobe, 2022) the basics of basic photography 132 plate 21. rule of thirds in photography source: adobe. adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/rule-ofthirds.html#:~:text=what%20is%20the%20rule%20of,compelling%20an d%20well%2dcomposed%20shots. plate 22. rule of thirds in photography. source: adobe. adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/rule-ofthirds.html#:~:text=what%20is%20the%20rule%20of,compelling%20an d%20well%2dcomposed%20shots. toluwani and onwuekwe 133 how to use the rule of thirds 1. practice and apply the rules: turn on the rule of thirds grid in your camera and practice with it. explore the rules by taking several pictures of parks, locations and events 2. keep your eye on the frame: be clear about where your focus point will be before taking your shot. 3. be creative: alternate sceneries and subjects to see their spread on the grid, be experimental. 4. break the rule: this might appear daunting for beginners, but professionals believe that the best way to improve your creative skill, is to “push beyond borders”. this can be achieved by filling the frames especially when the scene is interesting, zooming in and out from your subjects to see how it alters the rule; using a different composition and reversing the rule by alternating the open space with your subject. as noted by photographer and designer shawn ingersoll in adobe, (2022) “the rule of thirds, is not a rule. it’s more of a guideline or best practice.” in conclusion, photography is the creative process of capturing images or drawing with light through a device called the camera, it is both a science and an art. amidst growing technology and increasing ready-to-use automated camera types including mobile phones, today's photographers must continue to hone their skills by the basics of basic photography 134 understanding the rudiment of the art and acquiring updated information on global best practices to remain practically relevant and well-grounded in its theory. the creative zone and basic zones of the camera must also be explored and understood extensively by practitioners if we must transfer its knowledge to the next generation. this book chapter, therefore, provides a standpoint for would-be photographers and design students who offer photography as a module in their field of study. questions 1. name 6 parts of a camera you know 2. mention 5 types of camera you know 3. what are the genres of photography 4. briefly explain lighting in the photography studio 5. explain the basic camera modes. (b)discuss exposure 6. explain iso, composition. (b). demonstrate depth of field effect with any available hd camera references adobe, (2022) how to use and break the rule of thirds.www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/dis cover/rule-of-thirds.html#:~:text= what%20is%20the%20rule%20of,compelling%20and% 20well%2dcomposed%20shots. carroll, o.b. (2016 june 25). a beginner’s guide to aperture, shutter speed, and iso in photography. toluwani and onwuekwe 135 https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-isobeginners-guide-photography/ kevin, h. (2021). 10 different types of cameras. https://photographycourse.net/different-types-ofcameras/ langmead, p. a. (2005). picturing things: advertising, objects and meaning. ma thesis, department of communications and multimedia edith cowan university. http://www.paullangmead.com/ downloads/palangmeadthesis.pdf markus, j. (2021). the 15 most popular types of photography you need to master. https://www.vandelaydesign.com/typesof-photography/ masterclass, (2021, september 28). design & style: what is a dslr camera? dslr vs. mirrorless cameras https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-dslrcamera#what-are-the-benefits-of-using-a-dslr-camera master class, (2021, september 28). design & style: what is a mirrorless camera and how does it compare to a dslr? https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-amirrorless-camera#mirrorless-cameras-versus-dslrswhats-the-difference onwuekwe, c. (2017), construction of spot lights for studio photography using scrap and improvised materials. malaysian journal of creative media, design and technology. vol. 1 no.1 2017 https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-iso-beginners-guide-photography/ https://petapixel.com/aperture-shutter-speed-iso-beginners-guide-photography/ the basics of basic photography 136 ryan, m (2013). three little wishes photograph: iso, shutter speed and aperture. https://www.threelittlewishes.co.nz/site/threelittlewish es/files/iso_shutter%20speed_%20aperture_.pdf takahashi, r. (2018). lesson 2: knowing the different parts of the camera. https://snapshot.canon-asia.com/article/eng /lesson-2-knowing-the-different-parts-of-the-camera taylor, k. (2019). the importance of understanding light in photography. https://karltayloreducation.com/ photography-course/understanding-light/ toluwani, d. (2021). introduction to photography [class handout]. nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, faa 340 what is photography? (2021). what is photography? https://www.eden-gallery.com/news/what-isphotography what is photography? (2022). wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. www.wikipedia.org/photography. assessed, 3/3/2022 chapter 12: preparatory steps and processes for mixedmedia and other painting genres contributed by okonkwo, chinonyelum gloria introduction mixed media art is defined broadly by hobbs (1985) as covering all those works that defy the traditional use of material and methods, combining two and three-dimensional approaches in executing a single work of art. its application and processes are broad in scope. it has no specific material and it uses different substances and objects as material to produce a work of painting with a very good visual effect. contemporary painters mix their media by attaching objects to their canvases (fichner-rathus 1998). adams (1997), and adams (1999) state that mixed media involves making use of found objects which are taken from everyday sources and incorporated into a work of art. there are different types of mixed media art. they include collage, assemblage, installation, wet and dry media art. collage involves pasting and gumming of weightless objects such as paper to a flat surface to form a composition. sayre (1997) situates that collage is an all-inclusive medium. mixed media painting mixed media painting technique is a technique or style of painting that combines two or more mediums or art forms to create a work of painting. hagger (as cited in adjei 2007) defined mixed media art as the use of different painting materials such as watercolour, crayon, oil, indian ink, or similar combinations on a single support. preparatory steps and processes for mixed-media and other painting genres… 203 in mixed media, different media or materials are used to create unique visual art. it is an art form that doesn’t place restrictions on people who do not know how to draw. elements such as paper, wood, sand, fabric and others, are added to the support before painting. the addition of another element to the painting helps to create interesting texture and colour that can be incorporated into the painting. mixed media painting can be done either on wood, board or canvas. materials used for mixed media painting include wood panel, colour, paint brushes, pallet knives, water for mixing paint, cotton cloth – for cleaning paint drops, colour palette, scissors, sand, stick, and glue. while preparing to execute a mixed-media painting there are important factors to consider; support with which to make art, materials to work with, and a work space. steps in surface preparation for mixed media painting in painting, "support" refers to the physical surface or material upon which a painting is created. the support serves as the foundation for the artwork and can significantly affect the final appearance and durability of the painting. different types of supports can be used in painting, and they can include: canvas, wood, paper, metal, masonite and fabric. surface preparation refers to the various methods that can be used to treat the surface of a material prior to coating application, the use of adhesives and other procedures. surface preparation can be done either chemically or mechanically to clear the surface of pre-existing coatings, residue, surface imperfections, organic matter, oxidation and other contaminants. various surface preparation techniques are used to prepare substrate material such as aluminium, concrete plastic, steel and other alloys and wood. there are different methods of chinonyelum okonkwo 204 surface preparation for different materials and applications. they tend to follow some set stages. stages in preparation of a support there are several stages that are followed to successfully prepare a surface for adhesion, coating, welding or other procedures.  surface condition assessment  remove old coating  remove oil, chloride, acid and other surface containments  remove loose parts of the surface  profile the surface  dry the surface surface preparation ensures that a material is ready to receive a coating, be adhered to another material or other similar surfacerelated application. a dirty, oily, flaking surface can greatly reduce the effectiveness of a new coating, cause adhesion failure or undermine the process. surface preparation work to ensure good bonding, adhesion or weld quality. it also helps to militate against later problems such as corrosion and mechanical damage. steps in priming a surface for acrylic decide how the texture and colour of the surface should be.  this will determine your choice of gesso and whether it will be tinted with acrylic paint or not.  if a canvas is being used, then it should be stretched and stapled onto the stretcher bar to ensure a tight surface for painting.  thin the gesso with water to ensure a smooth and even finish for the surface.  use a soft bristled brush or roller for smooth, application of gesso. preparatory steps and processes for mixed-media and other painting genres… 205  cover the entire surface evenly.  use a palette knife or coarse brush for a more textured finish on the surface  glue other material you wish to use for the mixed media.  apply your colour where it is necessary until you are satisfied with the colour and the result  allow to dry frame. show photos and label them priming a surface for oil colour painting priming your surface for oil colours is similar to the methods used for acrylics, with very small differences. when preparing the surface of a canvas, the following steps are observed. sizing of support is a process that fills holes or pores on the surface of the canvas, to stop or prevent leaking. the sizing of a surface is done using glue. it is important when painting with oil colour as the oil can rot the surface over time if it comes into direct contact with the material. sizing will primarily act as a sealant for the canvas surface. once the size has dried, the ground (or gesso) can be applied on top to create texture, provide a uniform base colour and alter the level of absorbency of the surface, as well as give an extra layer of protection for the surface. plate 1: emulsion paint. © chinonyelum 2023 plate 2: top bond. © chinonyelum 2023 chinonyelum okonkwo 206 plate 3: stretched canvas. photo credit: chinonyelum okonkwo importance of preparing a surface. preparing the support before embarking on a painting is a crucial step in the artistic process, holding profound importance for the outcome of the artwork. this preparatory stage serves several key purposes, each contributing significantly to the quality, longevity, and aesthetic appeal of the final piece. firstly, preparing the support ensures a stable and durable foundation for the paint to adhere to. whether it's canvas, wood, paper, or any other surface, applying a proper ground, often in the form of gesso or primer, creates a uniform and slightly absorbent surface. this not only prevents the paint from seeping into the support, which can compromise colours and detail but also offers a consistent texture for the artist to work on. it minimizes the risk of the support warping or deteriorating over time, a concern especially relevant in the case of canvas. preparatory steps and processes for mixed-media and other painting genres… 207 secondly, the choice of support preparation can influence the overall aesthetic of the artwork. different grounds can yield various textural qualities, from a smooth and crisp surface to one with a more pronounced grain or tooth. moreover, preparing the support facilitates the painter's control over the medium. the absorbency and texture of the prepared surface can affect the flow of paint, the blending of colours, and the ability to layer and manipulate the medium. in essence, the preparation of the support is the foundational step that ensures the success of the entire painting process. it safeguards the artwork against deterioration, enhances its visual and textural qualities, and empowers the artist to bring their creative vision to life with precision and control. it's a critical, albeit often overlooked, aspect of the artistic journey, one that elevates a simple canvas or panel into a receptive and enduring canvas for artistic expression. meaning of gesso gesso is the most common ground for preparing a surface to paint on. it can be applied to almost any surface and will stiffen the substrate as it dries, readying the surface to accept paints acrylic gesso is the most common kind and is suitable for painting with both oil and acrylic. though, for oil painting the surface should be size or seal before applying gesso. the most traditional and common gesso to white gesso which gives artist a bright, neutral surface to begin their painting from. example of gesso is as follows: chinonyelum okonkwo 208 (1)liquitex super heavy gesso primer. this help to create a sculptural effects on the canvas especially when applied with a coarse brush or palette knife. (2) liquid gesso primer-this helps to achieve a smooth surface for painting how to create a mixed absorbency surface prepare your surface start with any substrate and follow the necessary procedures required for pre-painting. for example, watercolour paper needs no preparation but can be primed with gesso to add strength, cardboard, canvas and wood panels do not need any preparation if they are already sealed and primed. if the substrates are raw wood with no sealer or primer, they will need some preparation. apply surface grounds: apply acrylic binders to your surface, such as gels and pastes. absorbent surfaces are always matte, which is one way, one can tell if a surface is absorbent or not, it will have tooth and rough surface. glass or metal are normally glossy and non-absorbent choosing a binder mediums are generally pourable and fluid, gels are thicker and create textures, and pastes are also thick and create texture. gloss mediums and gloss gel create a non-absorbent area on the surface. matte medium and matte gel create a semi-absorbent area. choose a binder of your choice, and apply it thickly on the surface. over-paint the custom surface once the surface is dry, over-paint it with paint. it is important to dilute the paint preparatory steps and processes for mixed-media and other painting genres… 209 before using it. one should use the correct items to dilute according to the medium one is using. for example, dilute with water for watercolour and acrylics. dilute with solvent for oily colour. then apply the diluted mixture over the dry surface. mixed absorbency surfaces try making a mixed surface by using three or more products. pick at least three binder products to apply an absorbent one, a nonabsorbent one and a middle absorbent one. apply products all over the substrate. overlapping products provide a surface with a variety of absorbency that will produce a surface with different effects summary mixed media includes all forms of art that use more than one material in their composition. mixed media painting is a creative area of study in which anybody who is interested can easily learn and do. it involves the combination of two or more media to make a work of art. one of the most common methods of mixed media art is the process of collage, in which pieces of paper and other substances are combined to make a new two-dimensional image. another method is an assemblage of all sorts of found objects and combines with other mediums to create a new object in three dimensions. according to rooney (1999) and sayre (1997), installation is the art of arranging or assembling 3-dimensional objects or using paint and other media directly onto a wall or a floor. there are different steps in mixed media and each of the steps is followed in order to produce a good output. also, there are different surfaces, surface preparations and ways of application of material for mixed media painting. questions what is mixed media painting? what are the materials used for mixed media painting? what are the steps in mixed media painting? chinonyelum okonkwo 210 why is it important to prepare a surface before painting? references adams l s (1997), history of western art, mcgraw hill inc. new york adams, l. s. (1999) art across time, mcgraw-hill – hill college, new york adjei, k. (2007) mixed media in ceramics, unpublished thesis submitted to the school of graduate studies, knusi kumasi. fichner-ratus, l. (1998), understanding art (5th edition) prentice hall inc .pg132 hobbs j. (1985) art in context, harcourt brace jovanovich publishers rooney, k. (1999) encarta world english dictionary, bloomsbury publishers plc london. sayre, m. h. (1997) a world of art (2nd edition) prentice hall inc, new jersey pg 254 creativity, children and the classroom 59 chapter five creativity, children and the classroom valentine ani and mary emodi-nnoruka introduction reativity entails the forming or making of novel things. creativity is a problem-solving endeavour that gives birth to new concepts. it involves innovativeness, and inventiveness, in terms of material and procedure ingenuity in craftsmanship. the created item may be intangible such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke. hornby (2015) sees creativity as having the skill and ability to produce something new, especially a work of art. it is commonly argued that the notion of “creativity” originated in western culture through christianity. according to the historian, daniel j. boorstin, the early western conception of creativity was the biblical story of creation given in genesis. however, this is not creativity in the modern sense, which did not arise until the renaissance. in the christian transition, creativity was the sole province of god, humans were not considered to have, the ability to create something new except as an expression of god’s work. a concept similar to that of christianity existed in greek culture, for instance, muses were seen as mediating inspiration from the gods. romans and greeks invoked the concept of an external creative “daemon” greek or c ani & emodi-nnoruka 60 “genius” (latin) linked to the sacred or the divine. however, none of these views is similar to the modern concept of creativity, and the individual was not seen as the cause until the renaissance. it was during the renaissance that creativity was first seen, not as a conduit for the divine but from the abilities of “great men”. creativity can be seen as the process of sensing problems or gaps in information, forming ideas of hypothesis, testing and modifying these hypotheses and communicating the result of this process. it is the awareness, observation, imagination, conceptualization, and re-arrangement of existing elements to generate new ideas. creativity is the capacity to perform mental works that leads to an outcome both novel and applicable. summarily creativity is the skilful use of ideas to generate new creative products for one to be creative, it calls for a state of uninterrupted self-motivation and expression, and creativity can apply to works of arts, engineering, and almost every aspect of technology. types of creativity according to robert sternberg (2002), creativity is stated as follows; • technological creativity or innovation • entrepreneurial creativity or economic creativity • artistic and cultural creativity. these aspects of creativity are interdependent as they re-enforce one another. creativity, children and the classroom 61 components of creativity these are factors that contribute to creativity. a component of creativity implies all factors that contribute to creativity. personality and environmental factors include; expertise, creative thinking, skills and task motivation. personality factor this aspect includes self-motivation, which is selfimitated behaviour, confidence in oneself (belief in yourself) that is being original, and inventiveness. environmental factors can influence the people around you, family background, school, external influences, skills, and task motivations. methods of fostering creativity in an art class • art aesthetic corner • gallery or exhibition corner • creation of art diary or art album for example; nigerian heritage, art of nok, igbo ukwu. • provision of art materials, tools, and equipment. • conducive art studio or classroom, furnished with racks, shelves etc. and well-ventilated. • allowing students to work freely (learners should initiate topics) • field trips and excursions. ani & emodi-nnoruka 62 • invite guest artists and artist entrepreneurs. • select proper teaching methods for example peer teacher method, project; discovery, and inductive method in teaching and learning. • computer-aided instructions. nature of creativity creativity is the production of a novel, appropriate ideas in any realm of human activity, from science to the arts, to education, to business, to everyday life (amabile, 1997:40). creativity is broad; it is not limited to art and design fields only. it covers all fields and activities of human life. creativity is adventurous and open thinking. it does not tolerate rigidity. it encourages freedom to do things. creativity is a product and a process. creativity is of three types individual creativity, group creativity and organisational creativity (mehtaa, chandanib and neerajac, 2014: 804). feature/characteristics of creativity • flexibility: it has no rigidity to have the ability to turn ideas and materials into new ideas. • fluency: it helps in bringing our many ideas. • sensitivity: it senses problems. • curiosity: it creates room to puzzle, seek, inquire and discover. • action: it creates and ignites actions. • originality: it is original. creativity, children and the classroom 63 • interest: it entails paying attention. • commitment: it makes one be involved. • reflection: it enables one to consider and reconsider ideas. • motivation: it performs good-oriented innovation of things, and strength to tackle difficult ideas. accordingly, uka, onwuekwe, and asogwa, (2022: 222) developed what they named the "creativity quadrat diagram", using getlein‘s (2008:12) explanation of the qualities of a creative person. he specifically mentioned traits such as sensitivity, flexibility, originality, playfulness, productivity, fluency, analytical and organizational skills. from there, they lifted the following; originality, sensitivity, flexibility and productivity and used the phrases to formulate the creativity quadrat, which was the basis of their research. although their paper was not specifically on art and creativity, they focused on how creativity can bring about sustainable development in nigeria if the creativity quadrat is applied passionately in all the sectors of the state. they further argued that corruption and lack of creativity are the banes of nigeria's development which had lingered for over fifty years. explaining the quadrat, uka, et al (2022: 223) opine thus; in the quadrat, originality entails novelty, ingenuity, resourcefulness, or inventiveness. ideas come to play here, and it is the starting point of creativity. ani & emodi-nnoruka 64 sensitivity entails response to influences, changes in other people‘s feelings, the environment, or events below is the diagram of the creativity quadrat: fig 1: the creativity quadrat. source: uka, et al 2022 the importance of creativity • it is brainstorming. it is a thought-provoking approach which generates an alternative solution to a specific problem and challenge. • it expresses emotional feelings; it provides an avenue for sharing of though by various individuals. • it develops skills and stimulates the senses of thinking. creativity, children and the classroom 65 • it develops self-confidence and widens evaluation techniques. • it fosters internalization. • it is motivating. testing the children’s creativity 1: toy making toys are objects that children play with. a toy is a work that encompasses dolls, action figures, play sets, creative and artistic materials, collectables as miniatures of all kinds and a wide variety of other items, games and puzzles, balls and other sports equipment. they all appear in different sizes. toy serves different purposes. toy entertains children, it occupies them. it is used to arouse, and sustain inquisitiveness in children. it is used in many ways such as in educating and teaching children. toys have an important influence on the emotional, mental, and physical development of children. materials for toy making materials for making toys may vary. some materials for making toys include plastic, foam, scissors, fabric (velvet) or any other soft cloth, thread and needle, wood, paper, pencil, pen, measuring tape, buttons, beads, cowries, shells, and cotton wool. procedures for making toy • make a drawing of the intended figure of a toy on a surface of a paper ani & emodi-nnoruka 66 • then cut out the shape from the drawn object on the paper • place paper properly on a fabric • then cut out the shape on the fabric • use needle and thread to sew the shapes together • stuff the sewn fabric with foam, pieces of fabric, or cotton wool • then apply accessories like eyes, beads, or shells to depict the eyes, ears, or nose, where necessary. making models model is commonly used in all aspects of visual art in different ways, in architecture, sculpture and ceramics, a model simply refers to a copy of the buildings, structures, statues or wares, usually smaller than the original objects or the final product. it is called prototype marquette or miniature respectively (ngumah, 2013). in graphic design, a model is a sample of a particular design or type of product. in textile or fashion design, a model is often referred to as a person whose job is to wear and pose with a new product style of clothes and be photographed wearing them. for example a fashion model. in drawing and painting, a model is a person employed to be painted, drawn, and photographed by an artist or a photographer. for this learning making models with paper folding techniques, vital emphasis will be on construction, using geometrical or basic shapes. a model is a preliminary work creativity, children and the classroom 67 or construction made of paper examples are straw boards, clipboards, cardboard, and embossed cards to form different objects like a building (ngumah, ayoola, dalhatu, and samkay 2013). paper folding techniques means shaping, and building prototype, and different geometric or basic shapes and sizes to form cuboids, pyramids, abstracts, sculpture figures etc. materials and tools used in making paper models its basic materials are clip board, cardboard, strawboard, embossed card, drawing sheet, brown paper, adhesive, and pencil. tools, therefore, are cutting instruments to cut the cards into various shapes/sizes such as razor blades, cutters, pairs of scissors, ruler compass, measuring tape, etc. plate 1: folding up cardboard paper to make a toy. source: pineterest.com ani & emodi-nnoruka 68 testing the children’s creativity 2: puppetry puppets are small figures/objects that can be held, carried about, or even tied to a rope. the art of using this puppet is called puppetry. puppetry is a type of dramatization which can be used in pre-primary and lower-primary schools. it allows the learners to develop imaginary and creative ideas and to see how things can be transformed. puppets attract and retain children’s attention, thereby making a dull class quite interactive. because it is a doing thing, it makes learning more permanent. it encourages children's participation in the class. it helps the children to develop the spirit of imagination and critical thinking. puppets make dull children participate actively in learning activities. again, it promotes confidence in children. problem-solving methods of teaching and learning this is a method of teaching where learners are meant to look for and find out solutions to the existing problems by themselves. the problem-solving method helps the learner to identify problems and identify possible solutions with or without the direction of the teacher. a teacher may create a problem in an area of study and allow the learners to identify and look for solutions for such problems. this is therefore a form of inquiry method which helps the pupils to think for themselves and arrive at a deeper understanding of their problems. this helps the learner to develop the spirit of research and creative creativity, children and the classroom 69 thinking. there are various types of these methods which are quizzes, puzzles, cartoons work cards and sorting. quizzes a quiz is a short assessment test in which learners are required to give specific information or answers. it is short and explicit. it did not require a long essay. a quiz may be in form of true or false, fill in the blank space, multiply choice, matching etc. a quiz may be oral or written. it may involve a whole class or some group. puzzles puzzles are the problem-solving method of teaching where learners are required to think critically and objectively before arriving at an answer. it is an educational game that requires a great amount of logical thinking before arriving at an answer. puzzles may have solutions built inside them such as crosswords, etc. f o o d n o k e y s t e w o a o y a m c o t b g i r l b food, eat, boy, girl, yam, no, stew, book fig 1: puzzle ani & emodi-nnoruka 70 cartoons cartoons are specially madepictorial art that expresses the idea in mind. it is mainly drawn to elicit an idea or concept in mind. it requires a lot of critical thinking and analysis before the message or real idea could be interpreted. work cards these are specially made small cards in which problems/questions are written on one side while solutions to questions or problems are written on the other side. it can also be arranged in two groups. questions will be written in one group while answers on the other group of cards. fig 2: word card. sorting: it is a kind of problem-solving technique whereby learners are required to identify, arrange, classify, and match items according to the required standard. this technique permits the learner to think critically before organizing or categorizing ideas or issues on the ground. creativity, children and the classroom 71 arousing, sustaining and encouraging inquisitiveness in children through creativity creative expression in early childhood education requires attention. it explores the role of creative expression which includes visual arts, music and movement and creative drama. creativity is the involvement and use of skills and imagination to produce something new or a work of art. it is to make something happen or exist which aims at producing a particular feeling or impression on people. pre-school children between the ages of (0 to 6 years) and zero to six years, therefore, need to nurture with the aid of creativity to arouse, sustain and encourage their inquisitiveness in a learning environment for effective learning to take place. this can be achieved effectively through the following; drama drama is a play that involves imitating the actions of people by acting their roles. there are different techniques for creating these actions, which are as follows; • playwriting is a creative process of writing a play through imagination. the writing could be from the wealth of experience of the writer (who is known as the playwright) about the past events in his society. it could be real or fictitious happenings in his/her environment or comments on the social ills in ani & emodi-nnoruka 72 society. children learn effectively through the sense of sight and involvement in the creative process. • songs are composed in drama to enhance their aesthetic value. in drama, songs can be used creatively to express emotion through voice or musical instruments or with a combination of both. songs can be used creatively in portraying the characters to the audience and can also serve as music in the background during the action. songs can be creatively used to enhance learning in preschool children. • dance is the movement of the body with rhythmical steps and gestures to music or sounds. it could be used as a technique of drama creation because; every human activity can be expressed through dance. it entails a lot of creative skills. • mime is an action without uttering speech. it entails changes in facial expressions and gestures. these creative gestures are very vital in mime because they convey a lot of information to the audience, especially the preschool children and the learners at large. • improvisation is making up a drama without a fixed speech as it is performed. actors and actresses perform without written dialogues. they use their creativity, children and the classroom 73 imagination to say what is appropriate during the performance. improvisation requires a lot of creative skills which could be used in sustaining and encouraging inquisitiveness in preschool children. functions of drama according to ngumah, et al (2013) the functions of drama can be stated as follows; • educative functions • informative functions • entertainment functions • therapeutic functions. educative functions of drama in educative functions of drama; • it teaches tolerance among people, that is people learn to accept each other through drama. • drama teaches cooperation; people cultivate the habit of cooperation among themselves. • drama encourages personal relationships among people • drama inculcates in people the creative ability to express themselves. • again, drama serves as a guide against the future occurrence of bad behaviours in society and thereby encourages good character. ani & emodi-nnoruka 74 informative functions of drama • drama is a means of self-expression. • drama is used in enlightening people on the social and moral values of society. • drama unveils important information about the society or group of people or sections of societies from the past to the present. • drama highlights the effects of social vices like drug abuse, cultism, examination malpractice, tribalism, corruption, fighting, stealing, raping, kidnapping, indecent dressing, impersonation, armed robbery, child abuse etc. entertainment functions of drama: drama is a means of entertainment people derived pleasure in watching drama thereby arousing their interest. • the personalities involved in the drama enhance the value of the entertainment. therapeutic functions of drama • drama is a source of relaxation for people that is people forget their ugly past experiences for the moment while watching drama; this, therefore, relaxes their nerves. • drama helps to build and develop confidence in people • it encourages self-realization • drama creates employment opportunities. creativity, children and the classroom 75 story telling story telling is an oral presentation of characters and their acts. the characters may be human beings or animals. storytelling has titles which could be derived from the plot of the story. storytelling could be seen as a distribution of accounts of what has happened in the past. a story is also imaginary thinking that is been narrated to someone. reasons for story telling • we tell a story for entertainment • storytelling enhances experience • storytelling is used for teaching moral lessons to children. • storytelling is used to educate and nurture the mind of children. • it makes one happy. • it is also used to develop and sustain children’s interest in learning. • storytelling arouses a child's interest in a learning environment. • it is used to review history or events. evaluation • attempt to make a toy with some of the tools provided • briefly explain ways of encouraging inquisitiveness in children during learning. ani & emodi-nnoruka 76 • carefully describe puppets. • carefully explain creativity. • describe in detail the features of creativity. • describe puzzle. • describe sorting. • describe the components of creativity. • describe ways of arousing children's interest in a learning environment. • discuss the creativity quadrat. • explain cartoon. • explain quizzes. • explain the nature of creativity. • explain ways of sustaining children's interest in learning. • make a model of a square using cardboard paper. • produce a learning toy for children. • state the importance of creativity. • state three types of creativity. • state ways of solving problems. • what are puppets? • what are the methods of fostering creativity in an art class? • what is work card? creativity, children and the classroom 77 references amabile, t.m. (1997). motivating creativity in an organization: on doing what you love and loving what you do. california management review, 40(1), 39-58. getlein, m. (2008). living with art (8th ed). new york: mcgraw hill. mehtaa, m. chandanib, a. and neerajac, b. (2014). creativity and innovation: assurance for growth. symbiosis institute of management studies annual research conference. 11 p 804 – 811. retrieved from www.creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-ncnd/3.0/ ngumah, h. c, ayoola, o., dalhatu, s., and samkay, a. (2013) cultural and creative arts for junior secondary schools. ibadan: evans brothers nigeria ltd. uka, g. o., onwuekwe, c. o., and asogwa, n. c. (2022). creativity and innovation as ways of enhancing sociopolitical, and economic development of some nigerian sectors. lwati: a journal of contemporary research. 2022, 19 (1): 215-228 www.universalacademicservices.org http://www.creativecommons.org/%20licenses/by-ncnd/3.0/ the sense in the snail sense feminism: a study of ifeoma okoye’s “a strange disease” and “from wife to concubine” ebele okpala abstract most african societies seem to be culture oriented. despite western civilization and influence, the impact of traditional beliefs, myths and religion, according to a significant number of researches, are prevailing. the rights, positions, and experiences of female gender in most african countries have remained a major concern of most scholars, who have in many ways highlighted the hostile nature of some cultural structures as they affect the females in patriarchal societies. the study attempts to lend support to akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s snail sense. using content analysis approach of qualitative research method and the theory of snail sense feminism, the study examines ifeoma okoye’s “the strange disease” and “from wife to concubine” to capture the challenges and adversities of the female characters, to buttress the need for snail sense in patriarchal societies. the findings revealed that based on traditional practices and beliefs, female characters, especially widows, are subjected to marginalization and intimidation. the main characters, in line with snail sense feminism, advocate diplomacy and successfully overcome their impediments. snail sense should be encouraged amongst women as a survival strategy in male dominated societies. keywords: culture, women, patriarchy, snail sense, feminism. introduction the society customarily assigns matrimonial roles to the women and the more domineering roles of the bread winner and family head to the men. in africa, some women’s duty is just to bear children, tend the home and assist the husband (239). budua, in ama ata aido’s anowa, puts it, women “marry a man, tend a farm and be happy to see her peppers and her onions grow. a woman should bear children, many children, so she can afford to have one or two die” (21). these roles are assigned by culture and inculcated early. chidinma daniel-inim adds that in a patriarchal system: the man wields the power and the authority that organizes the social structure. he is the authorizing force behind the social, political, economic and religious decisions in the society. thus, while the man from childhood is indoctrinated with a superiority complex, the woman is merely treated as inferior to the man while the male child is taught to aspire for great professionalism, the female child is indoctrinated with the idea that she could never survive outside the kitchen. at home, she is made to do most of the household chores while the boy plays ball in the field. decisions that bother on her happiness are considered only after the boy’s comfort. (224) according to ibigbolade s. aderibigbe, the dynamics of the relationship between gender and the role, have often been employed as the defining factor for the status of the male and female. one’s anatomy ultimately determines one’s social status (686). justina okoye asserts that gender is a culturally shaped group of attributes and behaviours allotted to male and female beings (6). in african literature, girls are often portrayed as quiet, ladylike, pretty, polite, weak, emotional, and passive. these qualities often translate into roles such as teachers, nurses, clerical officers which reinforce the idea that girls are traditionally responsible for the domestic chores. emphasis is laid more, for the girls on good behaviour, cleanliness, obedience and hard work which aims at creating harmony in future homes (apena 282). the female is always reminded of her natural roles as a wife and a mother. these roles saddle her with the responsibilities of producing, nurturing children, and taking care of the home. right from childhood, she is constantly reminded of these duties; so that by the time she reaches adulthood, she comes to accept them as her reason for living. she may be: denied property rights because she is unfortunate to be born a woman. she is made to observe the levirate tradition if she has the misfortune of losing her husband. she could be made to marry to provide funds for the sustenance of the male siblings in the family and bears the burden of giving birth and ‘backing’ the child… while fetching water or firewood. meanwhile, the man can relax at a palm wine joint to await his food. (chiluwa iii) a woman should perform her traditional roles efficiently; she is expected to love her husband, respect him with all due submission and devotion, whether he loved or ill-treated her. when children come, part of this devotion would be transferred to their nurture and upbringing. if food is not enough for everyone in the house, she would ensure that others eat while she gladly goes hungry. women are judged by their physical features rather than by their achievements, ability or skills. a man’s appearance could be an advantage, but never a hindrance; the attributes that matter most in judging a man are intelligence, skill and financial standing. in most patriarchal societies, it is men who control or determine the way women should look. if men prefer fat women in a particular culture, every woman in that culture would aspire to be fat. if thinness is preferred, the mania would swing to thin. in the traditional past, many nigerian communities preferred their women plump, robust and strong. in some parts of eastern nigeria for instance, young women were isolated in “fattening rooms”, where they did no work except to eat. at the end of the puberty rites, they become plump, soft skinned, and ready to be married off. it is assumed that in this condition, they will please their husbands and bear numerous children. there has been a change however, in ideas about beauty and femininity, within the last decade. most men prefer their women slender. fatness is regarded as a disadvantage probably because of its health problems. thinness for the females has become fashionable and most women are keen weight-watchers (adimora-ezeigbo 8-10). african traditional society has been conditioned to think of power as male, and that a powerful woman is an aberration. as a result, she is policed. people tend to ask – “is she humble? does she smile? is she grateful enough? does she have a domestic side?” (adichie 4). some organizations like (fida) federation internacional de abogadas (international federation of women lawyers), (gem) gender equality movement , (ncws) national council of women’s society, (win) the women in nigeria, and (fomwan) the federation of muslim women’s association of nigeria under the aegis of the federal ministry of women affairs and social development (ezeigbo 71) aimed to promote equality, development and advancement of all persons especially women in africa were formed to foster female emancipation and empowerment. this issue also attracts the attention of african female writers who have tried according to nwankwo “to re-write the women back into positivity after the unwholesome portraiture they received at the hands of the early male writers” (172). these female writers needed to create a space whereby their voices could be heard and their desires made known to the world through their persuasive writing. however, according to daniel –inim: “patriarchy has been a symbol of men’s superiority complex over women. superiority in the sense that, men’s words and standards are the accepted societal norms “(224). teresa u. njoku laments that woman’s predicament has been manifesting from the lore of patriarchy (195). the effect of patriarchal lordship is silencing the woman, muffling or muting her voice or browbeating her to remain voiceless. molara ogundipe-leslie claims that patriarchy takes different and complex forms in different societies: it poses a common challenge to women, silencing them (15). silence, however, represents “the historical muting of women under the formidable institution known as patriarchy, that form of social organization in which males assume power and create for females an inferior status” ( d’almeida 1). patriarchy favours men and subjugates women. one does not expect the contrary since according to teresa u. njoku, patriarchy is a social system controlled mainly by men. it results in sexism which attributes importance and superiority to the male and inferiority to the female. men created this system and women have no hand in the management of patriarchal institutions, which results in their being marginalized (207). the theory of snail sense feminism akachi adimora-ezeigbo formulated her theory in 2012 as a result of an in-depth investigation in the condition of nigerian women, their reaction and response to socio-cultural and political forces that impacted and still impact on their lives. “snail sense feminism is more realistic, practical and functional” (adimora-ezeigbo 26) than all other theories of feminism, and has undergone some modification involving the principles of shared values which encourage “one to be tolerant, to imbibe the virtues of negotiation, give and take, compromise and balance” (adimora-ezeigbo 26). it is derived from the habit of snails. the snail crawls over boulders, rocks, thorns, crags and rough terrains smoothly and efficiently with a well lubricated tongue that is not harmed by the harsh objects. women are implored to adopt a conciliatory attitude towards men. the igbo people say: ire ome ka ejula ji aga n’ogwu – meaning “the snail crawls over thorns with a fine and well lubricated tongue”. moreover, the snail carries its house on its back without feeling the strain. it goes wherever it wishes in this manner and arrives at its destination intact. if danger looms, it withdraws into its shell and is safe. this is what women often do in our society to survive in nigeria’s harsh patriarchal culture. (27) the snail may not be a strong creature physically and can be crushed easily, yet it mounts fences, climbs up and down rocks, thorny and spiky surface with ease. it does not confront objects but negotiates its way past any obstacle. women may imitate this wise, sensitive, resilient and determined creature to be able to survive in a society that devalues women. this is because: no matter how gifted a woman is, no matter her ingenuity and political exploits, she can only be recognized in the society as a good and caring mother. any other ambitious image a woman portrays outside this stereotype model earns her derogatory names like iron lady, domineering lady, or even the biblical notorious name –jezebel. (nwosu 2) the women should learn survival strategies to be able to overcome some of the impediments before them. they should not see this as a weakness or cowardice but rather a way of strategizing to complement the man and join forces with him for the benefit of all. adimoraezeigbo suggests that a good education will be an added advantage for women. if a woman is educated, the family in particular and the country in general are educated and empowered. women cannot be empowered unless they have access to good education. during the pre-colonial and colonial eras, some of the issues like childlessness, male child preference: our ancestors in igbo land adopted the options of ‘female husband’ and male daughter to ease the pain and get around the ‘problem’ of not having a male child and solve the ‘problem’ of inheritance. in this way they were able to secure the family investment and properties …. (adimoraezeigbo 31) in contemporary society, christianity frowns at such practices and condemns polygamy. most islamic feminists equally decry polygamy. what can be done to tackle the situation? adoption or vitro-fertilization? how do young working mothers negotiate with their husbands to share the burden of housekeeping and childcare? how does a young wife who is also a mother run her home and keep her job when child-minders or domestic helps are hard to come by? how can she cope? (adimora-ezeigbo 33). the woman has to negotiate with her husband, as negotiation, most times, is more effective in achieving success in human relations than confrontation. the ability of the snail to smoothen rough surfaces to enable it to make movement easy is what matters most. the theory lays much emphasis on individual success and development. the individual must empower herself before she can empower others. if a woman succeeds, the success of the family follows naturally. many scholars, however, criticize that the snail in adimora-ezeigbo’s theory is a sluggish creature and therefore should not be a good symbol worthy of emulation in women’s struggles for emancipation. some critics argue that african women need to be vocal and revolutionary in their demand for equity and justice in their society. they believe that it will be difficult to achieve emancipation without being confrontational. after all, there is always a trace of revolt and revolution in every struggle against oppression. in fights, for instance, there are elements of force applied and quarrels do not occur in undertones. thus, the struggles against patriarchal oppression should be sweetened with a pinch of radical salt (chiluwa 105). adimora-ezeigbo assures that special attributes of snail-determination, effective skills and sensitivity have nothing to do with its speed of movement. with these qualities, the snail overcomes all its obstacles. in same manner, african women are implored “to be wise, sensitive and proactive in their quest for justice and self-actualization” (37). emancipation should not be a fight for equality with men through the “dishing out of blows and slaps”. it cannot also be achieved through hatred of anything that has to do with men or throwing them out of their political offices and occupying their positions. “the ability to tolerate and incorporate differences, spells a step forward in the pursuit of equality, the dethroning of patriarchy and bringing about a cessation of the subjugation of females” (chiluwa 107). snail sense feminism advocates discretion and diplomacy by women in the pursuit of self-actualization. women in patriarchal societies justina okoye, in her review of different types of gender violence and their impact on women, observes that patriarchy uses violence against women as a legal tool to subjugate women and uphold men’s dominance over them. she points out that female discrimination starts from birth and continues the rest of their lives. the second-class status allotted to the female gender, resigns them to the dictates of culture. like some other scholars, okoye supports that female subjugation has its source in religion and tradition. des obi obioma and boniface ifesinachi ogbenna also support that violence against women is tied to the history of tradition and religion. they also recommend economic empowerment of women through education, employment or skilled labour which will accord them more dignity. florence orabueze regrets that despite the provisions made by the united nations, to protect women all over the world, the african woman is still subjected to discrimination. she is at the bottom of the scale and oppressed by virtually every member of her society. she therefore commends the african female writers who produce counter-hegemonic texts in pursuit of the freedom of the african woman. these writers use recurrent themes like motherhood, marriage, widowhood, polygamy, prostitution, child-trafficking, childlessness and widow inheritance to condemn the derogatory attitude towards the african woman. (29-72) she also posits that women are truly subjugated and enslaved in the african cultural milieu. in offices, junior female workers are subjected to sexual harassment. they are sex objects who may offer their body to ensure they are not treated unfairly or discriminated against. in their matrimonial homes, the married women are degraded and oppressed, their husbands batter them and the precepts of islamic religion, permit such punishment. the traditional structure in traditional african societies is very strong because, during the colonial period, british colonial authorities established a plural legal system in which british law operated alongside indigenous customary law and religious law in certain areas. african customary law or religious law governed issues such as marriage, divorce, custody, burial and inheritance and to date many african states have retained the structure of parallel legal system (johanna 291). these among other factors confirm why gender justice has not been fully achieved. adimora-ezeigbo in an interview quoted in iwuchukwu, maintains that: our society is highly patriarchal, and for a woman to survive here, she really has to be hardworking, resilient, tolerant and accommodating, and that is the life of the snail. … i believe that is what women in this country should be doing. we are trying to help build our society, our families, but we don’t have to be confrontational. any woman who thinks she can confront men will certainly fail. no one can do it alone. we need men just as they need us. the relationship is basically complementary. there is need for men and women to work together to achieve a better society, in the family, at work places, in politics, everywhere. besides, our culture does not allow confrontation with men (interview with chucks oluigbo. (284) the desired change in favour of women could be achieved through negotiation and not physical combat or confrontation (iwuchukwu) 283. snail sense feminism is conceived to reflect her life and the lives of women around her. it is culture-oriented and differs from american, european, or asian feminism. it is designed to help women actualize themselves through emancipation and empowerment (iwuchukwu 283), in a society that permits widow inheritance, obnoxious widowhood rites, and female genital mutilation. snail sense feminism as the alleviation in “a strange disease”, enu is being pestered by onumba, her brother-in-law, to become his third wife. enu is a young widow, who may be lonely at times and needs companionship. she may desire financial help and assistance in her farm, but a number of factors put her off onumba. he is presented as “an insidious man who didn’t take kindly to any word or actions he felt were humiliating to him and he would harm her and her two teenage sons if she refused his proposal. (27). his attitude and the consequences of the proposal is summed in by ebube: why is onumba in your house every evening these days? … this handshake is passing the elbow and is beginning to look like kidnapping. does he want to marry you? yes, enu said quietly. marry him if you want to be in hell fire for the rest of your life” ebube said. marry him if you want to lose your sons’ share of family land to him. that is all i want to say for now. you don’t tell a clever child to come out of the hot sun. (30) ebube is portrayed as a seventy-five years old neighbour, who knows the custom as well as the people in their community. she understands very well that their culture welcomes widow inheritance as well as polygamy (7) but the prospective suitor is depicted as “selfish, high handed and un-trustworthy man who beats his wives for the flimsiest of reasons” (31). apart from battering, just like her late husband, enu also considers the rivalry with other wives. the first wife has warned her to leave onumba alone, “marry him and i’ll make you miserable” (31). she also worries about the possibility of becoming a widow again and going through the grief, the horrible mourning rites. in igbo traditional society, women are not permitted to be custodians of family land. if enu marries onumba, he would automatically be the overseer of her late husband’s share of the family land until her children come of age. with his type of personality and ambition, he may appropriate the land or change the boundaries to his own advantage. land in igbo land, is a very important asset. some part could be sold to raise capital for her sons’ business or used as collateral for a loan to start a business (31). once she consents to marry onumba, that means that onumba owns her as well as all she has including her sons’ share of family land. how will enu resolve the long-standing dilemma? how can a defenceless widow reject such a proposal from a dangerous man without being confrontational? this is where snail sense makes sense. she has tried many tricks to stop him from coming to eat dinner in her house every evening. one evening she deliberately over salted the soup and on another evening, she added so much pepper in the soup yet onumba on each occasion, ate the meal without complaining and continued his late evening visits (28). he is a diehard and can intimidate enu. catherine acholonu is of the opinion that a rich and educated woman who is outspoken, hardworking and fearless can hardly be oppressed by a member of society (111). it is obvious that the population of the group described by acholonu, who no longer carry foo foo to men discussing important matters (nnolim, quoted in angela fubara 245), is very small, and as such might not influence much change in female marginalization. a woman, like enu is a widow, who prepares “onugbu soup as a treat to herself for working hard all day in her cassava farm (26), can easily be intimidated and oppressed by any member of her society. moreover, the children are not of age to protect her from the oppressive structures of the “tyrannical custom that allows a man the liberty” (orabueze 114) to do what he likes. onumba is not moved. he does not care how a helpless widow provides what he comes every evening to eat. in the conventional belief that nwoke adi njọ (a man is rarely terrible), he expresses lack of decorum and courteousness in a house where he does not provide anything, as he queries enu. “i hope there’s enough dry fish in that soup… the foo foo is taking you ages to cook … i hope you have enough of it to fill these valleys in my body?” (28). when enu said that dry fish is very expensive and that she doesn’t have money to buy, his response is “if you agree to be my wife, i’ll overwhelm you with fish” (28). in disapproval enu murmured to herself, “how much do you give to your wives? (29). this implies that his greed, selfish desires, and his unwillingness to part with money has no bounds. the death of a husband creates a big vacuum. due to lack of emotional/financial support, appropriate monitoring and absence of the man of the house, intruders may begin to encroach. enu has a number of problems since her husband died. “two of her husband’s relations including onumba had encroached on her husband’s farmland” (29). onumba has never expressed a word of affirmation, sent a gift or service to show love or genuine intentions. enu is not a kid, and cannot be deceived, but her greatest problem is fear. how does she bell the cat? in line with snail sense feminism, she becomes protective and carefully rejects the proposal without being confrontational. enu uses correction fluid, her niece, who is studying at a university, has left in her house and put patches on her belly and pubic area. she quietly says to onumba, “i cannot be your wife, even if i want to … it’s for your own good, onumba, that i don’t become your wife” (33). the tact in the snail sense is accented in the following dialogue: what do you mean by “for my own good?” i have a disease and i don’t want to pass it on you, enu whispered as if someone else could hear her. what disease is that? … enu lowered her voice. i don’t know what it is called … the doctor called it a strange disease or something like that. i didn’t quite understand him. is this a joke, enu? it’s not a joke. i’m dead serious. … come. follow me. onumba followed her into the house. see, enu said, removing her wrapper and standing stark naked in front of onumba. raising the lamp in her hand up to her middle, she said, see the white patches all over me here. she touched her pubic area. the doctor says that any man who touches me gets the disease. and he said the disease is worse for men. onumba quickly stepped backwards away from enu. did the doctor say you can get the disease by eating food cooked by the person suffering from it?... i didn’t ask the doctor whether you could or not. onumba hurried out of the house without saying goodnight. (34) what could have sent onumba away from enu’s life if not the special attributes of snail? how else could she have rejected the proposal politely and seriously? which strategy could have saved her from the wrath of onumba? enu’s attitude recapitulates the impeccable role of the symbolic eneke nti oba in achebe’s work (iniobong uko 85), who has devised a survival strategy of flying without perching since men have learnt to shoot without missing. unlike other feminist theories, the use of tolerance and discretion as advocated by snail sense feminism is more realistic in their struggle against patriarchal subjugation. in same manner, arit also recovers her marriage certificate and her block of flats from paul, her brother-in-law in “from wife to concubine”. the author exemplifies what becomes of a woman who loses her husband prematurely, especially in a society that detests inter-tribal marriage. the agony of such a woman becomes unbearable when she is deprived of what rightfully belongs to her. who will fight her battle? the people that opposed her marriage to paul because she is from another ethnic group? one asked fred, to her hearing “fred, i wouldn’t have minded that much if you had gone all that way to get yourself a beautiful wife instead of one as ugly as a chimpanzee. if you have made up your mind to eat an animal as ugly as a toad, why not eat a fat one to compensate for the toad’s ugliness?” (68). like every other widow, she was subjected to dehumanizing widowhood rites and was not allowed to express any opinion about the burial of her husband, even when she provided the money needed (68). paul, his brother-in-law is like onumba who according to the author, confronting him is “as foolhardy as deliberately walking into the path of a lion” (66). he lives with his third wife, his first two wives had left him one after the other, leaving all their children behind (69). paul bluntly declared to arit, as for the block of flats at onitsha, you have no claim to it whatsoever. you are not married to fred. you can’t inherit his property, neither can your children. you were just his concubine and concubines don’t inherit properties under our customary law. maybe you want the customary court to tell you that before you believe it. it will be in your best interest not to contest this. save whatever money you have for your children. (70) with the disappearance of her marriage certificate and other important documents, she is left with no weapon to fight her course. realizing that paul can easily crush her, she decides to give up believing that a rat cannot do anything to an iron pot. she suddenly resorts to the wise habits of a snail to overcome her challenges. she claims she knows all about samuel’s death, about his accidentally shooting himself. this disarms paul and he leaves the living room. after a few weeks, arit receives her marriage certificate by post. she lives in her flat and collects rent for the other three flats. paul has ceased to raise issues about acquiring the block of flats. conclusion tradition, in most patriarchal societies, permit widow inheritance, polygamy and some other spiteful and obnoxious rituals that debase female persona. the belief and acceptance of these cultural values are so strong that the law is almost rendered helpless. enu and arit may represent the majority of the women who are not rich, educated, opinionated or fearless as described by acholonu, and therefore could be subjugated and oppressed by any member of their society. enu and arit are widows whose children are still very young. they are vulnerable and may not be able to hold their possession or fight for their rights. they could be crushed easily like a snail, that is not a strong creature, yet they are able to negotiate their obstacles diplomatically. the study recommends tolerance and principles derived from the habit of snails for the survival of women in a male-dominated society. works cited acholonu, catherine. motherism: the africentric alternative to feminism. owerri, afa publishers, 1985, pp.100-120. adimora-ezeigbo, akachi. snail sense feminism: building on an indigenous model 1 (monograph series). lagos, wealthmith books, 2015. . . . gender issues in nigeria: a feminine perspective. lagos, vista, 1996, pp. 5-116. aidoo, ama ata. anowa. london, longman group ltd, 1970, p.21. apena, adline. “bearing the burden of change: colonial and post-colonial experience in flora nwapa’s women are different” marie umeh (ed). emerging perspectives on flora nwapa: critical and theoretical essays. asmara, african world press, 1999, pp. 277-1 289. chiluwa, molly. “patriarchy versus womanism in nigeria: rethinking womanist theorization”. new perspective on a literary enigma: a festschrift in honour of professor theodora akachi adimora-ezeigbo.ibadan, university press,2014, pp.100-112. d’ almeida, irene. francophone african women. destroying the emptiness of silence. gainesville, florida up, 1994, p. 1. daniel-inim, praise chidinma. “battle against patriarchy: a reading of tracie utoh-ezeajugh’s out of mask” gender discourse in african theatre, literature and visual arts. a festschrift in honour of professor mabel evwierhoma. eds tracie chima utohezeajugh, barclays foubiri ayakoroma. ibadan, kraft books limited, 2015, p. 224. fubara, angela. “rhetoric of pain: unearthing the ugly as a tool for the good in chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun”. a harvest from tragedy: critical perspective onnigeriancivil war literature. ed. chinyere nwahunanya. owerri, springefield, 2011, p.245. johanna, bond. “constitutional exclusion and gender in commonwealth africa”.31 fordham int’l i.j; 2008, pp. 289291. ibigbolade, simon aderibigbe. “womanhood in african worldview and religion”. the power: women’s labour rights and responsibilities. trenton, african world press, 2013, p.686. iwuchukwu, onyeka. “revolt and snail-sense feminism in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s plays”. new perspectives on a literary enigma. a festschrift in honour of professor theodora akachi adimora-ezeigbo. eds. emmanuel a. adedun and onuora benedict nweke. ibadan, university press, 2014, pp 276-297. njoku, teresa u “beyond phallocriticism issue trend in the criticism of the african feminist novel”: a festschrift in honour of charles e nnolim. ed. austine amanze akpuda. owerri, skill mark, 2001, pp. 195-207. nwosu, chukwuma c. “sex role stereotype and women empowerment in tess onwueme’s the reign of wazobia”. nigerian academic forum: a multidisciplinary journals, 6. ed. nonso nnabuife, awka, 2004, p. 40. obioma, des obi and ogbenna boniface ifesinachi. “women issues: violence against women in africa-an exposition”. the kpim of feminism issues and women in changing world. eds ukagbo george uzoma obioma des obi, iks j. nwankwo. victoria, trafford publishers 2010, pp 128-136. ogundipe-leslie, molara. re-creating ourselves african women and critical transformation trenton, african worlds press, 1994, p.152. okoye, ifeoma. “a strange disease” and “from wife to concubine” the trial and other stories. lagos, african heritage press, 2005 okoye, justina. the woman today: viewing her in african literature in french. onitsha noben press ltd, 2017, pp. 6-35. orabueze, florence o. “the feminist crusade against violations of women’s fundamental human rights: mariama ba’s so long a letter and buchi emecheta’s second class citizen”. women in the academy festschrift for professor helen chukwuma. eds seiyifakaroye, noel c. anyadike. port harcourt, pearl publishers, 2004, pp. 103-114. . . . “womanhood as a metaphor for sexual slavery” society, women & literature in africa. port harcourt, m & j orbit communications ltd, 2010, pp. 29-72. uko, iniobong i.”transcending the margins : new directions in women writing”. alt 25. trenton, african world press, 2006, pp.82-93. chapter 15: the application of coreldraw software in the creation of simple and complex graphic designs contributed by chidi uzor, mary o. emodi-nnoruka, and ojo ekundayo introduction ambrose and harris (2009) graphic design is a creative visual arts discipline that encompasses many areas. it may include art direction, typography, page layout, information technology and other creative aspects. this variety means that there is a fragmented landscape for design practice within which designers may specialise and focus. in relation to the professional development of graphic design field, davis (2015) commented that due to the roots of graphic design, graphic designers are trained primarily to master technical production skills in order to create visually appealing works for effective communication. however, practitioners are urged to develop new aspects or criteria to reflect the more recent status of graphic design as a profession due to the development of the information age and the growth of the knowledge economy. what coreldraw application stands for akron-summit (2019) defines coreldraw as a vector graphics editing software developed by corel corporation. it is used for creating and editing digital illustrations, logos, brochures, and other design projects. the program offers many features and special effects that allow users to create designs to fit many different needs. coreldraw is a powerful software known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive design tools. this chidi uzor, mary emodi-nnoruka, and ojo ekundayo 252 research examines its contribution to design creation, from simple illustrations and logos to complex graphics like 3d illustrations, advanced typography, and intricate patterns. there are some artistic tools in the features of coreldraw software, which will help design very complex and eye-catching drawings with different types of logical ideas. coreldraw offers different types of brushes that helps create a detailed image with a realistic look, and that image can easily convey its real purpose. coreldraw also have a layer system, just like illustrator and photoshop software, which helps work with different layers of an image without damaging the original individual layer. coreldraw features and tools e-iceblue (2023) analyzed the key features and tools in coreldraw that enable designers to create a wide range of designs. these include vector editing, precision tools, customizable brushes, node editing, and the ability to handle various file formats, among others. the following tools are available in the drop-down button when you open coreldraw fig 1: a table of coreldraw work tools. source: coreldraw screenshot (2019) an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 253 fig 2: a table of coreldraw work tools with descriptions of their functions. source: coreldraw screenshot (2019) chidi uzor, mary emodi-nnoruka, and ojo ekundayo 254 simple design creation the research explores the ease with which coreldraw facilitates the creation of simple designs. it delves into the software's capabilities in generating basic shapes, logos, banners, and posters, discussing how designers leverage its tools for quick and efficient outputs. complex design creation coreldraw’s ability to handle intricate designs is examined in this section. it explores it’s role in designing complex illustrations, info graphics, product packaging, and marketing materials, showcasing how designers employ advanced techniques to achieve professional-grade outputs. workflow efficiency the research evaluates the software's impact on design workflow efficiency. it analyzes the integration of coreldraw with other design software and hardware, assessing how designers can optimize their processes to save time and effort. the use of coreldraw in 3d illustrations coreldraw is primarily a 2d vector graphics software, and it may not be the most suitable tool for creating complex 3d illustrations directly. however, coreldraw can be used in combination with other 3d software to enhance your 3d illustrations. for example, you can design 2d elements in coreldraw and import them into 3d modelling software like blender or 3ds max to create a more detailed 3d scene. if one is specifically looking for a software that specializes in 3d illustrations, one may want to consider using dedicated 3d modelling and rendering software like blender, autodesk maya, or cinema 4d. these programs offer more advanced 3d capabilities and tools to create intricate 3d illustrations. an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 255 creating advanced typography and patterns using coreldraw creating advanced typography and patterns in coreldraw can be an exciting creative process. to get started, one can explore various font options and customize their appearance using coreldraw’s typography tools. additionally, one can create intricate patterns by combining shapes, lines, and colours. versatility across industries coreldraw’s adaptability across various industries is explored from graphic design and advertising to fashion and architecture, this research highlights real-world examples of how the software addresses unique challenges in different sectors. coreldraw’s usability is well-regarded across various design industries due to its user-friendly interface and intuitive tools. design professionals in graphic design, illustration, web design, and print media find it easy to create and manipulate vector graphics, allowing them to bring their creative visions to life efficiently. its layout capabilities make it suitable for creating designs across different formats, such as posters, brochures, and websites. additionally, its extensive range of features and tools, including vector editing, typography, colour management, and photo editing, make it adaptable to different design projects. its compatibility with industry-standard file formats ensures smooth collaboration and seamless integration into existing design workflows. its user-friendliness and versatility contribute to its widespread usability and popularity among design professionals in various industries. limitations and challenges of working with coreldraw no software is without its limitations. this section discusses the challenges faced by designers when using coreldraw, such as system requirements, compatibility issues, and the learning curve chidi uzor, mary emodi-nnoruka, and ojo ekundayo 256 for beginners. coreldraw, a vector graphics editor, had some limitations and challenges, which might still apply in today’s design software  complexity: corel draw can be quite complex for beginners due to its extensive features and tools. learning to use it proficiently may require time and practice.  resource-intensive: working with large and complex projects can sometimes lead to high cpu and memory usage, which may affect system performance.  compatibility: compatibility issues may arise when transferring files between different versions of coreldraw or other design software.  learning curve: mastering all the functionalities and features of coreldraw may take some time and effort, especially for users new to graphic design software.  limited 3d capabilities: while coreldraw is excellent for 2dgraphics, it may not offer the same level of 3d design capabilities as specialized 3d modelling software.  text handling: coreldraw’s text handling features might not be as advanced as some other dedicated typography software.  lack of real-time collaboration: coreldraw might not have seamless real-time collaboration features compared to some cloud-based design tools.  mac support: historically, coreldraw has been primarily available for windows, and mac users may have limited access or face compatibility challenges. comparison with some other design applications to provide a comprehensive overview, this research compares coreldraw with other design software on the market, showcasing its strengths and weaknesses relative to its competitors. an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 257 thomas 2023 in his review stated that coreldraw is an excellent vector editing, illustration, and page layout application that provides all the capabilities a professional graphic or layout designer might need. digital artists will love the livesketch feature, excellent stylus/touchscreen support, and the ai-assisted powertrace tool for converting pixel images into vectors. it’s also perfectly accessible to new users who have never experimented with vector editing before, thanks to its built-in introductions and helpful hints. adobe illustrator, for instance, is widely used in professional settings and integrates well with other adobe creative suite products. inkscape is an open-source alternative with a strong community of users and developers. affinity designer is known for its robust features and: more affordable one-time purchase model. it's essential to evaluate factors like functionality, user interface, compatibility, and pricing to find the software that best suits your design workflow. future developments the research looks into potential future developments for coreldraw, considering the advancements in technology and design trends, and how the software might continue to evolve to meet the demands of the ever-changing design landscape. enhanced al integration: coreldraw could incorporate more advanced al capabilities, such as automated design suggestions, smart object recognition, and intelligent image tracing. cloud collaboration: improving cloud integration to facilitate seamless collaboration and file sharing among multiple users in real time. chidi uzor, mary emodi-nnoruka, and ojo ekundayo 258 augmented reality/virtual reality (ar/vr) integration: integration of ar/vr technologies to enable designers to visualize and interact with their creations in immersive ways. improved performance and stability: continued efforts to optimize software performance and address potential bugs to enhance user experience. expanded cross-platform compatibility: expanding compatibility to support various operating systems and devices, such as tablets and smart phones. new tools and features: introducing innovative design tools and features to stay competitive and cater to evolving design needs. integration with emerging technologies: integration with new technologies like 3d printing and internet of things (lot) design. accessibility and inclusivity: focusing on making the software more accessible and inclusive for users with different abilities and needs. machine learning and pattern recognition: implementing machine learning algorithms to analyze user behaviour and provide personalized design suggestions. enhancements: continuously refining the user interface and workflows to make them more intuitive and efficient. finally, these points are speculative and based on general trends in the design industry. for up-to-date information, it is best to check the official coreldraw website or announcements from corel corporation. an application of coreldraw in the creation of simple and complex… 259 summary in conclusion, this research highlights the significance of coreldraw in the creation of both simple and complex designs using computers. it underscores the software's versatility, userfriendliness, and potential for continued growth, making it an invaluable tool for designers across various industries. the significance of coreldraw in the creation of designs lies in its versatile and powerful tools that enable designers to produce high-quality graphics and illustrations. its user-friendly interface allows for easy manipulation of shapes, text, and images, making it accessible to both beginners and experienced designers. coreldraw’s features, such as vector editing, layout tools, and various effects, contribute to efficient design workflows and the ability to create complex and professional designs. additionally, the software's compatibility with different file formats makes it suitable for various industries and design projects. overall, coreldraw plays a crucial role in enhancing the design process and enabling designers to bring their creative visions to life effectively. questions what function does shape tool, ellipse tool and interactive fill tools do? what are coreldraw’s industrial capabilities what are the limitations and challenges of working with coreldraw? references akron-s. c. (2019) what is the coreldraw? https://www.akronlibrary.org/images/computertraining/s pecialtopics/coreldraw_basics_2019.pdf chidi uzor, mary emodi-nnoruka, and ojo ekundayo 260 davis, m. (2015b). what is “professional” about professional education. in s. heller (ed.), the education of a graphic designer (3rd ed., pp. 114–121). new york: allworth press. e-iceblue (2023) tools available within coreldraw downloaded from https://www.computer-pdf.com/26-what-iscoreldraw-a-tutorial-for-beginners e. levy (2011) coreldraw and digitizing software downloaded from:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 291647945_coreldraw_and_digitizing_software gavin a. and paul h. (2009) the fundamentals of graphic design published by ava publishing sa production by ava book production pte ltd, singapore www.thamesandhudson.com thomas b. (2023) coreldraw review https://www.softwarehow.com/coreldraw-graphics-suitereview/updated august 28, 2023 of patriarchy, gender, paradox and inference: a feminist import in amma darko’s faceless luke okolo abstract ever since the publication of mary wollstonecraft godwin’s a vindication of the rights of women in 1792 and john staurt mill’s the subjection of women in 1869, about seven decades later on the english landscape, and margaret fuller’s women in the nineteenth century in 1845 in america, feminism, in its variegated shapes, has gradually overtaken the literary landscape. from the first generation of african women writers till the present time, women have been agitating against the social and political structure that oppresses them. recently, male writers have joined hands with their female counterparts in the campaign to advance the issue of women’s demand for equality of both male and female gender. in faceless, amma darko gives makes some inferential statement about the plight of african women. she is most concerned with the challenges of the girl-child who eventually becomes a mother. through the image of fofo and maa tsuru, we see the female endangered specie. the novelist, as an african womanist, emphasises that various woes suffered by african women have their origin in the patriarchal tradition. she deploys her stylistic elements of gender identity, paradox, and symbol to make inferential statement about the future of african society. the novelist, through the use of characterisation and other literary devices, asserts that in spite of dehumanisation women and girls have continued to receive from the male gender, the future of africa lies in harmonious and collaborative relationship of both sexes, both in domestic affair and in official engagements. the resolution of the novel suggests that the two genders complementarity is essential for maximum productivity and health of the family and the larger society. keyword: patriarchy; gender; paradox; symbol; and inference introduction amma darko has emerged a popular and impactful novelist of ghanaian descent fit enough to wear the garbs of ama ata aidoo, on the one hand as a feminist, and ayi kwei armah, on another hand as a social novelist. her two novels – beyond the horizon and faceless – clearly announced her ability and creative literary mission on and for africa. she is seen to be concerned about the plight of women of africa, who are perceived to be yoked down by patriarchy and so doomed to stagnation and self-destruction on the one hand, and the imperialist racial discrimination on the other hand. in africa, patriarchy has been identified as the underlying cause of various forms of deprivation, oppression and suppression suffered by women, and sometimes, children. in “feminist tendencies in west african drama: an analysis of ama ata aidoo’s anowa”, monique ekpong avers that patriarchy is an institutionalised problem. she quotes kate millet to have defined patriarchy as a “system of sexual relationship institutionalized in our social order whereby males rule females as a matter of birthright priority” (21). ekpong attempts to explicate the concept further and states thus: the male nature has been used to connote virility, force, aggression, efficacy, intelligence and superiority; whereas the female nature has been used to symbolise weakness, dependence, passivity, docility, ineffectuality, ignorance and inferiority. women biological identity has thus been used to determine their destiny, limit their physical and mental capabilities and marginalise them from social polity. the prejudice of male supremacy has thus been entrenched in the socialisation of both men and women through patriarchy and through a value system which ascribes inferiority to women and sustains that wrong idea through the notion of femininity (21-22). the above assertion by ekpong identifies the features of patriarchy, which darko, through her novels opposes. we shall return to this later in this paper. gender as a term, in the recent past, referred to the anatomical feature of sex, which characterises a human being a male or female. to abrams and harpham, it is “the traits that are conceived to constitute what is masculine and what is feminine in temperament and behaviour” (122). in other words, there are certain social and cultural assumptions on how different genders conduct themselves; hence it is referred to as a social construct. this perception of genders and their traits are adjudged to favour men and so regarded as “pervasive patriarchal biases of our civilisation” (abrams and harpham 122). recent studies indicate that the concept of gender has shifted away from the traditional anatomical designation to individual’s personal identification. in this case, the onus now lies on the individual to take up or identify oneself as belonging to a particular gender irrespective of sex. in other words, gender is self-determined, instead of a “social construct”; it is “individual or self construct”. it is in this perspective that ontario human rights commission explains gender identity as “a person’s sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum” (ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-preventing-dis…). in africa, gender perception has always emphasised the anatomical cum social construct contrary to the idea of self-construct. it is in that light that this paper looks at gender and its relations; it is not to make a detailed clarification about gender perceptions. paradox is both a figure of speech (figurative expression) and a literary technique. in elements of literature, robert anderson et al. explain that paradox is “an apparent contradiction that is actually true. a paradox may be a statement or a situation; as a statement it is a figure of speech” (1245). it is from this dual perception of statement and situation that the concept will be employed to interpret the creative mission of darko in faceless. it is the thesis of this paper that amma darko contrives complex paradoxes of gender in faceless that reveal her statement about her angle or what many scholars call the strand of feminism she aligns with. this is the accommodationist school of african feminism. of the school, charles nnolim states: these are all creative writers who are not really out to preach total equality with men. while they advocate some measure of equality, they concede a leadership role to the man and do not contest headship of the family. in their works, they stress as womanists do, the unity of man and woman in spite of bickering, misunderstandings, and the jostling for power. reconciliation, not separation; convergence, not divergence; love, not hatred; affection, not mere passion; a pooling together of resources, not a scattering; a building together, not destruction of the latent love between the two sexes; an establishment of the family under patriarchy, not advocacy for a new arrangement (138). it thus implies that amma darko’s mission is not to destroy or uproot patriarchy, but to point out what should be taken care off to achieve a more peaceable society and robust economy. at the beginning, we are presented with the innocent street girl, fofo, whose mother, maatsuru, is found to be helpless and incapable of habouring her in her own care. her handicap is double: one, she cannot afford to feed her and her younger ones. two, she is afraid that poison the pimp is going to snatch fofo from her as he has threatened to do. fofo is unprotected against the powerful and the fearless pimp and street lord known as poison and macho his ally, who terrorise sodom and gomorrah enclave. he is called “poison of the street” (3). the foregrounding of chapter one is a clear indication the novelist is out to make a case between the two figures: fofo and poison – who represent the female and male genders; where one (feminine) is exposed to danger, fear, and shown to be innocent, deprived, oppressed, depressed, weak, helpless, fragile; and the other (masculine) is complex, trickery, powerful, bold, fearless, strong, imposing, threatening, and destructive. these opposing features of the female and male symbolised by fofo and poison dominate the entire work, except for sylv po and the staff of mute. men, the patriarchal symbols, do not suffer any form of punishment from civil or customary authority. men like maa tsuru’s father, kwei, kpakpo, onko, poison and macho ought to be held responsible for their irresponsible acts of rape, robbery, deceit, child trafficking, conscription, deceit, and fornication, but nothing of the sort happens. instead, women like maa tsuru, baby t, and fofo bear the yoke of their recklessness. this implies that their oppression is institutionalised. it is paradoxical, however, that the yoked women are rather unwilling to resist men. likewise, men cannot resist women. take for instance; maa tsuru readily opens her doors wide for any man that knocks on her door ranging from kwei the father of baby t, fofo and the absconded two boys, and to kpakpo the father of the two little toddlers. the men and woman find each other irresistible and return to their usual nuptial life after a respite of quarrel or regrets. the case is similar with adede and kabria in spite of their education. adede continues to assert his superiority/masculine advantage against his wife. kabria is fully aware of various ways adede is maltreating her as a wife. for instance, he would always get up from the bed late with a newspaper in hand to read while his wife runs giddy doing domestic chores and getting their children ready for school with creamy – the old volkwagen car – that keeps disappointing her frequently. attempts to elicit his attention while perusing a newspaper is responded to with hostility – “kabria!...can we talk about this after work” (32) simply to evade the discussion. he always exhibits chauvinistic attitude to assert his position as a man and patriarch. for example, the commendation adede gives her for her efforts at getting their children up to their responsibilities is demoralising her even the more: “why is it that you and your children always turn this house into a concert hall every morning” (32). kabria condones all those and remains faithful and hardworking in the interest of everyone. maa tsuru’s mother cursed her lover that impregnated her – “the young man responsible, that is tsuru’s father, denied the pregnancy” (92). tsuru and the larger society believe in literal meaning of the superstition peddled as being responsible for her woes. like naa yomo attests, “it’s the curse” (91), but paradoxically. she knows in truth, tsuru is not fated by any curse. the curse is a mere superstition that tsuru has yielded to that prevails on her psyche that beclouds her reasoning, making her resign to the purported ill-fate. naa yomo makes this explicit to kabria and vikie. when the seed of a curse finds fertile ground in a human mind, it spreads with the destructive speed of a creeping plant. and while it does, it nurtures superstition, which in turn, eats into all reasoning abilities and the capability of facing responsibilities (91). tsuru’s problem is paradox solution of which lies in the truth of the last clause. two factors could be analytically seen interplay in her lot. before the explication of the factors, it is important to emphasise at this point that the mission of darko is to dismantle these barriers that militate not only against tsuru, but have also become the primordial impediments for women of africa. while tsuru’s mother curses her lover and his generation; she never counted tsuru as one of those. the woman curses her man and patriarchy, the institution that makes him errant, reckless and irresponsible lord, who declines his responsibility of offering her the needed support that initial union entails; she curses the system that excessively empowers men and disempowers women to miserable dependants; a system that makes one superior and renders the other inferior partner; the system that makes one a prey to the other, a system of abject inequality. in other words, tsuru’s mother never cursed her but the patriarchal institution in its entirety. it is an intended blow on the system that has been destroying women. the paradox is that tsuru instead of suffering the supposed curse of her mother against her father suffers the “curse of patriarchy”. this curse of patriarchy implies social realities of the patriarchal order. she suffers dual deficiencies: economic and psychosocial. all through the novel there is no expression suggesting tsuru was ever engaged in any job or business, and she is not in any way educated. in respect of her economic life, the novelist states: maa tsuru had been without a man since kwei disappeared from their lives. she wasn’t in any regular job either. following the death of her aunt in whose kenkey business she was employed, she only contended herself with odd jobs now and then. she would work a few days at a kenkey house or do people’s washing for a fee. she never stay on one job for long because her two sons kept them going with the money and free fish they brought in daily from the seaside and the fish market. fofo and baby t were also bringing home money from the streets. it wasn’t living, but they were surviving fairly well (128-9). she has never striven to be economically independent. she has, instead, relied mainly on bits of earnings from the daily struggles of her children. she grows up and accepted the prevailing system where man is the producer and woman consumer; man is perceived as strong and woman weak; man is the giver and woman the receiver; man is independent and woman dependent. it is this social orientation that, in one perspective, afflicts tsuru as she cannot fend for herself. so she depends on one individual or another who are usually men. she is, therefore, exposed and economically defenceless. she lacks the courage to stand on her feet and own her life. this accounts for her seclusion inside a one room apartment she inherited from the family line. she can neither feed herself nor her children. it is this economic weakness that culminates in her two girls – baby t and fofo – and the other two boys becoming street children to fend for themselves; the climax of which is murder of baby t as a trafficked sex worker; while fofo nearly lost her life disguised as a pick-pocket boy at the agbogbloshie market. another proof to that argument is the case of odarley, a fellow street girl and friend of fofo. according to fofo, “odarley’s mother sacks her like a fowl when she goes to see her. she says odarley is a thief” (25). then, we begin to think that odarley’s mother is a widow or single parent, and so cannot take care of her. so she pushes her into the street to eke her living, and possibly, make some returns home. however, while in the care of mute, fofo clarifies to dina that odarley did not just leave home for the street, but was forced out to the street by the mother. “she is a bad mother. she just didn’t want odarley around after odarley’s father left her for another woman and she too found another man” (103). so other indigent women submit to the same survival instinct. it is tsuru’s indigence that is responsible for her promiscuous experiences with men. it is responsible for her willingness to accept any man that passes her way without proper scrutiny. she is too eager to go into the cover of a man, offer him unrestrained access into her womanhood, to devour and still abandon her at will. the prevailing political setting does not readily support vibrant men like kwei economically. it supports only reputable men. then, in her urgent quest to earn her living from men’s pockets, she remains vulnerable to the whims and caprices of parasitic and lazy paupers like kpakpo, who prefer to run under the patronage of such repressed women. these men end up breeding children, the sure result of their unrestrained sexual escapades. the task of taking care of these children is then left to the woman alone, who can hardly take care of herself; hence her life is a miserable one. here she is torn apart by the physical pains and worries of hunger and self care and psychological trauma about the fate of her four children – one of whom is already declared murdered by her own fault. it follows, therefore, that tsuru grappling with a curse is a paradoxical situation. she suffers patriarchal curse – condemnation that stems from the social structure, and then, her descent into the woeful situation owing to her inability to shake off the feminine attitude. this, of course, is another pronounced campaign of darko. a campaign to awaken the consciousness of women; to rid themselves of the old imposed self-identity and pick up a new identity whereby they can legitimately earn their living and take care of their children, with or without the support of a man. she emphasises this by creating tsuru’s foil in kabria who carries on and pushes through the challenges of her work at mute and family responsibility, which include taking care of her children’s education and contributing to the family financial upkeep, not relying on adede her husband alone. with that, she maintains her dignity and independence, at least, to a certain degree. another interesting paradox is onko’s affliction. onko is promiscuous. he “had made two sons from two different women, each of whom lived in their own respective family homes” (128). this suggests that he never married either of the two women. it is possible they are the likes of tsuru. onko defiles baby t, a girl-child and relative. with his economic downturn, he holds the popular belief (superstition) that tsuru is under the much talked generational curse, which definitely, she has transferred to her children. he suspects that he contracted the curse during defilement of baby t. onko is under a different spell. for male chauvinism that makes men in patriarchal societies to think of themselves as holy, sane, and innocent, onko relies on the superstition of tsuru as a cursed woman along with her offspring. this compounded his problem. the narrator informs us that after listening carefully to onko’s narration of what onko claimed he suspected to be the cause of his business woes which was that the girl he defiled, was the daughter of a cursed woman. the jujuman, the moment he became privy to this information, wasted no time at all in prescribing the requirement to diffuse what he immediately diagnosed to be mix up of onko’s good blood with that of baby t’s polluted and cursed blood (189). the climax of his strategy of getting baby t’s pubic hair – one of the requirements needed – to exorcise him of the curse is the eventual murder of her. tsuru’s curse, obviously, is not responsible for his woes. it is clear that onko is being eaten up psychologically for raping the child and several other forms of sexual aberration. in other words, onko is truly the accursed. he is weighed down by his libidinal flaw which makes him violate natural course; and as a result, he descended into lewd and immoral enchantment. this penchant for extra-marital sex is seen to be a huge burden, not only on onko, but also on kwei and kpakpo, as the three who cannot guard their excessive libidinal affinity continue to suffer several afflictions in their businesses and jobs without remedy. one can infer, then, that the perceived freedom for men to “use and throw away” women at will contravenes natural order; and as a result, attracts curses from natural forces; or that such life makes them spend beyond their earnings as they try to please their mistresses. the character perspective and inference in the art of compelling fiction, christopher leland argues that “plot and language give fiction its form, much of its colour and heft… but characters are what give it a spirit” (165). it follows that character embodies the virility; the moving force; the actualizing enablement; the capacitating and enforcing power of realism and revolution. character, unarguably, is a stylistic instrument of meaning, capable of complicating and explicating moral and psychological inferences of a literary work. amma darko’s faceless appears to be a simple work judging by its narrative techniques, but is found to be a bit complex. the novel is made complex with stylistic deployment of juxtaposition, apposition, and symbolism as character techniques. it is by interpreting these techniques that we understand the depth of the novel and the novelist’s statement about the patriarchal ghanaian society. inference is “a conclusion that has been reached by way of evidence and reasoning” (https://www.mometrix.com/academy/inference). it is a deduction, conclusion, or judgement arrived at by evidential facts or reasoning. it is a product of a set of premises or propositions. inferences to the characters in respect to their actions and situations that determine their actions will enable us understand the creative technique and the critical interpretation – the overall inference as intended by the novelist. the novelist experiments with juxtaposition and character mapping. characters like poison, macho, and the inspector are mere juxtaposition to fofo, odarley and naayomo respectively. the first set of characters is all male just like the second is all female. poison, being the antagonist of the novel, is found to be really a poison that everyone wants to stay out of his way. he is daring and deadly both in action, word, and appearance and characteristic of a patriarchy. macho, in the same way, is seen to be daring, oppressive, and an accomplice of poison. the inspector is depicted to be the oldest male in the work. he is complex and secretive, unwilling, unyielding, unconcerned, and hostile. the general atmosphere of his office signifies decay, anomie, hopelessness, depression, anarchy, and suffocation. his attitude and that of his workplace are demoralising and depressing. contrary to these male characters are the female. foremost among the female is fofo who appears to be the youngest of all the characters. she is innocent, wise, smart, sincere, and courageous. odarley is a friend of fofo. like her friend, she is courageous, sincere, smart, sensible, innocent, and willing to help. with this cursory character sketch, we can observe two significant features in the making of the characters: that the novelist makes some kind of gender-based character mapping. the mapping is oppositional – a juxtaposition of male characters against their female counterpart. the mapping, of course is no mere coincidence. it is a means of non-verbal submission – a non-linguistic assertion about the prevailing african society. fofo, for instance, is a direct juxtaposition of poison both in gender and character traits. she is oppressed, exploited, weak, traumatised, depressed, deprived, and of course, a wanderer. she is abandoned to face a hopeless and hostile society. poison is her oppressor (and the oppressor of other street children) and a pimp who oppresses other females, both young and old who work under his control. in other words, poison is the exploiter, the powerful who has right of expression. he is free to do whatever he likes, and is found to be powerful as to decide what children and women in the sodom and gomorrah enclave do. similarly, naa yomo is juxtaposed to the police inspector. the old naa yomo is an embodiment of morality, caring about everyone around her. she is a source of hope and willing to cooperate with people of goodwill. she is eager to play her role as a matriarch. the police inspector is unlike her. he is unconcerned about social morality and security despite his primary responsibility of social security. he has lost good sense of morality and has little or no concern about the future of the society. he is unyielding and unwilling to cooperate with staff of mute on a matter he is supposed to champion. as a father and protector, he failed in his duty as police and patriarch. he is more or less, a misfit. apposition of characters is concerned with characters that are alike, either in their gender identification or character or both. darko has two classes of character: the uneducated and the educated. the uneducated are further divided into two based on gender – male and female. each group shares a number of qualities and experiences. in other words, members of each set are related by some common factors – they share similar bonding. the bonding they share is what makes them appositional. in that case, each group is in opposition to the other, and so they run like two parallel lines. fofo, tsuru, odarley, baby t, and maami broni constitute the female set of the first class. they are females who find themselves helplessly engaged in certain selfdemeaning lifestyle to survive economically. the worst hit are the innocent girl-children – fofo and odarley who are chased out and abandoned on the hostile streets to fend for themselves – and tsuru who has to accept kpakpo and kwei out of the yearning for a man’s care and protection, yet these still elude her and left her more broken than ever. on the male side, poison, macho, kpakpo, kwei, and onko are all predatory. they scavenge on the weak female, young and adult. they depend on their physical strength and are aided by social custom. it is the advantage that empowers poison to be the pimp of maami broni, who is older than him, and dictates what she does or does not. he hunts girls and traffics them. for instance, in an interview session with sylv po on the death of baby t and murderous beating given to fofo, he admits: i did beat the girl up, but i did not kill her…why would i kill a girl who was making lots of money for me? maami broni would bear me out. you can talk to her if you like. i did beat her up but i left her crying, not dead… (173). it is this fear of being murdered that makes fofo disguise and take up the identity of a boy (male gender), signifying that violence could force one make a far reaching decision including gender identification. however, that is outside the focus of this study. the educated class constitutes both male and female. this is a class of intellectuals who are in search for a prosperous and harmonious society where every individual is protected and treated like human. they seek a society where the gap between the two sexes is closed and the gulf between the classes bridged. no gender would take undue advantage of the other, rather each working with his or her ability for the peace and progress of all sexes. this class is constituted by the harvest fm presenter of good morning ghana (gmg), sylv po and the staff of mute – dina, kabria, vickie, and aggie. the five are educated and find a civil way of solving every problem. for example, in spite of provocative attitude of adede, kabria condones his inadequacies. she makes necessary physical and monetary contributions for smooth running of the family. the conflict and complications in the novel find resolution through collaborative efforts of the five characters. symbol as an aspect of meaning the aspect of meaning that darko deployed is the use of symbols – signifiers. a symbol is “a person, place, thing, or event that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself” (anderson et al 1249). this view is echoed by abrams and harpham who submit that a symbol “is applied to a word or phrase that signifies an object or event which in its turn signifies something, or suggests a range of references, beyond itself” (394). a number of characters and incidents in the novel are symbolic. this implies that they have signification beyond the literal; that is, they suggest a range of references beyond the literal expression. the unravelling of meaning of the symbols could be referred to as inference. from the beginning of the novel, we see fofo (we should take cognizance of analysis of the characters thus far), an innocent girl exposed to the hostile environment and hungry, too. she is dreaming for a better future. this dream of is thwarted by poison who pounces on her to satisfy his sexual urge, and perhaps, to conscript her into his brothel for pecuniary benefit. this scenario is symbolic of the status of women in the patriarchal setting. similar to that is onko’s rape of baby t that culminated in her conscription and eventual murder. with that incident, her dream veers around and her mother is thrown into psychological trauma. again, a closer analysis of the plight of tsuru suggests that all the men who at one time or another had intercourse with her are, ab initio, fully aware of the superstition surrounding her and her children, yet decided to go ahead with her. none did that under any spell. none is cajoled in any way. none is completely ignorant before the love affair. it is, however, worthy of note that old naayomo is a symbol, so also adede and the police inspector. all the incidents and persons cited are symbolic. they symboylise a number the nature of man and woman: opposite genders and apposite in meaning. we can, therefore, infer that fofo’s encounter with poison imply that male gender and patriarchy are responsible for the perceived weakness of feminine gender in africa. it shows that women of africa have always had gigantic dreams; but they are ambushed by the patriarchal structure that suppress and deny women the opportunity to pursue their dreams. they are coerced into accepting slavish and susceptible lifestyle, and so are hoodwinked into accepting “second class” position as nature-imposed. baby t’s encounter with onko could suggest: one, women are susceptible to men, because men are economically favoured. we adduce this meaning when we consider the circumstance that makes him have access to baby t in his room. but again, that incident is a derogatory one, inferring that men are, in actuality, psychologically weak and emotionally unstable. we find it derogatory when we ask the question, “what is the essence of onko taking advantage of a minor?” this is a girl who calls him uncle indicating blood relationship and trust, too. his lust, libidinal excesses, pushes him to descend from his exalted position as a progressive and economically buoyant welder to bankruptcy. darko writes: in seeking the jujuman’s intervention to revamp his business, onko sought an impracticable solution to a practicable problem…after listening carefully to onko’s narration of what onko claimed he suspected to be the cause of his business woes which was that the girl he defiled, was the daughter the daughter of a cursed woman. the jujuman, the moment he became privy to this information, wasted no time at all in prescribing the requirements to diffuse what he immediately diagnosed to be a mix up of onko’s good blood with that of baby t’s polluted and cursed blood (184-5) he goes ahead to prescribe “a strand of baby t’s pubic hair” believing it will be impossible for him to obtain. his handsome pay paves way for him as poison orders baby t yield to his demand for sex, in a bid to get a strand of her pubic hair for the jujuman to exorcise him of the curse. unexpectedly to both, poison bullies baby t to death, but the jujuman’s art is impotent to onko’s “curse”. it is a pointer that lust, is often time, responsible for failure of men. the case of tsuru suggests that she is under the psychological influence of a mere superstition. the superstition reduces her dignity of self. kpakpo explores that avenue to exploit her. “you know how everyone around here feels about the curse on your head, don’t you?...my family is no exception. they will not take kindly to our relationship. so i will be visiting you” (129). she feels lonely, dejected, and unhappy. coupled with the fact that she is idle and in abject poverty, she takes in any man that presents himself to her. more importantly, it is a re-echoing of the belief that women are seen as object for pleasure. they are gone back to whenever there is need again to quell the libidinal fire. naa yomo is a link between old and new generations. she is a matriarch symbolic of motherhood, which typifies care and resilience; while the inspector, a patriarch suggests care free, unconcerned, selfishness, and anomie that result from patriarchy. conclusion amma darko’s vision could be inferred from the collaboration, the agreement between mute constituted of women and sylv po and his producer to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of baby t, fofo’s life, and the causes of the scourge of street children very common in ghana. everyone involved is seen and respected as partner with others, sharing the same goal and vision of discovering the cause and devising a means of ending streetism in ghana. everyone deploys their strength for the success of the task. the success, speedy and seamless achievement of their goal is a portrayal of the belief that the family and the larger society will be a better and progressive one if women, individually and corporately can collaborate with men, not as rivals, but as partners and pursue common goals. however, the novel still suggests that for this to be possible, education of both sexes is essentially unavoidable. works cited abrams, m. h. a glossary of literary terms.wadsworth, 2012. anderson, robert et al. elements of literature: sixth course. holt, rinehart and winston, 1989. asika, ikechukwu emmanuel. literary appreciation: a practical demonstration. scoa heritage, 2019. darko, amma. faceless. sub-saharan, 2003. ekpong, monique. “feminist tendencies in west african drama: an analysis of ama ata aidoo’s anowa”current trends in literature and language studies in west africa. emenyonu, ernest n. and charles e. nnolim (eds.). kraft books, 1994. leland, christopher. the art of compelling fiction. story press, 1998. nnolim, charles e. issues in african literature. treasure books, 2009. meaning of gender identity. http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-preventing-dis… definition of inference. https://www.mometrix.com/academy/inference. language choice and the eroding of cultural identity among nigerian facebook users chigozie nwosu abstract the advent of the social media has made life easier for people. it has made sending and receiving of information more convenient. consequently, individuals, organizations, institutions and even governments find social media an easier way of reaching their target audience. social media have also helped in boosting the economy. it helps in promoting brand visibility and awareness which in turn promotes business growth. however, this has come with a price to our cultural identity. social media is not only a mode of passing information but also a source of penetration of cultures from dominant cultures to recessive ones. african cultures have been at the receiving end of this cultural imperialism. the nigerian facebook community currently faces a significant erosion of cultural identity. in order to investigate this phenomenon, two facebook pages – yabaleftonline.com and rant hq – were purposively selected for this study. six posts (three from each page) were selected and three comments under each post were also selected to analyse the extent of the erosion of cultural identity in each african value. the study anchors on the theory of linguistic relativity which postulates that the way in which we think about the world is directly influenced by the language we use to talk about it. since english is a liberal language and also the medium of expression used in the facebook pages selected for this study, the outcome of the study shows that many nigerian users of facebook do not reflect their cultural identity on facebook. keywords: language, culture, cultural identity, african cultural values, linguistic relativity introduction language is the principal means by which we conduct our social lives. language is the medium used by individuals to negotiate a sense of self in different contexts (norton, 2000). language cannot be divorced from culture because language is one of the most important aspects of culture. culture is built up through communication over time. as stated by hall (2012, p.18), “language is a repository of culture and a tool by which culture is created”. language is therefore a fundamental aspect of cultural identity. it is through language that we transmit and express our group values, beliefs and customs and pass them down from one generation to another. it is also through language that people create a sense of community. as littlejohn and foss aptly put it: people are able to shift contexts, change meanings, and act in a variety of ways because of a history of interaction with many people over time in which they learned numerous ways to interpret and act in different situations. in modern society, a person is part of many systems, each with its own set of meaning and action rules. the rules are learned through interaction in social groups. over time, individuals internalize many of these rules and draw on them to guide their actions (2008, p.217). language and culture have a homologous relationship. they are intertwined, evolving together and influencing one another. in this context, krober (1923) says that, “culture, then, began when speech was present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further development of the other” (guessabi 2020, p.2). identity construction is a social and cultural process which is accomplished through discursive practices. language is the most flexible and pervasive symbolic resource at the centre of the cultural representation of identity (mercuri, 2012). therefore, the ability to use a specific language in a specific context influences the development of cultural identity. cultural identity edward b. taylor is reputed as the scholar who first coined and defined culture. taylor sees culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs or any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (idang, 2015). this definition does not fully encompass what culture entails. culture is a phenomenon through which a group of people is identified. it is a set of attitudes, beliefs, behavioural conventions, basic assumptions, and values that are shared by a group of people and that influence each member’s interpretations of meanings of other people’s behaviour. every human acquires the culture of the environment he lives in consciously or unconsciously because culture is acquired through the socialization process. fafunwa (1974, p.48) writes that, “the child just grows into within the cultural heritage of his people. he imbibes it. culture in the traditional society is not taught; it is caught”. culture is universal; each social group has its own unique culture. this uniqueness is termed cultural variation. even though each culture is unique, there are points of convergence of cultures of people sharing boundaries. the yoruba culture for instance, share some dominant traits with the edo culture than it would with the western culture. hence, there is a vast difference between african culture and those of other continents. culture is also not fixed but dynamic. any living culture is subject to change. it changes through contact with and absorption of other people’s culture, a process known as assimilation (antia, 2005). culture is an adaptive system because people can change their social patterns, beliefs and values. identity is a construct that encompasses different disciplines. it is “people’s concept of who they are, of what sort of people they are, and how they relate to others” (hogg and abrams, 1988, p.2). in the social sciences, identity is defined as the way that individuals label themselves as members of a shared values and customs of a particular culture shapes people’s view of who they are, how they think and how they view the world (rovira, 2008). a person’s culture is an essential element of their identity. cultural identity is a person’s sense of belonging to a particular culture or group. it refers to “identification with, or sense of belonging to a particular group based on various cultural categories, including nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, and religion” (chen, 2014, p.1). cultural identity is part of a person’s self-concept. variables that constitute cultural identity include: ethnicity, cultural background, language, religion, sexuality, geographical environment, migration status, and others. even though some aspects of identity such as nationality, ethnicity, sexuality are static, the postmodernist approach supports a more fluid construction of identity. hall (1996, p.6) posits that “identities are points of temporary attachments to the subject positions that discursive practices construct for us”. this means that individuals’ construction of their identities is a dynamic one, it is continually changing depending on the social context or setting and therefore subject to reconstruction. when people speak, they construct and reconstruct their identity and how they relate to the social world (morita, 2004). african cultural values values are a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society. it is what shapes society and influence people who live within that society. a culture is an embodiment of different values. values are essential for the survival of any group of people. idang (2015) enumerates six values found in the african culture: • social values: this involves the practices performed by a society. they include – festivals, games, dances, ceremonies (like marriage ceremonies, funeral ceremonies, naming ceremonies, rites of passage, e.t.c.) peculiar to a particular society. this also involves the collectivism culture of africans. embedded in the heart of the african social values is ubuntu – “i am because we are and since we are, therefore i am”. in the african culture, humans are interdependent on other humans. sociality, belonging, mutual responsibility and service, connectedness, solidarity, caring and sharing are all important values constituting our very being (smit, 2007). the african family is the first point of socialization. the extended family is very important in shaping the personality of an african. embedded in the african child is respect for higher authority in the family and society. • moral values: idang (2015, p.103) asserts that “african culture is embedded in strong moral considerations. it has a system of various beliefs and customs which every individual ought to keep in order to live long and to avoid bringing curses on them and others”. kudadjie (1983) distinguishes between two main types of sanctions to enforce morality: religious and social. religious sanctions included the practice of cursing through magic and the fear of punishment by the ancestors and the gods. the punishment could be troubling the errant descendants with sickness or misfortune until restitution is made. social sanctions included the following: family or clan renunciation, disinheriting, ostracism, public disgrace and even execution in the case of notorious criminals. • religious values: religious values are intertwined with moral values. african traditional religion is the original religion of africans. there is belief in good and bad spirits and life after death as ancestors are worshipped and their direction sought for in times of need. sorcerers, diviners and chief priests mediate between the gods and man. african traditional religion holds a moral sense of justice. idang (2015, p.104) states that, “the diviners, sorcerers and soothsayers help to streamline human behaviour in society and people are afraid to commit offences because of the fear of being exposed by the diviners and sorcerers”. there are often consequences for deviation from these moral values. • political values: prior to colonization, most african cultures have political institutions with council of chiefs, cult groups and a ruler who is accorded with respect. the position of a leader was either hereditary or by conquest. • aesthetic values: aesthetics is used to talk about beauty or arts. african aesthetic values is immensely rich. african arts and crafts find expression in a variety of wood carvings, brass and leather work, sculpture, paintings and pottery. the aesthetic value of a people influences their art and their judgment of what is beautiful or ugly. some african cultures emphasize personal appearance. idang (2015, p.105) writes that: the sense of beauty of ibibio people is epitomized in their fattened maidens whom they call ‘mbopo’. these fattened maidens are confined to a room where they are fed with traditional cuisines. the idea behind it is to prepare the maiden and make her look as good, healthy and beautiful as possible for her husband. this is usually done before marriage and after child birth. the western model of beauty is not like this. it is often pictured as slim-looking young ladies who move in staggered steps. this shows that the african aesthetic value and sense of what is beautiful is markedly different. • economic values: the traditional economy of africans was based on farming, hunting, fishing, crafts and trade. a large family guarantees a large work force and cheap labour, therefore, men take pride in marrying many wives and producing many children especially males so as to have a lot of hands in the farm. african culture is communalistic. individuals should be of value to the society. the economic value of the traditional african society is marked by cooperation. friends and relations assist one another in the farm, building houses and solving other difficulties. hard work is a trait the average african man loves to take pride in. laziness is synonymous with a life of poverty. cultural diffusion cultural diffusion is the social process through which the cultural practices, beliefs, items such as food, music or tools spread from one culture to another. this spread could be geographical (from one location to another) or social (from one social group to another). it is the spreading of culture over time and it takes place through cultural contact. idang (2015, p.107) opines that “diffusion entails intentional borrowing of cultural traits from other societies with which the beneficiary society comes in contact with, or an imposition of cultural traits on one society by a stronger society intending to assimilate the weaker society”. africa falls into the second category by reason of colonialism. there is an integration of the western culture into the african culture. motlhabi (1986) draws attention to the fact that equivalents of the ten commandments, like prohibitions to steal, murder, commit adultery, tell lies or deceive, are encountered in the traditional african concept of a virtuous life. many of the core values of africans have acquired traits of the western culture. for christians, ceremonies like naming and funeral ceremonies are still done albeit with the influence of christianity. traditional marriages are done as well as western marriage. african religious values have shaped the western religion which the colonialists thrusted on africans. some africans who go to church also patronize diviners and sorcerers when the need arises. divination is often sought by individuals such as barren women, warriors, people with strange diseases, and others who suspect that their ordeals were orchestrated by their enemies who tried to harm them through witchcraft, sorcery, or spirit possession (abukari et al, 2022). this diffusion is also responsible for african christians craze for prophets to reveal mysteries to them in place of sorcerers and diviners. the erosion of african culture africa has been in cultural dilemma ever since its forceful subjugation by european countries through colonialism and slavery (maduagwu, 1999, para.13). the coming of the colonial masters and the imposition of their culture on africans through western education and evangelization has been blamed as the beginning of the gradual erosion in the traditional value system. african countries have been unable to independently chart their own cultural identity. maduagwu (1999) asserts that: in traditional africa, education was essentially functional: preparation to meet the challenges of the society. the colonial education system, on the other hand, was designed to alienate the african from his or her culture, to loathe his or her language and manual work . . . the traditional african informal education was first and foremost communalistic, promotion of unity and harmony of communal experiences where the individual is a unit within the organic whole. the emphasis on traditional education was character formation. the colonial education both at its beginning in africa and as it has been maintained by african leaders since de-colonization neglected the character formation aspect of education. the neglect of character formation has given rise to moral depravity which now characterize the present-day african society. this is manifested in the virtual collapse of family values, rampant corruption in public life and excessive materialism among the so-called educated elite. igboin (2011, p.101) opines that “the method of moral inculcation was vitiated which resulted in the abandonment of traditional norms and values through a systematic depersonalization of the african and paganization of its values ”. the imposition of the western extreme individualism destroyed african’s age-long communalism. facebook pages as speech communities the rapid expansion of the internet and the ways it is being used make the internet a very dynamic social force. social interactions are gradually shifting to the internet thereby yielding novel ways to create and participate in communities. speech communities have been defined as groups that share values and attitudes about language use, varieties and practices (morgan, 2014). virtual communities can be thought of as speech communities since each group share the same value and use a common language. according to landi (1973), “the totality of the messages we exchange with one another while speaking a given language constitutes a speech community, that is, the whole society understood from the point of view of speaking”.people on different facebook pages use a common language in communicating and often share similar interests because each facebook page is created for a particular purpose. theoretical framework the whorfian/sapir-whorf hypothesis, otherwise known as linguistic relativity is associated with the linguist edward sapir and his student benjamin lee whorf. according to linguistic relativity, the way in which we think about the world is directly influenced by the language we use to talk about it. according to sapir in his book language (1929): human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for the society… the ‘real world’ is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group (wardhaugh,1998, p.216). whorf adds that we “cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way – an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language” (wardhaugh,1998, p.217). fishman (1960 and 1972) has made claims concerning the whorfian hypothesis, one of which is that, if speakers of one language have certain words to describe things and speakers another language lack similar words, then speakers of the first language will find it easier to talk about those things (wardhaugh,1998). the choice of this framework is to examine how the choice of english as a medium of communication by nigerian users of facebook influence their view of the world. methodology two facebook pages (yabaleftonline.com and rant hq) were purposively selected for this study. sixposts were taken between september, 2021 to january,2022 from the facebook pages. three comments under each post were selected. theposts and comments were purposively selected based on their relevance to study. data presentation and analysis post 1: yabaleftonline.com november 1, 2021 i’m currently mentally exhausted – bbnaija star , micheal opens up comments 1. wetin come concern us nah? if you wan run mad abeg no use am disturb us…we are already exhausted in this country (what is our business? if you want to run mad please do not disturb us with it…we are already exhausted in this country). 2. this year bbn house mates and mental health are 5 & 6. all of us dey suffer am but e reach una turn e come become news. (this year’s bbn house mates are interrelated with mental health. all of us are suffering from mental health but you turn yours to news.) 3. trying to understand how that concerns me. big brother naija (bbn/ bbnaija) is a yearly reality tv show in nigeria. from the comments to one of the participants post concerning his mental health above, we can come to the conclusion that we have lost our collectivism culture and embraced the individualistic culture of the west (every man to himself). no one wants to be his brother’s keeper anymore. ubuntu has disappeared and its annihilation has its roots in the combined effects of colonization, cultural globalization and cultural diffidence. post 2: rant hq september 28, 2021 when your boyfriend is kissing you, where do you want him to place his hands on. comments 1. on my breast 2. my pussy 3. mine will always want my two palms on her booty…with a tender squeezing. before the western assault on african traditional system, there was a widespread reservation for pillow talk. sexuality in pre-colonial african communities, as observed by oloworekende, was: absent from communal discussions and was only discussed in vague terms that did not leave room for sexual curiosity or expression, such that the language of sex was stripped from everyday communication … where lessons and talks existed in pre-colonial nigeria, the lessons … were often heteronormative, discussed only in the context of marriage. an example of this being the lessons learnt in the fattening rooms of the ibibio land, where young women were introduced to the art of seduction and romance, and received advice on improving their physical profiles to appeal to their husbands. (2019, para.3) such post and comments above abound on facebook pages where english is the medium of expression unlike pages where our indigenous languages are the medium of expression. circumlocution and euphemistic language is often used to express such ideas when the need arises in indigenous languages. this has to do with english being a liberal language as against our conservative indigenous languages. a good reflection of the moral decay in the family structure is seen in the big brother show. according to ode (2009), “most family members, males, females, husbands, wives become addicted to watching and applauding the decadence and rapid erosion of africa’s cherished moral values”(oko-epelle and abdulsalam 2020, p.99). on different facebook pages, people put up unabashed support for the inmates’ immoral life styles. post 3: yabaleftonline.com january 2, 2022 “don’t gain any sexual experience before getting married” – pastor kingsley okonkwo tells single people. comments 1. too late sir. we need to check if his sperm is rich. 2. it’s you that god will judge for not saying it on time. something i already experienced on cross-over night. 3. how will i then know that he fucks me well? prior to globalization which has paved way for illicit sexual behaviour, there were stringent rules which guided and enforced discipline among the members of the african society. failure to adhere to the rules guiding sexual unions was an offence frowned upon by every member of the community in african society. globalization favours the culture of the dominating civilization to the detriment of the developing societies. (okafor,2018). pre-marital sex has become the norm in our society and promiscuity is no longer frowned upon by many as was the norm in the past. people are now proud to come on social media to expose their pre-marital sex life which is supposed to be a thing of shame in the african culture. even co-habitation before marriage, which is alien to our african values, is applauded on social media. post 4:yabaleftonline.com december 30, 2021 “how come two of your wives divorced you in less than two months?” charley boy questions ooni of ife’s marriage crisis. comments 1. no woman can dump a man and not just an ordinary man for that matter. i think kabiyesi has some questionable character that’s not disclosed to the public. 2. the man cannot perform period! 3. even god is ashamed of you, ooni. the western civilization submerged and dismantled indigenous institutions and in its place, a foreign rule was established. traditional institutions before then were regarded as not only political authorities but also custodians of culture. traditional rulers were accountable to their citizens and were one of the most respected members of societies. however, in recent times, the reverence and respect accorded to traditional rulers in the african setting is no more obtainable as can be seen from the vitriolic criticisms thrown at them without caution on facebook. post 5 :rant hq 15 december, 2021 “why i underwent gastric bypass surgery” eniolabadmus comment 1. congratulations, i’m proud of you. 2. you now look like a celebrity. 3. i never knew you can be this beautiful. hope you did something about the voice too. in most traditional african societies, being fat or plump was favoured, because it implied that a woman was healthy. african men preferred ‘fleshy’ women to skinny ones because ‘real men eat flesh’. in modern times however, western standards of beauty have increasingly made it into global media. the quest to attain western ideas of beauty has resulted in women undergoing costly and often life-threatening cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance, self-esteem and confidence. we have embraced the eurocentric image of beauty and abandoned the african one which views a thick and curvy woman as beautiful. post 6 : yabaleftonline.com november 5, 2021 don’t be distracted by yahoo boys, they will go to jail – vp osibanjo tells nigerian youths. comments 1. since yahoo began, i have not heard of armed robbers’ attacks. if yahoo will change my story, abeg i wan learn… our politicians that are the real yahoo boys, efcc are dining with them. there is no repercussion in yahoo except you are using juju. 2. but wait ooo… yahoo has actually helped lots of youths than the federal government. 3. while going through the comments here, i am very sure now that yahoo is a good business…it’s legal now but some of us do not have the mind…do it if you have the mind…nobody is holier. in traditional african societies, people work hard. laziness and fraud were never encouraged. african work values take its roots from african morality which includes decency, honesty, kindness, justice sense of right and wrong. information and communication technology has expedited the growth of globalization and has given birth to cybercrime by disseminating ideas regarding innovation in crimes and unethical conducts. getting rich overnight without working for it has become the order of the day especially among our youth. this trend has given rise to the menace of ‘yahoo’ and money rituals among the youth currently ravaging our society. conclusion the dereliction of the african cultural identity can be traced to colonialism and then, in recent times, globalization. new values, like individualization and liberalism, which are alien to the african values have been adopted which have emptied africa of its values. the media, of which social media is currently at the fore front, is one of the driving forces of globalization and have championed the distortion of our values. since language is the carrier of culture, westernization, which english is its carrier in the nigerian context, has eroded our cultural identity in more ways than one as seen in this paper. references abukari, s. h. and adam, y. 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(1871). primitive cultures. cambridge: cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511705960. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 97 synonyms in amaiyi dialect of igbo chinedum enweonye chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam, anambra state & francisca ukwuoma egwuekwe nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, anambra state introduction sense relation refers to how the meanings of individual words are either similar or different. many scholars have studied how the meanings of words are interrelated. some words have similar meanings, some others are quite different. these similarities and differences range from close to distant relationship. upon these varying degrees of relationships, words are sorted out using different criteria. sense relation is one area of language to which we can continually add throughout our lives because we are always learning new words and their meanings. speakers of a language as part of the knowledge of their language have also mastered the words and the kinds of relationship they have with one another. again, the vocabulary of a language is not an unrelated aggregate of words rather there are systematic relations between the words of a language and it becomes part of the burden of a linguistic account of lexical meaning to provide a characterisation of the relations.(anagbogu et al 2010). synonymy is a term used in semantics to refer to the major types of sense relation between lexical items. lexical items which have the same meaning are synonyms. for two items to be synonyms, does not mean that they should be identical in meaning that is interchangeable in all contexts and with identical connotations. this unlikely possibility is sometimes referred to as absolute synonymy. synonyms can be said to occur if items are close enough in their meaning to allow a choice to be made between them in some contexts, without there being any difference for the meaning of the sentence as a whole. linguistic studies of synonymy have emphasised the importance of context in deciding whether a set of lexical items is synonymous. synonymy is distinguished from such other sense relations as antonym, hyponymy and incompatibility etc. (anagbogu et al 2010). the aim of this research is to examine synonyms, how to test synonyms, reasons for synonym and some list of synonyms in amaiyi dialect. this will enable one to ascertain whether there are real synonyms in amaiyi dialect or not. amaiyi dialect is a member of nwaozuzu's (2006) east niger group of dialects. the research work is divided into five sections, the first is introduction, the second section is definitions of the topic of the research, third section is the reasons for synonyms, and synonyms in amaiyi dialect and the fourth section is the findings and conclusion. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 98 concept of synonymy according to anagbogu, mbah and erne (2010:224), "synonym refers to the study of how different lexical items share similar meanings". so, when two or more words have the same meaning, they are said to be synonyms. some words that are believed to be synonyms are: (1.) a. church-synagogue b. buy-purchase c. conceal hide d. chase – pursue in other words, synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous and the state of being a synonym is synonymy. the word 'buy' and 'purchase' are synonyms. the word synonyms comes from ancient greek syn (with) and onoma ('name'). synonyms can be any part of speech such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions, as long as the members of the pair are the same part of speech. here are more examples of english synonyms (2) a. adjective: sad and unhappy b. verb: buy and purchase c. adverb: quickly and fast d. preposition: below and beneath (obiora, 2010:139-152) yule(1996:119) states that synonyms are two or more forms with very closely related meanings which are often, but not always, intersubstitutable in sentences. some examples of synonyms are the pairs: (3) a. broad -wide b. hide conceal c. almost nearly d. cab taxi e. answerreply according to saeed, (2007:65) "synonym is seen as different phonological words which have the same or very similar meanings". some examples might be the pairs below: (4) a. couch sofa b. boy lad c. lawyer attorney d. toilet lavatory e. large – big current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 99 cruse (1986) as quoted in anyanwu (2008:193), states that synonymy is the lexical relation which parallels identity in the membership of classes. it is a sense relation between items that have the same meaning. the emphasis is on identity of meaning rather than on similarity of meaning. lexical items that are involved in this kind of relation are referred to as synonyms. synonyms do not only need to have a high degree of semantic overlap, they must also manifest a low degree of implicit contrastiveness. they are lexical items whose senses are identical in respect of 'central' semantic traits, but differ, if at all, only in respect of what may be provisionally described as 'minor' or peripheral traits. synonymy, according to palmer (1976:59) as quoted in agbedo (2000:152), "... is used to mean "sameness of meaning". superficially, the notion of synonymy is a straight forward one: two words are synonyms if they have the same meaning. finch, (2000:184), stresses that synonym is a sense relation which exists between words which have a similar meaning or sense. for example: (5) a. drunk intoxicated b. mad insane furthermore, hurford and heasley (1983:102), say that synonymy is the relationship between two predicates that have the same sense. examples: (6) a. stubborn obstinate b. brigand bandit c. mercury quicksilver. the above examples are synonyms in different languages. finegan (2008:184) opines that two words are said to be synonymous if they mean the same thing. the terms movie, film, flick and motion pictures all have the same set of referents in the real world and are usually taken to be synonymous terms. to address the notion of synonymy more formally, we can say that term 'a' is synonymous with term 'b' if every referent of 'a' is a referent of 'b' and vice versa. for example, if every movie is a film and every film is a movie, the terms movie and film are synonymous. according to fromkin and rodman (1993:131), "there are also words that sound different but have the same or nearly the same meaning." such words are called synonyms. there are dictionaries of synonyms that contain many hundreds of entries, such as: (7) a. apathetic/phalgmatic/passive/sluggish/indifferent. b. predigree/ancestry/genealogy/descent/lineage crystal, (2008:47), states that synonymy is a term used in semantics to refer to a major type of sense relation between lexical items. lexical items which have the same meanings are synonyms. some scholars have written on synonyms in the igbo language. synonym can be said to mean sameness of meaning when different phonologically realised words with different etymology are referring to or interpreted as one thing. examples are: current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 100 (8) a. omume/agwa character b. oyibo/bekee english c. abụ/mbem/ukwe poem d. alaka/ngalaba branch e. iberibe/nzuzu fool (obiora, 2010:139152) in the examples, it shows that there are real synonyms in the igbo language because the words can be used interchangeably without any problem. ọgbalụ (1974:70) in his proposals states that words of identical meanings in all dialects should not be condemned simply because they are not central dialect or union igbo but rather be employed as synonyms, examples: (9) a. abali, uchichi, anyasị night b. ọgbọ, ebiri, uke, uro age mate c. abọ, akpa, mkpukuru oblong container d. ejula, ọkpatụ snail e mbubo ọba, ebele, ụgba, egbee – calabash all the above definitions are pointing at one thing. thus, synonym can be said to mean sameness of meaning, when two words that are pronounced differently will have the same meaning. it will merely indicate collocational possibilities and these do not seem necessary to be always closely related to nearness of meaning. tests for synonyms some ways of testing synonym include: substitution oppositeness substitution: substitution can be said to mean using one word for another. synonyms are mutually interchangeable in all their environments. what we shall find, of course, is that some words are interchangeable in certain environments only, example 'deep' or 'profound' may be used with 'sympathy' but only deep with 'water' but this will give us little measure of synonymy or of similarity of meaning. another way is to investigate the opposite (the antonyms) of the lexical items. thus, 'superficial' is to be contrasted with both 'deep' and 'profound' but shallow is for the most part, in contrast only with 'deep'. perhaps, the fact that two words appear to have the same antonyms is a reason for testing them as synonyms. two or more expressions will be defined to have the same sense (that is to be synonymous) over a certain range of utterances without affecting their descriptive meaning. examples of synonyms in amaiyi dialect using substitution criteria current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 101 (10) a. emeka na obi ga-abụ ọgbọ emeka and obi will be age mates emeka and obi are age mates b. emeka na obi ga-abụ ebiri emeka and obi will be age mates emeka and obi are age mates the two lexemes 'ọgbọ’ and 'ebiri' can be used interchangeably as true synonyms because one can replace the other without affecting their descriptive meaning as in example 10 and 11. (11) a. otu ọgbọ ha masịrị m. age mate they be good to me. their age grade pleases me. b. otu ebiri ha masịrị m. age mate they be good to me. their age grade pleases me. in this case 'ọgbọ' and 'ebiri' can replace each other in any context. (12) a. nri ahụ na-atọ ose ose. food that is testing pepper pepper. the food is pepperish. b. nri ahụ na-atọ ịgbaka ịgbaka. food that is testing pepper pepper the food is pepperish. the two lexemes 'ose’ and 'ịgbaka' are synonyms because they can be used interchangeably in any context. (13) a. ose ekweghị ya eri nri ahụ. pepper allow not him eat food that. pepper did not allow him to eat that food, b. ịgbaka ekweghịi ya eri nri ahụ. pepper allow not him eat food that. pepper did not allow him to eat that food. (14) a. ọ bịara mụnyere ha ọkụ. he come past put give past them fire. he came and put fire for them, b. ọ bịara mụnyere ha ngwa. he come past put give past them fire. he came and put fire for them. the two lexemes 'ngwa' and 'ọkụ' can be used interchangeably as true synonyms because one can replace the other. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 102 (15) a. ị gara ebe ọkụ dị? you go past where fire be? did you go where there is fire? b. ị gara ebe ngwa dị? you go past where fire be? did you go where there is fire? in this example 'ọkụ' and 'ngwa' can substitute each other. (16) a. anyị hụrụ gị ebe ị pịara ya ụtarị we see past you place you flog him cane. we saw you where you flogged him. b. anyị hụrụ gị ebe ị pịara ya apịansụ. we see past you place you flog him cane. we saw you where you flogged him. (17) a. ụtarị dị n'uko. cane be in ceiling. the cane is in the ceiling. b. apịansụ dị n’uko. cane be in ceiling. the cane is in the ceiling. the two lexemes 'ụtarị' and 'apịansụ' can be used interchangeably as synonyms because they can replace each other in both 16 and 17 examples above. (18) a. emeka nọ n'ụlọ'mkpọrọ'. emeka is in house prison. emeka is in the prison. b. emeka no n'ụlọ 'nga' emeka is in house prison. emeka is in the prison. (19) a. mkpọrọ ha tụrụ ya abaghị uru. prison they put past him is not gain. his imprisonment is not necessary, b. nga ha tụrụ ya abaghị uru. prison they put past him is not gain. his imprisonment is not necessary. the two lexemes 'mkpọrọ', and 'nga' can be used interchangeably as synonyms because they can substitute each other is in 18 and 19 examples above. 'nga' can be used in place of 'mkpọrọ' in any speech event. using the substitution criteria it was observed that some lexemes in amaiyi dialect are true, complete and absolute synonyms in any context. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 103 reasons for synonyms synonymy is very important in all languages because it helps to increase the vocabularies of the language. the use of 'ụtarị' in place of 'apịansụ' helps the language to have variety. synonyms add flavour to the utterances as they spice the speech events because variety they say is the spice of life. in the use of 'ụsa' and 'azịza' the speaker of a language like the igbo language cannot be using 'ụsa' in all sentences. therefore, 'azịza' can substitute 'ụsa' and it, will make the sentence interesting and shows that the speaker is competent in the language. synonymy makes language dynamic instead of static because a linguistic situation can be presented in different ways. learning the synonyms will help the second language learners to master the language very well. it also helps to describe the similarities between the meanings of different terms in the lexicon.synonymy may portray positive or negative attitudes of the speaker, for example naive or gullible seem more critical than ingenious. synonymy is a tasty ingredient of language. it helps both the native speakers and language learners to have competence of the language. synonyms in amaiyi dialect some of the underlisted linguistic items assumed to be synonyms in amaiyi dialect are tested using the yardstick formulated by palmer (1981), that is, substitution and oppositeness. remember that the convention used for tone marking is to tone mark only the high tones and downsteps. the low tones are left unmarked. high tone (/) low tone downsteps (-) some of them are as follows: s/no synonymous lexemes in amaiyi dialect english equivalent 1 éhihie/owu afternoon 2 úkwú / ókpa leg 3 útarị / apịánsú cane 4 ngá / ébé place 5 ódō / ókirī mortar 6 ntú / así lie 7 ịgbàká / ósè pepper . . . . . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 104 8 ńgwā/ ọkú fire 9 ípata /ákpúkpọ úkwü shoe 10 óhü / ikè buttocks 11 àhúrú / éréghéré sweat 12 odógwu ọzárá/ ákpị scorpion 13 ḿméé ḿméé / ọbara ọbara blood 14 ajadu / ísímkpē widow 15 oyibó / bekéē english 16 úbi / úgbō farm 17 ákwà / ọgọdọ cloth 18 úrì / égwú dance 19 ụchụ / azị bad luck 20 otikpa / óka corn 21 úkpáala/ ahụékéré groundnut 22 ugórò / ákí ilū bitter kola 23 ḿgbede / uhúhurú chi evening 24 omumé / agwa character 25 ngà / ḿkpórö prison 26 ógbákọ/ńzukó meeting 27 ụsa /ázìzá answer 28 ḿkpa / azú úló backyard 29 njije / ụlarị head tie 30 ọkwa úzọ / igodo key 31 ngajì / ákụkọ spoon 32 ílóm / ólóló bottle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 105 33 agadịgbọ / nwáanyí nọdụrụ ókwù kitchen stool 34 kpókọjó / éfére plate 35 ḿméhìe / njó sin 36 ọgbó / ébiri age mate/peer 37 íké / ụlịghịlị strength 38 mbúbó / úbì farmland 39 aparapa / útara cassava fufu 40 ókwụrụ órū / ḿgbíḿgbí paw-paw 41 ímé ńdúrú / ímé ọghó m unwanted pregnancy 42 akọm / íba malaria 43 áhụ / úkwa bread fruit 44 ọkpụkpọ ókū / ékwú ókụ tripod stand 45 ókéaha / ókenye old person 46 ḿgbíríḿgbá / átáṅú bell 47 banyéré / gbasarà about 48 akpatì/igbé box 49 inyóm / nwáanyi women 50 dum / níílé all the examples above can be used in sentences below: (20) a. akpị gbara nwoke ọcha ahụ. scorpion sting past man fair that. scorpion stung that fair man. b. odogwu ọzara gbara nwoke ocha ahụ. scorpion sting past man fair that. scorpion stung that fair complexioned man. in these two examples the lexemes 'akpị' and odogwu ozara can be used in place of the other in the two contexts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 106 (21) a. anyị tara ọka we eat past corn. we ate corn, b. anyị tara otikpa we eat past corn. we ate corn. in the examples above 'ọka' and 'otikpa' mean the same thing therefore, they are synonyms because one can replace the other in all the context. (22) a. ha biara n'uhuru chi. they come past in evening. they came in the evening, b. ha bịara na mgbede. they come past in evening. they came in the evening. in the examples above 'uhuru chi' and 'mgbede' can be used interchangeably in the same speech event. (23) a. akpatị ahụ mara mma. box that fine. that box is fine b. igbe ahụ mara mma. box that fine. that box is fine the examples above 'akpatị' and 'igbe' are synonymous because they can replace each other and the meaning will still be very clear. (24) a. ha dum bịara nzụkọ ahụ. they all come past meeting that. all of them came to the meeting. b. ha niile bịara nzụkọ ahụ. they all come past meeting that. all of them came to the meeting. the above examples show that the two words 'dum' and 'niile' can stand in for each other and still have the same meaning not minding how the words are pronounced or spelt. they are conveying the same meaning. (25) a. ngozi zụtaara m odo. ngozi buy past me mortar. ngozi bought mortar for me. b. ngozi zụtaara m okiri. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 107 ngozi buy past me mortar. ngozi bought mortar for me. the examples above show that 'odo' and 'okiri' can stand in for each other in any speech event. findings a. it was found out that synonymy can be said to mean sameness of meaning, when two words that are pronounced differently are referred to or interpreted as one thing. b. it was observed that there are many synonymous words in amaiyi dialect. c. that synonyms help to increase igbo vocabulary and for stylistic effect. d. that synonyms help native speakers and language learners to have 'competence of the language. conclusion synonymy as a sense relation cuts across all natural languages. synonyms were xrayed and tested and the result showed that there are many synonyms in amaiyi dialect. this is due to the fact that these words help to enrich the vocabulary and help language learners to master the language well. this research work concludes that there are true and real synonyms in amaiyi dialect. some synonyms in the dialect were listed out. students should be encouraged to do the same research in other igbo dialects to improve the study of the igbo language. references agbedo, c.u. (2000). general linguistics: an introductory reader. nsukka: ace resources. anagbogu, p.n., b. m.. mbah, & c.a. erne, (2010). introduction to linguistics (2nd ed) awka: amaka dreams. anyanwu, o, (2008). "essentials of semantics." in b.m. mbah (eds) history of language and communication. a festschrift in honour of professor p.a. nwachukwu (pp. 186201). nsukka: pashal communication. crystal, d. (2008). a dictionary of linguistics and phonetics (6th ed), maiden: blackwell. finch, g. (2000), linguistic terms and concepts, palgrave: palgrave macmillan. finegan, e. (2008). language: its structure and use (5th ed), australia: thomson wardsworth. fromkin, v. & r. rodman. (1993). an introduction to language (6th ed), australia: thomson wardsworth, huford, j.r. & b. heasley, (1983). semantics: a course book. cambridge: cambridge university. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 108 nwaozuzu, g.i. (2006). dialects of lgbo language. nsukka: university of nigeria press. obiora, t. (2010). "synonyms in igbo language". in andah, b. (eds) international journal of research in arts and social sciences 2. retrieved 14th june, 2012. www.academicexcellencesoajsty_.gom ogbalu, f.c. (1974). standard igbo, path to its development, onitsha: university publishing. palmer, f., (1981). semantics (2nd ed). britain: cambridge university. saeed, j. (2007). semantics (2nd ed.), oxford: blackwell publishing. yule, g. (1996). the study of language. cambridge: cambridge university press. http://www.academicexcellencesoajsty_.gom/ at sunset by ifeoma odinye 1 at sunset by ifeoma odinye 2 at sunset ifeoma odinye at sunset by ifeoma odinye 3 first published in nigeria in 2018 by arise and shine press, 6 c.m.o. shopping complex, regina ceali road, awka, anambra state, nigeria. 08067561837, 08066671534. isbn: 978-978-971-041-6 copyright © ifeoma odinye telephone: 08032617858 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 4 dedication for the voiceless and defenseless with whom and for whom i became a poet at sunset by ifeoma odinye 5 introductory quote there will never be a first-rate poet or a first-rate critic who lacks a first-rate ear; and no one will ever acquire a firstrate ear without working for it… poetry, alas, like painting and music, is an artit is not a form of happy selfindulgence; and to master an art or even understand it, one has to labor with all of one’s mind and with at least a part of one’s body. (yvor winters, the function of criticism) at sunset by ifeoma odinye 6 preface this collection has been written for everyone; teachers, students and all lovers of poetry. in writing poetry, i have fairly adopted a unique style consistently laced with deep meanings, personification and strong imagery. the poems in this collection are simple and in some ways clouded by hazy thinking and fuzzy rhetoric. it is lively, engrossing, thought provoking and alluring. the individual poems demonstrate my personal emotions, involvement and love of the creative art! at sunset articulates and encapsulates the rigorous challenges facing africa and different societies of the world today. it voices a resounding call for a new generation of morally conscious individuals to embrace their challenges and positively change our mundane world. in at sunset, i rattled the world’s challenges with a deep sense of passion. this collection also contains the award winning poem in the 2018 annual ewc international poetry competition, ‘zion’s zest’ which clearly captures the contrived human insensitivity over human existence. i have – though very carefully spoken for the voiceless and defenseless. at sunset is set to rekindle a consciousness for self-reflection and world liberation. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 7 contents dedication 3 introductory quote 4 preface 5 woes of my land 10 before sunset 11 the sunken 12 zion’s zest 14 the second coming 16 martyrs 18 afra my afra 20 at sunset by ifeoma odinye 8 songs of childhood memories 20 memories (nostalgia) 23 epigram on a girl 24 early morning melancholy 25 songs of a simpleton 26 songs of reflection 28 in the dark 29 mystery 31 the fool 32 my dream 33 reflection 34 the waste land 35 madness 36 i am 38 freedom 39 at sunset by ifeoma odinye 9 woes of man 40 scars of the mind 41 on bended knees 44 solitude 45 deceit 46 a phone call 48 confusion 50 a valediction to dolly 51 songs of liberation 53 now’s the time 54 xenophobia 56 zenophobia 58 the voice 61 the poet said 62 arise 63 at sunset by ifeoma odinye 10 the dance 66 accolades 68 sunset in afra 70 to my country 71 sweet spirit 73 dread at dusk 75 my song 77 songs of hope 79 hope 80 echoes 81 sacrifice 82 flag of dawn 83 vows 85 no more trembling 87 exultation 88 at sunset by ifeoma odinye 11 (woes of my land) the land is mute now with none to put new songs to our lips and our voices grow hoarse so let us listen to songs of today ezenwa-ohaeto “a kind of songs”songs of a traveller at sunset by ifeoma odinye 12 before sunset before sunset, poetry births words words formed from squeezed and weathered faces wrinkled by life’s unsteady visions drifting high and low, low and high. before sunset, poverty kissed many lips lips that once kissed princes and princesses in high towered embellished houses moving up and down, down and up. before sunset, birds remained silent the silence that awakened the owl in the mid-day under a scorching sun shining bright and hot, hot and bright. before sunset, people embarked on a pacing chase a game of luck, a game of chance in the world’s driest part and plain humbled by hunger, thirst and want want of food want of money want of water want of shelter want of want. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 13 the sunken we are the sunken we are the stuffed children leaning on an empty column paralyzed legs infested with poliomyelitis we are the sunken once, leaning on a fence with nice big slats and space around, so free and roomy legs well-guarded, fixed firmly on the surface waiting for a falling star! we are the sunken echoing together thomas hardy’s natures questioning questioning the moonlight that once sprayed happiness on eager faces sun that brightened the face after a mid-night’s sorrowful pangs! tell me where all past years are, or who cleft the devil’s foot, and kissed the angel’s forehead like judas iscariot? at sunset by ifeoma odinye 14 the sunken tell me, i say, tell me tell me why weathered faces stare with visionless vision tell me why frail men turned gods over night unleashing fire and brimstone on earth’s sojourners? that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think; this is strange, falling like dews upon many generations when men survive only to await tomb’s silent embrace! tell me, i say tell me what then god were to such men? at sunset by ifeoma odinye 15 zion’s zest in the hollow of earth’s arms, i share the open secret of life’s misery the lurking secrets of my generation sprayed and scented on the blue airy surface which only time and time could tell the wagging tales of pains and gains the twisted tales of clans and wars tales of cows and colony! tales of lies and deceit! under the canopy of earth’s balled frame, i will not keep silent! for zion’s sake, i will not keep silent! until priests, kings and conquerors bring their palms to be read! palms smeared with blood and water in pretense or in one communion! touching heads; round heads fixed in square shaped helmets bowed in painful ecstasy ready for the unguarded hour! hour of fear and pain! hour of dreaded evil and death! turning and turning in the earth’s widening gyre, the ancient path departs at sunset by ifeoma odinye 16 zion’s zest leaving the falcons and falconers without a guide things fall apart, the earth cannot conceal the falcon’s tale of untold pains tales laden with death tolls unnamed and untamed! tales of lost vegetation! tales of sights and sounds! in earth’s womb the chord forms tight strings on fetus neck lurking and waiting lurking and waiting earth’s new born in blood-red and coloured water crying, as they strike the chords with unguided palms palms that bath newborns with acid water straight from the earth’s scooped bowel burning and burning in endless circles. today, i cry for earth’s unchanging woes woes of yesterday! woes of today! woes of tomorrow! woes of dreams! dreams of zion! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 17 the second coming i listened to the wild cry, the wild cry that heralded the second coming of a hero a hero born to fulfill a destiny, a destiny swept under the carpet for decades! i listened to the wild cry my heart bled once again! oh, how dreams quenched, and unity broken by divided hearts! a hero came the first time, and he was silenced and sabotaged by his kinsmen who accepted the pythons as friends the ones that wrapped around them in python-like death and lured them to join in the python dance. the dance that flung them to the ground. despised and silenced! in the first coming, thousands were killed on the hero’s soil perhaps millions under avarice, hatred and wickedness! the hero was hushed and blamed for the woes of the land. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 18 the second coming the death of proud sons, women and children caused more pain and the hero became an outcast in his own land. again, i listened to the wild cry, the wild cry that heralded the second coming of a hero; chants of sorrow here! chants of sorrow there! who knows the fate of the hero this time? chants of sorrow everywhere! the people live in forced obedience, under a forced marriage cloned by the colonizers. a marriage between the beauty and the beast. a proud beast without a living conscience or soul. the beast tortured the beauty and stirred up more pain and hatred. lingering and still lingering for decades! no hope no joy no freedom no destination only death, death and death! patiently waiting for the second coming! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 19 martyrs martyrs young and fresh as flowers tender and soft in sunlight’s beaming gaze hatched untimely by the lopsided gaits of untamed hooligans who live in deserted neighbourhood marred with dust and rocks neighbourhood smeared with cow dung and rafters and awakened by the muuus of the cows! martyrs old and weary as the earth’s wounded surface winkled and dry in history’s untold tales pained by life’s thoughtless rhythms rhythms of the lost rhythms of the weak rhythms of sight! martyrs young and old cheated of nature’s free gifts gifts of life gifts of choice gifts of oneness in zoo cloned regions divided by clans and traits subdued under the native conquerors’ greed under the silent watching eyes of unseen herdsmen killers at sunset by ifeoma odinye 20 martyrs who cut and kill, kill and cut in distant green lands green lands littered with the butchered bodies of field’s friends. friends, both old and new young and old single and married men and women boys and girls children and pregnant mothers whose blood flows in ceaseless pain and rage pain of agony agony of a butchered people silenced in the sands of time. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 21 afra my afra afra my afra afra of proud warriors in green land fields afra of which my father chants on the soil of distant lands your spirit resonates in me your beautiful spirit that echoes the dying wishes of old rekindled by scorned hatred, jealousy and brutality the scorn of your people! the brutality of your people! the people of your blood! afra, tell me afra is the oppressor’s hand stronger than your amadioha iron hand? the hand that crafts metals and irons in ancient cities of afra! this hand which threw amalinze the cat on the ground in swift bravery! this hand which fed hungry thousands in war ravaged lands! the land of great heroes the heroes of afra afra of the rising sun! but in the midst of unarticulated thoughts at sunset by ifeoma odinye 22 afra my afra a firm voice awakens my troubled spirit; child of the rising sun, that spirit pure and brave though hushed, is courageous and untamed like the air which cannot be caged in a container! that is the spirit of afra! afra of old afra of now afra of the future springing up patiently in the hard unwatered soil of afra! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 23 (songs of childhood memories) but that was when the general was a boy when the old path beneath the breadfruit tree led to the wonder of the aerial zone the general is a man he is now a man chimalum nwankwo “after: for the burnt out taper in the ivory tower”-towards the aerial zone at sunset by ifeoma odinye 24 memories (nostalgia) one picture, just one more to create the world i once cherished the faces i once admired under the shades of udala tree where udala children gather in rustic fields of green leaves. we stooped and looked through the clustered leaves necks bent backwards; eyes fixed in upward search against the noon-day glare patiently waiting for the spirit of udala the gentle spirit that drops udala balls in odd hours of the mornings and noon. unexpected, the udala balls fall like the muddling sounds of pestle and mortar gracing the hard surface of brown and green. all looked and scampered upraised beneath the giant udala tree where devotees cluster with search illuminated faces faces that meet faces; devoutest friends of udala fruit far from home; not far from home! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 25 epigram on a girl she is a girl! a very lovely maiden! sweet and tender gentle and innocent under natures reign! while in the house while on the road she becomes a prey and needs help amid the mighty flood of mortals’ ill doings! with copious grief, she mourns as her pride is stolen! still with watery eyes, she succumbs to passion devoid of love, and shows her grief in the secret locket of her failing heart. and screws up her hypocritical face as if nothing happened. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 26 early morning melancholy i caught this morning’s gaze of daylight underneath a deep shady tree of sadness. i lay sunken under the breath of morn, still and silent as if calamity had just begun! i listened to the beats of my heart and felt a cruel pain that bended my neck. i pressed one hand on the aching spot and wished sorrow had no name. this passion lifted me upon my feet, and made me struggle for life. on that very spot of the earth where melancholy struck in the morn! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 27 songs of a simpleton strike the chord and let my muse flow from the dawn of history to this present day! what is life? why do men love evil more than good? past years ago, these are questions illumined by me, a mere simpleton! who has spent most of his life in the dark of the earth alone and forlorn! and now my brother, it is time to tell the story of a crime as black as the dark night. though secret, yet with copious anguish i grieve. when in sweet prime my noble lady goes. fear or sorrow, i have no power to sing sadness or pain, i cannot bring the pleasure of past years. i am on the cold hills side now purple with love’s wound. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 28 songs of a simpleton i still hear the thousand footsteps that raped my noble lady and cut short her breath in the rising morn! there, they laid her in the dirt; and buried her alive in the mud. near the dark deserted house in the farm! my noble lady has passed away in the silence of the morning. she now sleeps in silence where slumber does not weary the dead! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 29 (songs of reflection) if my scarlet sorrow should impale you where you walk silent across the field if my purple laughter had faded and the fractured moon, in the aftermath should stagger if this my voice be muted before the festival of the flutes let the song still be sung in your heart let the song still be sung when lights are out for the agonies of a generation are measured. obiora udechukwu “prelude”-what the madman said at sunset by ifeoma odinye 30 in the dark in the dark, i can see a tiny dot of light at the end of the tunnel where i lay squeezed underneath a stone buried; the steep cutting rigid and rough upon my skin. in the dark, my mind has withered from the squeeze alone, i palely wait for nature’s quest no birds sing! no flowers bloom! in the dark, darkness lulled me asleep, and there i dreamed the latest dream i ever had in the darkest side of the tunnel. i saw pale youths, death pale youths everywhere they cried-‘we need change!’ i saw their starved lips sealed with threats threats of hunger! threats of death! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 31 in the dark again i saw a figure with a conqueror’s gaze and sure in strange language he said to the pale stricken youths ‘you are all stars! you are the future! the future of tomorrow! waiting to catch a falling star!’ the figure said, ‘go and catch a falling star! get up and catch a falling star !’ since yesterday, the star continues to fall! the pale youths continue to wait! hand stretched towards the airy space. i saw the figure’s stern look i saw his horrid warning, i saw the pale youths’ tight lips in the gloam-darkness, gapping wide in utmost dismay and i awoke, and found me still in the dark in the darkest part of the tunnel where i see the moon palely loitering. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 32 mystery between the sun and moon, between the day and night, between the sky and sea, mystery is formed in the pulse of hearts! witnessed by freighted faces and lips under thrones which draw men to weave the web of mystery till heart, body and life freeze into nothingness! nothingness, absolute nothingness! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 33 the fool the fool said no sense, said no sense he said no sense! tired men chase money all day long and neglect their health every day! nonsense! nonsense! nonsense! the fat slob of a fool said, nonsense! there is no sense in much chase! there is no sense in nonsense! nonsense! nonsense! nonsense! there is no sense in nonsense! but in every nonsense; there is sense! make no mistake; there is sense. in every mistake, there is take. take it or leave it, the fool has spoken! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 34 my dream seven years ago i dreamt of a golden city a baby golden city, from utopia town; but the noxious huge bug squashed its buildings to dust! the city became naked and dumb! and the spaces became void and ugly! a loud and gentle voice echoes; beware of the bugs, my son beware! their jaws bite, their claws catch! beware of the scorpions, and shun every slimy creepy creature!’ beware! beware! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 35 reflection a little joy here, a little pain there, life rolls! like the seasons, life is also flavoured! each wound is perfect for the body! happiness blossoms from time to time, leaving pain to guide its steps; and plant its seeds on life’s land under mourning. when joy can sweetly flow in the prime of earliest youth. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 36 the waste land blasted lay that land, we are proud of! nice weather, wise men, nice people, a plenteous crop on green land vegetation! wise talk of a kind! now lay desolate the land which once harbored civilized minds, and watered the ground with the finest oil. the land now lay scorned with spluttering, hateful and impotent end. now, not a plenteous crop grace the land, only poverty, scarcity and animosity push hard across the sand of time! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 37 madness the mad man said, there is a strain of madness in every man! we are all mad men! we are all mad men! a minute madness, an hour madness, an endless madness! we are all mad men! we are all mad men! walking about the streets head filled with unguarded thoughts, mouth filled with speeches! we are all mad men! we are all mad men! mumbling toothlessly in and out with naked foot stalking in different directions busily seeking a continual change. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 38 madness we are all mad men! we are all mad men! we are all mad creatures learned and unlearned gentle, tame and meek but sometimes put ourselves in danger. we flee from ourselves and sometimes did seek ourselves. now we’ve become wild and do not remember that the sun steams on the roofs where rain has once sprayed! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 39 1am i am spirit, soul and body i am blood, flesh and water i am emotion, feelings and passion i am drunk with yesterday’s woes that i seem to stand upon a shaky ground because the past has passed away and the future is staggering today is standing still and the future is a serious matter because i am bare, speechless and numb! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 40 freedom freedom, freedom, where is freedom? the prisoner points to the guard the guard points to the boss the boss points to his master the master points to the heavens and said, this world is a haunting place! no one is free! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 41 (woes of man) yes! my heart is withered the tremors have dropped from my caresses and my passions are spirited now as abandoned lumber. chinweizu “spring memories”-energy of crisis and other poems. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 42 scars of the mind we will fight! once again, i say, we will fight, when they least expect it! the scars of rape over our minds and body like red-hot arrows on the chest have finished us! we are the incubators of the future, great girls of innocence; subjected to man-made torture under the full glare of sunlight gaze! under the darkened clouds of the sky! we are the young pure maidens, young lovely maidens whose innocence has been pulled to the mud among reedy rascals! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 43 scars of the mind united in vision, we will respond with the flames burning in our hearts! yellow, blue and red flames! the past is burning us with red-hot flames! the future is steaming with red-red flames! and the smell of flames hit our nostrils with passion! a childa girl in her zero year so brief her presence on earth is consumed in an unwholesome flame; which the middle aged maidens dread! young lass in her prime, consumed within the infernos of home and streets crying each minute in a broken monody. a woman clutched tightly around the neck as flames waves distil her body. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 44 sinking recklessly in the guarded flames! scars of the mind we are now lost in the flames! we cannot keep silent and allow the prodigal take our best portion and return with the wicked-slit of his tongue to placate our raging mind! nowadays, we grow out abandoned; recklessly abandoned! trapped on the open and closed space here! there… at sunset by ifeoma odinye 45 on bended knees on bended knees i crawl to your presence with awe! on bended knees i see each day pass into nothingness! on bended knees i become a sadder and wiser man! on bended knees i watch the world unfold! on bended knees i become calm and quiet! on bended knees i went like one that hath been stunned! on bended knees i rose to see morrow morn; the sunshine i once craved for! the freshness i once desired! full of sweet dreams, health, and endless joy! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 46 solitude under the greenwood tree solitude hangs on my throat and turns my merry notes into a melancholic tune! under the watch of rough weather my spirit is not finely touched to produce the lyrics that nature lends like a thrifty goddess clouded in the glory of her creator! under the greenwood tree no birds sing and the sedges have shrivelled in the ancient lake that nourished many plants! under heavens watch i see horrid warnings i see starved lips i see withered sedges from the lake i see no birds sing a fairy’s song i see wild eyes searching aimlessly! i see solitude! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 47 deceit senorita senorita the first time you came you brought red roses and spread them gently under my nose; searching my eyes with deeper gaze. senorita senorita the second time you came you brought perfume and scented my body with white jasmine caressing it with your long fingers! senorita senorita the third time you came you kissed my cheeks and coated my lips with your saliva. i became numb and stunned! as what i love, i may never like too much! senorita senorita the last time you came you touched my balls and vowed to be mine at sunset by ifeoma odinye 48 deceit i gave you my heart and money! you got me drunk and vanished! only to reap me of my heart! what’s this? is it love? for whose sake all the vows be? at sunset by ifeoma odinye 49 a phone call a phone call the lady said to the man. and i will reveal your secrets to the world! i am the woman from the streets whose heart has been butchered. one phone call and i will cast out your sins and spread them on the roof top! money is my joy, my life, my crown! i am the lady in her prime who has been shunned by a ragging poverty accompanied by pity and ruth for years. so i cannot shun the broad way that oils my mouth with food. candy is sweet this you said! sugar is nice this you said! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 50 a phone call honey is the best this you said! capturing my heart with your fancied talk and shined me with your hot embrace. you waked and fled no money! no love! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 51 confusion rose-cheeked papali said, the king is dismayed and full of discord. i will catch his conscience and play the harps to sooth his sorrows. the king said, i want to die let me have the song that gallops fury away and springs rhythms in joyous syllables. rose-cheeked papali said, rest in soft peace and listen to the crickets sing! there, no falling houses thunder on your head no anguish fever dew on your forehead there, you sojourn alone! alone, alone on the cold land side! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 52 a valediction to dolly (for professor dolly chinwe ekpunobi) she came in silken grace a maiden clouded with white lily and garlands of stars upon her head! pretty dolly she was called, a simple maiden of honour and beauty decorated by heaven’s beaming gaze of lights and a simple heart laced with virtues uncommonly seen amongst men! dolly’s beauty swept men away and lured them into a deep sleep leaning together with parted lips naked and bare! she carried herself with uncommon grace a genius under nature, under god, ennobled with unconscious love and reverence till the sun declined a radiant shot on her! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 53 a valediction to dolly she sat on a low bench waiting for the sweet hour upon the silent path with no visible shades. she prayed more and talked less when that dark hour came; dolly embraced her end in joyful ecstasy! she now sleeps in the calm earth, and peace is there! so calm and still! so still and calm! a silvered image of tranquility! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 54 (songs of liberation) day by day night by night that day will come when africa will be one that will speak our freedom ifi amadiume “one uhuru”ecstacy at sunset by ifeoma odinye 55 now’s the time now’s the time time for action and less speech time to mend the fallen fences once admired by other builders time to rebuild the houses now turned shanties time to rebuild narrow unkempt and meandering paths called roads time to cleanse the cities of rubbish piled high on the streets. now’s the time! time to separate the wheat and the chaff time to create a huge space between good and evil time to create happiness and spaces between hatred and love time to be more open than closed! now’s the time! time for change and chance in a haunting world as fierce as death full of strife that never falls amiss swallowing everything due for man! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 56 now’s the time now’s the time! time to change powers that chase men as preys time to bridge the endless gap between the poor and rich now’s the time! there’s not much time to waste with all those ills which haunt us while we breathe. the speedy eager chases stealing men’s pace and breathe panting to die. now’s the time! time for mirth and fun! don’t let the scoundrels screw you! for life’s just a few drops to live in hell and die a first death! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 57 xenophobia damn you all! you dark brothers stink! you came to the south gate and built your tent there! you hypnotized our girls just like the sun with your purple-brown coloured faces only to burn their hearts with steaming hot words! you stole our lands and took up our jobs! you left us idle staggering day and night in the streets like the whoreson dog! and now, you dark brothers, it is time for us to tell the truth to you! to tell the story of a second crime committed against the south! we want a hero: an uncommon want, to tell this new story; not like nelson mandiba mandela who fought the white cabals with wits and long speeches only to bring in an ancient friend that sticks closer than a brother. therefore, we need a hero to take our ancient friends away far away to their lands before the devil possesses us again to cut them open! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 58 xenophobia chase all the dark brothers away and let us reclaim our land! a land slowly passing into nothingness; full of drug barons and street merchants! chase them away and let us reclaim our land! they scrape for the ambiguous and dig for the profound in every corner of our streets, because money is their master! they shoot and kill leaving dead bodies littered everywhere, because money is their master! away you black brothers from the west away! away from our lands! our souls are full of discord and dismay! for our spirits are fiercely touched and the madness in us must not be cured until you leave! our madness speaks volumes! our madness trespasses beyond friendship where the conscience becomes deadened each passing day! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 59 zenophobia words are indeed strong, and a small drop of words makes the mind weak! words fall like dews upon mighty hearts, and produce a rage that consumes a whole clan! words rolling from the mountain–springs in the south have plunged us into solitude! we are now on a wild secluded atmosphere! and the thought of deep seclusion still stares us in the face! many years are past; many lengthy year, and again we hear these painful words rolling from the south mountainspring! “damn you all! you dark brothers stink!” we are stunned and pained; and ask each other: what’s this? you cut us open, shot and pushed us to the wall! you’ve pushed us beyond our limit and we are held sore bound! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 60 zenophobia now’s the time to bare our hearts! you have threatened us enough! threats of hell and no hopes of paradise! we are your black brothers! black brothers from the once rich land called the giant of afra! we stood behind you through thick and thin! we left our land and enriched yours with our strength and talent! we married your women to form a stronger bond! you left every job for us, and say ‘our brothers are industrious and stupid!’ they can help us build our country! now, the south stands tall and you want us to leave! oh south brothers! oh south brother! cease thy raging chants and let us be! you chanted in the past against the white rulers; you got your freedom! you chanted to rule your country; it was granted! now you are chanting for your brothers to leave your land! you have killed us enough! you have jailed us enough! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 61 zenophobia look homeward brothers, now, and melt with ruth! we have bled enough! we have bled enough! look homeward brothers, now, and melt with ruth! look homeward brothers; i say, look homeward brothers! tomorrow is too fresh to smear one’s hand in mountainous excreta; and today paints a dry picture of hapless youths! but one thing at least is certainthis life flies; so does time! and a bard may chant too often, but not too long! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 62 the voice the voice of one crying bitterly is heard in the dark nights. it is a lamentable time for man! a head fallsthere, there, there… a second head falls-here, here, here… a third head falls –there, there, there… where the masquerade dances in the dark nights. the voice of one crying bitterly is heard in the broad daylight. a plague has befallen the land. the stream now flows backwards. the wind blows with no direction. the cloud fleets uncontrollably and gallops away with such fury and force. the heart beats randomly leaving an awed man rooted to a spot. the voice rants and rants! the voice rants alone in sweat and blood! the voice breaks constantly ripped by loneliness! the voice becomes silent and dried-up like the dead leaves in winter streets! the voice is silent… the voice is no more… the voice, the voice… at sunset by ifeoma odinye 63 the poet said the poet said, let words form muse let the air invoke the future to plant in the land crocus and petal. the poet said, there is no way back daylight is cracked and night swallows everything. the poet said, don’t let the present shove you down don’t let it act like it owns you the righteous cannot rot in ignorance life is a damned short loan don’t take your chivalrous ornament to the cemetery where strife falls amiss! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 64 arise arise, ye sons of the rising sun! the jackals and hyenas are on a spreeing chase, to ravage your warrior sons. the black hyenas howl the black jackals howl back in joyful ecstasy. they howl in unison, ready to pounce on sight the children of the rising sun! they dart their tongues into the air waiting patiently to eat them alive! awake, ye sons of the rising sun, and take the mantle with your hand for your arms are not weak! awake! do not conceal defeat your fathers’ labour must not be in vain! arise, i say arise and take up the mantle! you have tarried so long, so long; and the spirits of your fathers are ruthlessly restless! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 65 arise arise, i say arise! arise and do not dread the darkness that covers the sky nor the power that made darkness loom over the land. many sons were slaughtered in the past, many children hungered by the lingering wars; yet your fathers’ strengths were not crippled by the scourge of hate and fear or the guns and knives that mocked their mortal bodies. arise, i say, arise! embrace your language as your strength the sliver cord binds your language to your heritage; and unity in an undivided accord pulls down the enemy’s camp. arise, your dreams must not be cut shot by the mere howling of hyenas and the continuous howling of the jackals! arise and fight for your right and freedom at sunset by ifeoma odinye 66 arise snatched in the broad daylight under your fathers’ watchful eyes. arise and let your lordly men hewn strong like an ancient rock, to wrestle the future into their hands. to stir the looming darkness and clear the clouds! arise and stand undivided! to dismantle and build anew, for each morning, opportunity like the sun-dawns anew! arise! do not stand and wait! put your brains to use and let your mortal frames work out your salvation with fear and trembling. at last the sun will rise! after sunset, the sun will surely rise! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 67 the dance this is not the season to dance and roll your waist like the calabar women this dance is a new one an alien steps of secret drums hidden in the unseen path of the gods. this is not the season to dance because happiness has gone on tour and laughter lives in exile in an unknown land. where mortals cannot thread. this is not the season to dance for we are in the hands of traitors who are a swarm of mysterious bees haunting daily the threatened in dry secluded atmosphere! this is not the season to dance for war looms on the surface and our leaders have grown wings to flee our land if war afflicts! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 68 the dance this is not the season to dance but a season to seek refuge in the bosom of unity which gathers more legs in the lyrical eloquence of the gong, this is not the season to dance but a season to invoke an eagle possessed by the gods to wrestle power from generals’ hands and disrobe them like mad men in the middle of the road! this is not the season to dance but a season to fight the war red-eyed without fluttering. to seize and salvage our land! this is not the season to dance but we must dance day or night to gather strength and battle the tide in order not to drown on the high sea. we must dance we must dance till we speak freely of freedom. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 69 accolades i have seen men pouring accolades like rain on robbers who emptied the public treasury and defiantly stood to placate the raging people. a cheerful leader, a worthy man a man from jupiter a god-sent the honourable! i have seen men pouring accolades like rain on die-hard prostitutes who roam the streets naked and shameless without guilt or remorse a beautiful lady a free giver a honey pot a bae! i have seen men pouring accolades like rain on yahoo boys who steal people’s money without mercy and divert their hard earned currency in fraudulent transactions a sharp boy a correct guy a money bag a malay guy! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 70 accolades i have seen men pouring accolades like rain on all shades of ills and vices driven by quest for money or vanity! no accolades for virtues no accolades for good deeds! no accolades for good people no accolades, no accolades! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 71 sunset in afra at sunset, afra is not weakened at dusk, she will not be silenced by the fractured moon which staggers lazily in the fast darkening skies. when crickets plod the sleeping paths in songlike voices seeking to be heard! let their voice be heard let their voice not be muted to utter the deepest secrets of the nights an untold tales silenced by the hands of time. at sunset, afra will not die she will live out the darkness and shade her scales like a python fresh and renewed, she will rise tall and stand. afra will find the black goat before dusk afra will survive afra will rise again afra will surely rise again! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 72 to my country it is enough! enough of these killings and bombings! it is enough! there is a feeling of fear in the air. it is enough! our land is now soaked with blood. blood of the innocent, blood of the guilty, spilled maliciously on the surface of the earth. it is enough! these killings have taken our joy away and put our economy in downward slope that our country now becomes so open to the bare world. it is enough! we are determined for no joyless form shall control our mortal lives anymore! nor take our strength for granted! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 73 to my country it is enough! we are determined, to take the future with our hand, the hand of unity, heralding a new dawn! a new song! it is enough! power must change hand to spring love and shun malice, hatred, and anguish! power must change hand, to bring in a good desired change. a change borne out of goodwill! a change conceived in an unembellished womb, natural womb that holds true to god’s creation! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 74 sweet spirit sweet spirit from the east side raised a sweet hurrah and my passion is sweetly spirited that i now imagine things i must seize this moment to salvage and burst afresh to rekindle the dying fire in me i must gather strength to walk the stage in order not to drown in agony and drench in sorrowful compassion i must battle and rescue me i must lean on the sweet spirit to teach me how best to fight ooh sweet spirit of the east fall afresh on me! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 75 sweet spirit agent of history unravel untold secrets! oooh sweet spirit of the east renew my strength in joyful ecstasy never to exist in vacant nothingness! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 76 dread at dusk at dusk, i fear that i may cease to be upon the earth’s starred scary zone up up in the cloudy skies decorated with stars i see shadows of light on high romance as i trace the silver lines twinkling i relish deeply the faery power of creation when i behold the darker part of twilight a darkish colour clouded my memory like shadows with strong magic hands there, i stand alone on the shore of the world lonely and forlorn like a full-ripened grain abandoned in the quietness of the field at sunset by ifeoma odinye 77 dread at dusk at dusk, solitude beckons my pen gleans the loitering darkness on books piled high on the shelves there i pen my fears in the charactery of my sadness till sleep drifts me to unconscious malady. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 78 my song my song will climb the ladder of wisdom to feed the ailing crowd with thought provoking lyrics and sweeten the ears with a honey-tune. i will let the air hear the chorus of my song to awaken the muted in broad daylight to fill up the space between the skies and the lands. my song will climb the ladder of change to turn back the hands of change and let the villain taste the pain of wickedness. i will recruit my song to fight this war with ten thousand musical chords to invoke the musical strains like armed men firing bullets into the crowd. my song will gather the waves of history to tell the truth betrayed by a clan so terrible the lie, so terrible the deceit! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 79 my song my song will travel all roads for i have seen people scampering for shelter on a road where four foot paths meets. my song will climb every wall to greet every homestead like a nightingale, i will rain my song as accolades like dews sprayed on the grasses. at sunset by ifeoma odinye 80 (songs of hope) soon enough between the false paths and the road untried between wish and will we shall awaken odia ofemimun “for b.j”the poet lied at sunset by ifeoma odinye 81 hope yes! our hope will not wither our passions are knitted together in unity so strong and true! no vague ignorance can strike us again no beast can swallow us again no acid rain can burn us again behold, our new hope is rising our armies are of new order daring against all odds indeed, our hope has not faded it has not been squeezed out like crumpled orange rind our hope is alive rising, rising, rising… at sunset by ifeoma odinye 82 echoes here we are echoing our new song many stuffed men on dry ground here we are standing on withered branches many voices echoing the new song here we are singing for what we believe our hope is not dead it will grow into a star a light for our future generation a guide for our children! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 83 sacrifice the sun is sinking fast the day is dying fast but my hope is still awake! without a second thought my soul would yield this one sacrifice; to save the souls of thousands alive. one sacred sacrifice i would give before abiding in the breast of the earth; dead to self, and dead to death to keep one sacred hope alive one divine hope hope of eternal freedom! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 84 flag of dawn on the hills of life the flag of dawn appears signaling a new order proclaiming the day is near; the day light will shine in darkness and burst forth that day, all wrong will be revealed that day, justice shall stand straight and every hurt healed. that day, righteousness and peace shall walk the earth bare with a sea of glory spreading from pole to pole unto earth’s remotest part. surely, that day will come when the flags of dawn will stand on golden sand at sunset by ifeoma odinye 85 flag of dawn that day will come when our land will be delivered from error’s chain. that day will come! i say, that day will come. when the land will be calm! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 86 vows sing, o people! our vows are yielding hope our prayers are yielding answers! through this weary pilgrimage we are a succeeding race under man, under god! sing, o people! our wandering footsteps are guided our prayers are not in vain for our great watchman towers above our affliction. sing, aloud! i say, sing aloud! let your hope be rekindled to save your souls from wrong to save you from the snares of evil at sunset by ifeoma odinye 87 vows sing aloud! i say, sing aloud and press onward with better hope for life’s duty has just begun to win this race more bravely. sing aloud! i say, sing aloud faint not nor fear for the future will win to tell the tale in the unseen future! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 88 no more trembling no more trembling we are now strengthened with mystic powers without a veil on our face no more trembling even when joy sinks before us lowly surrounded by thorns and scorpions no more trembling when mystery surrounds us piercing our bonded hearts deeply no more trembling for we do not fear again! we are no more earthly minded and our service makes us glad and free! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 89 exultation with shouts of exultation, i applaud you all, children of light swallowed by the thick darkness of the night day by day, day by day. with songs of exultation, i applaud your determination to stand so thick and strong and bear the burden of the day. with the lyrics of the flute, i applaud your strength in labour which ends with sunset rays for rest to rule the weary. with the sound of drums, i raise the song of harvest to separate the wheat and tares to cast the tares into the fire to salvage our fields! at sunset by ifeoma odinye 90 exultation with claps of exultation, i urge you to raise a song of hope to remain faithful to that final harvest-hour ripening with great dreams! the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 2 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 3 (act 1) scene one in mr. reti’s sitting room (dim flood light with blue combination) mr. reti is seated in his moderately furnished sitting room. he has an old centre table in front of him and a table fan on top of an old book shelf by his left hand side. his wife enters with a tray containing two plates and cutleries. she puts down the tray on the centre table and sits down facing her husband. no. 2 mr. reti (solo 1) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 4 no. 3 family dialogue (mr.& mrs. reti start eating as the wife feeds the husband. in a while, dola enters followed by tidore and remi) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 5 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 6 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 7 no. 4 chorus the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 8 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 9 (they all get up and move to their bedrooms) -------lights out------ the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 10 (act 1) scene two in mr. reti’s sitting room (morning sunlight effect) mr. reti moves into the sitting room with his wife who is carrying a small radio receiver, a toothbrush and a small bowl containing a glass of water. the wife puts on the radio and starts brushing mr. reti’s teeth.(radio….as the head of state arrives abuja today. before we continue, here are some commercials.) no. 5a jingle intro (instrumental) heeeei!…… it’s here again! it’s going to be wonderful! it’s going to be fantastic!! it’s going to be great!!! operation meet your star! doremi and his all stars band will be there live! to get you thrilled venue: peoples club hall. date: sat 18th march. time: 8pm till dawn gate fee: n200 flat. operation meet your star! come one, come all to end the news, here are the main points (mrs. reti switches off the radio) recit. follows: no. 5b: mr. & mrs. reti’s recit. 1 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 11 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 12 (doremi walks in with his small bag and guitar singing one of his main songs {down stage}) no. 6: doremi’s (solo 1) (by the end of this solo, doremi must have climbed up the stage) doremi: daddy, good morning sir, mummy, good morning ma. mr. & mrs. reti: good morning my son. the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 13 mrs. reti: how was your performance at the funeral wake? no. 7: doremi’s recit. 1 & mrs. reti’s “alleluia” solo 2 (the background choir takes the following part immediately) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 14 no. 8: mrs. reti’s ***alleluia*** semi-chorus (echo) no.10: mr.reti’s (recit. 2) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 15 mr. reti’s (speech): i told your sister last night night when she was demanding for two thousand naira (n2,000) building levy not to worry until you return. here you are. in fact, you deserve a handshake (but no hands, he shakes his head). come and take this bottle of wine. (they leave for the inner room as the background chorus echoes the semi-chorus—alleluia changing the text to untranslatables/vocables e.g: uh,mh,oh e.t.c) ---lights out-- the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 16 act 1 scene three in a conference room **(flood light with green combination)** six members of the church council, the pastor and doremi are seated around a conference table positioned at the middle of the stage .the stage is decorated with some religious photographs, flowers on the wall and on the table. dr. benson; the chairman of the council is seen standing and talking …….. no. 10: dr. benson (recit.) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 17 doremi: (shaking hands with dr. benson) thank you sir, thank you all. rev tim: don’t mention my son. dr. benson (pointing to dr. benson) who is the chairman of the church council has said it all. what now remains is for you to mention your price. (no. 11: doremi’s solo 2 begins) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 18 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 19 no. 12: chorus good soup(@background with doremi singing the melody with sopranos) doremi: the price is n25,000 per month. ***(flood light begins to blink)*** the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 20 no. 13: church committee dialogue the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 21 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 22 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 23 rev. tim: who is supporting lady kalu? (mrs. ileka raises her hand) okay, mrs. ileka let us all share in the grace. no.14: chorus the grace ***(blue light on stage)*** . ----#they disperse***lights out#--- the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 24 (act 2) scene 0ne along a path ***(dim flood light)*** (doremi is seen putting on a heavy cardigan, going to the hospital as he meets one of his old classmates.) ademola: who am i seeing? do-re-mi! doremi: ademola; the musician! ademola: jesus christ! what are you doing in onitsha? doremi: whao! onitsha has been my area even while we were in school. ademola: is that so? oh! i’m happy to see you again since after our school days on campus. no. 15a: doremi/ademola’s dialogue (a) doremi: whoa! congratulations!!! ademola: thank you. how is the going here on your side? the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 25 no. 15b: recit 2 doremi & ademola’s dialogue contd. *( and dim red blue light )* the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 26 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 27 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 28 (act 2) scene two at the hospital’s out-patient apartment ***(dim red light)*** (mr. & mrs. reti, two of their sons and one of their daughters are sitted and waiting anxiously for response from the theatre. the background chorus sings the acapella below.) no. 8: chorus hospital jaga-jaga a the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 29 (suddenly, a nurse comes out from the theatre. mrs. reti rushes to her and…) (the nurse hurriedly picks up one or two things and rushes back into the theatre, ignoring mrs. reti) dola: mummy it’s okay. he will be alright. ***(another nurse comes out)*** b c the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 30 mrs. reti: is everything going to be alright? (looking at the nurse, meanwhile the nurse leaves in the same attitude as the former.) (she stands….after a while, the doctor comes out and beckons mr.reti. they move to a corner and the doctor whispers into mr.reti’s ear. he goes back into the theater with mr.reti whom after a whike comes out with an unhappy countenance.) mrs.reti: (facing her husband) what happened? is he dead? eeh? tell me now! ( she bursts into a heavy cry as the chikdren surround her to console her, meanwhile the background chorus repontinues repeating d.s till the end of this scene) *****lights out***** a d the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 31 (act 2) scene three in the church (as doremi’s friends, relatives and well-wishers come into the church from different directions and get sitted, the cross-bearer, and the choir match in,followed by doremi’s corpse,his parents and family members then the priest(s). everybody is singing………) no. 17 jesus lives… words from a & m. 140 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 32 (“jesus lives…” should be sung as many times as may be necessary for the corpse to arrive at the middle of the stage where the prayers are to be said) no. 18: vesicles & responses. the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 33 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 34 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 35 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 36 (the choir surrounds the corpse and renders the following anthem) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 37 no. 19: ngozi n’adiri ndi nwuru anwu. the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 38 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 39 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 40 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 41 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 42 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 43 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 44 back to b section (bar 19) the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 45 the voyage of doremi: an opera alvan-ikoku o. nwamara 46 (at the end of the above anthem, the corpse is lifted for recession as everybody sings the hymn below)no. 23 for all the saints. (words from a & m hymn no. 527) (the background chorus will continue repeating the above hymn until everybody vacates the stage) -----lights out---- ***the end*** chapter 10: surface design texture: an indispensable element of design for african printed fabrics contributed by chika c. chudi-duru introduction african wax printed fabrics that comprise of dutch wax printed fabrics, english wax printed fabrics, ghana wax prints, togo prints, cote d’ivoire prints, nigeria prints, imitation fancy wax prints from china and so many others known as ankara are decorated with different bold bright colourful designs accentuated by intricate designs found at the background. these wax prints have been adopted as one of african traditional garbs and sold both in the markets and shops across the whole of africa. now and then newer designs keep evolving and many people keep purchasing them because of some properties which they possess. in a typical nigerian setting, they are usually used as uniforms for different groups such as women groups, wedding ceremonies, burial ceremonies, birthday celebrations, the naming of a newborn baby ceremony, chieftaincy, coronation and titletaking ceremonies. they could also be employed as everyday wear or office wear. one thing that attracts some people to these printed fabrics is the design. without the designs on these fabrics, there might not be a story to tell because these designs speak volumes and convey some messages to the onlooker without a written word. taking a look at these printed wax fabrics, one notices the elements and principles of design being utilized to produce some groundbreaking designs. apart from these elements and principles surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 163 of design, one striking element that gives fascination and prominence to any design is texture. texture is one of the elements that can be manipulated to make art and design more innovative and interesting and “heighten an emotional impact” on the observers (preble et al., 2002). texture is an important element of art and design. it is associated with a sense of feel, which draws all the viewers' physical and mental attention to the artwork. it plays with the eyes and brain evoking thought-provoking views and ideas. the researcher divulges that one of the major characteristics of african wax printed textiles is employing the use of a texture or textures as a design on the background. this study is of the view that the bolder designs are usually the main focus in african wax printed designs but the texture found mostly on the design background is not often recognized because of their intricate nature. the researcher reveals that without the background textures, the whole design layout is scanty and under-designed, thereby lacking solidity and originality. therefore, this paper is of the view that the functions of textural background designs in african wax-printed fabrics cannot be ignored and have not been given the adequate attention they deserve as those designs are not complete without textures. thus this paper discusses texture as a vital element employed in the designs of african wax-printed textiles and showcases some of the textures utilized as surface decoration on them. it also experimented with textures in the studio and further suggests that scholars of art and design should always experiment with some textural effects to boost their creative pieces. african wax-printed textiles wax prints are colourful cotton fabrics produced using a mechanised wax-resist printing technique inspired by the indonesian hand-crafted batik method. in the late 19th century, the british trader ebenezer brown fleming introduced the prints to west africa where the consumers embraced the exotic, colourful patterns together with the random imperfections that imbued the chika chudi-duru 164 fabric with an attractive, unique signature (elise 2020). african wax print which is famous as ankara these days is believed that originated in indonesia as batik. a small amount of hot liquid wax is taken in an etching tool and different designs are made on the cloth. after the evolution of the batik, european countries brought huge changes in the manufacturing process introduced rollerprinted fabrics and ended the custom of handmade african wax prints. it’s a pure form of cotton and extremely soft in texture. because of the high quality of the fabric, african wax print is more expensive than other kinds of african prints (elise 2020). wax prints are produced using 100% cotton grey fabric which is scoured, washed, bleached and mercerised to remove impurities and prepare the cloth for wax printing. the design is etched onto two copper rollers which are mounted onto the wax printing machine. the molten wax resin will be picked up in the etched roller and impressed onto both sides of the cloth. the cloth is dyed using indigo or other coloured dyes. the dye penetrates the cloth in the areas that are not protected by the wax resin. the dyed cloth is then washed to remove most of the wax from the cloth but small random spots of wax remain. as the first colour is applied to the cloth, the random spots of wax will resist the colour and leave small pearls of white when all the wax is washed from the cloth. an optional second colour may be added to the pattern when all the wax has been removed. there are various random wax resist effects that can occur during the wax process according to the nature of the pattern, the dyes and washing processes. indigo crackle effects occur when the cloth is washed vigorously and the wax resin breaks allowing the indigo dye to penetrate the cloth through the cracks in the wax. there are various random wax resist effects that can occur during the wax process according to the nature of the pattern, the dyes and washing processes. surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 165 the marble effect occurs when the pattern allows larger bubbles of wax resin to remain on the wax and resist parts of the first colour application. plate 1: african wax-print named shoe, showcasing marble effect as texture. source: c-duru (2023) plate 2: african wax-print showcasing small bubbles effect named michelle obama’s bag. source: chudi-duru (2023) chika chudi-duru 166 plate 3: african wax print showcasing small pearls effect. source: chudiduru (2023) small bubbles or pearls of white usually occur when the pattern is more detailed, and small spots of wax remain on the cloth following the initial washing process. the random wax resist textural effects are what makes wax prints unique. the impression that the introduction of dutch wax prints into the west african market took place from nowhere is not quite true because in west africa, there had always been a vibrant textile market since fabrics have been significant in african social life, for a very long time. early in the 16th century, the english, dutch and french were selling batiks and other types of textiles manufactured in asia, such as the guinea cloth and cotton produced by the indian to west african markets. as a result of this, consumers were already acquainted with internationally produced fabrics. once the dutch batik-inspired wax prints were introduced in west african markets, it gave rise to the height of foreign-manufactured fabrics in the 19th surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 167 century. however, eccentric yoruba (2011), concludes by mentioning that no matter how dutch wax prints found themselves in west africa, it can be concluded that they were initially meant for the indonesian market but found a more eager market in the gold coast ( ghana) where they became symbols of high-quality fashion. from the gold coast, these fabrics proliferated to other west and central african markets including nigeria. doku (2014) also supported the view and said that the unique fashion home of sub-saharan africa began in ghana. doku (2014) further narrated that, west africans accepted these dutch wax prints in the 19th century, using and integrating them as part of their culture and self-expression. the english produced and sold wax-printed textiles, but the dutch brands were much more accepted because most of the west african countries were under english and french colonial rule; their preference was for the dutch brands to date.he further mentioned that up until the 1960s, most wax prints sold in west africa were produced in europe using motifs designed precisely for african markets and later after most west african countries gained their independence things were transformed. asho (2013), is of the same view as doku (2014), and mentions that although the fabrics were manufactured outside africa, as african countries gained independence in the 50s and 60’s they built indigenous textile mills and started creating designs that represented traditional cultural motifs, patterns and colours of various ethnic groups in africa. currently, ghana is home to several fine and high-quality wax print manufacturers including woodin, a subsidiary of holland’s vlisco and atl which is a subsidiary of manchester-based abc textiles. doku (2014) further mentioned that, in the early year 2000, ghana’s fashion industry began to take shape. the large-scale production of african prints and the marketing of new products through fashion shows contributed to the increased sophistication of the industry and public awareness. eccentric yoruba (2011) noticed that, although chika chudi-duru 168 these textiles are now manufactured in africa, the companies that manufacture them are largely not owned by africans. yet west africa became the exclusive market for dutch prints which have dominated the west african market since the end of the 19th century. today, wax prints carrying european brand names are the most expensive in the west african fabric market. also, felsenthal (2012), reported that, in indonesia, the inhabitants have used the technique of wax-resist dying to produce batik fabrics for a long time. these elaborately patterned handmade textiles have some similarities to the prints that have been displayed on the fashion runways. they are made of bold, repeated and intricate motifs set against the backgrounds of varying hues. she further narrated her view on how the prints originated in west africa. there was a conscription by the dutch in the mid-19th century, which enlisted a lot of west african men both slaves and soldiers to augment their army in indonesia. these men took a liking to the local handicrafts on reaching there and came back with batik in their home countries, from then a taste emerged in west africa for these batik textiles. similarly eccentric yoruba (2011), supported this view by accepting the theorised role played by west african contracted soldiers for the dutch in indonesia, also known as the black dutchmen by bringing the wax prints to west africa. they served between 1810 and 1862 and had taken indonesian batik with them on their return to their homes as gifts for their families. thereafter, local interest in the fabrics grew, and the dutch wax prints were the closest imitation available. during that time, felsenthal (2012) reported that europeans were trying to work out how to manufacture their versions of batik, to flood the market in indonesia with cheaper, machine-made versions of the clothes because the handmade versions were hard to produce and costly, a belgian printer came up with a method for applying resin to both sides of a cotton cloth at the end of the 19th century, and the machine-made wax-print fabric was produced. surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 169 she further reported that a problem was faced by them, in that the machine-made version of these clothes was not as perfect as the original ones. they had some crackling effects which did not appeal to indonesian batik conformists. in order not to incur a loss and also find a new market for those imperfect textiles, the dutch turned to west africa. as the case was, they appreciated the imperfections and saw them as possessing unique qualities in that, no two bolts of cloth were identical. they have a liking for fabrics that are not the same, meaning that a particular design will not be common. the west afican keenness for these imperfect was so pronounced that dutch wax manufacturers still produce those imperfections in the printing process today, long after they have resolved the technical fault. felsenthal (2012) found out that as europeans began to sell this cloth, in west africa to the majority which is women, both rich and poor, who saw its useage as being prestigious; their tastes changed the manner in which those designs were produced as new patterns were designed to reflect significant events and local proverbs. the crackle textural effect is a result of the wax applied on the fabric and this adds to the surface decoration and also as an attraction to the buyer. design a design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. the design usually has to satisfy certain goals and constraints; may take into account aesthetic, functional, economic, or socio-political considerations; and is expected to interact with a certain environment (cambridge dictionary of american english). design is an art form, a method of human expression that follows a system of highly developed procedures in order to imbue objects, performances, and experiences with significance. typical examples of designs include textile designs, chika chudi-duru 170 ceramics designs, communication designs architectural and engineering drawings, circuit diagrams, sewing patterns and less tangible artefacts such as business process models. elements of design design elements are the basic units of any visual design which form its structure and convey visual messages. the elements of design are line, shape, form, space, texture, tone (or value) and colour. the elements are the materials from which all designs are built. the elements of art (or design) refer to colour, form, line, shape, space, texture and value. these are the basic building blocks of art and design (e.g., paintings, drawings, sculptures, textile design and visual communication). the elements are the tools or raw materials, much like paints are the basics to a painter. design elements have an impact on how a piece of work is perceived, executed, and used—and are present in design regardless of skill, taste, or style. the element of design which this study is predicated on is texture. texture it is one of the seven formal artistic elements, along with line, colour, shape, form, value and space. it can affect mood, evoke psychological associations, bring attention to a medium, or divert our focus toward materials used in a work. used adeptly, texture can even challenge our perception of what is real. texture techniques give more depth to an artwork making it look more natural. the more detail an artist puts into the texture of the work, the better the illusion of reality. therefore, artists employ this method to give their artwork a realistic look, creating a particular atmosphere in the painting (ayers 2018). he further notes that in the visual arts, texture is the perceived surface quality of a work of art. it is an element of two-dimensional and three-dimensional surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 171 designs and is distinguished by its perceived visual and physical properties. the use of texture, along with other elements of design, can convey a variety of messages and emotions. because garments have combined design elements of texture, colour, and line, each must be selected with one’s figure and how they affect each of the other elements. the effects of texture in fashion influence how colours appear and how design lines function. texture describes the body and surface of the fabric. textures may be rough or smooth, coarse or fine, crisp or clingy, soft or stiff, thin or bulky, opaque or sheer, shiny or dull, heavy or light, or any combination of these characteristics. because textures have many characteristics, they can enhance or detract from a garment's design. they also affect the illusions of the size and shape of the figure. here are some general guidelines for selecting appropriate textures for garments in fashion design according to lujan (nd):  soft or clingy textures reveal the figure and emphasize figure irregularities.  stiff or crisp textures stand away from the body and hide figure irregularities. very stiff fabrics appear to add weight and dwarf small figures. moderately stiff fabrics are good on most figures.  bulky textures seem to add volume to the figure. small figures are overpowered by these textures, but they are good for tall, slender figures. they can be used to balance an irregular figure. example: bulky sweater for a figure with a small bust and full hips.  dull finishes absorb light and generally make the figure look smaller. they are suitable for all figures. chika chudi-duru 172  shiny fabrics make the figure appear larger and reveal figure irregularities. shiny fabrics are best for average to slim figures that have regular proportions.  coarse or rough fabrics are good choices for average to slim figures. they add volume to large figures and overpower small figures.  smooth (not shiny) fabrics hide figure irregularities and are attractive on most figure types. texture is becoming more important than ever in textile design. from intricate embroidery and 3d applique to woven patterns, textured fabrics can add depth and dimension to any garment. this trend is particularly popular in the home decor and upholstery industry, with textured fabrics adding a touch of luxury to any space. cloth texture: different styles and types although there are different types and styles of fabric textures produced and used in the world, they can be categorized into 3 main sections: natural texture, supplementary texture and treated texture. original/ natural texture is the result of the structural process during the manufacturing time. natural textures are produced with the interaction of different yarns. it’s the raw and the first texture that comes out of the weaving/knitting process. the difference in natural textures is produced by what type of textile fibre is used for the process, the weight of the yarn, stitch size, and many other factors. however, most of the difference is resolved in the fibre section. the textile fibre chat and major types of fibres are discussed in the section below. surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 173 figure 1: classification of textile fibres based on sources. source: textilelearner.net vegetable sources: major fibres from vegetable sources are discussed below:  cotton: cotton is the most widely used natural fibre and consists of pure cellulose. it is produced in china, brazil, india, pakistan, usa and uzbekistan.  flax: flax is a lignocellulosic bast fibre, mostly present in european union. this fibre is mostly used to make linen.  hemp: hemp is also a lignocellulosic bast fibre with a low quantity of lignin. the world’s leading producer of hemp fibre is china.  jute: jute is the strongest vegetable fibre from india and bangladesh. it is also a lignocellulosic fiber.  ramie: ramie is also a lignocellulosic bast fiber mostly available in china and brazil. it is also known as china grass, with a silky lustre and better elasticity.  sisal: sisal is a hard and coarser leaf fibre, mostly available in brazil, tanzania and kenya. chika chudi-duru 174  abaca: abaca is a leaf fibre, also known as manila hemp, extracted from the leaf sheath around the trunk of musa textiles (plantain and banana). the world’s major fibre producer is the philippines. lignin content in fibre is about 15%.  coir: coir is a hard, short and coarse fibre extracted from the shells of coconut. it is mostly present in india, sri lanka, the philippines, vietnam, indonesia and brazil. this fiber contains the highest amount of lignin making it stronger but less flexible. animal sources: major fibres from animal sources are discussed below:  alpaca: alpaca is a hair fibre-like wool that comes from the lama pocos. this fibre comes in approximately 22 natural colours, produced mostly in peru, north america, australia and new zealand. it is stronger than wool fibre.  angora: angora is a rabbit fibre, very soft, fine and silky. 90% of the fibre is produced in china. angora fabric is very suitable for thermal clothing.  camel hair: camel hair is available from the two-humped bactrian camel mostly present with nomadic households in mongolia and inner mongolia, china. it is the softest and most premium hair fibre.  cashmere fibre: cashmere fibre is available with kashmir goats, in china, australia, india, pakistan, new zealand, turkey and the usa. it is a luxurious and expensive fibre.  mohair fibre: mohair fibre is produced from angora goat, available in south africa. it is a smooth and lustrous fibre.  silk: silk is a natural filament fibre, with high lustre, mostly produced in china, brazil, india, thailand and vietnam. surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 175  wool: wool is the most important protein fibre. it is the first domesticated fibre, mostly produced in australia, new zealand, china, iran, argentina and the uk. ground and petrochemical sources: in addition to the collection of the fibres from the sources above the ground, there are fibres from below the ground like metals. since world war ii, there has been a thrust to produce synthetic materials, mostly derived from petrochemicals. the manufactured fibre is termed as ‘synthetic fibres’ as the raw materials were available by synthesis followed by polymerization and fibre formation. synthetic fibres became the consequence of spectacular growth in petrochemicals development and utilization. the growth in the development of synthetic fibres and the synthetic fibre industry along with the polymer industry became phenomenal with the growth of the petrochemical industry. classification of textile fibres based on polymer: polymer is a material constructed of smaller molecules of the same substance that form larger molecules. polymers are any of numerous natural and synthetic compounds of usually high molecular weight and consisting of up to millions of repeated linked units, each a relatively light and simple molecule. the term is derived from the greek words: ‘polumeres’, where polus means many, and meros meaning parts. a key feature that distinguishes polymers from other molecules is the repetition of many identical, similar or complementary molecular subunits in these chains. polymers, macromolecules, high polymers and giant molecules are the same and consist of high-molecular-weight materials composed of these repeating subunits. these materials may be organic, inorganic or organometallic, and synthetic or natural in origin. polymers are essential materials for almost every industry such as adhesives, building materials, paper, cloths, fibres, chika chudi-duru 176 coatings, plastics, ceramics, concretes, liquid crystals, photo resists and coatings. these polymers can be natural or synthetic and organic or inorganic. organic polymers are distinguished from inorganic polymers because of the presence of carbon atoms in the main chain. the presence of total carbon atoms is termed carbon chain polymers. if the main chain consists of other atoms with carbon, then it is termed a heterochain polymer. natural inorganic polymers include sand, asbestos, agates, feldspars, mica, quartz and talc. natural organic polymers include polysaccharides or polycarbohydrates such as starch and cellulose, nucleic acids, lignin, rubber and proteins. synthetic inorganic polymers include boron nitride, concrete, many high-temperature superconductors and several glasses. synthetic organic polymers include fibres, plastics and coatings, such as polyethyene, polypropylene, polyamides, polyesters, vinyl polymers, polyurethanes and synthetic rubbers. fibres are polymeric materials that are strong in one direction, and they are much longer (>100 times) than their width. this is termed as the l/d ratio. elastomers or rubbers are polymeric materials that can be distorted through the application of force, and when the force is removed, the material returns to its original shape. plastics are materials that have properties between fibres and elastomers— they are hard and flexible. supplementary texture as the name suggests, it is the texture of when external materials are attached to the finished fabric texture. these textures are purely additional and up to individual interests. they don’t belong to the “mandatory texturing” segment where the steps are to be followed to get a final product. there are countless methods for attaching different materials to different fabrics. the methods and materials for supplementary texture: embroidery, patchwork, beading, e, monogramming, printing, felting, fabric flowers, insertion, surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 177 ruffles, using roulette loops, dyeing, stamping, mirror work, scallops, shrinking fabric, sequins work, decorative edge finishes and others. treated texture whereas natural textures are the raw materials, treated textures are the refinement of these raw materials through extensive processing. it’s the different finishing touches applied to the natural textures that treated texture refers to. it doesn’t only diminish the rawness of the texture but adds and increases its functionality. different types of finishes are applied to fabric textures, such as acid wash air jet spinning, anti-static finish, brushed finish, beetling, bleaching, colorfastness, combing, deodorize, de-lustering, enzyme wash, hydrophilic finish, mercerization, moiré, parchmentizing, pigment finish resin, sandblasting, schreiner finish and others. some supplementary textures on african waxprinted fabrics are showcased below: plate 4: african waxprint with thin lines as textures. source: chika chudi-duru (2023) plate 5: african waxprint named abc with curved lines as textures. source: chika chudi-duru (2023) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deluster chika chudi-duru 178 plate 6: african waxprint named santana with thin lines as textures. source: chika chudi-duru (2023) plate 7: african waxprint named big fish with thin curved lines as textures. source: www.google.com plate 8: african waxprint with lines as textures. source: chika chudi-duru (2023) plate 8: african waxprinted fabric named star with connected lines as textures. source: chika chudi-duru (2023). surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 179 theoretical framework the theory adopted for this study is formalist theory of significant form. in britain this theory was developed by the bloomsbury painter and critic roger fry (1866-1934) and the bloomsbury writer clive bell (1881-1964). in his 1914 book art, bell formulated the notion of significant form – that form itself can convey feeling. fry is of the view that a work of art is, first and foremost, a collection of lines, shapes and colors, and it is therefore on the formal elements of the work (and not on the content that the work represents) that the scholar should base his judgment. he asserted that purely formal qualities for instance the relationships and combinations of lines and colours—are the most important elements in works of art. formalism describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form – the way it is made and its purely visual aspects – rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world. in a work of art which african printed wax fabrics are part of, a formalist critic would focus exclusively on the qualities of colour, form, line, composition and other elements and principles of art including textures. these are what makes these printed fabrics what they are. in art, form can refer to the overall form taken by the work, its physical nature; or within a work of art it can also refer to the element of shape among the various elements that make up a work. the formalism definition is exemplified by the minimalistic geometric paintings of piet mondrian. the shapes depicted within his paintings lack any meaning, yet the geometric form of their lines and color form a visual aesthetic never before seen in art. in african wax printed fabrics, the geometric lines, colour, batik effects utilised to achieve textural effects form visual aesthetics and also a unique given identity. studio exploration of texture on cotton fabric during the studio exploration, african indigenous motifs and some abstract motifs were utilized to produce some african printed chika chudi-duru 180 fabric designs as computer aided designs in the studio and some textural effects were added to showcase the usefulness of texture on a printed fabric. studio exploration 1 figure 2: african indigenous motifs utilized in the studio. source: chika chudi-duru (2017) plate 9: stage 1 of printing in the studio. source: chika chudiduru (2017) abstract motif sketch. popo, mboisi and kpakpando motif sketch surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 181 plate 12: last stage of printing in the studio using akwete woven design motifs. source: chika chudi-duru (2017). the printing techniques that were utilised in this study are the photographic transfer and the stencilling. this is a four coloured printed fabric. plate 10 : stage 2 of printing in the studio. source: chika chudi-duru (2017) plate 11: stage 3 of adding texture to the fabric in the studio. source: chika chudiduru (2017) chika chudi-duru 182 the sketching of the design was done on a sketch pad during the preliminary studies. after which the motifs sketched were scanned into the computer. they were worked on by shaping and arranging them appropriately, using the corel draw application. this resulted in a pattern of design. after this, the design was printed out on a paper and transferred to the screen using the photographic transfer. the part of the designs that required stencils were printed out on film papers and cut. a total number of two stencils were cut before embarking on the printing process in the studio while the rest of the designs were achieved through screen printing. the stencils were separated into different parts according to the colours and designs. the studio exploration processes are described below. 1. the cotton fabric was desized to make it more absorbent to printing inks.the fabric was ironed after pretreatment and drying.it was laid and held tightly on the printing table with masking tape, to avoid shifting and lifting while printing.the portions on which the designs were printed, were demarcated with a tiny sewing thread. this was done according to the measurement of the unit of design printed in stage one. 2. a texture was created by making use of two-ply yarns which were squeezed to form a rough ball. these squeezed yarns were dipped in the inks and applied lightly on the surface of the fabric to create a texture before printing in stage two. 3. the printing was carried out starting with the screen printing, after which the cut stencils were utilised starting from the light colours and ending with the dark ones. the paints that were used to achieve this studio practical are the textile inks and acrylic paints. below in this figure is the computer-aided design format. surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 183 figure 3: kpakpando, mboisi and popo motifs computer aided designs. source:chudi-duru (2017) studio exploration 2 plate 13: achicha motif. source: chika chudi-duru (2017) chika chudi-duru 184 first stage second stage third stage final stage plate 14: achicha (biscuit) design motif (printing stages). source: chudi-duru (2017) the techniques that were utilised in this studio practical were the photographic transfer, batik dyeing and stencilling techniques. it is a five-coloured printed fabric. these processes below were strictly followed during the studio practical. the white fabric was de-sized to have more affinity for dyes and printing ink. after the pre-treatment, it was dried and covered all over with wax. it was squeezed for the fabric to have some crackles and form some designs which could serve as texture. after the dyeing process, the fabric was washed and ironed as it has been shown on the first stage plate above. during the printing, the fabric was held taut on the printing table with the aid of a masking tape. this is shown in the second stage. the portions on which the designs will be printed were demarcated with a tiny sewing thread. this was done according to the measurement of the unit of design to be printed to aid proper registration. this is shown in the first stage a total number of three stencils were cut before embarking on the printing process in the studio while the main motif was transferred to the screen. surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 185 after the preliminary study on the design was conducted, the result was scanned into the computer and arranged appropriately. corel draw application was employed while designing. the design that is for stencilling was printed out on film papers and the stencils were cut while the other design was printed on a plain white sheet of paper in black and white and transferred to the screen using the photographic transfer technique. the stencils were separated into their different parts according to their colours. the printing started with the screen printing method and finished up with the stencilling method. the paints used to carry out this studio practical are sticker inks and acrylic. this is seen in the third and fourth stage. below in this figure is the computer-aided design format. figure 4: achicha (biscuit) design motif (computer aided design lay-out). source: chudi-duru (2017) chika chudi-duru 186 results and discussions from the studio exploration plate15 : akwete woven fabric (kpakpando, mboisi and popo design motif printed fabric). source: chudi-duru (2017) plate 16 : akwete woven fabric with textured background. biscuit (achicha) design motif printed fabric). source: chudi-duru (2017) surface design texture: an indespensable element of design for… 187 summary in this chapter, texture as one element of design that plays a key role during the process of textile designing is extensively discussed. the different types of textures used by textile artists, categorized into three main sections as natural texture, supplementary texture and treated texture were also given much attention. the chapter revealed the usefulness of texture as a surface decoration and also examined some african wax-printed fabrics to find out the key roles played by the application of some textural effects and why they are always used to make some design statements on those african prints. it summarily concludes that texture is one of the element of art and design that is inevitable in design practice. questions 1. what is texture in art and design? 2. what are the different types of textures in textile design? 3. what are african wax-printed fabrics? 4. mention the different types of finishes applied to fabric textures. references ayers, d. (2018). what is fabric texture and why should i care? retrieved 16-05-22 from. https://pumpfuryvente.info/ fabric-texture-details/ cambridge dictionary of american english, at dictionary.com. mhaske, s. (march 2023). texture is king: the importance of texture in textile design. retrieved 20-06-23 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/texture-king-importancetextile-design-shrihari-mhaske. lujan, n. (nd) fashion feasibility. retrieved 23 -07-22 from https://pubs.nmsu.edu/_c/c312/index.html design (an internet blog). art vs designa timeless debate. retrieved 12-06-23 from chika chudi-duru 188 https://www.toptal.com/designers/creative-direction/art-vsdesign. hilton textiles (nd). brief history of african wax prints. all about african wax print fabrics a striking mainstay of african fashion. retrieved 16-03 -22 from https://www.hiltontextiles.com/pages/brief-history-ofafrican-wax-prints. elise (2020). what are wax prints? retrieved 10-07-23 from https://affaso.com/what-are-wax-prints/ current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 164 ewe major students’ command over cohesive devices: cohesion and coherence in the native speakers’ creative writing essays in the university of education, winneba emmanuel dogbey university of education, winneba, ghana introduction essay writing in one’s native language or dialect, constitutes a problem for many people including native speakers who are formally studying their language. however, studies conducted in the fields of essay writing at the university levels and below to the best of my knowledge are, quantitative and not in l1. it is a fact that speakers of a language can generally demonstrate the language competence and language performance – thus to ascertain their level of command over the language. creative writing forms are media for such justifications. creative writing is ‘a habitual act’ and one of the full semester courses for level 300 ghanaian language students in the university of education, winneba (uew). in ghana, language problems could be attributed to the nature of the prevailing language policy in the countrynot considering effective study and development of local languages alongside the english language -l21 as well as the linguistic background of learners in the formal educational system. we can state that language problems are the causes of major challenges or are among the major challenges in the ghanaian educational system. despite numerous approaches to writing, tackling writing in l1 or l2 is still a major problem. in the modern ghanaian classroom, writing is reduced to taking of tests or copying of notes. complains alone on any of these challenges will not solve the problem, researching into them counts. this study is therefore, concerned with exploring the organizational problems encountered by native/local language students while composing essays in their own language. it is purposed to examine types of coherent and cohesive devices ewe major students use in their essay writings. coherence and cohesion are evaluations essentials in continuous writings. i use the term coherence and cohesion generally to mean two complementary aspects of writing and text organization. roughly, coherence includes those aspects of a narrative that are directly linked to the overall structure of its content, while cohesion involves those aspects that pertain directly to the linguistic expression of discourse – the internal relation across clauses. expressing ideas verbally seems easier than putting them into writing. ideally, people do have depths of ideas running through their minds; the ability to organize and express or present them in written forms is always the major task (dogbey, 2012:1). acquiring the writing skill seems to be more laborious and demanding than the other language skills (ahmed, 2010:211). this proves that writing is as an independent structure on its own and organizing thoughts into codified forms need much attention. in fact, producing a coherent piece of writing in one’s language (which is superficially studied at the foundation 1 l2 = for some schools in the volta region, ghana togo mountain languages area ewe and akan for instance, are second languages students offer at bece and wasce current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 165 levels as is the case of ghanaian languages offered at the tertiary level) is an enormous challenge. honestly, the rhetorical conventions of english texts (or l2 texts:---the structure, style, and organization-) differ from students’ l1. a great effort is required by the l2 learner in organizing and managing the differences. in this regard, this study could help in identifying student’s level of awareness and competence in the use of cohesive devices in essays, ascertaining the most frequently used devices, those which are most problematic and or unfamiliar to students, discovering through students the awareness of the concept of cohesion and how lecturers handle it during lessons (the best teacher is seen through students’ performances – rice, 2003), ascertaining how much cohesion could be permitted per a construction in order to avoid ‘heavy’ paragraphs and sentences, justifying a connection between students’ way of speaking and writing as well as thinking with regards to responding to essays and identifying the kind of essay writing approaches common to students. furthermore, the study significantly focuses on addressing writing and speaking problems (most often there is a correlation between what is said and written by students during oral treatment of essays (nartey-larwe, 1981), inform and improve on student’s competence in the use of cohesive devices, serve as a point of contact as well as help to improve standards of performance in schools and institutions. research questions 1. do ems exhibit competence in the use of cohesive devices in their essays? 2. what is/are the most frequently used device? previous research coherence in text: a multidimensional feature base coherence, or texture, is the combination of semantic configurations of two different kinds: register and cohesion. coherence in written text is “a complex concept, involving a multitude of readerand text-based features” (johns, 1986 in ahmed, 2010). text-based features mean cohesion (i.e., the linking of sentences) and unity (i.e., sticking to the point). reader-based features mean that the reader interacts with the text depending on his/her prior knowledge. coherence is defined as “the organization of discourse with all elements present and fitting together logically” (hinkel, 2004). this denotes that a coherent essay consists of an introduction, a thesis statement, rhetorical support, and a conclusion. however, all other features that make written or verbal discourse complete are never left out (punctuations, registers, syntactic and sentence functions, participant and topic as well as setting concepts, etc). according to halliday and hasan (1976), cohesion separates a text from expressions that are not considered texts, holds together the sections of the text and arranges the meaning relationship within a text. they asserted, a cohesive relationship in the text sometimes appears in a sentence, sometimes between the sentences and sometimes between the paragraphs (p.278). achieving cohesive effect on selected vocabulary items is by reiteration or collocation (halliday & hasan, 1976:274). halliday and hasan (1976) evaluated cohesion current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 166 under the following titles: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunctions and lexical cohesion. these features are crucial in achieving coherence. ideally, coherence is a semantic property of discourse formed through the interpretation of each individual sentence relative to the interpretation of other sentences. here, interpretation in implies interaction between the text, the reader and the writer (dag, 2013). some research findings revealed that students’ texts have repetition, parallelism and sentence length, lack of variation and misuse of certain cohesive devices as major sources of incoherence and textual deviations. in addition, students have some weaknesses, in terms of coherence and cohesion, manifesting both in their l2 written texts and spoken forms. the waec reports noted that students perform poorly in english paper 1 where writing skills are tested…disconnected sentences or misuse of cohesive devises…(waec, chief examiner’s report, 2007-2010 : english paper 1). text cohesion in writing is a mechanism that facilitates discourse flow. constructing cohesive texts by second language learners requires focused instruction and additional attention. writing cohesively in l2 constitutes a serious problem to learners (ahmed, 2010). the findings in this study portrayed the phenomenon that challenges faced in l1 also occur in l2. this finding emphasizes the assumption that ‘the l2 only drive’ cunningly propagated by the ‘mirage language policy in ghana’ is never contributing any meaningful realization to learner efficiency. we can observer a blunt of unsharpened brains, destruction of potentials and the huge number of failures recorded across exams in the country set the record straight that deficiency in l1 (the medium of instruction, conceptualization, comprehension, expression and transfer) is the cause of all these (‘academic genocide’ experienced by students as shown by their examination records and academic reports.) cohesion cohesion is a general principle or a formal or grammatical linguistic feature that respects the order of thought presentation. cohesive writing creates clear and logical relationships among ideas. cohesion refers to the relationships established between sentences and paragraphs via the units in the surface structure of the text. in relation to essay writing cohesion, many researchers agree that cohesion, on the macro level is related to linking ideas whereas on the micro level, it is concerned with connecting sentences and phrases. "the concept of cohesion is a semantic one; it refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text, and defines it as a text". this made this study prove the proficiency and thinking levels of students in their languages as may be expressed even in their second languages. it is this part that emphasizes a link between thought and action (what is understood and is what is written down). studies on text cohesion claim that a text stands as a text by means of cohesion. but for cohesion, sentences/clauses would be fragmented and would result in a number of unrelated sentences. studies on l2 have drawn attention to different aspects of cohesion problems (ahmed, 2010; kurt & atay, 2007) but do not investigate such phenomena in students’ native languages. this study is exploring the coherence and cohesion problems that ems face in their essay writings and possibly relate it to other fields of study. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 167 data presentation and analysis sampling and sample size the study used a purposive sample of 28 students of ewe. their responses and scripts/documents were subjected to critical analysis on cohesive devices and coherence. this study considers a combination of discourse analysis with corpus linguistic approach of ewe major students (ems). discourses analyses here refer to a descriptive linguistic approach that focuses on ‘language in actual use’ (kaplan & grabe, 2002). in this study, a learner’s corpus comprises the language in use, which is the authentic data that were analyzed. the exploratory nature of this study, and its context-specificity, made the naturalistic orientation of interpretive, qualitative research as an appropriate choice. the interpretive approach helps to explore and understand the context within which essay writing in ewe is taught and learnt at university of education, winneba. it also helps in revealing problems that ems and even teachers encounter in the cohesion and coherence of essays. cohesion with no coherence text a: [amadede si dzea `unye vevie lae nye 6it4. #u 6iwo 2e woz4na `ut4. #uawo kuku alea tea `u hea af4ku ge2e vanae. medze 3uf4ku kp4 he`e nye af4. esi men4 abiawo 5e d4x4 la, dzi medz4am o elabena nyemetea `u sea vivi na nu2u2u o.] (nb:)2 1. ama de-de sì dze a `ù nyè vevee la e nye 6i t4 color red rel like-hab part-1sg best tp foc be/cop-is white one ‘the color i like best is white’ 2. [β ū] 6i wo 2è wo z4 na, `ut4. vehicle white pl pfoc 3sg walk hab very much ‘white cars move very fast.’ 3. wo –ku – ku ale-a ta a `u hè à àf4ku gè2è va na e 3sg-red-drive this way pot-hab body bring-hab accident many come-habfoc ‘driving them like this can cause many car crashes’. 4. mè dzè βū ‘f4ku kp4 he `e nyӗ af4. 1sg-contacted vehicle accident see itive break 1sg leg/foot ‘i once had a car accident and broke my leg’ 5.esì mè -n4 àbì -a -wo e d4-x4 la, dzì me dz4 â m ò when 1sg -be-loc wound-tp -pl poss sick-room tp, heart neg-happy-hab1sg neg 2 high and low tones are prominent in ewe, in the glossing; unmarked tones will be regarded high. also, def definate, dem – demonstrative, foc focus, afocus term focus marker, fut future, prog – progressive, hab habitual,link linker ( conjunctions, co-ordinate, etc), rel-relativizer, neg negative, pot potential, pl–plural, qt quotative, red–reduplicated, sg– singular, spcf – specifier, trans–transitive, vent–ventive, 1sg first person singular, 2sg second on person singular, 3sg third person singular, arg –argentive marker, dat –dative, be-loc –abilitative marker, cfp-clause focus marker, tp-topic marker, comp-complementizer, cfp-clause final particle ideo-ideophone , part: particle current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 168 elàbena nye -me te a `u sè -à vìvi na nu 2u 2u ò. because 1sg-neg-pot-hab body hear-hab sweetness dat thing-red-eat(food) neg. ‘because of the wounds, i was very sad in those days for i loss appetite for food’. “my favorite colour is white. white cars move very fast. driving them like this can cause many car crashes. i once had a car accident and broke my leg. because of the wounds, i was very sad in those days for i loss appetite for food.” text b: [nu si wòl-a 2u2u vevie lae nye gali. ga ge2e le galidzadzra me. gali t4t4 al4 de kotokuwo me nye d4 ses8. gali kotoku 2eka kpena wua dze kotoku 2eka gh7. m]eléa afiwo kple alegeli siwo n4a agbax4wo me n4a gali kotokuawo `4m la]. 6. nu sì wò l a 2ù 2ù vevie la-e nye gàli. thing rel 2sg like-hab red-eat most tp-afoc cop-is gali ‘what s/he likes eating most is gali.3 7. ga ge2e le gali dza-dzra me. money a lot be-loc gali red-sell in much money is in selling gali 8. gali t4-t4 a l4 de kōtōkú wo me nye d4 se-s8. gali red -roast pot collect put sack pl inside cop work redhard ‘roasting and bagging gali is a tedious work.’ 9. gali kotoku 2èká kpè nà wú á dzè kotoku 2èká g h7. gali sack one heavyhab than -hab salt sack one even also. ‘a bag of gali is heavier than a bag of rice’ 10. m]e -lé a àf ì kple alegeli si wo n4 a agbax4 -wo me 1plcatch-hab mouse and rat specf -pl be.at:pres-hab storeroom-pl inside n4 a gali kotoku -a -wo `4 m la. be.at:pres-hab gali sack tp-pl perforate-prog cfp ‘we catch the mice and rats that hide in store rooms destroying (making holes into) the sacks of gali.’ ‘his best food is gali. there is much money is in gali business. roasting and bagging gali into sacks is a tedious work. one sack of gali is heavier than a sack of salt. we catch the mice and rats that hide in store rooms destroying (making holes into) the sacks of gali.’ i. white > white cars > move fast > driving >car crashes >broken leg > appetite for food. 3 gali: a cassava meal prepared by roasting grated cassava. some call it gari. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 169 ii. gali >a lot of money > preparation/roasting > putting into sacks/bagging > a tedious work > heavier > catching mice and rats > store rooms in ‘‘i’’ above, there is cohesion. the sentences connect clearly together but if you read the paragraph, it really makes no sense. the sentences started with talking about favorite color and food and ended on loss of appetite for food as well as catching mice and rats. there is no coherence in these sentences. coherence with no cohesion now, look at a sentence that is coherent but with no cohesion. text c: [amadede si nyoa `unye vevie lae nye 6it4. mele dzi2e2i kple gb42eme blibo me. le nye vovo6iwo la, meml4a gbe mumu ml4ml4 dzi le xexe, n4a yame kp4m]. 11. ama-de-de sì nyo a `ù nyè vevie la e nye 6i t4 color red rel good-hab body-1sg best pt-log be/cop-is white-one: (arg). ‘my favorite colour is white’ 12. mè -lè dzì-2è-2i kple gb4-2e-me blíbo mè. 1sg-be.at press hear-remove-down and breath-removeinto/inside total inside ‘i am in total peace and comfort/relaxation’ or ‘i’m totally calm and relaxed’ 13. le nyӗ vō-vo 6i wo la, mèml4a gbē mumu f1 ml4ml4ml4 dzi at 1sg red-free time-pl tp, 1sg-lie-hab grass green young ideofluffy on lè xexe, n4 -à ya-mè kp4 -m loc-at outside be.at-pres -hab air–inside (sky) look prog ‘at/during my leisure hours, i lie on fresh fluffy green grass outside, looking up’ “my favorite colour is white. i’m calm and relaxed. during my leisure hours, i lie on the young fluffy green grass outside, looking up.” the sample text c is more difficult to understand due to cohesion challenges but basically this lack of cohesion means a lack of sufficient connectors to join the ideas together. if you try hard to understand what the person is saying (a short answer, an explanation, an example) the sentences do not fit together or are not coherent. cohesion and coherence in dialogue the best examples are derived from the drama texts. two people could talking about some picture/thing but if they neither respond to what each other is saying nor refers to each other then the conversation can be coherent but completely lack cohesion. for example, some of the derived texts from respondents’ creative writing include: text d: 14. e-w4 na-m be àgbè kò 2ù-m àmè sia-wo lè alea 3sg-made to-1sg qt life only eat-prog person dem-pl be-loc this way current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 170 ‘i think these people are having a good time.’ 15. e w4 na -m be dzìdz4 kò kp4 -m àmè sia-wo lè alea 3sg-made dat-1sg comp happy only see/look-prog person dem-pl be-loc this way ‘it appears (as if) these people are only enjoying themselves’ 16. wo-dze àbe m4keke-2u-la-wo ène 3sg-look like /as holiday-eat-def-pl as/if ‘they seem to be on holidays or as holiday makers’ 17. e-w4 àbe m4keke wo-lè ène. 3sg-made like/as holiday 3sg-be-loc as/if ‘it looks like they are on vacation’ obviously, there is no connection between a and b in this conversation. we understand them and they are coherent. what is missing is cohesion. they are not connected. a is not listening to b and b is not listening to a. text e: 18. e-w4 na m be àmè sia-wo lè àgbè 2ù -m 3sg-made dat-1sg qt person dem-pl be-loc lie eat-prog ‘i think these people are enjoying themselves’ 19. ^eyi6i `uti d4 me nya w4-nà na m ò; e ses8 na na m. time body work 3sg:neg-voice/mod do-hab dat-1sg neg, 3sg-hardhab dat-1sg ‘i can’t keep to time; it is usually hard for me.’ 20. mè-tsi-a mègbē 6esia6i le w4-w4 2e gàmè dzi `u 3sg-remain-hab back always be-loc do/observe-red loc time on/top body àbe lè gò do-do ny4nu-vi a-2e sì mè di be mà a dzè like be-loc out red-exit woman-small indef rel 1sg-search qt 1sg-potcontact àhì7 -e la `u ène. love-3sg cfp body as/like ‘i am always not on time; like meeting a lady whom i wanted to date/marry’. 21. ny4nu-vi sì-wo 2à di-di yib4 lè ta na eye wo e `ku-wo lè female-small rel-pl hair long black be.at head for and (link) 3sg-poss eye-pl be.at ayi bli tsi e ama – de-de me la e nu nyo a `u -nye. beansmaize-water poss colour-red-add in tp poss thing please-hab body -isg ‘i like ladies with with long dark hair and brown eyes’ 22. nyӗ avu e `ku-wo lè àbe ayi -bli tsi ‘ma-de-de ène eye e e 1sg dog poss eye-pl be.at as/like beans-maize-water color-red-add as and 3sgposs asike h7 dìdì tail also long current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 171 ‘my dog has brown eyes and a long tail’ the data or examples show that there is cohesion but the conversation makes no sense and therefore, it is missing coherence. this observation agrees with carrell (1982) and chen (2008) as cited in ahmed (2010) that a text can display cohesive devices yet be found incorrect. with regards to linkers, the highest abused ones are: kplé/kpákplé, élàbéná, gake, hafi, h7, ale, eye and, because, but/yet, before, also, so/hence, and this abuse could be explained under various concepts especially on the grounds that students are trying to transfer the l2 (english) code on to the ewe. for example some of the texts read: 23. i: *mè o è togb4 be e dzu -m h7, …… 1sg-beat -3sg despite comp 3sg insult-1sg part …. ‘i beat him though/although, s/he insulted me …’ ii: *nyӗ -me o e o elàbena e dzu m h7, 1sg-neg-beat-3sg neg because 3sg-insult -1sg too/also ‘i did not beat her/him because s/he insulted me too/also’ iii: *kofi kple ama, kple adzo, kple aku kplakple yao…. name (link) name, (link) name, (link) name, (link) name, *the commas and linkers usage concurrently is a gross abuse of co-coordination. iv: *nyӗ kpakple -e va 1sg and (link) 3sg come the linker ‘kpakple’, goes with more than two nouns. transliteration from english to ewe is also a major negative effect exhibited by students with regards to linkers, cohesive and coherent text constructions. for instance, there is a wrong use of linkers: eye, kple, etc as in data 24 below to literally mean ‘‘and’’. 24. a: kofi kple ama yi dua me kple va do go 2e dukpl4la e vava `u. b: kofi kple ama yi dua me eye wodo go 2e dukpl4la e vava `u. “kofi and ama went to the town and met the arrival of the president.’’ in “24a” the student literally translate ‘and’ as ‘kple’ for cohesion but not coherence. in, ‘‘24b’’ ‘and’ as ‘kple’, ‘eye’ is well presented cohesively to address the right coherence. in ‘‘24a’, the sentence could be restructured to achieve the correct order through a reduplication of the verb ‘do’ (exit) and elimination of the ventive ‘va’ to make the sentence read as: “kofi kple ama yi dua me kple go dodo 2e dukpl4la e vava `u”. however, this will give the sense of suddenly. total absence of cohesive devices interestingly, some respondents wrote without observing any punctuation or coordinative device. an example is: current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 172 25. *~utsu-vi la 2ù nu a kat7 v4 dzè al d4-d4 g4mè f he-dzè man small def eat thing-def all finish contact sleep red-send under rose itcontact nu a -wo gbegbl8 wo x4 e sè be thingdef-pl red-spoil/bad 3sg-receive-3sg hear qt/comp àti-ke -v-wo no -m wò -le ale wò le tree-root (medicine/drug)-bad -pl drink-prog 2sg-be.at-pres thus 2sgbe.at:pres àgbè vlo -a n4-m. life bad -def be.at-pres-prog. literal: [the boy ate all the food started sleeping when he woke up engaged in promiscuous conducts believed to be on drugs leading to that bully conduct.] corrected version: “the boy ate all the food [then he] started sleeping. [later] when [he] woke up [he] engaged in promiscuous conducts. [he is] believed to be on drugs, leading to that conduct. findings from students’ writings table 1: summary of findings from students’ writings item frequency 1. lengthy, compound-complex sentences (68) 2. total absence of cohesive devices 54 3. the use of wrong connectives in joining clauses 38 4. using noun, sentence/clause connectives in place of paragraph connectives in vice versa 5. presence of cohesive devices without punctuation marks 50 6. presence of cohesive devices without the right punctuation mark 32 7. cohesive device wrongly beginning with capital or small letter 42 8. sentences beginning with small letters or capital letters beginning connecting features and subordinating sentences or clauses 44 9. paragraph connectives found at the beginning of sentences of students 126 10. placing connectives at the end of their sentences 8 11. lack of knowledge on the use of certain punctuation marks such as the comma, the colon and semi-colon as cohesive. 18 12. total abuse of cohesive devices (either under-abuse or over-abuse) 81 13. cohesive without coherence constructions 26 14. coherence without any cohesive realization 12 15. poor development of paragraphs, full of series of unrelated points 48 16. poor usage of reference elements such as, pronouns, demonstratives, relative clauses and relative pronouns, ellipsis 35 17. concord challenges 23 current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 173 other findings are: 18. impoverished knowledge on inherent category or properties of verbs and their usage 19. difficulty in writing the introduction, the thesis statement, the topic sentence, concluding sentences and writing the conclusion as well as show poor topic-specific background knowledge. 20. it has been observed that as africans has advanced oral development backgrounds than written and in speeches of conversation, structural outlines (punctuations, paragraphs etc) are conceptual maters hence are not consciously marked. this makes learners to transfer such phenomena into the writing environments. 21. traces of l1 proficiency challenges were also identified. students were paying attention to language matters rather than making meaning. resulting in transliteration of the syntax and semantics of english language into their native language compositions. 22. native language study and its skills are grossly plagued with attitudinal, policy and other incomprehensible roadblocks. these made learners incompetent neither in l1 nor l2. it is hard to find a fluent speaker without code switching or mixing. the poor proficiency in language; the medium for every thought and actions and functions entails poor thinking, understanding and expression. these findings agree with some researchers’ assertions on students’ essays (and discourse) in english: lack of knowledge on features of a good paragraph (agor, 2010), have problems with concord (agor, 2003), exhibit gross shallow knowledge of parts of speech (gyasi et al. 2011), lack of cohesion and coherence (dako, 2009; appiah, 2002, dag, 2013), exhibit weak thematic progression (adika, 2003, krista, 2012), gross ignorance of essay and essay types (tsareva, 2010), tune to wrong and non-standard use of language (forson, 2007, krista, 2012). discussion findings of the study revealed a number of factors behind the coherence and cohesion problems. these challenges include lack of motivation, lack of self confidence, writing anxiety as well as judgment of competence through examination results among others. students and lecturers are not motivated enough to produce essays in ewe or study the language. large classes also characterize physical and intellectual distance between teachers and students. instructional methods of teaching ewe essay writing is always the traditional (lecturing, reading aloud, and book reading) method. according to ahmed, 2010), the traditional approaches on essays hinder students’ communication; they respond to essay writing as difficult. this could be described as “signs of boredom”, “passive watching” and “teaching spectacle” (it presents an impact of passive listening on students’ learning in general, creative writing and examinations). other revelations by the study include: low motivation -usually contributing to students’ vocabulary problems in writing (lee, 2006), lack of confidence, poor supervision, over loaded curriculum, scarcity of teachers’ feedback on students’ writing performance, quality of assessment measures not exploring students full potency, high demands on learners by parents and teachers, students learning for results or certificates instead of for knowledge. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 174 ahmed (2010) says, families place unrealistic academic expectations on their children, they expect them to achieve high beyond their intellectual abilities. parents, teachers and institutions also value and judge students by certificates rather than their actual levels of knowledge acquisition and full learning faculty. students also have poor reading culture. meanwhile, it is students’ reading and writing competence that enables them to adapt to new teaching/learning methods better. we can say, reading and writing have a close relation and are inseparable but need to be properly addressed simultaneously. the writing anxiety or apprehension could also be due to teaching load, short lecture duration, and defficient of teachers’ professional development, teacher attitudes toward teaching essay, resources and difficult topics among others. pedagogically, it was suggested that l1 proficiency helps to improve l2 reading and writing (bell, 1998) hence, reading for pleasure and mandatory reading affect developing composition skills positively (ferris & hedgcock, 1998). in this view teaching reading and writing should be simultaneous to better prepare learners to read like writers and write like readers. additionally, knowledge of topic backgrounds is also crucial. prior knowledge plays an important role in one’s comprehension and composition skills (heller, 1999). prior knowledge and experience that students bring to the composition classroom are major distinctive characteristics between effective and non-effective students (ferris & hedgcock, 2004). the study revealed that students lack topic prior knowledge, meanwhile, different kinds of knowledge backgrounds were believed to be a predictive of success in compositions. there is a strong and consistent relationship between topic specific background knowledge and the quality of students’ writing (tsadidey, 2009) hence, prior knowledge and writing experiences affect students’ works (scordaras, 2003). it is what students bring into the text; it is ‘the what’ and ‘the how’ of their reaction to the given information. in this regard, cohesion problems have links with prior knowledge (external examiner’s report on ewe language essay, 2012 & 2013). producing coherent, cohesive and wellorganized writing pieces by l2 students are always very challenging because the rhetorical conventions of l2 texts such as the structure, organization, lexis and grammar differ from those in other languages (forson, 2007). these students need to understand the concepts first in the l1 before transferring them into any other language. meanwhile; the ems were superficially taught or not taught the l1at all in their previous schools. from this study, ewe cohesive devices could be characterized as context-based, generalized, repetition-oriented, and additive. in contrast, english cohesion could be described as text-based, specified, change-oriented, and non-additive. in my view, since students have total speaking command in ewe than the writing, it would affect cohesion in their writings in both languages. this accounts for why they turn to use english ideas in the ewe and vice versa (see data 23). it also accounts for the literal translation and use of formulaic expressions in their writings as indicated by data 24 and the findings in table 1. in addition, writing the run-on sentences and repetition were other features identified due imbalance in the use of l1 and l2 for academic purposes. this could be interpreted from two angles based on the findings: first, students join the university with poor l1 and l2 proficiency. second, admission to all levels of education is determined by results or current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 175 certificate rather than knowledge or competence and performance (communication). these foreshadow the numerous problems students are expected to encounter in the various academic courses in general and essay writing in particular as well as work environments. in view of these finding, further studies could be conducted on: (1) effects of different teaching techniques on the development of students’ organizational skills in writing, (2) the concept of teaching and the mechanics of writing in an essay writing course, (3) analyzing students’ vocabulary learning strategies and its effect on the development of coherent and cohesive written essays, (4) classroom interaction techniques on students’ attitudes towards essay writing and (5) investigating feedback practices to understand the factors that hinder good quality teacher feedback on students’ writings in the l1 and others. summary and conclusion the full assessment on the study proves that, students exhibit a lesser degree of knowledge on cohesive devices. they depend on just a few of them and over use them exhaustively. most of these are: ‘kple’ ‘kpakple’, ‘eye’(and), ‘h7’-(also), ‘elabena’ (because), ‘gake’ ‘ke’-(but, yet), ‘hafi’-(before). another observation was poor usage of punctuation marks. it causes students’ construction of very long sentences: compoundcomplex or complex-complex sentences. it is surprising to see a full paragraph (a heavy paragraph of 18 lines) without a comma. only the full stop specifies the end at times. these ‘paragraph sentences’ are full of ‘kple’, ‘eye’-(and) ‘eya ta’(because of), ‘elabena’(because), ‘ale’(so, hence), ‘yi edzi la’-(furthermore), etc as connectives. cardinal and ordinal connectives such as ‘gb7-(one), ‘eve’-(two) or ‘gbat4’ (first /firstly), ‘evelia’-(second or secondly) and others were totally absent in the texts. the few sentence or clause and paragraph connectives found were also abused (they were either marked with a full stop or mostly not marked at all with any punctuation): ‘togb4 be’ (although), ‘ke h7 la’-(however), kpe 2e e`u la’-(in addition/additionally), ‘yi edzi la’furthermore, moreover), etc. these cohesive devices were either not punctuated at all or are wrongly punctuated or used to connect nouns rather than clauses and paragraphs. these conjunctions: the additive, adversative, causal, temporal or co-ordinate conjunctions suffer the same degree of punctuation menace. extensive repetition of lexical features and semantic units was also observed. it means a scratch of the same thought, making the composition appearing in parallel or parallelism forms in given contexts. in conclusion, the study provides implications for strategies on essay writing, methods of teaching and assessment in ewe and for that matter, other african languages at the university level. it is hoped that curriculum planners and designers would take into consideration different approaches that could enhance the organization skills of students in composition / essay writings in ewe (other languages of african inclusive) references adika, g. s. k. 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(1981). practical methods for english students. accra: semnat books. dag, r. (2013). english for academic purposes. ny: tu-chemntz . rice, j. k. (2003). teacher quality: understanding the effectiveness of teacher attributes. economic policy institute, 1(1). scordaras, m. (2003). english language learners’ revision process in a college composition class. dissertation abstracts international, 64(8), 2815. tsareva, anastasia (2010). grammatical cohesion in argumentative essays of norwegian and russian learners. m.a thesis, university of ohio. http://iteslj.org/ chapter 3: batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of documenting and showcasing igbo traditional motif contributed by ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu introduction means and methods of wall decoration change over time and according to locality. it is common knowledge that in the past, uli mural paintings which were paintings of uli symbols on walls of mud houses both inside and mostly outside with the use of uli dyes which served as beautification, recognition and also as a method of preserving the symbols (ikwuemesi, 2015). moreover, modern wall hanging using fabric is not entirely new but with the traditional symbols, it makes the fabric have unique value even as we convert them to wall hangings. recently, no one wants symbols to be drawn on his or her body but these symbols can be incorporated into the materials we use daily to make the materials unique items of value even in the foreign market (nicholas, 1981). textile materials are what we use in our day-to-day activities, the clothes we wear, the cushions we sit on, curtains in our houses and even some decorations are made of textile materials. our traditional motifs being incorporated in these textile materials is very important especially now that foreign motifs dominate our textile materials when they are traditional ones to fit. the influence of modern culture is gradually wiping away ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 42 traditional symbols and there will soon be nothing left to remember if we do nothing about it. fabric is one of the first things to consider for interior decoration. according to farooq and mohammad (2021), “fabric is one of the core elements in interior design’. one cannot decorate the inside of any house without the use of fabric as it is used for curtains, wall hangings, chairs, bedspread etcetera. fabric therefore permeates every aspect of human life and can never be overused because of its characteristics of durability, light weight, softness, re-washable and drapery. uli wall decoration was indeed applied directly on olden mud houses but time brings about change and change itself begets change, so even with the new development of houses with concretes, people still long for wall decoration and beautification. the longing creates opportunities for different ideas and explorations and the use of fabric designed with uli for wall decorations. this study is about documenting uli on fabric to be used as wall hangings with the use of batik in other to showcase the igbo traditional symbols. it utilises qualitative research method and involves studio experimentation which will reveal how the researcher was able to develop the finished product. purpose of study to develop different methods through which uli designs can be explored on fabric with the use of batik and also ascertain if the fabric can be appropriate for interior wall hangings. research questions in what ways can uli be explored on fabric using batik? how can batiked fabrics be appropriated to serve as wall hangings? batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 43 literature review uri or uri as called by some areas in igbo, due to dialect variations is not just a name of a symbol but is termed to anything that has to do with the symbol including the tree that produces the hue. it is also the name of a traditional mural painted by igbo women with mostly animal motifs, geometry and sometimes stars, sun and moon with four simple colours; white, yellow, reddish brown and black. uli design comes in different patterns; zigzag, round, concentric circles, dots and so on. ikwuemesi (2016) said that uli is the igbo name for the indigo dye obtained from several species of plants and used to draw cosmetically on the human body. uli is been used by the women of the eastern part of nigeria but the origin of uli or how the igbo women came about the symbols is not clearly stated. ikwuemesi (2016) described uli as the igbo name for indigo dye obtained from several species of plants. he further explained how the berries of these plants are extracted and ground for the dye to be pressed out of the marsh. uli is a tree, a seed, a pattern and motifs and most importantly, an art. it is an art that involves a combination of experience and skillfulness. this may be why nwafor (2019) pointed out that the traditional uli painters worked directly without sketches or any form of prototype. the strokes are already embedded in the painter’s fingers. according to her, uli involves the use of painting or drawing stick /knife (mmanwauli), dipped in a liquid uli juice, which is then used to draw or paint on mud walls (usually shrine walls) or the body. uli is a creative activity mainly for beautification, though also associated with spirituality as it is believed that the art was bestowed to the women folk by the ala(earth goddess). onwuakpa (2016) saw that by looking at some of these designs, one can easily deduce some of the images and their derivation such as the animals, the leaves, the oji and isioji but other motifs cannot be easily deduced. uli designs communicate ideas vital to the igbo ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 44 cosmology. the motifs were created from life experience and generally, the images reference the traditional igbo life. (nwafor, 2019). uli may seem easy to draw but the art requires proper study for one to be recognized as an uli artist. “uli artists or “omenka” (a name given to any skilful person) are mostly elderly women who got their training right from childhood either by watching their mothers, relatives or other uli artists’ artwork” (onwuakpa, 2016). sandra (2010) observed that the renewed interest in uli recognized the inventiveness and skill of the traditional igbo woman as an “artist”. traditionally, uli body drawing or painting is a real boost to a woman’s ego because it gives satisfaction and confidence to any woman decorated with it. uli as a body decoration turned the body into a living sculpture and object of beauty and certainly, one of the finest igbo body arts. uli is appreciated by all as it touches both the spiritual, artistic and cultural life of igbo (onwuakpa, 2016). smith (2010) noted that the imposition of western and european values on igbo cultural practices suppressed uli as an art form and on that note, i agree with ikwuemesi (2016) who stated that the heritage of the igbo cannot be fully discussed without the look at the almost extinct uli body and wall painting practised by women. though uli body decoration is no longer popular among igbo women; this is associated with the fact that most women wear clothes that cover most parts of the body which acted as a platform on which uli designs were traditionally displayed. batik batik is a resist method that uses wax as a resist agent to hinder dye penetration. in batik, wax is melted and applied with the use of stamps or foam to detail out designs needed on the fabric so that when dyed, the waxed areas will resist the dye penetration thereby revealing the designs. samsuddin (2020) defines batik primarily as a cloth decorated by drawing lines in wax to protect part of the undyed cloth from colouring in the dye bath, he further said that batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 45 batik motifs and their products have high potential to sustain themselves in a global market as it has a special place in the world of ‘oriental textile’. wardani (2014) described batik as a piece of cloth that is made traditionally with certain decorative ‘motifs’ of batik. this is still pointing out the fact that batik is not just about the wax resist but also about the motif to certain people. according to tajul and harozila (2021), batik making is a method of creating beautiful textile material or cloth involving the use of candles and colouring materials based on natural or synthetic colours. batik is also a resist dyeing method that requires wax for resistance which is why it is often referred to as wax resist method. while tie-dye uses ropes to resist dye from penetrating the fabric, wax resist as the name sounds involves the use of wax (paraffin or beeswax) to resist dye penetration. the wax is melted and applied on fabric with the use of tjanting, foam, brush, clamp etc., to resist dye from penetrating thereby creating the designs. the idea or concept behind batik is that any part of the fabric that the wax touches even if it is by mistake, those particular areas will not absorb colour when dipped in a dye bath because the wax will not allow the dye to penetrate those areas except if the dyer intentionally or unintentionally cracks the wax during dyeing to achieve more designs. because of this, batik requires dexterity and carefulness in planning, waxing and dyeing the fabric. after colouring the fabric, the wax is usually removed with the use of boiling water and that is when the clearer version of the designed and dyed fabric will be revealed. according to ramli (2021), in creating batik, several traditional techniques can be used such as canting, metal block, wood block, screen and lately, dedicated computer software to create digital batik products, while it is said that batik originated from java, indonesia that most of the best batiks in the world are still made there and that indonesian batik predates written records. according to wardani (2014), the art of batik in indonesia has a unique aesthetic and various decorative motifs. its application can ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 46 be found in the decoration of temples which become inspiration for the development of decorative motifs in clothing material. wall hangings the art of textile hanging is considered one of the richest and most sophisticated arts in the fine arts sector. (ibrahim and mahmoud, 2018) .radwan, regab and tawab (2020) termed textile wall hanging an ‘era mirror’. ibrahim and mahmoud (2018) also noted that wall hanging is one of the oldest and most famous applied arts which has high aesthetic and artistic values. for instance, it helps in completing the interior architectural design. a wall hanging or wall decoration throw or throw rug as termed by parmar and malik (2018) can give your living area a great new look without any hassle. it is an important means of adding aesthetic value to public buildings and houses. besides, it is used in covering wide areas of empty walls (ibrahim and mahmoud, 2018). wall hangings can fit in any area of your house. equally important, most wall hangings are made with interesting colours which can easily align with the colours in any room. in a similar view, parmar and malik (2018) stated that the colour combinations and the patterns used in wall hangings almost fit any decoration and style. ibrahim and mahmoud (2018) pointed out that textile hanging designs were always considered the reflection of its era and its culture and artistic fields. hangings do not differ in their aims from wall graphics but it is more different and accurate compared to the graphic as it needs skills in the implementation stage. (ibrahim and mahmoud, 2018). in an earlier study by faheem and ibrahim (2017), they expressed their views on wall hangings as follows: the wall hanging is one of the important effective elements in interior design because it has a significant effect in enriching and integrating interior emptiness in terms of aesthetics and function. it gives an aesthetic touch resulting in achieving several batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 47 functional purposes as providing privacy, concealing a part of the light and emphasizing the impression and identity of the place parmar and malik (2018). states that wool, cotton, polyester and chenille are the primary materials used to make our wall decoration. they also noted that wool is the most used because of its inherent qualities. theoretical framework the theory adopted for this study was imitation theory. it was first proposed by jean-gabriel tarde (1843-1904). this theory was reached from the sociological side through phenomena of crowds, fads, crazes, crime and fashion, while james mark baldwin (18611934) independently proposed and arrived at his conclusions from the side of individual psychology, studying the mental development of children. they both argue that the unity of society is dependent on imitation, both on its functional and structural sides. apesteguia et al (2004) argue that imitation plays a large role in adults’ learning behaviour and everyone who watches children grow will attest that imitation is a great source of learning. baldwin (1895) termed the repetition of actions of one person by another under the influence of suggestion offered “the key to social mystery”. to him, all activities of men in the society, regardless of how simple or complicated it is including the creation of science and art, are relatively outcomes of the process of imitation. (ellwood, 1909) albert bandura in his social learning theory emphasized the importance of observing, modelling and imitating the attitudes, behaviours and emotional reactions of others (mcleod, 2023). imitation enjoys the status of a powerful explanatory concept in a majority of theories of social development. it is considered a powerful and efficient mechanism for ensuring that the child will develop patterns of behaviour consonant with the prevailing cultural pattern (kuhn, 1973). ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 48 tarde (1900) believes that what forms social life is the effect of the suggestion-imitation process which starts from one creature possessing a single idea or act which is passed unto one of its neighbours, then to another and so on. new ideas spread via imitation, those that resemble existing norms being more readily imitated. he proposed three laws of imitation: (1) the law of close contact; (2) the law of imitation of superiors by inferiors; and (3) the law of insertion (where new behaviours either reinforce or replace customary ones (juillion, 2020). professor baldwin in his child’s study argues that the prime and method of a child’s learning is by imitative absorption of the actions, thoughts, expressions of other persons and that all his absorption from immediate associates is through his tendency to imitate. “society grows by imitative generalization of thoughts of individuals” (ellwood, 1990). while pluto thought that art is pure imitation and therefore deceptive, aristotle argues that it is not just the act of copying but of imagination. pluto further argues that since learning and admiring are pleasurable, imitating works of art or poetry is also pleasurable. ellwood (1990) argues that the intellectual and moral development of individuals is by imitating the actions and attitudes of those they look up to and as such societal change is a continued imitation of thoughts of some individuals, a leader or a genius. apesteguia et al (2004) argue that who one imitates is more important than how one imitates. they observed that imitation is more pronounced when subjects observe others with whom they directly compete rather than others who have the same role but play in different groups. the instinct of imitation is implanted in a being since childhood which is how they learn to speak and walk by imitating adults. life is built on imitation and most of the individuals, communities and even nations grow by striving to imitate one another. this project talks about using batik and tie dye methods to design igbo motifs on fabrics to be used as wall hangings. without imitation, there is nothing about the project that will hold; i had to batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 49 imitate someone who had dyed before to learn how to colour fabrics, had to imitate someone who has waxed before to be able to get to the stage i am with batik and most importantly “uli” motifs are built on imitation. none knows the first woman who came up with the idea of uli but other women kept imitating it until men joined in and as such, the knowledge keeps transgressing. one of the major criticisms as regards imitation is that we make conscious choices to determine who we imitate and as such do not just imitate anyone. we mostly imitate those who we consider to be superior and imitate our enemies or inferiors only when it is advantageous. another critic on imitation points out that it is impossible to understand how the “instinct to imitate” has come to dominate the whole process of human society, and alone to constitute the method of all personal and social growth. society is not just built on one instinct (the tendency to imitate) but is also as a function of many other instinctive impulses. therefore all social organization is physiological rather than psychological as the theory claims. while imitation generalizes the idea of imitating progress, critics argue that natural selection plays a major role rather than imitation. production stage studio experimentation the first stage was the generation of design ideas through the studied uli motif materials and equipment used include but are not limited to vat dyes, sodium hydroxide(caustic soda), sodium hydrosulphite, dharma fibre reactive dyes, sodium carbonate (soda ash), urea, foam, plastic containers, pens, pencils, chalks, stove, waxing surface, candle wax, rope, gloves, dye bath, nose mask, waxing pot, water, cotton fabric. ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 50 fig 1: preliminary sketches to guide the designs source:ogobuchiotuu(2023) method of studio production 1. the first thing done was to de-size the fabric by washing off the chemicals used during the production. 2. when the fabric dries off, you plan your design on the fabric according to how you want the outcome to look. 3. the next stage is to wax the fabric following your plan, you wax the fabric by applying melted wax on the fabric with the help of foam. batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 51 4. you carefully dye the fabric so as not to distort the waxed area. you can do this by applying dye directly or by dying it in the dye bath depending on the kind of dye you are using and the design you wish to achieve. 5. when the dyed fabric is set, you de-wax and rinse the fabric, if dried, it is ready to be used for the interior and you have to decide what exactly you want to use it for. 6. you can mount it on a frame to be hung with a frame or sew and pipe it to be hung directly. plate 1: de-sizing a plain fabric. source: ogobuchiotuu (2023) ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 52 plate 2: waxed fabrics. source: ogobuchiotuu (2023) plate 3: dying of fabrics. source: ogobuchiotuu (2023) batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 53 plate 4: outcome after rinsing. source: ogobuchiotuu (2023) plate 5: sewn fabrics to be hung directly. source: ogobuchiotuu (2023) ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 54 plate 6: fabrics mounted on frames. source: ogobuchiotuu (2023) presentation and discussion there are so many uli motifs out there but this study utilized a combination of few of these motifs. all the finished works from this study were done with the combination of these few selected uli motifs. though one may see different images being intertwined and intermixed in the outcome, all the images are the combination of agwoloagwo, isi-oji, okara isi-oji, ije-agwo, okirikiri, kpum kpum and akwukwo used as desired by the researcher. batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 55 plate 7: otuuogobuchi (2023) “face it” batik on assembled fabrics 60cm x 45cm this work was achieved by cutting the fabric in pieces, waxing and dyeing them differently before assembling them again to form a whole. each piece reassembled has its unique colour even as they were joined to form a whole. at the end, it was piped with a black fabric which served as the background. this work was embedded with uli designs which replicates from the centre. it combines different uli motifs intertwined to form a whole. from the top is isi-oji with leaves right below it. under the leaves is another isi-oji that meets with the curve that introduces the agwoloagwo facing each other. the agwoloagwo here is used to portray the interconnectedness of all things in the universe, including individuals, communities, and nature which is why the leaves and isi-oji were incorporated in it. we are all connected in one way or another and we will keep missing out until we face this obvious ideology. ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 56 plate 8: otuuogobuchi (2023) “the waves of life” batik fabric mounted on a frame. 50cm x 41cm this particular work was achieved by waxing the fabric directly, applying the first colour at some point then completing the waxing before finally dying it. it features combinations of uli motifs ranging from agwoloagwo, isi-oji, okala isi-oji, ije agwo, okirikiri, kpum kpum and onwa which form different levels of circles in different colours, the waves and the dots that flow with it, the spiral and the dots that flows with it etc. these motifs were combined to portray different kinds of movements and transgressions, the work utilized only two colours, yellow and black which are two of the original colours used for uli wall paintings. batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 57 plate 9: otuu ogobuchi (2023) “choice” batik fabric mounted on frame as a sequence. (the wings 44cm x 38cm)(the centre 91cm x 36cm) this particular work is a sequence art. it is an art that involves the combination of three different frames, two medium sizes and the large one at the centre. though the work generally depicts a soaring bird, a careful look at the detailing will unveil the uli motifs used in designing the art and though it utilized three different frames, it was meant to align to create a single image. a clearer look will unveil the combination of isi-oji, kpum kpum, okirikiri, okara isi oji, agwoloagwo, and ije agwo. each of the frames can be hung in isolation as an abstract work and the frames can be hung upside down to depict a bird soaring downwards, the bird can also face sideways depending on the arrangement, and the smaller frames by the sides can also change directions. this work can be arranged in so many different ways to mean different things. ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 58 plate 10: otuuogobuchi (2023) ‘giving back” batik on assembled fabric 65cm x 27cm this is yet another work designed by disjoining the fabric at the earlier stage and this was created with the use of two uli motifs, ‘agwolagwo’ and ‘okara isi oji’. it combines four different colours, blue which introduces the first okara isi oji that landed on the yellow, the yellow receives then form a large spiral(agwoloagwo) that extends to form the twin spiral on purple which also shares okara isi oji with yellow and also with lemon. the spirals even though they flowed from different colours, meet in the centre to form a whole. each of the colours was dyed individually and joined to align, then piped with a black fabric to highlight the design. summary the essence of this project was to create more means of displaying uli motifs on fabric by using it for wall hanging as a decoration for interiors in other to portray and popularize these motifs. during the research, it was observed that the youths of the present-day dispensation have little or no knowledge of the existence of these motifs even as artists continue to use them in their works. it was also observed that using fabrics for wall hangings in nigeria creates batiked fabrics for interior wall hangings as a means of … 59 opportunities for question since the use of fabric is not common in nigeria. using these as wall hangings in built environments will enable the public to absorb the fullest possible awareness and knowledge of these motifs and also imbibe the idea of using fabrics for wall hangings. there is so much fabric can do in homestay other than just curtains and bedspread, yet just few people know about the use of fabrics for wall hangings and even the few recognize mostly works that are on frames. this research birthed new ways of exploring batik on fabric to be used as wall hangings not particularly on frames. references apesteguia, j., huck, s. &oechssler, j. (2004), imitation -theory and experimental evidence-. journal of economic theory. 136(1), 217-235. on 8th june 2023. ellwood, c. a. (1901). the theory of imitation in social psychology. journal of sociology. 5(6), 721-741 on 7th june 2023. faheem, h. a. &ibrahem, s. s. (2017). islamic art is an inspiring source of aesthetic and functional integration among glass and fabrics in designing wall hangings. journal of architecture, art and humanistic science, 2(7), 255-277. 0n 10 january 2021. farooq, s. & mohammad, a. k. (2021). exploration of fabric typology for interior furnishings with reference to regional textile products of pakistan. gausa, s. and abubakar, e. (2015). tiedye (adire) among the jukun people. mgbakoigba: journal of african studies, 4(1), 1-13. on 16 august 2022. ibrahim, g. & mahmoud, e. (2018).the role of textile wall hanging in achieving aesthetical and functional values in the internal architecture of therapeutic institutions.journal of architecture, arts and humanistic science, 3(9)476-492. on 19 may 2023. ikwuemesi, c. k (2016). eziafo okaro: an uli woman painter’s tale in the igbo heritage crisis. journal of congent arts & humanities, 3(1), 1-13., 0n 10 january, 2021. juillion, p. (february 22, 2022). what is gabriel tarde’s theory. on 9th june 2023. ogobuchi otuu and pius ntagu 60 kuhn, d. (1973). imitation theory and research from a cognitive perspective. journal of human development. 16(3), 157-180. on 7th june 2023. mcleod, s. (may 18, 2023). constructivism learning theory and educational philosophy. simply psychology. on 6thjune 2023 nicholas, a. (1981). adaptation of igbo-ukwu motifs on contemporary dresses. unpublished (b.a thesis) university of nigeria nsukka, nwafor, n. j. u. (2019). significance of animal motifs in indigenous uli body and wall paintings. mgbakoigba journal of african studies, 8(1), 117-133. on 8 may 2023. onwuakpa, s. (2016). visual and representation in traditional igbo uli body and mud wall paintings. an international multidisciplinary journal, ethiopia,10(2), 345-357. on 2 april 2023. parmar, s. & malik, t. (2018). home textiles: review home textiles. [kindle version] radwan, g., regab a., &tawab, h. (2020). design and produce innovative textile wall hangings by integrating different production techniques. international design journal, 10(2), 347-355. on 10 january 2021 ramli, h. &shuhaizam, t. (2021) surface design technique through traditional technique. intechopen publishing. samsuddin, m. f., hamzah, a. h., radzy, m. f., ahmad, s. n., noorizan, m. f. &bebit, m. a. (2020). integrating malaysian and japanese textile motifs through product diversification: home décor. dealogy journal, 5( 2), 79-88. on 16 august 2022 smith, a.s. (2010). uli: the metamorphosis of tradition into contemporary aesthetics. unpublished master’s thesis, collage of arts, kent university tajul, s. &harozila, r. (2021). surface design technique through tradition technique. on 8 may 2023. wardani, l. &sitindjak, r. (2014). batik and its implementation in art and design.the international journal of social science, 24(1), 3744. emodi-nnoruka & okpalauba 12 chapter two the language of basic design mary emodi-nnoruka, & vivian okpalauba introduction the word "design" refers to a deliberate plan to imagine, create, or form ideas, to bring them to actual reality. “basic design” on the other hand entails the fundamentals or insights into design areas, starting from scratch, with special focus on the application of the basic elements of design in terms of line, colour, shape, space, and form. literally, they are the fundamental languages of design. as a subject, basic design focuses on leading the students into a candid understanding of the formal elements, guiding principles, and their application to twodimensional designs, as well as to three-dimensional design. therefore, basic design is an all-encompassing subject which covers visual communication design, textiles, painting, drawing, and other aspects of threedimensional art, including installation and assemblage techniques. to design is to “contrive” to “formulate”, it is an intentional action to create on purpose. hornby (2010) explains design as the general arrangement of the different parts of something that are made, such as a building, book, machine, etc. design is the art or process of deciding how work would seem, by drawing plans, making models, etc. it is also a drawing of a plan from which t the language of basic design 13 finished work may be made. the purpose may be functional, it may be decorative, educative, informative, and it may be for entertainment, therapeutic, or economic purpose. though, the outcome of the design must be pleasing and attractive to the eyes. basic design is a careful arrangement of elements with or without forms which develops into a careful compositional arrangement of all the elements of design. elements of design the element of basic design is the same as the elements of art. in visual art, those elements are the basic ingredients the artist applies to produce imagery. elements of art are those materials or tools that the artist used in deriving his/her artistic objectives. applying these elements of art results in the utilization of the visual language of art. they are those qualities of a design that can be seen and worked with independently of its figurative content. elements of art are the alphabets of the visual language. the statements and expressions of the artist come into being with the aid of an organized and careful use of the elements. these elements of art are as follows; line, shape texture, value, space, form and colour. line this is any mark made on any surface by a moving point or dot (.). it is an expression of an artist through which communicates emotion as well as direction and movement. line is a force derived from the artist who drew it. it is a long narrow mark, which is made on a emodi-nnoruka & okpalauba 14 surface; it varies from one another, in thickness, and length. it is made by the man who drew it. the physical characteristics of line are many; line may be straight, either vertical or horizontal, may be curved, direct, meandering, short, long; thin or thick, zig-zag line, or serpentine line. lines can be grouped into curved (rhythmic line) and straight lines (structural line). in art, line is also used as a symbol that artists use in making statements or expressing ideas. these characteristics of line have built-in associations that the artist or designer or user can command. a line may be of any length and breadth. an infinite number of combinations of a long and short, thick and thin line can be according to their uses, divided, balanced or unbalanced, a pictorial area or a designing surface. fig 1: various types of lines. emodi, 2021 shape shape is a line enclosing an area. shape can be defined as any visually perceived area of value, texture, colour or line or combination of these elements. shape is two-dimensional while form is three-dimensional. shape is the outer edge of an object. when a line covers a space, we have a shape. in pictorial design, shapes are flat or two-dimensional in the three-dimensional forms of art, the language of basic design 15 shapes are more often solid masses. there are absolute shapes which are geometrical; they can be described with rulers and squares. the relative shape is organic mostly from nature. texture texture is the surface appearance of any object or composition, that is to say, the surface character of a material that can be experienced through touch or the illusion of touch. it shows the amount of roughness or smoothness of a body, material, or object. fig 1: visual texture suggesting movement. source: https://254online.com/texture-as-a-visual-element-in-graphic-design/ texture can be tactile, which possesses real physical touch value, as in the feel of sand, paper, glass, or wool. these have a sense of touch. texture can also be stimulated or visual, i.e. it cannot be felt. it is made to look emodi-nnoruka & okpalauba 16 so to the eyes, whether it is decorative effects of colour, pattern, tone, or line. value value, also sometimes referred to as tone, is the relative lightness and darkness of an object (farley, 2009). it is a relative degree of light or dark. value can be referred to as the degree of darkness or lightness of a picture, or an object when placed with others. fig 1: silhouette of dogs showing various levels of shades. source: https://www.sitepoint.com/principles-of-design-value/ value is very important in any design or work of art. it enables the artist to create contrast which aids one to distinguish one form from the other. value can also suggest the lightening of an object by a variation in the thickness of a line but, its main concern is with what might be called the objective reality of a solid thing. value can also be referred to as tone. space it is an interval or measurable distance between points or images. it is the area where artwork or a design the language of basic design 17 is created. space can be described as the distance between and around forms. form form is that which is used in defining the shape of anything with volume or mass. in art, form has three dimensions, length, breadth, and depth. form is used to describe the inner structure of a particular object. form can be seen as the organization and arrangement of visual elements that develop unity in designs or artwork. it is the total appearance or organization of a design or an artwork. colour colour is an integral part of a design. it is the visual response to different electromagnetic wavelengths of the sunlight, identified as red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow. they have the physical properties of hue, intensity, and value. these wavelengths can be in form of light or pigments. pigments are the actual colours we see and mix to realize other colours. colours are arranged in order. the first order is known as the primary colours (red, yellow, and blue). the second order of colours is otherwise known as secondary colours, while the last but not least is the third order of colours. this is also known as the tertiary colours. the principles of design principles of design are the basic rules or guides of art. egonwa (2012) sees principles of art as the basic aesthetic considerations that guide the organization of a emodi-nnoruka & okpalauba 18 work of art. principles of design are the same as principles of art. ndubisi (2010) opines principles of art as principles of design which guides and helps the artist or the designer to make good use of his tools which are the elements of art/design effectively, to achieve some order, unity, and produce pleasing work of art. these principles of design are balance, variety, rhythm or continuity, dominance or emphasis, repetition, and proportion. balance this can be achieved between line and space or between form and value. balance is the arranging of elements so that no one part of a work overpowers or seems heavier than any other part, ngumah, ayoola, dalhatu, and samkay (2013). there are two types of balance, asymmetrical and symmetrical balance. asymmetrical balance is otherwise known as informal balance, and it occurs when elements are visually imbalanced. ndubisi (2010) defines it as dynamic balance. symmetrical balance can be seen when the balance is formal and equal on both sides. symmetrical balance is attained when a design is split by a line of symmetry; appears to be the same on both sides. the human body is an example of symmetrical balance. symmetrical is a good technique for good balance, but not necessarily the best for all types of designs. the language of basic design 19 fig 2: illustration shows symmetrical and asymmetrical balance in design. source; https://www.invisionapp.com/ defined/principlesof-design variety is the use of different sizes or shapes or colours to create interesting visual differences in a work of art. it could be seen as showing differences between different sections of a design. contrast, highlight, and emphasis are usually employed to show this. rhythm means the arrangement of art elements in a repeated manner to achieve harmony. it is also known as continuity. rhythm is an organized movement of elements, which are characterized by a proper relationship and inter-dependence of parts of one another and the whole. it is the flowing of designs into one another. it is the movement featured by repetition of different conditions, ndubisi (2010). rhythm is the movement or variation characterized by repetition or alternation of different qualities, quantities, or conditions. emodi-nnoruka & okpalauba 20 fig: repetition creates rhythm in design. source: https://www.selfmadedesigner.com/graphic-design-principles/ the more elements are repeated, the stronger we associate them with a certain idea or effect. also, the more we repeat an element, the more rhythm a composition has (ramirez, 2022). it is like routine work resulting in a pattern and shows that the design of such artwork has a „beat‟ or „flow‟ going with it. this means keeping your design in a certain format. it is the suggestion or illusion of motion in a design. dominance principle, otherwise known as emphasis, is when extra attention is given to an area within the design. this can be because that area is more important or has peculiarities worth emphasizing, that is a "focal point". dominance is extra attention given to an area within an artwork due to the vital contributions of such an area. dominance is also similar to emphasis. this is achieved when a certain part of a design is highlighted or the language of basic design 21 emphasized to get attention as a focus centre with a variety of shapes, colours and lives. repetition is sometimes related to rhythm and continuity. it is achieved when a unit of design is repeated severally to create what is seen as a visual flow in a design composition. repetition occurs when elements that have something in common are repeated regularly or irregularly. proportion is a measurement of the size and quantity of elements within a composition. it is the relationship of one part with the other parts in a given artwork or any design. proportion is a comparative relationship between elements in a design. it is the placing of designed elements in relative proportion to a space. proportion is to be considered in terms of a given space or surface within an art working space to fit the size and quantity of elements within a composition. it is the relationship of one part with the other parts in given artwork. harmony in design is when an artwork achieves a sort of unified form, a comfortable feeling of completeness. this makes the design seem to be unified, with no friction or conflicting parts. some forms of pattern repetition and wholesomeness are usually used to show harmony. emodi-nnoruka & okpalauba 22 question 1. define the concept of design 2. explain in detail the term "basic design" 3. state the elements of basic design 4. carefully explain the principles of design. references egonwa, o.d. (2012): nigerian art: introductory notes. ibadan: ababa press ltd. farley, j. (2009). principles of design: value. https://www.sitepoint.com/principles-of-designvalue/ hornby a.s. (2015) oxford advanced learner‟s dictionary of current english (6th edition) oxford university press. ndubisi ogomma a. (2010) a hand book on textile, emyn nigeria, hugetez publisher. ngumah, h. c, ayoola, o., dalhatu, s., and samkay, a. (2013) cultural and creative arts for junior secondary schools. ibadan: evans brothers nigeria ltd. ramirez, reuben. (2022). 6 graphic design principles you need to master today. https://www.selfmadedesigner.com/graphicdesign-principles/ section d: phonetics and phonology 9 variant pronunciation patterns of selected english content words in connected speech by anambra state english language teachers amarachi okenmuo abstract english language teachers serve as models to their students in the use of the language they teach. previous studies on the pronunciation patterns of second language speakers of english other than the english teachers have been done, but no study seems to concentrate on the pronunciation patterns of english words by the english language teachers whom other speakers learn from. this study focuses of the pronunciation patterns of selected english words, mostly content words, realized by the anambra state english language teachers (aselt). a specially prepared passage containing selected target words was presented to fifty of the randomly selected teachers from the three districts of anambra state. they read the passage and their renditions were recorded with an audiotape. the recordings were further played and replayed for correct transcription of sounds, analysis and discussion. the results of the analysis show that aselt have varied pronunciation patterns for english words. for example, in ‘interpret’ four varieties in stress placement: in.tæ'pri:t, in'tɜ:prit, 'in.'tæ'prit, in'tæ'prit were realized. keywords: pronunciation, english content words, speech, anambra, teachers introduction the spoken english language in nigeria has been variously studied and categorized under varieties (brosnaham, 1958; banjo, 1971; adenkunle, 1979; udofot, 2003 among others). using udofot’s categorization, it is observed that educated nigerian speakers, including teachers of the english language, belong to the sophisticated variety. by extension, english language teachers are expected to exhibit features that place them under the sophisticated variety. however, there seems to exist some disparity in the pronunciation patterns of words in connected speech by the english language teachers who participated in this study. pronouncing words the correct way plays an important role in communication, since serious mispronunciation can hamper intelligibility, (mohammad, 2017). morley (1991) as cited by mohammad (2017, p. 488) holds that “intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of communicative competence”. a listener can entirely miss the intended right word a speaker wishes to communicate which s/he pronounces the wrong way. it is advised that secondlanguage learners should work harder to improve their pronunciation of the target language (mohammad, 2017). tomasz (2011) in mohammad (2017) suggests that instead of going for high sounding words, advanced vocabulary or complex grammatical structures, they should use simple words and constructions to pass their messages across. however, mohammad, (2017)asserts that there is no such a thing as simple pronunciation as mispronouncing words could be problematic and could lure one’s listeners into wrong encoding of the encrypted message even when the speaker speaks correct grammar with advanced vocabulary. generally, there is a consensus that the influence of the learners’ mother tongue (mt) appears and endures mostly in the area of pronunciation when compared to grammar and vocabulary. mohammad, 2017 cites other research findings that support this view (ingram & park, 1998; lin, 2001; nosratinia&zaker, 2014; ohata, 2004; ringborn, 1987; sedighi, 2010; thompson, 1991; tsojon&aji, 2014; zhanmig, 2014). the pronunciation of words entails the way the words sound when they are uttered—if they contain the right vowels or consonants, stressed or not, produced with different tones among other articulatory, auditory, and acoustic qualities. review a number of studies have been conducted on the pronunciation patterns of words of english language by nigerian users of the language. mohammad (2017) reports that english words that contain the following: english vowels /ᴧ/, /ᴐ:/ and /з:/ and consonants /f/, /v/, /θ/ and /ð/ are problematic for hausa learners of english language. the results revealed that native speakers of hausa face problems in pronouncing these sounds as such they replace the sounds with specific sounds available in the hausa sound inventory. theoretically, the findings, according to the researcher, lend support to the notion of negative transfer as all of the errors were the result of mother tongue interference. the findings are interpreted to have pedagogical implications for esl teachers and syllabus designers in general and in hausa-speaking communities, in particular. chitulu and njemanze (2015) carried out a study on the poor english pronunciation of nigerian students who use english language as a second language. they outlined a number of factors responsible for the poor pronunciation of english words among students as: some linguistically illiterate environment of which many other languages e.g., nigerian pidgin, american english, nigerian english etc. are spoken alongside the english language and this linguistic situation affects students; the phenomenon of ill-equipped teachers who are not truly grounded in english phonetics and phonology and mother tongue interference. as panacea to poor english pronunciation, chitulu and njemanze (2015) suggest that: 1. students should be taught correct english pronunciation at a time optimal for second language learning before they get into their adolescence stage.2. all teachers should be given appropriate training in english phonetics and phonology. this will go a long way to polish their pronunciation skills and consciously and unconsciously condition the english language users, especially students who listen to them to attempt to pronounce and speak more intelligibly. 3. the use of audio-visual aids and equipment in teaching english pronunciation will foster learning and the practical use of correct pronunciations. 4. the ministry of education should invest time and resources in promoting scholarly researches in the area of english phonetics and phonology, provide course materials for improved effectiveness and productivity and should also partner with the british council, c4c and the usaid to sponsor researches that would help to bring the anomaly to an end. josiah, bodunde, and robert (2012) examined the pronunciation patterns of isolated english words by undergraduates in their final year. they reported that the number of the subjects who rightly pronounced the standard british english (sbe) variant of the words appears low compared to those who could not do so. the same result also goes for words in connected speech as among the 12 words tested, only one item, ‘all right’, had 34 out of 65 respondents pronounce the sbe version. there are other related works on spoken nigerian english of which pronunciation patterns (simo bobda 2000;), stress placement patterns on words(udofot, 1997; 2003), tone and intonation among others are explicated. studies on differentiation ranges from brosnahan, (1958); banjo, (1971); adenkunle(1979); jibril, (1982); odumuh, (1987); fakuade, (1998); eka, (2000); udofot, (2004); olaniyi, (2010). acoustic analysis of spoken nigerian english has recently continued to prevail (olaniyi, 2010; josiah,2011; azidiegwu, 2019). the literature reviewed in this paper is not exhaustive. there are many more studies on the spoken nigerian english that are not presented here. methodology the data for this work are preexisting data collected for a master’s thesis on analysis of stress placement in connected speech by selected anambra state english language teachers (azidiegwu, 2019).the data were collected from fifty anambra state english language teachers, including males and females, residing in anambrastate. the geographical spread of the teachers extends to junior and senior secondary schools of both private and government schools in the three senatorial districts: anambra north (16), anambra south (17), and anambra central(17),since it is impossible to study the speech of all anambra state english language teachers. the teachers were enjoined to read a short passage which was specially designed to elicit target data. the focus of this present work, however, was to analyse the various pronunciation patterns of selected english content words by anambra state english language teachers. to this end, some approaches were employed. the data previously audio-taped were listened to several times, written down and transcribed phonemically. for the reason of delimitation, placement of stress and phonemic realisations served as the scope of study. the data were presented in a tabular form for ease in analysis. the column for aselt’s stress placement mainly captures the placement of stress by the teachers and not phoneme realization, and vice versa. this was done to avoid confusion and mix up of data categorisation. the data were analysed perceptually, statistically, and descriptively. theoretical framework the theoretical framework applied in this study is contrastive analysis. doing a contrastive analysis of two different languages brings to the fore the similarities and differences of the languages as spoken by the users of the languages. contrastive analysis (ca hereafter) is occupied with comparing the inherent properties of two or more languages to determine their areas of similarities and differences with their implication on language learning and teaching. contrastive analysis theory, according to al-khresheh (2016) has remained one of the most influential theories of second language acquisition using comparisons of languages to explain areas of difficulty for learners. the initial proponents of ca believed that second language acquisition essentially involved the re-writing of first language (l1) habits where familiar l1 processes could be harnessed in accord with behaviourist procedures based on some learning principles and practices (brown, 2006). lado 1957, on the other hand, introduced the contrastive analysis hypothesis and further strengthens his opinion by saying that language learners could be trained to acquire new phonological, morphological, syntactic habits most ideally if the l1 and the l2 could be systematically compared and contrasted in advance. underpinned by the already stated principles of ca, a comparison of the english spoken as a second language and english spoken as a first language is necessary. in this present research, therefore, the pronunciation patterns of selected words by anambra state english language teachers and the standard british english (sbe) were compared in the area of word pronunciations. the latter served as the control data while the former served as the experimental group. the differences in articulation are identified and discussed and these comparisons create a room for learners, especially aselt, to know their areas of strength and the areas they should focus more on for greater intelligibility and passing on of phonetic/phonological knowledge. data analysis and discussion table 1: pronunciation patterns of selected english wordsinthepassage s/no english word/ sbe pronunciatio no of syllab aselt’s stress no and % of aselt’s phoneme no and % word class n les in a word placement stress placemen t of aselt realisation of phonem e realisati on by aselt 1 doing (verb) 'du:ɪŋ 2 i)'du:'i:ŋ ii)'du:ɪŋ 41(82%) 9(18%) i)du:i:ŋ ii)du:ɪŋ iii) du:wɪŋ 41(82%) 8(16%) 1(2%) 2 research (noun) ri'sɜ: ʧ 2 'risɜ: ʧ ri'sɜ: ʧ 38(76%) 12(24%) risa: ʧ rise ʧ risɜ: ʧ 25% 44% 31% 3 herculean (adjective) ,hɜ:.kjə'li:.ə n 4 'he'ku:n hɜ:.'kjeli:n he'kuliæn 'he'ku'liæn 2(4%) 3(6%) 28(56%) 17(34%) heku:n hɜ:kjeli:n hekuliæn 'he'ku'liæn 2(4%) 3(6%) 28(56%) 17(34%) 4 task (noun) ta:sk 1 i)'te:sk ii)'ta:sk 11(22%) 39(78%) i)te:sk ii)ta:sk 11(22%) 39(78%) 5 one (pronoun) wʌn 1 i)'wæn ii)'wɒn 7(16%) 42(84%) i)wæn ii)wɒn 7(16%) 42(84%) 6 determined (verb) dɪ'tɜ:min 3 i)dɪta:'min d ii) dɪ'ta:'mind iii) dɪ'tɜ:mind 26(52%) 13(26%) 11(22%) i) di:ta:mi:nd ii) dɪ'ta:mind iii) dɪtɜ:mind 26(52%) 13(26%) 11(22%) 7 carry (verb) 'kæri 2 i)'ka'ri ii) 'kari 33(66%) 17(34%) i)kari ii) keri 39(78%) 11(22%) 8 correctly (adverb) kə'rekt.li 3 i)kɔ:'rek'tli : ii)kɒ'rek.tli : 37(74%) 13(26%) i)kɔ:rektli: ii)kɒrek.tli: ii)kɒrek.tli ii)kərek.tli 37(74%) 9(18%) 3(6%) 1(2%) 9 interpret (verb) in'tɜ:prit 3 i)in.te'pri:t ii) in'tɜ:prit iii) 'in.'tæ'prit 32(64%) 11(22%) 5(10) 2(4%) i)in.tepri:t ii) intɜ:prit iii) in.ta:prɪt 30(60%) 11(22%) 9(18%) iv) in'tæ'prit 10 communic ate (verb) kə'mju:nikei t 4 i)kɒmjuni' keit ii) kə'mjunike it iii) 'kɒmjuni'k eit 31(62%) 12(24%) 7(14) i)kɒmu:ni:'k et ii) kemju:nikei t iii) kəmju:niket 35(70%) 12(24%) 3(6%) 11 colleagues (noun) 'kɒl.i:gz 2 i) 'kɒl.i:gz ii) 'ko'li:gz iii) 'kɒ'le:giz 25(50%) 23(46%) 2(4%) i) kɒl.i:gz ii) koli:gz iii)kɒle:giz 25(50%) 23(46%) 2(4%) 12 elicit (verb) ɪ'lɪ.sɪt̬ 3 i) e'li:'si:t̬ ii) ɪ:'li:sɪt iii) 'eli.sit̬ 39(78%) 8(16%) 3(6%) i) eli:si;t̬ ii) i:li:sɪt iii) eli.sit̬ 39(78%) 8(16%) 3(6%) 13 boycott (verb) 'bɔikət 2 i) bɔi'kɔ:t ii) 'bɔikət 36(72%) 14(28%) i) bɔikɔ:t ii) bɔikt 36(72%) 14(28%) 14 journals (noun) 'ʤɜ:nəlz 2 i) 'ʤɒna:lz 44(88%) i) ʤona:lz 44(88%) ii) ʤɒ'nælz 6(12) ii) ʤɒnəlz 6(12%) 15 biscuit (noun) 'biskit 2 i) 'bi;s'ki:t ii) bɪs'ki:t iii) 'biskit 46(92%) 17(34%) 4(8%) i) bi:ski:t ii) bɪski:t iii) bɪskit 46(92%) 3(6%) 1(2%) 16 supervisor (noun) 'su:pə.vai.zə 4 i) su:pə.'vai.z ɒ ii)'su:pə.vai .zɒ 41(82%) 9(18%) i) su:pa:vai.zɒ ii) su:pɜ.vai.zɒ iii)su:pə.vai. zə 41(82%) 8(16%) 1(2%) 17 proofread (verb) 'pru:f.ri:d 2 i) 'pru:f.ri:d ii) pru:f'ri:d 26(52%) 24(48%) i)pru:fri:d ii)pru:frid 26(52%) 24(48%) 18 work (noun) 'wɜ:k 1 i) 'wɜ:k 50(100% ) i) wek ii)wɔr:k/ wɔ:k 40(80%) 10(20%) 19 professiona lism (noun) pre'feʃ.nəl.i. zəm 6 prɒfeʃɒ'na: 'li:zm 'prɒfeʃɒ'na :'li zm 37(74%) 12(24%) prɒfeʃɔ:na:li :zm prɒfeʃɒna:li :zm 37(74%) iii) prɒ'feʃ.nəl.i. zəm 1(2%) prɒfeʃəna:li: zm 12(24%) 1(2%) 20 wardrobe (noun) wɔ:.drəʊb 2 'wɔ:.drəʊb wɔ:.d'rəʊb 35(70%) 15(30%) wɔ:.drob wɔ:.d'rəʊb 35(70%) 15(30%) the table above shows twenty content words which the participants articulated in a connected speech. none of these words were produced the same way by all the participating english language teachers who serve as models to their secondary school students, and indeed to many other second language (l2) users of english languages in anambra state and beyond. comparing some of their pronunciations with that of sbe, one realizes that there are a lot of differences. variant phoneme realisation in selected english content words the first word on the table, ‘doing’, had variant realizations in its word phoneme content. highest number of the teachers (82%) produced /du:i:ŋ/ replacing the short /ɪ/ in the second syllable with a long /i:/.this was followed by15% of the teachers who realized /du:ɪŋ/ and corresponded with the sbe realization. a few (3%) also inserted a semi vowel /w/ to initiate the second syllable. the word ‘research’ was realized as /ri:sa: ʧ/ (25%),/ri:seʧ/(44%),and /risɜ: ʧ/ (31%) and the last variant is same with sbe. the word ‘herculean’ posed a challenge to a majority of the teachers as it was pronounced as'he'ku:n (4%), hɜ:.'kjeli:n (6%), he'kuliæn (56%), 'he'ku'liæn (34%)and none was able to render the sbe variety. they realised /li:en/ instead of the sbe /li:ən/ and the remaining 4% of the teachers did not even pronounce the last syllable /li:en/, instead, they stopped at the second syllable /kje/ and added the coda /n/ as in /'he'ku:n/. they also stressed the two syllables. the word ‘task’ was rendered as /ta:sk/ by 38 teachers (76%) and/tesk/ by 12 teachers (24%), the second realization corresponding with sbe while ‘carry’ was realized as /ke:ri:/ and /ka:ri:/. there was no uniformity in the realization of ‘determined’ by the teachers. while some produced the first and last syllables of the word with a long /i:/, others realized the sbe version. the second syllable of the word was also variant as a few struggled to produce /ɜ:/ and this also applies to the second syllable of ‘interpret’ and in the production of ‘work’. only 11% of the teachers got the sound /ɜ:/ in ‘interpret’ correctly as the sbe has it. the remaining teachers either pronounced /e/ or /a:/. the difficulty in pronouncing/ɜ:/ has been ascribed to the inexistence of the phoneme in the sound inventory of the aselt’s mother tongue (awonusi, 2004). pronouncing the schwa sound in the first syllables of ‘correctly’ and ‘communicate’was also a challenge. none of the teachers produced a schwa sound in the first syllable of the word ‘correctly’, few teachers realized /ə/ in the last syllable of ‘journals’, second and last syllables of ‘supervisor’ as they are in sbe, instead many replaced it with /ɔ:/ and /a/, /e/ or /a:/ or /ɜ/ respectively, and only 3% produced /ə/ in the first syllable of communicate. this defies udofot (2004) classification of regarding those who studied english language, and possibly teach it,as belonging to sophisticated variety. the /j/ in sbe /kə'mjunikeit/ was deleted and the diphthong /ei/ was reduced to /e/ in many of the participants’ rendition. the /ɪ/ in the last syllable of ‘interpret’, first and second syllables of ‘elicit’ and ‘biscuit’ and fifth syllable of ‘professionalism’, were realized in varieties/i:/, /i/ and /ɪ/. the /əʊ/ in wardrobe was realized in two ways: /o/ and /əʊ/. the differences in the realization of english phonemes by these anambra state english language teachers greatly reveal the variant nature of english sounds students and other l2 speakers in anambra state emulate or are taught. placement of stress in the placing of stress, it was observed that the participants placed stress on syllables of words which were not usually stressed in sbe, and this made their speeches to be predominantly characterised by strong syllables even when weak syllables were required. this contrasts with roach (2008) who says that only one syllable of an english word should attract stress except in a case of emphasis. in the first word on the table, ‘doing’, 82% of the participants placed stress on the two syllables of the word ‘doing’ which gives a recurrence of adjacent strong syllables, and which is not in conformity with the sbe realization. in sbe, only the first syllable is stressed in the word, ‘doing’. the replication of strong syllables is again observed in the following disyllabic words in the continuous speech of these teachers as they read the passage: ‘carry’ in unit 4 was realized as /'kæ'ri/ by66% of the participants; in the context of the utterance, the word ‘research’ belongs to the word class noun, but it is observed that 76% of the teachers produced the us verb form of the word /'ri.sɜ:ʧ/ by placing stress on the first syllable, instead of placing stress on thesecond syllable to derive the noun form. only 24% of the participants stressed the second syllable realizing the sbe noun form of the word / ri'sɜ: ʧ/. roach (2004) says that one of the qualities of a stressed syllable is that the syllable is usually strong and has a higher quality than the unstressed syllable. the syllables of the word ‘herculean’ received stress in variant forms by the teachers. the sbe realizes it as /,hɜ:.kjə'li:.ən; -'kju-/ in isolation placing stress either on the second syllable or second to the last syllable. in connected speech however, sbe places stress on the penultimate syllable of the word. anambra state english language teachers on their part produced four varieties of the word in connected speech. the teachers, 56% of them, placed stress on the second and the last syllables; 34% of them stressed the three syllables realizing three strong syllables not associated with sbe stress placement on words; 6% of the participants produced the sbe stress pattern while the remaining 4% did not pronouncethe word in full, yet stressed the syllables. ‘determined’ was produced by the teachers as /dɪta:'mind; dɪ'ta:'mind; dɪ'tɜ:mind/. /dɪta:'mind/ was produced by 52% of the participants by placing stress on the last syllables of the word which is different from sbe realization; /dɪ'tɜ:min;/ the second variety realised by26% of the teachers has stress placed on the second and last syllables, while 22% of the teachers produced /dɪ'tɜ:mind/ typical of sbe realization. in word number 8, 74% of the participants realised /kɒ'rek'tli:/;/kɒ'rektli/ was realised by 26% of the participants. the three syllables of the word 'i:n'ta:'pri:t were stressed by 10% of the participants;64% of the teachers produced /intæ'pri:t/ stressing the last syllable and the remaining 4% of the teachers stressed the second and the last syllables producing /in'ta:'pri;t/;22%approximated to /in'tɜ:prit/ stressing the penultimate syllables and this correlates with the sbe placement of stress on the word. in 10, the polysyllabic word ‘communicate’ was realised in three varieties by the participants. there was stress placement on the second syllable of ‘communicate’/kə'mjunikeit/by 24% of the participants typical of sbe stress placement. though they were closest to sbe, there was a little variation in phoneme articulation as has been previously explained. /kɒmuni'keit; -ket/was realised by 62% of the teachers who placed stress on the last syllable of the word. the remaining 14% of the participants placed stress on the first and the last syllables realising /'kɒmuni'keit; -ket/. again, the polysyllabic word ‘supervisor’/'su:pə.vaizə/ in unit 18 is realised by the sbe by placing stress on the first syllable. conversely, 82% of the anambra state english language teachers used for this study placed stress on the third syllable /-'vai-/ while the remaining 18% of the teachers realized the sbe variety. in word number 11, two teachers did not realise the two syllables in the word ‘colleagues’ /'kɒl.i:gz/, instead they inserted a third syllable /kɒ'le'gi:s/, as if they wanted to pronounce ‘colleges’, while reading the passage and they stressed the second and last syllables leaving the first unstressed./'kɒl.i:gz/ was reaslised by 50% of the participants while 46% of the participants realised /kɒ'li:gz/. elicit (in number12) is produced as /eli'ci:t/ by 78% of the participants giving a different stress placement from that of sbe that stress the second syllable of the word; 16% of the participants realised /e'licit/ and this corresponds with the sbe version; 6%realised /'elicit/. in unit 11, boycott was realised as /bɔi’kɔ:t/ by 72% of the teachers. they placed stress on the second syllable contrasting the sbe speakers who place stress on the first syllable. the remaining 28% of the teachers however produced the sbe version by placing stress on the first syllable /'bɔikɒt/. in word 14, journals received its stress in different syllables realised by different participants. ‘journal’ has its first syllable stressed by 88% of the participants which concurs with the sbe variety. the remaining 12% of the participants stressed both syllables of the word realizing a recurrence of strong syllables. the first syllable of ‘workshop’ was stressed by 86% which concurs with sbe while 14% of the participants stressed ‘-shop’; 52% of the participants stressed ‘proof’ in ‘proofread’ leaving the second syllable unstressed while 48% of the teachers stressed the second syllable leaving the first unstressed;70% of the teachers stressed the first syllable in ‘wardrobe’ and did not stress the second syllable while the remaining30% of the teachers stressed the second syllable and did not stress the first syllable. finally, in the six-syllabic word ‘professionalism’ in number 21, 74% of the participants realised /prɒ.fe.ʃɒ'na:'li:.zm/ placing stress on the fourth and fifth syllables; 24% of the participants realised /'prɔ:.fe.ʃɒ'na:'li:.sim / placing stress on the first, fourth and fifth syllables. the other 2% placed stress only on the second syllable which is in accordance with the sbe realization /prə'feʃ.nə.li.sm/. conclusion the purpose of this study was to analyse and describe the pronunciation patterns of content words in connected speech by anambra state english language teachers. from the renditions got from the teachers through their reading a prepared passage containing target data, it was revealed that the majority of the english language teachers had their stress placement of words and phoneme realisations far from the sbe, and may not be regarded as belonging to the sophisticated variety as categorized by udofot (2003). they realized adjacent stressed and strong syllables (ss). example: the two syllables of ‘doing’ are stressed by 41 out of 50 teachers while the remaining teachers produced the sbe version. also, in the realisation of english word phonemes, there were alterations: e.g., the schwa sound in the first syllable of ‘correctly’ was pronounced only by one teacher. the rest produced either /ɔ:/ or /ɒ/. as those who are saddled with the responsibility of educating others on how to use the english language, there is need for these teachers to greatly improve in the knowledge and the use of the language, especially in the area of phonetics and phonology, as this area seems to continue to pose a challenge to both the teachers and their students. references adekunle, m.a. (1979). oral english in nigeria: the sociolinguistic realities. lagos review of english studies (lares) 1(1), 11-21. banjo, a. (1971). towards a definition of standard nigerian spoken english. annales de ‘universite d’ abidjan, 24-28. brosnahan, l.f. (1958) english in southern nigeria. journal of english studies. 39, 77-110. chitulu, o.m. and njemanze, q. u.(2015). poor english pronunciation among nigerian esl students; the ict solution. international journal of language and literature, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 169-179. eka, d. (1993). timing in educated spoken nigerian english. journal of humanities, (3), 1-11. olaniyi, o. (2016). a variationist approach to nigerian english phonology. world journal of english language. 6(3), 42-53. jibril, m. (1982). phonological variation in nigerian english. phd dissertation. dept of english. university of lancaster. udofot, i. (2003). stress and rhythm in the nigerian accent of english: a preliminary investigation. english world –wide, 24(2), 201-220. josiah, u.e. (2009). a synchronic analysis of assimilatory processes in educated nigerian spoken english. unpublished phd thesis. ilorin: university of ilorin. an introduction to textile design 202 an introduction to textile design uchechukwu j. ezeemo and rita dike introduction when discussing textiles, one wonders about the meaning and its origin; the word ‘textile’ comes from the latin adjective textilis, meaning ‘woven’ which itself from textus, the past participle of the verb textre, to weave. its origin is as old as the existence of man's creation, probably made of animals’ skin and help to protect early humans from the elements. in textile manufacturing, design is an integral part. design is a composition of various elements into patterns either in two-dimensional or three-dimensional forms. the design elements are line, shape, texture, value, space, form, colour, light and possibly time and motion. getlein (2002) describes the elements as satisfying the artist’s expressive intent. ogumor (2007) defined design as the art of organizing or arranging lines, shapes, motifs, symbols and images to communicate an idea. this chapter focuses on various aspects and techniques of textile design and production. textile design textile design is the process of creating textiles and the patterns on them for knitted, woven and printed fabrics. a design starts with delineations on paper as ezeemo & dike 203 thumbnails, which are developed further with brushes and colours. in recent times textile patterns are designed in vector-based applications on the personal computer. vector graphics is associated with the use of geometrics like lines, points and polygons, beziers, and so on, to create digital shapes. vectors are dependent on mathematical equations which were used to create the programs (onwuekwe, 2012:2). the advantage of vectors is that the scaling of shapes is unlimited, unlike bitmaps which are measured in resolutions. examples of vectorbased applications are coreldraw, adobe illustrator and in-design. when the designs are finalized the designer or a textile company will use cad in the process of creating the finished textiles. textile designs are broken down into three major types and disciplines in textiles. they have printed textiles, woven textiles, and mixed-media textile designs. printed textile design printed textile designs are made by the application of various printing processes to fabric or cloth and other media forms. textile designs are created in the distinct printing process such as resist printing, relief printing, screen printing, transfer printing and digital textile printing, dye-sublimation printing. these processes make use of various inks and dyes to bring out aesthetic imprints and offer repeating patterns, motifs and styles onto the fabric or cloth. an introduction to textile design 204 resist printing: this is a batik or tie-dye printing process that is blocked with wax or tied with rope to prevent dye colour from penetrating through. relief printing: a block plate, substrate, or matrix which has ink applied to its non-recessed surface is brought into contact with the paper. screen printing: this is the process of using mesh to ink or dye onto a substrate through an area made permeable and an area not impermeable by a blocking stencil. artists of pop culture achieved artistic feats using the screen printing process. warhol was a spearhead of the pop movement. with the aid of the available technology – screen printing, warhol was able to gain popularity through the mass production of his art all over new york and the united states at large (onwuekwe, nnoli, and ezemo, 2018:9) heat transfer printing: this is also known as thermal printing thermal-transfer printing and thermal wax transfer is a printing process that transfers wax to an object or garment. digital textile printing technology, on the other hand, is a relatively new design output milestone. it started in the 1970s as a possible replacement for analogue screen printing. with the development of a dyesublimation ezeemo & dike 205 printer in the early 1990s, it became possible to print with low-energy sublimation inks and high-energy disperse direct inks directly onto textile media, as opposed to print dye-sublimation inks on a transfer paper and, in a separate process using a heat press, transfers it to the fabric. charles, et al (2017:62). digital textile printing can also be referred to when scaling and printing smaller designs onto a garment, (tshirt, dresses promotional wear and printing large designs onto large format rolls of textile. dye sublimation printing (or dye-sub printing) is a computer-based printing technique which heat to transfer dye onto materials such as fabric or cloth, plastic cards etc. plate 1: printed textile design. source: zimo textile studio an introduction to textile design 206 woven textile design these are achieved during interlacing a vertical yarn (warp) and horizontal yarn(weft), woven textile designs are created by various types of looms, manual and mechanized or computerized jacquard loom. the designs created within the wave are done, using various types of yarn to achieve variance in texture size, and colour to construct a stylized pattern or monochromatic fabric. plate 2: woven textile design. source: fine and applied arts, textile section nnamdi azikiwe university, awka mixed media textile design this is produced using embroidery or other various fabric manipulation processes such as pleating, appliqué, quilting, embroidery – this is the use of stitches of thread to construct designs and patterns on the textile surface. ezeemo & dike 207 quilting; is the use of coloured fabric pieces in collage and geometric designs formed to achieve various textiles of different textures and colours appliqué is the process of utilizing pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns that are sewn or glued onto a large piece to form a picture or pattern. pleating is a type of fold that is pressed, that is ironed or otherwise heat-set into a sharp crease or impressed, falling soft rounded folds, when sewn are called tucks. plate 3: mixed media textile design. source: zimo textile studio an introduction to textile design 208 evaluation: 1. define textile design 2. explain the types of textile design 3. what is design references ezeemo, u.j (2014). appropriating, discarded materials in the environment as a medium for textile production, mfa thesis, department of fine and applied arts , nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. getlein m. (2002) living with art 6th edition new york, mc graw-hill, publishing co. “textile printing” (2022) https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/digital_textile_printing “textile design” (2022), https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/textile_design “textile” (2022) https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/textile onwuekwe, c.o. (2012), trends in illustration: a digital approach to large format illustrations on igbo folklore. mgbakoigba: journal of african studies. vol. 1(1) onwuekwe, c. o., nnoli b. i. & ezemo, u.(2018), exploring adobe photoshop and coreldraw applications in enhancing imagery for screen printing on t-shirts. ajofaa 5(2). awka: netizens print media. “sublimation printing” (2022) https://www.kornit.com/blog/grosssary-item/dyesublimation stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 1 stereotyped nigeria: religion & ethnicity as identity politics innocent-franklyn ezeonwuka phd, mhs stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 2 © innocent-franklyn ezeonwuka phd, mhsn 08033096134 egbuacho@gmail.com vol. 1, august 2018 isbn: 978-978-56834-6-2 all rights reserved no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. published by: arise and shine press, c.m.o. shopping complex, regina ceali road, awka, anambra state, nigeria. 08067561837, 08066671534 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 3 dedication in loving memory of my dad, chief i.a. ezeonwuka (your dreams are on course!) stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 4 acknowledgements along the course of my bumpy scholarly excursion, my gratitude goes to my god and creator, who is my all. j.c. and my mercurial children are not forgotten, while pat, chike and chinwe remain strategically available. noble lady alice ezeonwuka, already in your nineties; thanks mum for your prayers! to my friends, though the roll-call is challenging, i must continue to wish you good! innocent-franklyn ezeonwuka phd, mhsn stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 5 preface from 1914 when the nigerian project came into being, and up till the present, it has continued to subsist on a faulty conspiratory agenda. in a human body, auto-rejection becomes a life threatening course when there is practically no desire or will to tryout other reasonable alternatives. humans are driven by interests, and the ambivalence of human interests is not questionable. since the actualization of these interests are dictated by the chess game that is socialization and politics, the focal point must revolve on identity consult. under identity, the persona, selfhood and socio-cultural appurtenances inextricably linked to issues of power, value systems and ideology revolve. identity is undoubtedly a historically and socially constructed concept. nigeria’s redundant mission in state craftry and development is cumulatively systemic, and the prognosis is simply poor. clandestine external interests have continued to stoke the sharp edges of prebendal divisions domestically, thereby reenacting national discord, suspicion and acrimony. no true nigerian identity and patriotism can emerge as long as religion remains the ‘opium’, that is made to run through the ethnic arteries of the disparate peoples occupying the innermost part of the gulf of guinea stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 6 table of contents dedication 3 acknowledgements 4 preface 5 chapter one: introduction 7 conceptual clarifications 13 theoretical guide 19 chapter two: the politics of ‘hide and seek’ 27 chapter three: structural implosion 38 chapter four: implications (reflections) 56 chapter five: conclusion and recommendations 83 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 7 chapter one introduction some nations and sovereignties may have to pass through persistent, complex and terrible revolutionary challenges before attaining cohesion and development, while a few others may not. the complexities and dimensions manifested by the litany of crises and disturbances within the nigerian polity points to deep-seated lack of trust, suspicion and an eclipse of fraternal confidence amongst the diverse cultural and religious entities inhabiting the area. these discordant tunes have continued to exert its toll considerably on human and material resources, hence a deadly threat to the functionality and structural existence of the country. ethnoreligious divide remain the identified issue, fanned by indoctrinated stereotype and primordialism. unfortunately, nigeria has remained one of the most controversial plural societies in the world today. pre and post-independence in 1960, the annals of nigeria’s history is replete with ethnicoriented disturbances. ethnic chauvinism, in addition to many ethical crises are created, setting off multiple ripples. the ‘one nigeria’ mantra has become nothing but a pure sarcasm, just as unity and peace in nigeria appears dead. ethnic politics and polarization along primordial cleavages is not new in nigeria, but the dilemma is the momentum with which stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 8 it is unfolding, day by day. fairness, equity and meritocracy have been banished on the altar of faulty federalism. all these have bequeathed on the nation incongruous and inept leadership with myriads of negative implications. there is practically no nigerian in nigeria, and this is daily stringently propelled by the challenges of massive population growth, unimaginable rate of unemployment and insecurity, added with the ever rising debt profile. most scholars are of the view that british imperial presence had been felt in the area that later became nigeria as from the middle of the 19th century. the same set of scholars also accent to the fact that despite the above, british colonial administration officially commenced in nigeria on 1st january, 1900 vis a vis the eventual termination of the royal charter previously granted the royal niger company to administer the area on behalf of the british government. to effectively secure administrative convenience, imperialist britain not only adopted the policy of divide and rule, but went deeper into the colonial scheme by applying the marriage of convenience of primordially independent nationalities. thus britain deliberately placed some ethnic nationalities at vantage positions over the existing groups, since this lopsided arrangement was done without consultations from involved groups. such was the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914. it may be poignant to note that prior to this incident, through the land and native rights ordinance of 1910, the british colonial power not only tried to separate the northern stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 9 ethnic groups from their southern compatriots, but went ahead to discourage the migration of southerners to the north (international idea, 200:23). this policy gave birth to the sabon gari system that became prevalent in many northern nigeria cities as from 1911. such divisiveness aided british perpetual grip and manipulation of nigeria. nevertheless, ample historical evidences show that ‘nigerians’ have fairly interrelated harmoniously for centuries, before being brought together in a new modern nation state, but the caveat is not on the basis of ethnicity or religion. expatiating on this, usman stated that: the privacy source of our history showed that the fluid boundaries of the ethnic divide were very rarely conterminous with the boundaries of the polities, intensive migration, extensive networks of division of labor and commerce did not allow for the emergence of ethnically monolithic polities. (usman, 2002:17). ethnicity, ethnic politics and religious bigotry became lethal weapons purposely to create evidence-based fruits of the divisive and discordant seeds sown by imperialist britain which emphasized cultural and linguistic differences (hamman, 2003:10), hence condensing and raining sociopolitical upheavals in nigeria. cultural and linguistic differences were glaringly emphasized, while communal sentiments got encouraged (nnoli, 1978:113); mistrust and stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 10 suspicion came to the fore, leading to the poisoning of interethnic relations within and between nigeria’s regions. it was therefore the colonialist that created nigeria’s ethnic consciousness through the use of local authority structure of divide and rule, and as the indigenous political class intensified their struggle to inherit power from the departing colonialist, ethno-religious cleavages got aggravated. nigeria’s political history is replete with british and selfinflicted errors and anomalies which got willfully absorbed into its pathology overtime. in its more than 58 years of existence post its pseudo-independence, nigerians have had to contend with the vicious vissititudes of the 1960s political unrests, a 30 months genocidal civil war, miss-rule, suppression and oppression under the almost 30 years military administration, terrorism, human rights abuse, poverty and classical underdevelopment. the ambitious military in their ignoble incursion into governance on the platform of their spurious claims, ended up heightening and fuelling ethnic polarization and democratic agitation in the country. ethnoreligious identity became the footstool of these generals; hence a scholar was irked to lend credence to this noting that; the escalation of ethnic and regional symbolism can also be connected to the patronage of sectarian, ethnic and religious organizations and the extension of largess to their leaders by the regimes of general babangida and abacha, which went around in circles looking for legitimacy even at the stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 11 expense of undermining national unity. they made ethno-religious basis relevant in the recruitment of their agents (kazah-toure, 1999:144). amidst myriads of absurdities and national governance antithecal to internationally acceptable human standards, nigeria has staggered into its fourth republic all the more dazed with unprecedented level of ethno-religious altecation, violence and mayhem. the boko haram continuous depredations mostly in nigeria’s north-east is turning out to be a child’s play vis a vis the emerging trend of ethnic and culture-group oriented killings and cleansing enveloping certain parts of the nation’s middle belt region, including some parts of the core northern states. it is sad to observe that this scenario is hatched and executed over an atmosphere of grave state silence and non-intervention. nigeria is bleeding profusely, and sentiments are emotionally feeding fat from the daily butchery of fellow paternal relations and religious adherents in cold blood. in the midst of this squalor, nigeria’s democratic aberration has continued to midwife the nation’s political challenges to grow in leaps and bounds so much so that apart from the military imposition of the 1979 constitution on the populace, the emergent political parties post 1979, have continued to tow the ethnic angles (unity party of nigeria-west, nigeria people’s party-east, national party of nigeria-north). while hinging on this development, it may be recalled and asserted stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 12 that post-independence in the 1960s, nigeria’s nationhood took the slippery political road of nepotism, ethnocentrism and primordial inclinations, hence this polarity vehemently became manifest in the igbo union from the east, the arewa group from the north and the omo oduduwa from the west, among others. suffice it to say that the existing political parties then, either by design or coincidence, ended up towing these ethnic colourations. this bad sequel ended up creating an atmosphere of distrust. presently, in the year 2018 to be precise, nigeria could boast of harbouring 91 registered political parties, a population of more than two hundred million citizens and a prospective economic base; but the drawback on its developmental strides is its stereotyped ethno-religious inclinations, hence the political class, the elite and the leadership steering the ship of state have largely remained retrogressive, disoriented and incongruent to the needs and demands of 21st century nationhood. when leadership impunity remains widespread, the judicial and legislative caution, control and regulation appear a mirage, an atmosphere of political apathy and hopelessness is bound to dominate the land, moreso where the polity appears overpoliced, but simply under-secured. the citizenry are bound to react in various ways, either through political dejection and apathy or organized agitations and demands for better alternative conditions in the face of perceived abject state marginalizations. these agitations have grown over the years in both complexities and sophistication, from passive to violent formats in almost all parts of nigeria stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 13 – from the terror-laden approach of the boko haram in the north east, to the threat-based strategy of the indigenous people of biafra in the south east and the melodramatic approach of the odua people’s congress of the south west to mention but a few; nigeria’s political environment is simply in a combustible mode. in the midst of this agitations, consultations still engage the many polarized ethno-religious groups operating within the nigerian environment – arewa, ohaneze, pandev, afenifere, mend, the christian association of nigeria (can) and the supreme council for islamic affairs.when many groups agitate and clamour for self-determination or restructuring at the same time within a particular political polity, the problem must be endemic and terminal, hence the dire need for sincere observation and proportionate attention. stereotyped nigeria factually is wallowing in the challenges of ethnicity, religious inclination and primordialism, hence lacking in a clear-cut political identity, since the interactive currencies are fear, prejudice and discrimination. conceptual clarifications stereotype the term ‘stereotype’ was first introduced by a journalist, walter lippmann, who referred to it as ‘the picture in the head’ that you have of a particular group of people (smith: 1998). once aware that a person belongs to a particular group, stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 14 one tends to ascribe to him behaviour considered in the common group. a stereotype is a set of characteristics attributed to all members of same group, which characteristics that departs from ‘reality’ through restructuring, curtailing and deforming it (preiswerk et al: 1978). the user of the stereotype often believes he is giving a straight forward description, infact, he places a mold over a reality, which that mold cannot contain. (preiswerk et al: 1978). there are both negative and positive stereotypes. it helps people predict the behavior of the person, group or community they are observing. the importance of predicting or informing someone’s behavior could be one of the reasons why a stereotype maybe maintained despite evidence of its inaccuracy. whether positive or negative, stereotypes are considered to be very harmful, because it takes away one’s ability to treat each member of a group as a distinct individual. (inweregbu, 2006). whereas historians are of the opinion that stereotypes spring from past events, from the political point of view, it could be a means by which groups in power come to rationalize war, religious intolerance and economic oppression (sharon et al: 1979). religion religion maybe explained as a cultured system of designated behaviours, practices, supplications, world views, texts, sanctified places, prophesies, ethics or organizations that claims to relate humanity to certain powers above him, including the supernatural, transcendental or spiritual elements (ezeonwuka, 2018:15). an elusive and imprecise stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 15 concept, religion lacks objectivity and is largely driven by emotion (egwu, 2001, agarwal et al, 1994). adeniyi (1993), attempted a contribution to this concept when he defined religion as a body of truths, laws and rights by which a man is subordinated to a transcendent being. drawing similar conclusions, peter (1998), conceptualized religion as a system of symbols which act to establish powerful, pervasive, longlasting mood and motivations in men, by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence, and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that moods and motivations seen uniquely realistic. alanamu (2004), prefers seeing religion as involving both the material and the spiritual context; exhibits institutions and officials on the one hand, while undertaking the spiritual engagement on the other, thereby claiming to be characterized by supernatural and sacred transcendalities simultaneously. though there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion, one thing is clear; faith plus reason enmeshed in sacred histories and narratives, accompanied by prayer patterns, rituals, sacrificial ways, commemoration and veneration of deities, all aim to give meaning to life. this bond between man and higher beings elicits virtue and awe vis a vis the individual’s broad social obligations to family, neighbours and then god. religion, just like nationality, race or ethnicity, creates and involves a distinct identity built and sustained by doctrines. emotions, expressions, anxieties and misfortunes, including the unknown bedeviling human existence are easily accommodated and packaged into ideals, stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 16 and such utopian imagery remains the pivotal force, strongly convincing and embellished with euphoric assurances of superfluous rewards, mostly under extreme application, beclouds rational thinking, hence could comfortably drive and determine individual or group actions. most world religions demand total compliance and obedience to certain dogmatic principles. of great importance are certain lofty mundane observances and promises which equip devotees with the singular conviction that theirs is the ultimate, hence every other religion is a farce. religion is the end product of not only man’s fear of the unknown, but his acknowledgement of the ‘possibility of a superior being’ that could be involved in deciding or relatively manipulating not only his earthly life, but his eternity. sequel to the selfish and exploitative tendencies imbued in man, religion provides the platform for not only a pyramidal leadership, but the smooth and pervasive indoctrination and control of followership by a select few through stipulated dogma, preserved and protected with ‘invoked awe’. religious intolerance is blind refusal to understand, respect and [accommodate] views or positions that are opposed to one’s cherished religious views (alanamu, 2006:607). along the same pedestal, ekwunife submits that, religious intolerance is a blind and fixated mental and psychological negative attitude towards religious beliefs and practices (ekwunife, 1993:20). such negative attitudes exhibit themselves in situations whereby leaders or groups in any society blindly refuse to understand and respect contrary stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 17 religious views and practices, except the ones they consider to be true. intolerance could degenerate further and deeper into series of violence and utter destruction of lives and properties, when driven by extremism or fundamentalism. at this juncture, action becomes deliberate, accompanied by suicidal recourse most especially when a particular individual or group selfishly and dangerously manipulate this ‘opium’ with their wand, after all, the available raw materials (the ignorant and uneducated poverty-stricken gullible masses are in abundance (ezeonwuka, 2014:46). in the context of this study, with due reference to place and time, militant islam with its contemporary global resurgence and sectarian depredations presents a perfect picture. ethnicity ethnicity has a common meaning, though various analysts and scholars on the subject have approached it through various schools of thought: instrumentalism, essentialism, constructivism and institutionalism. the instrumentalists are of the view that ethnic differences are manipulated by the ambition of individuals to attain their selfish interests. essentialism refers to the principle of primordialism, which implies that ethnic identities are unchanging. the third intends on having knowledge of the origins of ethnic groups, and has linked this identity ‘constructs’ or ‘invent’ to the activities of colonialists, missionaries, among others. institutionalists, states the pivotal roles of political institutions and policies in the shaping of ethnic relations. the concept of ethnicity is undoubtedly a social phenomenon associated with stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 18 certain levels of distinctiveness, communal segregation and competition among members of different ethnic groups. it draws a significant picture of belonging to and having sentimental loyalty to a group, and in drawing and exercising such attachment, identity and exclusiveness would easily provide distinctiveness and sacrosanct pride. laying more credence to this, (sanda, 1972:32) posits that an ethnic group consists of interacting members who define themselves as belonging to a named or labeled social group, with whose interest they identity, and which manifests certain aspects of a unique culture, while constituting a part of a wider society. an ethnic group could refer to a set of people who share one or more of the following characteristics; race, religion, paternal origin, language and cultural traditions. omu (1992:170), further expatiates that ethnicity applies to the consciousness of belonging to, identifying with, and being loyal to a social group distinguished by shared cultural traditions, a common language, in-group sentiment and selfidentity.it may be observed that the concept of ethnicity changes status or acquire passionate and aggressive attributes when new elements enter into the relationships. these elements include: socio-economic and political competition, fear of domination and closer group interaction, fostered by the logic of urbanization and internal migration. this development leads to the explosive interplay of inter-group relations to certain notational characters and features, such as ethnocentrism, prejudice and discrimination. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 19 ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that one’s culture or way of life is superior to another’s. it is the tendency of human groups to judge external phenomena with reference to attitudes and values that are specific to the group, hence (akinwumi, 2004) opine that ethnocentrism is an outlook in which one’s own group is the centre of everything, and all others scaled and rated with reference to it. it usually takes the form of a wariness and distrust of outside groups and a belief in the unquestionable superiority of one’s own people. prejudice on the other hand is a negative attitude towards an entire category of individuals who have characteristics in common that is not shared by all people; as such it results in three components: affective, cognitive and behavioral. the affective component concerns how much the person likes or dislikes the attitude-object, person, group, things or situation; the cognitive component consists of the persons beliefs about the attitude/object, while the behavioral component concerns the way a person feels that he or she should act towards the attitude/object (encyclopedia americana 545a). discrimination could be seen as any behavior that excludes members of a group from certain rights, opportunities or privileges resulting from prejudicial attitudes. it is assumed that in most instances, prejudice creates discrimination and people tend to associate better and easily with individuals who possess similar beliefs, attitudes and values. dislike for members of another group is not merely on ethnic or group dissimilarities, but rather on perceived-belief dissimilarity. in ethnocentrism, both prejudice and discrimination hibernate stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 20 and provide accelerative fuel and direction. suffice it to say that the danger with ethnocentrism lies in the fact that an assumption often becomes a conviction; that the values and culture of one’s group are superior to those of others, while those of others are looked upon with disapproval, scorn and even contempt (summer, 1955:10). on its positive side, ethnocentrism keeps a group together, while on the negative angle, it is the root of inter-group prejudices and antagonism. a group exaggerates its good qualities while deriding others, hence stimulating disharmony and altercation between groups. eyo identifies psychological fear as the cause of ethnicity when he said: ...at the root of ethnicity’s fear, fear of the unknown, fear of losing the predictability of one’s way of behavior..., fear of having one’s established values changed, thus cutting one adrift in a wider and more uncharted sea called nigeria that seems to lack and articulate goal and value system, fear of competition for scarce resources and a lot of other fears that maybe explicit or implicit (eyo, 1980:8). tracing and highlighting one’s indigenous identity has continued to be a major priority amongst nigerians, just as the anticipated unity and elasticity of nationhood has been buried, long gone and forgotten, hence ethnicity has given rise to ethnocentrism. identity politics requires one to descend stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 21 and highlight his primordial attachment which include thought pattern, language, laid down values, including biological affinity, which introduces once more the issue of ethnicity. primordialism assumes ethnic identity as fixed, once it is constructed. to a large extent, belief in the primordialist argument of kinship, historical traditions and homeland accounts of several ethnic groups not only encourages, but creates an enduring strength and a lasting elastic commitment to an ethnic identity, hence it is more endearing than the ethnic theories of constructivism and instrumentalism. in the arena of identity politics, primordialism goes a long way in establishing the ‘dangerous’ and irreconcilable cultural differences between ‘us’ and ‘them’. theoretical guide since challenges could come in the form of discrimination, inhibition and antagonism, it pre-supposes that it could degenerate to violence (physical and psychological). the relevance of marx’s class struggle, frustration/aggression, interdependence/mutual aid, including the hobbesian natural anarchy theories to this exposition is not in doubt, but it should be noted that consensus and conflict maybe polar opposites, but neither alone can offer full explanations for the changing nature, pattern and scope of inter-group relations in 21st century nigeria. violence could be structurally rationalized on the basis of greed, grievances and the correction of prevailing social injustice and inequalities. painting a picture simply based on the behavioural patterns of stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 22 human societies with other groups, not only appears stratificatious in structure, but could end with limited perspective sequel to its myopic gaze on human relations based on role and statutes. unarguably, this study falls within the armbit of social conflicts theories, and specifically closest to the frustration/aggression and conflict trap analytical fields. the subsisting ‘state of order’ in nigeria is not only fragile, but cumulatively negates universally genuinely acceptable common standards, hence abundant vestiges of, and sustained evidence of ‘state terror’ on the citizenry have continued to create a psychopolitical chasm in the minds of the populace. ill-motivated and uncared for, and with common expectation continuing to be distanced from attainment and actual need – satisfaction, the tendency and greater chances that anger and violence will result (gurr, 1970:24). aggression in which ever form it manifests, appears to always be the product of frustration, rather than a mere natural instinct or biological reaction, moreso where and when legitimate desires are for long directly or indirectly denied due to certain structural discrepancies within a society. this is apparently clear since it is known that the disparate culture groups within the nigerian geographical space were selfishly lumped together in an imperialist ‘pax britanicca’ colonialist programme devoid of any indigenous awareness or consultations. the importance and place of socio-economic factors and forces in the contentious issues of politics, governance, religion and ethnicity, in many post-independent plural sovereignties stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 23 remains a running sore. this becomes apparently trivial when evaluated with the stagnating identity of such economies, the former colonizing power is still allowed to exploitatively maintain a domineering influence through the imposition of preferred ethno-religious cleavages on the particular polity. reactions to such could either be passively aggressive or locally violent, as a let out of prolonged feelings of frustration. one cannot easily ignore the recurrent emergence of the many ethno-religious inclined pressure groups whose antics and statements sometimes tend to challenge the structural fabrics of nigeria’s nationhood and federation, just as the boko haram elements still remain focused on their violent strategy. such groups as earlier mentioned include – arewa from the north, odua group (opc) from the west, pandev from the middle belt, mend from the southsouth, ipob and massob from the east, including the supreme council for islamic affairs and the christian association of nigeria. the shiite and the miyetti allah imbroglio are not left out. be that as it may, this study is fully anchored on conflict trap theory. it is considered a functional apparatus criticus precisely because of its conceptional elasticity and heuristic coherence in the examination of a complex and multidimensional phenomenon as ethno-religious challenges in a stereotyped colonially-contrapted bottled cultural diversity, moreso in a tactile and tangled 21st century global developments. exponents of the conflict trap theory include harvard hegre, u.l. flliot, p. collier, aikle ikeffler, stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 24 reginald-queroluid and nicholas sambanis. they opine that once a conflict has erupted, it tends to develop a momentum of its own. peace seemingly becomes elusive and hard to restore. even when peace is restored, it often does not endure (collier et al. 2003). conflict trap exponents ascribe the lengthy pattern of typical conflicts to a number of interlocking factors, most especially, they believe that conflicts in multi-ethnic societies endure as a valuable tool for massaging, rallying, mobilizing and galvanizing ethnic sentiments for both the warring groups and the government. moving on, they still contend that where the population has significant grievances, conflict serves as an effective political strategy towards the pursuit of their goal, objectives and interests, though the seeming difficulty for those in authority and power to concede to the demands of the group may not always be assured, since such may encourage the flowering, proliferation, mushrooming and radicalization of other groups, which often have opposing objectives. again, a lengthy conflict is determined by the response of state institutions and apparatus, availability of fund for sustaining the conflict and accessibility of arms to the warring parties. when weak state institutions – security and legal departments prove incapable of deterring, apprehending, reforming or containing violators of the laws, belligerents tend to be emboldened and imperious, thereby widening and taking the conflict to the next level. a poignant referral to the lengthy pattern of conflict lies in the fact that such a conflict has occurred, a template is raised and established, hence stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 25 making it difficult to return to status quo. in buttressing this view, collier et al observed thus: violence entrepreneurs, whether primarily politi cal or primarily commercial may gain from conflict to such an extent that they cannot credibly be compensated sufficiently to accept peace. those who see themselves as political leaders benefit from war because they can sustain their organization in hierarchical military style with power concentrated in their own hands (collier et al, 2003:12). when violence leaders already perceive their selfish economic loss and redundancy when peace is arranged and achieved consciously or otherwise, their tantrums and cooperation may actually negate real peace. the strategic importance of, and the ontological demands of inter-group relations to nigeria’s corporate existence and development vis a vis the sustained contemporary ethno-religious challenges and its wholesome implications to aspired nationhood can only be fully appreciated and evaluated with due recourse to underscoring and offering deep insight to the myriad of interlocking factors that sustain conflict. conflict trap theory presupposes that once conflict has occurred, it lengthens and becomes challenging to restore peace on account of religious pluralism, proliferation of arms, existence of income disparities, weak state institution and the activities of criminal entrepreneurs. this tool, through its viable perspectives stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 26 would help this study to appreciate the sustained stereotyped ethno-religious challenges in nigeria as either perfunctory, deficient, restrictive, illuminating or contemporary. in so doing, the implicit fallouts would apparently become bare. references adeniyi, m.o. (1993) “religion and politics: a birds eye view of development in nigeria” in akannmidu, r.a et al (eds.) religion and politics in nigeria. ilorin: nigerian association for the study of religion (nasr). akinwumi, o. (2004) crisis and conflicts in nigeria: a politi cal history since 1960. usa: transaction publishers collier, paul et al (2003) breaking the conflict trap: civil war and development policy. washington: the world bank. egwu, s.g. (2001) ethnic and religious violence in nigeria. jos: st. stephen inc. book house. ekwunife, a. (1993) “politics and religious intolerance: the nigeria situation” in abubakre, r.d et al (eds.) religion and politics in nigeria (ilorin: nasr). stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 27 encyclopedia americana (2015) washington d.c.: webster publications inc. eyo, i.i. (1980) article in readings in social sciences (amucheazi, e.c. edition) enugu: fourth dimension publishers. ezeonwuka, i.f. (2018) “ethno-religious challenges in 21st century nigeria.” practicum psychologia. journal publication of the department of psychology, nnamd iazikiwe university, vol. 8 no. 1. ezeonwuka, i.f. (2014) indoctrination: the psychopathology of international terrorism and insurgency (the 5th generation wars) practicum psychologia journal, vol. 4. gurr, t.r. (1970) why men rebel. princeton: princeton university press. inweregbu, a (2006) ‘stereotypes and inter-ethnic interactions in nigeria: a psychological perspective’ in akinwumi et al (eds.) inter-group relations in nigeria during the 19th and 20th centuries. makurdi: aboki publishers. kazah-toure, t. (1999) the political economy of ethnic conflict and governance in southern kaduna, nigeria: de-constructing a contested terrain. africa development.vol. xxiv, nos. 1 & 2. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 28 nnoli, o. (1978) ethnic politics in nigeria. reverse edition enugu: fourth dimension publishers. omu, f. (1992) “ethnicity, nationalism and federalism in foundations of nigerian federalism1900 – 1960 vol. 2 .j.i eliagwu and r.a. akindele (eds.) abuja: national council on intergovernmental relations. peter, v.v. (1998) “religion” in barnard, a. et al (eds.) encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology. newyork: routhedge. preiswerk, r. and penot, d. (1978) ethnocentrism and history. new york: nok publishers. sanda, a.o. (1972) ed. ethnic relations in nigeria, ibadan: the caxton press ltd. sharon, s. b. and saul, m.k. (1979) social psychology. usa: houghton mifflin usman, y.b. (2002) “the violent communal conflicts in the central nigerian uplands and the middle belt basin in a historical perspective” paper presented at the presidential retreat on peace and conflict resolution in some central states of nigeria institute for policy and strategic studies, kuru, nigeria. 24th january, 2002. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 29 chapter two the politics of ‘hide and seek’ the greater challenge to the world community in this century is how to promote harmonious relations between peoples of disparate histories, languages and religions, who find themselves intertwined in a single state (augustine, 2003). starting from the colonial period, nigeria has not only been a bad brand in homogenous plurality, but an item of display in ethnic rivalries; mainly between the hausa-fulani in the north against the yoruba in the west, and the igbo in the east. these ethnic polarizations from the beginning led to the creation of political parties which inevitably were polarized along stereotyped culture lines, hence divisiveness got entrenched in the political geography of the country. possessing one of the highest number of political parties in the world, nigeria’s developmental economy is repulsively retrogressive even with an estimated national population of above a hundred and eighty million in the first quarter of the twenty-first century. one may not be wrong to say that from stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 30 on start, the contrapted effigy termed ‘nigeria’ in 1914 had already started manifesting clear signs and symptoms of pathophysiological auto-rejection, even as it went through the political baptism of 1960 independence, onwards to the depredations of the ‘wild wild west’ in the western parts of nigeria, the 1963 national census imbroglio, the emergent intractile corruption and nepotism, the january 15th 1966 coup d’etat, the penultimate igbo pogrom, including the three years genocidal war against the easterners of the 1960s. it may be recalled that nigeria has along its course of history flirted with the unitary system of governance, romanticized with the parliamentary, while solemnizing with the presidential system in its strides as a portent federation. fully and odiously aware of its endemic problems and challenges, and ominously poised strategically towards entertaining and dislodging any potential proactive solution, the melodrama has been that of deceit and delay through the application of, and reliance on half measures. even before 1960, nigeria’s faulty physiognomy did create and stir worrying questions from many elites in the country’s north and south, but the british amoral and vaulting machinations and interests cocooned it. separatists demands and yearnings got reclined, readjusted and fixated, opting rather to meander out as pacification from above in the form of ‘state creation’. undoubtedly, this policy would have helped the nation’s democratic setting, by lending voice to the minority culture groups, but was later hijacked by the powers that be. towards dousing fulminating tensions, emanating stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 31 from perceived further political marginalisation, and geared towards maintaining nigeria’s stability, the following technocratic prescriptions were administered as remedies – federal character principle, quota system and resource derivation policy, among others. dotted in the pages of pre-independence nigerian history are the many ‘separatist’ musings and rantings, quelled and repackaged as ‘state creation movements and vanguards’. at the beginning of 1952, the following groups became vehemently occupied with this quest: benin – delta peoples party (bdpp), calabar – ogoja – rivers movement (cor), and by march 6th 1956, one mallam ibrahim imam tabled a motion, requesting that the issue of the creation of middle belt state be officially considered on the floor of the northern house of assembly (ekanade; 2015:158). in august, 1959, some anioma communities in the present day delta and edo states were carved out of the core igbo heartland, despite protests from the anioma traditional rulers then to the british colonial authorities, while a large chunk of ezza community in the present ebonyi state was allotted to the present day benue state. the frenzy and incipient apprehension such moves stirred amongst the populace greatly generated dangerous passionate feelings of marginalization and domination in most minority culture groups, hence the colonial government set up the willinks commission to ascertain the feasibility and strength of such agitations. apart from acclaiming certain levels of stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 32 credibility to these agitations by this commission, coupled with the outright rejection of the willink commissions boundary adjustment report by these agitators, it was observed that in the bizzare contests between the regions in the first republic, politicians used ‘self-determination’ as a bait to attract minority voters away from the regional majority party (peil; 1976:85). since ‘rights’ drives the vehicle of justice, and since the issue of rights connote the unobstructed ability to choose or decide for oneself from a series of alternatives, chief amongst these rights just as the political discourse in the aftermath of the second world war put it, was the right of diverse people to self-determination. in nigeria, issues of self-determination have been a perennial accoutrement of the country’s political architecture since the onset of the colonial state, hence in the immediate aftermath of the amalgamation act of 1914, a notable northern nationalist, ahmadu bello, had insisted that; lord lugard and his amalgamation were far from popular among us at that time. there were agitations in favour of secession, we should set up on our own, we should cease to have anything more to do with the southern people, we should take our own way. (tamuno: 1970). it has remained a proven fact that the sword of separation and self-determination have been brandished by the many minority groups in nigeria early enough and by the bigger stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 33 ethnic nationalisties – the yoruba, hausa and igbo, throughout the colonial and immediate post-colonial era, (dudley, 1982: 63; ayoade, 1973:68; suberu, 1999:391). the law of self-preservation spurs man to apply all his strength to abhor what will destroy him. this basic tendency towards securing life, its survival and flourishing are encapsulated in self-determination, and a tendency towards breaking away; an instinct of self-preservation, triggered by the fear of forces against human life. shortly after nzeogwu’s january 15th bloody coup, separatist demand assumed a militaristic, not an outright rebellious dimension. on february 23rd 1966 isaac adaka boro, an ijaw former student of the university of nigeria, nsukka and an indigene of the niger delta area, hastened to arms against the nigerian state on the account of the deprivation of the region. boro sought for the outright secession of the ijaw nation from the nigerian body politic, charging his men to ‘fight for your freedom’ (kalu; 2008:175). by the same token, taking into cognizance the litany of events that cascaded the country eventually into a bloody civil war, and the resultant igbo attempt to actualize their right to self-determination, rather than heed to the plain need for proper solution, the gowon regime clandestinely complicated the problems through a nefarious state creation exercise. apart from the creation of the twelve states imbroglio while hostilities raged on between the eastern region and the nigerian government, a deliberate designated partitioning programme was strategically embarked on even as the war ended, to remove the igbo stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 34 advantage of posing as the highest oil producing region hence:in 1976, ahoada, obigbo and port harcourt were ceded to ijaw dominated rivers state (thus separating oil rich obigbo in aba division of old imo state from their ndoki and azumini kith and kin); olugbu an oil and gas rich ndoki community was ceded to akwa ibom state, the egbema community of old imo state was balkanized into three parts, with the highest oil producing area ceded to rivers state, whereas ndoni who are kiths and kin to ogbaru community of anambra state was carved out of aboha, and ceded to rivers state. just as the ghost of self-determination and separation have been held down from nigeria’s pre-independence period uptill the present twenty-first century, through the chess board of state creation and massive realignment of paternal affinities, the quota system and federal character principle became handy as veritable tools for domestic equity. this frenzy was fed by northern fears, having been warned by the british ‘not to lose the federal civil service in its anxiety to northenise its own service’, and afraid of southern domination in an independent nigeria (albert, 1998). it may be recalled that in 1950, the north had at the ibadan constitutional conference, through the emir of zaria, seconded by the emir of katsina raised the issue of equal representation for the north in the forthcoming central legislature, or in the alternative, the secession of the north (osuntokun, 1979:101). under the threat of northern secession, the colonial government, the eastern and western stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 35 regions quickly capitulated to the northern demands of parliamentary equality to the south, hence other areas soon fell, to the quota system, like in the army (adekanye, 1998; adejumobi, 2002), and in office distribution (orji 2008; osaghae 1989). by the turn of the seventies, quota was being used actively for admission into tertiary federal inst itutions (mustapha, 2004:34). the overwhelm-ing southern despondency with the quota was without doubt, but it was bound to remain largely helpless in the face of an overwhelming northern political strength, homogeneity and determination to prevent southern political hegemony over the ‘caliphate’. despite its lack of motivation and spirit of competition in the sphere of national development, the military regime under murtala muhammed went on to garb and enshrine it into the nigerian constitution, under the guise of the federal character principle. since the federal character principle oscillates on the pedestral of equitable resource distribution and representation, and since such does not necessarily translate into operating from the national ‘commanding height’, overtime, same minority groups vehemently instituted a sustained agitation (passive and aggressive) towards readdressing revenue distribution vis a vis resource derivation. in the unfolding eco-terrorism, many niger delta militants took up arms against the federal government and many lives and properties were lost. a rapprochement was adopted which not only allotted certain percentage to the source of the revenue, but granted a presidential amnesty and other stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 36 motivational engagements to the youths of the niger delta region (oil producing communities). in discussing anything that has to refer to ethno-religious discrimination, marginalization, state creation movements, self-determination and separatist agitations in nigeria, without prior and proper mention of the part played by the igbo ethnic nationality, would simply be a ‘high sounding nothing’. the dramatic events starting from the failed january 15th nzeogwu coup, the counter coup, the igbo pogrom in the north, the genocidal manifestations of the three years nigeria/biafra debacle, the post-war years of hardship and lack of inclusion, coupled with the painful unfolding game of marginalization and ‘holding the igboman down syndrome’ in all fronts by the rest of the country, through a whole lot of discriminative organogram enshrined covertly into the nigerian functional body politic, simply bear witness to the faulty federalism operating in nigeria. perhaps the most marginalized ethnic group in nigeria, who have lost both identity, form and freedom may not be the igbo, but the pure hausa stock under the depredations of the marauding and subtle fulani. be that as it may, the many unfolding bizarre security challenges within the nigerian nation in the contemporary twenty-first century have continued to query not only the supposed homogeneity of the northern part of nigeria as a viable political entity, but the puzzling doubts on the nigeria project’s ability to sail securely through the troubled waters of international politics. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 37 separatists and secessionist agitators have largely evolved, grown and solidified into portent destabilizing vanguards, as terrorists, extremist groups and passive/cocercive pressure groups. the actions and continued activities of the dreaded boko haram islamic sect in nigeria’s north east appears larger than life. simply attacking and destroying lives and properties within the nigerian enclave is not its mere ambition, but to establish and sustain an independent islamic caliphate, carved out of the country remains their mission and vision. one cannot equally lose sight of the prolonged and widespread depredations of the fulani herdsmen in nigeria. its continued socio-economic implication on nigeria’s developmental gait remains deleterious. the immediate fallout of this fulani herdsmen imbroglio is the high rendition in the discordant ethno-religious tunes amongst the diverse primordial demarcations subsisting in the nigerian environment, hence vehement reactions from the plateau peoples development association (pandev), movement for the emancipation of the niger delta (mend) and the igbo umbrella socio cultural organization (ohaneze). against this backdrop, one must call into focus the sustained reactionary campaign conducted by both the movement for the actualization of the sovereign state of biafra (massob) and in particular that by the indigenous people of biafra (ipob) bent on biafran self-governance through a united nations organized referendum. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 38 references adekanye, t. (1989) “the quota recruitment policy: its sources and impact on the nigerian military” in p.p. ekeh. federal character and federalism in nigerian.ibadan: heinemanu. augustine, jean. (2003) the canadian secretary of state in an opening address, delivered at a conference on aboriginal and diversity law enforcement respect in service, winnipeg, manitoba, june 5th, 2003. ayoade, j. (1973) “secession threat as a rectressive mechanism in nigerian federalism” publius. vol. 3, no. i (spring). url: https:jstor.org/stable/3329565. dudley, b. (1968) parties and politics in northern nigeria. london: frank cass. dudley, b. (1982) an introduction to nigerian government and politics. nigeria: macmillan. ekanade, o.v. (2015) “nigerian leaders, proliferation of states and federal finance in nigeria: 1955 – 1996” in babatunde sofola et al (eds.) nigeria at 50, politics, society and development. ibadan: john archers limited. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 39 kalu, n.k. (2008) state power, autarchy and political conquest in nigerian federalism. united kingdom: lexington books. mustapha, a.r (1986) “the national question and radical politics in nigeria”.review of african political economy, 13(37). mustapha, a.r (2004), “managing ethnicity in nigeria: ethnic structure, inequality and governance of the public sector” draft report (uk university of oxford). orji, n. (2008) “power sharing: the element of continuity in nigerian politics” ph.d dissertation. budapest. central university budapest. osaghae, e. (1989) “the federal cabinet 1951 – 1984” in p.p. ekeh and eghosa osaghae (eds.) federal character and federalism in nigerian. ibadan: heinemanu. osuntokun, j. (1979) “the historical background of nigeria” federalism in bolaji akinyemi et al (eds.) reading on federalism. lagos: nigeria institute of international affairs. peil, o. (1976) quoted in alapiki, h.e. (2005) state creation in nigeria: failed approaches to national stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 40 integration and local autonomy. african studies review, vol. 48 no. 3. suberu, r. (1999) “ethnic minorities and the crisis of democratic governance in nigeria”. in d. olowu, et al (eds.) governance and democratization in west africa. dakar: codesria. tamuno, t. (1970) “british colonial administration in nigeria in the twentieth century” in o. ikime (ed.) groundwork of nigerian history. tamuno, t.n. (1970) “separatist agitations in nigeria since 1914” journal of modern african studies. vol. 8, no. 4 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/159090. https://www.jstor.org/stable/159090 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 41 chapter three structural implosion this study couldn’t have come at a better period than now – a time of great distress and deep eclipse of hope and fraternal confidence in the body politic of nigeria: the presidency is subtly melancholic; the judiciary not just compromised, but steadily oozing out contradictory pronouncements and bench warrants that threaten the national redline; unimaginable level of youth unemployment and poverty in the land; the national economy and political terrain in a quagmire; the educational sector, visionless and missionless; the nigerian citizens overpoliced but under-secured. several works have been done on the subject of identity crisis as a product of ethno-religious challenges in nigeria, and some have expectedly generated development debates. though the present scope revolves within the 21st century, a deleterious historical damage would be created if this study fails to situate the contemporary ethno-religious challenges in nigeria as a bonafide product traceable back to the 20th century. post-independence, the horrendous experience of negative politicking as portrayed by the actors of the first, second, third and fourth republics, shows that no political party can be exonerated from the awful political ineptitude inherent in the practice of politics in nigeria. regardless of the many catalytic reasons feeding the orgy of ethno-religious conflagrations, selfish elites and ethno-religious entrepreneurs easily stoke the sentimental stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 42 embers of ethnicity, religious schism, selective illusions and inferences largely lacking in balanced historical acuity to mobilize support and unleash mayhem on their perceived opponents. the twin problems of rigid identities and excessive religiosity remains a cancerous running sore in the survival gait of the nigerian project, hence an observant analyst reacted thus: a large proportion of able-bodied nigerian youths are idle, unemployed, frustrated and aggrieved with the social system, and so remain willing and ready to be recruited and mobilized to engage in destructive and ethno-religious conflicts, because such offer them opportunity to break into public and private property and cart away whatever they can find (imobighe, 2003). much of these problems trace back to the post-colonial nigerian state which is neocolonial, hence not focused towards solving the domestic problems (socio-economic), and by implication not poignantly and eloquently poised to reconcile conflicting claims between and betwixt the peoples of nigeria, having been silenced and hounded with a ‘political unity’ by colonialist britain. indeed, at the twilight of the 20th century, the preponderance of intra and inter-ethnic squabbles and inter-religious conflicts seriously diminished the sanctity of the state in nigeria. succumbing to the weight of these centripetal and centrifugal forces, sequel to lack of autonomy, as its legitimacy withered, the state promoted and stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 43 intensified primordial dispositions in the contestations amongst co-habiting groups for scarce resources and commanding positions; wild spread disenchantment, and feeling of alienation and cynicism for the government in its policies grew. when primordial loyalties became the defining variables for belonging, social chaos and anarchy cascaded the country to the 1967-70 civil war, the ethno religious mayhems of the 1980s and 1990s. disturbingly, the state has responded to its loss of legitimacy by fragmenting the country into more states and local government areas to appease rival groups (falola, 1998: 50). nigeria is reputed to be the most crowded african country with a population of above 201 million, (world population prospects, 2019:21). the demographic and health survey certify 53% as christians, 45% muslims and 2% as other religions. similarly, as controversial as the following report could be, afrobaro pew forum declared 46% christians, 52% muslims and 1% for others in 2009 (pew research center, 2010). whatever the exact percentage are, it is clear that nigeria is a country with very large christian and muslim population. this situation makes nigeria a potential fault line between christians and muslims. in this sense, nigeria can be defined as a ‘cleft country’ and then a ‘test case’of huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis (paden, 2006; olojo, 2014:7). it is noteworthy that, within the wide christian and muslim categories, there lie many sub-cleavages and denominations stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 44 potentially active politically as occasion demands. among the christians, potentially under – the christian association of nigeria (can), the pentecostal fellowship of nigeria (pfn) and the catholic bishops conference, salient intra-group disconnect remain. amongst the christian group are – anglican 10%, baptist 8%, methodist 5%, lutheran 5%, (protestant) the catholics 15%, the pentecostal churches 30%, and the evangelical church of west africa 2%, jehovah witnesses 5%, aladura, cherubim and seraphim, celestial church of christ 20%. (osaghae and suberu, 2005:11). however, these figures may appear controversial to some people, but it is not the crux of this study. among other issues, it should be noted that protestant – catholic cleavages have continued to play an important role in elections among the igbo communities living in the south east of nigeria (osaghae and suberu, 2005:11). this is not only stereotype in action, but a serious psychosocial challenge. it is disheartening to reflect on the high level of nepotic and sectional discrimination subsisting amongst the igbo states in the nigeria’s south east blatantly brought to the fore by the antics of predominantly imo and ebonyi states. potent muslim sub-cleavages in nigeria include ahmadiyya 12%, sanusiyya 5%, tijaniyya 3% and quadiyya 8%. while the fundamental global historical polarity remains between the iranian –backed shiites, and the saudi arabian backed sunni groups, one could helplessly observe a rising wave of new sentiments based on waahabi and salaafi ideologies visà-vis sectarianism, islamic theocracy and extremism, have evoked dangerous and suicidal orthodoxy in the largely stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 45 muslim north, at least promising to provide and console in eternity what the state has utterly denied them physically, hence the emergence of boko-haram, and allegiance of other groups to other international terror groups like the taliban, al qaeda, al shabab, among others. beside the dominant hausa-fulani, yoruba and igbo ethnic groups, more than 250 smaller ethnic or culture groups exist in nigeria. these populations operate under the religious identity of christianity, islam and traditional religions. underlying the north-south cleavage in nigeria is the problem of the inter and intra ethnic and religious divide and suspicion. this is obviously the problem of identity, and the manifest dimension since the beginning of the 21st century appears challenging to certain designated textbook analysis, hence rothberg’s nigerian stable identities and identity formation treatise (rothberg 2002: 88) may have to be reexamined. nowadays, in such conflicts occurring along the convergence of ethno-religious lines, ‘it’s rather often very difficult to tell the differences between religious and ethnic crises, because the dividing line between them is slimmer than thin’. (osaghae and suberu 2005: 19; enukora 2005: 633). ethnicity and religiosity have emerged as the most basic and politically ‘salient’ identities in nigeria. though both cleavages may sometime run parallel, religion remain deified and as an amplifier for mobilization, may be relevantly handy. some cases of ethno-religious violence in nigeria in the 21st century stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 46 april 14th, 2000 nassarawa-agyaragu crisis over 150 persons killed, properties worth millions destroyed may 2000 kaduna sharia roits (muslims and chrsitains) over 1,500 persons killed, properties worth millions lost october 2000 lagos –kano (idi araba/oko-oba over 1000 persons killed, many properties destroyed june 28th, 2001 azara crisis over 80 persons killed june 2001 zaki-biam many people killed september, 2001 plateau (tiv –jukun) 1,180 people killed october, 29th 2001 plateau (tiv –jukun) 79 people killed, many properties destroyed june 1st, 2002 yelwan-shandan 84 people killed may 2002 kaduna (christians/muslims) over 200 killed nov. 2002 kaduna (christians/muslims) over 600 killed june 2004 numan crisis 17 persons killed, worship centres destroyed may 2004 yelwan-shandan 48 people murdered via church may 12, 2004 kano mayhem uncountable people killed, many churches burnt may 2005 sokoto (shia-sunni muslims) many people killed source: author’s records from newspaper low-case reports *those committed by boko haram, zamfara and kaduna bandits and fulani herdsmen terrorists which still remain a novel case, and still on-going are not included in this chart. recurrent features of traditional, regional and state illegitimacy have continued to breed hardship, poverty and social disharmony in the country, hence manifest as rancorous war of words and high intensity contestations. the on-going boko haram atrocities and mayhem, including the novel stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 47 fulani herdsmen asymmetric onslaught has turned and relegated the 1966 igbo pogrom and the subsequent three years genocidal civil war (ethno-religious crisis) as a fore play. having considered and weighed the myriads of challenges emergent from nigeria’s ethno-religious crisis, this study situates that the problem is not merely the unfolding of anderson’s inevitable character of heterogeneous nationstates, but the problem of deliberate infusion of manipulative caliphate colonialism, stringently and strategically employed to sustain british imperialist intentions, far from the developmental demands of 21st century nigeria. the unemployed, young and vibrant in the north today appear to prefer the option to poverty by taking to kidnapping, drug abuse, ransom-taking, raping and banditry. the many continued horrifying ethno-religious carnages appear to have negatively affected the psyche of majority of the citizens; hence they are largely politically disenchanted, apathetic and cumulatively unpatriotic to state affairs. driven by the atmosphere of rancor, ethno-religious discrimination, impunity, corruption and injustice, violence remains a recurrent resort since intolerance presents as a preferable option. this is simply a drag on proper democratic ethos and practices, most especially when law and order remain elusive. the citizen may not only see democracy as irrelevant (wada, 2001: 62), because of the system operators’ inability to safeguard their lives and properties, but equally when it stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 48 becomes obvious that the leadership is out-rightly manipulating primordial loyalties -ethnicity, region, religion and personalities in order to keep the opposition divided and divert attention from its own failing (ihonvbere, 1994: 48). ethno-religious discrimination is basically a social problem, and it is alarming and disheartening to observe that a high degree of discrimination is exercised against one another in nigeria today. this disposition is evident in all spheres of life-politics, sports, education, economic, including other social endeavors. dominant feelings and roles engage the dominant three ethnic groups [igbo, hausa-fulani and yoruba] on the national stage, moving with this experience amongst the smaller groups in the states and regions, currently deepening in aggression, identity-reclause and discrimination. discriminatory influences have seriously pervaded the psyche and behavior of nigerians that organizations, institutions, the civil service, including appointment into positions in governance have all lost the natural technique of honoring meritocracy and value. just as fair competition is relegated to the background, incompetency is harvested abundantly through low national productivity, inefficiency, poor performance in academic field, international sports and governance; hence the call for national integration remains a mirage. it is heart-rending to observe the extreme level of ethno-religious discriminatory practices openly practiced in the admission of students into higher institutions, army/police, prisons, immigration and the federal road safety recruitment sessions. when stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 49 mediocrity receives accolades, natural motivation for proper useful engagement and mindset dulls. besides, such incidents and developments create and leave in its trial bizarre experiences in the minds of nigerian youths, with a tendency for uncontrolled anger and reprisals. the perturbing question would be, how far would this emergent nigerian populace go with these negative experiences and stereotypes in the cause of nation-building? on a daily basis, it is disheartening indeed to observe the way and manner the violence quotient of nigerians, especially those in the far north is rapidly growing. apart from the wanton destruction of lives and properties and incalculable harm to the socio-economic and political life of the country, disregard for the value of life is fashionably fanning the embers of ethno-religious intolerance. issues and problems which would have easily been handled and orderly resolved through legal adjudication and redress are rather impulsively and hastily handled through biased mob-mentality and ethnoreligious sentiments. today, in nigeria, fear, anxiety, suspicion and curiosity remain widespread, most especially from the middle belt up the core northern enclave. the global information highway though quite informing, is not helping matters. target news, target audience and media trial leaves no time for verification and confirmation; so long as such information is in tandem with subsisting sentiments and ethno religious stereotypes, reprisals remain justified and automatic. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 50 subsequently, this has affected adversely labor and employment migration; hence while some core northern states remain in dire need of qualified and enabling nonnortherners in the civil service, the southern states ever remain congested and over-supplied. on the other hand, migrant workers from the core muslim north who traverse the south, including the ravaging fulani herdsmen, stealthily move in columns, calculating and digesting every step. consider the existing scenario prevalent in the country at this stage, when the nigerian army remain actively involved in the assistance and provision of domestic security in every state of the federation, rather than remain resolutely committed to defending the nation against external threat. this is so because the police and other sister security agencies either appear to be overwhelmed or are deeply compromised, resulting in gross incompetence or deliberate inaction, hence aiding violence and terror. moreover, the army in most places and at various occasions has been accused of high handedness and ultimate disregard for laid down rules of engagement, human rights violations and the erroneous application of force multipliers. nigeria has apparently inherited the social problems of internally displaced persons, accompanied by its attendant psychosocial maladies and gender-related challenges. the complexities generally manifesting and massaging ethno-religious atrocities and challenges in 21st century nigeria appear not only overwhelming, but beyond objective expectation. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 51 constructive demands and agitations remain corporate and important part of internationally acceptable democratic etiquette, but not in nigeria. over the years, consistent and persistent complaints of ethnic discrimination, political marginalization and lack of political inclusiveness have coalesced into the adoption and use of the word restructuring, as a somewhat veritable panacea for equitable sustenance and management of the endemic nigerian complexities. to maintain clarity while addressing the implications of these agitations in the developmental economy of twenty-first century nigeria, this study opts to first evaluate the dictates of international law on the issue of the procedural steps undertaken by a political entity towards obtaining the status of self-determination from an existing mother entity or sovereignty. it is only when this is done, could it be realistic to properly evaluate the restructuring option in the same political entity, as a sort of equitable rapprochement for fairness, understanding and trust. the right to self-determination, secession and separation are different things and as an ongoing right of all peoples, are not strictly confined to colonial peoples. in the non-colonial context self-determination is an entitlement to democracy and the right of participation in democratic process. selfdetermination under international law classifies different ethnicities in their territories within the population of states as constituting minorities (mullerson, 1994:91). furthermore, since ethnicities do not live in isolation, in clear-cut units or territories, ethnically-based claims and agitations for stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 52 autonomy practically always conflict with those of others and interests. issues of separation and self-determination, as in many politically sensitive entities in world affairs present varying political, humanitarian, economic and contextual complexities that defy definite set of rules for every particular situation regardless of the backing of international law to the demands of self-determination in separation. the underlying factor is whether separation or unification would best promote security and facilitate effective shaping and sharing of power and of all other values for most people, hence a proper balance between freedom of choice and the viability of countries must be maintained. the right to secession is simply out of question here, because it is similar to the ‘right to revolution’. in the case of gross violation of human rights by a state, the population may overthrow the government and liberate itself from tyranny; while in the case of gross violation of minority rights, (as obtained during the igbo pogrom), the minority may either overthrow the government or secede from the oppressive regime. it must be noted that in both cases, (and they usually go hand in hand as democratic states would hardly grossly violate the rights of minorities), such a state is in flagrant violation of international law, and the world community has the right to intervene (through economic sanctions, humanitarian interventions, among others), and in the case of utter violation of minority rights, such interference may consist interalia, in the recognition by the world community of the right of the oppressed minority to secession (mullerson, 1994:91). the stipulations of the nigerian constitution on this matter remain obvious, and stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 53 since nigeria has domesticated, ratified and signed the african charter through the official engagement of the national assembly, by implication, all its citizens are liable to enjoy the provided fundamental rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly. be that as it may, by all intents and purposes, restructuring depending on which ever angle one decides to approach it, could be seen in the perspective of a change, though it could be soft, hybrid or hard restructuring. restructuring vis a vis content and nature in the perspective under study, would classify soft restructuring as thinkering with certain amendments of the 1999 nigerian constitution; while hybrid would entail negotiating a new constitution with sufficient regional autonomy within the federation; and hard restructuring grants outright confederation or independence for any desiring part of the country (soludo; 2018:2). cognisance of the overriding momentum noticeable in nigeria presently, there seems to be a preponderance of main stream opinion around the hybrid option centred on the political and ethno-religious agitations and disturbances. this study is at peace with this view, considering the level of nigeria’s decay and degeneration as a sovereign entity, evidenced by a plethora of ills-inept leadership and civil service, salary arrears, exchange rate collapse, inflation, output stagnation, import dependency, soaring poverty and unemployment, institutionalized insecurity in all spheres, among others. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 54 unequivocally, the nigerian constitution has proved to be an inappropriate trajectory for a prospective developing democracy right from independence. sequel to its pathophysiological deficiencies, even as peripheral efforts were made one time or the other to reform, reinvent and reenergise it with a better and clearer focus proved abortive, nigerian developmental economy remains held down by its extremely weak institutions. since the economic realm of any sovereignty cannot progress in isolation from that of the political, and coupled with the fact that one cannot give what one lacks, it’s not absurd why the nigerian nation has continued to retrogress. political governance, property rights, rule of law, speedy and fair dispensation of justice, fiscal structure management and distributional arrangements for investment and entrepreneurship, over-policed but undersecured citizenry among others – the management of all these remain within the ambit of strong and powerful institutions as sustainable base of democratic checks and balances. in driving home this point most especially on the part of economic development, acemoglu and robinson in their seminal paper tersely stated thus: ...we argue that the main determinant of differences in prosperity across countries are differences in economic institutions. to solve the problem of development will entail reforming these institutions. unfortunately, this is difficult, because economic institutions of a society depend on the nature of political institutions and stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 55 the distribution of political power in society. as yet, we only have a highly preliminary understanding of the factors that lead a society into a political equilibrium which supports good economic institutions.... nevertheless, some countries do undergo political transitions, reform their institutions, and move onto more successful paths of economic development. we also can learn a lot from these success stories....making or imposing specific institutional reforms may have little impact on the general structure of economic institutions or performance if they leave untouched the underlying political equilibrium.... a piecemeal approach may be dangerous (acemoglu and robinson, 2012:7). it is fundamental at this juncture to remember that context and history matter, just as the building of progressive institutions is a continuum, consequently, issues concerning the economic development of nigeria can never be a cut and paste affair. a good institution unleashes and maximizes the creative energies of the citizenry for the promotion of the highest possible security, prosperity and happiness of the populace. just as no universal template exists through which political and economic institutions are synchronized, suffice it to state that each entity must be spurred to galvanize and spurt through its peculiar channel of uniqueness (past experience and agreed formula). the global economy is already in the stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 56 fourth industrial revolution or digital age, dominated by robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, augmented reality among others, hence an economy basically oscillating on most aspects of the old economy can only stagnate. the annals of nigeria’s governance are filled with wonderful and insightful politico-economic blueprints brandished here and there, but never implemented, hence the problem is apparently beyond mere theory. when the leadership and a nation’s civil service are streamlined by the dictates of primordialism and stereotyped quota system, ‘when oil revenue accounts for more than 90 percent of nigeria’s export and foreign exchange earnings and more than 65 percent of government revenue’ (soludo; 2018:4), when at above 58 years and in the 21st century, nigeria continues to subsist on oil dependant/entitlement mind-set (oil structural disease), in a country where the clamour for and creation of new states and local governments have turned to a patronage and political tool for elite buyout and political balancing allowing indolent loafers to make it with effortless ease thereby discouraging hardwork and competition; when ‘the national rentier system is fashioned in such a way that leaders are not people with best ideas and talents, the component states rather than unleash their creative abilities through competition in a synergistic boom, (soludo, 2018:6) (leading to more than 30 states governments finding it incapable of paying salaries without allocation from abuja), poverty continues to grow in the land, supported by unbelievable unemployment, population thrust and stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 57 disenchantment. by the latest united nations data, nigeria’s population is now 201 million. these have continued to support heightened survival challenges and affected criminality, social misdemeanors and insecurity, including nigeria’s low life expectancy. once a large number of a given population remains immersed in such malady, violence quotient increases, coupled with political agitations for redress, restructuring and self-determination, moreso, when the federal government through several notable incidents has continued to maintain complicity in compromising one ethnic nationality over another. this creates and nurture discordant tunes in nigeria’s body politic, especially considering the country’s diverse inclinations. unfolding developments continue to challenge domestic food security sequel to both the boko haram atrocities in nigeria’s north east, the zamfara banditry saga, and the widespread fulani herdsmen and farmer’s attritious clashes, the shiites imbrioglio, the kaduna and jos recurrent mayhem. from insurgency to terrorism and onwards to banditry – what next? in the same vein, from inflation to recession, onto depression – what next? where lies the attraction and motivation for the foreign investor to be spurred in engaging his capital and resources in a country lacking even the basic requirements for proper economic investment – electricity, balanced transport system, security, infrastructural development, among others. rather than spend quality time thinking about innovative ways to attract and sustain productive activities, the nigerian leadership is simply concerned with the monthly federal stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 58 accounts allocations. through clandestine state operations, specific enterprising indigenous entrepreneurs are discouraged and frustrated, merely due to their ethnoreligious alignments. today it is ibeto and innoson groups!! stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 59 references acemoghi, d. and robinson, .j. (2012) why nations fail: the role of institutions in growth and development. united states: crown publishing group. http://sen/wikipedia.org. alemika, e.e. and okoye, f. (eds.) (1990) ethno-religious conflicts and democracy in nigeria: challenges. kaduna: human rights monitor. falola, t. (1998) violence in nigeria: the crisis of religious politics.amazon.com https://www.amazon.com.violence.nig. ihonvbere, j. (1994) nigeria: the politics of adjustment and democracy world cart.org imobighe, t.a. (2003) nigeria’s defence and national security linkages. ibadan: heinemann educational books. imobighe, t.a. and bassey, c.o. and asuni (2002) conflict and instability in the niger delta. ibadan: spectrum, academic association peace works. http://sen/wikipedia.org https://www.amazon.com.violence.nig/ stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 60 mullerson, r. (1994) international law, rights and politics. london: routledge. paden, j.n. (2006) mushin civil cultures and conflict resolution: the challenge of democratic federalism in nigeria e-book (https://johnpadenwww//jstor65841). pew research center – a united states privately owned global research outfit based in washington d.c. google pew research and data. rothberg, r. (2002) ed. vigilance and community, integration and stability in multinational societies. https://www.praetorianism.edu.jstor. saghae, e. and suberu, r. (2005) a history of identities, violence and stability in nigeria. london: university of oxford https://www.worldcat.org. soludo, c.c. (2018) “the political economy of restructuring the nigerian federation”. unpublished paper delivered at the maiden lecture organized by ndigbo lagos foundation on 1st august, 2018 at the nigerian institute of international affairs, victoria island, lagos. https://johnpadenwww/jstor65841 https://www.worldcat.org/ stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 61 chapter four structural implosion the story of, and the unfolding scenario with regards to nigeria’s institutional dysfunction and incipient circular stagnation has continued to be enigmatic, considering its population advantage, (manpower and consumer strength), abundant material and mineral resources. the naked truth in this 21st century is that: every penny of capital spending by the federal government of nigeria is borrowed and its fiscal position is precarious. put starkly, not one kobo of oil money is invested in infrastructure by the fgn, it is all consumed by the obtuse federal bureaucracy (soludo; 2018:8). since the current system tilts the balance in favour of distribution and consumption, thereby creating a near permanent dependency on the life support of the oil rents, it is simply an anachronistic economic adventure. if after more than twenty-six years of existence, more than 30 states (federating units) cannot meet even their minimal running costs without the handout from the federation account, then one could conclude that the existing structure may no longer stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 62 be in tandem with the time sequence. everything in life remains exposed to change, and such change can either be peaceful or violent, depending on both human factors and natural phenomena. beyond mass mobilizations for change, restructuring and self-determination, lies the articulate realities of the looming national catachilism that lies ahead of nigeria, a hopelessness and a daily growing frustrated majority whose candour is fast exhausting. nigerian politicoeconomic edifice is webbed in incompetence and lack of fairness, and this study remains deeply convinced that both anomalies drives corruption against democracy and development. when the terrain is bedeviled and bequeathed with underdevelopment, dictated by the dysfunctional values of corruption, nepotism and wholesome impunity, a tangible dialectical platform emerge, engaged with promoting the wrong principles of governance under nigerian democracy. this is simply a painful façade to federating principles, devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, private-sector participation and equitable representation. it is painful that nigerian politicians have formed a habit of taking the advantage of the ethno religious chasm existing in the county, to selfishly enrich themselves. when rule of law, freedom of the press and association, the operational modicum of the domestic security operatives, and the rules of engagement guiding military operations (which remain encapsulated in basic united nations guidelines on the ruses of war), are discarded and trampled on by the government of a third world democratic experiment like stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 63 nigeria, where then lies the hope of the ordinary citizenry towards obtaining desired attention. one is apt to pause and wonder what the reactions of many nigerians would be in a situation where the dreaded boko haram activities in nigeria’s north east appears reclined into insignificance in comparison with the atrocities of the fulani herdsmen throughout the country; one may equally want to know what the outcome would be when some respected, revered and retired army generals and national elders descend into the dangerous frustrated rhetorics of encouraging and urging their ethnic alignments to take up arms and defend themselves, since the nigerian government has been found wanting and compromised. frustrated and in a quagmire, some nigerians have taken recourse and solace through diverse ethnoreligious cleavages demanding for national restructuring and even separation from the nigerian entity. on daily basis, nigerians are butchered through the zamfara and kaduna terror infernos. kidnapping, raping and ransom payments are now part of the national value system. unfortunately, 21st century nigeria has inherited a terrible and unimaginable all-round structured failure system that could be identified in these spheres – economy, politics, governance and social sectors. the danger of nigeria’s patented stereotype lies in the fact that – it is still firmly attached to the apron strings of britain, its former colonial master after more than half a century of independence. the nation still oscillates solely on an import-dependent economy, and a mono export of oil, which all started since the 1960s.with a blind eye on stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 64 the trending global haze of diversification; the country continues to creak and sob under a primordial monolithic conservative political system which is totally allergic to proactive dynamic change, rather opting towards maintaining an encumbered preference of driving contemporary nigeria with the dictates of the beleaguered and anachronistic caliphate mentality of the old. how can one explain the fact that a nation which could boast of having a great bunch of the best of technocratic heads and policy experts in statecraft continues to take preference in wallowing in the recycling of designated past political and military ‘rulers’ whose grey matter negates modernity in developmental nationhood. the consistency of incomprehensive planning and implementation has continued to remain a national mirage, leaving on its trail an economy which could be best described as a pandora’s box, full of many paradoxes. lack of dynamism, coordination and the enticement of globally accepted principles and best practices in both the domestic and external transactions have continued to marginalize the country’s development. successive governments have cumulatively made nigeria a bad brand – prolonged economic brutality sustained by a moribund energy sector operating behind civilization; inequality in wealth distribution, political emasculation and nepotism, indiscriminate human rights violation; a penal and judicial process that has allowed its ‘rule of law’ pathology to be overtaken by the impunity of political leaders. these condenses, impoverishes and marginalises the life span of stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 65 many nigerians, giving a voice to eco-terrorism in the nation’s niger delta areas, including the many separatist and restructuralist agitations within the country. in desperation, aguish and pain, many nigerians, especially the youths in their hopelessness continue to flee the country at the slightest opportunity, while some handful resort to an easier escape of the rot that is nigeria, through classical suicide. nigeria is an economic power house, whose strength lies in its diverse people and variegated natural endowments (ezeonwuka, 2014:70). profligate and inept leadership have postindependence continued to spread poverty and pain; fenced and protected by stereotyped ethno-religious sentiments feeding fat from the populous ignorant indoctrinated ‘talakawa’ ever-ready to kill and burn perceived infidels as a shortcut road to martyrdom and blissful paradise. the nigerian quagmire is not only an invitation for, but a hatchery for insecurity and extremism. nigeria is under siege from fraud, stemming from the higher to the lower places. it has almost become a bi-monthly routine, raising alarm over missing or looted funds from the state coffers. what of over invoicing in collaboration with multinationals; foraging through that of the notorious fuel subsidy issue would reveal a ‘cesspit of smelling darkness’. the challenges in nigeria’s oil sector have continued to draw a battle line with deliberate acceptance of and recourse to viable options – or else how could one explain the issue of the continued lack of local participation, policy inconsistency, the delay in the passage and signing of the petroleum industry bill, international market shift and poor financing. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 66 nigeria is at war with itself. for an economy that often goes with the paucity of an annual spending plan, retrospective implementation could even be more damaging when statistical fiscal plans are uncertain. consider the political malfeasance evidenced in the yearly long-drawn budget battle between the executive and the legislature over inflated or deflated budget, including high recurrent expenditure over that of capital. against this backdrop, one time speaker, nigeria’s house of representatives tersely confirmed that ‘budget implementation is the sole point of governance in nigeria’ (tambuwal, 2013); the nation has continued to groan, and its throes are as a result of home-grown enemy leadership. nigeria’s health and educational sectors still remain not only archaic, but a drag on national development. historically, no nation is known to have progressed and developed with lackadaisical approach to national health policies and practice. nigeria can never get it right checkmating the increasing and debilitating medical tourism on its national economy, if the foundational and operational challenges of its primary healthcare is not interrogated and improved on. the country continues to grapple with the lack of realistic statistical data that maybe fluke-proof, since helpful surveys, and even death and birth recordings, including the national census-project figures are often manipulated to massage ethno-religious sentiments. moreover, purposefully avoiding and expunging history from the national educational curriculum persisted as an ethno-religious selfish intent stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 67 myopically implemented without due consideration of the cumulative national underdevelopment outcome. any nation that is afraid of, or wary of its past at any given time, and goes forward to erase it, deserves sympathy and ultimate reawareness. history must continue to interrogate the many loose ends and bizarre condiments, of nigeria’s chequered past.who actually were the signatories of the 1914 amalgamation pact? who were the main actors of the 1966 coup d’etat? what actually led to the nigeria/biafra war? was there genocide against the igbo? how was the war prosecuted, including the war’s aftermath: is nigeria truly a federation? who authored the 1999 constitution? why is lagos the only functional seaport in nigeria; at the detriment of calabar, port harcourt and warri seaports? why has akanu ibiam international airport for more than 8 years since its status was lifted from local to international, continued to be marginalized in such a way that only ethiopian airlines have stubbornly stuck to sustaining its services there amongst other international airlines, regardless of the incriminating federal government imposed taxation on it? when sectionalism and ethnicity remains the compass of the government in power at the center, in a supposed federal structure, fairness would always remain a far cry, while conspiracy would ultimately remain the manifest destiny of the favored in nigeria. otherwise how could one ever expect a proper positive solution to the perennial lagos port congestion, whereas the government policy of not re-opening the viable alternatives of port harcourt, warri and calabar ports is deliberately meant to marginalize the igbo interest. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 68 apapa gridlock must then remain a recalcitrant national embarrassment. considered, viewed and weighed from another perspective, this study situates that stereotyped nigeria is not merely suffering from the unfolding scenario of anderson’s inevitable character of heterogeneous nation-states as has earlier been noted, but the problem of deliberate infusion of manipulative ‘caliphate colonialism’, stringently and strategically employed (oozing out from london’s chatam house) to sustain british imperialist weblink, moreso with the challenging emergent consequences of brexit vis a vis the european union. it is a pity that conflict has permeated into the nigerian land space as a result of ethnicity, ethnocentrism, primordialism and stereotyping, hence punctuating seriously the country’s drive towards achieving democracy; attaining a high level of neutrality in its polity, and at the same time a fluctuation in her development. beginning from the colonial period, nigeria has been an item of display in ethnic rivalries; mainly between the hausa-fulani in the north against the yoruba in the west, and the igbo in the east. these ethnic discriminations have led to the creation of political parties which inevitably was dominated by one ethnic group. just as political parties got polarized along stereotyped culture lines, divisiveness got entrenched in the country. to understand the psychopolitical implications of ethnicity in nigeria’s political and national development, a brief stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 69 background of the history of nigerian politics is required. political party as we know it today surfaced in the 18th century, but slowly and with time gathered pace with the electoral reforms in england in 1832 (lapalombara and weiner; 1972:71). the major aim of a political party is to gain access to political power. it is an organization in which its members share similar ideologies. the present political parties in some parts of the world today are characterized by inept leadership and present platforms for anarchy, with the aid of ardent adherence to ethnicity as a tool of state craft and ethnic mobilization towards the attainment of state power. theories pertaining the origin of political parties include; the historical situation memories, which insists that the systems may have encountered some certain issues during its development; the institutional meeting, which focuses on the inter relationship between early parliaments and the rise of political parties; and finally the development that links the parties to modernization (ojo, 2000:65). the birth of political parties in africa nay nigeria began with congresses or organizations that were concerned with fighting for the rights and liberation of the african in all british colonies. the peoples union (pu) for instance was formed by obasa and randle, with the basic aim of protesting against the increase of water rates, and other costs of living (olusanya, 2004:553). there was also an aborigines rights protection society (arps) involving some important personalities like: bishop james johnson and j.p jackson (olusanya. 2004:553). stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 70 a major party during this period (after the amalgamation of 1914) was the national congress of british west africa (ncbwa), founded in 1918 by joseph casely hayford and savage akinwade. they agitated for a constitutional reform in the anglo-west-african territories in other to gun for african representation in the legislative council, (oliver and fage, 1962:240). these early political parties laid a foothold of inspiration to men like nnamdi azikiwe, ernest ikoli among others, who were equally inspired by marcus garvey. in 1922, the clifford constitution was officially adapted in nigeria, making nigeria to be the first country to have elective principle in west africa (olusanya; 2004:519). election into the nigerian legislative council was based on voting franchise which was extended only to lagos and calabar (ojo, 2006:65). prior to the events that took place, in 1916 the nigerian council was set up to legislate the whole country. the 1922 legislative council nearly returned the country to its status quo. isolated politically, the north was, removed from whatever influence which shaped the political attitude of southern politicians (dudley. 1982:18). with time, under these colonial ideological actions, the north grew “more conservative, suspicious, and resistant to western ways of life, education, as well as other forms of universalistic religions”, ‘thus the british were responsible for the south/north dichotomy that led to different modernization (otite, 1990:96). stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 71 subsequently, the development of modem political parties in nigeria, began in the early l920s, with the formation of the nigerian national democratic. party (nndp)’ in 1923 to counter the elective principle of clifford’s constitution of 1922. in 1934, the reign of nndp was brought to an end by the national youth movement (nym) that metamorphosed from the lagos youth movement (lym), and managed by young intellectuals who were vibrant. the establishment of the nym, marked the beginning of the second generation of political parties (ujo 2000). it paved way for the formation of the national council of nigeria and the cameroons (ncnc) in august 1924. the groups included tribal unions, social and literary clubs, professional associations (turdoff, 1984:63; olusanya, 2004: 560). prior to the breakup of the cameroon’s in 1959, it was renamed to national council of nigerian citizens (olusanya, 2004). there, the first stage of divisiveness began; nndp joined but the nym refused as a result of the political quarrel (ujo, 2000). no one suspected that the withdrawal marked the sowing of the first seed of ethnicity which had been consecrated and sown in nigerian politics. olusanya (2004) posits that this withdrawal provided lots of thought to other ethnic groups, who saw it as a plot by the igbo to continually dominate the politics and affairs of the country. however, this helped create more regionalism in the ncnc, more so through the actions of the action group party. (olusanya, 2004). the action group (ag) emerged from the stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 72 political wing of the cultural association of yoruba elites, the egbe omo oduduwa. the ncnc was seen as the igbo union, while the northern peoples congress (npc) was founded by the fulani aristocracy, whereby the smaller ethnic groups relied on the local political parties for their voice to be heard. more significantly, the division of the country into three regions for administrative convenience by the richard’s constitution of 1946 led to the development of strong regional feelings. the consequence of this was such that by 1953, the major political parties in nigeria-ncnc, ag and npc were associated with the major ethnic groups and the three regions; western, eastern and the northern regions. to further reveal the tripartite ethnic stereotyped and primordial cleavages the party leaders were viz; the sarduana of sokoto, sir ahmadu bello led the npc of the north: dr. nnamdi azikiwe led the igbo ncnc, while chief obafemi awolowo led the ag yoruba west, each representing the polarised ethnic groups. thus, “while the ag and the npc were born with ethno-regionalist philosophy, the ncnc moved from its initial nationalist ideological position to full ethno-regionalist stance” (orji 2009:22). the action group (ag), became a political party dedicated solely to yoruba nationalism. according to awolowo; the action group (ag) had been formed primarily to meet the political needs of the yoruba’s first, before attending to the rest of the country (olusanya, 2004: 566). “thus, the ag became the first party of nigerian nationalism to be inspired by, founded on and nourished by ethnicity. for the first time, stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 73 a nationalist group desirous of wresting power from the colonialists, associated itself with the destiny of one ethnic group, considering itself to be merely the political wing of an ethnic group’s cultural association (nnoli; 1995:67). awolowo considered that the performance of the yoruba at the regional and general conferences towards reviewing the richard’s constitution had shown that they were unorganized and lacked a concerted programme and effective leadership. the primary function of the ag was, therefore to provide that much needed leadership (anifowose; 1982:176). the ag on the other hand was able to fully develop all manners of extremist ethnic tool; such as its call for political vigilance in the west so that region would not be excluded in the postcolonial scheme of things (nnoli; 1995:67). to worsen matters; in december 1949 at one igbo state conference, dr. azikiwe debased his status forever when he openly declared that “...it would appear that the god of africa has specifically added the igbo nation to lead the children of africa from the bondage of ages. the marital prowess of the igbo nation at all stages of human history has enabled them not only to conquer others but also to adapt themselves to the role of preserver. the igbo nation cannot shirk from its responsibility”. (coleman; 1958:347)” stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 74 though many of azikiwe supporters and friends believe that he wasn’t a conscious tribalist, “yet his objectives, ambition and motives acted contrarily to his nationalistic inclination (coleman; 1958: 343). meanwhile with the advent of the richards constitution which was a token to the political life in the north, things however began to change. in the 1920s, with the appearance of such perceived challenge, many people became drawn from all parts of north with the slogan of “one north, one people, and one destiny”. irrespective of religion, rank and tribe, the npc was formed for northerners and by northerners to fulfill objectives and aim limited to the north (nnoli 1995:67). “the npc was formed to ensure that the inevitable movement for self-government in the north would be led by moderate northerners rather than radical southerners, who were feared by the traditional and educated elites of the north as a potentially oppressive alien power (anifowose, 1982;47). with all these settings, it was obvious that the politicization of ethnicity, which had been proved with the appearance of ethnic parties and the regionalization of politics, was given a firm tooting with the promulgation of the macpherson constitution. by 1953, the three major political parties of the main major ethnic groups were entrenched in the once principal geographical regions of the country, (nnoli, 1995:69) and the alignments that would characterize nigerian politics after independence had already solidified north against the south, east against west, and the minority groups in each region against their respective dominant communities. these splits shaped the history of modern nigeria. (rabushka and sheple, 1972:192).the stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 75 regionalists in the three major ethnic groups, yoruba, lgbo and the hausa had successfully created the impression that they were champions of the people and carefully linked the struggles and travails of their respective parties to the ambitions and future of their ethnic groups (nnoli, 1995:84) consequently, the first competitive elections among these ethnic group made it clear that it was an ethnic game of “win win” or “loose-loose”. the first republic was characterized by series of ethnic rivalries. uwazurike in summarizing the first republic noted that “...the nigerian pattern of party politics has exhibited virtually the worst terms of an unstable democracy; most parties were narrowly based, tied to some “great and unassailable” leader who tended to stamp the organization not with any grand ideological vision but his personal biases. besides, each was ethnically based, mass mobilizing, and confrontational in orientation” (uwazurike 1990:65). in the second republic, the legislation in the 1979 elections, gave room for only five parties which were accredited by the federal electoral commission. (fedeco): npn, npp, gnpp, upn and prp (oyediran, 1981), and all these parties had ethnic configurations (joseph, 1981:17). the npn had its followers majorly from the hausa-fulani, the npp constituted of the igbo, the upn that of the yoruba while the prp and stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 76 the gnpp were offshoot of the radical nepu with a base in kano state, and among the kanuri ethnic group (joseph, 1978:92,93:otite, 1990:97). after the untimely end of the second republic, attributable more to corruption than ethnic rivalry, the federal military government saw it necessary to aid, through the national political bureau to collate the views of nigerians on the political fixture of the country. meanwhile, some prominent nigerians had advocated the urgent adoption of zoning as a panacea to ethnic rivalry (suberu, 1996). the third republic which was punctuated by series of military rules saw a constitution that was drafted in 1989 by general ibrahim badamosi babangida (ibb), the military head of state, who promised to end military rule in 1990. it was in this period that the national republican convention (nrc) and the social democratic party (sdp), came on board, as an intriguing part of the ‘evil genius’ miasma towards selfish political perpetuity and camouflage. the advent of the peoples democratic party (pdp), which can be traced to a civil society organization (nadeco), germinated in late 1997 with the aim of enlightening the citizens about their rights. unfortunately, the pdp equally got polarized and became unfocussed. this separation and inharmony however led to the emergence of a single authority that produced chief olusegun obasanjo as the president (the unwholesome product of a yoruba/hausa fulani arrangement stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 77 doctored by the american cia, as pacification for the intriguing demise of both general abacha and chief abiola). starting from 1999 (fourth republic), the political parties include: the peoples democratic party, which zoned the senate presidency to the south east, the post of speaker of house of representatives to the north-west, the deputy senate presidency to the north-east and the post of deputy speaker of the house of representatives to the south-south. the ad chose obasanjo instead of olu falae, despite his apparent incompetence, and extravagant lifestyle. his ethnicity was the advantage he had“yoruba man” (tell, august, 12, 2002). bola tinubu, the governor in lagos and member of the ad, promised to give 5 million votes to the pdp to aid him in the election (tell, jan, 20, 2003). ultimately, the people’s democratic party zoned the presidency to the south and this thereby led to a fight between the two southern rivals – alex ekwueme and olusegun obasanjo, and at the same time, two northern. “outsiders” (tell, jan. 13 2003). obasanjo easily sailed through. this scenario of intra party political chess game continued even into the presidency of umaru yar’adua. prior to the illness suffered by the late president umaru yar’adua in the middle of his administration on november 2009, the principle of zoning was not just awakened, but it revitalized a sense of ethnic variations, increased the intensity of ethnicity within the political party structure in not only the local, but also on the national sphere. the north, south, east, stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 78 and west got into political turbulence and out of control. there was a sudden split into two major groups in north/south, and this was as a result of the conflict for succession. goodluck ebele jonathan who by right should be the successor was dragged into the ethnic dilemma (the news, may 17; nov; 15 2010). the northerners who were in control both in the executive and in the legislature even verbally played and challenged all ethnically-variant interests with dangerous primordial and stereotyped vituperations and interpretations. they personalized the term and offices, and were anxious to take over the mantle of leadership; which they saw as “their turn”. while the vice-president was being denied of power, a motely group which consisted of majority of the northerners, usurped power and the country began to drift dangerously towards ethnocentrism. (the news, jan 18th 2018). this infamous group of people were led by the wife of the president, hajia turai (the news, jan 18th 2000). while the country faced all these chaos, it didn’t just end there, there was the portent hatching of the boko haram insurgency which began in 2011; the national security adviser patrick aziza saw this crisis as a power struggle in the ruling pdp between the north and the south. rather than espousing the national ideal into prominence, the country continued to pride itself in the idea of party zoning. this portrayed how debased the political terrain has become. adamu ciroma, the former minister and central bank governor, insisted that zoning was far more than “a gentle manly agreement, as its spirit was captured in article 6 section 2(3) of the pdp constitution”. till today, the national caucus of the party has not met to stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 79 review the decision on zoning of public offices within the party. even if they have met, nobody can change the decision because it is in the party’s constitution (the news, sept. 20th 2010). the pdp still stock with their zoning policy. meanwhile, it gave room for jonathan to contest” (the news, sept. 20th 2010) and his major opposition was a northerner, muhamadu buhari. the 2015 general elections experienced a bazaar of hate campaign detailed on ethno religious divide. muhamadu buhari was castigated by the pdp as an ethnic warlord, a hater of southern culture and lifestyle, while on the other hand, the sitting president goodluck ebele jonathan was said to have turned himself into an ethnic leader of the ijaws, thereby leading to the marginalization of the north and other regions of the country. the spread of these ethnic diatribes by the opposing parties did permeate into the news media for instance. the pdp produced an advert which was displayed in several newspapers, calling on the inec chairman attahiru jega as “general buhari jega” signaling ethnic connections (guardian, feb. 18: 2015). this little display or action brought about a high level of suspicion and triggered the human rights commission in the post-election period to call for an investigation and possible prosecution. the 2015 election was characterized by outright indication of ethnic, primordial and stereotyped cleavages. the country’s peace and security was disturbed, the campaigns were violent in many ways, some persons got abused and a campaign stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 80 ground got bombed (guardian newspaper, feb 12th 2015). the unpredicted failure of president goodluck jonathan’s reelection bid had many ethnic-oriented articles written emphasizing on why he failed woefully. with the unprecedented defeat, despite the outcome of the elections, the two contestants conducted themselves in such a way that the nation was put to awe. the predictions of global crisis and wars that were to take place were proved wrong and this made a remarkable event in the history of nigeria. devoid of all positive expectations, the 2019 elections in nigeria have gone a long way in exposing the level of degeneration and decay in the nation’s democratic experience. participating political parties, lacking ideologies, completely dwelt on the deification of individuals and all sorts of election manipulation to capture and retain power. be that as it may, olagunyi cautions thus; the day the fool gains wisdom is the day the wise loses his power. nigeria just had an election conducted by a president from the north, an inec chairman from the north, all security chiefs from the north, [the acting chief justice of the federation from the north], the two presidential candidates from the north (nigerian tribune, 4th march, 2019). the vehement effort and intention to allow the nigerian electoral laws to remain moribund is apt by the blunt refusal stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 81 of president muhamadu buhari to sign the 2019 amended electoral laws into use prior to the election.when not designed to be accountable, how can one expect the unbundled independent national electoral commission which has been diagnosed to be structurally defective to give what it doesn’t have. it is sad that elections have remained a force and a farce in nigeria, hence the 1964 elections which threatened national unity, was boycotted in the east, partly held in the west accompanied by certain levels of deadlock; though the president had to invite the party with the largest wining candidates to form a cabinet, while advising the complainants to ‘go to court’. since the 1960s, nigerian political electioneering has been subjected to the courts, with the exception of that of 2015 because somebody deliberately chose to be a fool for peace to reign. since no constitutional additives have been made from the 1999 constitution till date to better this condition, the fact remains that obtaining justice on the political arena in the nigerian courts would always remain a feat. violating the peaceful conduct of elections in nigeria and the militarization of this process could comfortably be traced back to the 1963 ‘operation harmony’. nigerians are good and ingenuous at circumventing the law, but when lawfully established and designated institutions like the independent electoral commission prefers to manipulate the psyche of the electorate through inconclusive elections; joseph stalin would be right in stipulating that the power of who would win in any election is simply bestowed on those who count the ballots, and never the voters. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 82 the nigerian federation remains under political and developmental lockdown since independence sequel to persistence on stereotyped rigidity. mental slavery is the worst form of slavery. it creates in one an illusion of freedom, trust, and love to the extent of defending your oppressor, while making an enemy of those who are trying to free or positively enlighten one. nigerian historical annals are replete with bizarre political oddities which have continued to challenge the borders of internationally accepted standards and etiquette. efforts at functional democratization and application of the basic tenets of federation have painfully marginalized freedom of choice and fairness, hence promoting mediocrity and what kalu referred to as ‘reciprocal distrust in inter-personal relations, mutual suspicion and frictions in trans-ethnic transactions, and the eventual conception of electoral contest as inter-group warfare or battle (kalu, 1986:23). in their pains, nigerians are proving to be good managers of poverty; in their dilemma they feel betrayed by the evergrowing terror infernos and insecurity, all apparently encapsulated in a dysfunctional strategic silence in the national political behavior, even when the presidency habitually and blatantly refuse to obey court directives and judgements. rather than attract outright condemnation, nigeria remains so ethno-religiously polarized that incidents that would have served as platforms for equitable assessment on individual leaders and political office holders in each political dispensation are often beclouded with ethnostereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 83 religious identities/conflagration, hence divisiveness of the highest depth. this dulls constructive criticism from sound minds, and rather recruiting dullards, praise singers and sycophants towards swaying national assessment and mood. in the absence of a portent opposition or checks and balances, one wonders how nigeria’s democratic experience would improve. it is even odiously most dangerous when the nigerian leadership brazenly tend to stroke the embers of this macabre dance forgetful of the fact that; ‘inciting and unleashing the horrendous hordes of the many unemployed and uneducated poor northern youths against the southerners, based on cooked up ‘domination perception’ would not continue to sell always, since a good number of them appear to be getting better informed. to make things worse, the many fallouts and challenges emanating from the 2019 elections have gone a long way in proving how structurally defective the independent electoral commission has been as an institution. be that as it may, sequel to the moribund nature and contemporary deficit of the nigerian electoral laws, it has practically been difficult for the independent electoral commission as an institution to smoothly operate. the government’s refusal towards signing the new electoral laws into law has simply not only marginalized it, but has incapacitated it towards exposing and checkmating electoral mischiefs. all along nigeria’s chequered history, one may not be wrong to conclusively say that the nigerian electoral process is not designed to be accountable. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 84 nigeria’s descent into anomie is not far from its age long social instability, erosion of standards and democratic values. education adds value in any developmental economy, but when one’s idea of paradise, in a multi-cultural entity is the dictionary definition of hell for another hoodwinked into such entity, disorderliness and anarchy remains the outcome. undoubtedly, good diagnosis aids prognosis and treatment. a persistent northern fever has not only remained a systemic marasmic problem which few northerners have managed to escape, but occupies the epicenter of nigeria’s developmental paralysis. like the reeds of the desert, nigeria’s northern population, appear short in growth, abrupt in promise and wholesome in support. out of the above 13.2 million out-ofschool children in nigeria today, one may not need to hire the united nations data unit before concluding that 70 percent of that figure belongs to the northern part of nigeria (daily sun newspaper, 3rd june, 2016). beyond harvesting these children on election season by their adroit and bestowed morally degenerate elites as a captive electoral audience, in their plato’s cave, they remain ready markets for terror recruitment, so much so in their social nakedness and repugnant vagrancy. the almajiri saga is no more a ‘northern’ problem, since in their steady influx to the southern parts of nigeria, it’s simply scary to witness the increasing security concerns too. it is quite incredible to observe that since the periods of 1931 and 1952, when the british colonial master allegedly assigned a preponderant population number to the north, matters have mischievously gotten worse, in that the core north has not only continued to stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 85 relish on such census figures, but has vehemently equally made sure that all that has to do with census and elections follow the british unverifiable figures. the british application of divide and rule in their colonial administration of nigeria, injected elements of divisiveness into the figured polity, hence ethno-centric instead of nigeriacentricism remains dominant.laying credence to this eyo asserted thus: today, state creation has two driving forces behind it; one open and the other, hidden. the open force is the much touted one of spreading socio-economic development laudable in principle. the hidden or subconscious force is the movement back to the living reality of the pre-colonial nationality (eyo, 1997:229). since 1960, and even into the first quarter of the 21st century, it is practically painful to observe that there is nothing like the nigerian identity. rather, beyond the glaring farcade is a stubborn ethno-religious personality, proudly flouted and driven by impunity, hence very much detrimental to national interest and cohesion. in the midst of abundant human and material resources, there is enormous economic downturn, endangering saving and solidifying deepening hardship, poverty and high death rate. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 86 eyo reiterates further by observing that; we delude ourselves into believing that if we fight for ethnic and our religious supremacy hard enough and long enough; if we stay in power and defraud the nation long enough, we will be acceptable to nigerians and the international community, and our suffering will end (eyo, 1997:236). the 2019 elections have opened glaringly the dangerous depth of nigeria’s ethno-religious divide. it officially marked the official collapse of nigeria’s moral veins, hence no foundational support to its monumental edifices. the nigerian factor is simple-abnormal is the normal!, hence the independent national electoral commission had to recline so backwards as to challenge the borders of impossibility in its vehement effort to defend the many undemocratic plots. how could one explain the political gag planned and executed against the nigerian of igbo extraction in lagos state by the leader of the ruling national party, which practically disenfranchised them from enjoying their democratic rights. when the enabling authorities, including the different security apparatus of governance deliberately allowed such to happen in the world of the 21st century, one wonders the chances or prospects of peaceful co-existence that may still remain. what of the government projected fulfulde radio station? nigeria is simply on the road!! stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 87 the elections in nigeria have witnessed ethnicity being expressed fully and robustly through electioneering. with the crave for growth and development in nigeria, the political system needs to be readjusted, hence the ethnic antagonism within her political system needs restructuring. political ethnicity in nigeria has solidified corruption, impunity and nepotism from the high quarters. professionalism is daily being sacrificed on the alter of ethnic mediocrity and inefficiency, hence the purely educated have continued to relegate the political terrain to the untutored and disorganized political thugs and pundits, who are largely psychopaths. the cumulative effect is that proper democratic process remains a mirage in a consistently stereotyped nigeria, where old age, ill health, illiteracy and inefficiency are easily over-looked in all aspects of developmental strides, so long as one is from a preferred culture group. constructive criticisms from sound minds are dulled by the louder acclamation and chant of recruited praise singers and ethno religious dullards, thereby liquidating portent opposition and watchdogs who give vent to national consciousness and growth. for the nigerian state to classify ipob passive agitators as terrorists, while protecting and pampering armed fulani herdsmen as peace agents is simply absurd. recent developments in the country may have given more credence to the fulanization and islamisation speculations and proclamations. self help is a cousin to vigilantism and it may offer dovetails into anarchy, most especially where and when deliberate government silence or inactivity feeds on the stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 88 speculative curiosity of the haunted. no single ehnic group has a monopoly of violence! references anifowose, r. (1982) violence and politics in nigeria: the tiv and yoruba experience. new york: nok publishers. coleman, p. (195f) cited in giovanni, s. (1968) political development and political engineering, public policy no. 17. dudley, b. (1982) an introduction to nigerian government and politics. london: macmillan. ezeonwuka, i.f. (2014) “transforming nigeria’s economy on the path of sustainable development in the 21st century: challenges and reflection.” mgbakoigba journal of african studies.vol. 3. joseph, r. (1978) “political parties and ideology in nigeria” in the review of african political economy, 13. lapalombara, j. and weiner, m. (1972) political parties and political development. princeton: princeton university press. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 89 nnoli, o. (1995) ethnicity and development in nigeria. aldershat: avebury. ojo, a. (2000) understanding political parties in nigeria. kaduna: klamides communication. oliver and fage, l. (1962) quoted in politics in plural societies: a theory of democratic instability by rabushaka, a and sheple, k. (1972). columbus: charles e. merril. olusanya, g. (2004) “constitutional development in nigeria,” 1861 – 1960 in obaro ikime (ed.) groundwork of nigerian history. ibadan: heineman. olusanya, g. (2004) “nationalist movements”, in obaro ikime (ed.) groundwork of nigerian history. ibadan: heineman. orji, n. (2009) parties and electoral politics in nigeria: before and after power-sharing enugu: glory publishers. otite, o. (1990) ethnic pluralism and ethnicity in nigeria. ibadan: shonesen publishers. oyediran, o. (1981) the nigerian 1979 elections. lagos: macmillan. soludo, c.c. (2018) “the political economy of restructuring the nigerian federation”. unpublished paper stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 90 delivered at the maiden lecture organized by ndigbo lagos foundation on 1st august, 2018 at the nigerian institute of international affairs, victoria island, lagos. suberu, r.t. (1996) ethnic minority conflicts and government in nigeria. lagos: spectrum books. tell magazine (august 12th, 2002). tell magazine (jan. 13th, 2003). tell magazine (jan. 20th, 2003). the guardian newspaper (feb. 12th, 2015). the guardian newspaper (feb. 18th, 2018). the news magazine (jan. 18th, 2000). the news magazine (jan. 18th, 2018). the news magazine (may 17th and nov. 15th, 2010). the news magazine (sept. 20th, 2010) ujo, a. (2000) understanding political parties in nigeria. kaduna: klamides communication. ujo, a.a (2000) cited in suberu, r. and diamond, l. (2002). institutional design, ethnic conflict, management and democracy in nigeria. ibadan: spectrum. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 91 chapter five conclusion/recommendations literatures abound both in nigeria and abroad centered on ethno religious altercations in nigeria starting from the colonial period till date. regardless of this, this study has ventured into side lining and understudying the implications of a religio-ethnically polarized nigeria before and after independence, up to the contemporary time. it is quite important to do this and carry out this research succinctly, since nigeria “is” and continue to claim to be a democratic federalist state. in most developed countries, the political culture follows internationally-acclaimed and established ethics and norms, hence creating a psychologically balanced atmosphere, which is not only citizen oriented, but progressively developmental in approach. as a democratic nation, nigeria is simply bereft of equitable leadership; the political platform is serviced by ethnic cleavages and chauvinism; the citizenry are wallowing in suspicionculture bound discrimination, disunity and disorganization. political ideologies with regards to political party in nigeria, have continued to be sacrificed on the altar of ethnocentrism. this political polarization has created widespread political apathy and disenchantment among the citizenry; it has equally in most aspects allowed unqualified and indolent loafers to make stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 92 it with effortless ease. when mediocrity is honored, meritocracy is sacrificed, underdevelopment, widespread corruption and ingenuity remain unwelcome. today, nigeria could boast of having the greatest number of political parties in the world. this simply shows disharmony, dishonesty, disorderliness, and political anarchy. the political psyche of nigerians appears all the more weakened, and seriously challenged, since positive prospect on the horizon appear vague. it may seem like the whole country needs to be re-started from the scratch, the myriad of economic and social problems cannot just go away. the 21stcentury nigeria is in dire need of “restructuring”. with regards to federalism, powers are meant to be shared between the government and the regions, at least this will reduce the rate and campaign for secession, and at the same time the political parties should be less zoned. there is no doubt that nigeria is destined to be a great nation, let’s not say it but rather act on it. the thought of nigerian developmental economy in the 21st century taking a clue from the many advancing economies of the world may forever remain mere hallucinations if adequate attention is not paid to the several agitations for restructuring and the total reorganization of the country’s federalism and economic myopia is not interfaced. one of the biggest gains and achievements of the indigenous people of biafra (ipob) group in not only the south eastern part of the county, but throughout nigeria and even beyond, is the raising of stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 93 awareness and the designated pressure mauled on the nigerian government on the need for either restructuring or the granting of referendum for biafran self-determination. along the lines of running battles, broken and damaged lives, properties and portent ‘sit at home’ declarations, the nigerian government have largely applied extreme strategies and rules of engagement in quelling and containing the tantrums of this pressure group. in its spread and possible acceptance as not only the heart of progressive politics and excellent economics in contemporary developing economies, restructuring has really permeated beyond political parties debates and pedestrian manifestos into a tsunami force whose time has come in the nigerian environment that has been left behind amongst the comity of nations. in recalling several historical hiccups littered along the contours of nigeria’s turbulent evolutionary history, this study ventured towards pointing at the many foundational mistakes, pre and post-independence subtle maneuvers, which were largely cumulatively antagonistic against the will and demand of the several culture groups and ethnic nationalities inhabiting the nigerian environment. since freedom and the right to exist remain part of the internationally accepted global etiquette accruable to humanity, and so long as a people cannot be tricked and subdued forever, the need for restructuring is now. one could always easily, with direct reference to the persistence and rapacity of these agitations, evaluate and stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 94 conclude that nigeria’s stability as a sovereignty is queried, moreso considering the rising debt profile, infrastructural decay, overdependence on oil/gas and food insecurity. it remains quite understandable that all these and more continue to affect and weigh down the collective inertia to act beyond mere mass mobilization for change, into articulate actions. this is not to say that continued organized political agitations is not helpful towards igniting reforms. when incentive systems are freed through a new versatile fiscal responsibility act, irresponsible fiscal behavior which could trigger a wholesale bailout of state governments (consumption hinged on unsustainable public finance) would be contained. nigeria’s tax-to-growth domestic ratio constrains flexibility in deploying fiscal instruments for development. (soludo, 2018). when all corporate taxes and value added tax are paid into the federation account, where lies the incentive for states and local governments to attract, sustain and promote industrialization? economic development would become an attractive decimal when federating units have the flexibility to deploy taxation as a veritable instrument to attract and promote enterprise, and also an independent revenue. by the same token, does it not negate commonsense and contemporary political-economics to operate a uniform salary scale/common minimum wage scheme across the country in a federalism? (soludo, 2018). moving at the same speed for the different components of the nigerian society negates sensitization, innovation, ingenuity, entrepreneurship and appears incendiary to national development. a people’s constitution is advocated which stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 95 would not only address resource derivation/control, the separation of religion from the state, but institute the much needed political identity of nigerian citizenship in place of that of cultural identity. with due reference to the european union charter which opined thus: subsidiarity means that public responsibilities shall generally be exercised, in preference, by those authorities which are closest to the citizen. allocation of the responsibility to another authority should weigh up the extent and nature of the task and requirements of efficiency and economy (european charter, 2000). standing firm on this premise, this study strongly advocate that the federal government should loosen its hold on policing, electricity provision, railways, ports, aviation, business incorporation, taxation powers, regulatory functions, among others. a politico-fiscal arrangement in tandem with explicit devolution of powers is not only advocated, but section 162 of the 1999 nigerian constitution desires to be urgently expunged to create a bazaar for hardwork and innovation. since restructuring demands dismantling and recoupling, the country should be guided by the economics of scale and high investment rates to dictate the viability of either maintaining the thirty-six state structure or harmonizing into six regional partitions hence six vice-presidents and one stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 96 president dictated by the principle of equality of regions; multivariate judicial systems among others (soludo; 2018:8). a competitive federation is required to unleash the creative energies of all the component parts into a synergistic boom. weak institutions can never provide veritable checks and balances to an evolving functional democracy destined for growth and development, moreso in the african context. suffice it to say that, a hybrid restructuring program should be initiated forthwith, from mere declarations to action, encompassing the negotiation of a new constitution with sufficient regional autonomy within a federating nigeria. this is tantamount to sweeping away the old order with its pathological ingredients of neo-colonialism, ignorance, tyranny, savagery, corruption, negative values, primordialism and conservatism. faith in nigeria from nigerians is the only way patriotism, hardwork, ingenuity and healthy competition could promote public wealth rather than individual wealth. developmental economics is driven by faith, benevolence, commitment and ingenuity, since belief in ones country grows from inside, not impacted. nigeria is a country where principles and ideals collide, ideas and dreams strike against commonsense, fairness, practicality and expediency. inundated daily with the orgy of violence, largescale killing of citizens, kidnapping, bombing, amidst massive destruction of properties coupled with the attendant displacement of people, like a ‘drunk giant’, nigeria is staggering on. though this condition dates back to the 1960s, stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 97 this cankerworm elicits immediate attention sequel to the increase, persistence, rapacious dimension, national spread, and classical execution playing out recently. deeply inept and parochial as the leadership continues to be, bad policies continue to create and replicate an endless spiral of unimaginable uproar of poverty and aberrations in nigeria. ethno–religious stereotyped sentiments easily provide a perfidious indoctrinable recourse for this gap. sparks and upheaval from global resurgent islam appear to not only threaten internal balance, national unity and development in nigeria, but tends to increase the fragility of the national fabric. once hard work is neglected, mediocrity and corruption receive accolades; the majority vulnerable poor are inevitably intimidated, blackmailed, deceived and manipulated by the imperious comprador few that benefit from this orgy of violence. surprisingly, all identified domestic ethno-religious trigger factors are not nigeria-new, but the pervasiveness and complexities of each new incident, somehow portend how close the country is to the precipice. so long as ‘nigerian federalism’ remains a mere theory, the agitative mind must continue to beckon and invoke the cherished goals of re-structuring, self-determination and actualization, hence re-enacting the misfortunes of a nation whose indigenes live in critical emergency. in view of the raison d’eter of this study, efforts were made to examine and proffer solutions to the litany of psychosocial fall-outs of ethno-religious challenges facing the contemporary nigerian identity. stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 98 in today’s world order, ran through the dictates of strategic importance and the developmental dialectics of economy and security, the desire for nation-building demands more than mere tantrums of orientation and psycho-social grease. in the pursuit of the theory of nation-building, socialization when awakened, must be heated, melted and sieved through the dangerous waters of suspicion and the ambivalence of human interests. subsequently, secularism, law, patriotism and ideology would always galvanize integrative forces. in hosting proper political federation, nigeria should stop its deliberate irrationality at overriding the many traditional and social norms, which has continued to plague it with crises of values, moral relativism, nihilistic and even machiavellian traditions. while restructuring remains the major exercise that would bring out the full latent potentials embedded in nigeria’s component parts, such also would grant and aid the much required solid avenue towards building common trust and complementary relationship amongst the diverse cultural entities in nigeria. it is not by closing the physical distance that real closeness emerges, and a sense of unity established for socio-cultural exchange and interaction, but by the closing of psychological distance signified by shared modes of conceptualizing issues, events, peoples, including nationhood. (eyo, 1997). a true nigerian identity remains highly elusive so long as people prefer to operate and engage from their individual psycho-cultural habitat. even though no particular ethnic group realistically opted for the 1914 amalgamation, it could rather be taken as a felix culpaa happy fault, which in encouraging peaceful competition and cooperation for stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 99 socialization and development, trigger the much needed integration. once the small seeds of patriotism starts germinating at the peripherals, national and formidable regional glaciers must be guided by proactive human consciousness to checkmate the ambivalence of human interest, coupled with the perception of ‘the other’ in the present nigerian quagmire. quite aware of the intricacies involved in achieving proper integration; moreso in a much polarized environment like nigeria, dukor cautioned that the process of integration is that of building a new society and a new social order based on justice and fair play. he went on to emphasise that integration requires that socio-economic progress be made within the democratic framework and sharing of power with minorities (dukor, 2003:195). it is a naked fact that national unity and cohesion cannot simply fall from the sky and forcefully impact on nigerians; the country must not only work for it, but create the enabling environment for its take off and sustainability. in giving credence to this, babangida asserted thus; the creation of national unity is an infinite process in which identities gradually partialize and coalesce. there is no doubt that given statements and actions by many leaders of opinion in nigeria, we have not yet transcended the fears which made our founding fathers to opt for federalism. federalism provides a unique medium for coping with certain problems in our association as ethnic groups which form a stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 100 new political community. (babangida, 1993:9). interesting and insightful as this contribution and observation maybe, it is simply paradoxical and anachronistic, and only passes for scholarly exposition in textbook analysis if some time is spent in reviewing the antics, depredations and contributions of the former president babangida’s government to nigeria’s existence. this work explored and highlighted the dimensional condiments of the psychosocial implications of the persistent ethno religious challenges ravaging contemporary nigeria. while peaceful co-existence and interaction has remained highly elusive, the disparate groups and entities appear to be retreating back to pre-colonial primordial status, while utterly disregarding enabling constituted laws that promoted nationbuilding, social justice and equity. the current ethno religious discriminatory tendency in government appointments as exhibited by the president buhari regime in a multi-cultural and religion-diverse entity reflects negative signals. quite aware and concluded that ethno-religious challenges is conscienceless and incendiary to nigeria as an entity, this work posits that the nation cannot continue like this, since no sovereignty can survive this sustained level of barbarous, unchecked sanguinary fury. to attempt a check on this endless cycle of reprisal and retaliation in order to place the federation on a sound footing, total re-structuring must accommodate sound devolution of powers from the centre to stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 101 the federating units, hence anchoring citizenship rights on residency as obtained in other plural societies. moreover, since intergroup relations remain ontological to nigeria’s existence and development, inter-cultural and religious dialogue must be stimulated through emphasis on the histories of federating units. by so doing, ethno religious understanding, awareness, accommodation, tolerance and coexistence would be achieved. as a logical sequence to this, the dialectics of existence ordinarily dictates that each human group must consciously and or unconsciously relate with other groups to be able to survive, after all, contact, interaction and interdependence remains a basic constant for life. (mutual aid). due to the complexities inherent in intergroup relations as a social phenomenon with broad continuum, behavior scientists must be able to soar above the mutational nature of the polar opposites of consensus and conflict, to conceptualize intergroup relations as states of friendship or hospitality, co-operation and competition, dominance or subordination, alliance or enemity, peace or war between two or more groups and their respective members. (sherif and sherif, 1969:88). zoning of political offices though not a democratic ideal, may help most especially if constitutionally entrenched and sustained. since no group of human community not withstanding its level of development can be an island entirely to itself, this stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 102 work tersely contends that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, though the burning of tunnels between the diverse ethno-religious groups is only making such tunnels to be long. historical narrative alone could constitute a source of ethnocentrism demonstrated in stereotyping cultures, whereas psychologists remain more concerned on how they grow and operate in ‘individuals’ mind. a national orientation is advocated, purposefully deployed towards smoothening those edges that sharply distinguish and divide, in so doing promoting those that accommodate and unify. in politics, two emotions remain very strong-fear and greed. while greed leads to certain extremist tendencies like corruption, fear opens the door to certain excesses of religion, nationality and identity cult. this scenario directly introduces a hedge towards national integration and development. undoubtedly, the nigerian country as a product of the faulty foundation of 1914 has not only continued to prove the chemical law which shows the incompatibility of oil and water, but the terrible intrigues embedded in ambivalent nature of human interests. though no normal individual willfully and knowingly seeks his own destruction, moreover since lack of knowledge could attract wrong choice, most especially when in a dilemma, for nigeria, all exit routes are not yet blocked. in driving the rationality of human behavior, knowledge, intention and voluntariness are always handy towards distinguishing ‘human act’ from ‘the act of man’. the nigerian society is suffering from the ambivalence of human interest, hence the upsurge and celebration of a litany stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 103 of vices-embezzlement, mismanagement of public funds, election rigging, impunity among others. this situation is so widespread that it stands to be disproved that the nigerian civil service is not the most corrupt in the world. to make matters worse, since the law of self-preservation in spurring one to avoid what would destroy him, attracts him rather into selfish interests rather than collective, a great number of the populace entangled in one way or the other in the sharing of these booties and loots, ignorantly remain implicated in encouraging and celebrating the underdevelopment of nigeria. human interest is ambivalent according to asouzu, because it has a double capacity and as such can represent something negative and positive at the same time. when such interests has to mislead to unintended, yet willful and insightful actions and conclusions, lies the danger of its inherent ambivalence (asouzu, 2003:5). all in all, nigeria’s survival as an entity lies on its ability towards stimulating and instigating viable mannerisms and actions emanating from the various diverse culture groups aimed at downplaying group interests that is clearly detrimental to national good. though the road towards attaining such really appears far, it is apparent that the first solid steps must come from the political class vis a vis the political parties, as major actors in the country’s developmental process. the journey to greatness is driven by dreams and ideas, but lofty ideas devoid of structured plans ends in mere mental hallucination. patriotism is an anathema in the nigerian context, simply because neither the political stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 104 parties nor the country itself have ever ventured an attempt at a driving ideology. a country or society without ideology is like a family without focus, plan, vision and mission. ideology gives support, and can validate action by giving meaning or explaining in details, and even bind society or people together amongst other things. mullins states that, the significance of ideology in mobilization is not that it causes one to do, but that it gives one cause for doing, and so provides grounds or warrants political activity engaged in (mullins, 1972:509). since ideology conceptualizes the historical process, and orients human beings for shaping it, ideology in itself is an active agent for social change and a stubborn base for the evolutionary growth of strong institutions in human societies. wherever strong institutions are lacking, strong personalities quickly grow and fill in the gap leading to the promotion of corruption, political redundancy and impunity. strong societal institutions are propelled by certain ideologies which stream from national consciousness, empowering such institutions to remain as viable elements of checks and balances to politicians and state actors. however, since ideology sometimes may appear as an elusive essential condiment of society, one may easily equip and organize it through the following five attributes:-all inclusive, configurative, functional and compositional, distortive and pejorative and transformative. mittleman goes further by stipulating that the elements of ideology are critique, activism and prescription. in order words, ideology includes a theory stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 105 of history, a program of action, and a conception of a desired state of affairs. he sums up by observing that an ideology is operative in so far as behavior is structured, manipulated and justified in terms of its beliefs and values (mittleman, 1978:45). ideology usually is for legitimation, rationalization, interpretation, solidification, communication and mobilization. infact, ideas can become powerful forces, but index a aba division 31 abacha, general 70 abiola, chief 70 aboha 31 aborigines rights protection society 63 action group party 65, 66 adamu ciroma 71 afenifere 12 affective 18 african charter 8 aggression 19 agitations 10, 12, 29, ahmadu bello, sir 30, 66 ahoada 31 al qaeda 41 al shabab 41 aladura 40 almajiri 76 amalgamation 8, 30, 61, 63, 89 amalgamation act, 8, 30, 61, 63, amended electoral laws 73 anglican 40 anioma communities 29 apapa gridlock 62 arewa 11, 12, 21 arewa group 11 artificial intelligence 51 attahiru jega 72 auto-rejection, pathophysiological 5, 27 azara crisis 42 azumini 31 b baptist 40 behaviour scientists 13 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 106 behavioural 20 benin delta peoples party (bdpp) 28 benue state 29 boko haram 10, 12, 21, 34, 43, 52, 57 brexit 62 c calabar ogoja rivers movement (cor) 28, 61, 62, 64, 97, 99 caliphate 43, 58, 62 catholic 40, 41 catholic bishop’s conference 40 celestial church of christ 40 chatam house 62 christian association of nigeria 12, 40 christianity 41 citizenship rights 91 civil war 24, 43, 100 cleft country 40 clifford constitution nigerian 64 council 12, 21, 25, 64, 65, 111, 113, cognitive 17, 18 confederation 49 conflict trap theory 21, 23 constitution, 19, 7932 constructivism 16, 19 corruption 27, 44, 57, 69, 79, 83, 87, 88, 93, 94, 96 criminal entrepreneurs 23 criminality 52 d debt profile 8, 85 delta state 29 democracy 44, 47, 49, 54 57, 62, 68, 82, 87, 99,102 democratic etiquette 47 devolution of powers 57, 87, 91 digital age 51 discrimination 12, 17-19, 33, 41-46, 62, 83 dogmatic principles 17 domesticated identity 95 drug abuse 43 e eastern region 31 ebonyi state 29 economic sanctions 48 eco-terrorism 59 edo state 29 egbe omo oduduwa 65 egbema community 31 elections, 2019 69, 72 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 107 electricity 52, 87 emir of katsina 32 emir of zaria 31 employment migration 46 equity 7, 31, 91 ernest ikoli 64 essentialism 16 ethnic chauvinism 7 ethnic mobilization 63 ethnic polarization 10, 27 ethnic politics 7, 9, 25, 103 ethnicity1, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 25, 36, 38, 42, 44, 61-71, 78-81 ethnocentrism 11, 17, 18, 19, 25, 62, 71, 83, 92, 105 ethno-religious challenges 21, 23, 24, 38, 89, 91, 101 ethno-religious discrimination 44 evangelical church of west africa 40 exclusion, politics of 96 ezza community 29 f faulty physiognomy 28 federal character principle 31, 32 federal military government 69 federal road safety corps 45 federalism 7, 25, 33, 35, 36, 54, 57, 84, 86, 88, 90, 97, 99, 100-105 federation account 56, 70, 86 felix-culpa 89 fiscal federalism 57 fiscal responsibility act. 85 food insecurity 85 force multipliers 46 fourth industrial revolution 51 fourth republic 10 freedom of the press 57 frustration/aggression theory 20 fulani herdsmen 34, 43, 46, 52, 79 fulfulde78 g genocidal war 28 goodluck ebele jonathan 71, 72 gowon 31 h hajia turai 71 hausa-fulani 27, 44, 62 historical process 94 hobbesian natural stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 108 anarchy 19 theory 21, 23, 80, 89, 95, 97, 100, 104 human act 93 human crisis 93 human interest 93 humanrights10, 46, 48, 54, 59, 52, 99 human rights commission 97 i ibadan constitutional conference 31 ibrahim badamosi babangida, general 69 identity 5, 10, 14, 16, 19, 21, 38, 41, 86, 89, 93, 96 identity19 identity cult 9 identity-reclause 44 ideology 5, 80, 89, 94, 95, 96,102 idi araba/oko oba crisis 42 igbo 1, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 41, 43, 48, 55, 61, 69, 78, 81, 96 igbo pogrom 33, 43 igbo union 11, 65 ijaw nation 30 immigration 45 import dependency 49 impunity 11, 44, 59, 57, 79, 77, 93, 94 inclusion, politics of 96 inconclusive elections 74 indigenous people of biafra 12, 34, 84 indoctrinated stereotype 7 indoctrination 15 inec chairman 72, 73 inflation 52 inherent ambivalence 93 insecurity 8, 49, 52, 59, 75, 85 institutionalism 16 instrumentalism 16, 19 insurgency 25, 52, 71, 105 integration 36, 44, 55, 90, 93 interdependence/mutual aid theory 19 intergroup relations 17, 20, 23 internally displaced persons 46 international law 47 ipob 21, 79 isaac adaka boro 30 islam 16, 41, 88 islamic caliphate 34 islamic theocracy 41 j jehovah witnesses 40 joseph casely hayford 63 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 109 k kaduna sharia riots 42 kano mayhem 69 kanuri ethnic group 69 kidnapping 43, 58, 88 l lagos youth movement 64 land and natives right ordinance, 1910 81 law 30, 35, 44, 47, 76, 93, 100 linkage politics 96 lutheran 40 m machiavellian traditions 89 macpherson constitution 86 marcus garvey 64 marginalisations theory 18 massob 21, 34 media trials 45, 72 medical tourism 60 mediocrity 45, 74, 79, 83, 88 mend 16, 21, 34, 49, 73 mental hallucination 94 mental slavery 74 meritocracy 7, 44, 83 methodist 40 middle belt region 10 middle belt state 29 migration 89,17,45,46 militant islam 16 minimum wage 86 minority rights 48 mob-mentality 45 moral relativism 89 muhamadu buhari 72, 73 murtala muhammed 32 n nadeco 69 nassarawa-agyaragu crisis 42 national assembly 48 national congress of british west africa 63 national consciousness 79 national council of nigeria and the cameroons 65 national council of nigeria citizens 65 national party of nigeria 11 national rentier system 51 national republican convention 69 national youth movement 64 nationality 52, 77, 93 nation-building 89, 97, 100 nationhood 11, 19, 21, 23, 58, 89, 97, 101 ndoki 31 ndoni 31 neocolonial 39 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 110 neo-colonialism 87 nepotism 11, 27, 57, 59, 79 niger delta region 33 nigeria peoples party 11 nigerian army 46 nigerian civil service 93 nigerian constitution 48, 49, 87 nigerian constitution, 1999 49, 87 nigerian identity 5, 89, 96 nigerian national democratic party 64 nigerian project 5 nigerian youths 39 nihilistic traditions 89 nnamdi azikiwe, dr. 64, 66, 102 northern and southern protectorates 8 northern house of assembly 29 northern peoples congress 65 nzeogwu 30, 33 o obafemi awolowo, chief 66 obigbo 31 odua peoples congress 12 ogbaru community 31 ohaneze 12, 34 oil structural disease 51 olugbu 31 olusegun obasanjo, chief 70 omo oduduwa 11 ontological 23, 91 ontological demands 23 over-policed 38, 49 p pandev 21 participation, politics of 60 paternal relations 11 patrick aziza 71 patriotism 5, 8, 9, 90, 94, 96 pax britannica 20 pdp constitution 71 peaceful coexistence 78, 91 pentecostal fellowship of nigeria 40 peoples democratic party 69 peoples union 63 petroleum industry bill 60 plural identities 96 plural societies 7 police 46 political baptism 26 political class 8, 10, 92 political geography 26 political ideologies 81 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 111 political parties 11, 27, 62, 63, 64, 65, 70, 80, 84, 85, 94, 102, 103, 104,106 political psyche 83 political redundancy 94 port harcourt 31, 61 prejudice 12, 13, 16 presidential amnesty 33 primary healthcare 61 primordial attachment 19 primordialism 7, 12, 16, 19, 51, 62, 87 prebendal boundaries 9 professionalism 79 pseudo-independence 9 psychopaths 79 psychosocial implications 91 pyramidal leadership 15 q quadriyya 41 quota system 28, 31 r race 14, 17, 38, 39, 69, 74 raping 43, 58 regional autonomy 49, 87 regionalism 65 religion 1, 5, 9, 13, 14, 15, 21, 24, 25, 27, 40, 41, 42, 44, 64, 67, 86, 91, 93, 95, 99, 101, 105 religious adherents 11 religious bigotry 9 religious dialogue 91 religious pluralism 23 religious schism 38 residency 91 resource derivation policy 28 resource derivation/control 86 resurgent islam 88 richard’s constitution 65, 66 rigid identities 38 robotics 51 royal charter 8 rule of law 49, 57, 59 ruses of war, un guidelines on diversification 57 royal niger company 8 s sabon gari system 8 salary scale 86 sanusiyya 41 sarduana of sokoto 64 secession 30, 32, 35, 47, 48 second republic 67, 68 sectionalism 61 secularism 89 security 22, 33, 46, 48, 49, 52, 54, 57, 71, 72, 73, 76, 78, 102 segregation 16 stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 112 self-determination 12, 29, 30, 31, 33, 47, 88 self-preservation 30, 93 sentimental loyalty 16, separation 30, 31, 47, 58, 69, 86 shiite 41, 52 shiites 52 social democratic party 69 social justice 91 south/north dichotomy 64 sovereignty 47, 59, 85, 91, 95 state actors 93 state creation 28, 31, 33, 36, 39 state terror 20 sunni 41, 43 supreme council for islamic affairs 12, 21 t taliban 41 target-audience 45 target-news 45 terror infernos 75 third republic 69 tijaniyya 41 tiv-jukun crisis 11 traditional religion 41 tsunami force 85 u umaru yar’adua, president 70 underdevelopment 10, 57, 61, 83, 93 unemployment 8, 38 unification 47 united nations data 6 unity party of nigeria 11 urbanization 17 v violence quotient 45, 52 w waahabi and saalafi ideologies 41 weak institutions 87 wild, wild west 27 willink commission 29 y stereotyped nigeria: religion and ethnicity as identity politics 113 yelwan-shandan crisis 42 yoruba 27, 41, 62, 65, 66, 69, 70, 80, 99 z zaki-biam 41 zoning 69,70,71,92 the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 457-461) odinye & odinye 457 gender, feminism and globalization in the 21st century ifeoma ezinne odinye department of english language & literature, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. email:ifeomaodinye@gmail.com & ifeanyi sunny odinye department of igbo, african and chinese studies, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. email:ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com abstract in any society, the construction of gender is a continuous process intimately connected to other historical developments in the society. feminist researchers have convincingly insisted that gender is socially constructed because of the general image of women as docile, complaint and oppressed by the patriarchal family. this is the reason why many feminist writers project the female identities in order to give women a sense of belonging in their fictional works. this paper examines in a unique way the social, cultural and nature of gender construction in the society. it specifically looks at gender relations, globally and also explains that men and women had rigidly defined roles as well as a range of social and moral obligations attached to these gender roles. introduction the oxford advanced learner’s dictionary defines “gender” “as the act of being male or female”. gender is perhaps the most salient issue and ubiquitous social category in human communities which is socially unavoidable. in an article by marcel harper and wilhelm j. schoeman (2003) termed “influences of gender as a basic level category in a person’s perception on the gender belief system. they quoted maccoby (1988), “who pointed out that gender influence is observed within all known languages past and the present and it distinguishes role differences pan-culturally”. indeed, it can be seen as the primary basis of human differentiation which makes perceivers to likely structure and explain their social interactions in terms of gender. the international telecommunication union websites defines “gender” “as the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female, the relationship between women and men, girls and boys, as well as the relations between women and those between men. these attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through a socializing process. they are context/time specific and changeable. feminism means therefore, a rejection of inferiority and striving for recognition. it seeks to give women a sense of self as worthy, effectual and contributing human being. french marilyn (1985:7) also states that “feminism is the only serious, coherent and universal philosophy that offers an alternative to patriarchal thinking and structures… feminists believe that women are human beings, that the two sexes (at least are equal in all significant ways and that this equity must be publicly recognized”. globalization the oxford advanced learner’s dictionary, 7th edition defines globalization as “the fact that different cultures and economic systems around the world are becoming connected and similar to each other because of the influence of large multinational companies and of improved communication”. scholars from various disciplines such as sociology, political science and the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 457-461) odinye & odinye 458 history have perceived globalization differently and have tried to define it from various angles. globalization increases cross border flow of goods, services, money people, information and culture. we also find common concepts like mutual interdependence, exchange and sharing of the communication around the world in all aspects such as social, economic, cultural and even linguistic aspects. our concern here is in relation to culture. culturally speaking, globalization is the emergence of different cultural beliefs that are common cross-culturally and across national boundaries. that is to say that concept of gender inequality is widely acknowledged in the world today. the global communication leads to some extent functional homogenization of culture and language. these two aspects namely, homogenization of culture and homogenization of language, are particularly relevant for translating globalization as a reality. we should also note that, the homogenization of culture due to globalization process results in the marginalization of indigenous cultures. gender analysis and perception in china kathy e. ferguson states that “the feminine is always described in-terms of deficiency or atrophy, as the other side of the sex that alone holds a monopoly on value… in short, they (women) are deprived of the worth of their sex”. the case of women and property ownership in sung and yuan china will provide a good example. according to the article,“women, property and the confucian. reaction in sung and yuan china: gender, mongols and confucian ideals”. patrilineal, principles were part of the chinese society from earliest times as seen in confucian the rituals texts, legal codes and popular practices such as agnatic ancestor worship. formal law and confucian rhetoric tied the transmission of property rights to the male patriline….. household property held communally under the name of the household head, was divided equally among the sons at the death of their parents.. “marriage and property relations among the mongols, a nomadic steppe people, were in many respects conceptually opposite of the chinese, resembling what goody has described as the african mode of production and reproduction rather than the eurasian system of china. the african model was characterized by lack of property transmitted through women and more complete incorporation of a woman into her husband’s lineage”. (290) however, in the chinese society, women are seen as objects of humility and not humiliation because of their culturally defined roles. education was considered less important because of their biological roles as wives and mothers; so the society didn’t see it wise to educate women like the men. the migrant women in haidian did not identity sexism or gender discrimination as the reason why males were educated than females. instead, they regarded the problem to “poverty” and lack of funds. tamara jacka in the article termed “rural women in urban china; gender, migration and social change” states that “…, a few mentioned that, as children, their educations were limited because their families included several girls – the problem, as they saw it was the poverty that resulted from having too many mouths to feed. they did not identify discrimination against girls as a factor, even though their brothers commonly received more schooling than they did”. (219). in ancient china woman’s participation in leadership is not encouraged, they are not allowed to participate in politics or leadership; because the society has pervasive fear that women could bring chaos by upsetting the cosmic harmony. this was a great obstacle for women who aspired to male political leadership. those who succeeded were accused of breaking one of nature’s laws of becoming “like a hen crowing”. some western scholars still argue that women are discriminated from participating effectively in the chinese society. the chinese people believe in the place of a woman in the society. women are the weaker sex, and should be virtuous the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 457-461) odinye & odinye 459 supporting the husband; even the confucian doctrine supported this view by stating that wives are sub-ordinate to their husbands. girls were taught how to respect family ethics and respect for their future husbands.“confucianism became the most pervasive doctrine to promote the belief in women’s “natural place.” confucius himself did not inherently denigrate women, although he placed them at the lower end of the patriarchal family structure. yet, through the ages the assumption that men’s and women’s social places and expected behaviors were quite distinct based on confucian hierarchical precepts, and were reinforced by prescriptive advice manuals like lessons for girls. written by the female historian ban zhoa (han dynasty, ca. 45-120 c.e.), lessons became one of china’s most durable sources of advice about female behavior. one nugget tells women to “yield to others; let her put others first, herself last.”(essay on gender differences in the history of women in china and japan: women in world history curriculu”. in the ancient china, women were seen as objects of humility, obedience and loyalty. this explains the reason why “foot binding” was made mandatory for women in the olden days of china; which was meant to remind them of their humble nature and respect for their husbands. again ,widows were not allowed to remarry, but to keep themselves clean. some western scholars saw this as humiliation to the female gender depicting women as voiceless and helpless in the chinese society. "in the song dynasty (960-1279 c.e), a reinterpretation of confucian teaching called neoconfucianism stratified the position of women even more. neoconfucian belief led to the egregious practices of foot binding, insistence on widow chastity. …foot binding illustrates the perceived need to limit female mobility; the practice did not appear until the song dynasty. some western scholars argue that china is a country that idolizes sons and dreads the birth of a daughter because of the “issue of one –child policy” and the sustenance of the family name seeing women as farm hands and baby making machines especially during the pre-industrial rural chinese society. some scholars believed that women as teenagers were forced into marriages; sometimes bought or sold into prostitution. however, in the developing countries like china, nigeria, india etc, girls are less cherished than boys because of the culture value and family function of the different sexes. in most developing countries, girls are constantly reminded of the things they are not allowed to do from the day they were born. but for the girls in the developed countries the message is different; they are encouraged to believe that girls can just be as smart, athletic and successful as boys too. they believe that when you are a girl, anything is possible. however, we should also note that the chinese government adopted the “one child policy” in order to deal with the size of the population although the policy now has different interpretation for the citizens as they prefer one gender sex to the other. in the chinese society, the family plays an important role in encouraging sex and gender inequalities or discrimination because of their strong traditional belief system of keeping their family name and the issue of one –child policy system that limits the number of births in the society. in china, 70% of chinese parents prefer boys to girls; even before and after the 1978 market oriented reforms, there had been a persistence of sons’ preference over daughters. generally, both the rural and urban chinese people view sons and daughters differently. they see sons as members of their own lineage or family, while girls or females are not seen as members of the family. chu, junhong.(2001). in his article , “prenatal sex determination and sex – selective abortion in rural central china” supports this fact by quoting a typical saying which people in the rural central of china where he conducted his research strongly believe in, he states“when you bring your daughters up and they are able to work and earn money, they will leave you .sons are different. they can bring in labor”.(p267) chu, junhong believes that there is a persistence of sons’ preference in the wake of declining family size. according to the research he conducted, he stipulates that sons’ preference over the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 457-461) odinye & odinye 460 daughters is very strong in china; the differences in birth celebration, language and tone that are used when people talk about sons and daughters are quite different. “the felicitations and tones used when people talk about sons and daughters, and the privileges extended to boys all convey different appreciation of sons and daughters .relatives and friends prepare “dates” (zao), peanuts (sheng) and sunflower or water melon seeds (zi)” for newlyweds in the hope that they will have sons earlier (those foods combined have the connotation of having sons earlier”.(p 267) chun also states in his article saying “that if a woman has a son at the first birth, her position in the family improves overnight .she is considered “very capable” by her in-laws and envied by all her neighborhood her voice becomes weightier in the family and in the neighbor.”(p267) recently, women in china are allowed to participate in leadership but not in all government positions. this is why lee ching-kwan (1998) states in his article titled “gender and the south china miracle two worlds of factory women that “gender is socially constructed because of the general image of the chinese women as docile, complaint and oppressed by the chinese patriarchal family”. conclusion some scholars and feminists still maintain that gender inequality persists in the world which has implications for women’s capacity to benefit from the global economy or certain policies. in the contemporary chinese society, the standard of women and girls has improved a lot. it has always been in the agenda of the chinese government to establish basic state policy in china to promote equality between men and women. since the “new china was found in 1949, especially since the adoption of the reform and opening up policy in the late 1970’s the rights of women have improved a lot. and in the continuous growth of china’s economy and the over all progress of its society, women are now given equal rights and opportunities with men. the article, “gender equality and women’s development in china” states that “the government has made the guarantee of equal employment opportunities between women and men and the sharing of economic resources and results of social development the top priority for the advancement of gender equality and the development of women, and has worked out and adopted a series of policies and measures to ensure that women can equally participate in the economic development, enjoy equal access to economic resources and effective services, enhance their self-development ability and improve their social and economic status”. the revised marriage law, promulgated in 2001, reiterated the basic principle of equality between men and women, stressed the equal status of husband and wife and their equal rights and responsibilities in marriage and the family, and, in consideration of actual situation, forbids domestic violence and bigamy with the clear aim of protecting women's rights. today, women have a lot more say in decision-making concerning their own marriage and play a bigger role in family decisions, and their personal and property rights are better protected. this is why some feminist writers try to explore and bring to the fore “that women are equally human beings, owing to the fact that “what a man can do, a woman can do it perfectly”. the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 457-461) odinye & odinye 461 reference ching-kwan , lee. “gender and the south china miracle: two worlds of factory women”. 1998. chukwuma,helen.(ed) .feminism in african literature: essay on criticism.. new generation books .enugu, 1994. chu, jun hong, 2001. “parental sex determination and sex-selectiveabortion in rural central china.” population and development review 27 (2) (pp. 259-276) cambridge, (2006) “women, property and the confucian reaction in sung and yuan china: gender, mongols and confucian ideals”.2006. (p. 283-291) essay on gender differences in the history of women in china and japan: women in world history curriculum. copy, 1996-2009 (www.womeninworldhistory.com) ferguson,kathy.e. the man question: visions of subjectivity in feminist theory .berkely:university of california press, 1993.p.2 harper, marcel and. schoeman ,wilhelm. “influence of gender as a basic-level category in a person’s perception on the gender belief system”. sex roles: a journal of research , nov., 2003 juliette guilbert. “strapped down: chinese women and the logic of american feminism”. issue # 38, may 1998. chu, jun hong, 2001. “parental sex determination and sex-selective abortion in rural central china.” population and development review 27 (2) 2001. (pp. 259-279) tamara jacka, “rural women in urban china: gender, migration and social change”. 2007.(p. 219) the international telecommunication union website (gender@itu.int.), updated: 2001-12-20. itu gg1 selection of definitions of gender. oxford advanced learners dictionary.of current english.oxford university press.7 th edition http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/ mailto:gender@itu.int effects and impacts of western imperialism on china & nigeria the humanities and nigeria’s democratic experience (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2009, page 456-460) odinye 456 the need for effective use of local languages in nigerian democracy sunny ifeanyi odinye department of african and asian studies nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, nigeria email: ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com abstract language is universally accepted as the most effective instrument used by man in his daily life activities. it has undeniable importance in human affairs even in democracy. local languages play a vital role in a democratic nation. this paper stresses the importance of local languages as an indispensable means of democracy. the neglect of local languages in the democratic system is decried. ways of improving the use of local languages in nigerian democracy are recommended. introduction language has been defined in many ways by linguist and scholars. crystal, (1987:396) presents three definitions of language given by three different scholars. according to him, sapir states that language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotion and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. trager view it as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which the members of a society interact in terms of their total culture. interaction, as used here, possibly substitutes communication, while hall takes it to be the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory symbols. there are other scholars who think that language is best appreciated when it is described. for chumbo (1984): education and training in whatever form requires imparting knowledge and skills as well as awaking and developing the intellectual potential of the learner. this can be done through language. the language used as the medium of instruction in the educational process is very important because the effectiveness of the educational training programme depends (among other things) or whether effective communication has taken place between the teacher and the learner or not. benzies (1940) describes language differently: we can scarcely think at all without using words (language). even if we do not speak, we are constantly using words in our heads to help us to think. it is hard to imagine thought going on at all without using words (language). language is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols. it is a distinctive work of the homo sapiens. it is a medium of communication which depends upon elements of shared experience. without language there will be no shared meaning, hence, no social co-operation (okediadi, 2007). democracy etymologically, this term comes from two greek words, ‘demos’ and ‘cratia’ meaning people and power respectively. it means then the people’s power (power of the people). it has many nuances the humanities and nigeria’s democratic experience (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2009, page 456-460) odinye 457 of meaning hence looks virtually meaningless. holden (1974:2) holds that “… virtually everything political (and not only things political) has been called “democracy” or “democratic”. abraham lincoln says it is “a government of the people by the people and for the people”. hampsch (1982:16) oiled and cemented this definition thus “government and society which is of the people, by the people and for the people”. democracy is both a form of government and state; the body governing is a representative of the entire body and a mode of appointing, organizing, controlling and sacking a government respectively. marriam (1939:44) expands the meaning of democracy; he says it is “a set of thought and a mode of action directed toward the common zeal as interpreted and directed by the common will”. although there can be nuances in the world’s democracies, it is generally a government in which power and civic responsibility are exercised by all citizens, directly or through their freely elected representatives. democracy is a set of principles and practices that protect human freedom; it is the institutionalization of freedom. as a system of government, democracy has been much eulogized but also vilified. nevertheless, it has remained the most initiated system of government in the world. democracy is preferred to all other systems of government because it is the affirmation of human rights and natural law. according to oguejiofor (2007), “with the sudden demise of the former communist block at the beginning of the 1990s there arose a wide acceptance of democracy as the best system of government”. he goes further to say that on the practical level; this undeclared triumph of democracy was seen in the rush of many countries that were hitherto ruled by dictatorial regimes to democratic. democracy cannot be separated from language which links the people together. the language of any society makes for understanding and co-operation; and through it the people live together peacefully and harmoniously. political systems are built upon our ability to communicate with each other, to formulate and exchange opinions and viewpoints, and to try to influence each other. language situation: nigerian experience there are diversities of languages in nigeria and that is why it is seen as a multilingual nation. it is a country with multiple ethnic groupings which were brought together by lord lugard in 1914. according to okediadi (2007), “the coming together of different ethnic groups with different linguistic backgrounds has thereby created problems of language diversity”. to okonkwo (2002), “the amalgamation of the different language games within the geo-polity of nigerian in 1914 created the potency for the conflicts within nigeria today”. in nigeria, the number of local (indigenous) languages cannot be arrived at with mathematical accuracy due to multi-ethnic nature of the nation. scholars have however, attempted giving numbers ranging from 400-500 languages. igboanusi (2002:102) has this to say, “against the background that over 400 indigenous lanaguages exist in nigeria”. nigerian local languages are grouped under major and minority languages. bangbose (1992:73) explains; nigerian languages are often grouped into major languages and minority languages based on such factors as a number of speakers, status in education, acquisition as a second language, and availability of written materials. major languages include hausa (in the north), igbo (in the east) and yoruba (in the west) while minority languages comprise all other languages spoken in the country (odinye, 2009:1). the humanities and nigeria’s democratic experience (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2009, page 456-460) odinye 458 the language provisions in nigerian national policy on education, npe (1977, revised in 1981) stipulate that every child should be taught in his mother tongue or the language of his immediate community for the first three years. the provisions also stipulate that the mother tongue should be used in pre-primary education. consequently, the federal government places greater emphasis on the teaching and learning of the three major nigerian languages in national policy on education. the national policy states that: in addition to appreciating the importance of language in educational process, and as a means of preserving the people’s culture, the government considers it to be in the interest of national unity…in this connection, the government considers the three major languages in nigeria to be hausa, igbo and yoruba (p. 9). it should be borne in mind that by this policy language has been used as a tool to promote interethnic understanding to foster cultural unity and integration through facilitating communications among nigerians from different geographical areas. it is argued that the various governments in nigeria from 1960 till date have failed to accord language the importance it deserves in national integration simple because of the general fear that it will generate inter-ethnic unrest among the general populace (bangbose, 1991:7). apart from the local languages, which are the mother tongue of nigerians, there also exist nonindigenous languages. english is one of them. english has continued to play many roles in africa, and particularly in nigeria, a former british colony. here, it serves as the language of education, the language of administration at different levels, and the language of organized commerce and journalism (igboanusi, 2002:27). at the moment, english serves as an official language in the country, but there is, yet, no national language or languages for nigeria. in principles, hausa, igbo and yoruba are seen as nigerian national languages. the call for the adoption or retention of english may also be due to the growing status of english both nationally and internationally (igboanusi, 2002:108). english is the language in use in most formal situations in nigeria. recently, many nigerians have begun to question the position of english language in nigeria’s education. they question, in particular, what they regard as the undue emphasis given to english in nigeria’s education especially at pre-primary and primary schools levels. the argument points to the fact that the undue emphasis on english language is a great impediment to nigerian education as it has ruined the careers of many nigerians who happened not to be proficient in the language. this is because english has become a compulsory course for an admission into nigerian universities, even when a candidate wants to study nigerian languages. local languages for sustainable democracy much as language is considered as one of the least visible, least measurable and least understood aspects of discrimination which can easily be squeezed out by a proper and understandable focus on structural and institutionalized force (roberts et al 1992:360). however, it is a powerful instrument of control which can be, and has been used globally to maintain power relationships (like democracy). in other words, we can state that the primary consideration in the discussion of the politics of ethnicity is the salient relationship between language and one of the most basic social concerns: power. the view that language difference is a marginal consideration compared with the fundamental problem of the need to tackle power relationships is under-stable one, but it can the humanities and nigeria’s democratic experience (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2009, page 456-460) odinye 459 ignore the fact that communication is an aspect of power and that language is a major factor frequently used implicitly in decision-making by the governance over the governed. therefore, in the recognition of the importance of language in relation to other factors in order to bring about true national integration, sustainable democracy, primordial ethnic sentiments would first have to be removed among other. bangbose (1991) was quick to add that it is not language that divides but the attitude of the speakers and the sentiments and symbolism attached to the language. it is until after this that language, among other factors, can be used to enhance national integration and sustainable democracy. it is this same factor that has remained the impediment for the achievement of a workable national language policy to the detriment of national development and sustainable democracy. it must be noted that one of the major factors hindering active participation in politics is the language barrier. okediadi (2007):381) agreed with me by saying: because political opponents cannot communicate with the electorates in their own indigenous languages, they misconstrue the action to be enmity and so, prefer tribal-politics rooted in their languages. however, if we understand the local languages, the political problems will be minimized to the barest minimum and there will be a sustainable democracy. a common language, therefore, particularly where it is indigenous is fundamental for national integration, national development, national consciousness and even sustainable democracy. also, the local language of the people can be used as a powerful tool of social control. in view of unesco, a local language of a people is a vehicle for expressing the people’s deepest feelings and as a means of national self-expression, giving rise to the spirit of democracy. for kleif (1976:60), “a native (local) language ties a people more closely to its landscape and breeds definable loyalties to it. fishman (1971:40-41) sums it up in his words stressing the importance of local language for national integration and sustainable democracy: a common indigenous (local) language in the modern nation states is a powerful factor for unity. cutting across tribal and ethnic times, it promotes a feeling of single community. additionally, it makes possible the expression and development of social ideas, economic targets and cultural identity easily perceived by citizens. it is, in short, a powerful factor for mobilization of people and resources for nationhood. recommendation and conclusion the contribution of nigerian language in the nigerian democracy is far from satisfactory. the use of the local languages as a medium of instruction in the lower primary, as recommended in the national policy on education, is flagrantly ignored in some areas. the local languages in nigeria should be given more attention. the focus should be to develop those languages that are not developed or underdeveloped. the compulsory instruction on the select major local languages (hausa, igbo yoruba) in all the educational institutions at the primary, post-primary and post-secondary levels as was already provided by the government in the new national policy on education should be encouraged. also, there should be frequent activities to enhance the importance of local languages like workshops, seminars, symposia, cultural activities, etc. the humanities and nigeria’s democratic experience (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2009, page 456-460) odinye 460 in conclusion, as we state earlier, democracy cannot be separated from language which link the people together. the language of any society makes for understanding and co-operation; and through it the people live together peacefully and harmoniously. the local languages should be used effectively as indispensable tool for a meaningful and sustainable democracy in nigeria. people should be carried along since the government is for them and by them. their languages should best convey any information in education, politics, governance and democracy. references bangbose, a. (1991). language and the nation. london: edinburgh university press. benzies, o. (1940). learning our language. london: longman. chumbo, b. (1984). “reading and national development”. a paper presented at the 3rd annual conference of the association of general studies in nigerian universities held at the university of nigeria, nsukka. crystal, d. (1997). the cambridge encyclopedia of language. england: cambride university press. federal government of nigeria (1981). national policy on education. lagos: federal government press. fishman, j.a. (1971). “national language and languages of wider communication in the developing nation”. in language use and social change w.h. whitely (ed.) london: oxford university press. igboanusi, h. (2002). igbo english in the nigerian novel. ibadan. enicrowfit publishers. kleif, b. (1976). “language is an ethnic boundary in welsh-english relations”. international journal of the sociology of language. odinye, i.s. (2009). “the problems nigerian students encounter in learning the chinese language”. a post graduate (masters) seminar presented to the department of linguistics, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. okonkwo, j. (2002). “the ontolinguistic factors in democratization: the nigerian face” in j.i. okonkwo (ed.), journal of nigerian languages and culture (jonlac). owerri: assumption press. okediadi, a. n. (2007). “indigenous languages as tool for fostering democracy” in i. ike (ed.) nigerian democracy and global democracy, awka: afab educational books. oguejiofor, o. (2007). “foreword” in i. ike (ed.), nigerian democracy and global democracy. awka: afab educational books. catholicon of marriages: what if …? by linda jummai mustafa ngozi ozoh abstract flora nwapa was among early african female writers and her first novel, efuru is on female subjugation by men. this novel created a scenario of women being intimidated and subdued by their spouses and envisages women’s revolutionary attempt to take their rightful positions in their families and society as free humans and not slaves to their husbands. today, women in all facets of the society record positive growth as their immense contributions and impact are contributing to the growth and sustainable development of both families and society at large. however, many women still suffer violence in their matrimonial homes which hinders their contributing meaningfully in their homes and society. some of these women die in silence. can such violence be attributed to joblessness? using linda jummai mustafa’s what if …?, this study examines the catholicon of marriages for healthy marriages and homes. it goes further to examine and analyze the reasons for unhealthy marriages and calls for solutions. contextual qualitative method is used to appraise the text while trauma theory is used to explore the text. an appraisal of the text shows that a lot of men marry much younger women and so have negative notion concerning marriages and women as they seem to marry believing that women are mere objects or slaves kept in the house for procreation. this shows that most men marry without knowing the meaning of marriage. the findings reveal that men contribute more to the failure of their marriages than women. keywords: violence, catholicon, marriage, joblessness, subjugation introduction marriage is a union of two people mainly of opposite sex to become husband and wife. it is the legal relationship between a husband and a wife. this simply implies that marriage must be legal and an agreement between a man and a woman must be reached. this could be through tradition or church or even in the court of law. once it is legal, it is expected that the union will last their life time. thus, amao-kehinde (2009) defines marriage as a contract that will last for all time in the future between a man and woman who have come together to share their love and care for each other to promote their common well-being and growth. to macious and plumber (2005), marriage is a legal union that involves sexual activity, procreation and economic cooperation. it is obvious from the above definitions that marriage is a legal contract for the welfare of both man and woman. marriage is therefore understood as a conjugal contract between man and woman for mutual help, to keep each other company and to procreate. therefore, both parents are responsible for bringing up their offspring. indeed, couples are expected to resolve their differences amicably and move towards an acceptable path to achieve their mutual goals. society’s stability and effectiveness depend on its marital stability and success as marital stability supports the growth and sustainability of society because marriage is the bedrock of every society. it is pertinent to note that marriage gives married girls a new way of life, expectations, experiences and risks. people are supposed to be given orientation and awareness created before they commit to this ‘all-important’ institution called marriage. this is one of the reasons why different churches organize ‘marriage courses’ or ‘marriage seminars’ to help new couples know exactly what marriage is all about and enjoy their marriages. katu in his work, ‘causes of divorce and their implications for counseling: a case study of jos metropolis’, believes that people get involved in marriage to reduce the rate at which they fornicate and live unholy life. it is understood that marriage reduces reckless sexual intercourse and lust but it cannot eradicate them as married men and women still get involved in such dangerous and harmful way of life. children are also involved and so it is the parents’ responsibilities to give their offspring emotional rest of mind, security, education and inculcate moral and social values in them. therefore every marriage is expected to provide comfort to the children. family problems based on domestic violence or lack of communication between couple probably because one, especially the man is much older or one has better education background affect society adversely. usually, girls involved in this type of marriage are not involved in decisionmaking and are of low status in their homes. violence may lead to divorce or death of one of the spouses by the other just in purple hibiscus by chimamanda adichie where eugene’s wife secretly poisoned him to death because her husband is a tyrant and exhibits wickedness towards the entire family both nuclear and extended. mustafa treats violence and many other vices that can break up homes. this work, therefore, examines uncivil attitudes in marriages and there consequences usingwhat if…? by linda jummai mustafa. trauma theory balaev michelle writes that trauma theory came into existence in the 1990’s by cathy caruth, kali tal, geoffery hartman, shoshara felman and dori laub with the publication of cathy caruths unclaimed experience: trauma, narrative and history and kali tal’s world of hurt; reading the literature of trauma. caruth in her book writes that ‘trauma is precisely not known in the first instance – returns to haunt the survivor later on (4). tal’s book examines how the holocaust, the vietnam war, sexual abuse and incest have raised serious debate in american culture. the two books highlight the voices of people that survive trauma. trauma theory is pertinent to this study as most of the characters are traumatized. one of the characters suffers a mental condition caused by severe shock which really lasts for a long time. the mental shock almost took her life. many characters have unpleasant experiences that keep them miserable. one of the characters also attempted suicide. to balaev, analysis shows that amnesia, dissociation, or repression may be responses to trauma (6). she goes on to write in her article ‘trends in literary trauma theory’ that trauma creates a speechless fear that destroys identity. trauma theory helps to explore the difficulties and complexities in relationships when the relationship goes sour especially when they involve violence. she is also of the view that trauma novels show how traumatic events disorganize relationships or strong bonding by challenging issues on moral values and social relationships or associations in a particular area or environment. trauma novels portray serious fear in characters. balaev defines trauma as: …. a person’s emotional response to an overwhelming event disrupts ideas of an individual’s sense of self and the standards by which one evaluates society. the term ‘trauma level’ refers to a work of fiction that conveys profound loss or intense fear on individual or collective levels….(it) is the transformation of the self-ignited by an external, often terrifying experience, which illuminates the process of coming to terms with the dynamics of memory that inform the new perceptions of the self and world…. the event may include… the intimately personal experience of female sexual violence… the idea that traumatic experience pathologically divides identity is employed by the literary scholar as a metaphor to describe the degree of damage done to the individual’s coherent sense of self and the change of consciousness caused by the experience (internet). uncivil attitudes in marriages most marriages are like punishment where one of the partners especially themale folk seen to be authoritative and intimidates the other. being a single woman is not a crime but our society frowns at it, as they are tagged “unserious” or “irresponsible”. people are not patient with single ladies so they are expected to be married or remarry or even go back to their former husbands even if these husbands are bullies or vagabonds. this is one of the reasons why some marriages fail because some women tend to rush into any kind of marriage and they end up finding themselves alone and lonely in the vacuum they helped create and perpetuate. this study shows that most women are lonely in their homes. mama amos is lonely in her matrimonial home. in mama amos’ letter in the text under study, she remembers a friend that was used to crying bitterly because she is not married at thirty five and regrets her own marriage the more. she writes: ‘… i remembered how you used to cry so bitterly because you were not married (at thirty five). those huge drops of tears that tunneled down your beautiful spotted face made me to denounce more vehemently the institution called marriage.’ (4) there seem to be ideas governed by customs and traditions that men seem not to forget or forgo – ‘promiscuity’. this destroys marriages as mama amos tells how her husband who lives with his mistress suddenly becomes very sick, the mistress runs away and she takes care of her husband. she ‘... with all the patience culture had bestowed on the african woman, would uncomplainingly clean him up.’ (7) she sold all her gold trinkets, expensive wrappers and her other personal belongings to settle the hospital bill. she does all these not knowing that the man has aids and she has already contracted it from him. she got married quite early and her husband keeps maltreating her, according to child marriage briefing: overview of child marriage’ there is every possibility that child marriage increases the issues of hiv. to support the above, annabel and mairo in their book, the experience of married adolescent girls in northern nigeria also write that ‘there is emerging evidence in sub-saharan africa that early marriages may be associated with risk of hiv infection’ (2) she truly loves her husband but unfortunately, she has to pay for being a faithful wife negatively because she contracted hiv from the wayward husband. she actually loves her husband but that does not stop him from being promiscuous. mustafa writes: ‘never marry a handsome, proud and self-centered man. men with these features are the ones who get carried away by the blinking eyes of seductive women.’ (15). he leaves his wife to live with prostitutes (his mistresses). the woman, mama amos complains bitterly, ‘he especially loved prostitutes, and if there was any new prostitute in town, my husband would be the first person to ‘taste’ her…..’ (11) the husband creates a void between himself and the wife which makes the woman feel like a stranger in her own house. mama amos is so traumatized that she dies regretting her marriage. she writes to a friend: should i now tell you not to marry, because i had a bad experience or should i warn you of the many disappointments (most times heartrending) that you will come to experience as you become somebody’s wife? should i also tell you about the many insults you will have to bear from in-laws? some will label you wicked and maybe your mother-in-law may call you a prostitute, but the most humiliating is to be called a thief. people can be so cruel…… all due to the fact that she carefully and thriftily cautions her husband in money matter? (5-6). mama amos’ husband has aids for years and does not deem it fit to tell the wife even though he sleeps with her whenever he wishes. her husband dies of aids and even on his hospital bed he still hides his ailment from her. she knows about the disease years after the death of her husband when she becomes ill. she is shocked to learn about what killed her husband and that she is suffering from the same ailment. her regret is that she loves her husband. the shock alone killed her. mama amos warns her friends never to trust even pastors who will advise you to always sleep with your husband when there is distrust. she writes: ‘when there is mistrust, do not listen to dramatic preaching of myopic pastors, especially when they tell you to keep the matrimonial bed undefiled. use this opportunity to run for your life never to return.’ (15) she is now humiliated and rejected by everybody, even her own father and family. she regrets trusting her husband and advices her friend to take her husband to her own doctor whenever he is sick and secretly take his blood for ‘test for any signs of the plague’ (15). forced and arranged marriages are part of the reasons why marriages do not last. in what if….?, mustafa portrays most marriages as forced or arranged marriages. in the text under study, what if…?, binta’s parents forcefully marry her out to anuruwa. mustafa writes: ‘anaruwa pushed his father to force her family into giving her to him…’ (140). of course this type of marriage leads to violence, binta refuses anuruwa access to her body and he beats her all the time, he chains her, locks her up in his house and ‘raped her until she becomes unconscious.’ (155) he beats her up regularly, she becomes mentally unfit to do anything. mustafa continues ‘…. it makes me happy to see her mentally unfit…..’ (155)violence or duress seems to be the order of the day in most cases. the following could be consequences of forced marriage: emotional trauma, abduction, imprisonment, physical violence, rape and in very extreme cases and murder. a. choice by right: the report of the working group on forced marriages, writes: “from emotional pressure, exerted by close family members and the extended family, to more extreme cases, which can involve threatening behaviours, abduction, imprisonment, physical violence, rape and in some cases murder’ (11) could be seen in forced marriages. this report also defines forced marriage as ‘a marriage conducted without the valid consent of both parties, where duress is a factor’.(4) they go ahead to write ‘that forced marriage must be seen primarily as an issue of violence against women … it is women who most often live in fear and suffer violence as a result of the forced marriage’. (14) violence at home is a traumatic experience that leaves many people traumatized and confused. binta is traumatized that she most often forgets who she is – she becomes mentally sick.these young girls find it difficult to report cases of violence to their parents to avoid the consequences of divorce. in the novel what if….., mama amos is indirectly forced to marry her husband because of her parents’ cantankerous way of living, it pushes her out too early to marry any man that comes her way. her father will always insult her mother and keeps reminding her how useless women are. if her mother tries to reply him, then she will be beaten to a stupor and end her journey that day in the hospital. mama amos’ mother got married quite early; she was forced to marry her husband. mama amos father always insults his wife and beats her with belt believing that women are only good in bed and procreation. he said: ‘… women are just a waste…. what you all know is to open your legs wide as you can to let a man to climb you…. you are just there, lying on your back and receiving the mighty rod of a man.’ (14) the woman’s attempt to talk back to the husband ‘escalated my father’s anger so much that he beat her till she fainted’ (14) and he walked out of the house for one week. the children rush her to the hospital, the children sell ‘maize that we had stored from the last harvest, (14) to settle her hospital bills. due to this type of violence in her father’s house, she gets married early ‘to run away from violence and hurt but ended up experiencing an equal dose of hurt in my matrimonial home.’ (14) another character in the text, kyauta complains bitterly, she is regularly abused by the husband over very slightest issue. whenever she refuses to pay their house rent, her abusive husband will beat her ‘terribly’ for that. she endures the beatings, the injuries and the humiliation silently, pretending to people that all is well. her husband makes life miserable and unbearable for her by using derogatory words on her. she is ready to tolerate all these until the day, he uses kitchen knife to slash her wrists and ‘blood started gushing out’ (110). linda jummai mustafa writes: ‘the day he used the kitchen knife on me was the day i got the wake-up call to leave my abusive husband’ (108), the same day, her husband beat her up mercilessly to have his way and threatens to kill her if she refuses him, she is violently raped that morning by her husband just to avoid being killed by him. the trauma left her speechless as she quickly packs out of the house. violence thrives in unhealthy homes and it leads to broken families. no wonder linda jummai mustafa asks what the world is turning into with so much violence and hatred. ‘what was this world turning into? with so much hatred, violence and injustice, people were slowly transferring into humans with no heart and con-science.’ (85). authoritative men are quick to beat their wives and can go to extreme to silence the wives. mustafa writes: ‘as you try to make a choice of man you will settle downwith, make sure you look for a man who talks to you, not one that barks order at you.’ (15) such behaviours also lead to abuse of power, marginalization of women, blood letting, sexual abuse and many other uncivil behaviours. mama amos complains bitterly about her son who the father never beats. the boy turns to something else, going out with ‘barrack boys’ (16) and never assists his mother with house chores. mama amos complains; ‘it is not that i didn’t bring him up well, but his father would never allow me beat him whenever he failed to do what i had instructed him to do.’ (16). now, mama amos in her sick bed after the death of her husband wonders what type of child her son will be in future when she is no longer there. she is afraid that her children ‘may eventually become cheats, area boys or worse still, armed robbers.’ (17). just like in what if…..,?. papa amos usually stays away from his family, such actions will not save the situation but rather it will worsen it. in the text under study, kande, a university graduate is wrongly accused by the mum of stealing because she lost her job and no longer gives her mother up-keep money. the mother is so callous that she chased kande away from their house and the father cannot even help her. the mother insults her in front of neighbours, visitors, friends and her younger siblings; she becomes an outcast in her own house. kande complains bitterly; ‘my mum drove me out of the main building. i stayed in a room just by the big gate of our house. it was as if i was now the gateman of the house….’ (171). the mother now insists that she leaves the house since she cannot get married nor find a good job. she said; ‘…she is there lamenting on how she cannot get a job or a good man. rubbish! she must leave…’ (176). she keeps on insulting her daughter that the daughter tries committing suicide instead of being humiliated for nothing. mustafa writes: ‘by the next morning, i was set to hang myself. all the reasoning i had done from the evening my mother accused me of theft to the time i was mentally prepared to end it all veered towards suicide.’ (175) the girl is traumatized, she finds suicide an option. this actually brings division in this family as the man; kande’s husband is ready to leave with his daughter. kande’s mother is confrontational and always argues over nothing. conclusion though it is obvious that there is no guarantee in marriages, couples are supposed to carry out their responsibilities seriously for a lasting marriage but unfortunately men in particular abuse such conditions by oppressing and humiliating their wives silently. couples are supposed to be extension of each other and they are happily married if they sincerely adhere to the legal/conjugal contract. they are expected to raise responsible children because everything good or bad begins at home. parents therefore have a lot of work to do in their families to keep their marriages intact and produce responsible, hardworking, intelligent and diligent children that will impact positively to society. they must be considerate, sincere, unselfish, caring and understanding. in fact, they must try as much as possible to understand each other by communicating often. once there is a communication gap, the marriage suffers. polygamy is done to the detriment of women because the humiliations they face in such homes turn them to slaves, quarrelsome and cantankerous women. in most cases men in this category see their sexual relationship with their wives as a fulfillment of a pleasurable passion. works cited abdullah, b. a. ‘girl child marriage and women development in nigeria: contemporary issues’, journal of development and psychology, 14 (9). pp 248-259. adela c: timmons et al. daily patterns of stress and conflict in couples: associations with marital aggression and family-of-origin aggression. j. fam psychol. 2017. amao-kehinde a.o, 2009) the effect of communication and conflict resolution skills stratagies on marital adjustment of some selected couples. ‘the counsellor 17 (1) 138-143, (2016) annabel s. e.andmairo b. the experience of married adolescent girls in northern nigeria. abuja, the population council, 2007 andy henion and hui ciu. rocky marriages not always bad for your health, michigan state university, 2016. katu, l.o. causes of divorce and their implication or counselling. a case study of jos metropolis unpublished m.ed.thesis. university of jos. 2006 lord ahmed et al. a choice by right: the report of the working property on forced marriage, united kingdom: home office communications directorate. june 2000. macious j.j and plumber, k 92005). sociology; a global introduction (4th ed) england: pearson education limited edinburgh gate why we marry. sanjainalagudu. 5 signs of a nagging wife and how to stop being one. 8th jun. 2021. www.monjunction.com/article/nagging-wife_00629679. mustafa l. j.what if …?ibadan: new africa book publishers. 2020. nmadu, a. g. et al. child marriage in nigeria: the human rights and public health implications’, tropical journal of health sciences, vol 25, no 3, 2018 uwe, e.‘effective communication: a tool for marital adjustment and stability’, journal of counselling association of nigeria. vol 22, pp 22-31. 2006. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 38 the relation between language and information technology (it) egenti, martha chidimma department of linguistics nnamdi azikiwe university awka egentinma@gmail.com & dereck-m akachukwu orji department of linguistics nnamdi azikiwe university awka abstract in the growth of technological advancements, there is need to highlight some of the technological tools that enhance academic research in linguistics at different levels of grammar given the availability of software that improves linguistic analysis. this study is simply geared towards bringing to limelight some of these linguistics tools and their uses as a way of creating awareness. also, the relation between language and information technology (it) shows that language is a sole carrier of volumes of information while it is a veritable tool through which data are analyzed and interpreted. keywords: language, information, technology 1. introduction today, technological advancements have permeated every nook and cranny of the world and have turned it into a global village. people from all walks of life; including professionals, students, and the general population are confronted by unprecedented volumes of information, the vast bulk of which is stored as unstructured text. bird, klein and loper (2008:14), notes that in 2003, it was estimated that the annual production of books amounted to 8terabytes. (a terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes, i.e., equivalent to 1,000 pickup trucks filled with books.) it would take posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 39 a human being about five years to read the new scientific material that is produced every 24 hours. although these estimates are based on printed materials, increasingly the information is also available electronically. indeed, there has been an explosion of text and multimedia content on the world wide web. for many people, a large and growing fraction of work and leisure time is spent navigating and accessing this universe of information. language on the other hand, is the sole carrier of this bulk of information which is embodied in the several language technologies whether it is spoken or written data. we shall in the subsequent sections look at the language and its richness, give an overview of information technology and language technology and specific areas of linguistics in which computers are used for linguistic analysis. 2. language and its richness according to bird, klein and loper (2008:14), language is rich. it is the chief manifestation of human intelligence. through language we express basic needs and lofty aspirations, technical know-how and flights of fantasy. ideas are shared over great separations of distance and time. the study of language is part of many disciplines outside of linguistics, including translation, literary criticism, philosophy, anthropology and psychology. many less obvious disciplines investigate language use, such as law, hermeneutics, forensics, telephony, pedagogy, archaeology, cryptanalysis and speech pathology. each applies distinct methodologies to gather observations, develop theories and test hypotheses. yet all serve to deepen our understanding of language and of the intellect that is manifested in language. the importance of language to science and the arts is matched in significance by the cultural treasure embodied in language. no doubt, as bird et al (2008) further point out, each of the world’s over 7,000 human languages is rich in unique respects, in its oral histories and creation legends, down to its grammatical constructions and its very words and their nuances of meaning. threatened remnant cultures have words to distinguish plant subspecies according to therapeutic uses that are unknown to science. language is indispensable both in arts & humanities and in science and engineering as well. in arts and humanities, programming is carried out to manage language data, explore linguistic models, and test empirical claims; likewise, in science and engineering, language serves as a source of interesting problems in data modeling, data mining, and knowledge discovery. it is also important to note that as anusuya and katti posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 40 (2010) in distinguishing between human brain and the computer assert that language is the key linkage which makes both brain and computer to work efficiently. language is dynamic, as bird et al (2008) note evolves over time as they come into contact with each other and they provide a unique window onto human prehistory. technological change gives rise to new words like blog and new morphemes like eand cyber-. for its breathtaking complexity and diversity, human language is as a colorful tapestry stretching through time and space. the next section will look at information technology and language technology. 3.0 information technology and language technology we shall first and foremost look at what information technology entails before delving into language technology. information computer technology also called information technology (it) according to urua (2004:5) involves the processing of information, the storage of such information, the distribution and assessment of such information with the use of the computer, modern technologies and digital devices. information/data can be organized in a friendly way using computer. it is the current research tool utilized in virtually all walks of life. its resources include; internet and world wide web (www). the internet is a flexible computer-based global system with many interconnected computer networks, linking thousands of computers to enable them share information. the web consists of programs running on many computers and permits a user to find and display multimedia (multimodal) and documents (documents with a combination of text, photographs, graphics, audio and video). similarly, emeka-nwobia (2008) also explains ict and it differently. according to him, whereas ict involves the storage, management, exchange, transmission, manipulation, retrieval and assessing of information in its various forms through technological device. these devices may be computers, telephones, networks, electronic databases, cd roms, laser discs, video cameras, or fax machines; on the other hand, it refers to the applications of technology to the acquisition, storage, organization, manipulation, assessing, referring and dissemination of information. on the other hand, according to rashel (2011) language technology which is sometimes referred to as human language technology includes: computational methods, computer programs and electronic devices that are specialized for analyzing, producing or modifying texts and speech. she further explains that posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 41 these systems must be based on few knowledge of human language. similarly, uszkoreit (1997) defines information technologies as specialized for dealing with the most complex information medium in our world: human language. therefore, these technologies are also often subsumed under the term human language technology. human language occurs in spoken and written form. whereas speech is the oldest and most natural mode of language communication, complex information and most of human knowledge is maintained and transmitted in written texts. speech and text technologies process or produce language in these two modes of realization. but language also has aspects that are shared between speech and text such as dictionaries, most of grammar and the meaning of sentences. thus, large parts of language technology cannot be subsumed under speech and text technologies. among those are technologies that link language to knowledge. furthermore, language technologies can also help people communicate with each other. much older than communication problems between human beings and machines are those between people with different mother tongues. one of the original aims of language technology has always been fully automatic translation between human languages. one of the major goals as rashel (2011) points out is to simplify and improve the communication system between people and computer. from bitter experience scientists have realized that they are still far away from achieving the ambitious goal of translating unrestricted texts. nevertheless, they have been able to create software systems that simplify the work of human translators and clearly improve their productivity. less than perfect automatic translations can also be of great help to information seekers who have to search through large amounts of texts in foreign languages. according to uszkoreit (1997) in our communication we mix language with other modes of communication and other information media. we combine speech with gesture and facial expressions. digital texts are combined with pictures and sounds. movies may contain language and spoken and written form. thus speech and text technologies overlap and interact with many other technologies that facilitate processing of multimodal communication and multimedia documents. nevertheless, uszkoreit also points out that language is the fabric of the web, according to him, the rapid growth of the internet/www and the emergence of the information society poses exciting new challenges to language technology. however, he asserts that although, the new media combine text, graphics, sound posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 42 and movies, the whole world of multimedia information can only be structured, indexed and navigated through language. 3.1 the relation between language and information technology computational linguistics is largely an applied field, concerned with practical problems. there are as many applications as there are reasons for computers to process or produce language: for example, in situations where humans are unavailable, too expensive, too slow, or busy doing tasks that humans are better at than machines. some current application areas include translating texts, especially business and technical texts from one language to another (machine translation), finding relevant documents in large collections of text (information retrieval), and answering questions about a subject area (expert systems with natural language interfaces). the most relevant language technologies are summarized by uszkoreit (1997) below:  speech recognition spoken language is recognized and transformed in into text as in dictation systems, into commands as in robot control systems, or into some other internal representation.  speech synthesis utterances in spoken language are produced from text (text-to-speech systems) or from internal representations of words or sentences (concept-to-speech systems). similarily, urua (2004), explains that speech synthesis enable the computers to scan printed text and speak the words aloud. this tool is useful for the blind and visually challenged people.  text categorization this technology assigns texts to categories. texts may belong to more than one category, categories may contain other categories. filtering is a special case of categorization with just two categories. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 43  text summarization the most relevant portions of a text are extracted as a summary. the task depends on the needed lengths of the summaries. summarization is harder if the summary has to be specific to a certain query.  text indexing as a precondition for document retrieval, texts are stored in an indexed database. usually a text is indexed for all word forms or – after lemmatization – for all lemmas. sometimes indexing is combined with categorization and summarization.  text retrieval texts are retrieved from a database that best match a given query or document. the candidate documents are ordered with respect to their expected relevance. indexing, categorization, summarization and retrieval are often subsumed under the term information retrieval.  information extraction relevant information pieces of information are discovered and marked for extraction. the meaning of the texts is analyzed in detail, answering specific questions about text content. the extracted pieces can be: the topic, named entities such as company, place or person names, simple relations such as prices, destinations, functions etc. or complex relations describing accidents, company mergers or football matches. other kinds of text such as medical case histories that are in well-bounded domain systems will extract information and put it into databases for statistical analyses.  data fusion and text data mining extracted pieces of information from several sources are combined in one database. previously undetected relationships may be discovered 3.2 computers in specific areas of linguistics and resources of it rogers (1998) highlights core areas of linguistics in which computers are used for linguistic analysis. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 44 phonetics and phonology computers helps to improve the way phonetics is taught but to be able to do it with the computer, the sounds of a particular language must be digitized which can be fed into any computer for linguistic analysis. there is also some available software like audacity software where these sounds can be edited to remove background noise. rogers also notes that phonemic transcription can be taught using a computer by application of the appropriate software. also, computer offers the opportunities for teaching anatomy needed in phonetics. the computer provides not only the access to the data, but also the tools for the analysis. cd-roms are used in storing large amounts of data. programs used for phonetics and phonology among others include; praat, e-lan, captac, phthong etc. morphology the computer can be used to perform tasks such as dividing a word into morphemes, listing other allomorphs, identifying port-manteau morphs. it can also give the total of words in a given text etc. syntax tree diagram for sentences can be easily drawn by using a program that could parse strings. the computer can also convert labeled bracketed strings into trees. e.g syntactica semantics the computer helps to make fine distinctions of meaning. program such as tarski’s world used in teaching logic can be useful in this regard. others include semantica, framebuilder (allows creation of lexical database with semantic definitions). ellogon, antconc are concordance tools used to show the keyword-in-context concordance on the basis of frequency, length of word, inclusion in a list, or pattern matching. that is to say different semantic analysis can be performed using them, also the collocations patterns of words and the different meanings words can have in the different occurrences can be analyzed using these software. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 45 sociolinguistics although, combination of some of the above listed software can be used for sociolinguistic analysis. for instance, the e-lan or praat can be used for annotation of the data. language variations, innovations and isoglosses in a language can be captured using gapmap and other software showing these variations and different dialects on the map. language teaching and learning ict is learner’s friendly. learners can assess information through the internet with little or no teacher’s guidance. today, we have on-line education program called e-learning whereby people enroll for any degree programme. academic materials can also be accessed in libraries of universities in the world. the virtual library provides this service and grant researchers access to books, journals, magazines, course curricula, university programmes, e.t.c. other areas such as psycholinguistics, language documentation etc. are also applied to computational method in the analysis of data. a lot of languages have been described and preserved computationally using it resources. it such as shoebox and microsoft excel and access can also be used for building database for dictionary making thereby building large corpora for a particular language. 3.3 some software for linguistic analysis there are lots of software that is relevant for different aspects of research in linguistics. they can also be combined in the different stages of data analysis. for instance, audacity is used for recording and processing recordings. elan/praat is used for transcription/annotation. praat is used for acoustic/auditory analysis and for generating output; it is basically used by linguists for speech analysis, notepad++ is used for preparing scripts and formatting data tables. while excel is used for quick or basic plots, spot checks, data manipulation etc.; r is used for statistics and advanced plots. ellogon/antconc is used for key word-in-context or concordances, etc. the following software is also used for dialect analysis in sociolinguistics and especially for dialect variations studies. it includes: posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 46 lo4:http://www.let.rug.nl/kleiweg/lo4/ gabmap: http://www.gabmap.nl vdm (visual dialectometry): www.dialectometry.com lingpy: http://lingpy.org. this website used for historical linguistic studies. most of the above software are free online and they can be easily downloaded for use for different linguistic analysis. 4. summary and conclusion the foregoing no doubt presents it resources as an indispensable tool that helps in solving language problems. today, it is possible to manage very large corpora using the cd roms, mp3, flash drive etc. data can be accessed easily in the internet. the different software used in collection of text, annotation and plotting of graphs such as e-lan, audacity, ant-conc, r-brul, praat e.t.c. are all found in the internet using the google search engine. most of these software are free online software and can be downloaded alongside their tutorials which are also available online. using it for linguistic analysis or for academic purposes not only saves time, it makes work a lot easier and more fun. following anusuya and katti (2010) this study also notes that “…language is the key linkage which makes both brain and computer to work efficiently”. http://www.gabmap.nl/ http://www.dialectometry.com/ http://lingpy.org/ posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 47 references anusuya m.a. & s. k. katti .2010. superficial analysis and differences between the human brain and the computer. international journal of computer science and network security, vol. 10 n0 7. emeka-nwobia ngozi. 2008. information and communication technology (ict) in mbah and mbah (ed.), history of linguistics and communication, a festschrift in honor of professor p.a. nwachukwu. nsukka-enugu: paschal communication, pp. 358-369. bird s. e. klein & loper e. 2008. introduction to natural language processing. retrieved from http://nltk.org/book/ rashel m. 2011. introducing language technology and computational linguistics in bangladesh. international journal of english linguistics. vol. 1, no. 1. www.ccsenet.org/ijel. rogers henry. 2008. education in using computers in linguistics: a practical guide in john lawler and helen aristar dry (ed.). london and new york: routledge. uszkoreit h. 1997. language technology – a first overview in survey of the state of the art in human language technology by ronald a-cole, joseph mariam, uszkoreit hans, zaenen annie and zue victor (ed.). retrieved from http://www.dfki.de/~hansu/lt.pdf. on 15/2/15. http://nltk.org/book/ http://www.ccsenet.org/ijel http://www.dfki.de/~hansu/lt.pdf la traduction : un vehicule indispensable au developpement humain theodora onuko résumé la traduction est un véhicule visé à la transmission des informations dans le monde. l’homme se trouve constamment en face à des problèmes socioculturels, économiques et physiques qui se produisent autour de lui. il cherche sans cesse à les affronter et à les résoudre et c’est la raison il désire des communications interculturelles qui lui viennent en aide pour améliorer ses situations .la traduction joue un rôle médiateur entre diverses sociétés et cultures qui vivent dans différentes locations et lieux du monde. c’est par la communication que l’homme apprend les nouvelles idées et les concepts d’autres gens, et en même temps échange ses pensées envers ses semblables. cette étude qui appartient au domaine de la traduction a l’objectif d’aborder les rôles que peuvent jouer les deux champs de la traduction dans le développement humain. keywords : la traduction, développement humain, la communication, socioculturels, sociétés et cultures introduction on ne se met jamais en accord sur l’origine de la traduction parce que « l’on dispute toujours sur la cause de cet échec historique de l’humanité post diluvienne » (c. andronikof dans seleskovitch danica, 7). mais ce qui est important est que le besoin de la communication est à l’ origine de ce phénomène. on peut attester que les pratiques de l’interprétation et de la traduction ont toujours existé mais ce n’est qu’a partir des années soixante que la traduction a commencé d’attirer l’attention de beaucoup de gens (albir hurtado,9). la pluralité des langues et la multiplicité des gens dans le monde rendent la traduction nécessaire. l’interprétation, tout comme la traduction deviennent incontournables dans la communication entre différents hommes de diverses cultures. les inventions scientifiques et technologiques telles l’électricité, les journaux, l’informatique et l’internet continuent de faire tomber les barrières de communication qui empêchaient auparavant la diffusion des informations. c’est la raison dont beaucoup de renseignements et d’instructions sont accessibles aujourd’hui à divers peuples du monde même dans les pays lointains. par le biais de ces nouveaux véhicules de communication nombreux gens peuvent aujourd’hui se servir des inventions scientifiques et techniques pour améliorer la vie de leur peuple. celui-ci amène du développement dans les domaines de la vie socio culturelle, politique et économique des gens. cela explique cette remarque de danica seleskovitch qu’ il n’existe pas à notre époque presque plus de barrière à la communication. les avions qui relient les grandes villes du monde en quelques heures nous ont amené à ne plus compter les distances en kilomètres mais en heures de vol : la radio et la télévision font pénétrer les informations et les idées dans les foyers les plus reculés…(25). le présent article étudie les rôles importants que peuvent jouer les deux champs de la traduction : littéraire et pragmatique dans le développement humain. d’après le dictionnaire le petit robert de la langue française, développement signifie « a1. action de donner toute son étendue à (qqch.), dérouler, déployer. distance développée par un tour de pédale d’une bicyclette .b1.action de développer (organisme,organe) ;évolution de ce qui se développe. croissance, épanouissement » (723). le même dictionnaire définit « humain » comme « adj. et n. 1.de l’homme, propre à l’homme, nature humaine, vie humaine » (1256). par ces définitions on comprend que les termes « développement humain » impliquent tous les processus qui favorisent l’épanouissement de l’homme, c’est-àdire, tous ceux qui le mettent dans la disposition à achever toutes ses possibilités. cette communication discutera d’abord l’importance de la traduction littéraire avant de montrer la signification de la traduction pragmatique/technique. l’importance de la traduction litteraire d’après bassnett-mcguire, les activités de l’apprentissage avaient fleuri par la traduction en angleterre au neuvième siècle quand le roi alfred (871-899) est arrivé à faire traduire plusieurs textes anciens écrits en latin, en vernaculaire, c’est –àdire l’anglais. son objectif dans ces traductions c’est d’aider ses sujets à recouvrir des traumas qu’ils ont subis dans les invasions et les ravages produits des danois (50-51). cela avait encouragé les activités de l’apprentissage parce que les idées et les vertus de ces écritures avaient été rendues accessibles à tous les gens qui pourraient les lire. la traduction rend à la portée de plusieurs peuples du monde des idées des œuvres littéraires des écrivains comme homère, aristote, shakespeare, racine, et, d’autres écrivains classiques avaient été traduits. il est également à noter que nos concitoyens de l’afrique occidentale tels chinua achebe, wole soyinka, buchi emecheta, camara laye, mongo beti, sembène ousmane, mariama ba, aminata sow fall et d’autres sont arrivés à diffuser leurs idées et leurs philosophies dans le monde grâce à la traduction littéraire. la traduction littéraire est pertinente dans la promotion des activités socio-culturelles entre les pays de l’afrique occidentale et dans le monde entier. autrefois, la traduction des textes littéraires se montrait incontournable dans les activités pédagogiques parce que des linguistes et certains professeurs apprenaient leurs élèves la grammaire et les figures rhétoriques à travers la traduction. des professeurs s’étaient servis de la traduction pour approfondir la connaissance du grec et du latin,( langues érudites) et les sciences auprès des apprenants . pratima dave shastri confirme ce fait dans cette manière: actually, the concept of language teaching began with grammar translation method, where the rules of grammar, and the vocabulary items of latin were memorized and each sentence was translated from latin into the mother-tongue and vice-versa. it has certain drawbacks hence the method was rejected. but even today translation is a good technique to teach language (1). auparavant et même pendant la renaissance la traduction des textes religieux tels la bible et des textes littéraires classiques était en floraison. salomon pierre révèle aussi que la pléiade guidé par pierre de ronsard et les écrivains humanistes avaient profité de la traduction pour enrichir la poésie et la langue française(32). nombreux sont les œuvres littéraires traduites par plusieurs écrivains à cause de leur importance dans l’instruction morale. onuko theodora réaffirme ce fait lorsqu’elle montre que bon nombre d’écrivains ont fait d’excellentes traductions. les travaux de certains écrivains comme chateaubriand qui a traduit paradise lost de milton au dix-huitième siècle, charles baudelaire qui a traduit les œuvres d’edgar allen poe, poète américain du dixneuvième siècle pourront tous attester à ce fait. andré gide a également eu une grande réussite dans sa traduction de hamlet de shakespeare au vingtième siècle, et il y a d’autres exemples(28). heylen romy aussi dans son livre: poetics and the stage: six french hamlets remarque que « translations enable the transfer of literary devices and models from one literature or culture to another and thus enrich, developing literatures in need of poetic models or renew established literatures that find themselves in crisis>> (10-11). nous croyons également que la traduction littéraire pourrait aider les écrivains nigérians, ainsi que les écrivains d’autres pays africains à enrichir, revivifier leurs œuvres, leurs langues indigènes et réparer quelques réalités socio-culturelles de leurs pays. il est à noter que certaines organisations internationales telles que l’union européenne qui la revalorisent, continuent d’encourager la traduction des œuvres littéraires afin de promouvoir des ententes interculturelles parmi les citoyens de leurs pays. on pourra illustrer ce point à travers cette remarque de forrest alan que ‘‘the idea of giving financial support for the translation of literary works is not new, unesco and the council of europe having undertaken the schemes with varying degrees of success” (348). la transmission des idées littéraires et culturelles se montre efficace pour la transformation et la civilisation des mœurs de la société. aujourd’hui, il y a beaucoup de difficultés de ségrégation et de conflits ethniques ou raciaux qui à leur tour, incitent des malentendus, des guerres et des actes de violence non, seulement en afrique occidentale, mais aussi en afrique entière. par conséquence, il y a peu de progrès parmi ces pays. la traduction littéraire pourra être un instrument par excellence pour encourager et promouvoir l’entente mutuelle entre les pays situés, surtout en afrique occidentale. elle s’avère appropriée pour la propagation des faits socio-culturels parmi les peuples du monde. les peuples africains devraient être rendus sensibles au fait que la tâche du développement n’est pas exclusivement l’affaire du gouvernement mais concerne tout le monde dans la société. le vrai développement ne se réalise que le moment où tous les domaines de l’homme : la physique, le mental et le spirituel sont impliqués. pratima dave reprend cette idée lorsqu’elle remarque que : translation builds bridges between two languages and two cultures. it is an important medium of exposing us to the world of literature as well as to the literature written in different (local) languages…translation is one of the most potent means of providing us with a fresh view of oneness, unity and commonality as well as the wonderful diversities which indicate the expansive richness of our literature (3). le role de la traduction pragmatique/technique cependant, aujourd’hui, on est témoin d’une période où la demande croissante de la traduction des textes techniques et scientifiques attire l’attention des professeurs et des théoriciens de la traduction. la circonstance a changé en considération de ce qui est obtenu aux siècles précédents, parce que l’accroissement des mouvements d’intégration et de co-opération nécessite de plus en plus les services des traducteurs pragmatiques qui se révèlent efficaces dans la résolution des problèmes linguistiques entre divers pays du monde. pour faire face à cette augmentation, des traducteurs se groupent en associations nationales et internationales afin de participer aux échanges commerciales. jean delisle montre que certains théoriciens et linguistes ont créé des écoles et des théories qui cherchent à promouvoir la pratique de la traduction. la preuve de ce fait est l’apparence de la théorie sémiotique d’alexandre ljudskanov, la théorie linguistique de john catford, la théorie sociolinguistique d’eugène nida, la méthode comparative de jean-paul vinay et jean darbelnet, et la théorie interprétative du groupe de l’ecole supérieure d’ interprètes et de traducteurs à paris, dont les chefs sont danica seleskovitch et marianne lederer (48-57). on présente aussi les machines à traduire avec le but de faciliter la traduction des textes dits pragmatiques ou techniques. d’après jean delisle « l’évolution des relations internationales, au lendemain de la deuxième guerre mondiale, de même que l’adoption, de politiques linguistiques officielles par des états bilingues comme canada, ont donné lieu à un accroissement phénoménal du volume des traductions »(15). or, la multiplication des échanges commerciales entre plusieurs pays et les délibérations des organisations internationales telles l’uno, (l’organisation des nations unies) et le (l’union européenne), eu rendent ces phénomènes : l’interprétation et la traduction indispensables au point, qu’elles deviennent des professions pratiquées par des spécialistes. la traduction automatique facilite le travail du traducteur pour accélérer la diffusion des informations qui se montrent relatives à l’amélioration des situations et au développement dans le monde entier. néanmoins ce fait ne s’achèvera pas sans la traduction de certaines nouvelles idées qui les rendent accessibles à la multiplicité des gens. danica seleskovitch a fait remarquer que : malgré toutes les réalisations de la science et de la technologie pour abattre les murs qui éloignent les hommes il en reste néanmoins une qui subite presque intacte, et qui constitue un obstacle encore difficile a franchir pour les hommes que tout rapproche par ailleurs. c’est la barrière des langues, la malédiction originelle, la tour de babel biblique (25). cette partie de notre étude porte essentiellement sur la traduction pragmatique ou technique, c’est-a-dire les textes traitant les sujets technologiques et scientifiques. on constate qu’une croissance considérable des dossiers rédigés en langues des spécialités attire l’attention des professeurs/théoriciens de la traduction. et christiane durieux soutient que « la traduction de ces textes justifie une démarche propre non seulement en raison de leur contenu technique, mais aussi du fait que le langage utilisé est souvent différent du langage courant »(24). ce fait sans doute nécessite la formation des traducteurs des dossiers des textes rédigés en langues de spécialité. on assiste à présent à une période de la mondialisation qui favorise la dissémination des informations, alors la traduction en raison du phénomène, est devenue primordiale. d’après le dictionnaire le petit robert de la langue française, le fait de devenir mondial, de se répondre dans le monde entier… c’est le phénomène d’ouverture des économies nationales sur un marche mondial libéral, lie aux progrès des communications et des transports, à la libération des échanges, entrainant une interdépendance croissante des pays (1624). par cette définition on constate que la mondialisation encourage les échanges commerciaux, la diffusion étendue des informations qui mènent aux progrès et aux rapports plus amicaux entre plusieurs pays dans le monde. la traduction s’avère pertinente dans les échanges internationaux qui aident le développement et l’industrialisation d’une diversité des pays. afin de contourner les difficultés de la communication pour acquérir des informations plurilingues, on s’efforce de recourir à la traduction. la traduction est une activité qui s’avère pertinente dans telles associations comme l’organisation des nations unies, l’union européenne, l’union africaine, la communauté economique des etats de l’afrique de l’ouest pour franchir les problèmes linguistiques entre divers pays du monde. forrest alan soutient ce point en remarquant que. : linguistic obstacles to the attainment of the european single market are overcome as far as legislation is concerned, by the translation of texts into languages designated as “official and working languages” of the, european union council… (cité dans ajulo et al, 340). certes, le rôle du traducteur technique est énorme puisqu’il est le médiateur entre l’auteur et ses destinataires, le véhicule par lequel celui-ci disperse son information qui pourrait être de nature fort sensible ou délicate. cela est la raison pour laquelle l’objectivité et la fidélité sont pertinentes dans l’exécution de son travail. d’après christiane durieux « la traduction technique se renvoie à la traduction de textes de nature technologique ou scientifique… les documents réputés techniques (manuel de référence, brochures d’entretien, descriptifs de matériel ou de procède, même mode d’emploi)… » 23. la traduction technique/ pragmatique se révèle pertinente dans la diffusion des informations nécessaires à l’industrialisation et au développement humain. les protagonistes du développement peuvent introduire des nouvelles technologies et connaissances qui, vont à leur tour instruire et industrialiser les sociétés rurales. la traduction sert à diffuser des informations à la majorité de la population. ces informations peuvent être de nature médicale, administrative, économique, politique ou technique. disséminées, elles sont capables de promouvoir et d’apporter de l’épanouissement et du progrès dans la société. un texte pragmatique, c’est un texte qui est destiné à communiquer le message de la vie de tous les jours, ayant à faire avec la vie immédiate. le texte littéraire est plutôt esthétique. un texte pragmatique peut être un article de presse, brochure juridique, de tourisme un article de conférence, une documentation scientifique des rapports (reports) documents officiel sur la pollution, santé physique, tribalisme, ethnicisâmes, le sports, etc. le message du texte pragmatique est souvent nécessaire et relatif aux évènements de tous les jours. l’objectif des écrits techniques et des manuels scientifiques est l’exactitude de l’information parce qu’ils cherchent surtout à renseigner son public sur les faits socio-culturels, politiques et économiques. la connaissance des langages codifiés est très pertinente dans la traduction de tels textes pragmatiques à cause de l’objectivité et de la précision des concepts caractéristiques de ce domaine. dans cette type de traduction, il faut non seulement le triple processus de la traduction interprétative, mais, aussi la documentation approfondie sur les sujets du texte, la connaissance des terminologies spécifiques, des connaissances encyclopédiques sur l’auteur et l’historicité de la société du texte de départ. jean delisle montre les qualités de ce genre de cette manière : dans sa capacité de l’intermédiaire entre l’auteur et ses destinataires, le traducteur devrait agir avec de la caution et de la considération puisqu’il est, le véhicule par lequel celui-ci dissémine son information qui pourrait être de nature fort sensible ou délicate. cela est la raison de la fidélité et de l’objectivité pour le traducteur surtout d’un texte pragmatique. pour illustrer la gravité d’un manque de ces qualités dans la traduction, gerding salas remarque que: through experience, i have learned that the consequences of wrong translations can be catastrophic especially done by lay persons and mistakes made in the performance of this activity can obviously be irreparable. just think of what could happen in cases of inadequacy in knowledge areas such as science, medicine, legal matters, or technology...it is quite clear that a poor translation cannot only lead to hilarity or to minor confusion ,but it can also be a matter of life and death(4) . delisle jean réaffirme ces idées lorsqu’il remarque que “ la traduction de tels écrits est périlleuse parce qu’il faut faire passer en langue d’arrivée non seulement ce qui est dit mais aussi ce qui est suggéré ». (24). la traduction joue des rôles considérables dans différents aspects du développement surtout dans i ‘apprentissage des connaissances techno-scientifiques. elle met à la portée de i’ individu des connaissances des aspects culturel, politique, sociologique environnemental et géographique, pour améliorer les mauvaises circonstances de sa vie. la pratique de la traduction anime le contact des langues diverses qui encourage la tolérance et des interactions socio-culturelles dans la société. et ces nouvelles connaissances qui sont rendues accessibles à l’individu grâce à la traduction peuvent créer en lui une prise de conscience et de la créativité qui à son tour l’aidera à découvrir des riches potentielles de sa culture. la traduction est un moyen de diffusion des informations qui promeuvent la sensibilisation des idées de l’unité et de la solidarité dans beaucoup de pays de l’afrique occidentale tels nigéria où il existe une diversité socioculturelle. la traduction soit littéraire ou pragmatique peut contribuer à l’appréciation et à l’apprentissage d’autres cultures qui se trouvent dans le même pays ou d’autres pays. par le biais de cette activité, divers gens sont munis à communiquer avec les interlocuteurs d’autres langues. la traduction peut donc soutenir des bonnes valeurs socioculturelles entre différent hommes du pays. elle peut aussi jouer un rôle vital dans différents aspects sociaux, surtout dans la dissémination des informations sur la santé parmi les populations rurales. elle est également incontournable dans les révolutions et les transformations industrielles et agricoles qui aident l’animation de l’économie au niveau national. c’est à cause de son objectivité et de sa nature dénotative qu’elle se trouve efficace dans la dissémination des informations dans les processus du développement. imaginons des situations où les politiques du gouvernement qui concernent la sécurité, la santé et l’agriculture devraient être diffusées parmi la population rurale. les gérants administratifs le trouveraient facile à transmettre ces informations à la population rurale par la traduction de la langue officielle vers les vernaculaires. pour que les programmes de la sécurité et d’autres aspects du développement initiés par le gouvernement soient effectifs, ils devraient être compris et appréciés par tous les membres de la société. c’est pourquoi une diffusion assez étendue de ces informations s’avère essentielle pour toute la réalisation du progrès et du développement chez tous les citoyens dans la société. beaucoup de programmes de développement en afrique occidentale ne s’achèvent pas à cause de certaines difficultés qui créent des conflits parmi population rurale. on soutient cette idée par ces informations données sur le développement tchadien un de ses citoyens. khalil alio remarque qu’ : ainsi beaucoup d’acteurs de développement chargés de l’exécution de certains projets ont dû se heurter à un refus catégorique des populations… ces oppositions sont de plusieurs ordres : culturel : le projet transgresse les croyances et les coutumes locales, économique: le projet va paradoxalement à l’encontre des intérêts, économiques de la communauté ; commutatif : le bien fondé du projet n’a pas été bien expliqué aux populations destinatrices (254). il est remarquable que beaucoup de projets de développements communautaires au tchad soient échoués à cause des oppositions dont ils avaient rencontrés aux niveaux de la population rurale tchadienne. la plupart de ces oppositions avaient été provoquées chez la population rurale à cause de l’ignorance et de l’inadaptation aux exigences du monde moderne. la traduction des documents est pertinente dans les champs administratifs pour l’épanouissement des industries locales et les opérations des coopérations internationales. conclusion cette communication montre que la communication se révèle très nécessaire dans le développement sociopolitique. la traduction et l’interprétation s’avèrent efficaces dans la diffusion des informations parmi les populations multiculturelles ou ils existent plusieurs gens de différentes ethnies. souvent, on trouve que beaucoup de programmes de développement dans les pays de l’afrique occidentale ne sont pas réalisés à cause des oppositions des gens vivant dans les zones rurales. on propose alors la traduction et l’interprétation pour informer et sensibiliser toute la population du besoin de contribuer dans les activités qui vont assurer la protection et la sécurité de tout le monde. cela aidera certainement la participation étendue de tous les citoyens qui vivent dans ces pays pour achever le vrai développement parmi eux. les œuvres citées albir hurtardo amparo. la notion de fidélité en traduction, paris, didier erudition, 1990. alio khalil, “langues, démocratie et développement: préalables à un aménagement linguistique au tchad” dans ajulo, s et the fetschrift committee of professor brann .(eds), language and society, lagos, university press, 2000. forrest, alan, “official languages, working languages and other languages of the european union” dans ajulo s and the festschrift committee of professor brann.(eds) language and society, lagos, university press, 2000. christianne, durieux, fondement didactique de la traduction technique, paris, didier erudition,1988. bassnett-mcguire, susan, translation studies, london and newyork, routledge, 1992. deslile, jean, l’analyse du discours comme méthode de traduction.canada, editions de l’université d’ottawa,1984. .translation: an interpretive approach, translated by loan, patricia et creery, monica, ottawa, university of ottawa press, 1981. flamand jacques, ecrire et traduire: sur la voie de création, canada, les editions du vermillion, 1983. forrest, alan, “official languages, working languages and other languages of the european union” dans ajulo s and the festschrift committee of professor brann.(eds) language and society, lagos, university press, 2000. gerdin-salas,<<teaching translation:problems and solutions in translation>> journalwebmasterurl:http://accurapid.com/journal/13educ.htm.,2000. heylen, romy, poetics and the stage: six french hamlets, london and newyork, routledge, 1993. onuko theodora,traductologie et analyse du discours une traduction anglaise de douceurs de bercail d’aminata sow fall, nolix educational publications nigeria ltd, enugu,nigeria. ,pratiima, dave shastri (2012) fundamental aspects of translation, phi learning private limited, new delhi ,india. salomon, pierre. littérature française, paris, bordas, 1993. seleskovitch, danica et lederer, marianne, interpréter pour traduire, paris, didier erudition, 1986. robert pour tous: dictionnaire de la langue française, paris, dictionnaire le robert, 1994. the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 623-627) odinye & odinye 623 globalization, english language and multilingual nigeria ifeanyi sunny odinye department igbo, african and chinese studies, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. email:ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com & ifeoma ezinne odinye department of english language & literature, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. email:ifeomaodinye@gmail.com abstract globalization, in relation to language, portends “a global common language” which offers unprecedented possibilities for mutual understanding and thus enables us to find fresh opportunities for international co-operation (crystal, 1999). multilingualism refers to a linguistic state where numerous languages are in use by one individual or in the same nation. the spread of international languages like english, french, chinese, etc as language of political and economic strength attracts the non speakers of these languages to learn to speak them. this paper discusses the globalization of english language and its effects on multilingual nation like nigeria. introduction one of the dominant and pervasive problems in nigeria and in africa at large is the language question. language, being a potent vehicle of transmitting cultures, values, norms and beliefs from generation to generation, remains a central factor in determining the status or nature of any nation. this informs the submissions of isayev (1977:1992) that ‘language is a nation’s most obvious and most important attribute. there is no such thing as a nation without a common linguistic basis’. the dominant inference from isayev’s observation is that for national integration, cohesion and development, there must be a language acceptable to all in running nation’s affairs. nigeria is a west african black nation with a population of about 140 million people. it covers an area of 923,766 square kilometers, with over 200 different ethnic groups. presently, the country is politically composed of 36 states and abuja, the federal capital territory. it is estimated that over 400 languages are spoken in nigeria (cf. crozier and blench (1992), grimes (2000), heine and nurse (2000)). the linguistic situation in nigeria is such that in many states of the federation, more than one language is spoken or used. thus multilingualism exists at the federal, state and local levels. multilingualism at the federal level is seen in the fact that recognition is accorded to four languages (english, hausa, igbo, and yoruba) (see the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of nigeria (hereafter constitution), chapter v, section 55); at the state level multilingualism is clearly depicted in the media languages for each state. the situation in degema local government is an example of multilingualism at the local level. out of the more than 400 languages spoken in the country, only three so-called major languages are accorded recognition as indigenous national languages are igbo, hausa, and yoruba. english, which is also one of the languages spoken in the country, an inheritance from britain, its colonizer, is accorded the status of official language. linguistic diversity in nigeria has occasioned widespread bilingualism and multilingualism. some people in the country speak at the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 623-627) odinye & odinye 624 least one language in addition to their mother tongue; some speak as many as four; still some more than four languages. in nigeria, like many other african nations, multilingualism is a rule, rather than an exemption, the problem of ‘foregoing ahead’ is of crucial importance. among the competing language that compete for national recognition or official status, whether indigenous or foreign, one must emerge as the official language (the language of administration and education at some levels), the language of relevance from the competitors for the purpose of uniting the nation. fortunately or unfortunately, english has emerged as that privileged language. globalization the term ‘globalization’ has in recent times been described as both a misnomer and a euphemism. it is universally acknowledged that globalization requires as well as produces new channels, networks and practices of communication which are not dependent on geographical proximity (toolan, 2000). by a strange paradox, these channels, networks and practices of communication depend heavily on language, yet language still remains a relatively neglected aspect of current scholarly and politically debate on globalization. globalization no doubt is producing new ways of not only the role played in language. linguists are expected to be concerned with not only the role played in globalization processes by language, but also the effects of globalization process on language. the growing awareness of the challenge that globalization poses to language has moved scholars around the world, from the socio-linguistic standpoint, ask many of the same questions that dominate discussion on globalization in other areas. prominent among these questions is the issue of linguistic diversity. scholars are beginning to wonder whether globalization means ‘englishization’ for example or whether it is more likely to lead to an increase in individual and societal multilingualism, and the preservation or revival of currently ‘endangered’ languages (crystal 1997, 2000). multilingualism multilingualism is a sociolinguistic phenomenon that arises as a result of language contact. it is a situation in which three or more languages operate within the same context. factors such as political annexation, marital relation, economic transaction, cultural association, educational acquisition and religious affliction bring about multilingualism. all those factors underpin the socio-political landscape of nigeria today even though the combination of political annexation and economic transaction or exploitation originally brought the people referred to as nigerians today in contact with the english people. crystal describes multilingualism as an alternative fundamental principal to the concept of shared global language. multilingualism presents us with different perspectives and insights, and thus enables us to reach a more profound understanding of the nature of human mind. with multilingualism comes diversity and depth of field made possible where one language calibrates the world, one way, while another language calibrates it differently, to the point where the first way’s strangeness is grasped. the multilingual nature of the nigerian society does not permit the use of a single indigenous language in government or education across the nation. any attempt to do so will probably be met with resistance. nigerians seem to prefer that english be used at all levels of government or education (as english is seen not only as the official language but also as a neutral language) rather than concede to the use of any one of the indigenous languages across the country. the 1999 constitution approves of the use of three major indigenous languages in government, in addition to english, at the federal level. this is in recognition of the contention that the choice of the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 623-627) odinye & odinye 625 any one of the three major indigenous languages would generate. except english, the constitution is not rigid as regards which language(s) that the state governments should use in their day-to-day businesses. english language and nigeria over the past two or three decades, english has come to occupy a singular position among languages. previously only one among several dominant european languages, on a par with french or spanish, it is today a world language, the language people use whenever they wish to communicate with others outside their own linguistic community. english has become the lingua franca of the global network; where there tcp/ip protocol secures technical communication between computers via the internet. english is the “protocol” for oral and written communication across national frontiers. through overt and covert means such as trade and commerce, educational policies and ordinances, missionary activities, schools, literature, constitutions, job opportunities and political might, english has successfully entrenched in nigeria. with the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914 came the need, in a more crucial dimension, to have a common tongue for the country. with the promotion of english in every stratum of national life, including nationalist activities, about 400 nigerian languages are being subjugated. when nigeria attained her political independence, “linguistic imperialism” had to be sustained in the interest of the nation. this is because there was no indigenous language that could perform the function of english because of the mutual suspicion of, and ethic consciousness among, virtually all nigerians. at the risk of being alleged to be aiding and abetting “linguistic imperialism” in some quarters, the incontrovertible truth about the state of the nation today, as it was in the past, is that no indigenous language is acceptable to all nigerians. the view presented by nida and wonderly (1971:65) is prevalent and correct till today. they contend that: in nigeria, there is simply no politically neutral language. in fact, the division into three major regions reflects the three language poles: hausa, yorba and ibo. the political survival of nigeria as a country would even be more seriously threatened than it is if any of these three languages were promoted by the government as being the one national language. enahoro (2002:18-19), a foremost nationalist and prominent nigerian, contends that such official recognition of three major languages is tantamount to brazen-faced discrimination and ipso facto is unacceptable. to quote enahoro at length is not unnecessary: all the languages of nigeria have equal validity, or if you please equal lack of validity, before the law and under the constitution. no linguistic group has the right the moral or constitutional right to impose his (sic) language on any other linguistic group in the country. this shows that whether we like it or not, call it ‘linguistic imperialism’, ‘colonial mentality’, ‘inferiority complex’ or ‘pessimistic prognosis’, the fact remains that the english language will continue to triumph, and the language policy will continue to be a paper affair. the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 623-627) odinye & odinye 626 empirically, the study of igboanusi and ohia (2001:125-142) involving one thousand respondents (who include doctors, lawyers, teachers, politicians, civil servants an students) in four minority languages zones in the country shows that 743 or 74.3% of respondents dislike speakers of hausa, igbo and yoruba and 49.6% of then feel that the speakers of the three nigerian languages do not think well of the minority language groups (igboanusi and ohia, 2001:130). ultimately, the researchers report that most of the respondents (65.7%) showed preference for english as nigeria’s lingua franca. only 19.3% of the respondents desired that their local languages become nigeria’s future lingua franca, while 5.3%, 3.6% and 6.1% of them want either yoruba, igbo or hausa in the respective order, to emerge as nigeria’s future lingua franca (igboanusi and ohia, 2001:134). the effect of globalization and english on multilingual nigeria globalization has, however, acted solely to homogenize language and promote use of english. we also find example of heightened political activity to gain recognition of, and to generally promote regional languages like scots, gaelic, welsh, catalan and kurdish. most of these movements have not identified their adversary as globalization per se (or for that matter, english when used as an international lingua franca), but rather the dominant language of the dominant national culture, like for example, turkish in turkey. the negative impact of globalization on multilingualism is a more visible phenomenon. according to wurm (1995:67), it has been predicted that by the end of the 21st century, some 90% of languages spoken today may disappear. montviloff (2002:87) warms that with the introduction of multimedia technologies of communication, this phenomenon is increasing exponentially. he describes each of the 6,700 languages spoken today as a reflection of traditions, thoughts and cultures all unique in their essence. any loss of language is a disappearance of a pool of knowledge and an impoverishment of our cultural heritage and research capacities. most of the information displayed on the web is in foreign languages. unesco questions the diversity of the content on the web and warns that children, forced to use a foreign language on the net, are at risk, as some studies have shown, of losing their mother tongue. unesco further describes lack of diversity of content as absence of multilingual information which in turn may lead to the loss of native cultures. the word wide web “www” is another realm which english predominates. a tally of the languages used on the web in 2000 found that 68.4 per cent of all websites were in english. unfortunately, the introduction of multilingualism on the intent has to contend with some technical difficulties. one of them is the fact that hardware and software were first designed to process the english text. this obviously has posed some difficulties in the processing of programmes in other languages. in a situation like this, it is obvious that english becomes increasingly important. though, one is uncomfortable with the negative sides of english as it ‘masterminds’ the relegation of the nigerian languages to the extent that we do not have a real language policy, instantiates the systematic loss of nigerian cultural identity among the younger generation and ensures the consolidation of colonial legacy. conclusion it is clear from what we have discussed so far that nigeria is not a nation where only three languages (hausa, igbo and yoruba) are spoken. these languages are among the more than 400 languages spoken in the country. also pointed out is the fact that multilingualism exists at the federal, state and local governments levels. the humanities & globalisation in the third millennium (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2010, page 623-627) odinye & odinye 627 like all multilingual nations, nigeria is faced with the language questions. globalization is helping the english language to dominate local languages. like many other african nations, as the colonial language of english still remains dominant as the language of virtually all aspects of national life, polities, administration, business, sports, diplomacy, communication, media, education, constitution and others. references constitution of federal republic of nigeria. abuja: federal republic of nigeria. 1999. crozier, blench r. an index of nigerian languages. dallas: summer institute of linguistics, inc. 1992. crystal, d. english as a global language. cambridge: cambridge university press. 1997. enachoro, a. “towards a new constitutional order” vanguard. 5 july, 2002. grimes, b. ethnologue: languages of the world. new york: sl international. 2000. heine, nurse d. african languages: an introduction. cambridge: cambridge university press. 2000. igboanusi, ohia i. “language conflict in nigeria: the perspective of linguistic minorities”. language attitude and language conflict in west africa. ibadan: enicrownfit publishers. 2001. isayev, m. national language is the ussr: problems and solutions. moscow: progress publications. 1977. mentviloff, v. “meeting the challenges of language diversity in the information society”. report submitted to the sector for communication and information (ci/inf). paris: unesco. 2002. nida, wonderly w. “communication roles of languages in multilingual societies”. language use and social change. london: oup for international african institute. 1971. toolan, m. “recentering english: new english and global”. english today. 8may, 2000. wurm, s. “endangered language of the world”. report submitted to the perez de cuellar commission. paris: unesco. 1995. section e: insights into sociolinguistics linguistic cohabitation of spanish and english in the united states purity ada uchechukwu abstract the study of speech communities characterized by language contact has been a major goal of modern sociolinguistics. however, the term, linguistic cohabitation is best used to describe the coexistence of spanish with the english language in the united states. this paper looks at the linguistic outcomes of this cohabitation from the perspective of borrowing and substratum interference. the insights gained reveal that the co habitation of spanish and english in the us is based on socio-historical and demographic factors whose relevance demystifies the myth of the united states as the melting pot for other languages other than english, and aligns its linguistic panorama with the language situation in many other parts of the world in the era of continuous immigration and globalization. keywords: spanish and english in the us, borrowing, substratum interference, language contact introduction conquest and immigration are two major social processes that give rise to language contact processes (sankoff, 2001, p. 4). from a socio-historical perspective and with regard to the spanish language in particular, the former can be confirmed through the spanish discovery and conquest of the americas (the americas is used here in a broad sense to include spanish speaking central, south, north and the caribbean americas) which marked the beginnings of a series of conquests; and ensuing contact of the spanish language with amerindian languages. to these belong carib, arawak and taíno (caribbean) followed by contact with the main language of mexico by the aztecs (nahuatl), and quechua of the inca empire. other amerindian languages include maya, chibcha, tupí-guaraní, and mapuche. these linguistic outcomes are still prevalent today in the occurrence of amerindianisms or amerindian borrowings in the lexis of spanish (see buesa, 1967; penny, 2002). migration of spanish-speakers to the united states on the other hand, forms the basis in this paper for the analysis of some linguistic features that have arisen through spanishenglishcontact. the rest of the paper is organized as follows. section 2 gives a briefoverview of factors that contribute to the diversity of spanish in the united states. section 3 examines thomason & kaufman’s (1988) interpretations of the linguistic terms borrowing and substratum interference in relation to languages in contact.section 4 dwells on the characteristics of united states spanish, whilesection 5 is the summary and conclusion. varieties of spanish in the united states spanish in the united states is a continuum whose origins can be traced to the 16th century (noll, 2001, p. 99). however, there is no one homogeneous spanish in the spanish-speaking world. while spain through theroyal spanish academy orreal academia española (rae) in cooperation with the associating academiesin latin america (associación de lasacademias), has been able to fix the norm for the standard variety (see fries, 1984; stewart, 1999; marmolinero, 1997; 2000), the spanish spoken in each latin american country bears distinct features that distinguish them from standardpeninsular spanish. though the differences are more pronounced in the lexicon thanin the linguistic rules as such;the consequence is that with the influx of immigrants from these countries into the united states, the spanish spoken in the united states bears the peculiarities of the varieties of spanish spoken by its native speakersfrom the different latin american states.research by cardenas (1970) groups the dialects of spanish spoken in the us into four: the mexican or chicano, the puerto rican, the cuban and the peninsular dialects. whereby, the mexican or chicanovariety is further sub-classified into newmexico-colorado, texas, southwest, and arizona-california dialects. lipski (1990) lists mexican, cuban, puerto rican, dominican, and central american under which salvadoran, nicaraguan, and guatemalan featured. lipski also includes the sabine river dialect (spoken at the border between louisiana and texas) as well as the isleñodialect spoken in saint bernard parish in louisiana. because of this prevailing complex linguistic situation, mar-molinero (1997,p. 161) criticizesthe use of the term “hispanic community”because it ignoresthe diversity of this group; more so, as according to waltermire (2014),the varieties of spanish spoken in major cities have become much more diverse over time, as immigrant populations from other parts of latin america have expanded to a large extent. unlike the development of peninsular spanish from vulgar latin, the spanish spoken in the us is the outcome of socio-historical developmentsas“linguistic outcomes of language contact determined in large part by the history of social relations among populations, including economic, political and demographic factors (sankoff, 2001,p. 3). with the focus of this paper onthe latino/hispanic population, this socio-historical development encompasses the spanish historical conquest of the americas, thecountry of origin of the speakers, their length of stay in the united states, the continuity of spanish within specific areasand the sustained cultural links of the speakers with theirhome countries.this last factor in particular, enhances the retention of spanish in the us. that spanish, unlike other migrant languages such as french or german, can coexist with english in the united states is not only due to the continuous inflow of latinos/hispanics, but the fact of a more or less homogeneous cultural identity in the hispanic/latino community. that the coexistence with english gives rise to linguistic outcomes such as code-switching, and transference at all linguistic levels is not peculiar to spanish alone, but presents a general feature of the different linguistic outcomes of language contact. the next section addresses the concepts of borrowing and substratum interferenceas explained by thomason & kaufman (1988). borrowing and substratum interference thomason and kaufman (1988, p. 37) define the linguistic term borrowing as “the incorporation of foreign features into a group's native language by speakers of that language”. in addition, the authors state that even though the native language is maintained, it undergoes changes by the addition of the incorporated features from the foreign language; wherebywords from the foreign language are consistently the first elements to enter the native language in a borrowingsituation. substratum interference on the other hand, is a subtype of interference that results from imperfect group learning during a process of language shift (p. 38). that is, in this kind of interference a group of speakers shifting to a target language fails to learn the target language (tl) perfectly. the errors made by members of the shifting group in speaking the tl then spread to the tl as a whole when they are imitated by original speakers of that language. however, as the authors also state, imperfect learning is not to be understood as the lack of ability to learn. instead, attitudinal factors may be a substantial contribution to why speakers’ version of the tl undergoes a shift. another factor which may be crucial is also availability of the tl. in conclusion, thomason and kaufman explain that "errors" are identified solely from the viewpoint of preexisting tl structure (p. 39). the above defined concepts are reflected in the spanish spoken in the united states through the linguistic contact situation of spanish and english.a prominent characteristic of this contact situation is reflected in borrowings which appear as anglicisms in us spanish. this feature, which penny (2002) says has been erroneously defined as ‘interlanguage borrowing’, actually refers to: loans whose immediate etymon is an english word or expression, irrespective of the source of the english word…it does not include those words in spanish whose ultimate etymon is an english word, but which have reached spanish through the etymon of another language (pratt as cited in penny, pp. 277-278) the author, therefore, includes lexical items such as anorak (eskimo), géiser (icelandic), among anglicismsin the spanish language, while excluding words which can etymologically be traced to english, but were originally french (gallicisms). to the linguistic outcomes of spanish english contact include the phenomenon of codeswitching which has given rise to spanglish, a term used to describe the process of switching from spanish to english by bilinguals; and erroneously described as evidence of a lack of proficiency in the english language (see zentella, 2002). research has, however, shown that people who code-switch unconsciously draw on linguistic principles and consequently, codeswitching is a rule-governed bilingual behavior and “the ability on the part of bilinguals to alternate between their linguistic codes in the same conversational event” (toribio, 2001, p. 184). another is the adoption or borrowing of english lexical items into spanish through direct translations, phonological and morphological adaptations (espinosa 1975, p. 99) and ‘linguistic homogenization’ (mar-molinero, 1997, p. 163). generally, the spanish spoken in the united states is characterized by borrowings and substratum influence from the english language, allof whichcan be found on all linguistic levels.at the morphological level this includes semantic extension, verbal and nominal adaptations, and hybrid formations. included also are morphosyntactic adaptations in literal translations, word order, and passive constructions. there are also cases of phonological adaptations at the phonological level. each one of these aspects is treated separately below. semantic extension and literal translation extension in the meaning of a lexical item occurs when foreign expressions that in their meanings bear a certain similarity to some native words are adopted and expanded. inthe case ofspanish,“se atribuye a una palabra existente en español el significado de una palabra inglesa parecida” (azevedo, 2005, p. 381). in other words, english lexical items and verbs which have spanish equivalents are borrowed and their original english meanings undergo semantic extension. all examples are from azevedo (2005, pp. 380-384). table 1 below shows that the meanings of verbs can also be expanded. eng: english ussp: us spanish sps:standard peninsular spanish table 1 a. the eng noun, ‘cup’ and the ussp ‘copa’ are synonyms with the simple meaning ‘cup’.the eng ‘cup’ also has the additional meaning of ‘football cup’. the ussp ‘copa’ however, extends the meaning of ‘copa’ to include the eng ‘cup’. meanwhile, ‘cup’ in sps is realized as ‘taza’. b. the eng verb ‘to apply’ means ‘to request for a job’; ‘be relevant to/affect’; ‘use method/process’; ‘put something on surface’; ‘use physical force’ (macmillan english dictionary, 2002). in ussp, the english ‘to apply’ is hispanized into a verb, ‘aplicar’ in the sense of the eng equivalent. the verb ‘solicitar’ in sps means ‘to request for a job’. verbal adaptations and neologisms spanish verbal formation uses a specific set of verbal suffixes. in sps the suffix, -ear is one of the most productive verbal formatives.instances of verbal adaptation in ussp show that english verbs are borrowed and incorporated into spanish through the addition of the suffix, -ear to the english base. further observations also show that through adaptations to the phonological and morphological structure of english, more neologisms are formed also with the esp productive suffixes, -iar/-aras in table 2below: eng ussp sps a. cup copa taza b. ‘to apply’ aplicar solicitor suffix eng ussp sps table 2 a. the ussp verb,parquearis a borrowing of the english noun‘park’, and an incorporation of the spanish suffix, -ear.the ussp substantive, parque is a phonological adaptation of the english, ‘park’.the verbal suffix,-earis attached toparqueand the ussp verb,parquear is with the meaning, ‘to park’ is produced. the verb estacionar in sps translates ‘to park’. b. the ussp verb, taipiar is producedsimilar to parquear. the ussp noun, taipais also a phonological adaptation loaned from the englishverb, ‘to type’. the spanish productive verbalsuffix,-iaris attached totaipa and the verb, taipiar ‘to type’ is formed. the english equivalent of ‘to type’ is realized as escribir a máquina in sps. c. the sps verb, soldar translates theenglish‘to weld’. the ussp güeldis a loan word phonologically adapted to the english verb, ‘to weld’. the attachment of the productive suffix, ar to güelda produces the ussp verb, güeldar. nominal adaptations in standard spanish, the adaptation of a foreign unit into its system involves the immediate acquisition of the morphological features characterizing the nominal categories of the spanish languagssp, the description of professions, objects and situations are further derived through prefixation as the examples below show. profession in the newly formed verb such as güeldar (4.1.1 c) above, the description of a profession can further be derived as illustrated in table 3 below: a. ear ‘to park’ parquear chequear dostear ‘estacionar’ ‘ revisar’ ‘ limpiar el polvo’ b. iar ‘to type’ taipiar pickiar donquiar ‘escribir a máquina’ ‘ ecoger’ ‘danciar (bailar)’ c.ar ‘to weld’ güeldar deschachar correctar ‘soldar’ ‘descargar’ ‘corregir’ ussp verb profession (eng) profession (ussp) profession(sps) güeldar ‘to weld’ welder/soldner güeldador soldador trabajar ‘to work’ worker trabajador trabajador table 3 in table 3, güeldador is a substantive derived from the ussp verb, güeldar, ‘to weld’. this formation obeys the sps rule of nominal formations through the suffixation process.in the same manner, the spanish productive suffix –dor when added to the verb, trabajar ‘to work’ gives the nominalized trabajador, ‘a worker’. the same pattern occurs with the formation of soldadorfrom the verb, soldar. object description usspverb object description (eng) object description (ussp) object description (sps) lonchar‘to have lunch’ lunch shop lonchería merendero table 4 an object is described in table 4. the ussp verb, lonchar is derived from the english ‘to have lunch’. the noun, loncheríaon the other hand, is a prefixation according to the sps rule of prefixing the suffix, -íato describe objects as in panadería‘bakery’, peluquería ‘(hairdressing) saloon’, etc. the ussp loncheríatranslates theenglish lunch shop whose equivalent is ‘merendero’, derived from the verb, merendar‘to have lunch’in sps. hybrid constructions further borrowings include hybrid constructionsformed through morphological incorporation whereby the borrowing includes a part from both languages as incalendador(calend-) calendar and (calendario). where the english morpheme, -ar carries out the function of the european spanish suffix, -dor.other examples are aire de pompa; which is not a literal translation, but instead, a morphological incorporation because the spanish pompa is adapted to theenglish pump. in addition, the english syntactic structure is also adapted through the positioning of the adjective, aire before the substantive, pompa. summary and conclusion if as opined by sankoff (1988),the linguistic outcomes of language contact are determined in large part by thehistory of social relations among populations, including economic, political and demographic factors (p. 2), and substratum interference results from imperfect learning of the tl by the foreigners to the tl, the situation in the united states presents a different scenario. this is more so because not just for demographic reasons (see mantilla, 2008), or economic (see goldman sachs strategy research 2007) but, as clearly stated by sankoff, it is not a situation ofinability to learn the tl;, but more of a situation of cohabitation as expressed between two languages because of the need for both. however, and in the long run, the immigration volume and regionalconcentration of the hispanics in america might prove the most favorable factors for retaining the spanish spoken in the united states. this growing trend viewed from an economic perspective was already coined the hispanization of the united states by goldman sachs strategy research in 2007. references azevedo, m. (2005).introducción a la lingüística española. usa: pearson education, inc. new jersey. buesa, o. (1967).indoamericanismos léxico senespañol. madrid: csic. cardenas, d. (1970). dominant spanish dialects spoken in the united states. espinosa, a. jr. (1975). “problemas lexicográficos del español del südoeste” in. el lenguaje de los chicanos. regional and social characteristics used by mexican americans. usa: virginia. center for applied linguistics, 3-18. fries, d.(1984). sprachpflege in der real academia española. diss. aachen. goldman, s. strategy research. (2007).thegoldmansachs group, inc. lipski, m. (1990).the language of the isleños: vestigial spanish in louisiana.baton rouge:louisiana state university. press. macmillan english dictionary, (2002). oxford: macmillan education. mar-molinero, c. 1997. thespanish-speakingworld: a practicalintroductionto sociolinguisticissues. london: routledgepsychologypress. mar-molinero, c. (2000). thepoliticsoflanguage in thespanish-speakingworld.london: routledge. noll, v. (2001). das amerikanische spanisch. ein regionaler und historischer überblick. tübingen: max niemeyer verlag gmbh. mantilla, j. 2008, october 16. más speakspanish queenespaña. el país. retrieved fromhttp://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/speak/spanish/espana/elpepucul/20081006el pepicul_1/tes. penny, r. (2000). variation and change in spanish. cambridge: cambridge university press. penny, r. (2002). a history of the spanishlanguage. cambridge: cambridge university press. sankoff, g. (2001).linguistic outcomes of language contact. in p. trudgill, j. chambers & n. schilling-estes, (eds.). handbook of sociolinguistics. oxford: basil blackwell, 2001, pp. 638-668. stewart, m. (1999). the spanish language today. london: routledge. thomason, s. g. and kaufman, t. (1988). language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics. berkeley and los angeles, california: university of california press, ltd. toribio,a. j. (2001). “accessing bilingual code-switching competence”. international journal of bilingualism 5, (4). waltermire, m. (2014). the influence of english on u.s. spanish: introduction. sociolinguistic studies 8(1):1-21. doi: 10.1558/sols.v8i1.1 zentella, a. c. (1997).growing up bilingual. puerto rican children in new york.massachusetts. usa: blackwell publishers. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 14 ethnography of communication: a case study of kola nut breaking in umuchu town meeting umeodinka, aloysius u. department of igbo, african and asian studies nnamdi azikiwe university, awka aloyudo@yahoo.com & ilechukwu, daniel i. department of igbo, african and asian studies nnamdi azikiwe university, awka alldano@yahoo.com abstract talking or speaking is free. but no one has the freedom to talk anyhow, especially when other parties are involved. it is the society and culture of any community that set the norms of speech. this paper examines the ethnography of communication as it concerns the breaking of kola nut in umuchu town general meeting. it looks at the way communication is patterned and organized as a system of communicative competence of native speakers. what kola nut is, the dignities accorded it in igbo, its significance, the determinants of who breaks it in a socio-cultural event, the symbolizations of the various number of pieces of it and the various norms associated with kola nut breaking--all these are ethnographic issues; how does the linguistic performance of kola nut breaking as exemplified with umuchu community here bring out these values of the igbo? this paper looks for the answer. hyme’s ethnography of speaking proposal guides this investigative bent. sticking to hyme’s paradigm, the paper establishes that kola nut breaking is the commonest chance for prayers in most sociocultural settings, and that age and title constitute the key determinants of who breaks the kola nut in the igbo community. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 15 1.0 introduction there are some social and cultural variables that affect the way we use igbo language or communicate with other people in any given community. according to finch (2000:222), “all societies have their own rules or conventions concerning how language should be used in social interaction”. the area of concentration of ethnography of communication is the speech community. this paper is set to study the way language is used in social and cultural situations. it digs into whether hyme’s (1974) ethnography of speaking proposal helps as a guide to bring out the communicative competence of a native speaker. our search-light is beamed on umuchu town’s general meeting to see how communication within it is patterned and organized in the customary breaking of kola nut as a system of communicative events reflecting the culture of umuchu in particular and the igbo in general. umuchu town is an igbo speech community in aguata local government area of anambra state. it is surrounded by such other towns as amesi, uga, achina, akpo, umuomaku, umunze, arondizuogu, and akokwa. in umuchu community, the breaking of kola nut is accorded strict customary regard, honour and respect that are characteristic of the igbo macrocommunity. we are going to explore the avenues of the status of kola nut, the presentation, the acknowledgement rights, the actual breaking and the announcing of the number of pieces before the kola nut is eaten. umuchu general meeting which involves representatives from the twelve villages that make up the town will be used as a case of illustration. but in doing this, we intend to be guided by hyme’s (1962) ethnography of speaking proposal. we are set to analyze the various components of the proposal with the view to showing how the communicative competence of any native speaker of the language is manifested. thereafter, we shall look at the related literature, break down explicatively the components of the proposal before establishing some findings and conclusion. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 16 1.2 the theoretical framework as far as matters involving speaking are concerned, hyme’s (1974), in his ethnography of speaking proposal, has provided us with a framework which we can use. the individual letters that render the word speaking, as an acronym are what hymes has adapted to account for the various factors that have to do with speaking. it is therefore, this framework that constitutes the basis of our theory herein. we are relying on it to describe all the elements that are relevant in understanding how the communicative event of kola nut breaking in umuchu speech community arrives as its set objectives. and this objective is to accord kola nut, through this breaking process, its due honour, regard and respect as is characteristic of the igbo community. 2.0 reviewof related literature ethnography of communication could be said to consist of “…patterns of discourse in culturally institutionalized speech situations” (fowler, 1976:92). the word, pattern, goes to show that in the linguistic performances that we have, they are all referring to some cultural conventions that are already regular and generally recognized. the breaking of kola nut in the igbo-speaking community as is exemplified here with umuchu town is already an age long recognized regular cultural convention that follows a particular pattern. discussing about the scope and focus of ethnography of communication, savile troika (1982:3) brings out a general question he believes that takes care of the subject matter: “what does a speaker need to know to communicate appropriately within a particular speech community and how does he or she learn?” it is clear from here that a knowledge like that, plus the necessary skill to apply or exhibit such knowledge, make up the communicative competence of that person. it is this same communicative competence that is to be x-rayed here using the breaking of kola nut as typified in umuchu. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 17 breaking of kola nut according to ofomata (2004) is an age long custom of the igbo which nobody could give details of when it started. it is a custom that has been a property of the igbo for many years in the past. even the coming of the europeans to africa could not affect it. all activities of civilization still left this custom intact. there is virtually no part of nigeria where kola nut is given the kind of honour that the igbo give to it. kola nut is not the only tree or fruit the igbo have, but they use it for many purposes in different occasions. umuchu is the focus. it is the natural setting, the basis for the first hand observations of behaviour of a group of people by ethnography. after all, according to duranti (1997:85), “an ethnography is the written description of the social organization, social activities, symbolic and material resources, and interpretative practices characteristic of a particular group of people”. whosoever learns to use language, any language at all, such a person must also learn how to use that language in order to do certain things that people do with that language. this, again, is the communicative competence. its concern “…extends to both knowledge and expectation of who may or may not speak in certain settings, when to speak and when to remain silent, whom one may speak to, how one may talk to persons of different statuses and roles…” (saville-troike, 1996:363). hyme’s speaking paradigm agrees with this. it is not only a reminder that talk is a complex exercise and demands for skills, but also shows that one must have sensitivity and consciousness for the eight factors that the speaking proposal represents. if anything is not properly done, it signals that one of the factors has been neglected. the hyme’s eight factors are as follows; “s” is for setting and scene, “p” is for perticipants, “e” is for ends, “a” is for act sequence, “k” is for key, “i” for instrumentalities, “n” for norms of interaction and interpretation, and “g” for genre (wardhough, 2006). with the use of these factors, the dignity of kola nut in igbo would be dislosed and more revelations would be made about the social and cultural situations of the igbo pertaining to kola nuts, called “qj[“ in igbo language. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 18 in words of amadiume (1988:v), ‘omenala [waqj[ nwereqnqdx d[ elun’ebeomenaland[ qzq d[, n’ala igbo. q na-egosi obi qma”. (the custom of breaking of kola nut occupies a very high position amongst other customs in igbo land. it shows a good spirit of welcome that makes a visitor to know that he is ver well received). what is more? for the simple fact that “ethnography of speaking focuses on the role of language in the communicative behaviours of speech communities, i.e. ways in which language is used in different cultures” (agbedo 2000:170), this elevated regard of the kola nut would be more easily appreciated in the here-in used sample case of umuchu representative speech community. the umuchu community is made up of twelve villages that are grouped into three blocks in order of seniority that comes into play in such general or collective matter like sharing and kola nut breaking. the three blocks of umuchu villages are ihite, amanasaa and qkpx na achara, in their order of seniority, respectively. the most senior block, ihite, is made up of ugwuakwu, xmxgama and qzara-akxkwa. the next senior block, amanasaa consists of xmxbxilo, xmxbxqgx, xmxojogwo, xmxojum,amihie, ogu and osete. then, the last block, okpunaachara, is made up of ibughubu and achara. these blocks would subsequently come into relevance in the kola nut breaking issues proper. 3.0 the kola nut matters here, the concern is to do a step-by-step treatment of the issues that have bearing on the kola nut breaking subject matter. 3.1 what is kola nut? it is the kola tree that produces the fruit that is called kola nut. it is a kind of edible fruit that appears normally in lobes or combined pieces held together by natural provisions. the combined pieces naturally held together. the combined pieces or lobes could be naturally broken and chewed or eaten. mostly, kola nut is known to have pink-like colour, though some appear yellowish. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 19 3.2 the respect for kola tree and kola nut kola nut is not eaten in complete whole but in pieces with customary rites. in igbo land, it is an abomination for a woman to climb kola tree how much more, bring down the fruit from the tree. a bad, notorious person, or a person who has committed an abomination do not break kola nut in igbo land. it is an abomination to steal kola nut in igbo land (ofomata, 2004). 3.3 the significance of kola nut traditionally, it is not good for any responsible head of the family not to have kola nut in his house all the time; he uses it for early morning prayers of thanksgiving to god daily. kola nut signifies peace, love, unity, joy, good spiritedness and harmonious social relationship amongst people. in the views of ofomata (2004), corroborated by amadiume (1988), kola nut is used to accord visitors good ceremonies, establishing covenants, child naming ceremonies, reconciliation ceremonies, casting our evil spirits in the house, in starting meetings and many other ceremonies or occasions. 3.4 kola nut piece(s) symbolizations kola nut comes in different types. there are hausa kola and eagle kola nut (golden kola). the igbo refer to hausa kola nut as qj[awusa and eagle kola nut as qj[ugo. both types are eaten by the igbo, but the hausa one is never used for prayers or any traditional or social occasion. contrary to that, qj[ugo is always a thing of joy whenever the igbo notice it. it is seen to be a sign of good things to come and something of prestige. the igbo do not use any non-igbo kola nut any official or traditional ceremony. however, the main point of this section is that the number of pieces of kola nut broken symbolized something for the igbo. (a) single piece kola nut any kola nut that does not divide into any piece, but remains as it is, is regarded as a bad omen and is referred to as qj[ogbi (dumb kola nut). it is never eaten but thrown away as useless. (b) double – piece kola nut any kola nut that divides into two parts when broken is also a bad kola nut, indicating something ominous. it is immediately thrown away. if eaten at posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 20 all, it will be by an old man that understands many secret or hidden things about life. (c) three-piece kola nut when broken and the kola nut turns into three pieces, it is a good one, especially called qj[ikenga. it is a kola nut for a great strong man. (d) four-piece kola nut a four-piece kola nut is a very good one seen to symbolize the four igbo market days: eke, orie, afq, nkwq. according to amadiume (1988:3), it is called “qj[awele”. it is also indicates that good fortunes would follow the person. (e) five-piece kola nut when kola nut breaks into five pieces, it is a sign of multiple children, a very good kola nut. it is called “qj[qmxmx” (child-bearing kola nut) amadiume (1988:3). (f) six-piece and more according to amadiume, any kola nut that breaks into six pieces is believed by our ancestors to indicate that the evil spirits want some food. what is done in effect is that one piece is usually thrown away in line with the tradition. 3.5.0 the order of kola breaking in umuchu general meeting as aforesaid, kola nut is not eaten wholesomely by the igbo. it is normally broken, and the breaking of it follows some strict customary procedures that are generally known; a procedure that must be observed by all, irrespective of the person’s background, age, financial, social, educational or spiritual standing. summarily speaking and for a start, some full-fledged kola nuts are normally presented in a tray by the president to the entire meeting. once this is done, the plate of kola nut becomes the property of the entire umuchu indigenes there present in the meeting, and it is subject to the traditional ways of kola nut breaking. at this point, we have to resort to the hyme’s “ethnography of speaking” proposal to explain how the rest of the communicative events of this kola nut breaking unfold. 3.5.1 the setting and scene(s) this refers to the time and place where the speech event occurs. the place is the umuchu town hall and the meeting starts at about 10am. the setting posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 21 arrangement is such that the seats are in rows and columns with a long open passage at the centre, everybody facing the executive officers table right there in front. 3.5.2 the participants (p) here, it is meant the various combinations of speaker-listener, addresseraddressee situations, especially those that have some roles to play. in that wise, the participants are from 100-120, 120-150 or 180-200 members of the meeting who are all indigenes of umuchu. they are all adult males both young and old; no woman at all. there are no rooms for teenagers. 3.5.3 ends (e) the reference here is about the outcomes that are conventionally known, plus the personal aims each participant targets to achieve. the major outcomes are that the programmes and activities of the meeting are exposed to them and their rights in the meeting are secured, including the right of their own block being presented or shown and given one full kola nut like others. 3.5.4 act sequences (a) reference is made here to the actual form or content of what is said, trying to mirror the words used, the manner of usage and how it relates to the topic on hand. the main utterances are the word of the president as he presents the kola nut by indicating in igbo the source or giver of the kola nut. he says, ‘nke a bxqj[ m na-asxrxunuka any[ wee bidonzukq a’ (this is the kola nuts i am offering you all for us to commence this meeting). after the rights of the different blocks of the villages in umuchu have been observed, the igwe of umuchu or in his absence, the oldest man from the oldest block or the most senior village (ugwuakwu) in umuchu would let their oldest man in attendance say the kola nut breaking prayers as follows: chinekekereiheniile, onyezarambaraigwe qna-achakanzu, onyenaahxiheniile.(god who created all things, who swept heaven making it to shine like chalk, you who see all things).ngozig[ka any[ jiqj[ a ar[q n’ahaumuchuniile(your blessing is what we pray for on behalf the entire umuchu community). n’ihug[, any[ bxxmxntak[r[ na-asaahxn’afqn’afq (before you, we are children who take birth only at the stomach posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 22 level).onyewetereqj[, weterendx(he who brings kola, brings life). n’ihiya, any[ na-as[ naumuchuga-ad[ oo(for this, we say that umuchu should be oo) . mmiriatala (let the river not dry). azxanwxla(let the fish in water not die). onyesiteren’oji asiany[ d[r[ ndx, ndxkpqkwayaihuoo(he, who through the kola nut, wishes us life, let life meet him face to face). iheany[na-ar[q olisa bi n’igwebxqmxmxnwokenaqmxmxnwaany[(what we prayfor to god in heaven is the birth of male and female children).any[naar[qkwaiheakxakxnaiheenwenwe, qdimmaezinaxlq,ikwunaibe(we also pray for wealth and prosperity, the good of the family, maternal and paternal relations).nkeonyeakqlaya, n’ihina q bx a hxgh[ ihe a na-ata mere nke a kpxn’qnxji wee hxshieanya(let one’s possession not elude him, because it is lack of what to chew that makes the only one in the mouth to suffer from too much chewing).ihe any[ ga-erikpqq any[ ihu, nkega-eri any[ ab[ana any[ nso(let what we will eat come to us and what we won’t eat not come near us).chukwuokike, bikomeekaxmx any[ na-asqpxrxokenye, makanaonye fee eze, ezeeruoya(god-the-creator, please let our children respect their elders, because it is he who serves the king that will in turn become a king). osebuluwa,wepxrxany[qnwxmberede, nye any[ ogologondx(god, take away from among us untimely death, give us long life). onyekenyeihenankx, yany[baya,manaonyeekenyegh[ ihenankx, q txfereolu(if one has anything tied to his firewood, the firewood will be heavy on his head, but if not, the person will not feel any weight on his head). nkeonyemetere, yaburu(let a person suffer the effects of his misdeeds). nkeonye ma yamaraya (let what a person knows also know that person). iheonyes[yakwemmadx, yakwekweya(whatever one says that fits another person, let it also fit that person who said it).nd[ chqrqka any[ d[ ndx, chinekenye ha mma, ma nd[ chqrqka any[ nwxq, ha buruqkxkqxzqlakpuoxra(those who want us alive, let god give them goodness, but those who want us dead, let them go to bed before fowls). xkwxakpqnaany[n’ojije, xkwxakpqna any[ n’ql[la(may no evil touch us as we travel and none as we return from the trip). onyeanwxla ma ibeyaefula(may nobody die or get lost).qganiihuumuchukaany[naar[q(what we pray for is the progress of umuchu). na nzukq a, any[gaezukqtamma(in this our meeting, the outcome will be good). kachineketaaqj[ a n’ogbeka any[ taayan’ibe(may god chew this kola in full while we chew it in pieces). kaany[taayatatandx, were ndxjeere g[ posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 23 ozi……isee (may we chew it and derive life from it, and use the life to serve god…. amen). with the kola nut prayer finished, the oldest man from ugwuakwu village or the igwe of umuchu, would announce the number of pieces the kola nut has broken into, as the man who rightfully broke the kola nut. 3.5.5 key (k) key refers to the tone, manner or spirit in which the message is put across to the audience. everything said is done with a tone of formality and seriousness. the participants that are not involved in kola nut prayers communicate non-verbally until the last word during which they will all respond: isee (amen) 3.5.6 instrumentalities (i) this refers to the options of channel e.g. oral, written or telegraphic. everything is done or said by word of mouth using umuchu dialect with no code-switching, because kola nut does not understand any other language except igbo language. 3.5.7 norms of interaction and interpretation (n) the reference of this one is to standards that must be observed, dos and don’ts that may be encountered in speaking and cultural specifications. one of the norms in kola nut breaking in umuchu is that kola nut is not eaten entirely like that. one must go through the traditional rites of prayers and showing it first to closer relations before outsiders. kola nut is not presented to any woman in umuchu; only to men. a woman does not break kola nut in umuchu. a man does not break kola nut in his in-laws place, neither could any man do so in his mother’s place. a non-titled man dares not break kola nut where there is a titled man. it is the latter’s right to do so. at the shrine, it is the chief priest that breaks the kola nut by right. if he is not a titled man, the latter could touch it for him, and then he breaks it. customary, in a gathering of only women, they normally seek out any man, even if a child, to break the kola nut for them. it is better to starve one of food in his host’s house than to starve him of kola nut. it is the oldest man posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 24 that breaks kola nut in umuchu, unless it is in a man’s house and he has not broken any kola nut in his house for that day. as required by tradition a person who has no kola nut to give his visitor must make excuses for that by saying any of these: (a) ejide m unuxgwqqj[ (let me be indebted to you for the kola nut i lack) (b) biko, qj[ jukwaraxlq(my house is filled with kola nut) (c) abal[ ataalaqj[ (the night has eaten the available kola nut) traditionally, in umuchu, if one lacks real kola nut to offer his visitors, the person could use bitter kola, coconut or any available thing as an alternative. 3.5.8 genre (g) this refers to clearly decarcated types of utterances used, such as proverbs, prayers, riddles, lectures, etc. proverbs are mainly used in kola nut breaking. at times, some jokes would be part of it. 4.0 findings and conclusion the entire exercise of looking into the ethnography of communication of the igbo through umuchu version’s of kola nut breaking has been a worthwhile one. it has enabled us to know more than before. if not for anything, we have seen how important the society and culture of any igbo community cannot be toyed with. the community members value their social and cultural norms so much. it is their heritage. they preserve and uphold any cherished custom from age to age. what is a common fruit? what is special about kola nut? an average igbo man is not bothered about these kinds of questions. all he knows is that it is the culture of the igbo to accord honour to kola nut from the point of presentation, showing it around to the participants up to the point of breaking it before it is eaten. this practice defies religion class and even european influence of civilization. it has come to stay and must stay. women are not shown the kola nut officially and they cannot break it even for themselves. age is respected in breaking the kola nut and so it is. nobody could break kola nut in the shrine except the chief priest in charge posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 25 of the shrine. that all these norms are know and observed is made possible by ethnographic studies. so, competence in a language is no longer a matter of being able to produce the right words or grammatical constructions of the language, but also having the mastery of the appropriate use of the language as the occasion demands. being able to know the right things to do or say, how to say, when to say, to whom to say it during kola nut breaking is all very important. it shows communicative competence. the paradigm of hymes has been our guide. we have seen how relevant his eight factors of ethnography of speaking are from the setting, participant, ends, acts, keys, instruments, norms and to the genres, many aspects of the igbo culture of kola nut breaking are touched to reveal the native speaker’s communicative competence. but hyme’s proposal has some flaws. it lacks the ability to present the story or the process of the event in a chronological order. what it does is to pck summarized aspects of the cultural event. a person who does not know the igbo kola nut breaking culture will be at a loss using hyme’s proposal for the presentation. so the proposal needs to be revised along this line. references amadiume, s. (1988).omenaland[ d[ mma. enugu: ochumba press (nig) ltd. agbedo, c. u. (2000). general linguistics: an introductory reader. nsukka: ace resources consult. duranti, a. (1997). linguistic anthropology. cambridge: cambridge university press. finch, g. (2000).linguistic terms and concepts: new york: palgrave macmillan. fowler, r. (1971).the language of literature. london: routledge and keganpaul ltd. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 26 hudson, r. a. (1981). social linguistic. cambridge: the press syndicate of the university cambridge. hymes, d. h. (1962).the ethnography of speaking.in t. gladwin and w. c. sturtevant (eds.), anthropology and human behaviour. washington, dc: aanthropologicalsoceity of washington. hymes,d. h. (1974).foundations in sociolinguistics: an ethnographic approach. philadelphia: university of pennsylvania press. lehmann, w. (1976).descriptive linguistics: an introduction. new york: random house inc. ofomata, c. e. (2004).ndezuxtqasxsx igbo. enugu: format publishers (nig) ltd. saville – troike, m. (1996).ethnography of communication: an introduction. oxford: blackwell publisher ltd. wardhaugh, r. (2006). an introduction to sociolinguistics. oxford: blackwell publishing. discussing insurgency in nigeria: a study of tracia adaobi nwabani’s buried beneath the baobab tree abigail oaikhena abstract terrorist insurgency in nigeria and the mayhem left in its trail are quite worrisome, and these affect human lives and property. the consequences are quite enormous on the economy. this state of affairs is troubling. it does seem as if the attention insurgents get in spite of their horrendous acts gingers them. they propagate islamic agenda across the entire country and enforce it with unparalleled violence, killing and maiming. some literary texts have articulated the activities of these insurgents and have become sources that make possible the understanding of insurgent activities as well as the consequences of defective governance and poor leadership in nigeria. in view of this, the paper examined tracia adaobi nwabani’s buried beneath the baobab tree, which could be seen as an allegory of the chibok girls’ story. keywords: insurgency, terrorists, islamic agenda, defective governance, poor leadership, killing introduction in the north eastern part of nigeria, the boko haram insurgent group seeks to establish islamic government in contrast to the democratic form of government that already exists in the country. according to adesoji, abimbola, in the boko haram uprising and islamic revivalism in nigeria, “the boko haram uprising was not the first forceful attempt to impose a religious ideology on a secular nigerian society” (173). hence, the recurrence of religious conflict could be traced back to the maitatsine sect in 1980, an islamic group that attempted to undermine the nigerian state and forcefully introduced a religious ideology. government’s effort to clampdown on the group always resulted in well-known resistance by its members, and this usually led to the death of scores, and damage to properties in several northern parts of the country. from a retrospective view, the history of northern nigeria has been characterized by periodic instability, conflict, and sectarian violence. according to oarhe osumam, jihadists sacked birnin ngazargamu in 1808 and invaded and occupied rabih in 1893. in the early 1970s, the muslim brotherhood, shiites, a zaria-based islamic movement in nigeria, was led by ibrahim elzakzakky, an undergraduate at ahmadu bello university in zaria in kaduna state. similarly, in the early 1980s, the maitatsine sect rejected symbols of western capitalism and renounced several muslim practices, including praying five times a day, triggering an intra-religious conflict between it and the dominant islamic sects of the time. the maitatsines also harassed members of the public and became a huge source of social disorder and insecurity until its members clashed with state forces in kano in december 1980. as toyin falola puts it; after the kano clash, members of the sect traveled to other northern cities and continued the revolt, which erupted in bullum-kutu in october 1982, in rigassa, kaduna state in october 1982, and in jimeta-yola between february 27 and march 5, 1984 (3). maitatsine which is suspected to be origin of boko haram attracted more support from youths and unemployed migrants, who were disenchanted with the unresponsiveness of the government and islamic hierarchy or the northern oligarchy to their needs. despite the ideological and operational similarities between boko haram and previous movements, the executive governor of borno state, hon. kashim shettima, in sunday tribune, july 17, 2011 noted that the earlier movements were not “as destructive as they did not degenerate to killing of innocent souls and targeting of recreational centres, places of worship in a sustained and protracted manner as the case of boko haram” (52). however, in the present day nigeria, the major insurgent group is boko haram which predominately operates in the north eastern parts of the country, and which is originally known as the jamaatul alissunna lid da a wa wal jihad, an arabic phrase meaning, “people committed to the propagation of the prophet’s teaching and jihad.” in 2002, the founder and leader of this group muhammad ali, declared borno state immoral and hopeless, n.i.o and d.l-b (full names withheld) revealed that “muhammad ali and co decided to perform the traditional hijra which is a withdrawal before the jihad. the prophet muhammad (pbuh) withdrew from mecca to medina. in his own case, ali and his followers withdrew from maiduguri (the borno state capital) to kanama in nearby yobe state.” (9). after ali’s death mohammed abubakar took over and presently abubakar shekau took over after the death of his predecessor. the paper uses new historicism to pursue the discourse. this is the formidable theories suited for such as it seeks to understand a culture’s power structure owing to the fact that literature addresses cultural concerns that can affect society’s attitudes and values. nonetheless, a good number of writers in nigeria are involved in various ways in the struggle for the salvation of the local communities from the harsh effects of agitations in nigeria. thus, new historicism explores meaning in a text by considering it within the context of the prevailing ideas and social assumptions of the historical era in which the text is produced. new historicists such as stephen greenblatt, louis montrose, and jonathan goldberg, concern themselves with the political functions of literature and the concept of power, the complex means by which cultures produce and reproduce themselves. the new historicists seek to understand literature from a historical perspective, which they feel that the new criticism did not provide as a theory emerging as a reaction to old historicism which viewed the text “as an autonomous entity” (ryan 128), according to mukesh, new historicism “reposition the text in the original discursive reality of the age in which it was produced” (118). led by greenblatt, the new historicists view history as not just an account of events that took place in the past, but rather an intricate description of human reality which is regarded as a tenet by the society in question. while a literary work may or may not tell about the factual aspects of the world from which they emerge, they are mainly concerned about the prevailing ways of thinking at that particular time. it is in this line sharma asserts that literary work “should be considered a product of its time, place and circumstances of its composition rather than an isolated creation of a genius” (47). the political and cultural angle that the theory provides in the interpretation of any literary work encourages literary studies to re-establish a link with the political and social world that gave rise to it. a new historicist discourse in buried beneath the baobab tree one way to apply a new historical discourse to a text according to ann dobie, is to look out for: the world of the author, personal, and public; the historical-cultural environment of the text, both the one it depicts and the one in which it was produced; and the internal world of the text itself, the discourses that generate the narrative. in the case of all the three, you should be attentive to the power structure that is in place, questioning inequalities and pointing out social forces that build community and those that destroy it. (192) buried beneath the baobab tree is a novel addressing prevalent issues and the captivity story of teenage girls like the chibok girls who were abducted on 14-15th night of april 2014 in nigeria, and enslaved in the notorious sambisa forest. as a fiction based on real accounts of survivors of the chibok girls, the author exposes the ordeal of female captivity in strikingly lucid vignettes. apart from journalistic and historical writings on insurgency in nigeria, adaobi tricia nwaubani’s novel is one of the few literary works to vividly project the voices of boko haram’s female abductees on the national and global stage. buried beneath the baobab tree is the writer’s attempt to humanize the stolen girls and put a face to the countless victims of the worst insurgent violence in nigeria. in the text, the author depicts the insurgent group as destroyers of dreams and communities as they fight to eradicate every trace of western ideas and civilization. in the text, it is believed that; they use charms that make them appear and disappear,” abraham says. many travelers have their journey cut short when men with bomb and guns suddenly appeared in the middle of the highway, elijah says. they load goats, cows, donkeys, camels with explosives, then send the livestock wandering into public places where they would donate caleb says. that’s how they bombed the market in banki and bama, isaac says. and the market in damboa…. they are talking about boko haram. (75) the novel is set in a tranquil village in borno state, where christians and muslims coexist. children, especially girls, are brought up under strict gendered and religious codes. the schools are remarkably ill-equipped, and sporadic donations especially sanitary pads from humanitarian organizations are highly valued by the community as different organizations try to create awareness about the usefulness of sanitary pad to the young girls and tell them that “every woman goes through the same changes. ...it should not mean you have to miss school. you don’t have to miss classes because of the changes in your body” (38). the schools usually experience high rate of absenteeism among the female student population due to their menstrual issues and school authorities seem indifferent to the monthly challenges of their teenage female students. the story opens on a poetic note and captures the opinion about dreams of a young girl at the point of transformation. the narrator who is also the protagonist, fondly called “ya ta” by her parents, grows up in a closely-knit communal settlement defined by family, school, and church. her growing consciousness of self is shown by her sense of duty as the only daughter among male siblings. when her school acquaintance and close friend, aisha, marries, becomes pregnant, and drops out of school, one would think that ya ta will trail a similar path. but, she is dreaming bigger dreams about college, scholarship, and an occupation with the prospect of giving back to humanity. according to her: “that is the good thing about dreaming with my eyes wide open. it’s like molding a calabash from wet clay (2). in the same vein, papa wants her “to grow up and be like the women wearing white coat in the maiduguri general hospital” (nwaubani, 2018:3) but she is yet unaware that, like the calabash, dreams can be broken, and one cannot always dream from where one left off. fortunately she eventually earns the borno state government scholarship for “exceptional children from disadvantaged homes (15)”, the principal pays an unannounced visit to her family with the good news. however, her dreams are threatened and then crushed by boko haram’s destructive agenda. nwaubani, while dealing with fact and fiction, links this coming of age story with the slow infringement towards boko haram terrorists. her depiction of the wishes and vision of the young narrator and her peer friends make their capture and exploitation more tragically heartbreaking. she recalls some of her happy moments while she was with her parents as they now live a different lifestyle in the forest with their abductors: i remember my first day of school. prancing behind papa in my brand-new white and blue pinafore, clutching my new exercise books and pencil. …papa waited in the queue until my full name had entered in the register, then he turned to me and smiled. “make sure you study hard so that one day you can teach me how to read and write…and maybe how to speak english as well. (210) but her dreams of acquiring a western form of education and the expectations of her friends are shattered as their community is immersed in fear because of the boko haram attacks. ya ta and her friends sarah and aisha are kidnapped while their families are murdered, and they make the difficult choice to do whatever they need to, to survive. they are forced to learn verses from the quran, marry boko haram militants as the girls are used to compensate the fighters “rijale, great fighters, commander of the great army of allah…. these are the virgins that allah prepared for you” (176-177). at this point young and innocent ya ta wakes to reality that “the rest of us have been preserved for rijale. we are their reward for being brave murderers” (177). the young girls are indoctrinated with their version of islam, but yata knows this is not true islam because of the muslim friends she has grown up with. it is this interpretation of islam that nwaubani is careful to repeatedly point out is radical. for ya ta, death seems to be the only feasible option of escape. they battle with hunger, sexual violence and abuse daily. “night after night, i pray it will not be my turn. i pray that al-bakura and malam adamu will choose someone else” (146). in the forest, time becomes worthless. “i arise each morning with no strength to think of tomorrow morning or the morning after tomorrow. i retire at night with no courage to think of tomorrow night or the night after tomorrow” (169). ya ta is also the extreme spectator of her captive surroundings. through her observations, nwaubani disclosures the schemes by which terrorist groups persuade their female hostages and make them suicide bombers. this makes ya ta to start questioning boko haram’s beliefs about islam and western education and settles that “boko haram has nothing to do with allah” (157). she uncovers the group’s contradictions, seeing that the insurgent group flourishes on the very things they denounce. “if they hated western education so much, why did they bother with guns and trucks, which you could learn how to make only by going to school” (158). boko haram condemns western education, but, paradoxically, uses western combat technology to commit killings. a number of symbols highlight the novel’s themes. starting from the radio, also known as “papa’s radio” (11), is a significant property in ya ta’s family; the “voice on papa’s radio” undertakes a formidable role as the family’s source for world news. with the radio, news about international events and boko haram’s terrorist attacks filter into the community. the writer compares noteworthy events happening in the united states of america with the prowling nuisance and destruction by boko haram, hence, plainly opposing safety and progress of the west with the anxiety, recurrent violence, and economic inactivity in north eastern nigeria. the voice on papa’s radio reveals that; us president barack obama has vowed to make 2014 ‘a year of action’ in his annual state of the union address to congress. he pledge to bypass congress if necessary to tackle economic inequality and raise the minimum wage…. a car bomb has exploded in the northeastern nigeria city of maiduguri, killing at least seventeen people. the islamist group boko haram said it carried out the attack. a suspect has been arrested, the military says (43). the above excerpt reveals boko haram’s use of violence to overthrow the impalpable presence of western power and eradicate every form of western view or knowledge in the north east and nigeria as a country at the detriment of the citizens. they see it as power struggle and superiority dominance, that is why like death, they strike unexpectedly “… when your sleep is sweetest” (54). as the insurgents’ invasion dominate conversations among the villagers, since it is believed “maybe they use charm” (77) it becomes obvious, however, that the government is challenged and seemingly incapable of controlling the advancing insidious group. when doomsday finally arrives to ya ta’s village, the residents are taken unexpectedly, mistaking the booming sound of gunfire with the sound of thunder revealing the end of drought. the people’s expectation of life-giving rain is thwarted by the deadly violence of terrorist attack. eventually captured and enslaved in the sambisa forest by the dreaded boko haram, ya ta and her school friends, aisha and sarah are converted from obedient daughters and students to slaves and wives of insurgents. with their names and identities changed, the captives are entrapped in a surrounding where violence rules their lives. “we are like dead people mourning other people who are dead” (123). the baobab tree is a central image in this novel. in the sambisa forest, this symbol which the villagers with western knowledge take as protection and nourishment is turned into a mass burial site, signifying boko haram’s contrary view against the west and transgressors of cultural principles which they suspected to emanate from the western ideas. in the text, ya ta and her peers come of age, not in the sanctioned safety of home and community, but in the wilderness of the sambisa forest, where the baobab tree signifies only death. in a world ruled by terrorism, insurgency, and lawlessness, death and destruction become the natural outcomes. as they kill and torture those with western education they believe they are invariably defeating western power and usurping their supremacy. as the novel underlines the impact of violence on their captives, it also exposes a growing national and global problem with regards to power struggle and that of the liberated captives who survive the fight of ‘two elephants’. for the liberated captives, the future will certainly not be as they had previously dreamed it. ya ta desired to ‘fly” but her dream of going back to school is subdued by the knowledge of her pregnancy for a masked terrorist husband, whose identity she may never know. a man who only talks whenever he is seeing boko haram videos defeating nigeria troops in his laptop which make him to shout praises to allah. she recounts in one of the videos they leap off the vehicle and plant the black and white boko haram flag in the front of a building with a sign that reads “gwaza local government authority”. then they set fire on the green-white-green nigeria national flag and cheer. allah be praised my husband says (202). the violence and fight against western belief preoccupied the novel as the voice of boko haram’s many female victims, the protagonist narrator occupies an important position. she is the readers’ eye into the terrorists’ camp. as a male reporter advises her, “it’s important that you tell her your story. … you have to tell her everything that happened. that is the only way the world can know, so that they can continue to look for the other stolen girls and rescue them from boko haram” (287). in all, nwaubani articulates in this intriguing story of power struggle in the form of violence and its human and material costs, the challenges of the twenty-first century. readers will find viviana mazza’s afterword, “the chosen generation”, and other online resources very useful for understanding the history and activities of nigeria’s disreputable insurgent group. she provides information on the journalistic collaboration behind the story, as well as the obstacles to reintegrating female survivors, such as the prevailing “strong culture of honor based on a woman’s body and her virginity (321). buried beneath the baobab tree, indeed, pays tribute to the faceless victims whose captivity presents an endless certainty of pains. conclusion from the foregoing, it is obvious that the actions of boko haram insurgency have really hindered the communal existence of nigeria and decreased her economic prosperity. their activities have attracted untold hard times to individuals, groups, families, foreigners, state and federal governments, and to the nigerian economy. in order to remedy or rectify this predicament the federal governments should genuinely and practically embark on job creation for the unemployed youths, especially for the youths in the troubled regions. the federal government also should focus on enabling the incorporation and self-reliance of the forcibly displaced, irrespective of where they are relocated to; i.e. host communities, communities of origin etc., while taking into consideration both the immediate needs expressed by the affected populations for survival and the necessities for sustainable recovery and development required for longerterm regional and national stability. works cited bressler, charles. literary criticism: an introduction to theory and practice. new jersey: pearson education, inc. 2003 dobie, ann. theory into practice: an introduction to literary criticism. wadsworth: centage learning. third edition. 2012 falola, toyin. violence in nigeria: the crisis of religious politics and secular ideologies. new york: university of rochester press. 1998 mukesh, william. ‘new historicism and literary studies.’ journal of general studies, no. 1, vol. 27, february, 2003. nwaubani, adaobi. buried beneath the baobab tree. new york: harpercollins publishers. 2018 n.i.o and d.l-b. boko haram: between myth and reality. retrieved 27th may 2019. (online) osuman, osuman. “boko haram insurgency in northern nigeria and the vicious cycle of internal insecurity”. small wars and insurgencies. london: howick place. 2013. (online) tillyard, eustace. the elizabethan world picture. new jersey: rutgers – the state university of new jersey. 1959 effects and impacts of western imperialism on china & nigeria the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 835-839) odinye & odinye 835 e-learning and higher institutions in nigeria ifeanyi odinye & ifeoma odinye xiamen university, china email: ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com & ifeomaodinye@gmail.com abstract the world is moving at an unimaginable speed in the area of information use and dissemination. we live in an e-world. networks facilitate virtually all learning. through the use of information technology, knowledge and information can be transferred and cross-fertilized in real time. elearning is a modern method in promoting education in many parts of the world. this paper examines the concept of e-learning, its use in higher institutions in nigeria and the challenges facing e-learning in nigeria. finally, recommendations are given and conclusion is drawn. introduction today nearly everyone is familiar with e-mail, e-banking, e-commerce, e-business, e-trading, and equally e-learning. according to jay cross 2004): “before anyone called it e-learning, in late 1997, learning guru elliott masie said, ‘online learning is the use of network technology to design, deliver, select, administer, and extend learning.’ in 1998, i wrote, ‘e-learning is learning on the internet time, the convergence of learning and networks.’ e-learning is to traditional training as e-business is to business as usual.” education has been acquired over the years either by the traditional system or by corresponding system otherwise known as distance learning. the environment of higher education is evolving. rising costs, shrinking budgets and an increasing need for distance education (new media consortium,2007) are causing educational institutions to examine the way that education is delivered. in response to this changing environment, e-learning is being implemented more and more frequently in higher education, creating new and exciting opportunities for both educational institutions and students. with the advent of information technology, e-learning is now being widely adapted as the mode of teaching and learning in most developed countries and some developing countries like china and india with the world’s highest population. e-learning technology is presented as the convergence of the learning process and the internet. the convergence of the internet and learning or internet-enabled learning is called e-learning and this uses network technologies to create, foster, deliver and facilitate learning, anytime and anywhere. what is e-learning? e-learning or electronic learning has been defined a number of different ways in the literature. for a better understanding of the concept of e-learning, let’s see different definitions of e-learning by different authors. the applications and process of e-learning include computer-based learning, web-based learning, virtual classroom and digital collaboration where contents is delivered via the internet, intranet/extranet, audio and or video tapes, satellite tv and cd-rom (islam, 1997). the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 835-839) odinye & odinye 836 it is the delivery of content via all electronic media, including the internet, intranets, extranets, satellite broadcast, audio/video tape, interactive tv, and cd-rom (urdan and weggen, 2000). e-learning is a broader concept (than online learning), encompassing a wide set of applications and processes which use all available electronic media to deliver vocational education and training more flexibly (australian national training authority, 2003). e-learning is the use of internet technologies to create and deliver a rich learning environment that includes a broad array of instruction and information resources and solutions, the goal of which is to enhance individual and organisation (resenberg, 2006). e-learning is an instruction delivered electronically wholly by web browser, through the internet or an intranet, or through cd-rom or dvd multimedia platforms (hall, 1997). from the above definitions, e-learning includes the use of internet, intranet, extranets, audio tapes, video tapes, satellite broadcast, interactive tv and cd-rom for the purpose of teaching, training and learning. by its name, e-learning can best be understood as any type of learning delivered electronically. more recently, this definition can be further expanded to include mobile and wireless learning applications (kinshuk et’al, 2003). benefit s of e-learning. e-learning appears mainly to serve those who cannot or do not want to make use of classroom teaching. demanding professional commitments and timely responsibilities of many adults often make attending a conventional, full-time, face-to-face course with fixed time tables a rather unrealistic proposition, and the reasons why adults choose distance education are primarily ‘‘the convenience, flexibility and adoptability of this mode of education to suit individual students’ needs’’ (holmberg, 1989). it offers students considerable benefits including increase access to learning opportunies, convenience of time, and place, making available a greater variety of learning resources, improve opportunities for individualized learning and emergence of more powerful cognitive tools (khan, 1996). e-learning has definite benefits over traditional classroom training. while the most obvious are the flexibility and the cost savings from not having to travel or spend excess time away from work and home. there are also other benefits: 1. it’s self-paced. most e-learning programs can be taken when needed. this allows the learner to go through smaller chunks of lesson or training that can be used and absorbed for a while before moving on. 2. it’s faster. e-learning courses progress up to 50 percent faster than traditional courses. this is partly because the individualized approach allows learners to skip materials they already know and understand and move unto the issues they need to learn. 3. it’s consistent. e-learning eliminates the problems associated with different instructors teaching slightly different material on the same subject. the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 835-839) odinye & odinye 837 4. it’s time and location boundless. e-learners even go through training sessions from anywhere, usually at anytime. this just-in-time (jit) benefit can make learning possible for people who never would have been able to work it into their schedules prior to the development of e-learning. 5. it’s easy and quick to update. online e-learning sessions are especially easy to keep up-to-date because the update materials are simply uploaded to a server. cd-rom based programs may be slightly more expensive to update and distribute but still cheaper than reprinting books and manuals, and training new and retraining old instructors. 6. it increases retention and understanding of the course. this is because of the many elements that are combined in e-learning to reinforce the message, such as audio, video, quizzes, interactive tv, etc. there is also time to revisit or replay sections of the lessons over many times. 7. it reaches more people and traditional method. one of the aims of e-learning is to educate more people at their own conveniences and time. e-learning assists many people both in urban and rural areas to get their desired life-long educations. e-learning in nigeria higher institutions the e-learning models of higher education today find their roots in conventional distance education. initially introduced to allow individuals in remote and rural areas to gain access to higher education, distance learning has evolved significantly over time. technological advancement has been the major inspiration for change, beginning with the integration of radio broadcasting in the 1920’s (huynh et’al, 2003). more recently, the advent of the internet has enabled tremendous innovation in the delivery of post secondary education (gunasekaran et’al, 2002). as time goes by, more and more people gain access to the internet, the cost of computer ownership decreases, and overall computer literacy increase (huynh et’al, 2003). these trends provide higher institutions an ideal channel for the delivery of educational content. the history of distance education in nigeria dates back to the correspondence education as a means of preparing candidates for general certificate in education, a prerequisite for the london matriculation examination. the first indigenous distance learning program was the english by radio programme of nigeria broadcasting corporation that followed the independence in 1960. the first higher institution which started distance education in nigeria is the university of lagos. the correspondence and open studies unit (cosu) of university of lagos started in 1974 which later changed to correspondence and open institute (cosi) and presently called distance learning institute. the distance learning institute of the university of ibadan which started in 1979 is second higher institution which adopted the distance learning mode. the national open university of nigeria (noun) was established in july, 1983 to run as a distance education institution. the vision was not achieved because the institution was closed down few weeks after its establishment by the federal military government that overthrew the civilian government. noun was resuscitated in 2002. in nigerian higher institutions, the commonest type of e-learning adopted is in form of lectures notes and training manuals on cd-rom which can be played as at when the learner desires. some higher institutions have begun to adopt the use of video and internet. there is no single the humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 835-839) odinye & odinye 838 higher institution in nigeria that operates full modern e-learning education like ones obtainable in most developed countries. the condition is present because of many challenges. challenges of e-learning in nigeria e-learning in higher institutions in nigeria is still a dream due to many reasons. the major problems facing the proper implementation of e-learning in higher institutions in nigeria are as follow: 1. electricity electricity is a perennial problem in nigeria. it is a major setback to the country’s technological development. until there is a regular supply of electricity, e-learning will not prosper in nigeria. 2. internet access without internet, e-learning is not complete. the cost of accessing internet is still high in nigeria and many people do not even have access to it especially the rural dwellers. 3. computer illiteracy before one can maximize the benefits of e-learning, s/he needs a basic computer literacy. many people even students in higher institutions do not have the basic knowledge of computer. this is a challenge to the development of e-learning in higher institution even in noun. 4. higher cost of hardware and software both computer hardware and software are essential in running e-learning institution. in nigeria, these are almost imported thereby the cost is very expensive. 5. shortage of skilled manpower for a good and efficient e-learning in higher institution, technicians and computer engineers are needed. in nigeria, these professionals are still not much as equal to the demand. 6. lack of government support private sector is not enough in providing internet access, training of manpower and education of the citizens. government involvement is needed. in nigeria, government support is not highly recognised. 7. lack of adequate infrastructures in nigeria, many institutions especially government owned lack good infrastructures for effective e-learning. 8. people’s attitude towards e-learning many people still prefer traditional teaching and learning mode to e-learning. also some people are afraid of using internet because different reasons like internet fraud. recommendations considering the population of about 150 million people in nigeria, the inability of the existing higher institutions to admit all the qualified candidates and the other people who seek higher education but not a traditional full-time face-to-face education; these prove the needs for ethe humanities & sustainable development (nnamdi azikiwe university faculty of arts international conference, 2011, page 835-839) odinye & odinye 839 learning in higher institutions in nigeria. the author recommends the following for an efficient and effective e-learning in higher institutions in nigeria: 1. government should address the problem of electricity. 2. government and private sectors have to assist in educating the masses on the use of computer. 3. government should encourage foreign investors in the areas of electricity, internet access and infrastructures. 4. government and higher institutions should train more personnel in the area of ict. 5. government should invest more on infrastructures in the higher institutions. conclusion e-learning is a large and growing market with great potential in higher education. the survival of higher education in the 21st century is heavily relied on e-learning. e-learning is now widely used in most of the developed countries. in nigeria, e-learning is yet to be embraced, adopted and implemented. the government has a lot to do before e-learning is achieved in higher institutions in nigeria. the private sectors and foreign investors are encouraged to invest in the large growing market of e-learning. references australian national training authority (2003). developing e-learning content (australian flexible learning framework quick guide series). cross, j. (2004). a history of e-learning and the future of e-learning. berkeley, california. gunasekaran, a. et’al (2002). e-learning: research and applications. industrial and commercial training. hall, b. (1997). web-based training cookbook: everything you need to know about online training. john wiley & sons, ny. holmberg, b. (1989). theory and practice of distance education. new york: routledge. huynh, m. et’al (2003). e-learning as an emerging entrepreneurial enterprise in universities and firms. communications of als. islam, m. t (1997). educational technology for 21st century. observer magazine, dhaka. khan, a. (1996). utilization of communication technologies for distance education in k. murali manohar (ed.) distance education theory and practice. media and communication technology, hyderabad. kinshuk et’al (2003). mobile technologies in support of distance learning. asian journal of distance education. urdan, t.a. & weggen, c.c. (2000). corporate e-learning: exploring a new frontier (report for w.r. hambreeht and co.). rosenberg, m.j. (2006). beyond e-learning. john wiley & sons, inc: pfeiffer. teachers’ level of awareness in using wordle to teach in senior secondary schools in owerri municipal winifred nwachukwu, ngozi umelo & agatha ikemelu abstract the study investigates teachers’ level of awareness in using wordle to teach in senior secondary schools in owerri. the study is guided by a research question and a hypothesis. descriptive research design was adopted for the study. the population of the study comprised 200 english language teachers in public schools in owerri municipal and since the population is not large, the entire population constituted the sample size. a well validated researcher developed scale tagged: teachers level of awareness on use of wordle rating scale (tlauwrs) was used for data collection. test and re-test approach was used to establish the reliability coefficient of 0.81. mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question while z-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significant levels. findings showed that teachers’ level of awareness on the use of wordle in teaching of english studies was low. recommendation among others include that seminars and workshops should be organized for english language teachers on the use of wordlein secondary schools. keywords: wordle, awareness of teachers, owerri municipal, secondary school, english introduction the primacy of language in human history has never been in doubt. language is the means through which humans communicate, encode knowledge and pass it on to subsequent generations, investigate reality, and entertain themselves (danesi 2013). language is purely a human attribute setting man in contradistinction toother animals.the importance of communication to man is incalculable, especially when daily human interaction is considered.language therefore remains potentially a communicative medium capable of expressing ideas and concepts as well as moods, feelings and attitudes.distinguishing the communicative abilities of humans, denham and lobeck (2011) note that language makes humans different from the other animals that are unable to use it for communication.language is not only a resource for meaning making, knowledge, and experience; but it also provides an avenue for people to do things or carry out orders.it is also used totransmit cultures for it is impossible or very difficult to understand language without the attributes of culture (adeyemi 2011). only byensuring its use and development at all levels can the tragedy of the disappearance of languages, which ultimately means the impoverishment of humanity, be prevented. in education, the english language is the medium of instruction with the effectiveness of the educational programme in the country depending to a large extent on whether or not effective communication has taken place between the teacher and the learner. performance of students in english language determines how well they fare and are able to cope with the other subjects. studies have shown that students hardly speak fluently as a result of paucity of vocabulary. beimiller and slonim(2001); clegg et al(2009) hart and risley (1995, 2003) identified poor vocabulary knowledge as a primary cause of poor performance in essay writing and academic failure in general with okueso (2016) stating that the situation has become worrisome, and thus requiring urgent attention. osikomaiya (2013), and onabamiro (2010) observe that poor performances exist in english language both in internal and external examinations in the nation.in 2014, only 31.28% of 529, 425 students passed with credit in english language from available waec records. this poor performance has continued as only 38.68% of 616,370 students that sat for the waec in 2015 had credit pass in english language. the reasons for these scenarios are many with the role of the teacher and his method of imparting knowledge being part of the contributory factors to the dwindling students’ communicative abilities. knowledge of words continues to be one of the best predictors of reading achievement (richard 2005 andbroomely, 2004). yet, vocabulary appears to be diminishing in today’s students (manzo, manzo and thomas 2006). vocabulary is generically referred to as the knowledge of words and word meanings, (barannestri and salvadin, 2011).specifically, we use vocabulary to refer to the kind of words that students must know in order to read with comprehension (kamil and hiebert, 2005).vocabulary is the most important component of language knowledge, being the best predictor of language performance; however, many students get to secondary school with a relatively small vocabulary, which prevents them from achieving their potential (schmitt, 2008). wordle is a web-based tool that can help cement the interface between reading and writing. the tool produces word clusters based on the frequency of words occurring in a sample of writing. tafazoli (2013) discusses how wordlecan be used in teaching different aspects of the english language curriculum. he states that it can be used to activate prior knowledge about the topic while providing clear view to learners about what they are going to read. in other words, it can be used in brainstorming before learners listen to or read a passage or text. viégas, wattenberg and feinberg (2009) confirm that educators use wordle to communicate ideas or concepts; as an entry point into discussion. others use it to teach spelling by creating wordles of new vocabulary, and then quizzing students on various aspects of the displays. this study therefore investigates the secondary school teachers’ level of awareness in using wordle to teach vocabulary. there is a growing body of scholarship suggesting the potential benefits of web2.0 applications aimed at providing teachers and students with a practical framework upon which to develop critical thinking skills and tools for independent word learning. for example, selwyn (2007), murphy and lebans (2008), odom (2010), vaughan (2010), and williams and chinn (2010) all report findings endorsing the role of web2.0 tools could play in high school student learning. studies have also shown that greater gains accrue when language instruction moves away from the traditional approach of learning of words to a more innovative one. innovation therefore is a deliberate attempt to move educational practices from its traditional approach to new ways.it is aimed at improving the quality of existing practices. as a departure from the old way of doing things, it is the driving force in teaching and learning. its importance cannot be overemphasized as it is not an accidental occurrence but a deliberate effort to bring about changes by integrating old and new ideas (mkpa and izuagba 2012, ike and iwu 2001). visual literacy has become the hallmark in the 21st century world with the educational uses of wordle becoming increasingly exciting. according to ohler (2009), “being able to read and write multiple forms of media and integrate them meaningfully is the new hallmark of literacy”. despite the above, wordle still has some limitations. mcnaught and lam (2010) are of the view that wordle should not be used as a stand-alone teaching tool. they argued that since wordle is a frequency based tool, it works best when analyzing text in which the full responses of the informants have been preserved. other limitations to consider when working with wordle are that the words are retrieved out of context and that it is not possible to trace the codes back to the original text. words are treated as isolated units, making the process fast, but at the cost of dismissing contextual elements such as the semantics of the words, and the phrases or sentences the words were a part of. therefore, they recommended using wordle as a supplementary tool in research. the main objective of the study is to ascertain to what extent the teachers are aware of the use of wordle in teaching vocabulary in thesenior secondary schools in owerri zone. hypotheses teachers’ awareness in using wordle to teach vocabulary in senior secondary schools is not significantly different where the average level of significance is 2.5 theoretical framework the use of wordle which is a web 2.0 tool in teaching stems from the constructivist teaching and learning theory propounded by dewey, piaget, vygotsky and brunner (1990). this theory was adopted for the study. the underlying premise is that knowledge is not given but constructed based on the learners’ prior knowledge. constructivism theory believes that an individual develops his reasoning with the pattern he sees (major and mangope, 2012). the classroom is a constructed place which is situated in a society. this is where professional teaching and learning take place and are made available for each individual to internalize and construct knowledge that is useful in the learning. in this theory, the child is responsible for the construction of his knowledge, through the interaction of new ideas with his prior knowledge (major and mangope, 2012). this constructivist approach establishes a crucial paradigm shift as today's literacies are encouraging the audience not just to be passive consumers but active contributors of their own digital experience gilbert (2007), asselin and moayeri (2011). likewise, this shift is occurring in an education context, with the focus moving away from the display of an individual's knowledge or skills to that of collaborative and interactive learning with others. the learner thus feels able to introduce his/her own content into the classroom and not just receive what has been handed out to him/her. the constructivist approach asserts that learning should come from the student and not the teacher; the teacher’s role is to create an environment in which the learner has the freedom to construct understanding (baviskar, hartle, and whitney, 2009)the constructivist approach has, however, been criticized (altun and buyukduman, 2007; liu and matthews,2005) but none of the criticisms invalidates the basic premise that constructivism is a good learning method because children learn best when they are allowed to construct personal understanding based on their experience of things and reflection on those experiences. this forms the basis for the use of wordle in teaching as it is manipulative and appeals to all the senses. the use of wordle in teaching motivates, fascinates, stimulates interest, and facilitates interaction and critical thinking among learners. it is based on the foregoing that the researchers set out to examine the level of awareness of the teachers in using wordle to teach, bearing in mind its impact on teaching and learning. research methodology the researcher adopted the descriptive survey design to seek information on the level of awareness of teachers in using wordle to teach vocabulary in senior secondary schools in owerri municipal. the population of the study comprised all english language teachers, both males and females in senior secondary schools in owerri municipal with estimated population of 200 teachers. the instrument for data collection was the questionnaire. likert’s four-point scale was used to elicit information from part b of the questionnaire while part a consists of the bio data indicating the following variables – gender, age, years of experience, qualifications. the reason for the use of this instrument is to reach out to people with varied years of experience and qualifications. data presentation table 1: respondents by sex (sex frequency) distribution of respondents by sex frequency % frequency females 122 61 males 78 39 total 200 100 the above table shows that there were more females (61%) than males (39%).this was noted to be somewhat consistent with the distribution of the number of female teachers who are more than the male teachers in owerri municipal zone. table 2: distribution of respondents by years of experience distribution of respondents by years of experience frequency % frequency 1-10 years 50 25 11-20 years 102 51 21-30 years 36 18 31-40 years 10 5 41-50 years 2 1 total 200 100 in the above table, 50 (25%) respondents had 1-10 years working experience and 50 (25%) respondents had 11-20 years’ experience which is the highest. 36 (18%) respondents were in the group with 21-30 years’ experience. only 10 (5%) were within the 31-40 years’ experience. 2 (1%) respondents were within the 41-50 years working experience. it is interesting to note the bulk of respondents were in the range of 11-20 years working experience. thus, the bulk of the respondents were mature and experienced teachers. table 3: respondents by highest professional qualification. respondents by highest qualification frequency % frequency master’s degree 39 19.5 bachelor’s degree 92 46 diploma certificate 67 33.5 untrained 2 1 total 200 100 the above table shows that only 39 (19.5%) respondents were master’s degree holders, which is the highest qualification, while 92 (46%) were bachelor’s degree holders. as many as 67(3.5%) of the respondents were diploma and/or certificate holders while only 2 (2%) were untrained. thus, the number of qualified as compared to untrained teachers was very high being about 98.86%. research question what are the teachers’ level of awareness in using wordle to teach vocabulary in senior secondary schools in owerri municipal? table 4. respondents level of awareness sn question highly aware aware lowly aware not aware mean a v remark 1 wordle can be used to enhance composition writing 40 75 80 125 320 1 . 6 rejected 2 wordle can be used to teach parts of speech 32 63 132 105 458 2 . 3 rejected 3 collocation in vocabulary can be 76 120 134 74 404 2 . rejected enhanced by teaching with wordle 0 2 4 wordle can be used to predict content of the reading. 84 96 94 100 374 1 . 9 rejected 5 wordle can be used to increase registers in english language 132 180 204 5 359 1 . 8 rejected 6 wordle can be used for collaborative learning 192 135 100 36 463 2 . 3 rejected 7 wordle can lead to increased retention rate. 244 198 72 42 556 2 . 8 accepted 8 wordle can lead to good sentence formation. 160 99 80 87 462 2 . 3 rejected 9 wordle can be used to teach synonyms and antonyms 192 60 180 42 474 2 . 4 rejected average mean 2.2 rejected from the table, the average mean of 2.2 indicates that teachers were not aware of the use of wordle in teaching vocabulary. discussion on findings the study was aimed at investigating the level of awareness of the english language teachers in owerri municipal zone. in response to the research question, an average mean score of 2.2 in the level of awareness of teachers in using wordle to teach vocabulary in senior secondary school was rejected as it was below the accepted mean score of 2.5. the teachers showed low level of awareness in its use to teach parts of speech, collocation of vocabulary and ability to predict the content of which cochrane (2006) says is one of the uses of wordle. whereas tafazoli (2013), suggests that wordle can be used to increase registers in the english language, the teachers’ response did not agree with this as their average score was below the accepted value. mamor and mangope (2012), aver that the use of constructivism can lead to an increase in knowledge which wordle does. with the rejection of item no. 6 with an average mean of 1.8, the teachers have shown a low level of awareness that wordle can be used for collaborative learning. the teachers also exhibited a higher level of awareness that wordle can help increase retention. an average mean of 2.2 is an indication of the rejection of research question as it was below the accepted average mean score. from the findings, it was obvious that the teachers were lagging behind in the use of some of these innovative tools in teaching. it is therefore the duty of the ministry of education to review the curriculum from time to time in order to incorporate programmes and ideas that can bring the teachers at par with some of the best practices in teaching and learning that obtain elsewhere. the textbooks should also be reviewed to incorporate the visuals and hands on activities which help in teaching and learning in the 21st century classroom. conclusion the researchers have gone a long way in ascertaining the level of awareness of the english language teachers in the use of wordle to teach english vocabulary. the findings indicate a low level of awareness by the teachers. in order to eradicate the low performance in examinations in the english language by the students, there is need for a change of methodology in teaching to embrace the more innovative ones. it is obvious that the world has become digitalized. so many web tools are created to make learning fun and to make the students creative and constructive. it has also been proven that the visuals help a lot in retention. the implication is that when 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[document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 282 satirical and philosophical elements in some selected poems in ije ụwa chinedum enweonye & judith anulika nnadiri chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam, anambra state introduction a poet is a person who is usually more sensitive to sights, sounds and sensation of the world around him, behaviour of people, their follies, their sufferings, concerns such that they seek for wisdom, ask questions and examine issues about life. poetry as one of the three genre of literature is the reflection of life and human experience. it serves as a watchdog of the society. it offers people opportunity to express themselves on social, political and moral issues affecting the society. a literary artist (poet) does this, by satirizing the weakness of character or vices in a given geographical setting. it teaches moral lesson, inculcates discipline, good moral values in individuals as well as instructs people to conform to the acceptable moral standards maintenance of law and order in the society. people apply their knowledge of literature in their day to day experience in life. according to egwudu (1979: 1) literature "as a mode of expression, not just subject that expresses something but rather, it is the way, manner, or method in which something is said or written". a number of poems have been examined with the idea of finding out the satirical and philosophical elements in those poems. the poems are unpretentious, persuasive and full of grace and tenderness. the selected poems in ije ụwa are compose with fastidious, melodic and meticulous choice of words. the study aims at exposing the extent to which the writer of the selected text through her works have gone to mirror the events of life, portraying the cultural value and explore varieties of human experience in igbo community. it aims at portraying man in his society, examining and interpreting human behaviours in societies of past and present while projecting into the future. the reader will find it easy to understand what the poet has said in his mind. based on this assertion one can deduce that a poet is a person who is naturally sensitive to his environment. it can also be seen that the anthologies in ije ụwa are all about man and his society. they examined man as a social being. the look at human virtues vices as products of varying circumstances. it studies man's success and failures, his strengths and weakness and how these are affected by time and environment. the poems arouse pity, sympathy and tenderness. review of related literature satire and philosophy have been in existence since man and his culture started to exist. ever since, people have been contributing to the growths of these two aspects of knowledge. one of the scholars of contributors to satire is ngugu (1969:5-6). “the satirist [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 283 sets himself certain standard and criticizes society when and where it departs from these norms, he invites us to assume his standard and share the moral indignation”. the wikipedia encyclopedia says, satire is often defined as a literary genre or form although it can be found in graphic and performing art. satire in the modern sense of the word is found in many artistic form of expression, including literature, plays, commentary and mass media, publications. this is correct because satire could expressed in oral works like speeches, orations, recitations and written works as well as the products of painters (p.3). satire focus on those things which can correct people from the level ways of life in order to be betters than they are. fiecknoon (2004:2) says “it is interested in comparing satire with comedy, and that what makes it different from comedy is that in satire there is usually a clear and overt didactic intention, but in normal situation people of their inescapable human limitation”. this definition is correct but does not go to the point of giving profound meaning of satire. it fails to define satire as a critical work that aims at talking of one's bad behaviours in order to make his change his ways of life. jonathan (2005:10) sees satire “as a mirror in which people see everyone's face except their own”. his idea about satire is very accurate because one who criticized others idea not likely see anything about oneself. his back is always clean. ronald (1928:34) describes, the satirist as a kind of spiritual therapist whose function is to destroy the root causes of the major diseases of the spirit like hypocrisy, pride and greed. but the satirist does not necessarily confine himself to such moral cancers. he is observing that the satirist critises other people and feels that he has no need for corrections. cuddon (1977:20) points out; “satire as a poem in which wickedness or folly is censured”. he says that the true end of satire takes it upon himself to correct, ridicule the follies and vices of society. in our modern society, we have poetry texts like uche bụ akpa ulari, obiageli, ije ụwa, akọ bụ ndụ, uche bụ afa, akpa uche etc anozie (2005:10) in his poem "naịjirịa" satirical emphasizes that naijria is a good nation that is blessed with natural resources like oil. one of the finest oil in the world but its leaders are corrupt. they mismanage and squander the wealth of the nation. thus: naijiria (pg15) igbo: ndị ọchịchị eteela m unyi n'ihu ha bụ ndị isi aba okpu ndị eze onye agwalam akụnụba m amaala afọ n'ala (stanza 2 line 4-7) translation: our leaders have brought shame to me they are indiscipline leaders turn deaf ears to advice my wealth has been impervious [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 284 anozie, the poet mentions in the poem "ndọrọndọrọ naijiria" says that everywhere is always rowdy during the time of any election. the evil people use their fellow human beings for ritual purpose. as a result of unsafe situations people live in great fear. the poet's view of the dangerous situation is expressed thus: igbo: tigbuo, zogbuo, ebe nile ana-ekwo ekwo mmadu ka e ji agwo ọgwụ otu anya ka e ji arahụ ụra onye ọbụla chọrọ ịchị (stanza 3 lines 2-6) translation: smack and trample to death everywhere very rowdy using man in carrying out ritual sacrifices everybody sleep with one eye open for everybody wants to rule. one of the scholars that wrote a satirical poem is ogugua (1988:52) who in his ọ nọ na di achọ di criticizes that some married women have bad attitudes. their bad attitudes make them to be wayward. these women forget their oaths of matrimonial lives and do a lot of bad things just because their husbands have financial problems. the poet states this below. igbo: ọ bụ gị mere nwaanyi m ji ego lụta ghara ibu ihe n' anya di ya. oge ọbụla nyara akpa ya pụa agarachaa ji wee hapụ ụmụ na di were biwe ndụ masịrị ya (stanza 6, lines 6-9) translation: the woman i got married to you made the woman i paid her bride price to worth nothing before her husband always going out with her bag slung for which the elegant lady left her children and husband to live her life the way she likes. philosophy has been studied by various people. one of the scholars is grant (2009:5) who pointed out that philosophy involves having love for wisdom. he emphatically states his view thus: judging by his ideas, philosophical poem will then mean the poem that promotes the love of wisdom. philosophy can be defined as reflection on the varieties of human experience. the poems are used to educate the young or citizens on the values of society. it can be done either teaching or conversation. it teaches moral. the poet makes use of objects [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 285 that are close to the lives of the people. the kind of poems meant are those that code a lot of wisdom in few words more so embellished in linguistic ornaments like proverbs, idioms etc. philosophers see the world as something to be explained but cannot give that sort final explanation. every answer submits to another question. hart (2002:2) says “philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as knowledge, values, reason and language”. his idea is correct as it is one of the meanings of philosophy. by the study of the fundamental problems, it also offers solutions to the problems. philosophical poems in this regard are those poems that aim is solving problems like the relationship between god and man as well as teaching the begins of natural phenomenon. ọgụgụa (1988:4) in his "abụba ọrụ ndị mahadum” satirizes the unrest of university workers; specially lectures, who strike returns and send students home. the poet takes a look at the effect of the strike on students whom he states indulge in a lot of bad behaviours including stealing by male ones, their female students get entangled in unwanted pregnancies. chukwuezi (1988:11) in his "akwa di" exhibited philosophical ideas. the poet reflects the truth on the real meaning of life and also points out the cry of a poor widow as regards to her fate in life and sorrowfulness. according to her, life without a husband is worthless. chukwuezi writes: igbo: kemgbe amadi nwụrụ ugbu a adịzịm ka onye arịrọ ụtọ dị na nwunye adanyụọla. translation: since amadi died now, i am like a beggar joy of the husband and the wife has gone/ceased having discussed satire and philosophy, one can see that the two aspects of life affect literature as a result of which people write satirical and philosophical pieces of work. they are reflected in all genres of literature prose, poetry and drama. selected satirical poems in ije ụwa agarachaa obodo ọnịcha selected philosophical poem in ije ụwa onye agọziri agọzi ka m bụ agarachaa (pg. 19) okediadi (2003) in her "agarachaa" which is one of the poems in ije ụwa, the poet exposes the attitude of a wayward woman in our present day society. this poem is composed critically and exposing the lifestyle of a wayward woman. the message the poet wants to put across is to present a picture of filth and immorality in society. she exposes bad attitude of a [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 286 wayward woman who is not satisfied with one man (her husband). she does not take care of her family and her husband is supposed to be pitied. she has given her love away to another man. she states her observation. thus: ka m tiri uwe kacha mma nwaneku ga-eletara m di rn na ụmụ m anya ndị ọyị m ga-echebego m. (stanza 1, lines 4-7). translation: let me put on my best cloth baby sitter will take care of my husband and my children my friends will be waiting for me. the poet laments the attitude of some women in the society, their husbands are not enough for them, they like to have many friends without knowing the effect. their baby sitters will be taking care of entire household both of the children and the husband because she is always busy outside and has no time for her immediate family. mgbe ahu ihe emebiela nwaneku aburula nwunyedi translation: when she comes back home things have fallen apart she also does this by slinging her with the baby sitter the being elevated to the position of a co-wife with the women of easy value. the imagery in the poem is effective and the language is simple to understand. it strikes the reader and moves his emotions. obodo ọnicha (pg.10) the poet exposes the atrocities and corruption in onitsha community. she presents onitsha as a city blessed with wealth which has popular markets in it. the poet showcases crime in the community. the city contains a lot of criminal that include armed robbers, rogues, and money doublers. the policemen and soldiers have tried so hard to abolish crime in this city but their efforts were in vain. people are wicked against their fellow human beings. thus: a na-apụnara ya n'ike ndị uweojii na ndị uwekakị agbaala mbọ ka ike ha ha ikpọchapụ ndị omekaome a n' obodo a ma ihe na-ebe ka na-ebe (stanza 4, line 2-6). [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 287 translation: it is snatched by force policemen and soldiers have tried within their capacity to rid the town of these criminals but the problem persists the burden in the poem becomes heavier because of the crime in the community. one noticeable element in it is corrupt life style and high rate of crime in onitsha environs is armed robbery. she narrates when the robbers are in actions and as people hear sounds of gun short they become afraid. the poem “obodo onịcha” is satirical, the burden on the poet becomes heavier because of great fear in the city. the image in the poem establishes a theme of despair and sufferings. thus: ụbọchị niile bụ nke onye ohi ma otu ụbọchị bụ nke onye nwe ụlọ translation: everyday is for the thief but one day is for the owner of the house. the poet goes further to satirize the circumstances of armed robbery attacks. in the situation, the robbers boldly attack their victims and issue directives to them. the owners of the house or other properties fear a lot and obey as instructed. thus: egbe na mma ana ada anyammiri ejụpụta anya ọbụla obi ana-eti kpim! kpim! kpim! mkpu enweghị ike ịpụta n’ọnụ n’ihi iwu ndị abalịdịegwu na-enye ihe mmadu ka a na-apunara ya n'ike. translation: gunshot boom and matches cling tears fill all over the place. as the heart beats kpim! kpim! kpim! could not shout because of orders of night murders people's acquisitions are snatched away from their wealth. she also implied that people were suffering from envy as a result of which the wicked one's attack people unnecessarily. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 288 translation: anyaụfụ nye onye ọzọ ekworo na anyaukwu juru obodo ọnịcha. (stanza 5, lines 6 & 7) translation: environs people attack others envy is all over onicha. igbo: mana ọnwụ ga-egbu nwankịta anaghị ekwe ya anụ isi nsị (stanza 6, line 5, 6) translation: but the death that will kill the puppy does not allow it divert attention in fact the tone of the poem is anger and cry for a change. okediadi (2003) in her poem “onye a goziri agọzi ka m bụ” pg. 12, allows her character to talk through her mouth. the character is a full fledge human being. she is not handicapped and all parts of her body are complete. she also mentions that god blessed her with good health and she is not suffering from any sickness. the poet says that our god is a great god, he has shown his blessings upon her. she says that god has blessed her in so many ways for instance he gave her wisdom, knowledge, good health. igbo: akụkụ ahụ m zuru oke aka na ụkwụ m na-arụ ọrụ dịịrị ha anya m na-ahụ ihe ma nke pụtara ihe (stanza 1, lines 2-6) translation: all parts of my body are complete my hands and feet doing their normal assignments my eyes see the light even those that are clear the philosophical poem tends to teach moral and abiding faith in almighty god that it is only from the creator that blessings come. “onye a goziri agozi ka m bụ” is divided into three stanzas. the first stanza has seven lines, the second stanza has six lines and third stanza has seven lines. the poet points out the profound truth and experience of god’s blessings to mankind. conclusion having gone through these three poems selected from ije ụwa one can see that the respective poems are to expose and mirror the events of life. the said poems portray the [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 289 cultural values and explore many options of human experience in igbo community. they employ pictorial setting and other imagery to enhance the reader’s mind. references anozie; c. (2005). uche bụ akpa. onitsha: varsity publishing company. cuddon, j.a.a. dictionary of literary terms: london. grant, w.j. (2009, feb) who is the best philosopher http://www. philosophy now.org/issue 70/70 question.ht. maduakor, o. (1991). introduction to poetry. nsukka: fulladu. ngugi, j. (1969). protest & conflict in african literature: new york: africana publishing corporation. ogugua, o. (2000). obiageli: onitsha: university publishing company. okediadi, a.n. (2003). ije ụwa. nsukka: fulladu. ronald, k. (1974). the critical sense, london: human. wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/satire2006. http://www/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/satire2006 chapter 13: science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaningmaking and media advancement in painting contributed by ukwa, job nworie and clifford e. nwanna introduction symbolism in visual arts is a stylistic thought pattern that communicates meaning using symbols, signs, allegory and metaphors. it is a potent and richly endowed platform where visual elements are used to give connotative depth to a work of art, to subtly convey messages or to communicate ideas. most times, the more strange the imageries or materials contextualized as visual metaphors, the more interesting, deepening and captivating the work becomes. this explains the level of influence symbolic images can exert since they become far from ordinary especially when they already have attached strong meanings. from ages and locations, human civilizations have witnessed the presentation of messages in visual emblematic pictographs and ideographs. these are evidenced by the discovered cave arts which have pictures or symbols that have a semblance to what they represent. there are also local symbolic forms from diverse cultural locations which appear in intricate, linear, two-dimensional abstract, geometric shapes drawn from rich traditional life like uli, ona, nsibidi among others in the nigerian cultural landscape. similarly, the illusion of three-dimensionality on flat surfaces has been created using factory-based paints in liquid or paste states in realistic job ukwa and clifford nwanna 212 interpretations, all these are geared towards effective meaningmaking and resultant communication. today, with advancements in all facets of human endeavours, pictorial depiction still holds a very strategic position, especially as an artist’s platform for communication. visual art presentations in symbolic pictorial visual languages are interpreted by the viewers to figure out the hidden meanings for communication to take place. this therefore means that the art components ranging from its composition, materials, colours, forms, lines, textures shapes, and objects have symbolic tendencies that foster meaning-making, thereby promoting understanding and advancement in communication. adewumi and faida (2017) opine that: …every artwork has a symbolic essence embedded in it. some forms and motifs in artworks are random while some whereas a result of the deliberate effort of the artist to pass a coded message to an unintended observer. signs and symbols are therefore, incorporated into artworks from the strokes of the brush on the canvases, to the gorge of the chisel on wood… this observation believes in the symbolic tendencies in the art of painting. a symbol is a signifier that stands in for the actual concept or idea (the signified). adewumi and fadia (2017:93) see it as “anything that is adapted to signify another thing or concept. they added that signs are often used as codes, while symbols expand the notions of signs…they are characterized by rich meanings...” jerome (2008) clarifies further that symbols are anything that represents another by virtue of customary association due to a conceptual connection or perceived resemblance. contextualizing the art of painting as a visual metaphor, abodurin (2014:7) posits; painting as an aspect of visual art, is one form of art which expresses messages, codifies them and allows the spectator or viewer to decode and interpret the science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 213 hidden messages or its meaning. therefore, painting is not only a tool of recording human history, but also a tool of conveying a wide range of stories, emotions, feelings, inner world symbolically or didactically or in a hidden mode. in line with the above view, it seems pertinent that for a holistic understanding of the intention of painting as a form of expression, the material signification should have contributory role in meaning-making. in other words, for painting to effectively deliver on its mandate of conveying a wide range of stories, abstract conceptions, offering deeper and wider meaning in artistic discourse, wider range of materials need to be manipulated and contextualized. in return, it is hoped that more creative room and ideological insights will be created if tangible local materials are deemed fitting and appropriated to offer their visual voices in addressing societal issues. nonetheless, available evidences have shown that though they have been indications of the practices of mixed media technique in painting by some painters, majority of these interpretable forms have been represented using conventional materials. abokede (2021) in his research submits that through a search of related materials, practices, and extant literatures, the result show that only few known contemporary artists venture into the use of non-paint media (local materials inclusive). he added that, these non-paint media are far less expensive and introduce some new elements which are not possible with traditional paint media. also expressing concern on the over concentration on oil colour by nigerian painters from their research, joshua and onoja (2015:35) queried “…could it be that our institutions of art are not tailored towards postmodernist inclination”? the above concerns are raised to draw attention to the dynamics in painting which extends to its materiality. envisioning the potentials and possibilities inherent in exploration and experimentations with job ukwa and clifford nwanna 214 local non-conventional materials, they are interrogating the basis for this over-concentration despite its limitations, especially in the creativity of the painters. oshinowo in ikpakronyi (2017:79) explains that materiality forms the bedrock of many experiments embarked on by artists. he asserts that “experimentation generally is more on material exploration…because the joy of the artist is to discover a new approach. sometimes, a new approach dictates even the theme of the artwork.” he recommends that an artist must experiment because an artist who does not experiment invites creative stagnation and professional oblivion. corroborating this view, cyril (2011:21) encourages the expansion of the stock of artistic media through the surveying of the environment when she asserts that “artists should expand their creative repertoire by experimenting with a vast array of unconventional surfaces, materials and tools as a way of pushing painting ground to take on a more active and visually expressive role in the cognitive interpretation of a work of art”. the scholar went further to counsel that artists just need to look around their environment and be open to what they see every day. it is on this background that this study considers that beyond the use of conventional factory-based materials, it is necessary to explore the local environment and experiment as it is perceived as one of the cheapest alternative routes to materiality expansion and a means of widening painters’ creativity. aim of the study this study is intentional in the manipulation of local materials such as wood chippings, shells, canwood pigments, woven cane trays, raffia hats, and baskets; adapting their symbolic tendencies, physical characteristics, and significances as direct metaphors in the creation of symbolic mixed media abstract expressions for meaning-making in painting. science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 215 literature review signs and symbols embedded in a work of art can be presented using tangible materials or found objects by exploiting the room given by mixed media techniques in visual arts. this could be more embracing if the objects paraded in the work have some perceived connection with the targeted audience. in some instances however, artists can present objects or manipulate materials to create forms which have overt physical linking features with a concept (the signified) and the audience can still unravel the intention of the artist even when the said objects have no cultural undertone or meaning linking with the audience. found object inclusion in art composition began to take shape in 1912 when picasso made his cubist constructions from various scavenged materials, adding such things as matchboxes and newspapers. dada and surrealist artists then made extensive use of found objects (stampington,2013). in recent times, found objects as visual vocabularies in art forms have continued to evolve and thrive among mixed-media artists… in a more advanced and conceptual manner, imafidon (2015:8) gave a historical account of the influence and symbolic undertone in the materiality of european art at a time, when he explains, “in europe in the 1960s, a group of italian artists numbering about twelve staged an exhibition mostly sculpture pieces. the most distinctly recognizable trait of this group was their use of commonplace materials, such as earth, rocks, cloth, paper and rope. their works marked a reaction against the modernist abstract painting that had dominated european art in the 1950s. this group was the most significant and influential avant-garde movement to emerge in europe in the 1960s and this art movement was later referred to as arte povera–“poor art” or “impoverished art”. in agreement, ditolla (n.d) emphasizes thus; “although arte povera is most notable for its use of materials, it however did not use these materials job ukwa and clifford nwanna 216 exclusively on its own. some of the group’s most memorable work comes from the contrast of unprocessed materials with references to the most recent consumer culture. they believe that modernity threatened to erase our sense of memory along with all signs of the past, the arte povera group sought to contrast the new and the old in order to complicate our sense of the effects of passing time.” ditolla’s account explains that materials aligned in the exhibited works were used metaphorically as protest tools. arte povera’s interest in “poor”(ordinary) materials can be seen as related to assemblage, an international trend of the 1950s and 1960s that used similar materials. both movements marked a reaction against much of the abstract paintings that dominated art in the period. they viewed it as too closely linked with emotion and individual expression, and too confined to the tradition of painting. instead, they proposed an art that was much more interested in materials and physical realities and borrowed forms and materials from everyday life (imafidon, 2015). the above views have all pointed to the fact that the symbolic contents of a work of art if properly decoded, make it valuable and it has the power to draw attention, engage, transform and create a better atmosphere for social living, hence art can be deployed as a tool for protest and activism. in the african context, siegman (1980), observes that african art is principally symbolic rather than representational. it is more concerned with visualizing rather than with accurately representing nature. it is therefore safe to say that the materials of african art are to a large extent symbolic. this is because in africa, in the very beginning, local materials adapted as art materials were conceived of as having inherent life of their own, hence they are used for rituals as mediators between humanity and divinity. wood, clay, stone, feathers, shells and other mediums partake of the energies of nature before they are converted into works of art. science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 217 this means that the life forces and life span of these materials when paraded as art forms, are extended even as artworks thereby provoking discourse and communicating with the audience as well as adding more to the stock of materials available for artists. contextually, an artist’s wide knowledge and in-depth understanding of the implications and signification of local materials and their potential in communication when creatively aligned in a work of art in contemporary times will instil in him a greater zeal for their usage. articulating the exploits and contributions of nsukka art school in materiality advancements, onuzulike (2001) unequivocally submits that beyond the history and practice of uli emanating from the natural synthesis ideology of zaria revolutionists, a good number of painting and sculpture students are slowly but steadily wading into the thick forest of conceptualization, exploration, experimentation and daring improvisation. he added that under the tutelage of chike aniakor (painting), chijioke onuora (painting and sculpture), ernest okoli (sculpture), krydz ikwuemesi (painting) and el anatsui (sculpture), there is beginning to emerge a ground-breaking understanding as regards the students approach to the “exploration of indigenous materials”, forms and idea courses. agiotu-kemmer and adeleke in onuzulike (2001) added that it is the down-to-earth search for new materials and fresh idioms that have been the hallmark of this new creative direction at nsukka. these conscious and deliberate attempts in her creative ideology emphasize the exploration of the environment as a potent creative source of ideas, materials and forms since the 1970s. the school’s unrelenting efforts have resulted in the appropriation of culture-based art forms as viable creative resources. lending his voice in agreement, anatsui in ene-orji and eseyin (2018:165) admits that returning to the ancestral roots “offers artists the opportunity to source for and use materials from their own environment other than the job ukwa and clifford nwanna 218 conventional ones to execute their arts, by so doing they reflect their immediate environment and culture using local resources”. among the nigerian artists that have explored abstract expressionism in their use of symbolic local material in painting are krydz ikwuemesi in his pot with uli pattern, a symbolic painting on a traditional earthen clay pot, stanley eze’s abstract and conceptual, a painting on clay pots, chukwuemeka okpara’s african stories, an uli painting with sand colour pigment on earthen pots. jimoh buraimoh and his use of the symbolic beads inspired by the traditional yoruba’s beaded crown and jacob jari’s corn stalk mosaic; nsikak essien’s infusion of the local basket in his mixed media painting and olu oguibe’s national graffiti on local mat among others. theoretical framework in recognition of the significance of symbols in communication, ofuafo (2013:396) explains: communication is simply the sharing of meaningful ideas, thoughts and feelings (information) through a channel between persons. this could be applied in the form of interpersonal communication which is the most important factor that generated the emergence of symbols. this is so because people do not only communicate their thoughts, feelings or experiences to others but also to themselves, and this is usually done through symbols. through communication, symbols could help to maintain order and coherence and this is achieved largely by the use of art objects… the above excerpt explains the position and importance of semiotics in meaning-making and communication. this study is, therefore, derivative of semiotic philosophical preachment in the use of signs and symbols in communication. semiotics theory according to ferreira (2007) is the study of signs and symbols, science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 219 either individually or grouped in a sign system that can give more insight from the work source and meaning. he further explains that while symbolism is the use of signs to communicate, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no natural meaning and become signs only when we provide them with meanings. signs and symbols and the tendencies for unravelling hidden messages are the major components of semiotic theory. this position, therefore, aligns with this paper’s approach in contextualizing forms, patterns or iconic imageries, that are generally accepted within a particular group, and the creation of forms with physical features that can enable viewers to decipher their inherent meanings. these patterns or emblematic visual codes have inherent physical interpretable features, especially in the context where they are being used. it is necessary to note that in some cases where these objects are used, and to have a deeper understanding of the symbolic forms, icons, colours, arrangements and the overall composition of pictures created in painting expressions, viewers are provided with further analysis through description and interpretation either during an open exhibition or in written texts as is the case of this paper. generating symbolic forms through manipulation, deconstruction, reconstruction and arrangement of local materials the conscious efforts to bend materials to a form, compose to a pattern, and arrange found objects to connotative structures or shapes to resemble or be associated with an idea is referred to in the context of this paper as material manipulation. also, the symbols generated in the studio work for this paper, appear in forms, colours, allegorical objects, and forms composed or constructed as inspired by geometric shapes and lines of uli, ona and nsibidi motifs. job ukwa and clifford nwanna 220 as apparatus for communication, some materials which have previously attached meaning by certain groups like cowrie shell, white chalk (nzu), and camwood pigment among others as presented by ofuafo (2013) are aligned and metaphorically contextualized in this paper while some are abstract motifs which are generated by the artist through skillful re-construction of existing materials. in the studio exploration, such local materials like woven trays, jute fabric, baskets, raffia hats, hand fan cane trays, camwood, charcoal, shells, and wood chippings are explored and manipulated to create symbolic patterns and structures that can contribute to meaning-making. production stage: ideation to work process plate 1. nsibidi symbols courtesy: zetaboards.com (2023). nsibidi motif which stands for congress was picked and amplified plate 2. selected hand-drawn symbols are often used in ona and ara painting. courtesy: adeyemi, 2012 in zetaboards.com (2023) science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 221 + symbolic motif that symbolizes body scarification was picked plate 3. design inspiration through uli, pen on ink, courtesy chukueggu c. c. (2003), nku di na mba: uche okeke and modern nigerian art in zetaboards.com agwolagwo and ntupo motifs derived from uli symbols are used. fig.1 preliminary drawing for the abuja conference derived and formed from a combination of nsibidi, ona and uli motifs, photo by ukwa, job n. job ukwa and clifford nwanna 222 work stage plate 4. transferring of sketch to the painting ground. photo by okechi benard plate 5. ukwa, job n. exploring the possibility of using gumming technique to fasten jute fabric on woven cane tray. photo by okechi benard plate 6. using the mixture of acrylic gum and camwood as paint on the support. photo by okechi benard science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 223 plate 10. ukwa, job n. the abuja conference, 2021, mixed media, (locally woven cane tray, shades of wood debris, flattened basket, red and yellow camwood, jute fabric), 72cm x 71 cm. photo by the artist plate 7. ukwa, job n. painting of the adapted symbolic basket form to be fastened on the recontextualized support. photo by okechi benard plate 9. placement and attachment of the deconstructed and painted symbolic basket form using photo by okechi benard adhesive. job ukwa and clifford nwanna 224 discussion the abuja conference is 72cm x 71 cm in measurement. it is a mixed-media painting that has art elements in full interaction. such shapes like circles, rectangles, squares, thick and thin lines, a darkly painted foundational structure of basket using a charcoal pigment with its spread out strands, shades of brown, oranges, ochre and varied textures, all unified to announce the emergence of the work. the painting is asymmetrically balanced with the juxtaposing lines and a dark swirling flattened basket with its outstretched strands. it engaged the circularly shaped woven cane tray as its support. the composition is made up of interconnecting and overlapping patches of colours and varieties of lines, and shapes. the painted cut outs of flat jute fabric are in squares and rectangles which help in creating overlapping partitions. the colours are red and yellow camwood as well as white clay (nzu) and kaolin mixed with gum. the bold shape at the base tilting to the right, is painted with a slightly tinted ox blood with patches of dark red; a mixture gotten from red camwood (uhie), white clay (nzu), yellow camwood and gum on a jute fabric. to show contrast, the researcher creatively revealed and infused the natural network of the vertically and horizontally interwoven background of the cane tray. also in this half are thin over lapping lines of different shades of earth colours like black directly on the woven background structure. two styles of painting from two different backgrounds fused together to form this art piece. inspiration from the russian, wassily kandisky (1866-1944)’s non-objective geometric abstract painting style and the researcher’s mosaic and minimalist use of materials from his accustomed african environment as well the nsibidi inspired spiral motif all collaborated to produce the mixed media painting. science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 225 the abuja conference: a symbolic interpretation of security intervention unlike the berlin conference of 1885 which was a platform for partitioning and scrambling for africa by the european powers and the usa, the abuja conference was a programme strategically positioned to proffer solutions to insecurity in the educational sector in nigeria. the abuja conference is an overview of an international virtual conference held in abuja, the capital of nigeria, targeted on saving schools from attacks, on october, 2527, 2021. in the socio-political context, the work is drawing the viewer’s attention as a reference point to, the nigerian government’s hosting of an international conference on insecurity. oliver mawhinney, a policy and advocacy advisor to the international parliamentary network for education, in his 2021 report titled “safe schools conference takes place in abuja” gave an insight on the conference. he x-rayed that in her effort to address the crisis and incessant attack on education in nigeria, where more than 1,400 students have been abducted since december 2020, the government explored the option of calling for and virtually hosting the fourth international biennial conference on the safe schools declaration, the first in the african continent in collaboration with the government of other nations. this programme amidst other things, was to galvanize actions against attacks and abductions of children, parents and educators and to proffer lasting solutions to the growing out-of-school child population which before now were mostly localized to the northeast but has degenerated to many other parts of the country. among the countries invited according to him, were argentina, norway, spain, the african union and representatives from un member states and agencies, communities affected by conflict and civil society-including the international parliamentary network for education. in the end, some far-reaching resolutions were reached which included collaboration across ministries, job ukwa and clifford nwanna 226 building on alternative and distance learning programmes, including low-tech solutions as it were during the covid-19 pandemic and empowering and listening to children and communities among others. to analyze the structural visual elements in the composition and their communicative tendencies, the study takes it as an artist’s social responsibility, as a reviewer and an interpreter, to ruminate on the basic role of artworks in communication. he opted to holistically engage both the cultural imports of materials and as well the quest to advance materiality in arts. in the abuja conference, the painter assembled readily available materials within reach to metaphorically direct the viewer’s thoughts on the necessity of dialogues, cross carpeting and hybridity of ideas for a better living; a character synonymous with the family and communal town hall meetings in igbo cultural space. it is a platform he consciously created to visually represent a group of people from diverse disciplines and backgrounds interacting, dialoging, weaving together ideas, sharing knowledge and experiences, disseminating information and proffering solutions. it seeks to bring into focus the concept of a collaborative effort for a common goal, the experiences, evolving cultural implications and the overall development among other things. the researcher’s use of different materials with connotative implications to cohesively form a whole especially (nzu) white chalk and nkata (basket), explain this. the flattened basket with its spread-out strands is a motif inspired by the inorganic nsibidi motif and geometric shape. this form combines irregular shapes, spiral and straight lines. it is derived from woven baskets, cut-out gummed patterns from jute fabric and shades of wood particles and it stands for convergence, togetherness and unity in diversity. considering the fact that abstraction or symbolism in art can reveal and conceal at the same time, creating a platform for multiple meanings, nkata can also symbolically be interpreted as basket/conversation/technology in science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 227 the context of entrepreneurial engagement for economic growth and as dialogue, conspiracy, evil plan, as well as technology today (nka taa) respectively. also, there are patterns from woven structures created from plaited backgrounds of cane trays and cut-out patterns of jute fabric. these overlapping patterns are adapted to metaphorically point to the concepts of interconnectivity, protection and mutual understanding a symbolic pattern that connotes security in the abuja conference, the translation of cultural relations is depicted through the interconnection of the design elements such as lines, textures, colours and shapes. it is meant to bring to the audience’s consciousness the need to imagine life beyond confinement but rather to enable fragmented parts to be part of a larger whole. this, the artist’s views will give enough room to live out lives with a considerable level of rapport instead of fear and to choose understanding (peace) in place of division. nzu, one of the earth-appropriate pigments used in some of the partitions is recognized in the igbo cosmology as a signifier of purity, peace, innocence and wisdom. symbolically, the significance of nzu comes into play here as the violated purity and innocence of the vulnerable school children is contextualized and interpreted. the needed wisdom on the handling of insecurity as can be offered through this platform is represented via the use of nzu and the symbolic basket with stretched-out strands. the varied textures of the different partitions represents the diverse cultures of the world while the similarity of the materials and the connecting lines indicate that the emergence of technology (virtual presentation) has offered a common ground to make decision on the way forward in the contemporary society; an enabling environment to build an indivisible global community that is connected in the development of one another thereby ensuring the progress of humanity. the gloomy burnt sienna generated from the mixture of camwood and charcoal represent the sad tales of job ukwa and clifford nwanna 228 abductions of young pupils in nigerian schools, however, the rays of hope that the conference promises is represented by the redorange and light yellow colours of the camwood. the work therefore is a pointer to the importance and metaphorical explanation to the outcomes of the conference. among them includes investing in alternative learning programmes such as e-learning, collaboration among ministries, among other resolutions reached on the way forward for human and material. this in other words, reflects on the fact that globalization has been enabling the contemporary society to learn more about other cultures and the fact that the understanding of cultural evolution, relations and connections has proven to bring great and rapid development. the different colours, arrangements and sizes of rectangle and square shapes represent the typical visual or pictorial formats as seen in virtual screen presentations during econferences. the spread out hands of the dark coloured basket and the multi colored wood chippings that congregate at the centre represents africa’s openness, acceptance, magnanimous and collaborative spirit even in resource sharing with other continents for a better future for all though she has been exploited. while appreciating this collaborative effort, the questions still itching for answers are: from the series of attacks recorded so far on schools in nigeria, have there been any arrests? if yes, who are they, who are the financiers or sponsors? have there been trials, what were the penalties? if there are none, why? what has been the work of the security personnel? has the security architecture of the country been compromised? also elusive is that despite the intervention, the impact seems not to have been felt as there have been consistent reports of attacks even after the conference, almost on a daily basis. it seems to be suggesting that there are beneficiaries with serious strategic gang-ups in the dark who are determined to frustrate every effort no matter the extent of international collaborations. it, therefore, recommends that it is science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 229 only sincere and well-thought-out national strategic plans within the nation-states that are needed to address these internal problems. with the above excerpts, the researcher has demonstrated how the potential qualities of the physical features and tactile makings of local materials within the environment can be used as symbols and be maximized fully to connotatively drive home intended points. conclusion and recommendation significantly, the ingenuity of the studio outcomes in this study has proven that within the local environment, there are a lot of potentials from materials that can be explored in the symbolic representation of ideas and concepts, hence contributing to materiality expansion. from the findings, some of these materials are presented in abstract visual forms which are the personal philosophies of the artist-researcher and their physical structures give the viewers insights or clues on the intended meaning(s) in the context where they are used. this means that though different social groups have their generally accepted codified signs and symbols which help them in communications, there are still some inherent characteristics in the formal physical structures of objects which can be created, adapted and metaphorically contextualized in painting and the audience can easily relate or have a clue to its in meaning-making. the study, therefore recommends that artists can creatively contextualize objects or materials that have physical features that can metaphorically provoke deep reflections on societal issues from the environment this research will equally open up another phase of enquiry into the relevance of exploiting and aligning certain symbolic materials with attached cultural myths and values to a painting discourse. it equally draws the attention of the public to the conversion of waste to meaningful arts as a way of sanitizing the environment. it will also aid in awareness creation amongst job ukwa and clifford nwanna 230 painters that paint does not reside only in tubes and cannot only be applied with brushes, instead, there are other avenues that can be explored to achieve the same result. it has established that certain cultural heritages are embedded with a lot of underlying connotations which with active in-depth reflections, enquiring, and interpreting its historical connotations have the potential for further innovative tendencies for knowledge generation. for example the ikpu isi ugwu passage rite of the ikwo clan in ebonyi state finally, the study recommends that to ensure permanence and long-lasting bonding of the found objects on the support, a good quantity of glue, acrylic gum and wood dust mixture should be applied to hold hard materials to avoid falling off and for a better binder for camwood pigments, acrylic gum is recommended. references abokede, o.o.(2021).use of non-paint media by artists in southwestern nigeria. international journal of progressive sciences and technologies (ijpsat) retrieved from http://ijpsat.ijsht-journals.org,on 6 october, 2023 vol 30 no.1issn: 2509-0119 .pp. 677689. adewumi, k. and fadia, s. (2017), the semiotics of african art in nigeria maidjad maiduguri journal of arts and design, department of visual and performing arts, faculty of arts, university of maiduguri, pp 93-99 cyril, l (2011) experimental painting: inspirational approach for mixed media art. north light books, an imprint of fw media inc., cincinnati, ohio. ditolla, t. (n.d) the art story retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/ mobement-art-povera.html, september 19 2023 ene-orji, c. & eseyin j. m. (2018) el anatsui and the post-modern controversy. resonance journal of contemporary art science of signs and symbols: material manipulation, meaning-making… 231 scholarship. a publication of department of visual and creative arts, federal university, lafia nigeria. , (1) 162 166 ferreira, a. (2007) how useful is semiotics as a method for analyzing works of art? retrieved from,http://artandperception.com/2007/02/how-useful-issemiotics-as-a-method-for-analysing-works-of-art-html september 28, 2023 ibekwe n. (2021) gunmen kill chikeakunyili late dora akunyili’s husband. premium times newspaper. retrieved from premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines /487260-gunmen-killchike-akunyili-late-dora-akunyili’s-husband-html. ikpakronyi, s. o. (2017) a dialogue with kolade oshinowo in the studio journal of contemporary art practice and theory, department of fine applied arts, ahmed bello university, zaria nigeria. issue 2017 pp 75-83. imafidon, a. e. (2015) re-contextualization of unconventional support and pigments for painting unpublished phd dissertation,, department of fine and applied arts, delta state, university. xiv + 168. jerome, m. l. (2008), “symbols” international encyclopedia of the sciences. retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com>september 12, 2023 joshua, j. and onoja, j. (2015) use of media by contemporary nigerian artists to develop metaphoric concept in painting, journal of arts and design studies retrieved from http://www.iiste.org. on october 6, 2023 vol. 32, issn 2224-6061 pp 35-41 ofuafo, p. u. (2013), art symbols as means of communicating religious concepts in urhobo traditional society. the journal of international social research. volume: 6 issue 27 pp 392397 http://www.iiste.org/ language as a change agent and a tool for tackling insecurity in nigeria juliana njoku abstract the level of insecurity in nigeria has risen to an unprecedented height in recent times. the spate of killings in different parts of the country, banditry attacks on lives and properties, herdsmen and farmers’ clashes, high rate of kidnapping, boko-haram insurgency and more recently, unknown gun men (ugm) attacks; are all indices of insecurity in nigeria. people live in fear and uncertainty as no one knows who the next victim will be. the nigeria society has become so chaotic that something urgent needs to be done to allay people’s fear and calm the situation. this paper looks at how language can be used as a change agent to bring about restoration and peace in nigeria. language is a vital means of human communication. through its ideologies, identities, feelings are shared. it is the pivot around which every human activity revolves. language has the capacity to spark off conflict and chaos; it also has the capacity to calm or douse a raging storm depending on how it is used. this paper advocates appropriate language use by all people in all quarters. excerpts of speeches from political office holders that are considered inciting are cited and analyzed in this paper. people have to be conscious of linguistic choices they make and ensure that they are used in appropriate contexts to avoid violent reactions that can lead to insecurity in the country. communicative competence and communication accommodation theories form the theoretical stand point for this paper. the paper reiterates that proper use of language will usher in the needed change: the restoration of peace and security in nigeria. keywords: language, communication, change agent, insecurity. introduction insecurity is a state of being open to danger and attack. it is a situation where members of a given society lack protection of their lives and properties. insecurity in nigeria has risen to unprecedented heights in recent times. people live in fear and uncertainty, not sure of what will happen next. gun shots occur without warning in different parts of the country and people scamper for safety. unfortunate ones get hit and die for no reason. human life is no longer sacrosanct in nigeria as people are killed indiscriminately on a daily basis. causes of insecurity abound in every part of nigeria. it started in the south-south with kidnapping of people including expatriates and vandalization of oil pipe lines as the people agitated for the emancipation of the niger-delta region. it shifted to the north east (bornu state) in the garb form of boko haram insurgency, which engaged in suicide bombings, abduction of school children, razing of whole communities, killing and burning of houses and properties. as a result, many people became internally displaced as they fled their home for fear of being attacked. parts of the north central region suffered frequent herdsmen and farmers clashes with loss of lives and destruction of livelihoods. kaduna state and zamfara in the north west; also witnessed armed banditry that sometimes disguises as herdsmen on the rampage, attacking and terrorizing innocent people, as well as abducting students and their teachers. south-west and south-east regions are not spared. lagos state witnessed the endsars protest by angry youths, which hoodlums hijacked and turned into mayhem. highways in these regions have become unsafe for travellers as kidnapping on them has increased. in nigeria today, kidnapping has become a very lucrative business. added to this is the recent unknown gunmen (ugm) attack in the south east, especially in imo and anambra. in fact, no part of the country is safe and the situation is not healthy as it negatively affects the nation’s economy. if something urgent is not done, the nigerian nation will degenerate into a state of anarchy. based on this backdrop, the paper looks at causes of insecurity in nigeria and how language can be used as a major tool to tackle issues of insecurity in nigeria. excerpts of speeches of political office holders that are considered as threats or inciting are analysed in this paper. efforts are made to demonstrate how proper use of language can douse emotions and promote peace and security in nigeria. the paper is hinged on the theories of communicative competence by dell hymes and communication accommodation by gilles howard. insecurity as a concept onifade (2013) cited in zubairu (2020), sees security as a situation that emerges from the establishment of ways of protecting individuals, information, and properties from hostile people, influences, and behaviour. security has to do with a situation in which people can travel around within a given natural space, without threats to their lives or properties.on the other hand,insecurity is the opposite of security. achumba (2013) posits that insecurity is lack of safety or the existence of danger, hazard and uncertainty. it is not being adequately guarded or protected. zubairu (2020) citing adebamjoko&ugwuoke (2014) opines that insecurity is the state of being subject in every respect to terror, threat, risk, molestation, bullying, harassment etc. without security, it will be difficult for individuals within a state to participate in productive activities. the concept of change agent change means to alter, to modify, to reconstruct, to transform, to recast and so on. change is the solution introduced to solve a problem. according to barseghyam (2015), change is a transition from one accepted theory to another, or from one employed method to another. igi global also defines change as a general transition of something or phase to another state or condition. a change agent therefore is someone who promotes and enables change to happen within any group or organization. in business, a change agent is an individual who promotes and supports a new way of doing something within the company, whether it is the use of a new process, the adoption of a new management structure or the transformation of an old business model to a new one. lanenburg (2010) sees a change agent as the individual or group that undertakes the task of initiating and managing change in an organization. in fact, anyone who has the skill and power to stimulate, facilitate and co-ordinate change efforts is referred to as a change agent. in this paper, we borrow the concept of a change agent and confer it on language which has the power to bring about a desired change in a society depending on how it is used, who uses it, when and where it is used. most conflicts that degenerate into violence and insecurity are caused by improper use of language (for example, threats and statements that are inciting). in the same way, language can be used as a change agent to douse emotions and bring about peace and security. language as a concept language is the principal method of human communication. it consists of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing or gesture. bhasin (2020) defines language as “a formal system that includes sounds, signs, symbols, and gestures that are used as an important means of communicating thoughts, ideas, and emotions from one individual to another (p. 1). language is a medium, used to offer shape to our thoughts and ideas, it is used to forge interpersonal relationships both in personal and professional front. effective and appropriate use of language matters a great deal in this our global world. this is important, so that people will not misconstrue or misunderstand what we are trying to convey. hence, bhasim (2020) admonishes that we should make sure that the language we use is appropriate for the specific audience it is intended for, to enable them grasp the intended meaning. theoretical framework this paper is hinged on the theories of communicative competence and communication accommodation.communicative competence was developed by dell hymes in 1966, as a reaction to noam chomsky’s (1965) linguistic competence which focused on correctness in grammar; that is knowing and adhering to the rules of grammar. according to dell hymes, having an accurate knowledge of the grammar rules of a language is not enough to make the learner competent in the use of that language for communication. the learner also needs communicative competence which entails knowing what to say, to whom, in what circumstances and how to say it. in other words, communicative competence refers to the language user’s grammatical knowledge of his language, as well as his social knowledge about how and when to use this language to accomplish specific communication goals. scholars who followed after dell hymes such as brumfit and johnson (1979), canale and swain (1980) and van ek (1986) expanded on the idea. for instance, canale and swain proposed 4 components of communicative competence namely: grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competencies. the grammatical component of communicative competence equates to chomsky’s linguistic competence. this refers to the knowledge of the language code: grammatical rules, vocabulary pronunciation, spelling and so on. the sociolinguistic component refers to the knowledge of socio-cultural code of language use; which entails what to speak, when to speak, how to speak and to whom. discourse competence refers to the ability to combine language structures into different types of cohesive and coherent texts. while strategic competence refers to the knowledge of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that can be called into action to forestall breakdown in communication. for effective communication, a language user must possess and call into action these components of communicative competence as situation and context demands; most especially the socio-linguistic component which affects this paper directly. not complying with the sociocultural code of a language in communication may cause disaffection, misinterpretation, antagonism, violent reactions and social upheavals. many political office holders have breached the rules of communicative competence and have therefore prepared the ground for insecurity in this country. another theory relevant to this paper is the communication accommodation theory developed by howard giles in 1971. it is a theory of communication that concerns the behavioural changes that people make to attune their communication to the people they are communicating with. the basis of the theory is the idea that people adjust or accommodate their style of speech to one another. the theory focuses on both intergroup and interpersonal communication. people belong to various groups in society: ethnic, religious, political affiliation and so. the way we interact with others depends on how we see ourselves and how we see others. a good communicator can actually accommodate to a larger audience. in fact, the theory focuses on the role of communication in our lives. according to giles (1971) there are two categories of the accommodation process: convergence and divergence. speech convergence is adapting to the other communicator’s way of communicating in order to connect and reduce the social distance. speech divergence on the other hand is purposely speaking and acting differently from the person or group with whom they are communicating. this can create barriers in communication as the social distance is maintained. for the purpose of this paper, the focus is on speech convergence. according to giles, speech convergence allows us to accommodate the person (s) we are talking to and make them feel appreciated and valued. the question is, how many of our political office holders show accommodation in their interaction with the people? this will be demonstrated in the excerpts that will be shown later. good communication in relationships reduces conflicts, builds trust and strengthens bonds. causes of insecurity in nigeria there are many social issues that tend to spark violence which brings about the state of insecurity in the country. these include: unemployment, corruption, marginalization and inequalities in the country, exploitation of ethnicity and religions differences, bad governance and poor leadership, threats and inciting statements etc. according to zubairu (2020) unemployment causes poverty and extreme poverty leads to crime which in turn gives rise to insecurity. poverty is described as a situation when people live below a defined standard of living, that they become identified and classified as poor, while unemployment is defined as not being engaged in any meaningful work and lacking the basic needs of life. oguntuase (2021) opines that we need no one to tell us that unemployment, especially among the youths, has turned nigeria into a potential recruitment ground for terrorist groups such as boko haram. every year, tertiary institutions graduate many students who are thrown into the labour market with no hope of job opportunities in sight. as zubairu (2020) put it, many become frustrated and engage in violent and criminal acts such as lucrative kidnapping, militancy and armed robbery. corruption in the system is a destructivecankerworm feeding fat on the fabric of the nation, states oguntuase (2012). many politicians stash away cash meant to develop the country in banks abroad. when the government privatizes important facets of public life, by passing representation, discussion and choice processes, the resultant effect is infrastructural collapse. when there is no power generation and enabling environment for entrepreneurs and business start-ups to thrive, people are bound to channel their energies into crime and violence which breeds insecurity. social exclusion, marginalization and inequalities in the provision of basic infrastructures in certain parts of the country are also causes of insecurity in nigeria. those who feel marginalized gather their kits and kin and take up arms to express their dissatisfaction. for instance, the new railway network in the country favours majorly the north followed by the south-west; the south-east was almost excluded. again, the current government gave the key political positions to people from the north while the south-east was left in the cold (zubairu 2020). when a vast majority of the public has a sense of deprivation, it results in anger, loss of hope and frustration. all these logically provide a strong fertile ground for aggression and general insecurity. recall the incident that led to the endsars protest in lagos, which ended in mayhem. the consequence of this is growing uncertainty. the most worrisome cause of insecurity in nigeria is rooted in the use of language. when political office holders engage in hate-speech, threats and provocative statements, the result is usually violence and insecurity. zubairu (2020) notes that it is not the country’s diverse ethnic make-up that causes insecurity in nigeria, rather, political and religious leaders across the nation, most times exploit the situation to achieve their selfish ambitions. they whip up sentiments in the minds of the people and stir up resentment, hatred and mistrust among the different ethnic groups and among the country’s major religions. this leads to violent confrontations between members of one ethnic group or religious groups against another. to buttress this fact, the council of traditional rulers of the south-east in their press release of october 18, 2021 warned against the use of provocative rhetoric and actions that tend to promote violence, fear and insecurity. they expressed disappointment at the recent statement made by the attorney general of the federation that the government may impose a state of emergency in anambra state for the purpose of the just concluded gubernatorial election. they described the statement as unfortunate and said it was another manifestation of the discrimination against ndiigbo. certainly, there are other causes of insecurity, but this paper focuses on the causes that are rooted in the use of language. the next segment will present and discuss selected speeches of political office holders that are considered unhygienic and inciting. presentation and analysis of data speech i: a speech made by general muhammadu buhari as reported by likabennyat, vanguard news online 2012. god willing, by 2015, something will happen. they either conduct a free and fair election or they go a disgraceful way. if what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of god, the dogs and the baboon would all be soaked in blood. the general interpretation of the statement above is that buhari feels that the 2011 elections were rigged, that if the same thing happens with the 2015 election, there will be bloodletting. words matter! dogs and baboon are they human address terms? ‘soaked in blood’ has a connotation of violence that would claim lives. this statement is not only a threat; it is also inciting and can provoke violent reactions. there are judicial ways of seeking redress for a rigged election instead of resorting to violence, and this is coming from a prospective president of the nigerian nation. he failed in both the principles of communicative competence and communication accommodation. speech ii: former president obasanjo’s speech to the can chairman cited in balogun (2004). mr. chairman of can, you are talking absolute nonsense, and don’t provoke me. when i did invite people to abuja in april, do you think i invited them for a picnic? can my foot! as a christian, what did christianity teach you? revenge? you are an idiot, a total idiot and i have no apology for that. this is an example of verbal violence, using language to intimidate, dominate and disparage others. obasanjo resorted to insult and name calling on an issue that should have been settled amicably. these are inflammable statements that can lead to violent reactions. speech iii: by nasir ei-rufai, after clashes between settlers and natives in some parts of northern nigeria; he posted in his twitter handle: we will write this for all to read. anyone, soldier or not that kills the fulani, takes a loan repayable one day, no matter how long it takes. (danfulani 2016, news rescue. com/harsh) the word ‘we’ indicates inclusion to something. it is a confirmation of belonging to the fulani group that takes laws into their hands by embarking on ‘reprisal’ attacks. the above statement can provoke hostility, inciting the fulani against others, and others against the fulanis in nigeria. according to danfulani (2016), el-rufai by this statement, lowered public discourse to the pit of indecency, rascality, capricious whimsicality, and irresponsibility. speech iv: mr. el-rufai displayed former president goodluck jonathan’s photograph where he was praying and gave this verdict: many prayers of the lazy, docile, incompetent, clueless, hopeless and useless leader imagine the enormity of his choice of words! this verbal attack on the person of mr. president can provoke violence. in fact, this attracted a moral uppercut by reno omokiri, one of president jonathan’s aides in this manner: “it is only a sick and bitter fellow like you that would stoop so low to mock a man praying to his god”. christians are admonished to pray without ceasing. el-rufai’s criticism of jonathan’s spiritual voyage is tantamount to relegating public discourse to a level capable of causing disaffection in the land. speech v: buhari in an interview with al jazeera television during his visit to qatar in 2016. (published in the nation newspaper of march 6, 2016) at least 2 million nigerians were killed in the biafran war and for \somebody to wake up, (maybe they weren’t born) looking for biafra after 2 millions of people were killed, and they are joking with the security of the country. nigeria won’t tolerate biafra. buhari dismissed those who are agitating for the republic of biafra as jokers who are toying with the nation’s security. he flouted the principles of communicative competence which considers appropriate choice of words and some degree of politeness. he also exhibited social distance from the people and lack of accommodation. political offices holders need tutoring on the use of language in addressing issues concerning the people they lead. the power of language in combating security challenges in nigeria language, the highest form of human communication has the power to escalate or contain the various shades of insecurity in different parts of the country. wallwork (1971:12) posits that “language is an instrument of action, of influencing and persuading people, of conveying orders and information, as well as a thought process”. thus, language can be used to usher in the desired change, which is security as well as harmonious co-existence in nigeria. to achieve this, there should be reconstruction and rebuilding of individual and societal attitudes, values and preferences. there should also be transformation from hostility to amicability. bloomfield (2003:3) opines that the process of reconciliation includes the search for truth, justice, forgiveness and healing which enables individuals to co-exist and to develop a degree of co-operation. all these can be attained through dialogue, negotiation and mediation and not through force. we have seen visible efforts of the military and other security agencies using lethal force and combat missions to tackle insecurity in nigeria, yet the situation is still escalating. hence this paper recommends non-kinetic language based approaches to tackling problems especially dialogues, awareness campaign, political inclusion and social empowerment. reiterating this fact, the south-east council of traditional rulers in their press statement of october 18, 2021 has this to say: the dire situation in the country today calls for statesmanship and open sincere dialogue in the search for compromises…. mutual forgiveness and healing towards the evolution of a more loving nation; instead of the growing militarization which may ultimately threaten the very existence of this country (para. 11). insecurity can be curbed through dialogic and mediation processes. dialogue and mediation cannot happen without the use of language. thus language plays a pivotal role in human and societal existence. language has the capacity of either formenting conflict or resolving conflict depending on the way it is used. when we communicate, we are involved in the act of giving and receiving messages. the response that a communication act evokes could be negative or positive. the negative or positive response to the act of communication depends greatly on language use. appropriate use of language elicits positive response, while bad use of language elicits negative response. appropriate use of language here means making the right choices of words, knowing when, where and how to use the words. thus, communicative competence is a necessary skill a communicator needs to acquire. this is important so that meaning intended in a communication act will be understood and not be misinterpreted. it is when meaning is misinterpreted that rancor and altercations occur. this in turn degenerates to violent and chaotic situations. appropriate use of language makes for a peaceful and harmonious society, while inappropriate language use fuels crises and leads to traumatized and chaotic society. conclusion insecurity in nigeria has recently assumed a dangerous dimension that even threatens the very existence of the nation. something urgently needs to be done, either to stamp it out or to reduce it to the barest minimum. insecurity poses a threat to life and property. it hampers business activities and discourages local and foreign investors. all of these negate the country’s social and economic growth. insecurity has also affected the nigerian education system, when school children are abducted from the north-east and north-west the schools close down thereby interrupting academic activities. even in some parts of the south-east, many school children were deprived of writing 2021 waec examination; in fact, insecurity has affected negatively every facet of the society. despite the combat operations by the military and other security agencies to tackle security issues, insecurity has continued to grow. this paper therefore advocates for other plausible mechanisms that can be adopted in solving security challenges. the paper submits that lasting peace, progress and security can come from dialogue, mediation and negotiation (which are language based) and not through armed combat and a general atmosphere of fear and intimidation. recommendations 1. government should create communication channels to effectively disseminate information, create awareness and give the people a sense of belonging and inclusion. 2. non-kinetic approach should be used to call to order, dissenting groups agitating for separation. round table conference and dialogue would yield better results than the use of force. 3. the youths should be empowered through gainful employment or provision of enabling and favourable climate for entrepreneurship and for small scale businesses to thrive 4. political office should be mindful of the linguistic choices they make as they engage in communication transactions. references achumba, i.c. (2013). security challenges in nigeria and the implications for business activities and sustainable development. journal of economic and sustainable development. vol. 4 no.2. balogun, f.a (2004).open letter to president obasanjo. daily sun lagos; july 1 benniyat, l. (2012). unguarded utterances of mohammadu buhari. may 15th, 2012 www.vanguard.com bhasim, hitesh (2020). the importance of language explained in detail. marketing 91. https://www.marketing 91.com bloomfield, d. (2003). reconciliation: an introduction. in d. bloomfield, t.barners& l. hmyse (eds). reconciliation after violent conflict: a handbook sweden: bulls tryckeri ab. brumfit, c.j. and johnson, k. (1979). the communicative approach to language teaching. oxford: oxford university press canal, m. and swain, m. (1980). theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. applied linguistics (17) 1-47 danfulani, j. (2016). elrufia: the law and the rest of us. newsrescue.com/harsh giles, h. (2001). speech accommodation.in r. mesthrie (ed) concise encyclopedia of sociolinguistics. elsevier. 193 -197 oguntuase, o. (2012). national security challenges: the panacea in youth empowerment. youth speak. editorial@risenetworks.org the south east council of traditional rulers (2021) press statement (to ndiigbo and nigerians) monday 18th october, 2021 wallwork, j.f. (1997). language and linguistics: an introduction to the study of language london: heinemann zubairu, (2020). rising insecurity in nigeria: causes and solutions. journal of studies in social sciences. infinity press www.infinity press.inj the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 165 a comparison of the concepts, motives and effects of western imperialism on nigeria and china ifeoma ezinne odinye & ifeanyi sunny odinye ifeomaodinye@gmail.com & ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com xiamen university, china abstract imperialism is a modernizing instrument of history which helps uncivilized and culturally–bound societies to adopt western civilization and move into modernity. imperialism is experienced by people who are influenced, invaded or colonized by the european powers in one way or the other. western imperialism has economic, political and cultural effects on different societies based on the extent of western influence. the researcher focuses on the effects of western imperialism in china and nigeria in the late modern period. the reason for the comparison is based on the influence and activities of the west in the 18th and 19th centuries. also, the researcher points out how western imperialism has affected these societies in different ways. western imperialism in china and nigeria are of different forms which created different historical effects, backgrounds and perceptions. slave trade business, british colonial rule and internal conflicts are the main features that characterize western imperialism in nigeria, while foreign influence and control, opium trade, radical changes and internal conflicts characterize western imperialism in china. the researcher also finds out that there are psychological and cultural impacts of western imperialism as a result of changes and quest for modernity. also, their reactions to the aftermath of imperialism are different because of many factors such as cultural backgrounds, system of government and different experiences of imperialism. therefore, this paper explores the effects and impacts of western imperialism in china and nigeria in the late modern period. it also discusses the cultural and psychological impacts of imperialism, consequences and effects in the social, economic and political lives of these societies. keywords: western imperialism, late modern period, civilization, effects, impacts introduction imperialism has been one of the most powerful forces in the late modern period, exploring every continent while oppressing the indigenous natives and enforcing technological development and civilization. "imperialism" simply means the process whereby the dominant political and economic interests of a country propel them to enrich their society with the labor, raw materials, and markets of another existing society. africans and asia are among the earliest victims of western european imperialism. currently, looking at the world today through an economic, political and social lens; it is very clear to see both the great successes and enormous disasters that emerged from the impacts of western imperialism. supposedly, many underdeveloped and uncivilized nations received the necessary infrastructure for development and growth, as seen in some societies in east asia, while some nations are negatively affected by the economic and social exploitation, as portrayed in the african nations. however, it is also very important to note that western imperialism’s most effective tools for dominating other countries and cultures have been very political and economic in nature. it is from this point of view that this research work compares the late modern period of western imperialism in china and nigeria as well as its impacts, reactions and the after effects on the politics, culture and economy of these countries. in this context, we are saddled with the chief responsibility of bringing to light its merits and demerits. the various chapters of this work will serve as a missing link towards the actualization of this great task and dream。 the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 166 definition of imperialism imperialism is the creation or maintenance of unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination.1 it can also be defined as the process of conquering different societies and ruling them with economic and political influence. the word imperialism has its root from the latin verb imperare which means “to command”, as perceived in the roman concept of imperium. 'imperialism' was coined in the 16th century, which reflects the imperial policies of the west (europeans) such as, britain or france, in africa and asia.2 this concept does not only describe colonial and territorial policies, but also economic, military dominance and influence. many people perceive imperialism as an imposition of power and influence of civilized nations on less civilized nations; while others see it as an indirect political and economic influence or control of weak states by more powerful ones. in this view, edward said states that imperialism involves the practice, the theory and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan centre ruling a distant territory.3 this implies that imperialism functions for political, ideological as well as financial reasons.’ karl marx defines ‘imperialism’ as the unconscious tool of history and also a necessary historical force in breaking apart stagnant and tradition-bound societies seemingly incapable of moving into modern history on their own.4 the term ‘imperialism”, defines how powerful nations exercise power over weaker nations through sovereignty, settlement, or indirect mechanisms of control. it is also a form of conquest or ideology that benefited the europe economically, politically and strategically. however, it is very important to note that imperialism is a form of influence which involves indirect forms of domination and not direct as seen in colonization. there have been difficulties in distinguishing western imperialism from colonialism. these two concepts are treated as synonyms and sometimes used interchangeably. unlike imperialism; colonialism involves a political and economic control over a dependent nation by military force and subjugation against the will of the people. imperialism simply defines the way a country exercises power on another country through indirect ways. one major fact about imperialism is that it is not restricted to any specific time or place; it still continues. concepts and motives of western imperialism western imperialism has different motives and aims. these motives are based on the factors that motivated western imperialism. the concepts of western imperialism are diversified and are ideological, political, religious and economic in nature. these concepts are categorized into two namely: civilization, religion, politics, economy. western imperialism in china: a brief history europe's scramble for countries did not leave the east asia at peace. however, the surprising thing about the effect of imperialism in china is that modern chinese society is not totally transformed into the form of western political world and civilization; but still retains its traditional cultures and values. in history, china has been known to be fairly strong during her ancient periods and its leaders were not ready for any alteration of their confucian beliefs or tradition. as a result of this, the chinese conservative officials declined the offer of accepting any form of minor reforms which prevented the old imperial order from attaining western modernization like their japanese counterpart. 15 in the 1800s, china simultaneously experienced major internal strains and western imperialist pressure, backed by strong military strength which china could not withstand. early in the 19th century, serious internal conflicts developed in the qing dynasty as a result of foreign invasion, the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 167 wars and trade in the 18th century which left china vulnerable to the western, japanese, and russian imperialism. 17 the 19th century of china experienced a lot of pressure as a result of foreign invasion and influence from britain, america, and japan etc. this century is very remarkable because it was characterized by an uncertainty and a searching everywhere in the writings of intellectuals. it is also a period when the chinese people and scholars could no longer deny their sense of shame and helplessness for the humiliation meted on their country by foreigners. however, it is believed that the decline of the late qing dynasty in the early 1900’s is unique because it is the last dynasty that marked the origin of modern china。 many of the economic problems that china experienced had been traced to the opium trade. opium destroyed many families and industries which lead to violence and corruption between the smugglers and officials. in 1839, empeor daoguang sent his incorrupt imperial commissioner, lin zexu to stop the opium trade; lin’s action toward the stopping of opium trade led to the 1839-1842 opium war which was won by the british. the british and chinese leaders later signed a peace treaty of nanjing in august, 1842 and to appease the british, the qing government gave them the land of hong kong to open their first treaty ports. and the trade of opium trade continued between indian and china for many years. the treaty was rather unequal which opened up china to foreign imperialism and exploitation. the christian missionaries were the major ideological arms of foreign aggression that europeans used to penetrate china. the missionaries and the chinese traditional gentry-elite were rivals; the missionaries believed that the chinese gentry-elite were cunning, ignorant, rude and full of hatred for everything foreign. while the chinese elite believed that the missionaries were foreign subversives whose immoral conduct and teaching were supported by gunboats. the boxer rebellion was known to be a proto-nationalist movement in china between 1898 and 1901, which was targeted at opposing foreign imperialism and christianity. the uprising was in response to foreign "monopoly of influence" in china, such as the opium trade, political influence, economic disposition or destabilization, unequal treaties and missionary activities. there was a great concern by the chinese citizens that the missionaries and chinese christians could use the declining government of qing to their advantage, acquiring lands and property of unwilling chinese peasants to give to the missionaries. all these resulted in violent revolts against foreigners and their interests. in june 1900, foreigners were threatened to seek for safety in the legation quarter in beijing; which was followed by the declaration of war on foreign powers by the empress, dowager cixi. many diplomats, foreign civilians, soldiers, and chinese christians in the legation quarter were under siege by the imperial army of china and the boxers for 55 days. the rebellion was put to an end when the eight-nation alliance of austria-hungary, france, germany, italy, japan, russia, the united kingdom and the united states deployed 20,000 armed troops to china, defeated the qing imperial army, and captured beijing. effects and impacts of western imperialism on china one thing is very clear; western imperialism has its good and evil as well as its advantages and disadvantages. the impacts of western imperialism on china have different sides; many people argue that western imperialism brought western development and civilization like, technology, communication, education, sciences, railways and improved health care systems; while many argue that it is totally exploitative and selfish in nature. the effects of western imperialism on china could be discussed under these sub-headings (1) political effects, (2) cultural effects, (3) economic effects, and (4) psychological effects. the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 168 political effects western imperialism is responsible for the introduction of western political ideologies like nationalism, capitalism, democracy, constitutionalism and other forms of political ideas in china. there is no doubt that western imperialism led to the rise of chinese nationalism as seen in the emergence of the chinese communist government. no country was undergoing a complex economic and political transformation like china in the year 1839-40. it is very important to note that western influence in china’s politics and leadership threw the country into a period of political instability; the war between the nationalist and the chinese communist party is a good example of china’s political disunity and western political influence on china. cultural effects historically, china has been perceived as a land of strong cultural values because of their strong resistance to western invasion. many people believe that china’s rejection of western civilization was as a result of their conservative attachment to the traditional confucian social and cultural values. the chinese wanted to remain aloof from western civilization and its imperialism, which they regarded as inferior to their own civilization but was forced to open up because of her military weakness to withstand the european powers. however, the effects of imperialism on the chinese culture could be discussed under the following points namely; tribute system, language, female subjectivity, dressing code, marriages, religion and food etc economic effects there has been a debate on the effect of western imperialism on china’s economy especially on the direct effect foreign trade and investment had on china’s economy. however, many people believe that foreign trade and investment played an important role in china’s economy; while others think that it was harmful to it. though imperialism helped to expose china to foreign influence, it played an important role of bringing economic development and modernization to china. the good benefits of imperialism to china’s economy are that it brought new forms of development, technology and skills. some people might argue that imperialism has no positive effect on china’s economy since china was forced to open up to the west against their wish. although china lost a lot from its economy, especially in the 18th century when chinese people valued treasures were used to purchase opium from the british; there some positive influence of western imperialism on china’s economy. the open door policy has a positive effect because it allowed china to trade other countries which later expanded its economy. another side to this positive effect is that imperialism introduced modern facilities and technologies to china. psychological effects imperialism brought some phenomena such as identity loss, cultural friction and hatred towards european exploitation. there is no doubt that imperialism brought about chinese nationalism; but this was triggered by the psychological impacts of western influence and exploitation of china. the mental and physical struggle against imperialism brought about rebellion and revolution. western imperialism in nigerian: a brief history foreign imperialism in nigeria is quite different from that of the chinese society. nigeria had a unique and painful colonial history; the missionaries were the colonial tools that were used effectively to penetrate into the social circles, regions and tribes of nigeria. many nigerian scholars believe that the role played by western missionaries in nigeria was very explicit and must be a major concern to those who were colonized. it was a wide spread belief that the missionaries’ penetration into the nigerian soil was instrumental in setting the scene for the colonialist invasion of nigeria. they were the first europeans that the nigerians came in contact with; this was also the experiences of many regions and countries in africa. the british administration in nigeria had been seen by many nigerians as the real cause of the political, the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 169 religious cultural and tribal conflicts in the contemporary nigeria. although the british colonized nigeria for sixty years, there had been series of blame on the british government for exploiting the nigeria’s natural resources. many nigerians thought that they left nigeria in poverty by stripping them of their raw materials. the british influence had both positive and negative effects on the nigeria. many nigerian scholars believe that the future of nigeria is problematic because of the influence of british colonization and exploitation. nigeria has over “two hundred” ethnic groups but the three largest and most influential ethnic groups were igbo, hausa, and yoruba. religious wise, nigeria has a greater percentage of muslims and christians while small minority practiced the traditional religion. the years 1900 – 1960 mark the years of british colonial rule in nigeria. the name nigeria did not exist before because the regions were never one. they had their own defined and distinguished territories that were marked by their different cultures, unique languages, kingdoms and systems of rural leadership. however, the intrusion of the british as a result of their interest in slave trade and palm oil business, made them to bring these regions with no common features together as a nation. this very act by the british government has been seen by many nigerians as the real cause of the political, religious and cultural tension in the contemporary nigerian society. the british colonized nigeria for sixty years (1900-1960) but the colonial rule was characterized by frequent reclassifying of different regions in nigeria for their own reason and administrative purposes. this very act had been the factor of uniting these different regions as a one nation. in the early 1900s the emir of kano and the sultan of sokoto refused to accept the british rule; because of their strong cultural and muslim belief. in 1951, nigeria was divided into three different regions namely; northern, eastern, a western; each of these regions had its own house of assembly. there was also a separate house of chiefs for the northern province so that their strong traditions and culture would be reflected using their tribal authorities. but this was not enough to solve the problem of administration because of the diversity in cultural backgrounds, languages and large regions of nigeria. in 1954, the british government created a new constitution which was the third in eight years. it also created the federation of nigeria making lagos the federal territory. in 1950s, an african political structure was gradually achieved. also in 1957 there was a federal prime minister; the western and eastern regions were allowed to govern themselves internally, that is, they had an internal government. in 1959, the northern region was given autonomy. nigeria got full independence in october 1, 1960. the issues and tensions concerning different communities became nigeria’s own business and major concern. however, ad 1960 -1970 marked a period of political struggles, tensions, regional hostilities and conflicts among different regions in nigeria. the igbo people sought for autonomy from the amalgamated regions called ‘nigeria’. nigeria witnessed a civil war in 1967 to 1970. many scholars believe that imperialism was the remote cause the war. in january 1970, the communities of the eastern region were almost starving and that was when biafra surrendered to the federal government of nigeria. the leader of the biafran republic, ojukwu, went into exile in ivory coast. in 1970-1999 nigeria experienced another phase of oil wealth which was followed by a great disaster. nigeria became one of the wealthiest countries in africa because of its richness in crude oil, petroleum rather than the palm oil business of the past centuries. in the late 1970, nigeria’s output was more than two million barrels a day; the value which was boosted by the high prices achieved during the oil crisis of 1973 -1974. however, there were cases of corruption in controlling the wealth of the nation because many people became interested in sharing the oil income. the future of nigeria is problematic as a result of the problem of amalgamation caused by the british colonial rulers. many nigerian scholars still blame the british for merging different tribes the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 170 or ethnic groups with no common characteristics or features together; as a result of this, there had been constant tension, rivalries, political struggles between political parties and regions over who will rule the country. nigeria till date is still practicing the democratic system of government; but the presidential election is characterized by corruption which is tainted in election rigging, killings, political tension，religious and regional conflicts. however, the future of nigeria is still problematic even with the 2011 election which brought president good luck jonathan to power; the fate of nigeria is still undecided as a result of various political, religious and regional tensions in the leadership of the country. effects of western imperialism on nigeria imperialism has been a major force in shaping the modern nigerian society in its present situation. the major imperialism occurred during the 19thand the early 20th century. british imperialism affected nigeria both positively and negatively; the positive side of the british colonization is that they built roads, canals, railways, schools and hospitals for the natives. many nigerians resented the british because of their horrible treatment to nigerians, especially on the issue of slave trade and amalgamation of different region with no common characteristics. it is widely believed that the british imperialist activities in nigeria were for their selfish reasons which were aimed at benefiting them rather than the nigerian people. however, the british imperialism in nigeria was motivated by economic as well as political influence. it was good for the british because raw materials from nigeria boosted the british economy and added to her influence. imperialism created injustice to nigeria; the british ignored the tribal traditional system of leadership that existed in nigeria and imposed western political administration on its people. political effects politically, british colonization of nigeria is synonymous with political disunity, conflicts and civil wars. british colonization brought many western ideologies such as constitutionalism, nationalism, democracy and other forms of ideas; but one thing is very clear, all these ideas are not suitable for nigeria because of the differences in culture, language and religion of different regions in nigeria. imperialism led to political conflicts and tribal wars in nigeria as different regions tried to control the leadership of nigeria. the effect of british colonial rule is that it altered the political and traditional structures of the nigerian society. the amalgamation of the northern and southern regions of nigeria in 1914 as a nation is the core cause of nigeria’s big problem; the power struggle between different tribes in nigeria led to civil war in 1967. cultural effects culturally, imperialism caused more harm than good to the nigerian society. many religions and traditional beliefs of the nigeria people were destroyed as a result of the influence of christianity. the role played by the christian missionaries in blackmailing the native culture and traditions of nigeria is enormous. nigerians were meant to believe that their religion and culture are dirty, barbaric and false. schools and colleges such as cms were built to further brain wash then into believing the christian ideologies and also accept western culture. however, imperialism helped to eliminate some bad customs such killing of twins, slave trade, and human sacrifice etc. economic effects economically, imperialism led to the development of industries in nigeria .they established industries to make profits and thus paved way for trade and commerce in nigeria. they also constructed railways, roads, banking houses and buildings to fully exploit nigeria’s natural resources. industries were set up to make profits; however, all these led to the industrialization of nigeria. it is important to note that the british imperialism negatively affected nigeria by exploiting and importing nigeria’s natural resources at cheap rates into britain and exported the manufactured products into nigeria at expensive rates. again, local industries, trade and the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 171 commerce were crippled by taxing them heavily; however, this system of taxation and exploitation affected the nigerian economy negatively. backwardness, poverty, starvation and corruption became very eminent. psychological effects there are always psychological effects to western imperialism on any colonized or semi colonized society. the psychological effects of western imperialism could only be expressed by the colonized society. also, the social effects and consequences of colonial education, religion and political administration (control) could only be expressed by the formerly colonized people. african countries like south africa and nigeria could not easily break away from the continuous mental and physical struggle created by western imperialism since their historical past was hinged on colonialism, slavery and the name “nigeria” which was coined by the colonial masters. many african novelists and poets like, chinua achebe, dennis brutus, ngugi wa thiong’o and linda tuhiwai smith had written to find solutions to this psychological effect but there was no easy way out. they wrote many poems and novels to re-define, re-interpret and project the unique features of african culture; while at the same time pointing out that african culture was very superior and not inferior to the western culture. it was widely acknowledged that imperialism labeled many nigerian indigenous cultures and people inhuman or sub-human which left the africans with a sense of inferiority toward the europeans. conclusion by analyzing the impacts and influence of western imperialism on nigeria and china, one can see that trade was a key factor in these two cases. in the case of nigeria, western imperialism began with trade and commerce especially in the palm oil business; as the trade festered internationally, the british campaign sought for measures to protect their economic interest which led to the colonization of nigeria. in china, the western powers were satisfied to exploit the spoils of trade and commerce, without full political claim as britain did in nigeria. there are positive and negative impacts of imperialism to the nigerian and chinese societies. the europeans brought modernization, western education and infrastructural development to many countries which at the same time were at the expense of the cultural traditions of these societies. in the case of china, they obstructed their political culture and confucian codes in the late 19th century by introducing western education, trade, technology and western culture in the chinese traditional society. as a result of these influences and failures in the leadership system of the qing dynasty, many forms of rebellions erupted. in nigeria, the case is relatively the same, the nigerian traditional system of leadership was altered due to the 1914 amalgamation of different regions; this led to civil wars and political instability as one region fights to monopolize the leadership of the country. some of these problems that nigeria experiences now come from the british colonization of nigeria; their influence in the political, social and economic lives of the nigerians affected the social and political circles of the society. however, this problem of political instability is deeply rooted in the way the british ruled and colonized nigeria. china and nigeria have different political backgrounds but have one common factor which is ‘western imperialism’ which occurred in the late modern period. the influence of western imperialism in china and nigeria during the 19th century was actually unique and different; while nigeria was struggling with colonial conquest, slave trade, tribal conflicts and unstable political system, china was going through a series of revolution in the quest to attain modernity as well as finding a balance between their culture and western culture. the 1960s and 1970s of china and nigeria are almost related as a result of the social instability, destruction and political struggles that engulfed these societies. during the 1967 to 1970, people of the southeast (igbo region of nigeria) attempted to secede from nigerian by forming the the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 172 republic of biafra; while in the chinese society, 1966 to 1976 encountered a lot of class struggles, political instability (evidenced by the civil war between the ccp and kmt) and antirightist campaigns as a result of the cultural revolution which was directed at destroying foreign influences. this cultural practice between 1966 and 1976 had deep roots in the chinese experiences not simply after 1949 but since china’s 19th century encounter with western power and culture. furthermore, by analyzing the impacts and reasons of western imperialism on china and nigeria, one can easily see that economic values, trade and political influence were the main key factors that propelled the late modern period western imperialism in these two countries. in the case of nigeria, western imperialism began with commerce (slave trade, oil, cotton, dyes, cocoa etc), which led to the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorate in 1914 to become one country called “nigeria” thus nigeria was fully colonized by the british. in china, the case was different western powers were only satisfied with their gains of commerce in china occupying some major cities like hong kong, macau and guangzhou. it is also important to note that without these political claims, the economic motive of the west would not have been more apparent. in summary, economics and political values appear to have played a vital role in both the influence and impact of western imperialism in africa and asia, as evidenced in the experiences of china and nigeria. references andrew, j. n. (1972). ‘imperialism's effects on china’ in bulletin of concerned asian scholars. volume: 4.issue: 4. andrew, j. n. (1972). ‘imperialism's effects on china’ in bulletin of concerned asian scholars. volume: 4.issue: 4. clark, p (2008). the chinese cultural revolution: a history. new york: cambridge university press. ebe, o. m. (2004). ‘1914 and nigeria’s existential crisis: a historical perspective 1’ edward, s. (1998). culture and imperialism. vintage books, online publication. fafunwa a .b. (1974). history of education in nigeria. london: george, allen & unwin. falola, t. et al. (2008). a history of nigeria. new york: cambridge university press. guo, y. (2004). cultural nationalism in contemporary china. london hsu, i. (1995). the rise of modern china. oxford hu s. (1955). imperialism and chinese politics. peking, china: foreign languages press isichei, e. (1973). the ibo people and the europeans. new york: st.martin’s press john, g. et al. (2006). western civilization with chinese comparisons. china: fudan university press. john, k et al. (2001). china: a new history. london. maurice, m. (1977). mao’s china history of the people’s republic. new york mc kay, john et al. (1988). a history of world societies. (2nd edition)volume b. boston: houghton mifflin company nnamdi, ihuegbu. ‘colonialism and independence: nigeria as a case study’. online article with google search. oxford english dictionary online. oxford university press, 2010. pratten, d. (2007). the manleopard murders: history and society in colonial nigeria. london: edinburgh university press for international african institute. the humanities and good governance, (nnamdi azikiwe university, faculty of arts international conference, 2012, page 165-173) odinye & odinye 173 schoenhals, m. (ed) (1996). china’s cultural revolution 1966-1969: not a dinner party. armonk. ny simon, c. s.(1998). british imperialism 1750–1970.london: cambridge university press. stuchtey, b. (2011). ‘colonialism and imperialism, 1450-1950’. european history online, mainz: .institute of european history. tan, c. c. (1972). chinese political thought in the 20th century. newton abbot the columbia encyclopedia (2004). china’s cultural revolution. (6th edition) columbus university press. the opium war and foreign encroachment (2009). asia for educators, columbia university, 2009. http.//afe.easia.columbia.edu chapter 7: employing textile fabric waste in making innovative functional modern home accessories contributed by onyinye j. mobi and pius ntagu introduction cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers often referred to as thread or yarn. yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other materials. textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knitting, or pressing fibres together. (balter, 2019). the words fabric and cloth are used in the textile assembly trade (such as tailoring and dressmaking) as synonyms for textile. however, there are subtle differences in these terms in specialized usage. textile refers to any material made by interlacing fibre, (abamowilz, 1998). fabric refers to any material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting, or bonding that may be used in the production of further goods (garments among others). cloth may be used synonymously with fabric but it is often used for a specific purpose (for example table cloth). clothing as a textile product is one of the basic needs of man. this is an indispensable element in human society and has been used as a means of expressing identity, wealth, and power as well as a commodity traded globally over centuries. the versatility of textiles and their importance in the daily lives of people are very numerous to be ignored. in the quest for garment makers to meet employing textile fabric waste materials in making innovative … 109 the high demands for clothing, and to cover the nakedness of humanity, several tons of waste are generated which usually are not properly managed, but are indiscriminately disposed of to cause environmental problems (chua, 2013). the situation is therefore, very disturbing particularly in this era when efforts are been made to save the environment by engaging in reducing, reusing, and recycling waste to curtail climate change and global warming. (udeani, 2002). however, it has been observed that the expansion of clothing fashion trends and the construction of fabric into fashionable clothes by garment makers generate several quantities of off-cuts. these remnants or scraps are piled up to occupy space at the workshops with the hope of finding future usage for them. eventually, these pieces of off-cuts are considered waste when no valuable application is readily found. the danger here is the means of disposal, which is either by burning, burying in the ground, or dumping at the landfills. in whichever way it is dowaste management could be described as inappropriate, because of the negative impact on the environment as well as human existence. in some cases, it is common practice to find the offcuts of textile fabrics thrown into gutters by garment makers, especially on a rainy day. this results in the the blocking of drainage systems causing serious flood, occasionally in most communities, (asogwa, 2014). this situation of indiscriminate disposal of fabric waste in the community as a result of poor waste management practices and the danger they pose to human lives and the environment, present a favourable ground for the research to invest in how the textile fabric waste can be managed by converting them into accessories for the modern home. the dynamic occurrence of life does not leave the visual artist uninfluenced. they are increasingly drawn to using waste materials to create unique and beautiful items. this creative pursuit is driven by the ever-changing nature of life, which challenges visual artists to find new, innovative ways to bring beauty into the onyinye mobi and pius ntagu 110 environment. by recycling materials, visual artists can bring new life to items that would otherwise be discarded and create works of art that provide an interesting and unique conversation piece in any living space. modern realities have so far emerged, prompting new media, techniques, modern creativity, and innovational approaches to art production; thus, motivating the possibility of using textile fabric wastes for home accessories. this innovation serves as a creative contribution towards addressing the textile fabric waste menace within the environment. the creative indulgence of the researcher in this regard is to recycle the textile fabric waste from where they were discarded, piled up, up, and skillfully employ innovative procedures in turning them into useful aesthetic or functional artwork for modern home accessories. femi (2016), asserts that the redemptive and resurgent power of art is a valuerecovery measure, that, abandoned things can metamorphose into entirely new products in the hands of a creative and resourceful artist. the process of value-recovery does not just distinguish the artists but uses the process to raise awareness and unsprung signals to other fields of endeavour to key into this environmental conservation practice. therefore, this study is focused on curbing the menace of poor textile fabric waste disposal by ensuring a safe and suitable environment by using the textile fabric waste obtained from the garment makers' shops to create innovative artworks. purpose of the study this study aims to use textile fabric wastes to create wealth through the production of innovative functional artworks for modern home accessories. literature review textile has been defined as "all materials that can be or have been formed into yarn or fabricated into cloth" (udeani, 2002). textile waste refers to any discarded material or product generated through employing textile fabric waste materials in making innovative … 111 the textile industry, including clothing, fabrics, yarns, fibers, and other textile materials. it primarily encompasses unwanted or unused textiles that are disposed of rather than being reused, recycled, or repurposed. textile waste is a significant global challenge due to its sheer volume and environmental impact. the fast fashion phenomenon, which promotes inexpensive and quickly produced clothing, has contributed to a rapid increase in textile waste generation. according to the ellen macarthur foundation (2017), approximately 92 million tons of textiles are discarded annually, with only a fraction being reused or recycled. this report by the ellen macarthur foundation provides valuable insights into the issue of textile waste and offers recommendations for transitioning towards a more sustainable textile economy. it emphasizes the need to reduce waste at all stages of the textile value chain, foster recycling and reusing initiatives, and promote circular economy principles within the industry. overall, textile waste is a pressing environmental concern that requires collective efforts from manufacturers, consumers, and policymakers to address the issue and promote more sustainable practices within the textile industry theoretical framework according to maslow (1943), clothing fulfils several different roles in satisfying the needs in this hierarchy of needs. physiologically, clothing is essential for protection from the elements, providing warmth and shelter, and as such fulfils a safety need. in terms of love and belonging, clothing can play a role in helping the individual feel more accepted, and in terms of esteem, clothing can influence the opinion others have of the individual and as such can help to boost the individual's self-esteem. clothing can also help to promote a person's self-actualization, by allowing the individual to express their creativity and individual style. onyinye mobi and pius ntagu 112 according to maslow’s theory, humans have to meet the needs at each level of the hierarchy before they can move on to the next. for example, a person cannot reach self-actualization until their basic physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, and esteem needs are met. finally, clothing plays an important role in helping people achieve their needs, considering maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs in the process of creating innovative functional art, from textile fabric waste materials, we can not only address people's basic needs but also contribute to their higher psychological aspirations and overall well-being as outlined in maslow's hierarchy of need. production stage: preliminary drawing for izu umu nne. fig 1: sketch for izu umu nne. researchers’ preliminary sketch plate 1. cut out 5x5 inches and fold the fabric into two to form a triangle. source: onyinye mobi, 2023 employing textile fabric waste materials in making innovative … 113 plate 2. fold it again like so. source: onyinye mobi, 2023 plate 3. fold it again like so. source: onyinye mobi, 2023 onyinye mobi and pius ntagu 114 plate 4. the folded fabrics. source: onyinye mobi, 2023 plate 5. cutting out the background fabric 30 inches by 30inches employing textile fabric waste materials in making innovative … 115 plate 6: sewing the waste fabric pieces together. photo researcher plate 7. photo of work as it progresses. photo credit: researcher onyinye mobi and pius ntagu 116 plate 8. the researcher sewing the folded fabrics to the background fabric. photo credit: researcher plate 9: the final work. photo credit by the researcher employing textile fabric waste materials in making innovative … 117 discussion of results this study "textile waste materials, the creation of innovative functional artworks for modern home accessories" contributes significantly to our understanding of sustainable practices and artistic representations of waste. this research sheds light on the possibilities of transforming discarded fabrics into unique, aesthetically pleasing, and functional objects, thereby reducing the environmental impact of textile waste. the work emphasizes the originality of the research by exploring the potential of textile fabric waste materials in creating functional artworks for modern home accessories. the study's findings have provided valuable insights into this area and have several implications for both researchers and practitioners. one of the unexpected findings of this research is that textile fabric waste materials can be transformed into unique and aesthetically pleasing artworks that can be used as functional home accessories. this unexpected discovery highlights the untapped potential of textile waste materials and opens up new possibilities for their reuse and repurposing. the implications of these findings are significant. firstly, they contribute to our understanding of sustainable design practices by showcasing innovative ways to repurpose textile waste materials. this has important environmental implications as it helps reduce textile waste and promotes a more circular economy. secondly, the study's findings have practical implications for designers and artists working in the field of home accessories. by demonstrating the artistic and functional potential of textile waste materials, this research encourages textile artists to explore new materials and techniques in their creative practice. finally, the conceptual framework of this study provides a theoretical foundation for understanding the relationship between textile waste materials, art, and design. it offers a framework for future research in this area and can guide further exploration into onyinye mobi and pius ntagu 118 the potential applications of textile waste materials in various design disciplines. conclusion based on the discussions and findings of the study, the researcher concludes that there is potential for repurposing textile fabric waste into functional art pieces for home accessories. this is geared towards utilizing fabric textile waste materials to create innovative functional artworks for modern home accessories which hold immense potential. by repurposing textile fabric waste, we can address the issue of textile waste while simultaneously adding value through creative designs. throughout the project, various techniques such as upcycling, patchwork, weaving, and fabric manipulation were employed to transform waste materials into unique and aesthetically pleasing home accessories. these functional art pieces not only serve a practical purpose but also add an artistic touch to interior spaces, contributing to sustainable and stylish homes. by incorporating textile fabric waste into home accessories, we can reduce the environmental impact of garment makers and promote a circular economy. additionally, this approach encourages consumers to reconsider their relationship with textiles and adopt more conscious consumption habits. furthermore, the project opens up opportunities for collaborations with local artists, designers, and even textile recycling initiatives. sharing knowledge and skills can foster innovation and create a supportive community on sustainable practices in the world of design. finally, the study fosters creativity, sustainability, and responsible consumption. it demonstrates the potential for transforming waste into valuable resources, encouraging us to rethink our approach to materials and design in the context of the circular economy. employing textile fabric waste materials in making innovative … 119 questions the following research questions guided the study; 1. how can the textile fabrics waste be identified and possibilities of exploring using them as artwork? 2. what are the ways to recycle and reuse textile fabric remnant from cut pattern into marketable products? 3. what techniques can be used to create utility art forms using textile fabric waste. 4. how can the innovative functional art work be displayed for public consumption? references asogwa, o. s. (2006). masking tradition in nsukka, an unpublished mfa project report, department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka. balter, m. (2009): "clothes make the (hu) man". science 325 (5946): 1329. doi:10.1126/science.325_1329a. pmid 19745126 ellen macarthur foundation. (2017). a new textiles economy: redesigning fashion's future. retrieved from https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloa ds/redesigning-fashions-future_fullreport_updated_19-01-17.pdf maslow, h. (1943). theory of hierarchy of needs. www.google.com udeani, n. a. (2014). synergy of uli symbols and textiles: an exploration in textile sculptural forms. mgbakoigba journal of african studies. vol. 3. pg. 80-87 udeani n (2017) textile waste recycling: an innovative creativity for entrepreneurial sustainability in nigeria. trop built environ 1: 88–99. section i: issues in the igbo language the place of igbo oral literature in rekindling igbo values: a semantic approach chinweude n. ugochukwu abstract the world today has drastically changed; human values are no longer cared for.the erosion of values is causing havoc in our society. today, both developed and developing nations face erosion of humanistic, ethical and moral values. the igbo nation is not left out. a lot of igbo cherished values are fast disappearing. the igbo culture is sated with traditional beliefs which are rooted in native folklore, proverbs and popular legends. through this oral literature, the igbo had preserved their rich values until the colonial era. oral literature encapsulates traditional knowledge, beliefs and values about the environment and the nature of society itself. it contains the history of society and its experiences and society's knowledge to be passed on to succeeding generations. using semantic approach, the two igbo aetiological tales collected as data were interpreted. the analysis revealed that igbo oral literature can be very effective in rekindling the igbo values in igbo children. the paper advocates the inclusion of igbo oral literature in the school curriculum from nursery to post-primary level. key words: oral literature, rekindling, values, aetiological tales introduction human values are the foundation for any viable life within society. no peaceful society is possible without values. the problem generated by the neglect of human values and personal integrity surface under many guises. sociologists, such as richard sennet, speak of the reification that happens to people in an economy which destroys everything that gives meaning to human life and ruins those qualities of character which bind human beings to one another and furnish each with a sense of sustainable self. shared values are vital for the proper functioning of the economic, political and social network and also for the well-being and development of the potential of every citizen. in recent times, we are losing our moral and human values. prathapan (2009) as captured in ezenwa (2017) opines, "now of course we have machines, if one gadget stops working, you can always buy another, thus hard work, patience, discipline, persistence etc, are forgotten values”.children are growing up without values. most developed and developing nations face erosion of humanistic, ethical and moral values. igbo society is not left out in the present extinction of values. human values are passed by parent to their off-springs throughout children’s upbringing. as they grow, children learn more values from their peers, religious leaders, teachers, friends and society at large. with the advent of western education, many of the cherished igbo values are fast disappearing. the values for which the igbo are known are no longer in vogue. igbo children tend to embrace western values in place of igbo values hence the need for rekindling of igbo values. this paper argues for the need to rekindle igbo values through the use of igbo oral literature. literature review values and human existence values are sets of beliefs and ideas which help a person to determine what is right from what is wrong, and help to build character and personality. they are internal precepts by which we make our decisions. when we are faced with choices, options or moral dilemmas, the decision we make will indicate what values we hold.human values are the foundation for any viable life within society; they build a space for a drive, a movement towards one another which leads to peace. human values are closely integrated with human life. they are intertwined with day to day chores.generally, human values are highly encouraged in society, while negative attributes are discouraged and condemned language extinction and erosion of human values language is the carrier of the cultural heritage of societies. it does not require intellectual analysis to realise that indigenous languages stock peoples' cultural heritage. indigenous languages contain complexunderstanding of a person's culture and their connection with their land. the death of a language constitutes the annihilation of norms, attributes, values and beliefs of the owners of the language. (woodbury 2012).as woodbury further emphasizes, much of the cultural, spiritual and intellectual life of a people isexperiencedthrough language. this ranges from prayers, myths, ceremonies, poetry, oratory and technical vocabulary to everyday greetings, leave-takings, conversational styles, humour, ways of speaking to children and terms of habits, behaviours and emotions. when a language is lost, all of these must be fashioned in the new language with different words, sounds, and grammarif it is to be kept at all. frequently, traditions are abruptly lost in the process and replaced by the cultural habits of the more powerful group. from the foregoing, it is clear that values are embedded in culture and language is the only vehicle through which culture can be transmitted from one generation to another. hence, when a language goes into extinction, the culture and values are also lost with the language. to recover the almost eroded human values in a country like nigeria, the historic warning given by phelps-stroke commission comes to play. the commission warned as early as 1920-21 as quoted in omolewa (1975) that the native tongue is immensely more vital in that it is one of thechief means of preserving whatever is good in nature, customs, ideas and ideals..... all people have an inherent right to their own language. it is the means of giving expression to their own personality...... no greater injustice can be committed against a people than to deprive them of their own language. the cultural background of a people is so intertwined with language that one cannot fully understand and appreciate one without the knowledge of the other (omego 2005,p.202). language extinction is the process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language variety is decreased, eventually resulting in no native or fluent speakers of the variety.the most common process leading to language extinction is one in which a community of speakers of one language becomes bilingual with another language and gradually shifts allegiance to the second language until they cease to use their original heritage language. this happens when speakers of a particular language abandon the language based on economic or utilitarian grounds in favour of languages regarded as having greater utility or prestige.with the extinction of a language, the cultural heritage embedded in the language is lost with the language. education in traditional igbo society prior to the introduction of formal education, igbo people had their own way of educating their children. using informal method of education, different values are inculcated from generation to generation.in igbo traditional society, all hands are on deck in the training of a child.onuora, obiakor, obayi and chinagorom (2019, p. 47) observe: the igbo traditional education has the family household or compound as its setting, habitat or teaching-learning environment, whereas the grown-up people, parents and elders within the community are automatically the instructors of the children who are also the pupils or students. part of traditional igbo training viewed as the most important is the issue of moral education/character training.this is because lack of good morals paints a very bad picture of an igbo child. onuorah et al (1999). expatiating further add that: …..moral education in igbo traditional education stipulates standard behaviour expected of all and sundry, be it man or woman, young and old. it focuses on what is right and wrong and do’s and don’ts to ones fellow man and the society. virtually, all the moral codes are passed on to the child through folktales mostly to drive home the ideal way of living. these teachings mostly come from the mother who is always in the house while the father is away searching for daily bread. child training is also seen as a very important aspect of igbo traditional education and a collective responsibility.a child is seen as belonging to society and not just to a particular family. effects of western education on igbo values igbo people from the pre-colonial era have their culture which is evidenced in their way of life but with the advent of western education, a lot of the core igbo values are seriously endangered. western education no doubt brought a lot of developments in igbo land but on the contrary, it has led to the relegation of cherished igbo values. kwazu (1999) as represented in ezenwa (2017) points out that the post-nigerian biafra war period opened a new page in igbo traditional society. the stronghold, the unity, the communal identity and spirit that was earlier practiced was lost and gave way to individualism. igbo people now embrace foreign cultures in their day to day activities. they prefer everything different to their lifestyle. this trend of decline in igbo values does not only pose serious threat to the development of the igbo nation but even for its survival, respect and authority itself. igbo values and cultural heritage is being quickly destroyed rather than preserved and nurtured.the nature of the igbo culture is evidenced in their way of life depicted in marriages and family relationships, legal systems, religious, economic and political structure. igbo people have values that are worthy of preservation in the face of western cultural onslaught. features and purpose of oral literature oral literature is a broad term which may include ritual texts, curative chants, epic poems, musical genres, folk tales, aetiologicaltales, songs, myths, spells, legends, proverbs, riddles, tongue-twisters, word games, recitations, life histories or historical narratives (world oral literature project, 2011). oral literature defines, interprets and elaborates society's vision of reality and the dangers in the world. it is the repository of the critical knowledge, philosophy and wisdom for non-literate societies.it encapsulates traditional knowledge beliefs and values about the environment and the nature of society itself.it arises in response to the universal aesthetic impulse to provide narrative that explains the nature of life and describes human responses to challenges. this literature portrays how one is to live a moral life and explains the nature of one's relationships to divinity (fellowship for the documentation of oral literature and traditional ecological knowledge, 2016). the fellowship further outlines the functions of oral literature as follows:  it provides a portrait of the meaning of life as experienced by society at its particular time and place with its unique existential challenges. it thus retains society's knowledge to be passed on to succeeding generations.  it contains the history of society and its experiences.  it provides a guide to human behaviour and how to live one's life.  oral literature is a response to the universal human instinct to find balance, harmony and beauty in the world and the need to understand pain, suffering and evil.  it explains the causes of human suffering justifies them, and suggests ways of mediation and healing of suffering.  it recounts the works of gods, explains how the world and human existence came about and reveals the nature of human frailty.  it serves to communicate ideas, emotions, beliefs and appreciation of life.  it deals with human adventures and achievements against odds.  it is a form of entertainment and fosters feelings of solidarity with others who have had similar experiences.  oral literature makes us aware of ourselves, other human beings our environment and our history. it also recounts events and happening in our lives and in the history of our societies. hence these performances stimulate our observations and imagination.  it also functions to fulfil the need for religious belief and spiritual fulfilment necessary for human existence. with the arrival of literacy, the core of this literature and its art rapidly disappears. data presentation and analysis the igbo oral literature form used in this study are two aetiological tales namely: “the origin of day and night” and “why women do not grow beards”. aetiological tale 1: origin of day and night in the beginning of the world, before there was either day or night, a certain man had many wives. one of his wives was barren and the other wives tormented her. "you are an evil woman," they would say, "that is why you are cursed with barrenness." one day this unfortunate woman heard of a "dibia" who could make a woman fertile by rubbing his naked palm on her belly. off she went to seek him out. she had to trek to a distant land beyond seven hills. when she arrived at the dibia’s shrine, she told her woes to him. the dibia was sympathetic but told her she had to wait a little while because there was no child of good breed in stock. "all i have now are devilish babies and i do not want to bring you a curse. you should wait for a good baby." the woman was so anxious to have a baby that she insisted she have whatever was available. "give me a child. good or bad, as long as it has the shape of a human being. i am tired of being insulted by my husbands' wives," she said. "i shall give you what i have but i fear for you, woman," said the dibia wondering at her impatience. it reminds me, he thought, of the proverbial little animal who although he had been trapped in a cesspool for many years first complained of the stench when he saw some people coming to help him out. again, the dibia said, "woman it is a terrible gift you ask for." but the woman begged him, "please give me a child… please." the dibia rubbed his palm on her belly. at once it began to swell. almost mad with joy, the woman hurried home. when the other wives saw her belly, they were filled with awe. but, they were suspicious too. soon after, she gave birth to a male child who grew rapidly in height and mischief. he insulted his seniors and bullied his juniors. but because he was the only child of his mother, his parents neither reprimanded nor punished him.the boy began to use his freedom most shockingly. with the aid of a charm given to him by a magician, he killed all the domestic animals in the kingdom. then, he killed all the people. lastly, he killed his parents as well. only an old woman escaped death from his hands. she had her own powerful charms with which she defended herself and tried to kill the boy. whenever the old woman waved her charm in the air, there was darkness. whenever the boy waved his charm, there was blazing light. as the battle continued it became apparent that their charms worked for twelve hours at a time. soon both of them fell and died. since then darkness and light have continued to appear alternately, each for twelve hours. and because there is nobody who knows the secret of their charms, day and night have continued to appear on earth (oguine, p.n. (1986). aetiologicaltale 2: why women do not grow beards there was a time when women grew beards more than men. in truth their beards were thicker, more beautiful, and often much longer than the beards men grew. at that time there was a man named enyioma whose four beautiful daughters were greatly admired on account of their gorgeous beards. one of these daughters was so very proud of her beard that she looked down on all men including her own husband! in the town of enyimba, there was a very famous and wealthy king also called enyimba. he had a gold ring which he greatly treasured and closely guarded. enyimba had many children. one day, one of his daughters collected all the plates in the palace and took them to a nearby stream to wash. without knowing it, she also took the plate on which the ring was kept. so, it happened that as she was washing the plates, the king's ring fell into the stream and was carried away by the water. at the same time a little boy was fishing at the lower part of the stream. after he caught many fishes he went home. he sold some of the fish and roasted the others in the fire. when he cut-up the first fish he was going to eat, he found a gold ring in its bowel. he was a very happy little boy. he took the ring and sold it to nkemdiche, a woman of the village. this woman knew that the ring belonged to the king but she vowed to herself not to say a word about it. instead she hid it in her thick beard. the king soon discovered that his gold ring was missing. he instructed everyone in the palace to look for it but no one could find it. the daughter who washed the plates was as ignorant as the others. she still did not know that the ring was in one of the plates she washed in the stream. the king was distraught. he let his subjects know of the missing gold ring. the little fisher boy heard the news and ran to the king. he told him how he found the gold ring in the bowel of the fish and sold it to nkemdiche. the king sent his slaves to every corner of the town to find and arrest nkemdiche.the slaves searched for days for the woman called nkemdiche. but nobody seemed to be nkemdiche or knew anything about her. the king summoned his counsellors to an emergency meeting. one suggested that the king should pretend that he would marry the woman who had his ring. the king agreed and let it be known all over the kingdom that he would marry the woman who had his gold ring. a few hours after the announcement was made nkemdiche hurried into the kings' palace. with a smile on her face and walking like a queen, she told him that she was the one who had the gold ring. on the king's demand, she brought the ring out from her beard. all the men who saw what happened were shocked and said, "women's beards are pregnant with danger and destruction." the king was horrified and immediately ordered that nkemdiche be executed. but after considering the matter more calmly, he decided to spare her life and instead remove her beard. he also decided to remove the beards of his own wives and of every woman in the kingdom. within no time at all, all the women were brought forward and their beards were scraped off. and to make completely certain those women’s beards would never grow again, the king's slaves collected tortoise's excrement, dissolved it in water and rubbed it hard on the jaw of the women. "the corruption of one woman proved the bane of all others," the king growled on his throne.since that day women have not been growing beards (oguine, p.n. (1986). semantic interpretation and analysis of the aetiological tales the first aetiological story is full of vital igbo values which are lacking in the lives of present day igbo children. 1. the value of love and understanding: the attitude of the co-wives of the barren wife of the king is very bad and that helped to make the barren woman over anxious and desperate to have anything as long as it is a human being in the name of a child. today, many people do unthinkable things; some take dangerous risks because of the mental torture they have been going through at the hands of their privileged counterparts. the barren woman may have waited for the good baby if not for the lack of understanding demonstrated by her co-wives. the value of love, understanding is being highlighted in the attitude of the other wives of the king, 2. the value of patience and endurance: the barren woman was in a hurry to have her own child and therefore could not wait for a good child as the dibia advised her. she failed to weigh the pros and cons of her action. her immediate situation so overwhelmed her to the level that she was ready to accept any offer. she became so impatient that the dibia granted her request. her impatience led to a temporary satisfaction and then a lifelongagonywhich eventually resulted to her death. the danger and evil effects of impatience in life are apparent here. 3. the value of discipline in child training: the story has it that the woman and the king would not correct their son for the fact that he is an only son and as a result the boy became very mischievous and recalcitrant which eventually led to the death of both parents and others. this shows that when parents neglect disciplining their children, the children will turn around to become a thorn in their flesh and this will not only affect the immediate family,rather society is also negatively affected. 4. the value of sense of sacredness of life: the only son became notoriously mischievous and could not be controlled by his parents. soon, he lost the true sense of life and human existence. he got so intoxicated with freedom and power that he annihilated his people. not yet satisfied, he went into a power tussle with the only surviving old woman because he has no value for human life. he died a miserable death because he would not let others enjoy their being. igbo children need to know that life is sacred and not to be toyed with. reckless killings, kidnapping, drug addiction and other vices should be seen as destroying the essence of life. 5. the value of sense of chain reaction of every action in life: life is made in a way that what one does affects others positively or negatively. the negative actions of the cowives of the barren woman pushed her to impatiently accept a bad breed child. the stubborn and mischievous child later caused the death of his parents and all his people. the power tussle between the only son and the surviving old women eventually led to the death of both of them without any remedy to the problem caused by the magical charms they contracted for power which became the reason for the continued occurrence of night and day that human beings still experience on a daily basis. this teaches the value of avoiding negative values. the second creation tale “why women do not grow beards” is also an interesting story of the igbo oral literature used to explain why only men grow beards. the story will be critically interpreted to highlight the embedded values. 1. the value of humility: the story records that women grew beautiful, thick and long beards than men before which made them very proud and arrogant. this negates the value of humility which is a cherished and priceless virtue to the igbo people. the daughters of enyioma exhibited pride and arrogance as a result of their beautiful beards. in the story we see one of the daughters of enyioma disrespecting her husband on account of her beautiful beards. also nkemdiche demonstrated a high level of high mindedness in her attitude towards life. she never cared about the announcement made by the king’s servants about the missing gold ring. she only became interested when the king attached marriage to the recovery of the ring. her attitude shows that she was full of herself. the value expressed here is that of humility and respect for others. 2. the value of dignity of labour: in the story we see the poor little boy that embarked on fishing rewarded accordingly with great catch of fishes and miraculously with a gold ring which gave him extra money. this shows that there is dignity in labour and god rewards hard work. this can be used to instil the value of dignity of labour and hard work in the igbo child. 3. the value of honesty: it is always good to be honest. it was the boy’s confession that led to the discovery of the king’s gold ring; though he was not rewarded openly or immediately. on the contrary, nkemdiche, who bought the ring knows that the ring belongs to the king but she decided to hide the ring. she never bothered to say the truth until the king made a deceitful promise to marry whoever is with the ring. the lesson here teaches the value of honesty. 4. the value of sense of chain reaction of every action in life: it is of great value to think of the positive and negative effects of all actions before taking the action. it was nkemdiche’s action of arrogantly going to the palace with the expectationof becoming the queen that brought about the humbling and degrading of the women prestige of growing beards. if she had gone to the king on her own and humbly handed over the gold ring, we believe that she would have been handsomely rewarded and probably allowed to retain her beards without negatively affecting the women fold. conclusion igbo oral literature portrays belief systems that makes sense of life.it provides guides to human behaviour and how to live one’s life.in this age of fast erosion of human values, there is an urgent need to rekindle igbo values through emphasizing the use of igbo oral literature both in schools and igbo homes. from the interpretation of the aetiological tales above, the following values are contained in the two stories:love and understanding, patience and endurance, discipline, sense of sacredness of life, sense of chain reaction of every action in life, humility, dignity of labour and honesty. it is obvious that these values are lacking in the lives ofpresent-day igbo children due to the sweeping effects of the western culture. the inclusion of igbo oral literature in the curriculum of schools in igbo states should go a long way in rekindling igbo values in igbo children. this is of great importance because these values are better instilled at a tender age. it is evident that aetiological tales which are part of the igbo oral literature contain values that would impact the igbo children positively. it is therefore recommended that the teaching of oral literature be included in the curriculum used in teaching in all igbo states from nursery to postprimary levels of education. igbo parents and elders are also called upon to go back to the use of igbo oral literature in order to rekindle the igbo consciousness and values in the igbo children. the igbo states’ governments should also aid the collection and preservation of the rich igbo oral literature for local and global accessibility and usage. references ezenwa, p.c. (2017). the value of human dignity: a sociological approach to value crisis among igbo people of nigeria.https://www.researchgate.net> 3167... (retrieved 30/12/21). fellowship for the documentation of oral literature and traditional ecological knowledge (2016). https://www.firebirdfellowships.org> nwala, t.u. (1966). igbo philosophy. ikeja: lantern books. oguine, p.n. (1986). how death came into the world. folk-tales from igbo land. ibadan: evans brothers. oguine, p.n. (1986). why women do not grow beards. folk-tales from igbo land.ibadan: evans brothers. omego, c. (2005). the need for the study and development of indigenous languages innigeria.in o. ndimele(ed) globalization & the study of the languages inafrica. omolewa, m. (1975). the english language in colonial nigeria: 1862-1960: a study of the major factors which promoted the language. jnesa, 7 (1&2), 103-116. onuora, n.t., obiakor, e.e., obayi, j.i., &chinagorom, l.c. (1999). igbo traditional education: a panacea to the nation’s unemployment debacle. international network organization for scientific research in arts and management 5(1): 42 – 55.http://www.inosr.net/inosr-art and management. sennett, r.(1999). the corrosion of character. london: w.w. norton & company. world oral literature project, (2016) https://wwworalliterature.org>about (retrieved on 30/12/2021). woodbury, a. c. (2012). language documentation. the cambridge handbook of endangered languages:159-86. other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting 188 chapter twelve other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting chinonyelum okonkwo introduction different tools and equipment are used for drawing and painting. these tools and equipment are required to make painting and drawing easy. an art tool is an object, device or equipment used to transform the art material or medium into creating a finished work of art. art tools and materials are essential because they help in the interpretation of emotions and feelings while making art. a variety of tools, equipment and materials are used in painting. these tools require some special care and maintenance for effective usage, and to gain a long-lasting result. painting materials are substances used by the painter to create a work of art or painting. another name for painting material is painting medium or media. artwork can be made with a singular material or with varieties of art materials, depending on the artist's choice and what the artist tend to achieve. according to zhiqiang chen, "painting is the expression of emotional spirit and style". owen (1997) asserts that painting is the expression of ideas and emotion, with the chinonyelum okonkwo 189 creation of certain aesthetic qualities in a two-dimensional visual language. painting is a tool for preserving, promoting and showcasing a people's culture. it serves as a means of social communication and commentaries. painters are commissioned to execute a painting for moral values, social functions and entertainment purposes. getlein (2002: 162) opines that "paintings usually are full of colour which is a potent visual stimulus. painting is an exercise done for its own sake which can be its theme or other purposes than to give visual pleasure. painting like every other human activity has its root in the basic needs of man’s nature and it provides one of how these needs derive satisfaction. hence, carpenter and graham (1971: 87) agree that "painting deals with human actions". when the elements of painting are merged, they form expressive decorative motif that represents real or supernatural phenomena interpret a narrative theme or create an entirely visual relationship with society. each painting has its style and material used in executing it. the material used in painting includes; graphite pencil, ink, charcoal, paper, pastel, watercolour, oil colour, acrylic colour. painting materials form the part of painting at the end of the work while the painting tool remains as is. it does not form part of the painting at the end. some painting tools include; other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting 190 drawing board, pen, brushes, pallet knife, easel, sketch pad, paper, hammer, canvas, board, nail, staple gun tacker, stretcher, pallet, scrapper. drawing and tools for painting pencil – pencils are the slender rod of a solid marking substance, made from a graphite or plastic lead stick, surrounded by wood easing. there are varieties of pencil lead. they include hard, medium and soft pencils. plate 1: a set of pencils in a pouch. source: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/productrecommendations/best-graphite-pencils-1202693099/ types of pencils soft pencils – are graded with the letter b and numbered from b to 6b. the larger the number before the b, the softer the pencil material. soft leads are used for sketching and shading. chinonyelum okonkwo 191 hard pencils are graded with the letter h and numbered from h to 6h. the larger the number before the h the harder the pencil material. the hardest leads are used to create sharp, lines. pencils are used in writing, drawing or marking on surfaces. coloured pencil – coloured pencils are used to draw fine colourful lines or to shade areas in colour. the artist blends two or more colours to create beautiful artwork. charcoal – this is the oldest drawing tool. it is obtained from burnt wood and it has dry and dusty nature. charcoal can come in different two forms, for example, in pencil form or its natural form. a variety of its values and hardness produces different kinds of effects when drawing or painting conte crayon\pastel – conte is a highly compressed form of chalk. it comes in different densities, ranging from hard to soft ones. its colour is derived from earth tones. for instance, white, black, brown and grey colours. pastels are obtained from compressed chalks. there are two forms of pastel chalk .they are oil pastel and chalk pastel. oil pastels are obtained from chalks that are compressed with oil. chalk pastel is pastels that do not contain oil. other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting 192 plate 2: chalk pastel of different colours. source: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/productrecommendations/best-chalk-pastels-1234575136/ easel – this is a wooden frame used for holding an artist's work in a vertical position while it is being painted. all easels serve the function of keeping the canvas secure and upright plate 3: an easel. source: chinonyelum okonkwo 193 scrapper – the scrapper is a tool used for removing dirt, paint or other unwanted matter from a palette. a palette knife is a thin steel blade with a handle, used for mixing colours or applying or removing paint. it is used to mix oil and acrylic paint and to apply paint to a canvas, board or any other surface. palette – a palette is a thin board or slab on which an artist lays and mixes colours. cutter – it is a sharp and small knife used in sharpening the pencil for drawing or sketching the object to be painted. hammer – this is a tool with a heavy metal head mounted at right angles at the end of the handle. it is used for driving the wall into the wood when constructing the stretcher for painting. nail – a nail is a small metal spike with a broadened flat head, driven into the wood to join it together when constructing the stretcher for painting. staple gun tacker – or staple gum is a hand-held machine used to drive staples into the wood of a stretcher to hold the canvas or board to the stretcher before painting. other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting 194 plate 4: a staple gun tacker. source: https//amazon.com saw – this is a hand tool used for cutting the wood to the required length when making the stretcher. a brush is one of the most important tools in painting. brushes come in a wide variety of materials, shapes and sizes. they are made of a fibrous tip, a connector called a ferrile and also made of wooden or plastic handles. a brush has a very fast-drying nature which can make it difficult to mix colour well at a slow paste. more, it requires several coats to achieve the desired colour. the fibres of a paintbrush may be made of hair, bristle or synthetic material. a brush is judged by how well it can retain paint and hold colour. chinonyelum okonkwo 195 paper paper is an important material for artists. different types of paper create different effects. understanding how paper is made and its different properties allow artists to choose an appropriate paper type and to create new designs using a variety of media. the sizing of paper using substances such as starch or gelatin adds body to paper and makes it water repellant. artists choose the most suitable paper to use for their paintings. board it is a multi-use tool that allows the artist to hold paint in handy. it is also a platform for mixing paint. its shape makes it easy and comfortable to hold for long periods moving the paint close. board is a panel made from hardwood such as oak, cedar, birch, walnut, and mahogany. boards can be used for painting in place of canvas. boards for painting should be primed undoubtedly to avoid the colour from leaching. the priming of board follows the same procedure as the canvas. drawing board any flat, square-edged surface can be used as a drawing board. the best boards are made of white pine with carefully squared corners and edges. boards come in other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting 196 various sizes. a 50cm x 65cm board is an acceptable dimension. canvas is a strong, coarse unbleached cloth made from hemp, flex, used as a surface for painting preparation of canvas for painting. materials for painting materials come in a huge range of colours, textures, strengths, flexibility, level, costs and availability level. some material requires the use of specific tools and equipment to work with them. there are two types of materials for painting. they are dry and wet materials. dry material: this includes pencils, pencil crayons, charcoal, conte crayon, pastels etc. wet material: this includes ink. ink is a fluid used for drawing, painting, writing etc. inks are found in a variety of colours. all inks can be used at full strength or diluted for wash drawings. a variety of tools are used to apply ink. examples are nibs, pens, brushes, feathers, rollers and sticks and twigs. paints or colours: there are different types of paints or colours and each has its specific property. the artist makes his or her choice of a particular type of paint based on the colours and effects it produces, its drying time, and the painting surface to which it will be applied. chinonyelum okonkwo 197 oil colour or paint: oil colours are colours that are mixed with oil in the course of production. features of oil colour • it produces rich colours at the end of the work. • it can be used to create lighter and softer colours when mixed with linseed oil. • it can be used to colour creational variations. • it is available in tubes. • it is easy to blend and easy to cover errors. • it takes a long time to dry. • it requires the use of chemical solvents for cleaning the stains and drips of paint. paint brushes are used for the application of oil paints. acrylic colours: acrylic colour is a water-based colour. features of acrylic colour • it can produce a very rich colour like oil colour when it is not diluted with water. • it creates a soft effect like water colours when it is turned with water. • it is available in tubes, bottles, large containers or cans. other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting 198 • it dries quickly and permanently into a waterresistant, flexible and plastic-like finish. • it can be used to create transparent or opaque colours, by varying the amount of water added to it. water colours: they are water-based colours with a transparent medium. • it is quick in drying. • it can be opaque or transparent, depending on how much water is added to it. • it allows the colour and texture of the painting surface to show through the colour. • it can be used freely to create soft designs and colour tones. • it can create opaque, transparent, and translucent colours. • the dried paints can be reused by adding water to them. • brushes are used for the application. tempera or poster colours it is a water-based colour, and it can be bright, opaque or softer, depending on the amount of water that is added to it. • it is available in powder or premixed liquid paints. chinonyelum okonkwo 199 • it can produce very bright vibrant colours and effects. in conclusion, the artist does not create paintings just for his consumption, but for society to appreciate, critic and patronise them. he strives to satisfy the aesthetic thirsts of his spectators, according to chuta (1997: 23) the aesthetic urge of his client which if achieved, will result in giving him his satisfaction. that is why every artist strives to make use of good art materials and tools for a very good result. preparation of canvas for painting the preparation of canvas for painting can come in two processes; construction of the stretcher and stretching of canvas; construction of stretcher, the stretcher is produced using pine wood. good pine wood is resilient and prevents intrusion and destruction by insects and termites. the dimension of the wood for a stretcher is about 2 inches in thickness. this is to avoid cave-in of the stretcher due to pressure from the stretching of the canvas. the sawing of the wood to create a standard dimensional length is done meticulously. other tools, materials and some processes for drawing and painting 200 angular split ends of the woods are shaped at the angle 450 hinged at both ends using adhesive and a staple gun tacker. canvas stretching when stretching a canvas on a particular stretcher, an extra 2 inches is added to both ends. the purpose of such extra dimension is to provide space for overlapping required for dragging and attaching the canvas. the attaching of the canvas begins the fastening of the long side of the set-up. this is accompanied by sizing and priming of the canvas priming of canvas this involves mixing top bond and emulsion paint in equal quantities and applying it evenly on the surface of a well-stretched canvas using a wide flat brush. the reason for this exercise is to cover the tiny openings in the canvas and to ensure that the canvas is not porous. this process will make the canvas ready for the next layer of paint. also, it helps to bring out the brightness of the colour, thereafter, the painter mixes some quantities of oil colour with little kerosene and runs it through the canvas using a big brush. this will make the colours assimilate well into the background in the course of the painting. in the painting stages, the painter engages his or her skill in the creation of visual forms using paints, paint brushes, pallets, and pallet knives on the canvas surface. chinonyelum okonkwo 201 concept development this procedure entails studio creative production processes which systematically begin with thumbnail sketches, of the object or theme that the artist intends to produce on sketch paper. at this stage, many sketches could be done in which the artist will later select the one that would best suit the topic. some additions and alterations could be made at this point. then after, the artist transfers the sketch to the already primed canvas or any other medium of his or her choice and commences with the painting. the essence of the thumbnail sketch is to guide the artist. in the painting stages, the painter engages his or her skill in the creation of visual forms using paints, paint brushes, pallets, and pallet knives on the canvas surface. references getlein (2002). living with art. new york: mcgraw hill higher education. carpenter and graham (1987). art and ideal – an approach to art appreciation, london – mill and boom. knowledge and empowerment studio (2006) art, design and communication, canada the dramatic witnessing of the niger delta crisis: a means to national development john a. egole abstract inasmuch as the case of the niger delta remains unattended, or is even worsened in the country, the precarious experiences of the people of that region shall remain explorable in the literatures that emanate from that region. writers of this emergent literature have remained bold in confronting the policies of the government aimed at impoverishing the people through their exploitative tendencies. the exploitation this group suffers is indeed heart wrenching and therefore requires immediate response of the government, as well as a literary domestication by concerned artists. this paper entitled “the dramatic witnessing of the niger delta crisis: a means to national development” is, therefore, aimed at exploring how dramatists employ literature as a tool for the interrogation of both human and social activities, thereby proffering solutions for national development. these dramatists continue to proffer what they deem as lasting solutions to the ever-increasing problems of this over marginalized society. research has shown that there are solutions to this problem as it behoves the government to adopt necessary options in implementing peace within society. this study is theoretically anchored on eco criticism and marxism, as it tends to evaluate the activities of the oil companies operating in niger delta, and how these activities affect the human environment as well as the individuals whose livelihood largely depends on the survival of that environment and how they react to the exploitations they suffer. key words: drama, niger delta, emergent literature, exploitation, witnessing. introduction drama like every other genre of literature has always been a watch dog of the society. it is an artistic and pleasant representation of history and a clear manifestation of life and human experiences in man’s immediate environment. through their literary productions, modern dramatists have tried to explore the salient and current issues prevalent and pre-eminent in the contemporary time and society, one of which remains the niger delta crisis. however, with the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities, life in the delta region of nigeria has drastically changed into an unhealthy living condition. as a matter of fact, the niger delta region was originally inhabited by ‘unsophisticated’ people who largely depended on the abundance of nature for their daily livelihood and the sustainability of that crucial livelihood. they were a people psychologically and emotionally allied to their agrarian livelihood. but the discovery of oil and gas in the region, particularly with the obnoxious legislations that have continued to come with the oil exploration have destroyed such beautiful relationship and almost annihilated this originally peaceful people. 1 the niger delta crisis is all about agitation engendered and propagated by exploitation, oppression and marginalization of the region by the callous government and greedy oil companies operating in the region. this is why the social, political and economic disharmony we find in the area is perhaps as old as the oil discovery itself, and this has necessitated the incessant restive moments predominantly experienced in the area. as alwell onukaogu and ezechi onyerionwu have rightly pointed out the crisis situation in the niger delta has emanated from the dissatisfaction of the citizens of the region over a number of issues that are associated with oil exploration and exploitation, and can be said to be as old as the trade itself. (51) yet the niger delta quest for sustainable development remains unfulfilled as their call for a better living has always fallen on the deaf ears of the government, while the potentials of the people are grossly threatened by the ecological devastation and the worsening economic conditions of this important group. ray ekpu presents the situation of the niger delta in an ironical and paradoxical perspective, thus: the story of the niger delta is the story of a paradox, grinding poverty in the midst of vulgar opulence. it is the case of a man who lives on the bank of a river and washes his hands with spittle. it is the case of a people who live in the farm and die of hunger. (10) significantly, what most of the writers of the niger delta region tend to do in their creative work is the portrayal of the image of dearth and want even in the midst of an overwhelming opulence. they have plenty yet survive on nothing. as a people, they die of hunger, or at least made to inexplicably endure hunger in the face of superfluous resources and economy. hence, the precarious and gory situation of the region is a serious cause for concern. dramatists have identified themselves as ardent witnesses to the social activities within the nation’s terrestrial hemisphere. in the case of the niger delta, these playwrights have allegorically charted the experiences of a certain maligned and marginalized group who are displaced of their natural blessings. in their plays, the dramatists attempt to liberate the people and their condition from the somewhat imprecation oil politics has placed on them. as a matter of fact, the oil discovery which should be a blessing to this group has by the making of the inconsiderate government ironically become a curse to the people and society. according to chris onyema, “the experiences the oil producing communities undergo in the hands of the oil exploration companies, and the conniving nigerian government and their local leaders are so awful that the blessings of oil turn into curses” (204). however, new trends in nigeria’s imaginative realm which concerns itself with literary representation of the prevailing circumstances frustrating the niger delta have emerged. it is instructive to point out clearly that literature/art should always try to accommodate the historical and socio-economic experiences or circumstances of a people, as adolfo sanchez argues in art and society thus: 2 in a certain sense, each society gets the art it deserves … this means that art and society […] can never completely their back on each other. art and society are thus necessarily connected: no art has been unaffected by social influences and no art has failed to influence society. (112-3) in a similar vein, kontein trinya argues that “every history beckons on the writers of its age with the subject matter and themes, …to chart an allegorical graph of that history through the paths of tempers and its literature” (400). it is therefore the ultimate function and responsibility of literature, in this case, drama to record and portray the people’s situation. chidi amuta in towards a sociology of african literature buttresses this point thus: as a refraction of social experience through the prism of human imagination, the ontological essence of literature is to be located in terms of the extent to which it recycles social experience and transform it into an aesthetic proposition. (38-9) literature notably is inseparable from society and helps to mould it. thus, it is the peculiar function of literature in general and drama in particular to inform the society about the ideal a writer wishes to reach. the dramatist has always been a social commentator and watch dog through whom social vices as well as certain disastrous inhuman behaviours are condemned. in his own words, emmanuel otete-akpofure notes that: “the dramatist is a watch dog of society and through the medium of drama he lampoons negative and anti-social behavior in the course of creating characters involved in such deeds” (248). j.p clark-bekederemo’s the wives revolt is a play that mainly deals with the subject of patriarchal influence, local colonialism, as well as the inequality and injustices being suffered by the people of the niger delta, especially the female folk of this apparently marginalized group on account of being richly blessed with oil. in the play, the issue of oil exploration and the attendant consequences of such activities remain prevalent. the revolt which we find in the play is triggered by the grossly marginalized sharing formula of the compensation money given to ehuwaren community by the oil company operating there. as okoro announces the sharing formula, it is clear to see the marginalization thus: it is the matter of the money sent by the oil company operating in our land. the amount is well known to us. this sum, after due debate in the town hall, has been shared out in three equal parts, one going to the elders of the town, the second to the men in all their age groups and the third by no means the least, to the women, also in all their age grades. (1) it is this unequal sharing pattern enforced by the covectous male group that brings about the conflict between the women and their husbands as portrayed in the play. as remarked by g.g darah, the wives revolt is an allegorical tale about communual conflicts between wives and their husbands over the sharing of little spoils of oil revenue that excludes the womenfolk” 3 (8). in their quest for equity and fairness, the women call for an equal distribution of the windfall from the oil company thus: … however, our womenfolk, led by a few reckless ones, fed up with doing simple duties for their husbands and children as befits good house wives, are repudiating this fair and reasonable distribution of the money, demanding that it should have been divided into two equal parts, one going to them and the other to the men … (1) clark-bekederemo’s evaluation of the effect of the oil politics in the country is beyond the physical devastation of the oil exploration and exploitation brings upon the niger deltans. rather, the wives revolt is a lucid portrayal of the lurid and gory situation that has become the lot of the female folk, thereby portraying the negative impacts of the oil money especially, when not properly and judiciously managed. this can be seen in the play when the women, disenchanted as they are, abandon their husbands and social duties as well as their filial responsibilities to their children and elope to a neighbouring village, iyara as a way of protesting against the injustices meted against their gender, but unfortunately they contracted some venereal infection in the process. it is on the basis of this health disaster that reuben embu in “drama and the niger delta challenges in selected nigerian plays” notes that “what this invariably means is that the oil money has brought not only discord amongst families, husband and wife, but also diseases, environmental pollution and lack of peace” (149). it is therefore part of the dramatist’s contention that since man is always at the helm of affairs within his immediate environment it behoves on him to create an enabling atmosphere for a peaceful co-existence. in the case of ehuwaren, clark-bekederemo is saying that the male should jettison some of the laws that are directly or indirectly targetted on their female counterpart if the society must advance and experience peace and social order, especially within the family sector. in the play, clark-bekederemo is of the opinion that often conflict could be used to resolve some serious and bothering issues that may cause great harm to the human psyche and/or environment. it is in the light of this observation that otete-akpofure remarks that clark highlights the importance of empowerment as basis for conflict resolution in the niger delta. the women have much right and claim as the men in the charting of a glorious future for the niger delta region in particular and the nation in general. there is, therefore, the need to involve both women and youth groups in this resolution process. (253) yet the dramatist is much aware of the consequent disorder and unhealthy living this conflict could be made to bear on the most crucial aspect of social engagement, the family. ahmed yerima is another dramatist who fervently explores the niger delta crisis through his dramatic engagement. in hard ground, the playwright clearly identifies literature and drama in particular as a weapon which the literary artist uses to confront the society, interrogate or question the excesses of both government and man, and very importantly demand for social 4 change under the pressures of social problems. the issues which yerima tends to confront through drama are undoubtedly the prevailing circumstances of the niger delta, perhaps necessitated by the problem of neo-colonialism in the region. these circumstances are the problems of social and environmental degradation, water and land pollution caused by oil spillage, oppression, exploitation and the marginalization of the people by both the government ant oil companies. as nimi reveals, “my people are exploited every day. we started crying since 1940” (53). the implication is that oil discovery and exploration rather being a source of human and national development adversely connotes vicious tendencies. tonye also reveals how african political leaders exploit the naïve masses and expose them to the cruel realities of life, “he bought arms and gave to small children while all his children were sent abroad” (34). the youth in harsh and brutal manner confront the government and other people who contribute to their ugly situation. this is why nimi relishes in the killings he has partaken in the play thus: …then soundly as the faces of the dead people multiply, and killing means nothing to you any more, soundly, your eyelids shut to the cries of the world, and you justify in your heart that the people you killed are the enemies of the land, not yours as an individual, and after a while, all you think about are the fiery songs of the people, and the good of the land… (12) in his own view, otete-akpofure argues that “only a bitter and sustained agitation and class struggle can end the barbarism, brutality, repression and inhumanity of our neo-colonial dependent capitalist society” (249). the grievances of the niger deltans against the government as we read in the play are genuine even though the means through which such grievances are presented is perhaps a subject of controversy. following the nature of oil business that goes on in the region, farming and fishing activities in the land have been crippled by oil spillage. the two most crucial elements of life: oxygen and (drinking) water are consequently polluted while the glaring dearth of infrastructure does not help matters, to say but the least. in obvious reaction to their situation, the youths vandalise oil pipes, terrorise the society, kill, maim and kidnap in the most dastardly manner. they inflict all manner of terrorism in the region so much so that living becomes nightmarish for all. nimi reports the activities of the boys thus: the boys caught him, and hacked him to death, removing his head from behind as he sped. in the wildness, my boys ran into the shrine, pulled out the second man… a stick was pushed through his anus until it came out in his bowels. we then dragged them back into the shrine, and burnt them. (45-6) yet, these ruthless and brutal killings adversely affect the psyche of the same youths who orchestrate them. as young as nimi is, he has already become avarious with blood thirst and a destroyer of human life, even without regret. as onukaogu and onyerionwu rightly observe, yerima’s main lamentation in hard ground therefore is that the niger delta crisis has obstructed the maturative process of the average niger delta youth, male and female, to the extent that he 5 or she has been negatively psychologized, most especially by the imperative to join and execute the struggle. (63) embu buttresses this point further in hard ground by ahmed yerima, nimi is presented as a youth engaged in militant struggle and the repercussioin of his action. the author depicts the restiveness in the niger delta through the activities of nimi and his family. (151) essentially, yerima believes that the problems bothering on the peace and socio-economic progress of the region deserve appropriate redress. he proffers education as the all important tool through which the future can be secured. it is yerima’s contention that with education, the niger deltans can convincingly make a case for themselves. with education, the people will be properly represented in the legislative house which will further help facilitate their agitation/cause, school. i want you to go back to school. with education, you still fight. that time more people will listen to you. people always believe these days that a man who did not go to school should not be believed. poverty tastes sour in the mouth. school, son… (29). as yerima has rightly points out, the people can rewrite their history through the acquisition of education and it is only even then that the government can listen to their complaints. yerima equally suggests that the absence of education breeds poverty. more so, esiaba irobi has responded to the quagmire of life in the niger delta through his drama, hangmen also die. in his own purview, irobi indicts the nigerian politicians who loot the economy of the nation dry only for their selfish interest and that of their families. otete-akpofure writes that in hangmen also die, irobi explores the theme of self, while satirizing the nigerian political system using the niger delta situation. the play unveils the tragic and sorry situation of the niger delta region, where the protesting oppressed youths are silenced by those in position to solve their problems. (248) the story of irobi’s hangmen also die is therefore one that emanates from the tragedy of the niger delta. it is about a people bedeviled with the heinous life that has become their lot. what we find in the play is a bold rejection of the ugly life that has already become part and parcel of the niger deltans, through the insurgent activities of a group of sad, educated but unemployed individuals, as well as the confrontation of the situation by these rebels through defiance. irobi suggests corruption at all spheres of the nation’s political endeavours as the bane of national development, that which militate against the progress of the nation. through this play, irobi interrogates the hope of better life which education is charged with providing for the youth (as we saw in yerima’s hard ground). irobi’s hangmen also die ponders on how government explains the problem of unemployment in the niger delta society while angry youth roam about the streets with unattended first class certificates. in spite of their 6 education, the society portends a bleak future for the youth as government places little or no value on education. it is obvious that the political leaders do not care if the situation wreaks havoc on both the social and human psyche as they revel in their exploitative overtures. austin emela has noted that irobi’s concern is that the government should provide jobs for the youths and solve or alleviate the social unrest, “irobi’s preoccupation in hangmen also die is the need for the nigerian government to address the issue of youth-unemployment in niger delta, as that is the only way they can avoid the form of social unrest caused by the activities of the suicide squad” (43). hangmen also die reveals that the case of the niger delta is a case of disillusionment. disillusioned by their prevailing circumstance, these boys recruit and organize themselves into a strong rebellious fraternity identified as ‘suicide squad’ whose mission is to ensure out ‘justice for their injustice’. this situation is even more gruesome if we consider what this group identifies as the vital prerequisite for joining them, the number of years of unemployment experience. it is possible that the idea behind this stringent criterion is to ensure that an aspiring member must have gone through the formative stage of hardship, pain and agony, so that he/she does not feel sober in the excruciating activities that must follow. this stage becomes a ‘baptism of fire’, the furnace that sharpens and hardens the souls of the ‘suicide squad’ that even if a relation stands in the way of justice; he/she must be eliminated without sentiment. irobi’s play explores the gory, hideous, heinous, cruel and inimical situations and challenges of the niger delta thereby condemning the evils inherent in such maligned and dire circumstances. in hangmen also die, irobi entails that education without necessary provision by the government cannot solve the problem of the region and nation since the youth who form the ‘suicide squad’ are all well-educated, yet unemployed, “our jobs in this nation is to look for jobs” (46), despite the plethora of resources and capital that accrue from that region. to irobi therefore there is only one means of solving the problem and that is through a revolution aimed against our corrupt politicians, as acid charges the suicide squad thus: terrorism is a legitimate tactic of all down-trodden people seeking to combat oppressive government … you are all young men…not even your leaders make any plans for your future, you are potential revolutionaries… revolutions are always based on violence. on bloodshed and terror. revolutions are never achieved by holding hands and singing “we shall overcome”… it is an act of insurrection where one party overthrows the other. it occurs as an accumulated grievance of the common man. it explodes like gun powder. (39) just like in yerima’s hard ground, the situation of the youth in hangmen also die is one that affects their psyche to the point that the only thing they consider is to maim, kill and lynch lives as intoned in their utterances: we are the suicide squad. we maim. we murder. we massacre. we are the kamikaze. we are the murderers… we are the head hunters. we stab and draw, and stab and draw, and stab and draw, and stab and draw again… to hear the froth of blood! we sway. 7 we swing. we prowl! we prowl! we prowl! we strike like mambas and leave on your flesh, the marks of our fangs, the sign, of our venom, the insignia of our grief… (90-1) in view of irobi’s language leon osu writes that “in the plays, nwoke and especially hangmen, we notice such wanton and brazenly violent statements and actions by characters that suggest the kind of individuated and uncoordinated protests against an unjust social order” (154). as with every other literature of the niger delta, irobi’s hangmen also die addresses the issues of environmental degradation which has always remained a major part of the negative effects of oil politics and dealings in the niger delta region. oil spillage has in fact become a regular occurrence in the region and has affected both their drinking and fishing water as well as their farm lands. the biosphere is grossly affected by these oil activities; with all aquatic life exterminated, and terrestrial ecology annihilated. ibiaye’s revelation of the cause of his blindness becomes apparent here: one day, we woke up to hear explosions. the waves were surging and the shore foaming at the corners of its mouth… two of my sons hurried down to the oil sites. one of them died from a ruptured hernia… my other son floated on top of the sea. his belly had been blown open by the mine he was trying to plant. i had two sons. but now, i am left with none… our plants began to die. our roots to rot. our seeds shriveled… we fled… we swam. but little did we know that the water had been poisoned by the film of rancid crude oil… on the first day my eyes were only itching. the next day i scratched throughout the night. three days later, i could no longer see the sunlight… seven days later, the darkness fell… am now led by the hands… to beg for coins daily, to buy a piece of fish or a loaf of bread to feed the ones waiting in the stilt hut… (96-7) as ibiaye’s revelation shows, the environmental degradations have brought total hardship and suffering to the inhabitants of the region. conclusion dramatists among other writers have explored the medium of drama in portraying the exploitation, oppression, marginalization, ecological devastation, anarchy, chaos, social unrest, insurgency and restiveness found in the niger delta. it is however these experiences and the attendant plethora of literature that emanate from the region that have led to the birth of the nomenclature, “niger delta literature”. these dramatists have shown that drama can really be used to chart the history of the heavily marginalized niger delta people. they therefore employ the art tool in decrying the condition of the people they represent. through their plays, dramatists have presented and interpreted the historical issues of the niger delta and used their plays to interrogate the condition and experiences of man within his immediate environment. clark-bekederemo’s the wives revolt has demonstrated that the problem of 8 the niger deltans has equally eaten deep into the fabrics of the family sector and consequently degenerates into some matrimonial discord. however, most playwrights advocate physical confrontation as the core solution to the niger delta problems. irobi and clark-bekederemo belong to this group as demonstrated in their works. but some dramatists like ahmed yerima think otherwise. for this group, education is the hope of the future generation, since violence and revolution have failed in ensuring social harmony and progress. yerima’s view is that education will bring about peace and serenity in the environment. with education, all fractions of terrorism will completely cease. however, quite apart from providing education for the youth, government should ensure good policies that will accommodate these youths in the governance system which will to restrain them from social vices and mayhem. finally, it could be safe to surmise that the niger delta crisis has gotten so bad to the point where it perhaps requires marxist consciousness for social change. as a matter of fact, the case of the niger delta as shown by the dramatists is one that is encased in rather lachrymal tone. thus, the oil which should be a blessing to the people has brought about an ominous implication. therefore, literature generally remains an agency through which writers engineer social, political and economic change within every human environment. 9 works cited adolfo, sanchez v. art and society: essays in marxist aesthetics. new york: monthly review press, 1973. amuta, chidi. towards a sociology of african literature. oguta: zim pam, 1986 print. clark-bekederemo, j.p. thewives revolt. ibadan: university press,1991. print darah, g.g. "revolutionary pressure in niger delta" (ed) chinyere nwahunanya from boom to doom: protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the niger delta. owerri: springfield publishers ltd, 2011. ekpu, ray. "the nd coundrum (2)" news-watch. oct. 25, 2004. print. embu, reuben. "drama and the niger delta challenges in select nigerian plays". nigerian theatre journal. 11.1, 2011. emela, austin. u. "ecological and historical witnessing in niger delta drama: ola rotirnis' ovonramwen nogbaisi and esiaba irobi's hangmen also die". eco-sahara: journal of african literature and the environment i. usa: goldline and jacobs publishing, 2012. print. irobi, esiaba. hangmen also die. enugu: abic books, 1989. onukaogu, a.a. and onyerionwu, e. "crisis and the literature of the niger delta: the dual aesthetics of the lachrymal and the revolutionary", (ed) chinyere nwahunanya from boom to doom: protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the niger delta. owerri: springfield publishers ltd, 2011. onyema, chris. “jungle and oil green: currents of environmental discourse in four upland niger delta narratives.” (ed) chinyere nwahunanya from boom to doom: protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the niger delta. owerri: springfield publishers ltd, 2011. osu, leon. "a dance on contrasting plat forms: african tradition and revolutionary aesthetics in esiaba irobi's plays". tydskrif vir letterkunde. 48.1. pretoria: university van pretoria, 2011. 154-162. 10 otete-akpofure, emmanuel. "the niger delta struggle and the politics of individualism: irobi's hangmen also die, tunde fatunde's no more oil boom and j.p clark's all for oil and the wives revolt." (ed) chinyere nwahunanya from boom to doom: protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the niger delta. owerri: springfield publishers ltd, 2011. trinya, kontein. "shadows of development in the new poetry of the niger delta: the poetry of ibiwari ikiriko, ngozi agoh-jacobs, ebi yeibo, tonyo biriabebe, and barine ngaage." (ed) chinyere nwahunanya from boom to doom: protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the niger delta. owerri: springfield publishers ltd, 2011. yerima, ahmed. hard ground. ibadan: kraft books print. 2005. chapter 2: making meaning out of big data in healthcare: visual designers’ perspective contributed by benjamin eni-itan afolabi introduction designing is a procedural activity that can be practised from diverse perspectives; it involves making plans to create a needed solution. visually, a design is meant to be specific in the end result and that differentiates it from ‘art’ which often tilts toward more aesthetics. this simply does not mean a design cannot be beautiful; in essence, the crux of a design is both ‘function’ and ‘aesthetics’. a design meant for the sight is visual, this has to do with functional art that can be seen, felt or touched; such design adopts graphics strategically to create, refine or advance a solution. it is exemplified in package design, branding, information/ book design, prints, advert campaigns, television montages, web design and development, interface design, user experience design, multimedia authoring, industrial art and product design among others. additionally, it (i.e. visual arts/ design) is a branch of creative arts, sectioned into fine arts and applied arts (see fig. 1). as a result, it is about creativity which defines the feel and uniqueness of every result. creativity is the ability to use clear imagination in the development of new and original ideas or things, especially in the realm of art (bravolol, 2022). apart from the skills of the designer which also matters, if a visual design will be outstanding, creativity must not be trivialised. the examples listed above apply to virtually all walks of life including the health sector. print and online materials are used in healthcare while health practitioners make use of essential multimedia applications in daily making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 21 medical practices. many products are developed innovatively, incorporating visual design. they are relevant medically and nonmedically for both the patient and the healthcare giver. this is notably exemplified in digital products that store and retrieve health-related data in many folds. the data are so numerous that they are classified as ‘big data’ – non-organised, semi-structured or structured information. ordinarily, the health institutions: clinics or large hospitals rely on patients’ records or health data to cater for their patients’ treatment. care for a patient can take many forms but can be facilitated when quality data are available. health facilities in nigeria are not faring badly but in practice, they are yet to fully key into health digitisation. photius (2019) recorded that health in nigeria was rated fourth worst in the world, while this is not good, it calls for improvement. the record was later amplified in 2023 in the expression of schmale matthias, un resident and humanitarian coordinator, captured by habib (2023). the coordinator lamented that nigeria lags in the realisation of the sustainable development goals (sdg 3 inclusive). the highlight of goal 3 by the un is that there should be good health and wellbeing for all. regrettably, achieving sustainable development goals in nigeria remains a fantasy without a more inclusive, multidimensional approach (alozie, 2020). this shows that all hands must be on deck for concrete results in the area of health; but the visual designer is only a creative personnel, does that mean such an expert cannot make an impact health-wise? thus, it is worthy of exploration to determine how such a professional can use visuals to promote care especially from the point of meaningful data storytelling, hence this discourse. benjamin eni-itan afolabi 22 figure 1: branches of visual art/ design under creative arts in the 21st century. source: afolabi et al (2023); https://doi.org/10.33093/ijcm.2023.4.1.1 the visual designer: skilled or talented? the goal of visual design is either to: promote, persuade or influence the people (i.e. public) through creative work; due to this, the designer is expected to be well-equipped for the task. for the sake of clarity, a visual designer uses media elements to create artistically pleasing designs. the principles of design are further used in structuring every visual element adopted for a particular creative work. graphics, pictures, colours, shapes, typography, lines etc. form the contents, and together with the principles, are used to improve user experience. the role of a visual designer is also to create a layout and solidify brand identity. he or she specialises in the design, look and feel of digital assets such as websites and applications. a visual designer understands clearly the contents therefore in agreement to general assembly (n. d), an online platform on education, the knowledge of visual design is a making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 23 powerful extension to a variety of professional backgrounds. as a result, visual creators also understand the ideologies behind ‘visual’ as an entity. notable visual concepts that empower the designer which are equally germane in art and design practises include: visual literacy, visual representation, visual properties, visual elements, visual grammar and metaphor, visual perception, visual display and visual culture among others. thus, from the foregoing, the qualities of visual designers are enormous. however, as core attributes, they must possess eyes for details, be well-educated, patient and also have a good sense of communication. afolabi (2022) maintained that multimedia specialists should embrace empathy and in so doing develop contents for therapeutic purposes. logically, from inference, empathy is a good quality for a designer but should not be practised by a segment of designers but rather by all visual designers. when this attribute is put into practice, the visual designer will design from the perspective of the client or user of the design work. in all, the answer to the question that a visual designer is perhaps skilled or talented boils down to the fact that talent without the right artistic skills will not yield the right creative results especially as the duo (skill and talent) are entirely different sets of qualities. however, while talent is innate (natural), skill is learnt; but the fact is, points discussed above that are involved in visual arts and design practices are certainly beyond solely talent, they must simply be learnt. a visual designer who is talented and simultaneously equipped with essential 21st-century design and technological skills will perform excellently in any field of art and design. interestingly, if a designer lacks artistic talent but is amply filled with the necessary skills, then such an expert is reclining on a solid foundation. therefore, it is not just about talent or skill that matters, rather, the mean to a result (of effective and creative visual solution) which equally speaks volumes. they are the yardsticks or parameters that define a visual designer. benjamin eni-itan afolabi 24 healthcare in nigeria: an overview among the (social) institutions that make up society is the healthcare system which is structured into primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare delivery models. basic health centres and comprehensive health facilities make up the primary healthcare system while the various general hospitals are classified as secondary. the tertiary health institutions are federal medical centres/ national hospitals, university teaching and specialist hospitals. the basic healthcare system caters for the health needs of the grassroots community in rural settings; any health challenge or case that cannot be treated at this level is referred to the secondary level and in turn, the tertiary facilities. the cmd (chief medical director) heads the health facility especially at the secondary and tertiary level while the officer in charge (oic) oversees the day-to-day affairs of the basic/ comprehensive health centres. common wards in a health facility in nigeria include: maternity, neonate division, paediatrics, dentistry, surgery, emergency wards, guidance and counselling unit, intensive care unit, general medicine ward, psychiatric, oncology, and outpatient services among others. hence, different healthcare/ medical experts in different areas of specialisation are engaged to practice professionally and solve all manner of health issues, thereby promoting healthy lifestyle. from the foregoing, healthcare as a setup regulated by the federal and state government through assigned agencies/ ministries is not an institution that gulps low funds for running its operations and maintenance. synchronously, irrespective of the wards or units in any of the delivery models, they all rely on data i.e. health information to appropriately discharge their duties and give out care. sadly enough, healthcare in nigeria is poorly funded (nwachukwu, 2021; olomola, 2009; & usaid, n.d) while the electronic record system is not well integrated and in some cases, non-existent (teniola, 2023, afolabi, 2021 & farouk et al, 2023). little wonder, a world health organisation survey conducted in making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 25 the year 2000 classified nigeria’s healthcare system as the fourth worst in the world by ranking it187th globally (photius, 2019 & who, 2000). however, in a report by muanya and ozioma (2021), oladigbolu, national chairman, the association of community pharmacists of nigeria (acpn) claimed nigeria has improved by moving from 187th to 163rd. however, the progress still calls for serious improvement, because the 163 simply depicts the 28th worst health care system in the world. this point is out of the 191 countries in the world that were assessed in the level of compliance with the universal health coverage. the concept of big data this is the era of iot (internet of things), as a result, big data which is all about concrete information tilts toward more digital trends; but that does not mean information cannot be experienced in the conventional settings i.e. non-digital mode. information is crucial and entails the act of collecting facts about a specific subject; the facts are accessible data. they are essential in making facts known and for the advancement of knowledge. “big data is the fuel that delivers real-time analytics” (moore, n.d.) because it is about “collecting and analysing large amounts of data; to generate actionable insights that an organisation uses to enhance its different aspects” (analytixlabs, 2021). hence, the idea behind big data is projected in: volume, velocity and variety. these are the three basic characteristics of big data (interviewbit, 2023). the loads of information trooping in on data-driven applications: web, mobile, social media feeds etc. are always plenty (i.e. in volumes); with a dynamic speed. resultantly, the rate at which information is gathered and processed is the velocity and this is for information (i.e. data) which could be in varieties: structured and semistructured (or both) or unstructured i.e. completely disorganised set of information. basically, conventional data are always structured and fit easily into a relational database; whereas with the advent of big data as an innovation, information became more of new benjamin eni-itan afolabi 26 unstructured data (interviewbit, 2023). for clarity, examples of structured data are information stored in the form of tables and spreadsheets. they are processed by organising them; stored and retrieved in a fixed format. unstructured data have no ‘known’ structure and are heterogeneous information from search engines, webpages, videos, images, texts, audio etc. semi-structured data is both structured and unstructured such as web content (with unstructured log files, transaction history files etc.) and a table definition in a relational database management system. the table has no classification into a definite database but is tagged for element distinctiveness (analytixlabs, 2021 and adilin, 2021). however, “unstructured and semi-structured data types including video, text, and audio need extra pre-processing to determine meaning and support metadata, the context around the data itself”. (interviewbit, 2023) other salient features of big data (see fig. 2) include veracity (i.e. inconsistencies witnessed in data variations), variability, visualisation (or visual representation) and value (moore, n.d). it is to be noted that raw data are meaningless unless processed for tangible and meaningful information; thus ‘value’ as a feature of big data is the most important (interviewbit, 2023). logically, apart from other means, value can also be achieved in two ways, and that is technologically and creatively. many technological tools are readily available for processing big data and good examples of these advanced tools among others are: ‘tableau’ and ‘datawrapper’. they both support big data analysis via creative approaches such as visualisation; a core area of expertise attributed to the visual designer. notably, while ‘tableau’ is proprietary, acquired by ‘salesforce’ in 2019 (nat, 2019), ‘datawrapper’ the other hand, is freeware, common among program developers and news journalists. it is also meant for design experts. the advent of big data can be likened to innovation spurred by technology in phases. it was conceived as a concept many decades ago and subsequently put into practice which making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 27 evolved into a systematic approach till today. despite many versions of report about the realisation of big data, one common trait in its development is that the rise in big data started in the 90s – the period of computer age (dekate, 2022). also, “from the early 2000s, the internet and corresponding web applications started to generate tremendous amounts of data” (bigdata framework, n.d). currently, the rapid acceptability of mobile technology and devices, also aided the embrace and advancement of big data. figure 2: characteristics of big data, including visualisation practised by visual designer. source: afolabi’s compilation (2022) the essence of big data is that it will allow businesses, firms and organisations, including healthcare to utilise voluminous information effectively. trends, patterns, and behavioural acts in a given situation are easily identified with big data analytics which would ordinarily be difficult to detect in conventional data processing means. it is thus easy to sum up that results from big data operations will foster decision-making in any organisation. investing appropriately will be easy when big data solutions have been adopted by organisations that transact based on heavy information such as healthcare. interestingly, when data are processed, storing such comprehensible information becomes easy as the space needed would be minimal when compared to storing benjamin eni-itan afolabi 28 raw data which often are bulky. ‘big data analytics’ is important because it applies to virtually all walks of life especially healthcare. summarily, “big data includes multiple processes: including data mining, data analysis, data storage, data visualization, etc. the term ‘big data’ refers to collecting these processes and all the tools that we use…” (analytixlabs, 2021). nature of big data in healthcare data interpretation could become a complex activity, especially with the vast amount of information involved in big data. at the same time, data can become valueless when it makes no meaning, importantly when difficult to interpret. this is the crux of visualisation, to simplify the logical (mental) process, create meaning and form part of the communication and data dissemination channel. data record in healthcare employs either the traditional means using manual registers or electronic mediums. data itself includes: patients’ health details, vaccine distribution logs such as during the covid-19 pandemic, community immunisation records, disbursement logs of intervention funds for health ministries, agencies/ parastatals in a country, records of epidemic and several other diseases, birth records among others. all the manually recorded different information (varieties) are usually piled up or in some cases sourced/ collated from a large population. hence, they are plenty (i.e. voluminous) – these are attributes of ‘big data’. digitally, smart devices such as mobiles and wearables generate lots of health data that may be difficult to comprehend; such data are meant for tracking and diagnosis. interviews and surveys, structured or unstructured, captured manually or electronically also make up big data in healthcare; importantly, if they are experienced on a large scale. making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 29 svisual designer and data mining for health infographics: methods cum benefits in big data operations, the visual designer would be concerned with visualisation since that is part of the core areas where his/ her expertise will be felt among the 7 vs (see fig. 2). this professional is expected to ‘mine’ the data by creating information graphics: charts, lines, tables, illustrative pictures among other visual aids that best interpret and present the raw/ processed dataset. the objectives of visualisation in practice entail: 1. comprehension, 2. retention and 3. appeal (see fig. 3); especially to communicate information in the most comprehensible form. the order is not fixed but can be altered at will by the designer, based on the purpose of creating the information graphics (lankow, ritchie & crooks, 2012). “a graphic created with a commercial interest in mind will have many different priorities… the order of priorities of the commercial marketing graphic would be appeal, retention and then comprehension. publishers that create editorial infographics have a slightly different mix: appeal, comprehension and retention” (lankow, ritchie & crooks, 2012, p. 38-39). in healthcare, relying on baruah (2020), the focus of the visualisation would rather suggest a mix that prioritises first, comprehension, retention and then appeal. baruah (2020) listed criteria for visualising (data) information that, the source of data should not be instantly visible; perhaps abstraction. this is because information visualisation transforms non-visual to visual; more reason image is generated from the entire process. lastly and importantly, data must be comprehensible and readable. the last criteria is the main reason for the mix as regards health. however, creative solution has no boundary, hence, some practical cases (e.g. health awareness/ sensitisation development) would rather warrant that appeal should be treated as most important then comprehension and retention. benjamin eni-itan afolabi 30 figure 3: objectives of visualisation source: lankow, ritchie & crooks (2012) the view of baruah on data readability is also based on clear reasoning that unnecessary details should be avoided which is in line with knaflic (2015) who also opined that de-cluttering is essential to achieving a meaningful data visualisation. “communication is most effective when you say neither more nor less than what is relevant to your message. don’t make people wade through meaningless visual content in your display to find what matters” (few, 2006, p. 6). the zig-zag method has also been suggested as a solution, notably in the area of visual design. the eyes scan through contents or across the screen in a zigzag motion (i.e. z): top left – top right – across – down left – down right. hence, important elements or visuals must be placed from the ‘top left’ to the ‘top right’ first (knaflic, 2015). interestingly, designing creative visual content is also believed to be both making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 31 systematic and strategic. the former, in the words of baruah (2020) means a definition of a problem such as identifying the need/ preference of the end users as regards information/ data visualisation. the next is to define the data set (for visual representation) which could be: ordinal, categorical, interval, continuous, nominal and discrete (lankow, ritchie & crooks, 2012). they are to be in the right category for mapping. thirdly, the definition of attributes and dimensions that would depict the data matters. attributes are the variables which could be in multiples, single or double and after that is the sorting out of data structure: linearly, in tabular or hierarchical form etc. (see fig. 4). figure 4: types of data structure/ organisation source: tidwell (2011) benjamin eni-itan afolabi 32 lastly, the determination of the amount of interaction preferred by the user and likewise the right format for the visual content. lankow, ritchie & crooks (2012) tagged the format as a vehicle comprising: static, motion and interactive models. strategically, “when you use cutting-edge tools and technologies to stitch together different metrics (i.e. data) and reveal the relationships between them, you are virtually building an entire world of narratives”. (rodriguez, 2022). this is known as data story telling (knaflic, 2015); the idea behind this approach is to allow the data to narrate its own story to derive meaning (see fig. 5) while visuals are embedded to further enrich essential details. this kind of information visualisation, according to dykes (2016) is persuasive, engagement oriented and aids memorability. concurrently, persuasion is a core attribute needed in healthcare. it therefore approaches fitting for healthcare (big) data simplification. positive persuasion is needed to make patients believe in the treatment being administered or for the public to adjust and respond to a tailored health campaign. government and stakeholders, in some cases, would need to be persuaded as well to rise to health matters and make impactful contributions. originally, the strategy was postulated for business enterprises but by operation, it can also be applied to healthcare. it should be marked that, though ‘health’ is about care and patients, yet, it can also be seen from the lens of a business. however, irrespective of the motive, whether patientoriented or business inclined, the strategy fits perfectly into big data in healthcare. making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 33 figure 5: strategic development of information visualisation via storytelling approach. source: dykes (2016) by operation, rodriguez (2022) maintained that to achieve the right approach, firstly, a plotline with a clear objective is to be developed, which is the foundation for a good data story. the second is to create a narrative that holds attention while the data tell the story. fourthly, the recipients of the information visuals are to be categorised by their level of understanding of the data story and finally, incorporation/ integration of the right visuals. the last bit is to be observed relying on pre-attentive attributes (see fig. 6) and gestalt principles. the data structure used (see fig. 4) signals to the user, subconsciously, a lot about the nature of the data. it is very easy for the brain to quickly process pre-attentive features. therefore, variables with similar attributes must be weaved or placed together. irrespective of the big data, they simply convey the information at once, even before the viewer pays conscious attention (tidwell, 2011; lankow, ritchie & crooks, 2012). preattentive attribute and gestalt principle of visual perception (see fig. 7) are about similarity, enclosure, proximity, continuity, enclosure and closure (knaflic, 2015). these together with other benjamin eni-itan afolabi 34 visual elements: especially colours/ white space, to draw attention (knaflic, 2015; tidwell, 2011; lankow, j., ritchie j. & crooks, r., 2012) are needed for orderliness and solution-based visual design for data communication. fig. 6: pre-attentive attributes guiding placement of visuals to make meaning out of big data. source: tidwell (2011); lankow, ritchie & crooks (2012) in the same vein, the logic to achieving a catchy, compelling and engaging narrative is to allow the audience to choose the story they see and by using exploratory data analysis (eda) with interactive visuals, audiences would be involved in the visual message. also, the data can dictate the narrative story solely by being truthful, with no manipulation of data. visuals that combine well with the data should be adopted while standardised units be considered; precisely when comparisons are involved in the (big) data story (rodriguez, 2022). making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 35 fig. 7: four gestalt principles for manipulation of layout for content/ visual display. source: tidwell (2011) the actual focus of the big data production will also influence the narrative for visualisation. basically, ‘big data analytics’ is either: descriptive, diagnostic, predictive or prescriptive; they are simply four in that hierarchical order. the last analytic “has good use in the healthcare industry. it can be used to enhance the process of drug development, finding the right patients for clinical trials etc.” (pathak, 2021). the strategy described above for visualising big data will then have to be executed through the lens of either of the four analytics, important as the case may be. this must be benjamin eni-itan afolabi 36 creatively put into consideration, if not the designer may run fowl of erroneously and unconsciously manipulating the result of the data analytics. in reality, this is a clear example of how one may not be truthful with data (either big or small). this must be watched to keep all the data intact, precise and truthful as much as possible. conclusion “medical records are tough to come by in so many developing countries. the few hospitals with medical records are challenged with incomplete, inaccessible, and inconsistent patient data” (teniola, 2023). deductively, this is simply that manual records (which can pile up to become ‘big’) still dominate the nation’s health system (nigeria precisely). it is a serious area of concern that calls for effective digitisation of healthcare. quality healthcare also requires digitised records and “practically impossible without efficient data to support an electronic health system” (teniola, 2023). data, in any form, are an integral part of the operations of health institutions which aptly (in the digital sense), accumulate to make ‘big data’. this is characterised by its volume, velocity, variety, variability, veracity, visualisation and value. unfortunately, big data is valueless unless it can be presented in a simplified manner. this is the essence of visualisation which is important to achieving meaning in big data in healthcare. it is better to get health infographics (i.e. data visualisation) done systematically and strategically. by the former, it means a carefully mapped-out process towards creating data visualisation. the latter solidifies the (data mining) process in which one stage rolls in to another; dwelling on relevant visual elements and (gestalt) principles of design. visual (data) communication as a means to a result can therefore be integrated into any e-health platform for seamless operations, especially for meaningful big data. when data information is easily understood, it fosters the decision making process for the government and health-reform stakeholders. health institutions via refined data presented as infographics, will be able making meaning out of big data in healthcare:… 37 to provide improved or personalised care experience for patients. health facilities can increase their revenue and advance their care services through processed data that also dwells on visual communication. in all, as a visual designer, it is therefore important to understand the concept of ‘big data’ from the angle of communication design. by having sound knowledge, visual designers should then be able to provide better data communication and design solutions. this is necessary, especially at a time when there is also a call for investment in medical research (edema, 2023); such research will equally rely on data that must be presented meaningfully, with the aid of data visualisation tools e.g. charts: pie, scatter plot, histogram, cartogram, dendrogram etc. question 1. what is big data visualisation? 2. discuss the essence of information graphics in healthcare. 3. explain the term ‘visual design’ and discuss the characteristics of a visual designer. references adilin, b. 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(2011). designing interfaces. 2nd ed. sebastopol, ca: o’reilly media, inc. usaid (n.d). global health. retrieved from https://www.usaid.gov/nigeria/global-health/ accessed 01/8/2023 who (2000). health systems: improving performance. geneva, switzerland: world health organization politics and leadership challenges in helon habila’swaiting for an angel sylvanus onyeachulam abstract literature mirrors the society that produced it. it is about man and the happenings around him as well as his inner conflicts. the writer draws his material from his observations and experiences. this paper entitled “politics and leadership challenges in helon habila’swaiting for an angel”, aims at exploring the sufferings, pains, disappointments, deprivations, corruption, tyranny and oppression that characterizes the society in the novel as a result of leadership patterns, which is the outcomes of politics of calumny by the ruling class. the leadership class is somehow estranged from the people because of the despotic nature of military leadership in most african countries. the novel also portrays the disillusionment of the people, the apathy of the rulers and the attendant consequences of the dejection, poverty and miserable conditions of the people. the novelist also exposes the political activism which unfortunately claims many lives. the data for this research was mainly from primary and secondary sources, while journals, books, and internet sources formed the secondary sources. the theoretical framework is marxism. the novelist exposes the issues that undermine the lives and well-being of the masses and advocates honesty and good governance. keywords: oppression, corruption, tyranny, poverty, sufferings, survival, good governance. introduction literature is a discipline that studies man, society and man’s behavioral patterns. through the works of literature the nature of the society is portrayed, that is, the good or ills of the society are exposed with the aim of either correcting, instructing, praising or educating the society. in fact, literature mirrors the society at any point in time, hence ngugi wathiong’o in homecoming says: “literature does not grow or develop in a vacuum. it is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by the social, political and economic forces in a particular society” (65). ngugi further in writers in politics states that: literature cannot escape the power structure that shapes our everyday life. that a writer has no choice, whether or not he is aware of it, his work reflects one or more aspects of the intense economic, political, cultural and ideological struggles in a society. what he chooses is one or the other side in the battlefield. the side of his people or the side of the social forces or class that try to keep his people down. (8) this means that the literary artist draws his inspiration from the events happening around him. and it is for the reason of highlighting issues and making people become conscious of them that literature works into the problems inherent in society and equips people with the requisite knowledge to solve their problems. these problems which arise are manifested in all aspects of african life, ranging from the political, social, economic to the cultural; but the most prominent of them all is the political problem which is a by-product of all leadership patterns of those in control of power. it is a situation whereby the leader fails to realize or achieve desired or set objectives. of course, the ability to influence makes leaders highly sought after and valued by society. in african literary texts, greedy, tyrannical, despotic, self-centred and corrupt leaders are portrayed. it is the aim of this paper, therefore, to look into the treatment of these problems of leadership as explored by the literary artist, but with special reference to the concepts of tyranny and oppression in the work of helon habila. the novelist tried to arouse the people’s consciousness to the unhealthy nature of leadership patterns in africa, especially the military regimes. these military leaders are portrayed to be neck-deep in inefficiency, corruption, squandermania, betrayal of the hopes of the masses, dictatorial tendencies, intimidation, inhuman treatment of the masses, etc. meanwhile, it is of note that a benevolent and effective leader coordinates the efforts of people within his environment towards goal achievement. the effective leader influences the behavior of his people and motivates them to achieve the set goals of the administration. but this is not the case as we shall find out in helon habila’s novel, waiting for an angel. the theoretical approach for this study is marxism. marxism is a political and economic theory of karl marx and frederick engels that interpret history as a continuing economic class struggle and belief that eventual result would be the establishment of a classless society and communal ownership of wealth of the nation. marxism is summed up in encarta reference library as a theory in which class struggle is a central element in the analysis of social change in western societies. according to swingwood allen in his book the novel and the revolution, marxism maintains that a marxist writer is one who is conscious and fully aware of his own responsibility in the society. no pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain distanced from the oppressed (23). marxist analysis of novels falls on the relations among classes. in british and european novels of the nineteenth century, for example, class is a significant factor in the rise and fall of the fortunes of the characters; examples abound in the novels such as charles dickens’ little mouth, dombey and sons and oliver twist; george eliot and anthony makepiece thackery’svanity fair portray a panoramic vision of society with characters pressing to move up in social rank and status. these and other numerous novels from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries provide abundant territory for marxist perspectives to investigate the ways political and economic forces conspire to keep social, ethnic and racial groups in power and brought to bear must often on the novel, drama and poetry, where issues of power, money and political influence are not nearly as pervasive. the redford glossary of critical and literary terms by rose murfin and supriya m. ray define marxist criticism as: a type of criticism in which literary works are viewed as products of work and whose practitioners emphasis the role of class and ideology as they reflect, propagate and even challenge prevailing social order. rather than viewing them as repositories for hidden meanings. marxist critics view texts as material product of work and hence reading of production and consumption were. in short, literary works are views as products of work and hence reading of production and consumption were called economics (102). the marxist art, therefore, serves as a mirror with which the proletariats or the masses can see themselves and through which their social consciousness is developed. ngara emmanuel in his book art and ideology in african novel posits the term marxist art to refer to “works which depict reality from a marxist point of view. works which reflect the social structure of society and which present social struggle from the point of view of a class and promote the ideals of socialism” (17). this kind of art is geared towards a change in basic mode of production and this change in the mode of production will result in a change in the structure of social classes: the eventual overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of proletarian dictatorship. it is pertinent to note that during the years of proletarian dictatorship, this working class based literature took shape and evolved ideologically into a prominent position in world literature. some have ascribed this form of literature to marxist aesthetics and hereafter become popularly known as marxist literature. cornel ujowundu believes that marxist criticism is a special brand of sociological criticism which deals with the methods of production. its greatest proponents are karl marx and frederick engels in their theories on dialectical materialism. marxism sees the need to write literature based on social struggle. it uses society in two ways: the economic class and the individualistic or antagonistic class. politics and leadership challenges in habila’swaiting for an angel helon habila’s debut novel waiting for an angel has seven interconnected episodes each named after the narrator, or a major character or incident. the novel also explored among other things the themes of suffering, pain, disappointment, tyranny and oppression, poverty, dejection and the attendant consequences for the people of nigeria under a despotic leader. the novel is set in nigeria of the 1990s during the reign of military dictators. the use of real places and names of individuals established this fact. for instance, we see names of real places like lagos, jos, abuja, etc. real persons like dele giwa, ken sarowiwa, ibb, abacha, abdulsalam abubakar, etc, even real events like the famous bloody post-june 12, 1993 riots, the release of political detainees by abubakar in 1998, etc. the story is set in nigeria in the 1990s during the military regimes of ibrahim badamosi babangida, sani abacha and abdulsalami abubakar. it tells the story of the sufferings, pains an disappointments of the people personalized in the major character lomba, a young brilliant journalist though a school dropout. from lomba’s hard times in the prison (revealed by his diary of poems and letters meant to be sent to nobody), the history flows backwards in time, telling tales of lomba’s years in the university, about his first love alice, forced to marry an army general (ngai), about the university students’ agitation which led to the closure of the school and how lomba’s friend bola lost his parents and a sister in a fatal accident due to bad roads and went mad as a result, about a helpless lomba who lives in morgan street as a school dropout, jobless, wretched and helpless, about james, the humiliated and traumatized editor of the dial magazine who employed lomba in the art department, who dared the military dictators, had his office destroyed and his passport seized. he equally convinced lomba to cover the “peaceful” demonstration of the residents of poverty street. also, through kela, a fifteen year old boy, we learn more about the pains and disappointments of the residents of poverty street, lagos; about the resistance leader joshua, in love with his former pupil turned prostitute, about one-legged brother, who lost his leg in a fight with some soldiers, about madam godwill and nancy her servant who are both victims of the hard times. finally, about the demonstration by the residents of poverty street led by teacher joshua and covered by lomba, and which led to lomba’s arrest and subsequent imprisonment without trial. in fact, the novelist tells us about lomba and his experiences in the prison. here, the young man lomba languishes in prison under the supervision of the merciless warders and in the poor condition of nigerian prisons. at a time “in the middle of his second year in prison,” he started a diary. he wrote poems and letters to keep himself busy. but he was discovered and severely punished and thrown into the solitary cell. after this, the superintendent, muftau, made him write love poems which he (muftau) gives to his lover, janice. later, janice discovers that muftau did not write those poems himself, she decided to visit lomba and tells muftau that she will not marry him unless he gets lomba out of the prison and she says: “if you can’t do that, then forget you ever knew me.” but out of muftau’s selfishness, he refused to help him (30). habila uses “the angel” to expose the military dictatorship in nigeria in the 1990s, the difficulties of life under dictatorship in nigeria. here, the narrator sits in a bar one evening waiting for an angel – the angel of death, israfel – who conies in form of soldiers and shot the narrator. according to the narrator, “... it is not a soldier standing there. it is an angel.” (38). and as he bled to death he saw “a huge bird shape flying out of the bar and ascending with the sound of a thousand wings” (38). the university students agonizing situation, led by sankarah, stage a peaceful demonstration against the ibb’s military regime. as a result, the demonstration turns violent as the police try to repress them using tear gas and rubber bullets and later use real bullets. at last a student and a policeman die. many students are wounded. sankarah is arrested and the school closed. according to adegbite, “it was bloody brilliant” (39). to studies in the african novel, habila’s vivid, exciting and heart-wrenching debut novel opens a window into a world in some ways familiar with his sensuously depicted arrests, student lie, and the vibrant local characters, yet ruled in one of the world’s most corrupt and oppressive regimes, a scandal that ultimately drives lomba to take a risk in the name of something, the pains, shattered hopes and expectations, the betrayal, the energy, sensitivity, despair and stubborn hope of a new african generation with a combination of gritty realism and poetic beauty, saying: when i turn, it is not a soldier standing there. it is an angel. it opens its enormous wings and closes them again in a clapping motion. the air from the wings lifts me up and carries me all through the door. i land with a splash on the wet street, i am bleeding from the chest... (43-44) according to the observer newspaper in london, waiting for an angel “is graphic details of leadership problems in nigeria under military” (16). the newspaper further states that nigeria in the 1990s, the setting for the novel, was a police state of such sadistic violence, with human right abuses so staggering, that the country was expelled from the commonwealth of nations, and virtually every other country had sanctions against it. as the author says in the “afterword” to this stunning novel: there was nothing to believe in the only mission the military rulers had was systematically to loot the national treasure, and their only morality was a vicious survivalist agenda. in which any hint of disloyalty was ruthlessly crushed (226). “every hint” of dissent and every suspicion of democratic thinking by many of the country’s most gifted writers were repressed and the military government by sani abacha wiped out thinkers. the first portrayal of suffering, pain and disappointment in the novel was imprisonment of innocent people without trial; and how the writers explored the imprisonment of the protagonist named lomba, who is a political prisoner in nigeria. focusing primarily on lomba, a journalist and the frustrated novelist, who in the opening chapter is a starving political prisoner in a lagos jail, helon habila jumps back and forth in time, introducing us in succeeding chapters to the lives of ordinary citizens of lagos, men and women including lomba himself, on poverty street, trying to maintain some semblance of hope of an increasing hopeless world, a world filled with disillusionment and disenchantment. this is shown as the novelist portrays the poor state of morgan street and the country in general, marked by low standard of living of the citizens. women like lomba’s woman neighbours took to prostitution (85) while men like nkem took to smoking marijuana and stealing (85). there is no equality – the problem of fuel scarcity as cars queue around filling stations for days waiting for fuel (87). poverty street’s real name was morgan street, one of the many decrepit, disease-ridden quarters that dotted the city of lagos like ringworm on a beggar’s body y)92). there were hotels for sex and alcohol, and there were doorways and alley-mouths for marijuana and cocaine (92). brother, a poor tailor who lost his leg in an encounter with the soldiers and who dreams of becoming rich one day at the back of his shop, which is covered by garbage heaps and in front of the shop was a burst pipe – deliberately axed, which shot out water all day (96). lomba, jailed for two years without a trial as the novel opens, has gone beyond anger which he describes as “the baffled prisoner’s attempt to recrystallise his slowly dissolving self and entered a state of tranquil acceptance of his fate (4). when the jailer, muftau, finds the poems and journal entries he has written and hidden, he persuades lomba to write some love poems for the better educated woman he is courting. a brief ray of hope flickers when the woman recognizes lomba’s cryptic message and comes to prison to meet him. as ujowundu further states, lomba’s imprisonment appears as the first chapter, hence the reader experiences a sense of déjà vu throughout the reading of the novel as the action backtracks, forcing the reader to experience the event which led to the opening chapter and to wonder, if anything could have prevented lomba’s eventual imprisonment. the second portrayal of suffering, pains and disappointment in the novel is explored through the wanton killings of innocent citizens. the author shows us the effect of this dictatorial government on ordinary people who populate the country. though life is difficult and opportunities almost non-existent, the young people still have hopes and dreams. a second friend whose parents have been killed in a car crash is so grief-stricken that he makes an intemperate and realistic speech, then is arrested, severely beaten and driven insane with no chance of getting his own novel published. lomba himself takes a job, writing for the dial, for which he occasionally reports on political demonstrations, one of them a demonstration in which people peacefully protest the neglect of their neighbourhood. we are dying from lack of hope. his from lack of hope. the unarmed protesters are suddenly attacked by 50 armed riot police, teargas is exploded, the women and children killed by cars speeding on the adjacent highway (174). the third portrayal of sufferings, pains and disappointments as explored in waiting for an angel is human rights abuses, especially detentions without trial, depicting the everyday life and hopes and dreams of the participants. the leaders easily imagine what life must have been like during this time and can envision what his own life must have been under the same circumstances. but habila adds further reality to his depiction of life in nigeria under sani abacha by including some well-known historical events and their effects on lomba and the other fictional characters and hanging of ken sarowiwa, the killing of dele giwa, the editor of newswatch magazine by a letter bomb (151), and the shooting of the wife of abiola, the opponent of abacha who was jailed for challenging him. their human rights were abused because of the people in charge of their right. the novelist uses muftau the superintendent at the prison where lomba stays to reveal the selfishness and self-centredness inherent in human beings out of his wickedness makes lomba write love poems which he gives to his lover, janice. he could have helped lomba out of the prison but he did not because of his selfishness. and when janice asked him, he says, “i didn’t, i couldn’t, you know... i thought he was comfortable. and, he was writing the poems for you...” (31). muftau tells lomba, “don’t think because you are political detainee you are untouchable. wrong, you are all rats, saboteurs, anti-government rats...”(14). according to the narrator, “a lot of these political prisoners died in detention although only the prominent ones made the headlines – people like moshood abiola and general yar’adua (32). in fact, the poor masses did not only wallow in poverty but they live in total fear fear of the unknown. in describing the situation of things in the society, the narrator of the story entitled “the angel” says that the people “lock their doors and turn off their lights and peer tearfully through chinks in their windows at the rain-washed post-coup d’etat streets” (37). such is the fate of nigerians under military regimes. the hardship caused by the military rulers bring about poverty which in turn brings about moral corruption as the youth indulge in stealing, drug abuse and prostitution. for instance, nkem, lomba’s neighbor, has to steal to be alive and hagar has to be a sex hawker to survive, while brother and his friends took to smoking marijuana. this poverty is another aspect of sufferings and pains. there is smell of poverty throughout the story. the few military generals loot the public funds, while the poor masses become even poorer. it is written all over morgan street and its residents. even thing about this street and the people living in it is poor – the bad roads, the miserable houses, the street full of huge hills of refuse that overflowed and blocked the footbaths, etc. no wonder they changed the street’s name from morgan to poverty street. lomba, brother, hagar, nkem and even alice are victims of poverty in the novel. all these incidents of pain, sufferings and disappointments in the novel portray habila’s powerful defence of the freedom of the press and a celebration of the life of those courageous writers who have refused to be silenced, even when faced with death. as he says; “every oppressor knows that when one word is joined to another word to form a sentence, there will be revolt. that is our work, the media, to refuse to be silent, to follow legitimate criticism wherever we find it”(186). this moving study of idealistic young people refusing to give up even when faced with truths of their very lives is an unforgettable story of the human spirit waiting for an angel and sometimes meeting the angel of death. in his review of the novel in rhymes with orange, s.i. calhoun says: lomba is a young aspiring novelist who is struggling to jumpstart his writing career in the midst of chaos and rebellion in nigeria during the 1990s. the brutal and corrupt nigerian military government and their battle against pro-democracy demonstrations and sympathizers while simultaneously distancing themselves from other nations from the backdrop of this wonderful and poignant novel. although lomba does not actively join his classmates and colleagues in their dangerous protests for human rights and government accountability, yet he can’t help but be immensely affected by the political events unfolding around him: he is a bystander who quickly becomes a victim of the circumstances. calhoun further observes that: written in non-chronological order, waiting for an angel keeps the reader on edge even though the ending is revealed in the first chapter. this novel is a fresh and evocative first-person narrative into the political instability of nigeria and its effects on the everyday individual combining a mixture of historical people. this is an incredible, albeit horrifying circumstance. that habila has created wonderful highly textured characters that are at once believable and evoke reader empathy and emotion, as written in a previous preview, it is recommended to read the afterword first as it contains essential political context for this novel. furthermore, “reed business information,” an internet web under ‘clarksville.org” says: nigerian author habila’s debut novel is a noble account of how even the poorest and lowliest people must rise up against oppression regardless of the consequences. habila tells the story of lomba as he goes from student to failed novelist to journalist to political prisoner, trying to retain his dignity despite the corruption and violence that has contaminated every part of nigerian society. as, one by one, those he loves or cares about are battered, in one or another by the regime, lomba realizes that he must take action, however small, in order to remain the history of nigeria’s brutal juntas, it is habila’s fictionalization that reveals the true casualties of oppression better than any news account or history. ujowundu in his systematic analysis of the novel says: in fact, the novel opens in a nigerian prison where lomba, a young reporter, secretly writes poetry with a pencil and paper he’s forbidden to have. when the superintendent discovers lomba’s writing supplies, he has an odd request; he wants lomba to write love poems to his sweetheart. from lomba’s imprisonment, he story moves backward and a series of closely connected stories shows lomba’s life before his incarceration and the fateful choice – to report on a demonstration on poverty street – that leads to his arrest. violence and abject poverty surround lomba; his university roommate loses his grip on reality after the death of his family and falls victim to some brutal police officers. while his first love, alice, forces herself to marry a rich man who pays her mother’s hospital bills. lomba tries to hide from the reality of the world he lies in until an activist named joshua begs him to cover a demonstration he is leading. the oppressive atmosphere of nigeria in the 1990s drives habila’s powerful novel. all said and done, habila’s first novel captures the sufferings, the pains, the disappointments, the chaos and brutality of nigerians in 1990s under the rule of despotic military dictator gen. sani abacha. the story follows lomba, a quixotic political student in the capital city of lagos, who is trying to write a novel in his shabby tenement on morgan street (better known as poverty street) and covering arts for a city newspaper, the dial. soon, lomba’s roommate is attacked by soldiers, journalists are arrested all over the city and the dial offices are set on fire. lomba decides to take part in a pro-democracy demonstration. there, he is arrested and imprisoned for three years. the novel’s narrative moves back and forth in time, beginning with lomba’s life in prison and ending with the climatic events leading up to the arrest. some chapters are written in the third person, others narrated by lomba himself and still others by a high school student named kela, who lives near lomba on poverty street and crosses paths with him before the fateful demonstration. through their eyes, habila paints an extraordinary tableau of poverty street (“one of the many decrepit, disease-ridden quarters that dotted the city of lagos like ringworm on a beggar’s body”), bringing their sounds, sights and smells to life with his spare prose and flair for metaphor. kela’s aunt runs the godwills food genre restaurant. through his encounters with the patrons, as well as his activist english teacher, kela (and readers) learn about nigeria’s bloody postcolonial history. though somewhat marred by the abrupt, disorienting shifts among narrators and time periods, this is a powerful startling vivid novel. conclusion the novel under study portrayed the suffering, pains, disappointments and disillusionment of the people, as emanating from the leadership style of the ruling class. the insensitivity and lack of regards for the lives of the people were vividly explored. the novelists depicted the humiliating situations of the people struggling to survive in hostile environments and conflict-ridden societies. works cited amuta, chidi. towards a sociology of african literature. oguta: zim pan african publishers, 1986. awoonor, kofi. a survey of the history, culture and literature of africa, south of the sahara. lagos: nok publishers, 2005. calhoun, syl. i. rhymes with orangemarch 14, 2015. habila, helon. waiting for an angel. new york: penguin books, 2003. ifejirika, echezona. introduction to literary theory, criticism and practice. awka: mabcom systems, 2014. ngara, emmanuel, art and ideology in the african novel. heinemann, 1985. nnoli, charles e. the critics of african literature, african books collective, 2010. obiechina, emmanuel, language and theme: essays on african literature.washington: howard university press, 1990. swingewood, allen. the novel and the revolutionmacmillan, 2005. the observer, london: 10 may, 2017. ujowundu, cornel. a guide to studies in the novel. onitsha: sure success, 2009. ...basic study, communication and research skills. onitsha: bels books, 2005. wathiong’o, ngugi. homecoming. london: heinemann, 1992. ...writers in politics. london: heinemann, 1981. wikipedia worldwide. hughes review chimeka garrick’s tomorrow died yesterday, june 6, 2011. www.criticalliteraturereview.blog. www.rainbowbookclub.crg/index.php%3topt. the dialectics of elitist leadership in chinua achebe’s a man of the people and ayi kwei armah’s the beautiful ones are not yet born ngozi dora ulogu. & chika okpalike abstract leadership as a human endeavour and its impact on the people presents issues and disputations because certain leadership patterns are objectionable and antithetical to the common expectations of the people. these usually manifest in forms of tyrannical and autocratic leadership, bribery and corruption, selfishness and general abuse of power by the leadership. elitist leadership is usually political, in which case the people more often entrust power on a few assumed would-be influential individuals. these personalities present to be good leaders but incidentally on embracing the privileges of office thwart the initial good agenda and mission. the african continent contends with such issues of bad leadership and failed expectation of dividends. chinua achebe and ayi kwei armah in their respective texts, a man of the people and the beautiful ones are not yet born present perceived elitist leaders who ordinarily started well as individual members of their societies but shortly pursued personal goals. using a philosophical method of argument on the trajectory of hegelian principle of dialectics; the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, this paper makes a literary analysis of the incidents and patterns of leadership in the two mentioned texts. specifically, the paper investigates the chameleonic pattern in personality of the leaders and consequent failure of leadership, and sues for effectual leadership for the common good and for humanity. keywords: dialectics, leadership, thesis, antithesis, synthesis, elitist theory. introduction leadership in countries in africa has presented the picture of an enterprise fraught with problems that most times culminate in bad, selfish, corrupt and undemocratic dividends. countries like nigeria and ghana have over the years after their independence recorded unprecedented bad and ineffective tracks of leaders who were entrusted with the power of leadership by the people. this is in spite of the fact that such leaders are perceived to be elites who have through learning, effort, and assumed leadership qualities are seen as the best among others and are therefore elected on trust. political power is usually concentrated in the hands of these few elites as seen in most political parties with the hope and expectation of fair representation of the majority that elected them into power. however, this expectation has usually not been met due to the abuse of office and privileges by the so called elites and trusted leaders who betray that trust and rather choose to divert attention from the people to themselves. this situation births a nation enmeshed in poverty, bribery and corruption, autocracy and leadership crises. alluding to the leadership challenge in african countries, afegbua, et al, state that “most constituted governments in africa have been undergoing serious and deepening politico-economic crisis. these problems generated by political, social and economic instability and the prevalence of ethnic, communal and religious crisis, which have bedeviled africa, call our attention to the problems of leadership and governance in the content” (141). countries in africa experience conflicts in leadership caused by a multiplicity of issues including, the trusting to a fault of the elites and the constituting of power by inefficient minority. evidences abound that show that the bulk of the political leadership in these two countries, nigeria and ghana, are in the hands of elites, who are a minority, especially those with political affiliations. chinua achebe and ayi kwei armah are two african novelists who represent in their texts the elitist political leaders who on ascendancy to power thwart the people’s expectations and become larger than life through dictatorship and self-aggrandizement. incidents in achebe’s things fall apart show chief nanga, a former school teacher and headmaster, who gains a political seat by mere opportunity and shortly afterwards becomes enmeshed in political power and money to the detriment of the common people. similarly, the beautiful ones are not yet born represents events under nkrumah’s political party, the p.o.p. the minister, koomson on whom friends and relations reposed so much hope gets their hopes dashed in the height of his own selfishness. in one of these two scenarios, achebe captures issues in governance in the wider society while armah expresses individual, family and friends disillusionment and disappointment with their own who are in positions of power and authority. scholars and critics have widely explored burning issues of leadership failure, corruption and bribery, cultural heritage and others in the two texts. for example, dwelling on the magnitude of corruption in the text, john chukwuma ajakah in the essay “the corruption quagmire in armah’s the beautiful ones are not yet born” makes a satirical attack on the level of corruption in african countries, using situations in ghana. hence in this essay, ajakah exposes corruption in the text as a common issue in africa using ghana as a typical example of african state reeking of with corruption. he observes that armah reveals moral depravity in every stratum of society, using vivid descriptive images suggestive of stench and repugnancy. he further asserts that “corruption is the bane of a typical african society by dwelling on the politicians who usurp the power vested in them to pursue their pecuniary interests and bemoans the complicity of the public in the economic carnage and moral depravity saying that virtually everyone directly or indirectly aids and abets corruption” (john chukwuma ajakah online). the problem of corruption is usually manifest at the highest echelon of the political leadership. however, everyone is deemed culpable in the corruption saga in the african system and it needs collective effort of all to combat it. marvis thokozile macheka in the essay “post-colonial african leadership: a study of ayi kwei armah’s the beautiful ones are not yet born and chinua achebe’s a man of the people centers on the shift from democratic leadership to autocratic type of governance using textual analysis. the paper observes the poor socio-economic situation of an independent african society and notes that “the leaders abuse their posts to enrich themselves at the nation’s expenses’’ (14). the writer highlighted the continuity of colonialism after independence as occasioned by bad government as he further observes that “mostly the blame lies on endogenous factors such as corruption, nepotism, manipulation of media, mass apathy, politics of lies, demonization of democratic values, politics of deception and self-aggrandizement, ethnicisation of political and naturalization of election violence which in a sense, is not a fulfillment of expectations but, nightmare, an illusion that generated a false sense of survival” (15). the problem of bad leadership is therefore no longer with the colonial masters but has become an inhouse and internal malady with corrupt leaders who act against their very own. similarly aderinto s. i. abiodun highlighted the issue of corruption in ghana in the paper “the socio-economic and political implications of the various episodes of ayi kwei armah’s novel the beautiful ones are not yet born” as “exposing the destructive tendencies of the misuse of political power on the economy of most african countries” (23). it is unmistakable that most of the issues already raised around the beautiful ones are not yet born, are shades of corruption in governance and leadership. whereas kabiu ahmed in “a man of the people and the deferral of nation-building” argues that usually both the leadership and the seeming opposition constitute an obstacle to nation-building, using the two key contenders in the text, chief nanga and odili, he asserts that “the novel dramatizes the conscious and unconscious aspects of political motive within contending characters, odili samalu and chief nanga in their struggle for supremacy in a newly independent african country” (171). incidents in the narratives indicate that in the long run, both individuals seem to play their personal scripts as both become ambitious and desire to better their lot rather than that of the country. away from the issues on characters, saleh ahmad neimneh and amneh khahael hussein in the essay “intellectuals, politicians, and the public in chinua achebe’s a man of the people: a postcolonial critique” argue that independence is supposed to be a glorious period in the history of a nation, but it is presented in the novel as very gloomy. they observe that “a man of the people symbolizes the rift between the native intellectuals and the politicians in a politically turbulent nigeria and in the absence of an engaged public this national leadership in fanonian logic is neither fully prepared for nor seriously engaged in issues of nationhood” (19). these and other works on the two texts under review have left a gap that will be filled by this particular paper. and so, using elite theory of power and hegelian philosophical argument of dialectics, based on the three-pronged premise of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, the paper ascertains the fact that the majority usually entrust power on the elite minority consciously in expectation of good dividends. specifically the paper establishes the antithetical outcome of the expectations of the people as failure through the interactions and events in the texts. based on these contradictions in the anticipation and eventual outcome, the paper draws from the fact of the need for the majority to choose leaders based on antecedents of merit and efficiency rather than on political loyalty and association. theoretical analysis the thrust of this paper is the sociological and political framework of elite theory of power and leadership with specific impetus from hegelian dialectic on its triadic prong of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. these modes of philosophical argument examine power relationship between the leaders and the lead where leadership is viewed as a process, and an intentional influence rather than a position of power. a better understanding of such intentional influence is captured by the elite theory of power propagated by pioneer social scientists, vilfredo pareto (1848-1923) and gaetano mosca (1858-1941). they popularized the concept of elite “as a class of people who have the highest indices in their branch of activity” (puja mondal). these indices may include resourcefulness, influence or political alignment. the elite is also described based on the notion that “every society holds a ruling minority, a group that controls and disputes the most important power sources” (mathias lopez). these usually are a class of politicians and privileged personalities or individuals. gaetano mosca, an italian jurist and political theorist expounded the familiar thesis that “all human societies were always and everywhere ruled by a controlling social class and thus these are always divided between rulers and ruled. he believed that whatever the form of government, power would be in the hands of a minority who formed the ruling class” (puja mondal online). this establishes the fact of a class of ruling minority. hence, mosca created a “society where men will necessarily struggle for preeminence with each other, and that this competition for… control of the means and instruments that enable a person to direct many human activities …” (raymond barkley 97). this struggle is about power and authority over the affairs of the state and over the people. to give credence to this idea of power struggle, aregbesola oluwasegun posits: elite theory in political science and sociology is a theory of the state which seeks to describe and explain the power relationships in contemporary society. the theory posits that a small minority consisting of members of the political, economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power and that the power is independent of a state’s democratic electoral process through positions in corporations or on corporate boards, and positions with think-tanks or policydiscussion groups. (online). the fact arises therefore that a group of individuals emerge as political leaders holding power by occupying prominent positions. such groups form a minority in society and the majority is excluded from political decision-making. this exclusion and intimidation of the majority in the affairs concerning them present serious problems in political leadership. this scenario is well presented in the narratives of chinua achebe and ayi kwei armah depicting such influences and powers by the elite minority. worried about preponderance of failures of leadership by the elites, “vilfredo pareto theorized that over time a distinct psycho-social propensity-manifested by personality traits, mentalities, beliefs and actions become predominant in governing elites. these render them, especially their leaders, prone to bias, closure, rigidity and cumulating blunders” (john higley and jan pakulski 2). the elites while reliving and leveraging on the privileges of office in no time begin to derail from the set objectives of collective interest and get stuck in self-aggrandizement and personal interests. dwelling on the standpoint of hegelian dialectic in understanding the scenario, the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy defines dialectic as “a method of philosophical argument that involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides” (online). further elucidation of the concept of hegelian dialectic in philosophy: history and problems as a method posits that: hegel’s dialectic process exhibits a triadic movement. usually this triadic structure of the dialectic process is described as a movement from thesis to antithesis and finally to synthesis, after which the synthesis becomes a new thesis, and this process continues until it ends in the absolute idea. what hegel emphazied in his dialectic logic was that thought moves and that contradiction, rather than bringing knowledge to a halt, acts as a positive moving force in human reasoning.(stumpf 329). hegel emphasizes a movement of thought or argument in arriving at a better acceptable position. hence, the arguments in the narratives fit perfectly to highlight the ills of bad elitist leaderships and sustain the dialogue so as to arrive at a shift in the process. hegel calls the dialectic method, the triad of “being”, “nothing”, and “becoming” (stumpf 239). the thesis postulates that “the most general concept we can form about things is that they are” (330). hence, the thesis of this paper, the “being”, is the fact of elitist political leadership in nigeria and ghana, and other african countries. here, “the antithesis is contained in the thesis, being” (331) whereby the fact of non-delivery of the expected leadership dividend is taken from the fact that the polity is rife with a select imprudent minority leaders. the argument further posits that the concept of “becoming” is the unity of “being” and “nothing” … it is one idea. becoming is therefore the synthesis of being and nothing” (331). the argument of “nothing” and “becoming” taken from the texts of the discussion posit that there is failed political leadership in the african continent with the proposition for a better selfwilled individuals that have the common interest of the people. hence, “at each step, hegel sets forth a thesis from which is deduced its antithesis, this thesis and antithesis then find their unity in a higher synthesis. in the end, hegel arrives at the concept of the “absolute idea”, which he describes in accordance with the dialectic method, as becoming, as a process of self-development” (stumpf 331). these arguments are set to underlie the process of ascension to good democratic, inclusionary and consultative kind of leadership to bad, corrupt and selfish political elitist leadership taking instances from the texts of chinua achebe and ayi kwei armah. the synthesis will suggest plans for a better democratic and visionary leadership on the continent of africa. textual analysis of antithetical dialectics of elitist leadership the texts under study present problematic leadership style manifesting shifts from hope and trust to hopelessness and disillusionment. this is because most leadership patterns are objectionable and antithetical against the expectations of the people. the antithesis or otherwise, the disputation and the contrast of ideas and events in the narratives placed side by side identifies a twist of movement and process from assumed form of leadership to eventual political leadership. the elitist leaders are expected by the people to respect these codes of contract, but the process of leadership changes in the course of leveraging the privileges of office. these mutations from the goals and motives of leadership for the general good to individual undemocratic reliving of self-aggrandizement and eventual disappointment of the masses are presented in a man of the people and the beautiful ones are not yet born. chief nanga, the teacher turned minister first appears to the people as a conscientious leader, he is called a man of the people due to his initial personality as a politician. he gained the trust of the masses such that, “no one can deny that the honourable m. a. nanga m. p. was the most approachable politician in the country. whether you asked in the city or in his home village, anata, they would tell you he was a man of the people” (a man of the people 1). so with this level of trust and accolade from the people, chief nanga begins the journey to political leadership. prior to this, chief nanga had a good reputation as a teacher. this antecedent is revealed by one of his pupils, odili, who narrates thus: sixteen years or so ago he has been my teacher in standard three and something like his favourite pupil. i remember him then as a popular, young and handsome teacher, most impressive in his uniform as scoutmaster. there was on one of the walls of the school a painting of a faultlessly handsome scout master wearing an impeccable uniform. i am not sure that the art teacher who painted the picture had mr. nanga in mind. there was no facial resemblance; still we called it the picture of mr. nanga. it was enough that they were both handsome and that they were both impressive scoutmasters. (a man of the people 2-3). as an impressive scoutmaster, mr. nanga possessed fine traits including, integrity as enshrined in the scouting motto and slogan “to be prepared always”. mr. nanga as a school teacher providing educational leadership presented good and people oriented leadership. to also affirm his famed humility, chief nanga while exchanging pleasantries with the teachers assured them of his resolve to take care of the teachers saying, “i am not as happy as when i was a teacher” … i use to regret it. teaching is a very noble profession … you can rest assured that those of us in the cabinet who were once teachers are in full sympathy with you” (a man of the people 10). this speech from chief nanga as a newly elected minister is simply but a revelation of the spirit of inclusion expected of good leadership. koomson in ayi kwei armah’s the beautiful ones are not yet born did not have any known prominent status before he ventured into politics. the least antecedent he had as revealed by the man was that “koomson was my classmate. he was not very intelligent, he was actually stupid” (the beautiful ones are not yet born 59). even without any known intellectual prowess or educational experience, koomson was able to command acceptance from the people. he simply enjoys the admiration and trust of the people who rely on him for their livelihood and financial empowerment. thus, oyo and her mother do not stop at reasoning but only believe that “brother joe”, “his excellency joseph koomson, minister plenipotentiary, member of the presidential commission, hero of socialist labour … something about a boat. the way oyo’s mother tells it, he is just going to buy a lot of fishing boats and give them to her” (56-57). the man who is surprised at the popularity koomson is already gaining among his people expresses his surprise that “i didn’t know koomson had enough money to buy even one boat. those things cost thousands … i had taken a piece of paper to calculate koomson’s total salary since he joined the party. now i dropped the paper and said, “oh i see … i have seen corruption and public theft” (58). this ostentation and flagrant thrust of political power and wealth newly acquired plunges the politician into the antithesis of the real or actual expected leadership. odili describes as “primitive loyalty” what he discovers to be chief nanga’s change of status, being now a politician by the flamboyant convoy and extensive show of jubilation by the mass of people who trooped out to welcome the minister on his visit to anata. he remarks: as soon as the minister’s cadillac arrived at the head of a long motorcade the hunters dashed this way and that and left off their last shots, throwing their guns about with frightening freedom. the dancers capered and stamped filling the dry season air with dust. not even grammar phone’s voice could be heard over the tumult. the minister stepped out bearing damask and gold chains and acknowledging cheers. (achebe 8). the ordinary people go out of their way to organize a resounding welcome ceremony using their meager resources in anticipation of rewarding dividends. ironically, the poor masses impoverish themselves more. a similar scenario plays out as the family of the man anticipates and prepares the reception of koomson in their house. the man and his wife in spite of their level of poverty are happy spending a lot of money making expensive shopping and preparing food so as to impress on the honourable minister who plans to visit them, a situation captioned thus: the day before, going into the shops with his new money in his pocket, he had had the uncontrollable feeling somewhere in the back of his mind that the expensive things he was buying would deepen the agony of his next passion week. when he had asked for all that white man’s food, the beautiful long rice in the packet with thousands of miles from rich people’s countries, and the new zealand butter, he had known it was stupid to be feeling so good just because he was buying these things he could not in the end afford, yet he could not help the smile that came to his lips and spread this feeling of well-being over all his body. (armah 115) in both instances, the poor majority are shown to derive joy in adding to their suffering to please the so called elitist leaders all in the expectation of being rewarded for their effort. this action receives confirmation by gaetano mosca and max weber’s postulation in elite theory that “emphasizes the ways in which tiny minorities out-organize and outwit large majorities adding that “political classes” mosca’s term for political elites usually have certain material, intellectual, or even moral superiority over those they govern” (john higley online). this superiority mentality is the result of inferiority complex and submissiveness of the majority who over-reach themselves to endorse the presumed leaders, hence, odili’s notion of “primitive loyalty’’. hegel’s dialectics presents the contradiction in the process of attaining leadership status and the actual delivery of the mandate. thus, chief nanga the teacher-assumed minister and chief koomson the nonentity and member of presidential commission present the contradiction of expected and failed leadership as political leaders. chief nanga relishing the juicy election and appointment as minister becomes the opposite of the apathetic teacher and minister he had presented in the beginning. he desires money and power over every other need and fails to provide the needed leadership for the people. he intimidates the people using his political powers and callously withdraws his help from the urua people for merely having their son odili as his political opponent. odili has refused chief nanga’s offer of money and scholarship in order to withdraw from pursuing his political ambition. nanga plots a punitive action against odili for insisting on contesting the election. he ensures a development of “anonymously removing” samalu hezekiah his father as chairman of p.o.p from office for subversive, antiparty activities” (a man of the people 148) and accusing him of tax evasion. this is intended to intimidate odili and his father. chief nanga goes on to the consternation of the villagers, to molest the villagers too when “seven public works lorries arrived in the village and began to cart away the pipes they had deposited several months earlier for projected rural water scheme” (149). this singular act of swooping on the people and reneging on the promises made to them is the very antithesis of the expectations of elitist leadership. bernard dickson captures and condemns this scenario noting that “chief nanga employs coercion and intimidation to make the urua community to renege on their promise to vote their son, odili instead of chief nanga” (uujel 238). this among several incidents and behaviours of the leadership impinge on the very soul of the people, causing disappointment and disillusionment. such disappointments are revealed on the individual and family levels of relationships. they depict the insensitivity of the leaders to the people’s plight and echo their lust for power and money. koomson, after all the promises to provide fishing boats for oyo and her mother reneges on the ground that spending thousands of pounds for a boat is expensive and may attract peoples’ condemnation. he mutters: “there is a lot of money to be made in it, but start something, and fools will start shouting slogans at you” (the beautiful ones 136). all these are mere deceit as koomson and his wife estella spend even much more for their comfort. this is quite in contrast of a man whose house arouses in the poor the desire to admire the beauty as exclaimed by oyo that “there were things here for a human being to spend a lifetime desiring … things of intricate and obviously expensive design.…” (144).with these expansive comforts, koomson and his wife denied oyo and her mother what could have been their life changing opportunity their disappointment is obvious although “even the old woman seemed gradually to have resigned herself to the knowledge that what koomson had come offering her was not the rainbow that would forever end the darkness of her life and her daughter’s life” (152). even after koomson deceitfully framed allocation of a boat to oyo, the boat is seen to be dysfunctional. it was observable that “what happened was that from time to time koomson would remember the ones who were supposed to be for the eyes and ears of the prying world, the owners of his boat, and send one of his drivers with some fish for oyo’s mother or for oyo herself” (152). the meanness of the politicians is unmistakable in koomson who cannot extend kindness freely to the people but rather glories in rationing or apportioning small inconsistent portions to the people but would go all the way to satisfy their personal wants. that is why koomson and his wife estella can afford “foreign exchange for the sister in london who has fallen in love with a jaguar, and who is going to kill herself if she can’t have it” (149). this shows a typical self-focused african leader who is enmeshed in favouritism. against a situation as this, aderinto s. i. abiodun observes that the “character of koomson in the novel depicts the way african politicians siphon public funds to enrich themselves at the expense of the ordinary people” (23). but this insensitivity to the plight of the common people forms the bedrock of the leaders’ nemesis. the narratives confirm the fact that political elites appropriate to themselves the common treasury for their selfish ends. the continued oppression and exploitation of the people build up resentment. the discontentment was so strong that “everyone after the coup began to shake their heads at the excesses of the last regime, at its graft, oppression and corrupt government” (achebe166). such feelings of spite and relief come about as these mindless and autocratic leaders are overthrown. for example, the people made a caricature of them and expressed joy and support of the army. similar expression pervaded ghana as nkrumah was toppled in a coup. the people expressed “their loyalty to the new men of power singing old songs with the words changed from the old praise for nkrumah to insults for him” (158). both chief nanga and koomson exited offices in a coup d’tat in most humiliating manners, to the excitement of the masses, “for chief nanga himself was arrested trying to escape by canoe dressed like a fisherman” (achebe 165). the news of the coup in the beautiful ones are not yet born mocks political leaders and big party men who are being arrested and “placed in something called protective custody already a new name for old imprisonment without trial” (157). it is evident that most elitist political leaders end up badly as they are usually caught up in the web of their greed. it is a precarious situation as it seems commonplace that the politicians show their true selves as soon as in power, in a vicious cycle. this by extension is a continuation of the africa’s way of life since not even the coups have solved the problem of corrupt leadership. conclusion leadership as a process recycles and does not leave a space, as it establishes constant fear of the people on the recycling of a minority power-thirsty leaders. the thesis of the dialectics is that elitist leaderships are resourced, able, and capable of quality leadership. while the antithesis proves that such leaders turn the fortunes of the state against the masses as soon as they ascend positions of leadership. the synthesis advocates that leaders should be schooled in the art of leadership through self-study, education, training and experience. it is like saying that elites, especially political elites who get into leadership as party loyalists or by political party alliance are not likely to make good leaders. this paper therefore, posits that the problem of corrupt and failed political leadership can get better when the citizenry collectively participate in the election process, and when eligible electorates begin to endorse individuals with manifest common interest, desire and will-power, rather than endorsement on the basis of influence and party loyalty as it has been the case in the african political space. works cited abiodun, aderinto s. i. the socio-economic and political implications of the various episodes of ayi kwei armah’s novel the beautiful ones are not yet born, global journal of human social sciences, arts and humanities psychology vol. 14 issue 3 version 1.0. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6305/b847a2079a. pp. 32-36. 2014. achebe, chinua. a man of the people. ibadan, heinemann educational books, 1966. afegbua, salami issa and kehinde david adejuwon. “the challenges of leadership and governance in africa”. international journal of academic research in business and social sciences. vol. 2. no. 9. www.hrmars.com/journals. pp.141-157. 2012. ahmed, kabir. “a man of the people and the deferral of nation building” okike: an african journal of new writing, number 57. golden jubilee edition, pp.171-179. 2018. ajakah, chukwuma john. the corruption quagmire in armah’s the boanyb. vanguard. jan. 21. https://www.vanguard.com/2018/01/corruption.quagmire_armah. 2018. armah, ayi kwei. the beautiful ones are not yet born. ibadan, heinemann educational books, 1969. barkley, raymond. “the theory of the elite and the mythology of power”. jstor. https://www.jstor.org. 1955 dickson, bernard. political transformation in the nigeria novel: a postcolonial study of achebe’s a man of the people, aluko’s chief the honourable minister and akpan’s the crumb eaters” journal of english and literature (uujel) uyo. vol. 1. pp.235-250. 2017. edward, jason. “elite theory” wiley online library https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/full/10.1002. 2014. higley, john. “pareto’s theory of elite cycles. a reconstruction and application” https://ecpr.eu/filestore/paperproposal/8a8do2ec.57a9-4b. macheka, thokozile marvis. an evaluation of post colonial africa leadership: a study of ayi kwei armah’s the beautiful ones are not yet born, and chinua achebe’s a man of the people. academic journals, vol. 5(1). https://www.academicjournals.org/ijel. pp.14-18. 2014. masciulli joseph, mikhail a. molchanor and w. andy knight. “political leadership in context” ashgate research companion. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237607547_political_leadership. 2009. neimneh, saleh, ahmad shadi and amneh khalael hussein abussamen. “intellectuals, politicians, and the public in chinua achebe’s a man of the people: a post colonial critique 2017. arab world english journal (awej) for translation and literary studies vol. i. pp. 18-31, 2017. oluwasegun, aregbesola michael. “explaining the concept of the nigerian elite: the elite theorists perspective.” https://www.academia.edu/481/4815834/explaining the concept 2013. stumpf, samuel. philosophy: history and problems. new york; mcgraw-hill books, 1966. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 112 indigenous language and songs for effective transmission of traditional knowledge pauline c. nwizu department of languages and humanities school of general studies alvan ikoku federal college of education, owerri & chinyere b. onyemaechi department of nigeria languages and linguistics school of arts alvan ikoku federal college of education, owerri abstract: indigenous knowledge is native to a region hence environmentally based as well as orally transmitted. indigenous language which is also native becomes a veritable tool for transmission of such knowledge. in recent times, most of our indigenous knowledge has been colonized, modernized, and globalized thereby losing our rich cultural heritage which is embedded in our indigenous knowledge system. this paper tries to explain the meaning of indigenous knowledge, the relationship that exists between indigenous knowledge and indigenous language, some challenges facing the use of indigenous language for transmitting indigenous knowledge. it also x-rays how some igbo rhymes and songs could be used to teach morals and cultural value as part of indigenous knowledge. finally, the paper ends with conclusion and recommendations. keywords: language, song, transmission, knowledge posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 113 1.0 introduction indigenous knowledge is an emerging area of study that focuses on the ways of knowing , seeing and thinking that are passed down orally from generation to generation. these ways of understanding reflects thousands of years of experimentation and interaction in topics like agriculture, animal husbandry, child rearing practices, education system, medicine and natural resource management among many other categories. these ways of knowing are particularly important in the era of globalization in time in which indigenous knowledge as intellectual property is taking new significance in the search for answers to many of the world’s most vexing problems: disease, famine, ethnic conflict, and poverty. indigenous knowledge has value not only for the culture in which it develops but also for scientist and planners seeking solution to the community’s problem. development professionals treasure this local knowledge finding it extremely useful in solving complex problems of health, education agriculture and environment both in developed and in developing countries. indigenous knowledge reflects a community’s interest, norms, beliefs and general philosophy of life etc. some communities even depend on them for survival. for instance, awka is known for blacksmithing, akwaete for weaving, oguta for fishery, ohaji for good garri, etche for quality fufu, mbaise for their abigbo cultural dance, arondizuogu and nsukka for mmonwu (masquerade) etc. indigenous knowledge serves as a means of preserving cultural heritage as well as a veritable tool for transmission of knowledge based on accumulation of empirical observations and interactions. in many african communities indigenous knowledge is available in form of words, sounds, images and objects that were generated by the members of the community across ages / generations through performances, conversations and various creative activities. 2.0 indigenous knowledge and language the transmission of knowledge cannot be done in isolation to language. therefore, when we talk of transmission of indigenous knowledge, the best instrument to use is indigenous language. okere (2006:27) describes language as the verbalization of ideas or ideas in words. he opines that it is in language and with language that all knowledge plays its self out. for him, trying to obtain posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 114 education and knowledge through a foreign language is for most people a frustrating obstacle. the assertion shows that using indigenous language enhances the transmission of knowledge especially traditional because it makes it more real for the learner. nwadike (2008.48) affirms that a people renouncing their language are doomed to stagnation and even retrogression and to disappear completely as a people. in line with this, ezikeojiaku in anasiudu et al (2007:114) says: “using foreign language in cultivating scientific literacy makes the nigerian nay, the african regards science as foreign and therefore somehow not indigenous to him”. this attitude to science education will drastically change if scientific knowledge is imparted through the medium of the indigenous language. “in this way, science and technology will acquire an indigenous scientific culture which will speed up her economic development”. this assertion is true because an individual naturally acquires his or her indigenous language with little or no effort. every normal child is born with the language acquisition device (lad) which enables him/her to acquire basic knowledge about the nature and structure of the language to which he/she is exposed to right from infancy. anyanwu and ikonne in anasidu et al (2007) argues that one of the advantages of l1 indigenous language to a learner is that the child tries to categorize his environment using his/her indigenous language (l1). by this, it means identifying most objects, actions, ideas, attributes etc first in his indigenous language. in this way, indigenous language plays an important role in molding the child’s early concepts in life. this is in line with the view of the national educational research council (nerc) (1971) which holds that “nigerian children will develop in curiosity, manipulative skills, spontaneous flexibility, initiative, industry and manual dexterity if they are taught through the use of their l1 (indigenous language). anyanwu (2007:236) argues that: the indigenous language (l1) of a child carries its culture with it; hence educating the child in it, gives the child the opportunity to be part of the cultural orientation of his l1. thus a child whose early education is acquired through the use of his l1 does not get alienated from the cultural values embedded in his l1”. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 115 for banjo in uzozie (2011:97) “development is about people {and} if development is all about people, then we must of necessity seek to empower them by making them draw inspiration from their very root…. since indigenous knowledge cuts across traditional technology, culture, agriculture, ecological knowledge, ethno-botany etc, indigenous language therefore becomes a veritable tool for the transmission of such knowledge. it is obvious that certain terminologies and expressions cannot adequately be interpreted or glossed in foreign languages because such traditional knowledge may not be in existence in such foreign places. for example, some igbo herbs like: nkwugbuaruru, korikori, mmimimuo, ubogu, utazi, uziza, akugbara, nwanyiobioma, oritangele. these are used in preparing special igbo traditional menu. they have no english translation because they are purely indigenous and peculiar to igbo natives. for the farm implements and cooking utensils, most of the items and their names are no longer in use because the younger generations appear not to show interest in such knowledge and the older ones who are the custodians of such knowledge are dying out. 3.0 review of related literature on indigenous knowledge so many people have tried to define indigenous knowledge from different perspectives, the reason being that one person’s indigenous knowledge could be another’s global knowledge. however one thing is common to all these definitions of indigenous knowledge. it has been seen as the expression of locally owned and adapted knowledge of a community, where the community is defined by location, culture, language or area of interest (global knowledge partnership 2005). pakenham (2001:9) sees indigenous knowledge as not only the original research and expression of local knowledge but also a complex process of access, interpretation, synthesis and repackaging of local and global knowledge. akinde (2008:8) defines indigenous knowledge as the expression; access and exchange of local knowledge in both local and foreign languages whereby the accessibility of the information for both the community are increased and in the process enhance respect for local culture and identity. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 116 4.0 indigenous knowledge and music. music naturally characterized with the power of expression, a relative function with what language does. that creates a relationship between language and music, for instance, agu (2010) notes that “the level of relationship between music and language appears to be the hallmark of africans music theory, practice and performance”. idolor (2011:9) opines that: teachers who apply music to their lessons not only achieve a lively session, but speed up the rate of assimilation of learners. one solid way to increase the speed at which people learn is with music. this learning is without stress and fear of failure and therefore, makes learning permanent in learners that so long as the melody can be remembered, the content comes to mind. since traditional knowledge is orally transmitted using rhymes and songs from one generation to another, it makes them enshrined in the child’s memory so that even when he/she grows, he will not easily forget. 5.0 using igbo traditional rhymes to teach health science 5.1 personal hygiene: the teacher uses this rhyme to teach the pupils how to keep their bodies clean. indigenous language (igbo) english onye nkuzi lele isi m teacher inspect my head lele isi m inspect my head lele isi m inspect my head onye nkuzi lele isi m teacher inspect my head mara ma o di ocha and see whether it clean posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 117 onye nkuzi lele eze m teacher inspect my teeth lele eze m inspect my teeth lele eze m inspect my teeth onyenkuzi lele eze m teacher inspect my teeth mara ma ha di ocha and see whether they are clean onye nkuzi lele mbo m teacher inspect my nails lele mbo m inspect my nails lele mbo m inspect my nails onyenkuzi lele mbo m teacher inspect my nails mara ma ha di ocha and see whether they are clean onye nkuzi lere uwe m teacher inspect my clothes lele uwe m inspect my clothes lele uwe m inspect my clothes onye nkuzi lele uwe m teacher inspect my clothes mara ma o di ocha and see whether it is clean 5.2 discipline: the teacher uses this song to teach the young people how to obey without hesitation. it also draws the attention of the pupils on the consequences of disobedience. indigenous language (igbo) english onye elele anya n’azu oo nobody should look behind oo mmonwu anyi na-abia n’azu (2times) our masquerade is coming behind onye lee anya n’azu, if anyone looks behind, our mmonwu anyi achabie ya isi masquerade will cut off his/her head posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 118 5.3 perseverance/ patience: perseverance/patience is one of the characteristic of the igbo people. the teacher uses this song to teach the children how to be patient and persevere in every good thing they do. indigenous language (igbo) english igu akwukwo na-ato uto education is good o na-ara ahu na mmuta it is difficult to learn onye nwere nkasi obi he who perseveres o ga amuta akwukwo will be able to learn para akpa n’isi carrying the bag on the head didinke dinke didinke dinke 6.0 challenges of indigenous language as a useful tool for transmission of indigenous knowledge 6.1 illiteracy in the use of the indigenous language (language gap): based on the value place on the use of english language by this present generation, most people have lost the terminologies used for local herbs, tools crafts and skills generally. for example, a situation where someone may know a herb without knowing its name. 6.2 lack of proper documentation: since indigenous languages are mostly transmitted orally, majority of the earlier custodians of indigenous knowledge could not document them so they die with such knowledge. dialectal variation: what is obtained in a particular environment may not be obtainable in another, so one may know what a particular thing is called in his/her dialect without knowing it in other people’s dialects. 7.0 summary/conclusion it is a known fact that music facilitates learning in terms of recall and long term memory but knowledge of any kind cannot be done in isolation to language. even posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 119 music plays itself in languages. indigenous languages enhance the transmission of knowledge especially indigenous knowledge since it is environmentally based and orally transmitted. indigenous language carries with it the culture of its owners which gives a child an enabling environment to be part of the cultural orientation of his first language and makes him conversant with the cultural and moral values embedded in his indigenous language. trying to teach indigenous knowledge using foreign languages makes an individual a stranger to what he lives with everyday. indigenous language therefore becomes a veritable tool for the transmission of indigenous knowledge which goes along with cultural and moral values. however, this is not without challenges. this paper has tries to highlight some of the challenges facing the use of indigenous language in the transmission of indigenous knowledge using some rhymes and songs. 8.0 recommendations  stakeholders of various indigenous languages should endeavor to encourage the teaching and learning of indigenous languages at all levels in every institution.  interesting programs that encourage teaching and learning of moral and other cultural values such as wrestling, tales by moonlight etc should be encouraged and featured in television, radio stations and other media house on regular basis  standardization of various indigenous terminologies that cut across indigenous languages should be done by linguistic experts to minimize dialectical variations.  government agencies such as museums, craft centers and individuals who are involved in the teaching of arts, culture and socio-linguistics should enhance such through the use of teaching aids like tape recorders, video, projector etc. the older generation should be encouraged to spend time with the younger ones to enable them educate the younger ones on some of the indigenous knowledge. proper documentation of information embedded in traditional knowledge should be encouraged. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 120 references agu, d.c (2010). foundations of pragmatics: the primacy of language in african music theory, practice and education in journal of association nigerian musicologist. no.4 pp.10-18. akinde , t.a. indeginous knowledge dissemination and use: a discuss somaro journal of information studies vol.8 2008 pp 8-11. anyanwu, n.o and ikonne, u.a (2007). enhancing use of l1 in education; methods/strategies in language and literature in a developing country. essays in honour of prof benson o.a oluikpe. in anasudu b.n (ed). ezikeojiaku, p.a (2007) indigenous languages for science and technology. in language and literature in a developing country. pp114-122. idolor, e. (2011) exploitation of music for effective teaching of languages in african schools. pp 1-19 in nka, a journal of the school of arts. alvan ikoku federal college of education. owerri. no. 13 november, 2011. nwadike, i.u (2008) igbo language and culture: wither bound in r.n umeasigbu (ed). chief dr f.c. ogbalu memorial lectures 1&3. awka; versity publishing company ltd. national educational research centre (1971). okere, t.i (2006). the philosophy of indigenization in t.i okere and c.a. njoku (eds). towards indigenization of education in africa. pp 23-29. pakenham.n(2001) relevance –based medical knowledge: local creation and adaptation to local needs. inasp newsletter no20, june 2002, pg 9 the pennsylvania state university interinstitutional consortium for indigenous knowledge,( 2012) www.icik.psu.edu/psull/icik/aboutik.html uzozie, r.u. (2011). nigerian english and literature: selected essays. awka; fab aniah nigeria ltd. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 66 documentation of dirge songs among the amokwe orji people of nigeria linda chinelo nkamigbo & ngozi christiana agu nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, anambra state introduction language documentation or documentary linguistics came into existence as a result of an urgent need to preserve endangered languages or endangered aspects of languages. language documentation is an important tool for preserving languages especially endangered languages or endangered aspects of a language. it is this increasing phenomenon of language endangerment that has led to the emergence of documentary linguistics. therefore if endangered languages are not adequately documented, there would be nothing to prove the existence of such a language. himmelmann (2006) views language documentation as a subfield of linguistics concerned with the methods, tools and theoretical underpinnings for compiling a representative and lasting multi-purpose record of a natural language or one of its varieties. similarly, woodbury (2003) claims that language documentation is concerned with the making and keeping of records of the world’s languages and the ways in which they are used. for woodbury, language documentation came up alongside major changes in the technology of linguistic data representation and an increasing focus on the threats posed to languages by endangerment. language documentation is not what a researcher delves into without having a particular reason(s) in mind. there are basically three essential reasons for engaging in language documentation according to himmelmann (2006). these reasons are: language endangerment, the economy of research resources, and accountability. today a substantial number of the languages spoken in the world are threatened by extinction and if they are not properly documented, there would be nothing to refer to such languages in the nearest future. some languages are not endangered in the real sense but certain varieties of such languages could be endangered. owners of endangered languages and endangered language varieties are aware of the phenomenon so, they readily welcome language documenters. macri (2006), in affirmation of the above notion, says that those who really appreciate language documentation are those whose language or aspect of the language is endangered. it is in view of the objectives of documentary linguistics that this study sets out to document a cultural aspect of the people of amokwe orji the dirge songs. amokwe orji is a community located at udi local government area of enugu state, nigeria. the phenomenon of dirge songs is an important cultural aspect of the amokwe orji community. regrettably, these dirge songs are gradually going into extinction due to the advent of christianity and civilization. the younger generation is no longer interested in the dirge songs. djs, cds, computers and other musical instruments are gradually over taking dirge songs. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 67 dirge songs in general are songs that express sorrow usually rendered at the funeral of the deceased. according to ogene (2010:8), “a dirge is an oral poetry that is meant to be sung at the burial or funeral of a person. it is shorter than the elegy hence makes a direct remark and expression of feelings”. for okorie (2005:39) “a dirge is understood to be a song that mourns the death of someone”. dirge songs in amokwe orji are rendered at the funeral of a woman or a teenage girl only. this is to say that dirge songs are not sung for men in this speech community. again, it is only women that perform dirge songs in this community. muti (2003) points out that the performance of dirge songs is mostly a woman’s affair in the form of songs and dances sometimes. the most identifiable and outstanding literary quality of the dirge songs is repetition. these repetitions are not monotonous neither are they due to hindrance in thought rather a means of emphasizing salient point that mourners might wish to express. review of previous related literature the issue of language endangerment has motivated some researchers and documenters into various practical works on language documentation. these works are mostly on languages that are already endangered. urua (2012) in contributing her own quota to the preservation of endangered languages conducted a documentation project on dirge songs among the uruan people of nigeria. the documentation centered on the dirge which is a ritual funeral eulogy performed by elderly women and professionals at the demise of a family or community member and also performed during a terrible disaster. these dirges were traditionally used at funerals in this community but it is rarely practiced these days because of a shift to western funeral customs and has been a highly endangered cultural aspect of this language. in the same vein, ajuwon (2010) conducted a documentary work entitled “the preservation of yoruba tradition through hunter’s funeral dirges”. his documentation covered different cultural performances in yoruba land. these cultural aspects of the yoruba people are seriously threatened by extinction. the most endangered is the hunter’s dirge which celebrates the loss and fame of a particular hunter. his major aim was to preserve some of these cultures for the future generations. still on the issue of documenting endangered languages, vallejos (2010) documented aspects of the kokama language which is a deeply endangered language from the peruvian amazon. the research revealed that the few remaining fluent speakers of the language are mostly older than sixty years of age and use the language in very restrictive situations. then again, children no longer learn the language. in this case, one can understand and appreciate the level of work done by vallejos in trying to preserve the language of this particular speech community. another interesting project in language documentation is that done by kaddo (2013). the project involved a basic documentation of migaama. migaama is a chadic language of the east branch spoken in the vicinity at the centre of the republic of chad. this language is severely endangered. the speakers of the language migrated to other communities during their civil war. the young people, on the other hand, prefer to speak arabic or french. these and other reasons caused a breach in the continuity of the language current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 68 thereby resulting in endangerment. kaddo’s major interest in this project is on the literary genres of the language. kabisch-lindenlaub (2011) tried to document the golpa language. her project called “the analysis of the golpa stories”, aimed at producing an annotated and illustrated golpa story book about the people, their land and culture. golpa is a severely endangered yolnga language spoken in elcho island, northern territory, australia. most of the stories in the book are part of a huge collection of audio recordings made back in the 1960s by b. schebeck. these texts were never analysed until the onset of this project. there are only few golpans left who still speak and understand the language to a considerable extent. language documentation is an important tool in preserving endangered languages. a great number of the world’s languages are threatened by endangerment; hence language documentation came into existence as a way of salvaging this problem. language documentation involves the preservation of language materials for use by future generation. this present study attempts to preserve a genre of igbo oral tradition – dirge songs. methodology the performance of dirge songs in amokwe orji is restricted to elderly women, therefore, data were obtained from elderly women who are between the ages of 60 and above. this selection is made just to ensure that the data are obtained from those who have a direct involvement in the dirge songs. the dirge songs were recorded as the women performed at different places in the speech community. the data collected for this research work were analyzed by the use of simple descriptive method. each of the songs was transcribed phonologically and translated into english after which a little commentary was made about the songs. data presentation and analysis the first section handles the data presentation which involves the phonological transcription and translation of the dirge songs. it is worthy of mention that the transcription is dialectal that is, it involves the rendition of the dirge songs as the dialect speakers will say and not standard igbo. the second section presents a discussion of the data. dirge song 1 /ↄwʊ ee o meɹe oje/ ‘oh death it has occurred to someone’ /mʊ na oje ga eβi/ ‘whom shall i live with’? /ↄwʊ gbuɺu ŋwa mmadʊ/ ‘death killed someone’s child’ /ↄwʊ mʊ na oje ga eβi/ ‘whom shall i live with’? /ↄwʊ ee o meɺe oje/ current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 69 ‘oh death it has occurred to someone’ /mʊ na oje ga eβi/ ‘whom shall i live with’? dirge song 2 /na mbʊ ka ↄwʊ bidoɺo/ ‘death has been in existence from the beginning’ /na mbʊ na mbʊ ko bidoɺo/ ‘in the beginning, in the beginning death has been in existence’ dirge song 3 /ugegbe a kʊwala ↄ kʊwala/ ‘a mirror has broken, it has broken’ /ezigbo ugegbe a kʊwala ↄ kʊwala/ ‘a good mirror has broken, it has broken’ /ↄ kʊwala niwe/ ‘it broke in anger’ dirge song 4 /jekwana ŋwane gi iɦe ko ɺie/ ‘give your brother something to eat’ /gwakwanʊ ŋwane gi oku kↄ nʊɺʊ/ ‘speak to your brother let him listen’ /ʊbↄʧi ↄ gabʊ ↄ bʊ ŋwane gi ga akʊ nisi/ ‘the day of your death, your brother is the first point of call’ /ndi ↄzↄ ga aβia mgbe o ʤiɺi sↄ ɦa/ ‘others would come at their own convenient time’ /ma ɦa ŋwe efe βia mgbaɺu/ ‘if they are less busy to come for condolence’ dirge song 5 /ↄwʊ lee lee lee/ ‘oh death’ /ↄwʊ ka aɲi ike/ ‘death is stronger than us’ /ↄwʊ e weɺe ŋgaga si na windo/ ‘death has playfully through the window’ /magbuɺu oje ↄma/ ‘snatched a good person’ /ↄwʊ na abani ole ŋke ka mma/ ‘death and night which is better’ /ↄwʊ emeɺigo/ ‘death has won’ current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 70 /ʊmʊnne m unu aɦugonu iɦe ↄwʊ meɺe aji/ ‘my brothers you have seen what death has done to us’ /ↄwʊ e weɺe ŋgaga si na windo/ ‘death has arrogantly through the window’ /magbuɺu oje ↄma/ ‘snatched a good person’ /ↄwʊ na abani ole ŋke ka mma/ ‘death and night which is better’ /ↄwʊ emeɺigo/ ‘death has won’ dirge song 6 /ŋwane aji ŋdo/ ‘our brother sorry’ /ŋwane aji ŋdo/ ‘our brother sorry’ /ŋwane aji dibe na obi adiɺa aji mma/ ‘our brother take heart for we are not happy’ /akʊ ʧaɺa aʧa ke egbe βiaɺa buɺu/ ‘a ripe palm-nut has been taken by the hawk’ /egbe buɺu ja oβi adiɺa aji mma/ ‘the hawk took it and we are not happy’ dirge song 7 /dibe dibe dibe/ ‘endure, endure endure’ /ndidi ka mma/ ‘endurance is better’ /oje o meɺe ja dibe/ ‘whoever it befalls, let him endure’ /ndidi ka mma/ ‘endurance is better’ dirge song 8 /ɛbeɺe mʊ akwa/ ‘i cried’ /ɛtiɺi m mkpu/ ‘i screamed’ /alo mʊ na ŋwane m galikpa/ ‘the discussion that i would have had with my brother’ /ↄwʊ weɺe dↄkasia ja/ ‘death disrupted it’ current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 71 dirge song 9 /ↄ gabago ʤeɺuselem/ ‘she has gone to jerusalem’ /ↄ gabago ʤeɺuselem/ ‘she has gone to jerusalem’ /ebe ndi maɺa mma neʤe ʤeɺuselem/ ‘where the beautiful ones go, jerusalem’ /obodo bʊ sↄ mma/ ‘a beautiful city’ /mama agabago ʤeɹuselem/ ‘mama has gone to jerusalem’ /ↄ gabago ʤeɺuselem/ ‘she has gone to jerusalem’ /ebe ndi maɺa mma neʤe ʤeɺuselem/ ‘where the beautiful ones go, jerusalem’ /obodo bʊ sↄ mma/ ‘a beautiful city’ dirge song 10 /abiakwana m i gʊɺʊ ↄwʊ ɛgu/ ‘i have come to sing for death’ /ↄwʊ ee/ ‘oh death’ /abiakwanam igʊɺʊ ↄwʊ ɛgu/ ‘i have come to sing for death’ /ↄwʊ ebeɺe emeɣu gu/ ‘death you are heartless’ /abiakwana m ibeɺe ↄwʊ akwa/ ‘i have come to cry for death’ /ↄwʊee/ ‘oh death’ /a biakwanam ibeɺe ↄwʊ akwa/ ‘i have come to cry for death’ /ↄwʊ ebeɺe emeɣu gu/ ‘death you are heartless’ dirge song 11 /ↄwʊ ike ɦaa aji ka aji melʊ ŋgaga/ ‘sudden death allow us to enjoy ourselves’ /aji nekpeɺe ↄwʊ ike ɦaa aji/ ‘we are pleading with sudden death to allow us’; /ka aji melʊ ŋgaga/ ‘let us enjoy ourselves’ current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 72 /a malʊ m eʧi/ ‘i cannot predict tomorrow’. discussion of findings in dirge song 1, the performers make a direct remark to death by a way of rhetorical question. the mourners go on to inquire from death who they will live with since death has taken away someone dear to them. dirge song 2 tries to express the notion that death is a part and parcel of man since it has been in existence form the beginning of the world. in dirge song 3, the deceased is compared directly to a mirror. the verb ‘break’ in the dirge is repeated severally to emphasize the destructive nature of death. as we know, when a mirror is broken, it is always difficult to assemble the pieces. the mourners see the dead as a broken mirror because once a person dies, he never returns to life. dirge song 4 has a central message of brotherhood and unity. the performers try to admonish the living to always show love and care to their brothers while they are still alive. this is important because on the day of a person’s death, the brother(s) will be the first point of call. others are secondary participants. in the same vein, the performers in dirge song 5 point to the fact that death is stronger than humans. also observe that the word ‘death’ was repeated in virtually all the lines. in dirge songs 6 & 7, the singers sympathize with the deceased’s relatives. in dirge song 6 in particular, the mourners again compared the dead to a palm-nut and ‘death’ to hawk. this comparison exemplifies the use of metaphor. dirge number 8 depicts a mourner who wanted to have a good time with his brother but was interrupted by death. in situations like this, the affected person is left with no other choice than to wail as the dirge song expresses. on the contrary, dirge 9 does not in any way express grief rather it is a reassurance that the dead has gone to a place of rest which the performers refer to as jerusalem (since dirge songs are performed only at the funeral of a woman in this speech community, the singers used the word ‘mama’ in line 5 to demonstrate this fact). also, the word ‘jerusalem’ as in the dirge indicates a kind of influence from christianity which is now gradually dominating the performance of dirge songs in amokwe orji speech community. again one can say that dirge 9 is rendered only at the demise of a very old person example someone that lived a fulfilled life. dirge 10 expresses the heartless nature of death. again, the word ‘death’ was repeated to emphasize the seriousness of death. finally, dirge 11 expresses a plea by the mourners. the singers use the figure of speech ‘personification’ to assign the quality of a human being that is, the capacity to grant a plea, a verbal action done by humans alone, to death. the last line in dirge song 11 expresses the notion of uncertainty. summary and conclusion the data presented above reveal that all the dirge songs in one way or another express grief over the loss of someone except dirge song 9 which does not express sorrow in the strict sense of a dirge. it rather gives comforting and reassuring expressions. it also demonstrates a fulfilled life. again, it was observed from the data presented, that the performers of the dirge current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 73 songs employ certain literary devices such as repetition, rhetorical questions, metaphor, personification, apostrophe etc. while expressing their feelings through the dirge songs. the frequent occurrence of repetition was not as a result of hindrance in thought but as a way of emphasizing salient points which the mourners may wish to express. from the findings so far, one can conclude that all the dirge songs documented in this research in one way or another express sorrow and mourn over the demise of a person. also only elderly women perform the dirge songs in amokwe orji speech community. the non interest indicated by the young generation in the dirge songs due to the advent of christianity and civilization, shows clearly that the dirge songs are endangered. also the very few old women who have knowledge of the dirge songs will soon die and this implies the death of dirge songs. references ajuwon, b. 2010. the preservation of yoruba tradition through hunters’ funeral dirges. journal of international african institute, 50 (1) 34-47. himmelmann, p. 2006. language documentation: what is it and what is it good for? in gupper, j., p. himmelmann and u. mosel (eds.) essentials of language documentation. berlin: mouton de gruyter. kaddo, s. 2013. a basic documentation of migaama. london: hans rausing endangered languages project. kabisch-lindenlaub, j. 2011. the analysis of golpa stories. london: elar. macri, m. 2010. language documentation: whose ethics? in greenoble, a. and a. furbee (eds.) language documentation: practice and values. amsterdam: john benjamins publishing company. muti, b.j. 2003. stylistic pattern in oral literature: the form and structure of bakweri dirges. nordic journal of african studies,12. ogene, m.s.2010. literary appreciation: theory and practice with creative writing and textual criticism. enugu: ndix educational publications (nig). okorie, n.b. 2005. a concise glossary of literary terms. enugu: phema publications. urua, e.a. 2012. documentation of dirge songs among the uruan people of nigeria. london: elar-soas. vallejos, r. 2010. integrating language documentation, language preservation and linguistic research: working with the kokamas from the peruvian amazon. language documentation and conservation, 8. mexico: university of new mexico. woodbury, a. 2003. defining documentary linguistics. in austin, p. (ed.) language documentation and description, 1. london: soas. section b: studies in discourse 4 new media discourse analysis: a text linguistic analysis of facebook posts on the russia-ukraine war chiagozie eburuaja abstract many studies have been done on text linguistics (umera-okeke, 2007, ashipu, 2012, ezeifeka and osakwe, 2013), but little or no study has been channeled towards analysing social media texts on the 2022 russian invasion of ukraine. the study adopted the relevance theory by sperber and wilson as the theoretical framework for the study. all the facebook posts written on the russian invasion of ukraine formed the population of the study. through simple random sampling, four facebook posts were chosen as data for the study. data were collected using screenshots on a laptop. findings revealed that the writers of the various facebook posts used different cohesive devices to tie their texts together and equally achieve coherence. and these cohesive devices helped them communicate relevant and sufficient information to their readers. the readers, on the other hand, were convinced that the writers helped them keep abreast of the political happenings in ukraine by making posts that are relevant. this is evidenced in the different positive reactions garnered by the posts on facebook. keywords: text linguistics, cohesive devices, coherence, new media discourse analysis, social media texts introduction russia and ukraine were part two of the fifteen countries that made up the union of soviet socialist republics. union of soviet socialist republics (ussr) was a defunct nation or country made up of fifteen countries that are now independent nations including ukraine. as a result of an unsuccessful coup in soviet union (ussr), the politics of interference by the west e.g. europe and america – brought an end to the union in 1991. among the now independent states, russia is a bigger nation just like nigeria is the giant of africa. in the former ussr, ukraine was where the nuclear power plant was sited. upon separation, russia had a treaty with ukraine over stoppage of programs in the site and taking over intelligence of the nuclear power plant. on the other hand, russia promised not to interfere with the government and politics of ukraine. contemporarily, ukraine stands a position of greatness in the world in the area of food production and others. now, the west started liaising with ukraine, and this undermines the regional power of russia. ukraine also started nursing the ambition to join north atlantic treaty organisation (nato) led by the west (america and europe). nato wields enormous military power (air, land and sea). nato as a conglomeration of nations can defeat any country with their combined military power. therefore, russia found it very uncomfortable to allow ukraine join nato considering that her regional power and nuclear power plant are at stake. allowing ukraine join nato will eternally and grossly make russia susceptible to external aggression and threat from europe and america, and may lead to russia losing her enormous power. at this stage, russia began to interfere with ukraine’s internal politics indirectly. first, they annexed a part of ukraine called crimea seven years ago. second, they installed a prorussian government in ukraine which the west ended and aided a democratic government for the first time in ukraine led by president zelenskyy. third, russia started supporting rebels in breakaway regions of ukraine – dornesk and lugansk – against the government. these actions expedited the interest of ukraine to join nato. it, therefore, escalated the age long quest for russia’s regional power over the defunct union by invading ukraine. on 24 february 2022, the world woke up to the news of ukraine getting invaded by russia due to issues bordering on border control and political interest. ukraine is aligning with us and nato (north atlantic treaty organisation) forces to the chagrin of russia. in 2020, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy approved ukraine's new national security strategy whose aim was membership in nato. on 24 march 2021, zelenskyy signed the decree no. 117/2021 which approved the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the autonomous republic of crimea and the city of sevastopol. the invasion of ukraine is understandably targeted at reclaiming the nation and the region. more so, the invasion is aimed at deterring the west from ukraine, and ukraine vows never to retreat. ukraine’s nato membership does not sit well with the russian president, vladimir putin. they believe the closer us gets to russia, the easier it is to penetrate and destabilize them. russia feels that a possible ukrainian accession to nato and the generic nato enlargement is a massive threat to its national security. the world at large has accused russia of political bullying and many people took to social media to assess the situation and express their angst against vladimir putin. these political analystspeople have taken to the new media because it has the widest reach -which is globalto register their displeasure on what is going on in ukraine. a plethora of academic researches has been carried out on computer mediated communication and social media, generally. many researches have been dedicated towards (im)politeness strategies, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, turn taking and cyber bullying on social media. but there has not been enough researches carried out on how new media discourse participants engage their readers/listeners text linguistically. it is pertinent to analyse how these discourse participants employ cohesion and coherence in constructing their texts, or the lack thereof. the need for this current research is predicated on this premise. this academic research breaks new grounds by flashing its torchlight on new media discourse engagements on the russia – ukraine war. new media discourse analysis communication has come a long way in its rite of passage as the primary purpose of language. from town criers, letter writing, old media, phone calls to the rave of the moment; new media which is also called social media. globally, people communicate on different social media platforms using both written and spoken discourse. this new media avails its users the opportunity to have real-time conversations, exchange pictures, chat and even have conference calls. the new media is interactive, social, multimodal, and circularly networked, as opposed to the linear source-message-audience flow of traditional media. discerning distinctions between content produced by ordinary individuals (user generated content) and institutionally commissioned content produced by professionals, is eroding (khosravinik, 2014, p.287). the new media has come to be reckoned as the norm in language communication in the 21st century. taiwo (2021) says: new media refer to any interactive digital media production which is distributed through the internet or the world wide web. new media formats include mobile apps, video games, weblogs, e-books, email, podcast, threaded discussions, wikis, chatrooms, instant messaging, text messaging, social network sites, video and teleconferencing, among others … a sub-set of new media that many contemporary people can relate with is the social media. social media relies on networking, collaboration and interaction. social media is driven primarily by web 2.0 technology, which allows sharing and collaboration opportunities to people and help them to express themselves online. (p. 266) kaplan and haelein (2010) concur: social media is “[a groupof] internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technologi-cal foundations of web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content”. in this definition, what user generated content means is digitaldiscourse “published either on a publicly accessible website or on a socialnetworking site accessible to a selected group of people; [showing] a certainamount of creative effort; [. . .] created outside of professional routines andpractices. (p. 61) the new media has many socializing processes that mimic offline social associations. it has given global visibility to many businesses, and digital marketing has become a trend. most of these online socialising processes – adding/blocking friends, discourse participation, tagging people to a discourse, trolling – are prototypes of the offline discussions/face –toface communication that humans engage in. this justifies the basis for which the new media is adjudged viable for discursive practices. discourse participation is a frontline characteristic of the new media. … “different social media (platforms) providing the discourse data for detailed investiga-tion offer very different affordances for participation (and impose differentconstraints), including for identity work. however, these affordances do notnecessarily straitjacket the actions of participants, who may also adopt andappropriate media (platforms) for their playful or critical purposes” (leppänen, s.,kytola, s., westinen, e., peuronen, s., 2020, p.9). taiwo elaborates: new media are sites for expression of social practices through discourse (discursive practices). discursive practices address the processes by which cultural meanings are produced and understood. through the new media, social realities are linguistically/discursively constructed. such socially constructed realities are what critical discourse analysts focus on as they investigate any form of discourse. beyond these, new media interactions feature conversational forms and these forms can be observed and described based on the existing approaches to talk in interaction. likewise, language use in new media discourse resembles writing. it means features of written discourse such as thematic organisation and coherence can be investigated in them. (270) theoretical framework the theory on which the present study is based is relevance theory as proposed by sperber and wilson. relevance theory is majorly based on grice’s cooperative principle and its four submaxims; maxim of quantity (information), maxim of quality (truth), maxim of relation (relevance), and maxim of manner (clarity). these are laid down rules that interlocutors are believed to adhere to in discourse for effective human communication. relevance theory considers the understanding and interpretation of an utterance based on human psychology. it believes that human communication is deeply rooted in relevance. ezeifeka (2018) elaborates: relevance theory is an approach to communication which takes grice’s third maxim, be relevant, as the central and the core to explaining how information is processed in discourse. the theory assumes that linguistic communication is based on two important variables: 1. ostension: speaker-oriented: speaker’s manifestation of what s/he means through a linguistic code. the speaker must show commitment to his/her intention to communicate something relevant. 2 inference: audience/hearer-oriented: receiver’s interpretation of the utterance based on his/her conviction that what the speaker is saying is relevant. (p. 204) relevance theorists define relevance based on two principles: cognitive principle and communicative principle. human beings (readers/hearers) are generally blessed with the sense of perception and learning, and this is maximized in seeking relevance in discourse. speakers/writers, on the other hand, always show their commitment towards producing texts that are optimally relevant. the all-encompassing idea in relevance theory is that a speaker encodes a message and transfers it to a hearer who decodes the message through inference and context. the hearer determines the relevance of the message/utterance with regards to his/her cognitive environment – “a set of facts that a person has manifest to him/her for a fact to be manifest to an individual means that he/she is capable, at that time, of representing it mentally and accepting its representation as true or probably true” (ezeifeka, 2018, p. 205). relevance, in relevance theory, is assessed based on two factors; cognitive/contextual effects and processing efforts. cognitive/contextual effects a positive cognitive effect is ‘a worthwhile difference to the individual’s representation of the world’ (wilson and sperber 2004, p. 608), such as a true belief or conclusion. according to relevance theory, an input is relevant to an individual just in case positive cognitive effects result from the processing of that input (mambrol 2020). when new information is processed, it is likely to yield one of these three types of positive cognitive effects: 1. contextual implication where new assumptions are formed, but conclusions are basically drawn from new and (old) existing assumptions. 2. modification: old/existing assumptions get modified. 3. contradiction: new information contradicts the old/existing information, so old information s exchanged with the new. processing efforts are borne out of the effort of perception, memory and inference that must be expended in computing cognitive effects (mambrol 2020). methodology data for the study comprised four facebook posts from one personal account and the facebook page of a newspaper organisation. data were collected using a laptop to take screenshots of the aforementioned facebook posts, and analysed using sperber and wilson’s relevance theory. data presentation and analysis excerpt 1 analysis cohesion text grammatical cohesion lexical cohesion no matter how you see it, russia was beaten at a very legitimate game, and responded the only way it knew how, force, a method that should be frowned upon by every right thinking individual. additive conjunction no matter how you see it, posterity will never be kind to vladimir putin, and there is a way this game will play out, that posterity will be rough on him, even in the eye of his fellow russians. repetition many [ ]were compelled to stop by those who were their former comrades in the trade. ellipsis yes, theworld is still a jungle where might is right, but from that state of survival of the fittest, we evolve to a higher state of morality and compassion, not regress further to a state of hobbes. adversative conjunction what any 1right thinking person should do, should be to make sure the american establishment responsible for that war, answer either to the law, or to 2history and posterity. 1collocation 2reiteration (antonyms) coherence the facebook post is quite situated in its correct context, and the writer employed the right register (genocide, war, invaded, invasion, war, law, history, posterity) for the post. on intentionality, the writer was quite intentional in communicating a meaningful piece to his facebook audience. the commitment to communicate a relevant piece is palpable. the one hundred and eleven positive reactions (like, love and laughter) on the post show that the audience is convinced that the post is relevant. the post garnered one hundred and twenty-one comments plus one hundred and eleven positive reactions in support of the post. these reactions and comments in support of the post show acceptability. facebook allows one to make a maximum of a sixty-three thousand two hundred and six (63,206) word post, unlike twitter. this shows that the writer was not constrained by space, yet he failed to deliver sufficient information on the subject matter. on the other hand, he could have been avoiding boring his readers. informativity was not adequately considered in the text. the russia ukraine war was just forty-eight hours old; therefore the text was adequately situated in a real time occurrence. situationality was adequately employed in the text. the text is very relevant to the situation of occurrence: the russia-ukraine war. on intertextuality, the writer’s knowledge of other texts, which are relevant to the present text, is not in question. the writer enriched the text with his knowledge of us invasion of iraq, cuban missile crisis of 1963 and bay of pigs attack by john f. kennedy. excerpt 2 analysis cohesion text grammatical cohesion lexical cohesion ukraine however is demanding an unconditional surrender of troops and fighting equipment, or face adversative conjunction complete destruction. may vladimir putin be thoroughly humiliated and disgraced in this misadventure of his. reiteration (synonyms) coherence troops, trapped soldiers, invasion, surrender, fighting equipment, the military, complete destruction and deteriorating economic situation are registers of war which the writer deployed in constructing the text in the second excerpt. the text was also situated in its right context; the russian invasion of ukraine. though the second excerpt is a short piece of text, the writer was quite intentional in writing the facebook post. the commitment to communicate a relevant text to the readers is not in question considering that the text is enriched with appropriate registers that are associated with war. the readers also show a certain level of conviction about the relevance of the post by agreeing with the writer in the comment section and splashing reactions that show agreement in the post. four facebook users equally shared the post on their timelines. ostension and inference are exemplified here. the reactions, comments and shares show a rich level of acceptability. though the writer is not as informative as is required, he was just making an update/follow up of news about the russian invasion of ukraine. the war just entered its fifth month as at the time of the post, so situationality is very well considered in the text. the text is relevant to a situation of occurrence. there is no evidence of intertextuality in the text. excerpt 3 analysis text grammatical cohesion lexical cohesion ukraine releases number of deaths in battle with russia. ukraine has stated that not less than 2000 civilians have lost their lives since the invasion by russia on feb. 24. text reiteration (repetition) the un had previously stated that 142 civilians had lost their lives due to the unrest. 1since then, more than 400 fires caused by 2enemy fire have been extinguished, according to the statement. 1causal conjunction 2collocation the emergency service also said that 500 people have been brought to safety. collocation in related news, a group of youth volunteers have responded to a recent call by ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, urging people around the world to join the fight against russia. additive conjunction coherence the third excerpt is written in its correct context of use, and is rich in registers of war: deaths, battle, invasion, emergency responders, state emergency service, the unrest, enemy fire, safety, the fight and the war. the daily times nigeria is the facebook page of a print media whose general aim is to make news/trends easily accessible to their legion of readers all over the globe. so, whoever that manages the social media page will make sure that whatever s/he churns out does not fall short of the aim. therefore, the writer’s commitment to communicate a relevant cum meaningful text to the readers is undeniable. the 261 positive reactions on the post (likes and haha) show that the readers are convinced that the writer communicated a relevant piece to them; hence the acceptability is not in question. the text is as informative as is required as it gives information bordering on deaths, emergency services, number of lives lost, number of people brought to safety, volunteers and number of volunteers. on situationality, the text is very relevant to a situation of occurrence: the russian invasion of ukraine. reliance on previous texts made by the guardian, the un and the second secretary are evidence of intertextuality in the facebook post. excerpt 4 analysis text grammatical cohesion lexical cohesion 1russia to deliver nuclear-capable missiles to belarus, upgrade 2fighter jets 1reiteration (repetition) russia has pledged to deliver nuclear-capable iskander-m missiles to its ally belarus. russia’s 24 february invasion of ukraine included russianarmoured columns sent in from belarus. 2collocation iskander missiles have been deployed previously in kaliningrad, a small russian baltic territory between nato members, lithuania and poland. they have a range of up to 500km (300 miles). anaphoric reference russian president vladimir putin made the promise when he met his belarusian ally alexander lukashenko in st petersburg on saturday anaphoric reference 1the belarusian president also asked russia to make his country’s warplanes nuclear-capable, 2and the russian leader further promised that belarusian su-25 fighter jets would be upgraded. 1anaphoric reference 2additive conjunction coherence nuclear capable missiles, fighter jets, ally, iskander – m missiles, ballistic and cruise missiles, warplanes, military and rocket strike are registers of war employed in constructing excerpt four, and these words situate the text in its correct context of use. the writer’s intention to construct a relevant linguistic code to the readers is evident (ostension). considering that the text garnered 338 likes, the readers are convinced on the relevance of the text (inference), and this shows acceptability in conjunction with the 66 supporting comments and 31 shares. sufficient information -as concerns the subject matter –(delivery of nuclear-capable missiles to belarus and upgrading fighter jets) is given in the text. the writer is not more informative than is required. the russia-ukraine war was in its fourth month when this post was made on facebook, therefore the text is situated in real time. it is, hence, relevant to a situation of occurrence. no evidence of intertextuality is seen in the text. conclusion the writers of the facebook posts employed different grammatical and lexical cohesive devices additive conjunctions, repetition, adversative conjunction, ellipsis, collocation, reiteration, causal conjunction, additive conjunction and anaphoric reference – in constructing the texts and making them hang together. the posts were equally deemed coherent using debeaugrande and dressler (1981)’s yardstick for measuring coherence which they call seven standards of textuality. the writers employed intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality, but only two of the excerpts had evidence of intertextuality. the other two facebook posts were bereft of intertextuality. suffice it to say that the texts (facebook posts) are cohesive and coherent considering the writers’ are intentional in churning out posts that are communicatively relevant using linguistic codes. the readers’ conviction on the relevance of the post is palpable as is evidenced in their positive reactions to the facebook posts. references aligwekwe, o. (2022, february 26).no matter how you see it, russia was beaten at a very legitimate game, and responded the only way its leader knew. facebook aligwekwe, o. (2022, july 24).ukraine has surrounded about 2000 russian troops in vysokopliya, near kherson, at the southern theatre of war in ukraine. facebook ashipu, k. (2012). cohesive devices in nigerian media discourse: a study of newswatch magazine. open science repository communication and journalism daily times nigeria. (2022, march 3) ukraine has stated that not less than 2000 civilians have lost their lives since the invasion by russia on february 24. facebook daily times nigeria. (june 26)russia to deliver nuclear capable missile to belarus. facebook de beaugrande, r.a. & dressler, w. (1981). introduction to text linguistics. london and new york: longman ezeifeka, c. r. & osakwe, n.n. (2013).gender representation in the 1999 nigerian constitution: a critical discourse analysis for socio-political equity. discourse & society, 24 (6). 687-700 leppänen, s.,kytola, s., westinen, e., peuronen, s.(2020). social media discourse, disidentifications and diversities: introduction. https://www.researchgate.net/publication kaplan, a. m., &haenlein, m. (2010). users of the world, unite! the challenges and opportunities of social media. business horizons, 53 (1), 59–68 taiwo, r (2021). new media discourse analysis. in k. ayoola, a. aragbuwa, & o. oyebode, (eds). current approaches to discourse analysis. ile-ife: obafemi awolowo university, press 265-299 herring, s. (2004).computer mediated discourse analysis: an approach to researching online behaviour. in s. a.barab, r. kling,& j. h. gray, (eds.). designing for virtual communities in the service of learning(338-376). new york: cambridge university press. khosravinik, m. (2014). critical discourse analysis, power and new media discourse. m. kopytowskaa&y. kalyango. (eds) why discourse matters: negotiating identity in the mediatized world. peter lang. 287-306. mambrol, n. (2020). relevance theory. https://literariness.org/2020/10/12/relevance-theory/ umera-okeke, n. (2007). anaphoric referencing: a cohesive device in written &spoken discourse. african research review vol. 1 (2) 74-86 the humanities & sustainable development (2011) 520 the stipulations for english in the national policy on education: implications for sustainable national development lauretta okwuchukwu chinyeaka department of english language and literature nnamdi azikiwe university, awka email: lo.chinyeaka@unizik.edu.ng introduction the dominant role played by the english language in nigeria is undeniably a crucial one. it serves as a general communicative medium in the country because of nigeria’s indigenous languages. lawani supports this when he noted that “it is a neutral language in view of the ethno-political situation of the country (202). apart from being the language used by the three tiers of government to pass information to the masses, it serves as the language of inter-ethnic interaction especially among the literate class. in other words, it is a lingua franca. the prominence given the language in both the constitution and the npe therefore is a welldeserved one. however, this prominence does not correspond to acceptable proficiency level in the use of the language. it is a commonplace to find university graduates who speak and write very bad english (which some today categorize as nigerian english). we must note that nigerian english is not what is taught. in other words, something is wrong somewhere. in this paper, that which is wrong is taken to be inadequate stipulations for english in the npe. stipulations for english in the npe nigeria’s national policy on education (1997) revised in (2004) stipulates:  use of english as a medium of instruction at a later stage of primary school  teaching of english as a core subject in primary jss and sss levels examinations of the stipulations the use of english as a medium of instruction at a later stage of primary school implies that it is to be introduced after the stage has been set using the mother tongue. this stipulation negatively affects proficiency level in later use of the language. it is a notable fact that early exposure to the language goes a long way in ensuring a high level of proficiency in the language. the english language, if introduced as a medium of instruction at a later stage of primary school is an impediment to proficiency in the language and low proficiency has negative effect on national development. this is not to say that early use of the mother tongue as stipulated in the npe should be discarded rather both should be used side by side at that level. obanya, while in support of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in the early years, however notes that “…at the same time, the l2 has to be firmly entrenched, to erase the feeling of the likelihood of a bloc to the individual’s future development because of lack of competence in english…” (239). akande for his part, in cognizance of the need for an early start in english in our school system, advocates ‘straight for english’ as a medium of instruction in nigeria (61). he argues that the clamour for the choice of english as the medium of instruction early in the primary school is based on the belief that “it is through the early usage of the language that pupils can quickly and effectively gain its mastery for the purpose of primary and higher level of education” (61). credence is lent to this view as akande, citing lawani, points out that many educationists have the humanities & sustainable development (2011) 521 come to believe that the answer to poor academic performance lies in using english as a medium very early, possibly from the inception of a child’s education (62). the near indispensable and multiple roles played by english demands that a high-level proficiency be attained in it for national development and so its learning has to start early enough. another stipulation for english in the npe is that it be taught as a core subject in the primary, jss and sss levels. much as this is a laudable one, studies have shown that the implementation of this provision leaves much to be desired. as observed aptly by bamgbose, a major constraint in language constraint in language policy is ineffectiveness in implementation. he sadly notes, “policies are formulated and well-articulated, but often remain paper policies not intended to be seriously addressed and implemented” (9). for instance, chinyeaka (2011) carried out a research to find out the level of implementation of this provision in secondary schools in anambra state, using the instrument of questionnaire. the research was conducted in the six education zones in the state using a simple size of 52 secondary schools with a sample of 208 english teachers and 240 sss iii students. results of the research are as noted below: s/n statements sa a u d sd remark no % no % no % no % no % 1 teaching periods are not enough to cover the syllabus for english and for students to master the subject 112 53.85 86 41.35 0 0 0 0 10 04.78 accept 2 instructional materials and equipment for teaching some aspects of english such as oral english are not enough or available 98 47.12 93 44.71 1 0.48 9 4.33 7 4.80 accept 3 the number of english language teachers is not enough 100 48.08 79 37.98 0 0 17 8.17 12 5.77 accept 4 classes are too large for the effective teaching of english 89 42.79 79 37.78 2 0.96 22 10.77 16 7.69 accept 5 students generally do not possess the recommended texts for english 116 55.77 80 38.46 0 0 6 2.88 6 2.88 accept the humanities & sustainable development (2011) 522 6 some students find some topics in the textbooks too difficult to comprehend 102 49.03 96 46.15 1 0.48 4 1.92 5 2.40 accept 7 enough written and/or speech work is not done to perfect students’ english 107 51.44 88 42.31 2 0.96 4 1.92 7 3.37 accept table above showed the degree to which provision for english as a core subject is implemented. findings in the table above showed that 53.85% strongly agreed that the teaching period are not enough to cover the syllabus for english and for students to master the subject. 41.35% agreed, while 04.78% strongly disagreed. to the statement in serial number 2, 47.12% strongly agreed that instructional materials and equipment for teaching some aspects of english are not enough or available. 44.71% agreed, 0.48% were undecided, 4.33% disagreed while 4.80% of the respondents strongly agreed that the number of english language teachers is not enough. 37.98% agreed, 8.17% disagreed while 5.77% strongly disagreed. to the statement in the serial number 4, 42.79% of the respondents strongly agreed that classes are too large for the effective teaching of english, 37.77% disagreed while 7.69% strongly disagreed. also to the statement in serial number 5, 55.77% strongly agreed that the students agreed that students generally do not possess the recommended texts for english, 38.46 agreed, 28.8% disagreed. again responses to the statement in serial number 6 indicated that 49.03% strongly agreed that some students find some topics in the textbooks too hard to comprehend. 46.15% agreed, 0.48% were undecided, 1.92% disagreed while 2.40% strongly disagreed. furthermore, to the statement in serial number 7, 51.44% strongly agreed that enough written or speech work is not done to perfect students’ english. 42.31% agreed, 0.96 % were undecided, 1.96% disagreed while 33.37% strongly disagreed. the researcher based on the fact that greater percentage of the respondents agreed to the statements therefore concludes that the implementation of the provision for english as a core subject leaves much to be desired. recommendations in view of the above, it is recommended that: i. english can be included as a medium of instruction in the first three years of primary education. ii. a regulatory body should be set up to oversee, monitor and evaluate the implementation of language policy. iii. in implementing the provision for english as a core subject effectively, crucial factors such as adequate qualified teachers, time allocation, instructional material, affordable and quality textbooks should be given serious considerations by the appropriate authority. the humanities & sustainable development (2011) 523 works cited akande, g.b. “straight for english as a medium of education in nigeria towards enhancing quality and national development” awka journal of linguistics and languages 4(2008): 60-66 bamgbose, ayo, “language policy in nigeria: challenges, opportunities and constraints” nigerian millennium sociolinguistic conference. university of lagos, nigeria, aug. 2001. lawani, m.t. “language use in nigerian classrooms and sustainable educational development: a case study of yoruba/english bilinguals: journal of arts and education (jolae) 1-2 dec. 2007. obanya, pai: the dilemma of education in africa ibadan: heinemann educational books, 2004. federal government of nigeria national policy on education (revised) 4th edition. 2004. languages matter: chinse language matters now language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 languages matter: chinese language matters now sunny ifeanyi odinye department of african & asian studies, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka abstract language is the greatest attribute that characterizes human beings. it is a vehicle for culture, education, knowledge, learning and training, love…..anything. language is vital to human existence. it is also a means by which we control, create and preserve culture. man cannot function well without a language. language is the most important possession and characteristic of the human beings. it is a system of communication by written or spoken words used by the people of an area. “it makes it possible for men to transits knowledge across space and time” (nwadike 2008). it is said that 21st century belongs to china and that makes the learning of chinese language a very important matter now. this study is divided into introduction, what is language, functions of language, chinese language, chinese language: taking a global status, and conclusion. 1.0 introduction the 61st assembly of the united nations proclaimed 2008 “international year of languages” in effort to promote unity in diversity and global understanding. in his address on the ninth international mother language day, 21 februarys 2008; koichiro matsuura, the director general of unesco, outlined the many dimensions of this production and concluded that “it is important that the idea that “languages matter!’ be promoted everywhere” language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 reflecting further on this matter, the unesco editorial (2008) observes: “the first instrument of a people’s genius is its language,” said the french writer stendhal. literacy, learning, social integration---everything, transfers through language, which embodies national cultural and sometimes religious identity for each person. it constitutes one of the fundamental dimensions of a human being. language is the most important possession and characteristic of the human beings. it is a system of communication by written or spoken words used by the people of an area. “it makes it possible for men to transits knowledge across space and time” (nwadike 2008). he went further to say, “through it, people’s culture and world view are expressed. it is a sine qua non” eva engholm, a language specialist and educator, has this to say about it: language is the key to the heart of the people. if we lose the key, we lose the people. if we treasure the key and keep it safe, it will unlock the door to untold riches; riches that cannot be guessed at from the other side of the door. 2.0 what is language? language is the greatest attribute that characterizes human beings. it is a vehicle for culture, education, knowledge, learning and training, love…..anything. language is vital to human existence. it is also a means by which we control, create and preserve culture. man cannot language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 function well without a language. gomwalk (2000), asserts that language regulates all human activities. language embodies culture and to understand a culture, one must understand and appreciate the language of the culture as an essential medium of cultural transmission. in line with this, kuju (1999:37) states that: “language is the surest way through which people can retain and safeguard knowledge, wisdom and the authentic cultures, inherited from their ancestors, as well as hand them to generation after them”. language is man’s most prized identity. when one is talking about one’s culture, the most prominent element of that culture is the language. that is why ejiobih (2005) says that “language is human specific. it is the carrier of a people’s culture, norms and values. every individual in the society naturally would want a sense of belonging and this is usually expressed by the language’. while agreeing with the above, nwadike (2002) has noted that without a language of its own, a nation becomes merged and lost in the foreign group whose language it is forced to speak. anagbogu .et.al (2001) defines language as a means which human beings devised for communicating ideas, feelings, emotions, desire, etc. through complex vocal or written symbols’. 3.0 functions of language language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 language is very important to man. it can indeed be said to be the only thing that makes man distinct from other animals for he is the only animal that uses language systematically as a means of communication. (anagbogu et al 2001). language is useful in all human activities. therefore, the function of language cannot be over emphasized. language is of great help to the man. people greet with language, pray with language, sing with language, write with language, learn with language, and others. imagine in a day you decide not to speak or communicate with anybody. maybe after that day you would realize the importance of language. 3.1 a means of communication language is used as a means of communication. this is its most important and its obvious use. 3.2 medium of thought language is a tool for thinking and even for dreaming. it is observed that when somebody is thinking he makes use of language in his thought. this is also true of dreaming. 3.3 transmission of culture socialization is achieved primarily through language. this is because it is a means the older ones in a society use to ‘teach’ the younger ones the culture of their society. language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 language is therefore a veritable instrument for socialization. 4.0 chinese language scholars think chinese writing originated almost four thousand years ago and that the spoken language goes back to remote antiquity, making it one of the world’s oldest languages. in spite of its great age, chinese is now one of most widely used living languages. the language is spoken in many dialects within china, as well as in many overseas chinese communities, especially in southeast asia, europe, and the americans. and there are more than a billion native speakers of chinese worldwide. it is one of languages, the united nation use when conducting official business. chinese belongs to the sino-tibetan language family. hanyu, literally “language of the han”, refers to the standard chinese language, and is spoken by the han, hui, manchu, and other ethnic groups that constitute 94% of the population of china. there are fifty six recognized ethnic groups in china, using as many as eighty different languages. chinese include variants from seven main dialect groups. the northern or mandarin dialect covers three fourths of china’s territory and includes two thirds of its population. standard chinese is also known by its official designation, “putonghua’, literally “common speech”. putonghua is based on the northern dialect, using the language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 dialect of beijing as the basis for its pronunciation and modern vernacular literature for its grammatical structure. 5.0 chinese language: taking a global status in the seventeen and eighteenth centuries english was the language of the leading colonial nationbritain. in the eighteen and nineteenth centuries it was the language of the leader of the industrial revolution also britain. in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth it was the language of the leading economic power – the usa . as a result, when new technologies brought new linguistic opportunities, english emerged as a first-rank language in industries which affected all aspects of society -the press, advertising, broad communications. from the above mentioned facts and evidences, english is the global language, but for how long? considering what makes a language world language, chinese language will soon assume the status of a global language. it has the most native speakers of the world languages. it is also being used in many other countries outside china. china is known as the fastest growing economy. china is rich in economy, strong in military, high in space and technology. crystal (1995,112) has this to say in his book titled ‘english as a global language’ “the biggest potential setback to english as a global language, it has been said with more than a little irony, would have taken place a language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 generation ageif bill gates had grown up speaking chinese”. crystal forgets that the world will never have only one “bill gate”. there must be another “bill gate”. who knows that senator barack obama will be the president of the united states fifty years ago? now, china is a world market. china produces virtually everything ranging from shop to ship. almost everything in the market is made in china. the surprising thing is that they use their language to write instructions and functions of the products. that is a way of promoting their language. one day everybody will have no choice but to learn chinese language. people want to learn new languages and the language they learn now is chinese. the nigeria central bank governor, prof chukwuma soludo was presenting a paper at the university of benin which he titled “can nigeria be the china of africa?” he highlighted the importance of language in economic development. yes, nigeria can be the next china of africa because nigeria has the largest population in africa as china has the largest population in the world but nigeria has no common indigenous language like china. 6.0 conclusion all languages are equal and useful to the users. english language is not better than igbo language or chinese language. although, some languages have more language language in human affairs, 2008 world philosophy, unizik, awka, 2009 users and therefore they are more popular than the others. in every period, one or two languages will assume the status of world language. now, english is taking that position but the chinese language will soon become a world language. references anagbogu, n.p et al (2001) introduction to linguistic, awka: j.f.c. limited chen, r.s. et al (2002) new practical chinese reader textbook, beijing: beijing language and culture university press. crystal, d. (1997). english as a global language england university press. gomwalk, s. (2002) “lnaguage and power: a toll for successful political speeches”. in k. babarinde (ed), education and the challenges of patriotism in nigeria ogun: ad ventures. nwadike, u.u (2002) , igbo language in education obosi: pacific ejiobih, n.a.h. (2004) “nativization of the english language: the cut to consolidation of development” abuja: nigeria journal of gender and development. suludo, c.c. (2006) “can nigeria be the china of african? proper presented at the founder. day of the university of benin, benin city, nigeria. chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 153 chapter ten local crafts and indigenous technology chika chudi-duru and vivian okpalauba introduction ocal craft is the traditional manual skill of a community that is synonymous with indigenous technology. they are artworks that could be done with hands or manual skills. ngumah, ayoola, dalhatu, and samkay (2013), define crafts as manually produced objects (articles) meant to serve a particular purpose or human need. local craft is also known as handcraft. this is because the process of making the article involves the use of skilled hands. from time immemorial, craftwork has been a source of revenue for many nigerians, and this has encouraged archaeologists to explore more about the ancient arts and crafts in nigeria. traditional arts are practised in towns and villages while most of the works of art designed by craftspeople from across the country are sold in major urban markets. crafts based on a long-standing tradition of a particular group of people are called local crafts. in many parts of the world, indigenes still practice their local crafts. some examples are the japanese tatami mats, banners sarees from varanasi, the magic carpets of kashmir (india), appliques from orissa, shawls of kullu, coconut art from l local crafts and indigenous technology 154 south india, shells of goa, pottery wares from lalejin, iran and several others. in africa, there are also crafts for instance carved wooden ashanti stools, moroccan carved wooden soup spoons, kenyan carved spoons, zimbabwe grass hats, ugandan grass baskets, fon applique banners, moroccan woven zaiane cushions, fulani grass hats and incised calabashes, kente woven cloth, kuba raffia cloth weaving, tutsi basket weaving, massai beadwork, zulu beer pots and so many others. plate 1: the magic carpets of kashmir(india). source: excitingindia.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ tajagrocarpet.jpg in nigeria, several tribes produce and still practice their local craft till date. they are produced and practised in a local setting such as villages and countryside with local chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 155 materials found within the environment. due to technological advances, some imported materials they feel could go a long way to boost their skills. they require expertise working with hand tools, meaning that the "hand" is the most important aspect of the crafting process. this is because it controls and manipulates both the materials and the basic tools. the person who produces local craft is known as a craft man. the major local crafts in nigeria will be discussed forthwith; pottery this is one of the most ancient crafts still being practised in nigeria. the earliest example of pottery in nigeria was found in afikpo, ebonyi state nigeria. it was dated back to 300 b.c. however a british archaeologist professor thurstan – shaw was known to have excavated some material remains of pottery at iwo – eleru in yoruba land, which was older. as a craft, pottery making is solely a woman's occupation among the yoruba people and is usually passed from mother to daughter through apprenticeship. they carry out their everyday activity at a specific pottery site known as ‘eebu’. according to to explore, an internet blog (2021), one of the major places in nigeria popularly known for her artistry in pottery is ilorin, kwara state. it is an important centre of pottery, producing both red (pupa) and black (dudu) pottery wares. pottery works are produced in different pottery centres in the local crafts and indigenous technology 156 present ilorin town, okelele, dada and adeta pottery centres are well known for well-finished products. the raw materials used in producing pottery are clay and water. they are abundant in nigeria and they are affordable. this enables the potters to produce low-priced domestic vessels for use, both in rural and urban communities. pottery is a source of utilitarian and aesthetic products. explore (2021) observed that decoration on pottery distinguishes one ethnic group from another or one area to another or one potter to the other, to display the culture of the area or tribe. therefore, the patterns of decoration of pottery at afikpo in ebonyi state are different from the patterns of pottery at ilorin in kwara state or gwari in niger state. explore(2021) further mentions that ladi kwali the famous female nigerian potter was born in the village of kwali in the gwari region of northern nigeria, where pottery was an indigenous occupation among women. as a child, she was taught by her aunt to use the traditional method of coiling. large pots for use as water jars, cooking pots, bowls, and flasks from coils of clay, beaten from the inside with a flat wooden paddle were some works made by her. her pots were distinguished for their beauty and decoration, and she was recognized regionally as a gifted and outstanding potter. she was still using the traditional chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 157 open firing method with a herbal shiny surface and her method modified the face of modern pottery around the world. plate 2: ladi kwali. source: https://www.google.com/search?q=pottery+in+nigeria&cli.. most of her works are displayed in well-known places like the national museum lagos, the barbier-muller museum geneva, switzerland, the national museum of natural history, the smithsonian institution, washington dc, and the albert museum, london. in recognition of her achievements and hard work, her picture was used to embellish the nigerian 20 naira note; at the moment she is the only woman to have such an honour. wood/ ivory carving local crafts and indigenous technology 158 carving involves cutting or chipping away a shape from a mass of stone, wood, or other hard material. lawrence (2017) believes that wood carving has probably been around about as long as man has been on the earth. so the history of wood carving begins at the beginning. man has always used and manipulated wood. adam was probably the first wood carver. he must have used wood as one of his first tools, maybe for a club or a walking stick. he could have even tied a rock to a stick of wood and used it for a hammer. when he found a way to make an instrument sharp enough to hunt with, an arrowhead or spearhead may have been first but if so the knife couldn't have been far behind. wood carving traditions grew up in the thickly forested areas of southern nigeria. for instance, the yoruba of south-eastern nigeria is still practising traditional wood carving to date although there are signs of decline in the practice (meyerowitz 1943). both hard and soft kinds of wood can be used for carving. caving is the art of producing images and other related forms through a subtractive method (ngumah, et al 2013). the two varieties of carving mostly found in nigeria are utilitarian and decorative products. utilitarian products are essential household demands such as mortars, pestles, stools, spoons, handles for hoes and other farming implements. decorative and figurative products are for social needs such as masks, statues, used in the worship of various chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 159 duties, door post and doors often decorated to make an impressive entrance to civic buildings and churches, walking sticks, staff of offices etc. the major material for carving is wood other materials are marble, stone, wax, etc. carving tools are knife, saw, mallet, harmer, file etc. wood carving is an important and long-established traditional artefact industry. it has the potential to improve the livelihoods of millions of households. wood and ivory carving requires a great deal of skill, creativity and artistry. a picture of a benin ivory mask is placed below: plate 3: benin ivory mask. source: https://www.pinterest.com/charlottecoger/benin-art/ weaving local crafts and indigenous technology 160 weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. some clues show that weaving was already known during the prehistoric era, as early as 27,000 years ago. an indistinct textile impression has been found at the dolní věstonice site (hitchcock 2022). according to the find, the weavers of the upper paleolithic were manufacturing a variety of cordage types, producing plaited basketry and sophisticated twined and plain woven cloth. it had been thought that the first farmers developed weaving 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. the artefacts include imprints in clay and burned remnants of cloth (bbc news). the types of weaving determine the shapes and materials to be used. the art of weaving can be traced to nature where man draws the inspiration to weave with available material. birds and insects weave. the act of weaving is an interesting exercise and society cannot do without it as an important craft. there are different types of weaving. they are basket weaving, mat weaving, cane waving, rug weaving, and cloth weaving which is the most vital aspect of weaving. materials for waving are; paper strips, fibres obtained from local plants, palm front, cane, grasses, ropes from the forest, leather strips from animals, and other flexible materials. weaving is a form of textile design found in almost all parts of nigeria. in nigeria, cloth weaving is universally practised in most urban areas and cities like abeokuta, ilorin, iseyin, akwete, okene, benin, sokoto, borno, kano, bida and iseyin area among others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/textile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/yarn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/textile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cloth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/doln%c3%ad_v%c4%9bstonice_(archaeology) chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 161 raffia and cotton are most widely used in cloth weaving in nigeria. weaving generally is done in the same type of process. that is, the ward and weft stripes are used. the warp is the length-wise flexible material while the weft refers to the crosswise flexible materials. in weaving the warp is the vertical strip while the weft is the horizontal strip. the men’s horizontal loom and the women’s vertical looms are commonly used in nigeria to weave. plate 4: an akwete weaver using the women’s vertical loom. source: chudi-duru, c.c. (2017). dyeing dyeing is a popular craft in the early times, people used colouring substances obtained from plants and local crafts and indigenous technology 162 minerals to beautify their bodies and clothes to be more attractive. dyeing is the process of adding colour (dyes) to a fabric. the most famous of all the dyes produced in nigeria is the dark-blue dye known as “indigo” which is made from the leaves of a plant belonging to the indigofera family. materials used in dyeing are cloth, (fabric), colourant (dyestuff) strings or ropes, raffia, caustic soda, and hydrosulphate tools used in dyeing are a store, boiler or heater, stirring stick, bucket, etc. hand-dyed fabrics have a depth and richness of colour that commercial fabrics often lack. samples of dyed fabrics are placed on the plate below. plate 5: some samples of dyed fabrics. source: chika chudi-duru (2018) tie-dye fabrics are very common in nigeria. especially among the yoruba, they produce adire. adire (yoruba: tie and dye) textile is the indigo-dyed cloth made in southwestern nigeria by yoruba women, using a variety of resist-dyeing techniques. adire chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 163 cloths are cotton cloths resist-dyed with indigo in one of two ways: adire oniko (resist dyeing with raffia ties) or adire alabare (resist dyeing using stitches). a simple method of tiedyeing is the formation of patterns of large and small circles in various combinations making use of pebbles, bottle corks, stones and other items, these produce appropriate designs when utilized. according to gunner (2016), there are an infinite number of ways one can tie, bind, stitch, twist, fold or compress cloth for tie-dye. each way results in very different patterns. each method gives a particular result, but each method is also used to work in harmony with the type of cloth used. therefore, the techniques used in tie-dye depend not only on the desired pattern but the characteristics of the cloth being dyed. cotton is preferred for practical in the studio because of its characteristics which are good absorbency, colour retention, prints well, machine and hand washable, good strength, drapes, dry cleanable and soft to the touch. embroidery embroidery is the use of needles and thread to apply a design on the surface of the fabric. it is used to decorate and enrich a fabric in the use of a skilful manner. it is an ancient craft which comprises a lot of history and embroiderers all over the world use the same stitches. she further mentions that design patterns vary from place to place but the techniques of stitching remain the same. the art of embroidery dates to ancient egypt and china. history local crafts and indigenous technology 164 has it that this needle art developed from the task of mending clothes. as people used their needles on holes and torn seams they found the decorative possibilities of sewing (chudi-duru 2019). in nigeria, some examples are the decorations found on the back and front of hausa men’s robes and caps, fulani robes and some others. the hausa of northern nigeria have long been well known for their production of voluminous robes known as babban riga (big clothing). they were earlier produced by men but recently some women have taken it up but sold their embroidered wear through the males (renne, 2002). the yoruba name for a type of flowing wide-sleeved robe, usually decorated with embroidery is agbada, which is worn in most parts of nigeria by the higher class, such as kings and chiefs, and for various ceremonies. some of the old ones are being passed down from father to son as an heirloom and they are much cherished. in the past, these prestigious robes were traded for money. and they are still worn to date but the machine embroidery has almost taken over. chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 165 plate 6:agbada. source: http://adireafricantextiles.blogspot.com/2011/02/agbadaembroidered-robe-traditions-in.html applique applique is the art of cutting shapes from pieces of cloth and sewing them onto a larger piece of fabric to make designs and patterns. appliqué has some characteristics; to be bold and graphic. it is less intricate than embroidery because of the cut-and-sew technique. the scale is bigger, thicker, and wider. local crafts and indigenous technology 166 plate 7: ijele masquerade. source: https://www.wikiwand.com/ig/mmanw... oftentimes, the customer that chooses an appliqué style has a vibrant, decorative aesthetic. it usually looks embossed and fanciful. appliqué employs several stitches to attach separate fabric pieces onto a single base fabric. the aesthetic of appliqué is often developed further by using a variety of colours to contrast. a typical example of applique is the igbo maiden masquerade popularly known as “agbogho mmonwu”. another is the ijele masquerade. according to cole (1983), ijele is a huge, spectacular mask carried on its dancer's head and comprised of cloth over a chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 167 wood or vine armature; miniature stuffed cloth images of humans, animals, and masqueraders: appliqué cloth panels; schematic plants and flowers; all topped with the image of a horseman leader. some other masquerade costume designers in igbo land still make use of applique to design and decorate their masquerade wears for some specific festivals. bead work beadwork is the use of beads of varying sizes, shapes, and colours to produce necklaces, wall hangings, pictures, bracelets, armlets, and other articles meant for human use. beads are quite significant in indigenous nigerian communities. they are playing an integral role in strengthening and repairing the cultural ties and spiritual beliefs of indigenous artists. beadwork has been and will continue to be significant in representing indigenous resiliency as well as highlighting the individual cultural value of ethnic peoples. beads are used as a sign of social status among the chiefs and kings. for many decades, beads have been used in nigeria by people of various ethnic groups. in the olden days, little girls wore nothing but waist beads known as "jigida" until their age of puberty. beads are used in various traditional costumes such as crowns, veils etc. the main materials include beads and thread. some people trade on stringed beads as a means of livelihood. beads are produced from shells, plastic, wood, and clay. beadworks can be found everywhere in nigeria especially in bida, local crafts and indigenous technology 168 among the nupe people. most women in nigeria like wearing beads to accentuate their beauty and uniqueness, especially on special occasions like weddings. men also wear expensive beads on their wedding day. plate 8: traditional brides adorned with beads. source: https://www.bellanaijaweddings.com/white-coral-beads-look2019/ calabash decoration chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 169 plate 9: modern calabash decoration. source: vanguardnewsngr.com the name, calabash is a derivative of the french word, ‘calebasse’. it is defined as a tropical american tree (crescentia cujete) of the bignonia family or its large gourdlike fruits. calabash and gourd are often used interchangeably. the calabash is simply the dried hollow shell of a gourd used for household utensils (oziogu, 2012). however, calabash decoration is the application of beautiful patterns on calabashes through the method of carving scraping, scorching, engraving, and decorating with extraneous materials. decoration of the surface of a calabash is attained using design elements ngumah, et al (2013). the major medium for calabash decoration is the gourd, which belongs to the family of pumpkins or cucumbers. the gourds grow in different shapes and sizes. local crafts and indigenous technology 170 the major materials for designing the calabash are chalk and dye and its tools are a knife, cutter, scrapers, saw and engraving and carving tools of various sizes and shapes. the ogun, oyo, ijebu and fulanis are known for calabash decoration. brass ornamentation plate 10: bida brass works. source: http://myimani.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-couple-of-months-ago-i-went-onroad.html this is also one of the major crafts in nigeria, though found in bida, ogbomoso, kano, and maiduguri ngumah, et al (2013). according to him, some brass work is cast, that is, reduced to the molten metal before being formed into shapes. the properties and design of the solidified chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 171 elements are then adjusted through a series of controlled operations to produce an end 'brass stock' product. brass – an alloy of copper and zinc – is one of the most widely used alloys. known for its decorative attributes and bright gold appearance, brass also exhibits durability, corrosion resistance, and high electrical conductivity. its tools and equipment are the same as metalwork tools. it is a craft that dates back centuries. bronze casting bronze casting is the reproduction of some articles/images in brome metal. the archaeology of igboukwu revealed bronze artefacts dated to the 9th century a.d. which were initially discovered by isiah anozie in 1939 while digging a well in his compound in igbo-ukwu, an igbo town in anambra state, nigeria. according to alice (2001), as a result of these finds, three archaeological sites were excavated in 1959 and 1964 by charles thurstan shaw which revealed more than 700 high-quality artefacts of copper, bronze and iron, as well as about 165000 glass, carnelian and stone beads, pottery, textiles and ivory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/igbo-ukwu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/igbo_people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/anambra_state https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nigeria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/charles_thurstan_shaw local crafts and indigenous technology 172 plate 11: bronze ceremonial vessel in form of a snail shell; 9th century. source: nigerian national museum. she further mentioned that they are the oldest bronze artefacts known in west africa and were manufactured centuries before the emergence of other known bronze-producing centres such as those of ife and benin. the bronzes include numerous ritual vessels, pendants, crowns, breastplates, staff ornaments, swords, and fly-whisk handles (alice, 2001). as a craft, bronze easting is also associated with the people of benin and ife. the major material for bronze casting is bronze which is an alloy of copper and tin, wax, brushes etc. its technique is called cire perdue, which is the lost wax method. the tools and equipment include a hammer, mallet, container, and a furnace for heating the bronze into liquid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/west_africa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/benin_bronzes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fly-whisk chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 173 leather work plate 12: leather puffs. source: https://www.google.com/search?q=leather+works+in+nigeria&cli ent...... the decoration of hides and skin by appliqué technique and the shaving and printing of designs and patterns on them is a craft for which the northern states of nigeria are well known. they are: naraguta in jos, sokoto, kano, katsina, adamawa, oyo and maiduguri areas are well-known centres for leather craft. nigeria is one of the highest producers of leather and finished leather products in africa. the craft of leatherwork is prominent in parts of nigeria where decorative art is popular and abundant. the city of kano in northern nigeria is the largest commercial hub for the leather industry. the tannery factories in kano are always busy with activities. good examples of leather local crafts and indigenous technology 174 works are leather shoes, bags, slippers, purses, horses, furniture, leather sheets for making drums for music and many others. metal work the knowledge and practice of metalwork in nigeria date back more than 1000 years. the oldest smelting furnace in nigeria was found in taruga, niger state. obinelo (2010) rightly admits that blacksmithing in nigeria is an age-long occupation as it is visibly practised across all tribes in nigeria. it is mostly practised by men and the skills are transferred from generation to generation. he further mentioned that these blacksmiths have been the source of technology towards making farm implements, bush traps, hunting guns, and arrows. they have also been the source of smelting of precious stones like brass, bronze, and gold. all these improved the sectors in nigeria. bicycle repairers, and everyone benefits from the blacksmithing industry. blacksmithing has evolved over the years and has been adjusting towards the needs of the nigerian public. in the earliest times, it provided farming implements and bows and arrows for protection. in the industrial era, it served as means of supplementing the automotive industries across nigeria, during the nigeria biafra war it was a source of weaponry to the biafran warfare and now in nigeria, it has tremendously evolved into many sections. blacksmiths now serve as welders, and some of them provide spare parts for bicycles, motorcars and even tricycles because these men chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 175 and women have ingeniously been adapting to the new trends and are cohesively contributing to the metallurgical needs of nigeria (obinelo 2010). the blacksmiths at awka, anambra state were the most skilful and famous in the country. however, the practice of blacksmithing in makera assad makes the area to be recognized as the home of blacksmithing. the area was known for its smithing since the establishment of sokoto town. mat-making and basketry mat-making is an age-long craft. the various ethnic groups in nigeria engage in the production of the mat in one form or another, using materials available to them in their localities. some of these materials are raffia, bamboo, palm fronds, grass and straw. the mat has various uses in nigeria: it serves as material for seating, praying and sleeping. though synthetic fibre mats are dominating the market, making the natural ones appear old-fashioned, yet, some nigerians are making money from weaving different sizes and colours of this traditional sleeping material (awa, 2016). local crafts and indigenous technology 176 plate 13: mat weaver. photo credit: ayodele adeniran. source: https://guardian.ng/business-services/mat-weaving-engaging-craftboosting-local-economy/ the uses of mat cannot be over-emphasized. ogotun community in the ekiti south west local government area of ekiti state is renowned for weaving mats. the weaving process involves a cotton warp with individual strands of grass inserted by hand. this is the traditional style of weaving the mat, done on a simple frame. a flat piece of wood is used to pack it in place. the grass is dampened to make it supple before inserting it in the weft. mat is used for covering floors, seating, fencing etc. basketry chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 177 basketry is one of the oldest crafts known today, however, its origin is unknown and cannot be tracked. the oldest known basket dates as far back as 10,000 and 12,000 years old. in the middle east, other baskets were later discovered 7000 years ago (admin 2021). basketry (also known as basket weaving or basket making) is the process of weaving elastic materials like cane, palm frond, rubber, and metal wires among others into a basket (a container made of interwoven strips of cane or wire for holding or carrying things). it can be made from any material that is flexible or weak provided the material could be bent easily. a basket could be round, oval and horizontal. in some cases, the weaver will fill in the sides of the basket while some parts of the basket, become the base, the sidewalls and the rim respectively. a basket may also have a lid or handle depending on its usage (admin 2021). they come in various sizes and achieve several functions. baskets are useful objects, therefore in one's everyday life, one finds oneself making use of these different types of baskets for one's daily needs. it is one of the world crafts that have remained aesthetically and functionally acceptable in the modern world despite technologically manufactured products. grass, bamboo, reeds, vines, cane and honeysuckle plants are the best materials for weaving baskets. there are three main weaving techniques in basket weaving, namely: coiling, plaiting and twining local crafts and indigenous technology 178 the art of basket weaving in sokoto is passed from one generation to the next. people in shuni, dange-shuni local government area of sokoto are renowned for basket making. the igbo of south eastern nigeria uses mostly palm stems to weave their baskets while those from ikotekpene wove mostly with canes. questions 1. define the term local craft 2. state five (5) types of local crafts. 3. list five (5) vital materials used in wood carving. 4. list five (5) places where local craft can be found. references admin (2021). pottery in nigeria. retrieved from https://exploretravelmagazine.com/pottery-in-nigeria/ admin (2021). basket weaving in nigeria. retrieved from https://exploretravelmagazine.com/basket-weaving-in-nigeria/ bbc news. woven cloth dates back 27,000 years. retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/790569.stm chika c. chudi-duru (2019), adaptation of punch needle embroidery as an added surface design on african wax prints for nigerian fashion in resonance journal of contemporary art scholarship, the publication of the department of creative and visual arts, federal university lafia, nassarawa state. vol.2, pp. 142-159 chudi-duru c. c. & okpalauba v. 179 chudi-duru, c.c. (2017).exploration of akwete weaves motifs for adaptation on printed textiles for apparel production. unpublished phd thesis submitted to the department of industrial design, ahmadu bello university, zaria, nigeria. cole, h.m. (1983). igbo art in social context. retrieved from https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/15?start=13. gunner, j. (2016). shibori for textiles artists. kodansha usa. isbn 9781568363806 hitchcock, d. (2022). dolni vestonice and pavlov sites. retrieved from 20https://www.donsmaps.com/dolnivi.html oziogu, i. (2012). the art of calabash decoration in nigeria. https://www.vanguardngr.com/ 2012/08/the-art-of-calabashdecoration-in-nigeria/ awa, o. (2016). mat weaving: engaging craft, boosting the local economy.https://guardian.ng/business-services/ mat-weavingengaging-craft-boosting-local-economy/ lawrence, m.(2017). history of wood carving. retrieved from http://www.thewoodcarverscabin.com/library/history-of-woodcarving/ meyerowitz e. l. r(1943). wood-carving in the yoruba country to-day. journal of the international african institute, vol. 14, no. 2 (apr. 1943), cambridge university press http://www.thewoodcarverscabin.com/library/history-of-wood-carving/ http://www.thewoodcarverscabin.com/library/history-of-wood-carving/ https://www.jstor.org/stable/i248526 https://www.jstor.org/stable/i248526 local crafts and indigenous technology 180 ngumah, h. c, ayoola, o., dalhatu, s., and samkay, a. (2013) cultural and creative arts for junior secondary schools. ibadan: evans brothers nigeria ltd. renne, p.e.(2002). hausa hand-embroidery and local development in northern nigeria. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301223903_hausa_han d-embroidery_and_local_development_in_northern _nigeria fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 154 chapter 12 imbibing creativity and innovation: a way of enhancing socio-political and economic development of some nigerian sectors godwin o. uka, chidiebere o. onwuekwe, and chibuzo asogwa 1department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka 2,3department of fine and applied arts, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka abstract creativity is associated with the generation of ideas, innovations and solving of many human problems. it is chiefly associated with the arts and human society. it is believed to have aided in revolutionizing many modern cities we have today. in nigeria, creativity is viewed by many as a thing for artists, thereby ignoring its vast potential that could be deployed to solve problems in other human fields such as medicine, food and nutrition, education, law, etc. this study focused on assessing the possibilities of creativity and innovation as vehicles for solving myriad problems in nigeria such as corruption, ethnicity, underdevelopment, etc, using a creativity quadrat diagram developed by getlein (2008), as a paradigm. the research methods applied were descriptive research design and literature review. the findings of this study revealed that creativity can be applied by artists, doctors, politicians, teachers, and in their various endeavours, to fast-track the socio-political, and economic development of nigeria. keywords: creativity, innovation, development, nigeria, political, social introduction creativity is a deliberate human endeavour to bring about new phenomena and improvement in already existing ones. scholars have asked questions as to whether creativity is limited only to the arts, or extended to other fields of human endeavor. however, it is “the production of a novel, appropriate ideas in any realm of human activity, from science to the arts to education, to business, to everyday life” (amabile, 1997:40). since creativity chiefly deals with the production of novel ideas, innovation is as subject matter, is therefore, a product of creativity. because by implication, innovation entails the actualization of creativity. on one hand, creativity can be an individual affair, while on the other, it can be a collective idea, especially in an institution, such as a school or government. moreso, creativity means a belief in contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 155 new ideas and making them into reality in the forms of new products or services provided by organizations in the marketplace (kilroy, 1999). creativity is usually associated with the arts whenever the subject matters are mentioned. however, we must aver that it spans to other aspects of human activities. anyone can learn and practice the thinking skill of creativity. some people might be better than others, with any skill, such as driving, cooking, tennis or soccer, art and design and others (uka, 2018:143). as long as one possesses, and is capable of applying certain characteristics in doing things, such is creativity. progressive countries such as america, europe, china, japan, and singapore, have long imbibed creativity and innovation, and consequently, such moves resulted in drastic, simultaneous, and continuous development of their various sectors. thus, there is always a need to progress and change in developed and developing nations, which could be a result of new technology and possibilities or because of changes in the world (uka, 2018:144) in africa, most countries have failed to imbibe creativity, to fast-track their development and progress. rather, many african leaders, particularly in nigeria had tolerated corruption over the years, and that had eaten deep into the fabric of the nation. even all the efforts made by substantive leaders have proved abortive. it is either they were not sincere with such moves, or they are literally ‘blocked’ from attaining such progressive moves because their lieutenants were practically immersed in corrupt practices. during the 2015 general election campaign in nigeria, the all progressives congress (apc) promised that fighting corruption was one of their fundamental goals. but, fast forward five years later, muhammadu buhari-led administration has not nipped it in the bud, but rather reports of embezzlement, mismanagement, and diversion of funds still fly over the news. again they are unwilling to nip it in the board. but why? why has it lingered over the years since the independence of nigeria from britain? thus, this has been the bane of the country’s development for over sixty years of her independence. this paper discusses the idea of imbibing creativity and innovation towards developmental endeavour in nigeria. nigeria needs to make innovation and creativity the centre of its political and economic ideologies. the social and political development of any nation can be achieved through meaningful and constructive avenues. herein, we shall attempt to use a quadrat designed by getlein (2008) on creativity to proffer solutions to identified problems in some nigerian sectors. this research also discusses how creativity can be applied by artists, doctors, politicians, teachers, and in their various endeavours, to improve the state of the nation. purpose of the study given the problem of this study, we ascertained the following: • to design a creativity quadrat diagram that will be used to ascertain the importance of creativity in some nigerian sectors. • to ascertain the importance of creativity and innovation, and how they could be applied towards nigeria’s social and political development • to prove that creativity and innovation, if applied properly, can reposition and fast-track nigeria’s economic development • to prove that a country cannot progress effectively without applying creativity and innovations to her sectors. fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 156 concept of creativity getlein (2008:12) asked salient questions concerning the nature and origin of creativity when he articulates thus creativity is a word that comes up often when talking about art, but what is creativity exactly? are we born with it? can it be learned? can it be lost? are artists more creative than other people? if so, how did they get that way? it refers to the generation of ideas and innovation refers to the implementation of that ideas. creativity is the mental and social process, fuelled by the conscious or unconscious insight of generating ideas, concepts, and associations dimnwobi, ekesiobi and mgbemena (2016:30). creativity is of three types; individual creativity, group creativity and organisational creativity (mehtaa, chandanib and neerajac, 2014: 804). while individual creativity entails ideas by a single person, organisational creativity implies the collective creation and implementation of innovative ideas. activities such as writing a novel by a single author, making art, thinking of a new process, etc, are individual creativity. again, getlein (2008: 12-13) agrees that creative people possess certain traits, including: • sensitivity • flexibility • originality • playfulness • productivity • fluency • analytical skill • organisational skill while sensitivity concerns heightened awareness of what one sees, hears and touches, as well as responses to other people and their feeling, productivity means the ability to generate ideas easily and frequently. organisational skills are one’s ability to put things back together (getlein, 2008:12-13). akinboye (2004) sees creativity as a tool that propels organizations, catapults careers, and generate potent growth and viable outcomes. runco (1994) opines that creativity, in terms of cognitive processes can lead to an original and adaptive insight, idea or solution. thus, creativity is the most essential of all human resources and skills (bolaji 2007). creativity is more closely related to thinking abilities and attitudinal development. it is a continual process for which the best preparation involves creativity itself. the act of creativity can be seen as that which provides the urge for continuing exploration and discovery. every child is born creative. the urge to explore, investigate, and discover, what is on the other side of the screen is not limited to human behaviour, but is experienced by the whole animal kingdom, (lowerfield and brittian 1975). creativity can be given credit for being the catalyst in the process of growth from the very first moment. indeed, a key driver of this growth has been innovation. in economics, creativity is the expression of mind power: it is the capacity to produce new ideas, thus liberating the stringent boundaries of the rationalist (shawney, 2018). contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 157 concept of innovation unsworth (2003) describes innovation as the process of engaging in behaviours designed to implement new ideas, processes, products, and services. innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas: it is a profitable outcome of the creative process, which involves generating and applying in a specific context products, services, procedures and processes that are desirable and viable dimnwobi, ekesiobi and mgbemena (2016:30). it is, therefore, imperative to develop a new reasoning ability to think aright, explore possibilities and to be able to discover and combine meaningfully, as many ideas and experiences as possible to create a new form of knowledge. similarly, adewusi and aluko (2019) add that innovation is the embodiment, combination or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant, valued new products, processes or services, or a process of turning new ideas into practical reality. consider that ‘idea” in their submission entails creativity. halila and rundquist (2011), categorized innovation into three: product, process and organizational innovations. product innovation deals with the design, research and promotion of a novel good. products such as consumables thrive where there is market competition, and what sustains it is innovations, in terms of promotion and product design. process innovation is explained as new or enhanced tools, equipment, materials, and other technologies that directly affect the firms that are practising innovations; those firms produce the goods that are further sold in the market shuag, et al (2017: 297). concept of development development is a process that ensures continuous growth, and progress in any system, such as state, school, and even the human or animal body. in this context we are concerned with the political and economic development of some sectors of nigeria as a nation. the purpose of development is a rise in the level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities, without damaging the resources of the environment. development is visible and useful, not necessarily immediately, and includes an aspect of quality change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change (society for international development-isreal, 2021). once the tempo of development is constant, it becomes sustainable. it takes the commitment of actors of the state and the economy to attain sustainable development. nations and institutions alike are established with hopes of attaining revolutionary changes, and continuous growth in their systems, through the setting up of structures, strictly following laid down rules, and maintaining transitional consistency through change of administration. the bane of nigeria’s socio-political and economic development nigeria gained her independence in 1960 and adopted parliamentary democracy as her. that period experienced sectionalism, corruption and bad governance. that was what gave rise to the first coup and eventual military takeover of the polity. according to ani (2017) plotters used corruption as a reason to justify military coups in 1966 and 1967, whose aftermath threw the country into a civil war. both the coups and the war paved way for almost three decades of military rule, interrupted only briefly from 1979 to 1983 when general olusegun obasanjo returned the country to civilian rule. shortly after, the 1983 coup of general muhammadu buhari ensured that the military stayed fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 158 in control of political power until 1999, when democracy returned to nigeria. decades of military rule which were hoped to be used to sanitise the polity, plunged the country into a speedy decay. unfortunately, it lingered into civilian rule and never ended till today, despite the promisies of past politicians to nip corruption in the bud. similarly, ani (2017) add thus; the years of military rule were politically and economically disastrous for nigeria. corruption, already burgeoning under the early politicians, became entrenched under military rule, and a class of antiintellectual politicians came into being. the impression is that the military era squandered every amount of fiscal responsibility left by the british colonialists in the wake of independence in 1960. bazza (2019:63) opines that corruption is one of the disturbing trends in nigeria’s developmental process, despite its endowments. aside from her immense mineral wealth with which crude oil resources are currently the most prominent, nigeria is also endowed with rich agricultural lands, with a population of over 180 million, by far the largest in africa (world bank, 2016). regrettably, nigeria is yet to provide for her people, a quality of life that is commensurate with the numerous resources at her disposal (kalejaiye, et. al., 2015) as 67.1% of the nigerian population is still poor (nbs, 2016). a new report by the world poverty clock shows nigeria as the capital of extreme poverty in the world. the failure to lift citizens out of poverty is an indictment on successive nigerian governments which have mismanaged the country’s vast oil riches through incompetence and corruption (ani, 2017). the worst of it all is police corruption which had been another impediment to nigeria’s development. the police is an arm of prosecution of justice. however, in the case of nigeria, corruption has saturated the rank and files of the force. some factors contribute to the corruption in the police force. some of the factors responsible for police corruption include inadequate salaries, inadequate manpower, improper training, lack of adequate professionalism; lack of necessary equipment, lack of adequate welfare package and functional law. onyeozili (2005) contends that corruption gave the nigerian police force a poor image in nigerian society. ikezue and oli (2020:49) are of the view that police corruption has impacted negatively on nigerian society, and has frustrated efforts geared towards the realization of several policies, and programmes which would have led to making the country a preferred destination for both citizens and foreigners alike. although the nigerian government under chief olusegun obasanjo, founded the independent corrupt practices commission (icpc) in 2000, to prosecute reports of corrupt practices, and prosecution. likewise, efcc was established in 2003 to rid nigeria of advanced free fraud, scams, corruption and money laundering. however, despite all these efforts, transparency international (2020) still ranks nigeria 149 on the corruptions perception index list. corruption has not only soiled the government agencies and the police, it has also extended to the paratatals, education sector, and so on. moreso, corruption had gradually contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 159 saturated the judiciary, which is meant to be a watchdog to the executive arm. the worst of it all is the eventual gagging of the judiciary in nigeria by their paymasters – the presidency. the creativity quadrat we developed what we named the creativity quadrat diagram, using getlein’s explanation of the qualities of a creative person. he specifically mentioned traits such as sensitivity, flexibility, originality, playfulness, productivity, fluency, and analytical and organisational skills. from there, we lifted the following; originality, sensitivity, flexibility and productivity and used the phrases to formulate the creativity quadrat, which is the basis of this research. on the chart (see fig. 1), “creativity” sits at the top, and originality at the bottom. the quadrat is the link between creativity and innovation. essentially, innovation means the actualization of creativity which must undergo these processes in the quadrat, namely; originality, sensitivity, flexibility, and productivity, before it materializes creativity. fig 1: the creativity quadrat. source: the authors, 2021 in the quadrat, originality entails novelty, ingenuity, resourcefulness, or inventiveness. ideas come to play here, and it is the starting point of creativity. sensitivity entails response to influences, changes in other people’s feelings, the environment, or events. this quality is the equivalent of being down-to-earth, perceptive, simple or humble. a flexible person adapts to changes, and makes modifications to suit certain circumstances. productivity deals with industry, achievement of favourable and useful results, continuous activity and abundance. productivity sets innovation in motion, amounting to physical results, products, etc. innovation, which is the end-product of the quadrat, is the actual implementation of ideas that fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 160 result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services, as a consequence of applying the activities in the chart. applying the quadrat in some sectors of nigeria for development we agreed that creativity gives birth to innovation. to achieve sustainable development in some sectors of nigeria such as politics, economy, and health, the creativity quadrat must be applied in incremental order. that is to say that policies must be made differently, bearing in mind that the developmental process would be achieved by such moves. in politics, government and leadership, policymakers must deem it pertinent to enact policies that will affect the people positively, starting from agenda setting and policy formation, and actual policy implementation. a sensitive government must as a matter of urgency, rid itself of corruption to enable it to bring sanity. aside from corruption, other banes of political development are sectionalism, nepotism, or ethnicity. in the united states of america, the “america first” policy stance is non-sectionalist and has been driving the county forward long after the american civil war, which is based on meritocracy and not ethnicity. “nigeria first” can kill sectionalism and hoist meritocracy in policy-making, and decision-making. such policies have been attempted in the past, such as the late prof dora akunyili’s “good people, great nation”. unfortunately, it only succeeded in the media, not indeed. for the police, considering the risky nature of their job, the government should apply flexibility in making policies that affect policing, such as adequate remuneration and constant reward and promotions for good jobs. on this, ikezue and oli (2020: 61) aver that the values of honesty and hard work should be encouraged and rewarded. it will motivate the officers to heighten their zeal for good work. the police personnel and other members of the sister agencies like the army, civil defense, and customs, among others, must, as a matter of urgency, be indoctrinated to see themselves as ‘guardian angels’ who must protect the interest of the law and order in nigeria. again, corrupt officers must be sincerely made to face the wrath of the law, and to set a good example for others. questionable sources of income, and propensity for the crude acquisition of wealth should be frowned upon and condemned. finally, erring police personnel should be punished swiftly, severely and publicly. this is because justice delayed is justice denied. in the economy, the government and private sectors need to be flexible in supporting both corporate organisations, small and medium scale enterprises, such as local manufacturing. these smes have the potential of driving the economy. it is rigid for a nation to have a singleproduct economy in terms of exports. the case goes to nigeria because oil accounts for up to 90 per cent of her export earnings, and even new investments related to oil. worse of it all is that nigeria is an import-oriented economy, thus, virtually every commodity is imported, including agro products such as rice, fruits, and even toothpick! consequently, this brings about high import duty fees, an increased unemployment rate in the system, and again, nigeria will be at risk of a trade deficit. as a matter of urgency, the nigerian government must bring an end to monopoly capitalism in the country. such a market does not encourage competition between companies and markets. dangote industries has enjoyed the monopoly of manufacturing commodities such as contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 161 sugar, spaghetti, salt, and cement in nigeria. in december 2021, cement spiked to a whooping sum of n4,500, and even the quality of the products were not certainly the best. this is because the nigerian government gave certificates to dangote and very few others to manufacture and import cement. before the discovery of oil, nigeria as a decentralized state depended on agriculture for the sustenance of the economy. groundnut pyramids were monumental structures made from sacks of groundnuts, stacked in cities such as kano. it became one of the prominent exports in nigeria, alongside cocoa from the west, palm oil from the east, and others. such efforts died down with the discovery of oil between the 1960s and 1970s. such efforts should be revamped and sustained because it will increase productivity. conclusions this research focused on the application of creativity for the development of some sectors of nigeria such as the government, the economy, the police and the parastatals. we identified corruption as the major problem of the nigerian state because it brought in its train, another myriad of problems such as sectionalism, ethnicity, gagging of the judiciary, and poor police service. we fashioned the creativity quadrat that comprises creativity, originality, sensitivity, flexibility, productivity, and innovation. looking at the chart, if individuals and groups concerned are decisive to adopt the features of the quadrat in policy making, and implementation, it will bring about development over time. there are benefits associated with this dispensation that are rooted in creativity, and innovation. therefore, there are far-reaching benefits for any developing nation that makes creativity and innovation the centre of its philosophical ideology. methodologies that aid exploration and discovery of potentials, a problem-solving ability which allows the learner the opportunity for creativity should be the focus of any developing nation such as nigeria. there is an ardent need for a paradigm shift from theoretical, and paper certification, to a more practical application of knowledge necessary for future employment, and skill development in the art and design for self-employment is very necessary for african development. finally, a sincere application of the creativity quadrat by the nigerian state, which boils down to innovation, will help to fast-track development in sectors such as policy-making, police, health and education sector. references adewusi and aluko (2019). education and research: factors for creativity, innovation, and inclusive development in nigeria akinboye, j. o. (2004) creativity, innovation and success. stirling-hordens publishers ltd, ibadan-nigeria. amabile, t.m. (1997). motivating creativity in an organization: on doing what you love and loving what you do. california management review, 40(1), 39-58. anya, a.o. (1982) the environment of isolation. the ahiajoku lecture, ministry of information, owerri, nigeria. baxter, m.r. (1995) product design. practical methods for the systematic development of new products, new fundamental issues in graphics design concepts: creativity and indigenous innovation… 162 bazza, m. b. (2019). igwebuike and the interpretation of human suffering. nnadiebube: journal of religion, culture and society. 2(2), 63 – 74. bolaji, s.d. (2007) akinpelu’s educational philosophy and its implication to educational system in nigeria, unpublished master’s thesis submitted to the department of educational foundations, faculty of education, university of lagos. dimnwobi, s. k. ekesiobi, c.s., and mgbemena, e.m. (2016). creativity, innovation and competitiveness in nigeria: an economic exploration. international journal of academic research in economics and management sciences, vol. 5, no. 3. url: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/ijarems/v5-i3/2242. halila, f., & rundquist, j. (2011). the development and market success of eco-innovations. european journal of innovation management, 14 (3), 278-302. kalejaiye, p., sokefun, e., & adewusi, a. (2015). leadership and human resource development in nigeria: factors for national development. the nigerian journal of sociology and anthropology, 13(1): 127 – 144. kilroy, d.b. (1999). creating the future: how creativity and innovation drive shareholder wealth. management decision, 37(4), 363-371. lowerfield and brittian, l. (1995) creative and mental growth.macmillan publishing co. inc., new york. mehtaa, m. chandanib, a. and neerajac, b. (2014). creativity and innovation: assurance for growth. symbiosis institute of management studies annual research conference. 11 p 804 – 811. retrieved from www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. murray, j. (1966) introduction to african art. camelot press ltd, london. rodney, w. (1982) how europe underdeveloped africa, ikenga publishers enugu, nigeria. runco, a. m. (1994) encyclopedia of human behavior. academic press inc. new york. shawney, p. (2018). creativity is the most important weapon of economic growth. …. society for international development-isreal, (2021). what is development? https://sidisrael.org/en/what-is-development/. suhag, a, solangi, s.r, larik, s.a, lakho, m.k, tagar, a.h. (2017). the relationship of innovation with organizational performance. ijr – granthaalayah, vol.5,2 292306. http//www. granthaalayah.com doi: https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.345736. unsworth, k. (2001). unpacking creativity. acad. manage. rev., 26: 289. world bank (2016). knowledge, productivity and innovation in nigeria: creating a new economy, the world bank, washington, dc. york: chapman and hall. ani, n. a. (2017). decades of corruption have held nigeria back — it's time for change. https://apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/decades-of-corruption-have-held-nigeria-back-itstime-for-change. 23/8/2021 transparency international (2020). corruption perceptions index. https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2020/index/nzl. assessed 26/8/2021 onyeozili, e. c. (2005). an obstacle to effective policing in nigeria. african journal of criminology and justice studies. 1(1), 32-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/ijarems/v5-i3/2242 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2020/index/nzl the other side of a polluted coin: white expatriates in watson’s tiny sunbirds, far away ikechukwu asika abstract this study investigates the portrayal of white expatriates in christie waston’s tiny sunbirds, far away. waston, a british writer, interestingly in her novel, tiny sunbirds, far away, delves into the onerous task of retelling the niger delta travails, unarguably, from the lenses of an outsider patriotic and brave enough to tell her side of the disheartening oil exploitation story. the images of white expatriates in nigerian literature vis-à-vis niger delta concerns are almost stereotyped. these expatriate oil workers are recreated as predators that laid siege over the entire region feeding on the impoverished and vulnerable niger delta women. these expatriates, aware of the poverty in the region, prey on the niger delta girls who are seeking nothing but love, comfort, survival, and some sense of humanity. against this backdrop, the study argues that waston, in her novel, reconstructs the images of the white expatriates obviously in her bid to challenge stereotypes. with the character of dan, who is everything the male niger deltans undoubtedly are not, the paper surmises that waston succeeds in presenting another side of the expatriate story which begs for further studies and insights regarding the activities of the white expatriates and the niger delta women amidst the madness of oil exploitation, pollution, and devastation. keywords: expatriates, pollution, exploitation, stereotype, niger delta, women introduction born in 1976, christie watson, a british writer, and a retired nurse was a registered pediatrics nurse for twenty years and she spent most of her career in pediatric intensive care in large nhs hospitals before becoming a resuscitation officer, which involved teaching and clinical work on hospital-wide crash teams. a professor of medical and health humanities at the university of east anglia, waston won the malcolm bradbury bursary, which enabled her to take an ma in creative writing at the university of east anglia, from where she graduated in 2009. only recently, waston was awarded an honorary doctor of letters, honoris causa for her contribution to nursing and the arts by the university of east anglia. she is the patron of the royal college of nursing foundation. watson lives in london and writes full-time. her major writings include tiny sunbirds far away, where women are kings, here i stand, the language of kindness: a nurse's story, published 3rd may 2018. her first novel, tiny sunbirds, far away. won the costa first novel award and her second novel, where women are kings was also published to international critical acclaim. her works have been translated into twentytwo languages. the novel, tiny sunbirds far away, remains one of the best books on the environmental issues, violence, exploitation, and struggle for resource control in the region, at least from the literary lenses of an outside observer. the novel is one of the coming-of-age stories on the niger delta travails set in lagos and the niger delta, which takes us on an emotional, psychological, sociocultural as well as religious, economic, and political journey around the niger delta region in the miasma of oil exploitation and exploration. describing the niger delta the writer praises thus: the niger delta known as “the big heart” is home to proud people with good reason. it is a beautiful land with extraordinary wildlife, an amazing landscape, bustling cosmopolitan towns, and peaceful villages. port harcourt and warri are fast becoming centers of cultural importance, with thriving arts and literature scenes, an abundance of restaurants, and independent theater groups. the niger delta is a place of laughter, music, and diversity. but the majority of people who live in the niger delta survive on less than one dollar a day. they enjoy none of the enormous wealth generated by the oil-rich land. many people in the niger delta have no access to schools, health care, or clean water. they live with the effect of environmental devastation caused by the continued gas flaring and frequent ecological accidents, which have amounted to more than one and a half million tons of spilled oil: starvation, asthma, chest infections, cancers, and birth deformities. they live with the threat of violence, rape, and death. though christie waston is not from the niger delta region, her love for the niger delta inspired by their poverty and suffering of the region prompted her research which culminated in the exciting novel, tiny sunbirds, far away, a novel that chronicles the myriads of problems of the region from a multi-faceted dimension and told with such a charm, humour and ease possessed by only genuine and talented writers. it is only a sad irony that the oil in niger delta became an albatross and inevitably metamorphosed the niger deltans into sacrificial lambs whose blood and environment must be poured and sacrificed on the economic altar to keep the wheel of the economy running and the government, politicians and the rest of the people outside the region well nourished. the pollution, impoverishment, spillage, killing, chaos, brutality, oppression, molestation, exploitation, denial, rape, and abuse of the niger delta region are unavoidable realities that watson chronicles in this charming but agonizing tale of the niger delta. the images of white expatriates in african literature have not always been a favourable one. available evidence and critical works overtime support a popular opinion that these expatriates are more destructive and evil than any positive impact and blessing they are considered to provide to the host community. echezona ifejirika in his study of these expatriate figures in some selected african plays gleaned from different regions of africa notes that the playwrights cumulatively depict the expatriates as colonialists, oppressors, imperialists, cannibals, exploiters, slave masters, and dealers (73). ifejirika attests that: the expatriates are depicted as murderers, plunderers and killers who often use menial gifts of medals, gun power, trinkets, bicycles, guns and necklaces as baits to confuse and enslave africans, particularly their leaders. the white colonialists are able to achieve their destructive objectives based on their superior arms; the types they used against abame people and other communities in igbo land. (74) one of the significant realities of the niger delta beyond oil spillage, exploitation, devastation, bastardization, and impoverishment of the region, is the abuse and exploitation of the niger delta women by the white oil workers, the expatriates who are hell-bent on not just exploiting the oil but also the other human and pleasurable delights the region offers. the girls and women in niger delta are preyed on and destroyed in the same manner akin to the destruction and degradation of their environment. an average niger delta girl lives in fear of rape, sexual abuse, and harassment constantly. the girl-child suffers exploitation, abuse, and oppression from all fronts in the region. when they are not coping with the problems of pollution, poverty, and devastation, they are struggling to ward off the lustful attacks from the expatriates and oil workers. the white expatriates in agary’s yellow-yellow, one of the niger delta literature are lucidly portrayed as chief sources of woes in the niger delta region emanating from their exploits, and wantonness which only aggravate the problems of the women in the region. zilayefa’s mother comes in handy in this regard. amidst the madness of pollution and devastation of the region, ibinaebi, laye’s mother goes to port harcourt in search of survival only to have her future and dreams cut short and thwarted by a greek sailor, plato papadopoulos who exploits her innocence and leaves her with an unwanted pregnancy. ignatius chukwumah surmises that laye is: “… a fruit of a greek father and an ijaw mother, a father who absconded without the knowledge of his burgeoning seed in the girl that has warmed his bed throughout his short stay in port harcourt” (5). laye’s mother was merely a plaything in the hands of the sailor who used her to warn his bed while his short stay in port harcourt lasted. as familiar as this experience is in the region, it is pitiable that ibinaebi who left in search of survival in port harcourt only returned with a pregnancy, a rare kind of pregnancy at that. it was not only her dream that was cut short, rather the poor mother was abandoned to live the rest of her life with the trauma and the psychological pain of waiting for the fateful day she would have to tell zilayefa the true story of her birth and the origin of her white skin colour. further, laye is to embrace that path of exploitation and her travails are not devoid of the encumbrances of another white expatriate, sergio. before laye leaves her polluted village in search of survival in port harcourt, just like her mother did, she encounters sergio, a male white expatriate. laye takes sergio to her secret hideout, cooks him a meal, and shares the story of her life with him. she even allows him to kiss her. we see sergio almost exploiting and taking advantage of her during their first meeting to fulfill some amorous desires. later, as the story progresses, laye journeys to port harcourt in her quest to survive and escape her polluted and impoverished village. recall that ibinaebi’s encounter with plato, his sudden disappearance did not only usher physical pain, but deep psychological trauma which thwarted both the dreams of a mother and daughter as laye’s search for her father led her to sergio, which proved another devastating experience in the hands of the white expatriates in niger delta region. chukwumah supports that: “as it turns out, it (laye’s mother’s silence) did very little to wear out the mesmerizing power that papadopoulos’s absence exercises over her daughter. beginning from the devastating spillage, for which the company refused to compensate her community, papadopoulos’s image of an absent comforting male looms just as large in his absence as if he had been present. in port harcourt, the search for her father, once ignited, subconsciously resurfaces during her chance meeting with sergio” (51). in the city, she meets sergio again and this time, he exploits her sexually, a relationship that only complicates her life and the paternity of her child she already carries. aware of the plight of the girl-child in the region, precious ona affirms that: “to agary, the suffering (of the female folk) is in two forms: the women suffer in the hands of the foreign oil expatriate and in the hands of local men who discriminate, subjugate and relegate them to the background” (35). in a similar tangent, joy etiowo further confirms the protagonist’s character in yellow-yellow as a “sex object” (137). the critic while interrogating the moral consequences of the situation in the niger delta, concludes that the young girls become easy sex prey to the white expatriates. in her words: the young girls become easy sex preys to the white oil workers and expatriates. yellowyellow (the major character) herself is a function of such social malfunctioning, and, unfortunately, later found herself being also a sex object for self-sustenance. this too, is the story of many young ladies, who, against their inner desires, are forced to subject their bodies to sex exploiters (many of whom are the architects of the economic situation that turned them to such in the first instance). (137) beyond fiction, agary, in an interview chat with geosi reads reveals the real-life encounter she had at bonny island that triggered her narrative in yellow-yellow. according to agary: after resisting the pressure to expand the story for over a year, i finally got the inspiration for the novel, quite unexpectedly, on a trip to visit a friend on bonny island in nigeria; it would be my first time on the island. at the waterside in port harcourt, waiting to get a boat to the island, i saw a young man, hustling like every other young man at the waterside, but he was different. he was mixed asian. i had never seen that mix in port harcourt before, and certainly not at a waterside. the story became clearer when i got to bonny and saw the number of asians working as part of the joint venture with the nigeria lng in bonny. other things i witnessed in bonny also contributed to the story” (np). an encounter with a mixed asian boy hustling for a living along the waterside in bonny changed everything for agary. the sight of the mixed asian boy was not just odd but strange and the sight of many asians working as part of the joint venture with the nigeria lng in bonny bared the reality to agary and proved the tunic she needed to narrate her side of the niger-delta story. these were children fathered by these asians, who in the course of executing their jobs, happed on the poor and impoverished niger-delta girls for sexual pleasure and gratification leaving them with children that bear testimony to the rather illicit relationship. after the bonny encounter, agary had a story to tell, the story of children being fathered by white expatriates who they would never know or meet and the fate of these biracial children in the years to come, most importantly, how the society would receive and relate to them. yellow-yellow lives as a bitter testament of the activities of the white expatriates in niger delta beyond the oil theft and exploitation. against this backdrop, waston offers an entirely significant narrative of the niger delta women and the white oil expatriates symbolized in the epitomized relationship between dan, a white oil worker, and timi, the protagonist’s mother and a niger-delta woman which triggered our present study on images of the white expatriate in the novel of christie waston. critical analysis waston’s novel, tiny sunbirds, far away, is weaved around the girl-child protagonist, blessing, an ijaw girl with a yoruba father. raised in lagos by her mother, timi, alongside her asthmatic brother, ezikiel, who was two years older than her, blessing’s early years of growing up were marked by affluence. blessing and ezikiel attended the best schools and were filled with high hopes and dreams about the future. ezikiel, at a very tender age, develops a special fondness for medicine and decides to be a doctor. he grows up with a special fondness for one of his medical books, encyclopedia of tropical medicine from where he learns jaw-breaking medical terminologies and preps himself for his future career. sad enough, this happiness and an affluent lifestyle in lagos is not destined to last forever and neither were the dreams of blessing and ezikiel. a sharp twist of fate twisted not just the life of blessing but that of her mother and her brother too. after blessing’s mother caught her husband cheating, and since he was not sorry for his actions, she decides to leave him and lagos for good. unable to afford the exorbitant rent in allen avenue, timi decides to relocate to her father’s house in the village, a rather remote village which is near warri, in the very heart of niger delta. it is this movement from lagos to the remote village in the niger delta, which is symbolic of a movement from affluence to poverty that revealed the rot, decay, poverty, pollution, and exploitation that are part and parcel of the niger delta. through the unblinking eyes of the twelve years old blessing, we see beyond the physical abuse of the environment, the psychological, traumatic, and emotional problems accruing from pollution, impoverishment, and devastation of the region on the niger deltans, most especially the female folk. despite ezekiel’s fears and protest against returning to the region, timi, running away from the disgrace and memories lagos holds for her, makes up her mind. she believes it is long overdue to make that unspectacular return to her village after she elopes with her yoruba husband without fulfillment of the traditional rites of marriage. like the prodigal daughter she assumes, timi returns to reunite with her father alhaji, a christian turned muslim and her mother simply identified as grandma. the life in the village contrasts with the bubbles of affluence blessing has grown to know in her twelve years of existence in lagos. the food is different as everything else smacks of poverty and failure. blessing laments: “…the food tasted strange and my fingers full of parasites, but i felt as though i could not leave any at all. my stomach was angry. i could not stop thinking of the dirt on my hands, the lack of soap, and the pounded yam that did not taste at all like pounded yam…” (16). back to ijaw, timi and her two children were confined in a room that contained nothing but only one mattress without a sheet is meant for the three of them. while describing the room, blessing recognizes the absence of a pillow, blanket, and mosquito net. even the tall fan that stood against the wall had not seen electricity for months and alhaji could not afford a generator: “no electricity! cold things raced through my mind: fridges, drinks, fans, air-conditioning.” (17) that same morning, on a tour to the village, blessing encounters pollution in its depth. the smell of the water first greeted her nostrils before she saw the river already rendered inactive by pollution. yet, in sharp contrast, at the other side of the region, the oil workers thrive in good life free of rot, pollution, and nuisance of the region, a life of affluence hinged on the resources of the exploited natives. timi, blessing’s mother, after she returns from the city, is exposed to the poverty in the region. faced with a high scale of unemployment and a gloomy future, she struggles to survive and the struggle means her children will have to make do with the little standard of education she could afford. later, she manages to secure a job in the highlife bar where she attends to white expatriates and oil workers. her experience as a bar attendant availed her with firsthand experience on the wide gulf and socio-economic margin between the natives and the oil workers. she describes this gulf to her children: “…from the table we were sitting at i could see a troop of monkeys travel across the trees. it’s like a national park. honestly, i can’t believe that the other side of the wall is another world. one minute you’re in the oily swamp, the next, five-star luxury. cool, air-conditioned, five-star luxury.” (61) she hopes that her children get a chance to visit her workplace someday in the hope that they too will be privileged to: “see civilization during the day” (62). sadly, the meager salary she earns as a bar attendant, despite the many times she toils and serves the oil workers and white expatriates, proves insufficient to cater to the growing needs in her family. ezikiel and blessing had to stop school until their mother is able to provide their school fees. unable to raise the school fees for her two children to be in school at once, blessing drops out of school, and before timi could raise the money to send her back, she embraces the job of a birth assistant under her grandmother, a role that was later to redefine her and decided her future in the region. christie watson in tiny sunbirds, far away, draws attention to the reality of the female folk in the niger delta region. like earlier hinted, the story of the niger delta women, their travails, and emotional cum psychological trauma in the hands of the white expatriates are stories that still remain largely untold. due to the alarming poverty in the region, the white oil workers see the niger delta women as mere playthings, some sources of distraction to help them cope with the challenges of their jobs. these women are abused, played on, and oftentimes, dumped at will, perhaps to jump into the thighs and waiting arms of another unsuspecting girl or in extreme circumstances, abandoned, once their stay in the region is over. this would not have caused any serious notice if not that many of the expatriates see the girls as some objects to be exploited to satisfy their libidinous and amorous sexual needs. these sexual dalliances, in the long run, end in deep-rooted psychological trauma, pain, and loneliness for the abandoned girls who are asking for nothing to be loved in return for their love. in waston’s novel, this reality of niger delta women seems to draw support and significance even from the title of the novel. the novel appears to offer various shades of symbolic and interpretative meanings unearthing the exegesis of waston’s chronicle. one of such perspectives conjectures that the niger deltans, especially their women, appear to the expatriates as some weird exotic objects to be admired and used for pleasurable purposes, a sort of hobby to kill time in the midst of exploration, exploitation, and pollution. the women are abandoned afterward, and all that is left to survive in the memories of the white expatriates will be memories of those tiny sunbirds–the niger delta women– plucked and tasted in a place very far away– the niger delta region, thus, an arguable symbolic implication of the title– tiny sunbirds, far away. little wonder too, dan has a special interest in the collection of various rare species of birds, the tiny sunbirds inclusive. from watson’s narratives, the result of timi’s failure to carter for her children propelled her to embrace a pathway familiar to many women in the region. she gets entangled in an affair with a white expatriate, dan, whom she had met in the highlife bar and what started like mere friendship, veered into a supposedly romantic relationship. blessing describes him: “dan was surely the whitest man in the world. i could see through the skin of his arms. his veins were the color of the hottest part of a flame. they branched down his hands and forearms, which were poking out from his short-sleeve shirt… i noticed he had no hair on his chest. even ezikiel has three chest hairs” (166). as expected, timi’s relationship with dan suddenly means more money for the family and timi could afford to pay blessing’s school fees although the money came too late after blessing had already shunned school in favour of her apprentice job as a birth attendant. timi’s relationship with dan means the family can now afford a little of the life they missed and desired– a generator, good food, and money. but ezikiel, as if fully aware of the implication and the foreseeable end of dan’s relationship with his mother, and the unwanted presence of the expatriates in the region, refused to accept the affair. ezikiel laments: “i wish he was purple. i’ve never seen anybody that white. he looks like a ghost. of all the men mama could have’ – he paused– ‘she chose a white man to be her boyfriend” (187). even grandma, timi’s mother, views dan with a high degree of skepticism. after her eyes caught timi and dan kissing underneath the almond trees in their compound, all she could mutter is: “big trouble,’ she said repeatedly. ‘wahala, wahala, wahala” (171). owing to the common experiences with the white expatriates and the niger delta women, it is easy for grandma and the rest of the household, including alhaji to wear a pessimistic outlook regarding the foreseeable danger that is bound to accrue from the affair. ezikiel rebels against dan the first day he visits and gives him chocolate: “you give me chocolate bar? a chocolate bar? offer to help me find a school, well, instead of that, i’d prefer my countryback, please… ‘you people come here’–ezikiel slammed his fist onto the tabletop, making us all jump– ‘and take our women’–he looked at mama–‘and our money. and our jobs.’ you pay people to kill us, and you rape our land, then our women! and you give me chocolate bar?” (203) amidst the tension and uneasiness created by ezikiel, it is much surprising that dan is ready to stomach it all and continues to visit and provide the needed assistance to the family even at the risk of his life. every visit exposes him to the risk of being kidnapped and brutally killed by any of the different militant groups springing up daily in the region. popular among them are the sibeye boys whom ezikiel suddenly begins to admire and develop a fondness to their cause. dan’s constant visit to timi’s poor house where he struggles with mosquitoes and insects that are very dangerous to his health begins to give the rest of the family some faint hope that he might actually be different and probably in love with timi. every opportunity dan had, he utilizes it to show love to timi’s family. once celestine, alhaji’s second wife, hits on dan and tries to force him to sleep with her. in the discovery of the act, dan assumes responsibility, and in the most gentle manner, he ensures alhaji and timi are well pleased and placated and that normalcy returns to the fragile relationship he enjoys with the family. yet, in the midst of the gradual but slow acceptance of dan coupled with his constant effort to make timi and her household his family, the scuffle between him and ezikiel over his mother rather than abating deteriorated and degenerated. after ezikiel fails his exams and his teacher asked to drop out, he feels demoralized him and his dreams of becoming a medical doctor seem to erode before his eyes. in the spirit of love, dan offers to find him a new school and carter for his expenses but ezikiel blatantly rejects his offer. severally he brutalizes dan and pushes him violently which he endures for the sake of his love for timi. blessing captures one of the moments thus: i watched dan for signs of fear or anger, but all i saw was the smile fixed on his lips. it looked as if mama had painted it there with her tiny paintbrush. his eyes smiled. i had no idea what dan was thinking, even though i could see his body through his thin skin. ‘i came to visit your mother,’ said dan. ‘and you.’ he stepped forward. i thought he might give ezikiel a chocolate bar. my legs shook. my heart fluttered again between beats. it was worse than the chocolate bar. dan tried to hug ezikiel. ezikiel pushed dan so far backward that he nearly fell into the doorway. he walked back out, hands up, and smiled again. (208-209) ezikiel, undeterred and unappeased, stands his ground and defends his actions: ‘because he deserves it.’ ezikiel pushed dan again, harder, and dan slid across the floor, almost losing his balance. ‘do you know what kind of man he is?’ ezikiel was screaming then…” (209). further in the narrative, following dan’s engagement with timi, ezikiel continues to curse dan: “white gold? that is what you are! that is what they call the oyibos around here! you people take our black gold and we take you. what do you know about our past?’ ezikiel stood up, ‘of course our present?’ he was shouting then, with a man’s voice. “and what do you know of our future?” (246). in reality, it is clear that ezikiel’s anger is not only triggered by dan’s relationship with his mother and their proposed marriage, rather his anger is exacerbated by his presence and the presence of the likes of him who invaded their region to exploit their oil, their women and their land leaving them with nothing but poverty and pollution. it is easy to argue that ezikiel considers dan’s relationship with his mother as a double-edged crime– the exploitation and devastation of a region in one hand and on the other, the plundering and exploitation of his mother. this is a crime he is neither to ignore nor forgive. grandma too voices her innermost feeling on their intended marriage thus: “…oil and water do not mix! you are made of water, you are a part of the delta, and the river runs through you. that man’–grandma pointed to dan– ‘is made of oil!” (247). nonetheless, in a rather dramatic irony and a twist of expectations, dan continues to prove a point that he is different and worthy of timi’s hand in marriage. it is real love after all. dan manages to stand out among the bulks of his likes the region is familiar with– insensitive, exploitative, inhumane, and unfeeling bunches of white expatriates. dan, like a lone star, shines in the hearts of timi’s family. alhaji realizes from his numerous encounters that dan was a different brand of a white expatriate– kind, compassionate, humane, and sensitive. he is not insensitive to the plight of niger deltans and wishes things were different for them. he shares alhaji’s sentiment with their presence in the region and wishes he could alter things for the people. it did not take much persuasion to have his consent to the wedding. on his wedding day, dan shares his excitement with ezikiel: “this is going to be a good day, really, i’ll bet you’re as excited as i am. i can’t wait to see your mother… i mean it’s not every day you get married! i’ve been awake all night– i hope my eyes stay open, just excitement really, couldn’t sleep. well, i’m sure you kids will have a great day, lots of food, dancing. it’ll be really fantastic. really great!” (256). this chatter coupled with ezikiel long nurtured sadness towards dan fuels ezikiel rage and sets his mind to execute his evil plans on dan’s wedding day. after the church wedding, the couple, against security advice, returns to alhaji’s compound for the reception. ezikiel, fuming had threatened dan with sibeye boys and before they could make sense of his threat, the sibeye boys arrived and kidnaped dan, and scattered the wedding reception. it took grandma’s activism after she led blessing and other women to protest naked in front of western oil company to shame the sibeye boys to release dan. ezikiel lost his life after the pipeline he tries to vandalize with the sibeye boys caught fire and burned over twenty boys. he died days after the severe burnt and was buried in the compound. irrespective of ezikiel’s death among other bizarre and dangerous chains of events, dan had succeeded in weaving his way into the hearts of timi’s family and grandma confirms this fact when she led the women to protest naked in front of the gate of western oil company, and releasing dan was top on their demands: “we want dan freed! we are singing for the deaths that will continue to happen unless we are listened to” (302). the love for dan is fully captured in the dance between celestine, blessing, and other women while protesting naked at the gate of western oil company. blessing recounts: …i have never seen celestine dance like that. her body was water. she looked small and moved easily. it was a complete surprise. i could hear music despite there being none. i could see, from her movements the pain of losing ezikiel, of losing dan, of becoming the second wife of alhaji. her body spoke to everyone that day….her dance was infectious. we were all dancing within minutes. it felt good to move freely. i danced out the pain of ezikiel’s death. i danced out my own pain. i danced away father. i danced for dan. dan who was see-through and loved birds. mama would never find dan on top of another woman, of that i was sure. she needed him and i needed her. i danced for dan, and danced and danced. it felt like praying, like flying. (304) dan undoubtedly is to blessing’s mother, everything her father was not, everything even the niger delta men will likely not be to the mother. dan loves timi and the fear of heartbreak, the cheating that led to her separation from blessing’s father is well dismissed in blessing’s thought. complimenting the twist of waston’s narrative, dan after his release, against all odds, made his way back to alhaji’s compound to mourn ezikiel and pledge his lasting love to timi and her family. this is against contrarily expectations. with no regard for his safety, uniting with the family he has grown to love and be part of was a priority in his mind: “mama lifted her head for the first time in weeks. she stood suddenly and ran towards the gate… dan’s body swallowed mama until they were tightly wrapped into one person…. ‘blessing’ he said and held his arms out again as if he expected me to run into them too. i stood still in my mind, but my body ran and hugged him. i had no control over my legs. they were running. dan hugged me tight; it feels as though he might not ever let me go…” (306). at this juncture, the study surmises that from the confluent flow of waston’s narrative, the writer obviously takes an entirely different dimension on the stereotyped story of the white expatriates and the niger delta women. dan is not the typical white expatriate we encounter lest say in the fictional world of kaine agary in her yellow-yellow nor the expatriates in other african fiction. dan is of a different sort and breed. he is honest and it is clear he has no intentions of exploiting timi. he feels sorry for her like he feels sorry for the exploitation and pollution of the region. he needs timi not just for some play objects but to replace a dark part of his soul, to blight the sadness in his soul from a failed marriage he previously had. timi’s marriage to him proved the best thing that can ever happen to him which he describes thus: “it was the happiest day of my life,” dan said. my own family. when i asked timi if she’d write her own vows, less traditional than the obey me sort, she was, well, sort of perplexed. ‘why would i?’ she asked. oh, the joy i felt. a simple thing, a marriage between a man and a woman. so simple really. so beautiful” (308). it is real love, a symbiotic and selfless love that gives as much as it is willing to take. blessing confesses this further thus: dan cried like i’d never seen a man cry. i wondered how a person’s body could contain so much water. dan produced enough tears to put out ezikiel’s fire. the smell of burning was replaced with water. i thought of dan having a wife who did not love him, and a father who left. i thought of all those hurts coming out in his loud, saved-up tears. i realized that all the time i thought dan was saving mama, it was saving dan. (310) even after his release from the kidnapping den, he still returns to that one place where he plucked peace and submits himself, a demonstration that thrilled alhaji and won the heart of grandma and the couple had no choice but to give their unreserved blessing which they sealed once more with a muslim wedding against the christian wedding the couple earlier had. dan, on his part, is unperturbed about the different weddings under the auspices of different religious leaders, if that is the only way he could prove his loyalty and fidelity to the family that has given him so much– the love of his life that will not only heal him but save him from the bitter memories of the unhappy marriage he had years ago. dan is granted leave to return to london and he does so with the love of his life, timi. in london, they will certainly live happily ever after. blessing, at the very last minute in the airport, changes her mind not to travel with them. for the love of the niger delta, grandma, and the women who are in dire need of her service as a birth attendant, after grandma, she stays back to defend her delta, her environment, her people. she would someday visit london but will be fast to return to her delta to suit her and continue to numb and balm her pains. conclusion the title of the novel, tiny sunbirds, far away, from a deconstructive perspective, supports that the tiny sunbirds in a very faraway place are symbolic of the niger delta women. the title arguably suggests that the niger delta women appear as some wild exotic objects to be admired and used for pleasure, a sort of hobby just like the different kinds of birds, including the tiny sunbirds were a source of pleasure and hobby to dan. collecting species of birds was dan’s hobby and blessing, while peeping through the list of the names of the different birds he has collected, picks out the names of the tiny sunbirds which later becomes the title of the novel. the niger delta women appear to the expatriates what the birds are to dan – pleasurable hobbies to ease boredom while still in the region. on return to their home countries, to their wives and loved ones, all that would survive in their minds, years after they are gone, are the lascivious memories of some ‘tiny sunbirds’ in a faraway place in the niger delta. yet, against this conjectured and stereotyped story of the expatriates, waston takes entirely a different critical dimension. the reason is not farfetched. arguably, waston is a white woman, a british writer who is bent on countering what she probably perceived as a one-sided story between the expatriates and the niger delta women. watson is bent on changing the narrative and proving that the inevitable encounter between the white expatriates and the female folk in niger delta could be anything but beautiful, fulfilling, blissful, and romantic capable of a happy ending that is typical of many love stories as it is the case with dan and timi in the novel. from the exegesis of waston’s chronicles, the paper surmises and concludes that watson succeeds in pushing the conversation forward while soliciting for further discussions on the way we perceive and reckon the activities of the white expatriates in the niger delta region if not beyond. furthermore, from the activism of grandma and the other women in the novel, the writer speaks directly to our souls. the ijaw women are not fools and mere sex objects to the capitalists’ men, oil workers, and white expatriates, and given the right exposure, opportunity, and access to good education, they are bound to succeed and excel. this is the enduring lesson the likes of timi, celestine, blessing, and all the memorable women in waston’s tiny sunbirds, far away communicate to the rest of the world from the chronicles of an eyewitness observer of the niger delta brouhaha. further studies are begging to support and lend credence to this watson’s side of the white expatriates and the niger delta women's story. works cited 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42-62. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v50i2.4 --“the displacement of the father-figure in kaine’s yellowyellow and alice walker’s the color purple.” irwle, vol. 7, no. i, 2011. pp 1-18. etiowo, joy. “forms of war in nigerian literature”. studies in literature and language, vol. 8, no. 1, 2014. pp 130-139. housham, jane. “tiny sunbirds far away by christie watson – review” the guardian. december 6, 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/dec/06/tiny-sunbirds-faraway-review. ifejirika, echezona. “the image of expatriates in modern african drama: a study of selected plays by african playwrights.” afrrev laligens, vol.1, no 3, 2012. pp 69-82. ikechi, elizabeth, noor, rohimmi, and talif, rosli. “an ecofeminist reading of christie watson’s tiny sunbirds faraway.” international journal of academic research in business and social sciences, vol 10, no 9, 2020. pp 213-224. olughu, michael. “unmasking politics in the niger delta narrative: eco-degradation and activism in tanure ojaide’s the activist and christie watson’s tiny sunbirds far away”. journal of literature, languages and linguistics, vol 52, 2019. pp. 40-49. doi: 10.7176/jlll ona, precious. “beyond nigerian nightmare”. the nation. thursday, august 27, 2009. pp 35. onwah, onome. “the travails of the niger delta: the unending story. a review of christie watson’s tiny sunbirds far away.” treasured thought academy. june 17, 2019. https://onomeonwah.org/the-travails-of-the-niger-delta-the-unending-story-a-review-ofchristie-watsons-tiny-sunbirds-far-away/ simon, e.d. “the niger delta region and the woman’s predicament: a study of kaine agary’s yellow-yellow” african research review an international multi-disciplinary journal, ethiopia vol. 4 (3b) july, 2010. pp. 155-166. book review: christie watson's "tiny sunbirds far away" bookshy. may, 2012. http://www.bookshybooks.com/2012/05/book-review-christie-watsons-tiny.html posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 99 xfqdx akamgba chere asxsx igbo akidi, felista chichi directorate of general studies, federal university of technology, owerri xm[ederede asxsx igbo maa mma jqq njq q d[ara xmxafq igbo niile. onye q bxla kwes[r[ itinye aka mee asxsx igbo ka q mawaga mma kar[a etu q d[ ugbu a. ihe kpalitere ederede a bx na odee leruru anya nke qma ma chqpxta na nd[ igbo anwaala oko ha ebe q d[ ukwuu [hx na asxsx igbo kwxrx ch[m. ha ka naagakwa n’ihu [gba mbq d[ iche iche na ihu na mbq nd[ nke ha gbara efugh[ qh[a. n’ihi na e tinye nnu na nri q bxrx na q txgh[ ya a ga na-etinyekwa ka o were pxta nke qma, maka na q bxrx na a kwxs[ itinye nke e tinyere etinye furu qh[a. mbq nd[ a a gbarala gxnyere ime ka nne na nna ghqta mkpa q d[ isi n’xlq malite [kxziri xmxaka asxsx igbo, ya bx [zxlite nwata xzq q ga-esi etoo, ka q ghara [hapx xzq ahx mgbe o toro (proverb 6:22), [kxzi igbo bido n’xlqakwxkwq kacha ala ruo na nke kacha elu, iji asxsx igbo ezi oziqma, ihiwe otu na qgbakq d[ iche iche e ji akwalite asxsx igbo dgz. qtxtx oge ka a na-ahxta na mbq nd[ a nwere ihe nd[ na-agba ha xkwx site n’aka nd[ igbo n’onwe ha. n’ihi na mmadx anagh[ amata uru ihe o nwere bara rue mgbe q chqrq ya achqq. akamgba nd[ a chere asxsx igbo gxnyere: agwa nd[ nne na nna, nlel[ anya, e nwegh[ afq ojuju, ihere, nd[ isi ga-enye aka hazie aghazie naekposa ekposa na ihe nd[ qzq. a chqpxtara na asxsx igbo zuru oke maa xma. o nwegh[ ihe asxsx nd[ ama ama n’xwa nwere asxsx igbo enwegh[. ya bx onye igbo qbxla kwes[r[ inwe ojuju afq n’ebe asxsx igbo d[ ma tinye aka kwado asxsx igbo nke qma maka na a gbakqq qnx nyxq maam[r[ q gba xfxfx. mkpqlite ebe onye bi ka q na-awachi n’ihi na mmadx hapx [racha qnx ya, xgxrx arachaara ya. onye anqgh[ n’xlq e buru abq ya. onye anqgh[ nso ji ya eghe otu akxkx maqbx ree qkx. ya mere nd[ igbo n’onwe ha kwes[r[ iji aka ha kwado asxsx ha nke qma ma ghara [d[ na-agba asxsx ha xkwx. ihe q bxla bx nsogbu asxsx igbo nwere taa si nd[ igbo n’onwe ha n’aka. asxsx bx oke chukwu kenyere agbxrx q bxla iji mee ka ndx na-aga nke qma. agbxrx q bxla tufuru nke ha enweela nnukwu nsogbu n’ihi na ha agagh[z[ enwe ike aghqta onwe ha. ndx ha ga-ad[z[ gharaghara. asxsx igbo ka chineke posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 100 nyere nd[ igbo ka ha were na-eme ihe niile e ji asxsx eme. iji gosi na asxsx igbo zuru oke, nd[ igbo oge ochie jiri asxsx igbo mee omenala niile ha mere, ha ejigh[ asxsx qzq, ha jiri ya zxq xmx, rxq qrx, zxq ah[a, kxzie ihe dgz. ha jiri ya kpaa ike d[ iche iche. g[n[ mere any[ agagh[ eso nzq xkwx d[ etu a? ka any[ jisie asxsx any[ ike kwado ya ma na-akwanyere ya ugwu. ka any[ ghara [bx akamgba nyere asxsx igbo. asxsx bx ihe niile nyere mmadx. e wepx asxsx obibi ndx mmadx agagh[ ad[ xtq, mgbagwoju anya ga-ejupxta na ndx mmadx. asxsx igbo baara nd[ igbo uru n’xd[ q bxla. onwegh[ ihe asxsx nd[ a ma ama n’xwa ga-eme asxsx igbo na apxgh[ ime belxsq ma nd[ igbo achqgh[. nd[ igbo agbaala qtxtx mbq iji hx na igbo na-aga n’ihu. ha ehiwela qtxtx otu na-akwalite asxsx na omenala igbo. ihe niile nd[ a bx ka asxsx igbo na-aga n’ihu oge niile n’enwegh[ mkpqbi xkwx. mana g[n[ ka a na-ahx n’aka nd[ igbo n’onwe ha nq n’isi? onye r[fee ogwe ya si ogwe gbajie? nd[ isi xfqdx ka a na-ar[a. e wepxta atxmatx d[ mma maka asxsx igbo nd[ isi xfqdx q d[ n’aka ime ya ka q pxta ihe a chqq xzq pichie ya. ha agagh[ achq ka mbunuche qma atxmatx ahx pxta ihe. kedx qnqdx xfqdx otu d[ iche iche e wepxtara maka [kwado igbo nq taa? kedx maka qmxmx asxsx igbo na general studies (gst) na mahadum any[ ga taa? kedx maka [kxziri nd[ abxgh[ nd[ igbo asxsx igbo na nysc orienteshqn campx nd[ nq n’ala igbo? kedx qnqdx akwxkwq akxkq nd[ a naede n’igbo? kedx ka any[ si akxziri nd[ abxgh[ nd[ igbo b[ara n’ala igbo? any[ na-ahapx asxsx igbo mxwa nke ha? q d[ mma ka any[ leruo anya n’ajxjx nd[ a ma mee nchqpxta tupu any[ azaa ajxjx nd[ a? mgbe ahx any[ ga-amata na qganihu na qd[da asxsx igbo d[ any[ n’aka. asxsx anqzie (1999:11) kqwara asxsx d[ ka xdaolu mmadx a haziri ahazi. n’otu aka ahx okafor na ewelukwa (2008:1) hxtara asxsx d[ ka xzq nd[ ochie chqpxtara ka mmadx na ibe ya wee na-ekwur[ta okwu, na-agwar[ta ibe ha ihe ha chqrq ka ha mata. asxsx bx onyinye chukwu n’ebe mmadx nq. e wepx asxsx e nwegh[ ihe mmadx na-eme nwere isi n’ihi na e nwegh[ onye ga-aghqta ibe ya. ya mere mmadx ji eji asxsx eme ihe niile q na-eme na ndx. mba niile nq n’xwa nwere asxsx. n’ihi na chineke anagh[ ekecha mmadx gbaba ya aka. asxsx bx onyinye chukwu. onye q bxla ]xjuru mmiri ara afq ekwes[gh[ iji onyinye chukwu nyere ya gwue egwu. n’ihi na onyinye chukwu a d[ qkpx, o kwes[r[ ichekwa ya n’xzq pxrx iche ma were ya na-eme ngala. ak[d[ (2009:26) kwuru na q d[ mkpa ka any[ mata na asxsx igbo d[ qkpx. mmadx tufuo asxsx ya, q tufuola njirimara ya. onye ahx efuola. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 101 njirimara mmadx bx asxsx n’ihi na q bx naan[ mmadx nwe asxsx. njirimara ka e ji mata ebe onye si, ihe q na-eme na ihe q pxrx ime. o kwere nghqta na asxsx malitere mgbe mmadx hxrx onwe ya n’xwa. asxsx ka nd[ gboo jiri bie ndx ha. e nwebegh[ onye nwere ike [s[ lee onye malitere [sx asxsx n’xwa. nd[ mmadx a ma ama chqpxtara qtxtx ihe d[ n’xwa d[ ka: baa route to india, xgbqelu, intanet, na ihe nd[ qzq mana a magh[ onye chqpxtara maqbx bidoro asxsx. qtxtx qrx asxsx na-arx kar[r[ uche mmadx nghqta. e wepx asxsx, obibi ndx enwegh[ isi. asxsx na-eme ka ndx na-atq xtq. dike (2004:4) hxtara asxsx d[ ka ihe e ji egosipxta ume qma mmadx nwere n’ebe ibe ya nq, mmadx na ibe ya na-eji asxsx anqr[ta, kpaa nkata na-enyere ndx aka. n’otu aka ahx, akidi (2008:93) si na asxsx ka mmadx ji ezipxta, mbunuche, mmetxta na ihe q chqrq. e wepu asxsx, nghqta agagh[ ad[ n’etiti mmadx na ibe ya, agagh[ enwe ohere [rxkqta qrx qnx. ihe nke a pxtara bx na ndx mmadx enwegh[ isi agagh[ enwe qganihu. obodo enwegh[ asxsx ad[gh[ n’elu xwa. kama obodo nwere ike ikwe ka asxsx ha nwxq. obodo q bxla asxsx ha nwxrx anwxqla n’ihi na ha enwegh[zi njirimara qzq. e nwegh[ ihe a ga-eji cheta ha qzq. asxsx obodo na-enwe nhazi na nghqta d[ka omenala ha siri nabata, n’ihi na qkwa mba na-ach[ n’olu n’olu, ebe nkx d[ na mba na-eghere mba nri. ya ka o ji d[ mkpa na mba q bxla kwes[r[ inwe ojuju afq n’ihe ha nwere d[ ka asxsx ma chekwaa ya nke qma n’xzq pxrx iche site n’[gx, ide na [sx ya bx asxsx na kwa [kxzi ya bido n’xlq akwxkwq d[karichara ala ruo n’xlq akwxkwq kacha d[ elu ezeuko na chira (2005:1) kwuru na asxsx q bxla ma e dere ya ede ma e kwuru ya n’qnx sitere na nhazi mkpxrxxda na ibe ya iji mebe okwu, ya na ndokq mkpxrxokwu na mkpxrxasxsx n’usoro d[ mma, ka e were mebe ah[r[okwu nwere echiche na nghqta zuru oke. asxsx niile d[ n’xwa nwere olund[ b[a nwekwaa olu izugbe maqbx asxsx izugbe. olund[ ka a na-asx n’ime ime obodo ebe asxsx izugbe bx asxsx nd[ qch[ch[, nd[ mepere anya na nd[ gxlitere akwxkwq. any[ ga-amata na q bx n’olund[ ka e si enweta asxsx izugbe. ya bx ma olund[ ma asxsx izugbe d[ mkpa n’asxsx qbxla, q bxrx na nke a ad[gh[ nke qzq agagh[ ad[. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 102 asxsx igbo asxsx igbo bx asxsx nd[ igbo nwe. ya ka ha ji eme omenala, azx ah[a, arx qrx, emekqr[ta ma na-eme ihe nd[ qzq d[ iche iche. asxsx igbo pxrx iche n’ihi e nwegh[ asxsx qzq d[ n’xwa ya na asxsx igbo nwere otu nd[ njirimara kpqmkwem (akidi 2012:217). n’otu aka ahxkwa, ugoh (1999/2000:14) mere ka o doo ewu na qkxkq anya na asxsx igbo d[ ka ‘dike’ kwxxrx onwe ya. asxsx igbo, d[ ka onyinye chineke nyere nd[ igbo niile kwes[r[ ka igbo niile na-enye ya nkwado pxrx iche, site n’[mx, [gx, ide na iji ya eme ihe niile mmmadx ji asxsx eme n’xwa. asxsx igbo d[ ka asxsx nd[ qzq a ma ama n’xwa nwere olund[ na olu izugbe. asxsx igbo, ma olund[ ma igbo izugbe nwere usoro nhazi d[ ka nghqta na omenala siri nabata. iji maa atx n’igbo izugbe, mgbochiume abxq anagh[ anqkq qnx n’otu okwu. ebe mgbochiume abxq nwere ike [nqkq bx mgbe otu na-arx qrx d[ ka myirixdaume na mgbe q bx mgbochiume mkp[, xdaume abxq nwere ike [nqkq qnx n’otu okwu kwe mkpqpxta n’ihi na q bx xdaume naewepxta xda n’asxsx igbo. q bxrx na mgbochiume abxq na-arx qrx d[ ka mgbochiume nqkqq qnx n’otu okwu xda ha agagh[ apxta nke qma. okwu ahx agagh[ ekwe qkpxkpq na nghqta. ([nqkq qnx m na-ekwu bx isote onwe ha ozugbo n’otu okwu). n’asxsx igbo, olund[ ka e si amata ebe mmadx si kpqmkwem ma q bxrx na mmadx were olund[ kwuo okwu, maka na mba q bxla nwere ihe ha jiri biri. ya mere nebo (1999/2000:4) jiri dee na igbo na-asx n’olu n’olu, ma ha kwaa xkwara q bxrx otu. demson (2003:92) hxtara olund[ maqbx olumba d[ ka olu nd[ ahx nd[ igbo na-asx na mpaghara ha d[ iche iche. asxsx igbo d[ ka asxsx nwere usoro na nhazi nwere qtqgrafi nke onye q bxla na-agbaso were ede igbo izugbe nke a kpqrq qtqgraf[ ‘qnwx 1961’. nwaozuzu (1999/2000:13) kqwara na q bx ka o ruru n’afq 1961 ka gqqmenti hiwere otu nke onye dib[a oyibo bx dqk[ta s.e.qnwx bx onye [s[ ya. nhazi qtqgrafi a nyere aka ka asxsx na omenala igbo na-agawaga n’ihu ma taa: “asxsx igbo d[ ka asxsx nd[ a ma ama n’xwa niile, a haziri ya nke qma iji nwee ike ide ma sxqkwa ya n’agbanyegh[ nd[iche na olund[ d[ na ya, ugoh (1999/2000:14). olund[ d[ mkpa n’asxsx igbo n’ihi na q bx n’olund[ ka igbo izugbe si pxta akidi (2008:78). asxsx igbo na-aga n’ihu kwa xbqch[ mana qtxtx ihe na-agba nkwalite asxsx igbo xkwx. agbamxkwx a na-eweta oke ihe nh[aahx ebe nd[ na-agba mbq posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 103 [kwalite asxsx igbo nq. kaosilad[, akamgba chere onye q bxla bx onye igbo bx [hx na asxsx igbo toro kar[a ka q d[ ugbu a. n’ihi na gidigidi bx ugwu eze, igwe bx ike. ebe otu obi bx qganihu. xfqdx ihe nd[ na-adqla asxsx igbo azx gxnyere: a) enwegh[ afq ojuju n’ebe asxsx igbo d[ ejigh[ asxsx igbo kpqrq ihe etu e siri jiri asxsx bekee, french[ na asxsx nd[ qzq a ma ama kpqrq ihe, so n’otu ihe na-adqla asxsx igbo azx. onye igbo nwere ike [gba mbq iso mee ka asxsx nd[ mba qzq gaa n’ihu ma na-atxkwa aro ihe a ga-eme ka asxsx igbo nwxq p[[. onye igbo nwere ike [gx asxsx onye qzq gxrue ya n’isi. mana onye igbo a gxrx asxsx onye qzq ga na-as[ e ji asxsx igbo eme g[n[?, asxsx igbo biri n’ala igbo, enwegh[ ebe e ji asxsx igbo aga. mana d[ka m siri hx ugbu a, nd[ jepxrx eju px na-amata na asxsx qbxla bara uru nye nd[ nwe ya na nd[ ha na ha na-emekq ihe. onye qbxla bx onye igbo kwes[r[ [bx onye nkxzi. q bxgh[ sq ide ihe n’ugbo ojii na-eme mmadx onye nkxzi. onye igbo qbxla nwere ike inye aka kxziere, ma gbaziere nd[ a na-ejigh[ asxsx igbo kpqrq ihe na-as[ e ji asxsx igbo eme g[n[? mee ka ha mata na asxsx igbo bara oke uru; ihe qbxla asxsx bekee mere asxsx igbo pxrx ime ya. q bx nd[ igbo n’onwe ha kwes[r[ [kwalite asxsx igbo ma nwee ojuju afq n’ebe asxsx ha d[. n’ihi ihe mmadx kpqrq ihe ya ka q gaaza. d[ka woode (2012) siri kqwaa, asxsx bekee nqrq n’ohu n’ebe asxsx french[ nq ihe d[ka (300 years) afq nar[ atq. mgbe ahx, nd[ na-asx asxsx bekee bx nd[ na enwegh[ ka q d[ ha na nd[ emepegh[ anya. mana taa, asxsx bekee ka a hxziri d[ ka asxsx nd[ mepere anya, asxsx nd[ qgaranya na asxsx xwa niile ji ezi ozi, agx akwxkwq, arx qrx gqqmenti na ihe nd[ qzq. nd[ igbo nwekwara ike [gba xd[ mbq a iji mee ka asxsx igbo na-ada xda n’xwa niile. q bx nd[ igbo ga-agbadosi anya na xkwx ike were kwado asxsx ha n’ihi ebe onye bi ka q na-awachi. qzqkwa bx na mmadx ga-ebu xzq si lekwa ebe ya nq tupu a hx ya. onye hapx ji ya n’qkx o ghee otu akxkx ma q bx rechaa kpamkpam. ya bx ka any[ bx nd[ igbo jisie ike n’qrx. any[ na-ahxta mgbe xfqdx n’qgbakq bx naan[ nd[ igbo nwe ya, mmadx were asxsx igbo tqrq xtq na nt[, e jiri ilu, akpaalaokwu, xkabxilu dgz dabara adaba ma nwee ezi nhazi gwa qha okwu a hxta onye ahx d[ ka onye amagh[ akwxkwq. mana mmadx were asxsx bekee na-aga ya were were n’qnx naekwu okwu, ma q ma asx ma q magh[ asx a na-ahxta onye ahx d[ ka onye maara akwxkwq n’etiti nd[ amagh[ ihe. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 104 any[ kwes[r[ imata na asxsx igbo agbagoola nke qma kar[a etu q d[bx mbx. ya bx onye q bxla kwes[r[ inwe afqojuju n’asxsx any[ bx asxsx igbo. onye igbo q bxla kwes[r[ [ na-elegara asxsx igbo anya qma n’ihi na asxsx igbo ad[gh[zikwa ka nwa ihe a ga na-elel[ anya. ume. ugoji na dike (2008:ix) kwuru na oge agaala mgbe mmadx nwere ike iji naan[ nwa fechafecha ihe q maara n’asxsx bekee malite [kqwa xtqasxsx igbo. ya bx ka nd[ igbo nwee afq ojuju n’igbo ma gxq ma mxta igbo nke qma, ka onye igbo ghara [s[ ana m amx asxsx igbo e nwere ihe m amagh[ n’igbo? (b) nleda anya mmadx anagh[ ama uru ihe o nwere bara were rue mgbe o fulahxrx ya. qtxtx nd[ igbo na-eleda asxsx ha anya, n’ihi na ha chere na asxsx igbo abagh[ uru. ha na-eleda nd[ na-amx, nd[ na-asx, nd[ na-agx na nd[ na-akxzi igbo anya nke ukwu. qtxtx mgbe ka nd[ d[ etu a na-eleghara onye na-asx igbo d[ ka onye amagh[ ihe, onye amagh[ akwxkwq na onye agxgh[ akwxkwq. onye gara mahadum [gx igbo ka ha na-ahxta d[ ka onye amagh[ nke a kqrq na onye amagh[ ihe ekwe na-akx. xfqdx na-as[ q kwa onye ahx gxchaa igbo ya akxzibe igbo. onye ahx q chqrq [da ogbenye ebigh[ ebi? ya mere ha naelegara onye nkxzi igbo d[ ka onye aghqtagh[ onwe ya. xfqdx s[ na onye naakxzi igbo enwegh[ ihe q ma, enwegh[ ihe d[ n’xbxrx isi ya. nleda anya so n’ihe na-adqghachi asxsx igbo azx. nchqpxta gosiri na ihe kar[r[ qkara nd[ niile gxrx igbo ejigh[ anya qma gxq ya. xfqdx gxrx ya n’ihi na ha amagh[zi ihe ha ga-eme. n’ihi ya ha na-agx ya n’xjq n’ enwegh[ afq ojuju. qtxtx mgbe ka nd[ mmadx na-eji igbo eme jide chqba. ha na-agx igbo ma q bx na-akxzi igbo ka na-eleghar[ anya ihe qzq ha ga-eme. obi abxq nd[ a ha naenwe na-eme ka ha ghara [mxta, [gx na ide asxsx igbo nke qma. mana ka any[ mata na ihe q bxla mmadx na-eme, o kwes[r[ imezi ya nke qma. ka any[ mata na echiche abagh[ uru nd[ mmadx na-eche banyere nd[ na-asx, agx, ede na nd[ na-akxzi igbo abxgh[ eziokwu. e leruo anya nke qma q bx nd[ na-eche echiche enwegh[ isi a bx nd[ amagh[ ihe na nd[ amagh[ akwxkwq n’ihi na akpqpxta ha b[a dee ma q bx kxzie igbo ha agagh[ emetali ya nke qma. { lebakwuo anya nke qma [ ga-ahx na nke ha na-eme ha anagh[ eme ya nke qma q bx ya ka ha jiri nwee efe ha ji agba as[r[. mana any[ ga-amata na igbo ad[zigh[ etu ahx ha chere. asxsx igbo pxrx inyeju mmadx afq, nye ya ezigbo qrx, mee ka aha ya daa xda n’xwa any[ nq taa ma onye ahx mee nke qma n’asxsx igbo. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 105 ch. ihere nleda anya, a na-eleda igbo na-eduba xfqdx n’ihere. ya mere qtxtx nd[ mmadx anagh[ enwe mmas[ [gx igbo n’xloakwxkwq d[ elu n’ihi ihere ihe nd[ mmadx ga-ekwu. nd[ na-agx agx ihere ikwu na ha na-agx igbo na-eme ha. xfqdx na-agx igbo na kqleji nke edukeshqn na-agwa nd[ mmadx na ha na-agx medisin ma q bx injin[ar[n na kqleji nke edukeshqn. ha na-ejikwa ihere na-ezo akwxkwq igbo ha ezo. ihere a na-edunye nd[ mmadx n’obi abxq mgbe xfqdx ha hapxzie [gx igbo ha na-agx bxrxzie nd[ na-agxchagh[ akwxkwq ha (drop out). xfqdx bido leghar[a jambx banye [mx ihe qzq mgbe xfqdx ha nqrq ebe ha na-ele jambx oge agaa. xfqdx nd[ nkxzi igbo anagh[ ede ihe ngxpxta ha (conference paper) n’igbo n’ihi ihere. ihere na-eme ka nd[ ntorob[a ghara inwe mmas[ n’asxsx igbo. d. nd[ isi qtxtx mgbe nd[ hxtara onwe ha n’isi xlq qrx, xlq akwxkwq na otu d[ iche iche na-agba mbq d[ egwu [hx na asxsx igbo nwxrx p[[ maqbx debe ya qnqdx q d[ ndx qnwx ka mma. ha na-eti iwu d[ iche iche [hx na asxsx igbo anqnyegh[ ebe ihe qmxmx nd[ qzq d[. ha na-ewere asxsx igbo debe n’akxkx. n’xfqdx xlqakwxkwq nd[ d[ elu ebe a na-eme igbo d[ ka “general studies” nd[ isi anagh[ enye igbo ohere e nyere ihe qmxmx nd[ qzq d[ ka f[lqsqfi, sqsh[qlqj[, inglishi dgz. nd[ isi d[ etu a na-agba mbq itinye nd[ na-akxzi igbo n’qnqdx nhxju anya na anya mmiri site n’anagh[ ekwe ka oke ruru nd[ nkxzi a rute ha aka. qtxtx mgbe ka ha na-etiri xmxakwxkwq iwu ka ha ghara ime igbo na “general studies”. xfqdx nd[ isi nwe xlqakwxkwq nke mmadx nwe (private school) anagh[ ekwe ka a mxwa ma q bx kxziwe igbo n’xlqakwxkwq ha. ha na-eche na [kxzi igbo n’xlqakwxkwq ha ga-eme ka e leda xlqakwxkwq ha anya ma hxta xmxakwxkwq na nd[ nkxzi ha d[ ka nd[ na enwegh[ ihe ha ch[. mgbe xfqdx e nwee nzukq banyere igbo nd[ isi na-enye iwu ka e dee ma gxpxta ihe n’oyibo ka mmadx niile were ghqta. m were na-ajx s[, iwu d[ otu a q na-akwalite asxsx igbo ka q na-akwada ya? q bxrx na e nwere nd[ amagh[ igbo n’qgbakq d[ etu a, o kwes[r[ ka e nwee qkqwa (interpreter). posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 106 e. nd[ nkxzi akamgba nd[ chere asxsx igbo mere enwegh[ nd[ nkxzi buru ibu na-akxzi igbo. qtxtx na-akxzi igbo agxgh[ igbo, ha amagh[kwa ede igbo nke qma. mgbe xfqdx ha na-azxpxta nd[ d[ ka ha n’ihi na q bx ihe mmadx nwere ka q na-enye. mmadx anagh[ enye ihe o nwegh[. onye nkxzi kwes[r[ [kxzite na idete igbo otu o kwes[r[. anqzie (1999:37) s[ na q bx eziokwu na qtxtx nd[ maara ihe ekwe na-akx n’qmxmx asxsx kwenyere na o nwegh[ usoro nkxzi asxsx ka ibe ya mma nke otu ahx. mana ezigbo onye nkxzi igbo kwes[r[ [gbaso usoro dabara ya na xmxakwxkwq ya iji mee ka ha ghqta nke qma ka asxsx igbo na-atq xtq ma na-aga n’ihu. n’aka nke qzq, onye q bxla bx onye igbo kwesiri [bx onye nkxzi ga na akxziri nd[ mmadx uru asxsx igbo bara. nakwa [kxzi na asxsx igbo d[kwa ka asxsx nd[ qzq a ma ama d[ n’xwa. kama q bx etu any[ siri were asxsx any[ ka nd[ qzq ga-esi were ya. nkxzi abxgh[ so iwere nzu (chalk) dee ihe n’ugbo ojii kama mmadx nwere ike iji qnx nk[t[ kxzie ihe ebe q bxla. f. ezinaxlq agxgx (2006:71) kwuru na ezinaxlq bx ebe mmalite nkxzi na qmxmx nke naad[ n’etiti nd[ nne na nna na xmxaka ha ma q bxkwanx nd[ qzq binyeere ha. nd[ igbo na-atx ilu s[ na a na esi n’xlq mara mma were pxta ezi. akwxkwq nsq were s[ ka a zxlite nwata n’xzq q ga-esi too, mgbe o toro, q gagh[ ahapx xzq ahx (proverb 22:6). ya bx, q bxrx na any[ jiri asxsx igbo malite [zx xmx any[, ha ga-ama na asxsx igbo d[ mkpa ma bakwaa uru pxrx iche. xmxaka gaemecha bxrxkwa nd[ okenye jirikwa otu aka ahx were zxlite xmx nke ha. nke a ga-enye aka ka a ghara [chq ihe q bxla achq n’asxsx igbo n’qd[nihu. na nwata ka a na-esi malite n’ezinaxlq kxziwere nwata ihe qma maqbx ihe qjqq d[ ka ezinaxlq ahx siri chqq. anqzie (2003:121) hxtara na nwatak[r[ q bxla na-akpa ajq agwa bx n’ezinaxlq ka na-elebara ya anya. ya bx nwata a naazxtalighi n’ezinaxlq, q ga-ahia ahx [zxta n’ama. nwaafq igbo q bxla kwes[r[ iji asxsx igbo malite n’ihi na, ihe nwata hxrx anagh[ apx ya apx n’obi. nne na nna kwes[r[ [hxta asxsx igbo etu ha si ahx asxsx bekee. nne na nna ekwes[gh[ ichefu na asxsx na omenala na-agakq. nne na nna kwes[r[ iji asxsx igbo kxziere xmx ha omenala nd[ igbo d[ mma nke ga-enyere xmxaka aka ibizi ndx. mgbe xfqdx q na-ara ezigbo ahx iji asxsx qzq akxzi omenala igbo n’ihi na xfqdx ihe nd[ d[ na omenala igbo ad[gh[ na omenala nd[ mba qzq. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 107 xmxaka igbo kwes[r[ ibu xzq mxta asxsx ha tupu asxsx onye qzq. nke a gaenye aka ka asxsx igbo na-agbado mgbqrqgwx ghara [nwx, gharakwa ime xmxaka nd[ qb[a n’ala nna ha. n’agbanyegh[ nke a, asxsx igbo akwxrxla. asxsx igbo agagh[ anwx, ma xfqdx nd[ nne na nna site n’aghqtagh[ aghqta, ha kxziere xmx ha asxsx igbo ma ha akxzigh[. ma n’ikpeazx, ha ga-eti ‘mmakwara soro ibe’ mgbe ha na-asx ma na-akxziri xmx ha asxsx igbo. ya bx nd[ nne na nna na ejigh[ asxsx kpqrq ihe mara ma ghqta na asxsx igbo enwegh[ ike [nwx maka na asxsx igbo agbala mgbqrqgwx. chinagqrqm (2009) dere na nwadike (2008:47-48) kwuru na asxsx igbo enwegh[ ike [nwx n’ihi na a na-asx asxsx igbo qtxtx ebe, a na-ede igbo nke qma, na-akxzi ya n’xlqakwxkwq d[ iche iche site na nke pekar[chara mpe ruo na nke kacha elu. asxsx e nyere qd[ ndx a enwegh[ ike [nwx. mmadx [ma kar[a otu asxsx d[ ezigbo mma n’ihi asxsx niile bara uru. mana q ka mma na mmadx buru xzq mxta asxsx ya tupu q mxwa asxsx nd[ qzq. mmadx nwere ike [mxta asxsx nd[ qzq n’xlqakwxkwq ma q bx jiri aka ya gxta ma mxta asxsx nd[ qzq. na mbx, q bx site n’akxkq ifo ka e si akxziri xmxaka [d[ uchu n’qrx, nsqpxrx, irxsi qrx ike, izere ihe qjqq, ime ka ha mata na anyaukwu ad[gh[ mma na ihe nd[ qzq site n’ezinaxlq. mana site n’ejigh[ ihe kpqrq ihe d[ nd[ igbo n’ahx, ha na-ahxtazi ihe nd[ a d[ ka ihe abagh[ uru q bxla. nwadike (2003:24) dere na site n’akxkq ifo, nd[ igbo na-enwe ike ime ka xmxaka mxta ime ihe qma gbaara ihe qjqq qsq. n’otu aka ahx ogbalu (2007:115) s[r[ na a na-ebido na nwata kxziere xmxaka [d[ na-ekele ekele ma e nye ha ihe. asxsx igbo na-enye nnukwu aka iji zxq xmxaka ka e si enye nsqpxrx. arisaukwu (2002/2003) dere na asxsx igbo d[ nnukwu mkpa n’ebe onye q bxla nq q kacha n’ebe nd[ na-eto eto nq. g. ejigh[ otu obi akwalite asxsx igbo nke a so n’otu nnukwu ihe nh[aahx nye asxsx igbo. nd[ na-agba mbq maka qganihu asxsx anagh[ enwe otu nkwekqr[ta mgbe xfqdx. e nwegh[ onye naekweta nke ibe ya kwuru. onye q bxla na-egosi na ya nwekarichara ibe ya n’amamihe. e nwere otu ndesa na otu ndekq. nd[ ndesa ekwenyegh[ n’ihe nd[ ndekq na-ekwu, ebe nd[ ndekq ekwenyegh[ n’ihe nd[ ndesa na-ekwu. nke a agagh[ enye aka. mana q ga-ad[ mma ka e nwee nkwekqr[ta ma were otu usoro na-ede asxsx igbo maka qganihu. q bxrx na e leghachi anya azx mgbe e jiri gbawa mbq maka qganihu asxsx na omenala igbo, e hiwela qtxtx otu nke mbunuche ya bx [kwalite asxsx na omenala igbo mana e leruo anya a chqpxta na mbunuche xfqdx kpqmkwem posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 108 abxgh[ [kwado asxsx na omenala igbo kama q bx ka ha zara aha maqbx ka ha fqjuo akpa ha. kama a ga-enye aka ka a kwado otu nke e hiwere ehiwe ha ahapx ya gaa hiwe otu qzq. nke a na-eme ka nd[ nke e hiwere ehiwe ghara [gbado mgbqrqgwx. qtxtx otu ma nd[ ochie ma nd[ qhxrx anwxqla p[[ n’ihi ejigh[ otu obi. q d[ mma ka e tinye aka kwado ma kwalite otu nd[ nke e hiwere ehiwe kar[a [gba ha xkwx na ibido otu qzq n’ihi anyaukwu na obi qjqq. ihe nd[ a niile ma nd[ qzq a na-enwegh[ ike metx aka bx ihe nd[ na-echere asxsx igbo akamgba; ma n’agbanyegh[ asxsx igbo na-agbal[ ito. e wepx aka mgba nd[ a, q bxgh[ ebe asxsx igbo nq taa ka q ga-anq. alo n’agbanyegh[ ihe nh[aahx niile d[ n’odide na qgxgx asxsx igbo any[ gaagbalisi ike ime ka asxsx igbo rute ogo o kwes[r[. n’ihi ihe rara ahx bx mmadx na-eme ya. ka any[ mata na e nwegh[ asxsx ka ibe ya mma. ya bx ka any[ na-enwe mmas[ [sx, [gx na ide asxsx igbo bido n’xlqakwxkwq nta ruo na nke kacha ibe ya elu. ka nd[ nkxzi igbo jisikwuo ike na-eme ka nd[ mmadx mata na ezigbo uru d[ n’asxsx igbo. ka ha were na agxlitekwu asxsx igbo nke qma. ka any[ nyere nd[ mba qzq b[ara n’ala igbo aka [mxta, [sx na ide asxsx igbo. ka any[ jisie ike kwxs[ [sxrx nd[ mba qzq asxsx abxgh[ asxsx igbo n’ala igbo. ka any[ were otu obi na-akwalite asxsx igbo ghara [d[ na-agba onwe any[ xkwx. ka nd[ nkxzi hie aka n’anya nke qma were na-akxzi ka e si asx, ede na agx igbo. ka ha wepx ihere were qrx ha kpqrq ihe ka xmxakwxkwq ha wee nwee ezi mmas[ n’[sx, [gx na ide igbo. n’ihi na ewepx odide asxsx, asxsx ahx gaanwx. ka nd[ nne na nna bido n’ezinaxlq were asxsx igbo kpqrq ihe ma were ya naazxlite xmxaka ha. n’ihi na asxsx igbo kacha mma iji kxziere xmxaka igbo omenala. ka ha mara ihe ala na-asq nsq ghara ime arx. ka xmxaka ghara iji agwq kee nkx kpqq ya eriri. n’ihi na okenye anagh[ anq n’xlq ewu a mxq n’qgbx. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 109 mmechi asxsx igbo bx q natarachi nke onye igbo q bxla agagh[ agbahapx n’qsq. mmadx anagh[ agbara ihe q hxrx n’ahx ya qsq. qganiihu na qd[da asxsx igbo d[ any[ bx nd[ igbo n’aka. ya bx ka any[ bx nd[ igbo hqrq ma any[ ga-akwada asxsx igbo ma any[ ga-akwalite ya. as[ mkwuo, aga m as[ na q d[ mma ka any[ nye aka etu ike kwere any[ were otu obi na [hxnanya na-ahazi asxsx igbo. ka asxsx igbo were na-aga n’ihu werewere. isiokwu ederede a bx qganihu na qd[da asxsx igbo d[ nd[ igbo n’onwe ha n’aka. nke bx eziokwu bx na mbq niile a na-agba maka qganihu asxsx na omenala igbo bx nd[ igbo na-agba ya, n’ihi na nke any[ bx nke any[, nke ha bx nke ha. onye hapx imezi ihe o jiri biri nd[ qzq emebie ya. n’aka nke qzq, aka mgba niile chere asxsx igbo bx nd[ igbo n’onwe ha na-akpata ya ma naakwanye qkx. nsogbu niile a bido n’isi ruo n’qdx bx nd[ igbo ka o si n’aka. ana m as[, ka onye igbo q bxla leruo onwe ya anya ma jxq onwe ya ajxjx ma q na-emezi emezi ka q na-emebi emebi. onye na-emezi emezi jisie ike n’ihi na onye a s[ jide ka o ji ya mara na nke o ji d[ mma. onye na-emebi emebi ya cheghar[a ma bido meziwe asxsx igbo maka q d[ mma nd[ igbo niile. onye a s[ hapx nke o ji ya mara na nke o ji ad[gh[ mma. ka q d[r[ nd[ igbo niile mma ooo!!! posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 110 akwxkwq nd[ a rxtxrx aka agxgx, m.o. (2006). nd[ igbo na akxkq ala ha. nsukka: eva-unique enterprises. akidi, f.c. (2008). ‘language without words’ in journal of language, art and cultural studies. vol. 1. owerri: a.i.f.c.e. akidi, f.c. (2009). asxsx d[ ka ihe igbo agagh[ anwx. opiike journal of igbo language and culture. vol. 1. no. 1 department of nigerian languages, owerri: a.i.f.c.e. akidi, f.c. (2011). standard igbo and osina dialext: similarities and differences a}x journal of igbo arts and culture. owerri: imo state council for arts and culture. akidi, f.c. (2012). ‘igbo language and its characteristics’ in qja international journal of igbo, african and asian studies. awka: unizik anqzie, c.c. (1999). lingwistiki sayens: asxsx. nsukka: fulladu publishing company. anqzie, c.c. (2003). igbo kwenu (akxkq na omenala nd[ igbo) enugu: computer publishers. arisaukwu, u. (2002/2003). “nke m d[[r[ m onye gba nk[t[ nke ya efuo”, n’qbaokwu qnq{ vol. ii, no. 3. owerri: seat of wisdom seminary. chinagqrqm, l.c. (2009). “mfxcha asxsx igbo: {txuche nk[t[ in opiike journal of igbo language and culture. vol. 1 no. 1. department of nigerian languages. owerri: a.i.f.c.e. demson, c.f. (2003). igbo ogbaraqhxrx maka nkxzi na omxmx asxsx na xtqasxsx igbo. aba: edems books. ezeomeke, s.o. (2004). igodo nghqta xtqasxsx igbo. enugu: computer edge publishers. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 111 ezeuko, r.o. na chira, a.e. (2005). fonetiks na fonqlqji igbo. awka: kristophel publishers. goodnews bible (2002). second edition. great britain: bath press nebo, m.j. (1999/2000). “nke m ji ka (asxsx igbo) n’qbaokwu qnq{ vol. ii. no. 1. owerri: seat of wisdom seminary. nwadike, i.u. (1992). ntqala agxmagx. nsukka: ifxnanya publishers. nwadike, i.u. (2003). agxmagx qd[nala igbo (igbo oral literature). onitsha: african first publishers cont. nwaozuzu, g.i. (1999/2000). ‘ntolite nkwudo asxsx igbo, n’qbaokwu qnq{ vol. 2. no.1. owerri: seat of wisdom seminary. okafo, c.u. na ewelukwa u. (2008). nhazi asxsx igbo maka ule sin[q sekqnd[r[ na kqleji wassce, neco, gce na jamb. onitsha: a.c. global publishing co. (nig). sam-woode (2012). illustrated dictionary. lagos: academy press. ume, i.a.o., ugqji, j.u. na dike, g.a. (2006). xm[ nkqwa xtqasxsx igbo. owerri: ark publishers. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 105 chapter 7 uli motifs: it’s aesthetics on architectural wall design in nigeria godwin o. uka department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract this paper looks into the need to give the uli art culture of eastern nigeria an artistic visual design identity based on their tradition. the exploratory design analysis which is used is based on the concepts ideas and materials for the old and new methods of the uli culture. it has been analyzed and synthesized into a more dynamic indigenous system of visual communication in nigeria that will enhance the general development of the society. the analyses of signs, symbols, posters and other artworks were carried out based on their artistic, aesthetic and functional design mainly as it concerns the uli and nsibidi visual method of communication design in modern times. the research attempted to harmonize the traditional and the modern method to develop a new visual communication method based on their culture and technology in recent times. the culture just like their close neighbour could also reduce these signs and symbols into simple codes for confidentiality, security, affection and economic transitions among themselves. introduction uli motifs or representations is an igbo art form initially used by women to decorate the body and walls on certain occasions, it consists of a system of symbolic drawings or designs informed of animals, plants, material objects and other abstract designs. uli motifs are studied to bring them closer to the visual artist and also to understand the aesthetic preferences in igbo culture. the motifs represent things of physical importance, aesthetic appeal and relevance to traditional beliefs, (willis 1987). udechukwu (1981) stated that "uli is calligraphic in form and it is \possible that it was linked with some kind of writing somewhere in the past: that ide (to write) appears in ide uli (to draw with uli) and ide ife (to write something) or ide akwukwo (to write on paper) shows their close kinship as well as the possibility of one deriving from the other. in 1992, obiọra udẹchukwu, showed works of both “traditional” and modern uli women artists, in an exhibition titled uli: different times, different hands organized at the university of nigeria, nsukka, these creative exercises by both old and modern artists provided a new stylistic approach, that is most original and philosophical creative art idiom in the use of nigerian indigenous images that emerged in modern time. uli motifs: it’s aesthetics on architectural wall design in nigeria 106 willis (1987) in her work titled, a lexicon of igbo uli motifs asserts that, "the woman's perception of all aspects of life and nature, and most notably, ideas and objects which are held to be particularly important and representative of igbo culture, are transmitted into visual vocabulary which provides important reference materials for designers, art historians, and ethnographers alike. it is on record that over the past thirty years, there have been many studies on the form and function of uli drawing and design as seen in specific locations: k. c. murray's notes on uli painting in the bende area of abia state, nigeria and m.d.w. jeffrey's note on uli paintings and design in awke, anambra state have provided a significant number of motifs. uli draws and designs as an art form, expressing the culture of the igbo people. architectural graphics like the igbo uli design is an abstract wall design mostly used to (enhance) enliven large public spaces which otherwise would be very dull. design can involve recognizable motifs appropriate or typical to the situation or may be completely abstract. signs and architectural graphics should be properly used in the environment to educate and make people aware of their culture. sign system or architectural graphics is very important and useful in the present changing world of things. it points the way or directs travellers quickly and clearly, thereby playing a crucial role in accelerating and making life worth living. colourful design elements are particularly useful in old and new buildings or projects where there is a rich mixture of shops and restaurants; in airports hospitals and public places. sign package and construction are not only determined by the graphics element of types and style but also by the environment in which the scheme has to appear and the function the signs are expected to play. the boundary between signs and architectural graphics (wall treatments, flags and banners for example) is often subtle, at times non-existence. some wall graphics can serve the dual function of displaying information and providing a large area of colour. but architectural graphics as abstract wall designs are mostly used to (enhance) enliven large public spaces which otherwise would be very dull. design can involve recognizable motifs appropriate or typical to the situation or may be completely abstract. art in the general sense is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as graphics, painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. art can be defined as a diverse range of activities executed by human beings, as well as the products of these activities. art can be of many forms as well. visual art is the creation of images that can be seen by the eyes. visual art also includes sculpting, painting, ceramics, graphics, photography, and other visual media. other form of art includes music, theatre, dance, film, and other arts that require performing fall under the performing arts category. literature and other forms of interactive arts fall under the broader definition of arts while fields such as interior design, architecture, industrial design and the like fall under the category of applied arts. art can also be defined as the representation of reality, communication of emotion, expression or other qualities. aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that explores arts and related concepts such as interpretation and creativity. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 107 fig 1: geometric shapes and lines in uli representation. uka, 2000 line, an element and function in art production is very important and useful in any visual representation. akalaka in igbo means ''the lines of the hand or palm'', predetermining that a man would encoded the choice he made at the point of reincarnation or returning to the world of the living. what is the line – it is the bases of all visual formation. the designer occupies a responsible position in society by creating functional and beautiful things using his hands through his brain condition by his mind either by inspiration, talent or intuition of expression as a force in the realization of works of art. the designer or artist using available tools at his disposal engages in a serious business of creation. the design through his media of expression he designs /creates and coveys the weight of his creative experiences. techniques become the transforming medium of visual truth artist/designer is always concerned with their place and their works. art is a historical document which mirrors and reflects the social tendencies of the time of its creation, which provides the viewer with the artistic motivation into the visual power of ....... in the expansion of and exploration into the nature of man. art is the geometric representation of ideas in different types of lines, circles, curves, straight and so on. line is the bases of all formation; it can be viewed from different perspectives as a chain of spots joined together, a stroke made with a painful, narrow long mark. lines can be thick, straight, zigzag etc. it can be similar and contrasting. lines are used to divide space, direct the eyes and also create form. these are major types of lines. actual lines, implied lines and three-dimensional lines. line is a basic element in architectural construction. descriptive geometry is the branch of geometry which allows the representation of threedimensional objects in two dimensions, by using a specific set of procedures. the resulting techniques are important for engineering, architecture, design and in art. this branch of mathematics is concerned with the properties and relations of points, lines, surfaces, solids, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/geometry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/engineering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/art uli motifs: it’s aesthetics on architectural wall design in nigeria 108 higher dimensional analogues, the shape and relative arrangement of the parts of something, for example, the " geometry of spiders' webs" plate 1: spider web wall uli design, are adopted for uli design, uka, 2020 dimensional form: here the designer crafted his works in various plans of space to represent the real objects intended to be produced. this type of design process can further be classified into 2d and 3d designs. 2-dimensional designs are works done on a flat surface. it involves such activities as drawing, painting on fabrics, wallpaper and advertising layout: designing in two plans. 3-dimensional designs are works executed in the round. it includes such activities as sculpture, architecture, handicrafts such as jewellery, pottery, leather works, clothing and machine-made objects such as chairs, automobiles, packages, 3d animation and so on, which are examples of 2d and 3d drawing. this is designed in three plans. all geometric aspects of the imaginary object are accounted for in true size/ scale and shape and can be imaged as seen from any position in space. all images are represented on a two-dimensional surface. descriptive geometry uses the image-creating technique of imaginary, parallel projectors emanating from an imaginary object and intersecting an imaginary plane of projection at right angles. the cumulative points of intersections create the desired image. the research into the aesthetics of uli motifs design on architectural wells in nigeria is very necessary as it concerns our culture, it is important to clarify the meaning of "aesthetics" as a domain to be investigated. uli motifs or representations is an igbo art form initially used by women to decorate the body and walls on certain occasions, it consists of a system of symbolic drawings or designs informed of animals, plants, material objects and other abstract designs. uli motifs are studied to bring them closer to the visual artist and also to understand the aesthetic preferences in igbo culture. generally speaking, aesthetics can be a set of principles that concern the nature and appreciation of beauty, specifically, a set of principles underlying the work of a particular artist or artistic movement. aesthetic qualities are qualities seen by the viewer when looking at the artwork. for the artist/designer, aesthetic qualities are when art elements and principles come together to create a certain feel, to the image such as warm colours which create a sense of beauty and harmony. to demonstrate the value of learning about the cultural context of works of art, the aesthetic analysis contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 109 exercise that follows will also include reviewing some of the cultural components associated with the work. to demonstrate the value of learning about the cultural context of works of art, the aesthetic analysis exercise that follows will also include reviewing some of the cultural components associated with the work. visual metaphors are implied as a consequence of analyzing the relationships between the formal structures and subject matter of works of art. in addition to their role as symbols, the crosses can also function as visual metaphors if the artist will take the time to analyze their formcontent relationships. a metaphor is a figure of speech that transfers one thing to another through implied comparisons. it is used to infuse writing and speech with vitality, which makes both more interesting; an example is when "the artist made minced meat out of his colours. when an artist starts thinking beyond merely identifying a work's visual elements (the character of its lines, shapes, colours, and so on.) and how these elements are organized. it is essential to consider the proposition that works of art speak to us through both their formal organization and the signs, symbols and metaphors that can be associated with them. works of art become most meaningful for us when they evoke thoughts and feelings. " art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as graphics, painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. art can be defined as a diverse range of activities executed by human beings, as well as the products of these activities. art can be of many forms as well. visual art is the creation of images that can be seen by the eyes and these include sculpting, painting, ceramics, graphics, photography, and other visual media. other forms of art include music, theatre, dance, film, and other arts that require performing fall under the performing arts category. literature and other forms of interactive arts fall under a broader definition of arts while fields such as interior design, architecture, industrial design and the like fall under the category of applied arts. art can also be defined as the representation of reality, communication of emotion, expression or other qualities. aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that explores arts and related concepts such as interpretation and creativity. some of the uli mortifies are; "akalaka" which means ''the lines of the hand or palm'', predetermining that a man would be encoded by the choice he made at the point of reincarnation of returning to the world of the living. in igbo culture, a line is the bases of all visual formation. the designer occupies a responsible position in society by creating functional and beautiful things using his hands through his brain condition by his mind either by inspiration, talent or intuition of expression as a force in the realization of works of art. the designer or artist using available tools at his disposal engages in a serious business of creation. the design through his media of expression he designs /creates and coveys the weight of his creative experiences. techniques become the transforming medium of visual truth. artist/designers are always concerned with their place and their works, it is a fact that art is a historical document which mirrors and reflects the social tendencies of the time of its creation, it provides the viewer with the artistic motivation for the visual power of ....... in the expansion of and exploration into the nature of man. art can be represented in different forms and media; it can be a geometric representation of ideas with different types of lines circles, curves, straight and so on. line is the bases of all formation; it can be viewed from different perspectives as a chain of spots joined together, a stroke made with a pain, narrow long mark. line can be thick, straight, zig-zag and so uli motifs: it’s aesthetics on architectural wall design in nigeria 110 on; it can be similar and contrasting. line is used in dividing space, direct the eyes and also create form. these are major types of lines. actual lines, implied lines and three-dimensional lines architectural graphics is an abstract wall design mostly used to (enhance) enliven large public spaces which otherwise would be very dull. design can involve recognizable motifs appropriate or typical to the situation or may be completely abstract. signs and architectural graphics should be properly used in the environment to educate and make people aware of their culture. sign system or architectural graphics is very important and useful in the present changing world of things. it points the way or directs travellers quickly and clearly, thereby playing a crucial role in accelerating and making life what living. colourful design elements are particularly useful in old and new buildings or projects where there is a rich mixture of shops and restaurants; airports hospitals and public places. willis (1987) in her work titled, a lexicon of igbo uli motifs asserts that, "the woman's perception of all aspects of life and nature, and most notably, ideas and objects which are held to be particularly important and representative of igbo culture, are transmitted into visual vocabulary which provides important reference materials for designers, art historians, and ethnographers alike. it is on record that over the past thirty years, there have been many studies on the form and function of uli drawing and design as seen in specific locations: k. c. murray's notes on uli painting in the bende area of abia state, nigeria and m.d.w. jeffrey's note on uli paintings and design in awke, anambra state have provided a significant number of motifs. uli draws and designs as an art form, expressing the culture of the igbo people. the motifs represent things of physical importance, aesthetic appeal and relevance to traditional beliefs, (willis 1987). udechukwu (1981) situates that "uli is calligraphic in form and it is possible that it was linked with some kind of writing somewhere in the past: that ide (to write) appears in ide uli (to draw with uli) and ide ife (to write something) or ide akwukwo ( to write on paper) shows their close kinship as well as the possibility of one deriving from the other. in 1992, obiọra udẹchukwu, showed works of both “traditional” and modern uli women artists, in an exhibition titled uli: different times, different hands organized at the university of nigeria, nsukka, these creative exercises by both old and modern artists provided a new stylistic approach, that is most original and philosophical creative art idiom in the use of nigerian indigenous images that emerged in modern time. art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as graphics, painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. art can be defined as a diverse range of activities executed by human beings, as well as the products of these activities. art can be of many forms as well. visual art is the creation of images that can be seen by the eyes. and these include sculpting, painting, ceramics, graphics, photography, and other visual media. other forms of art include music, theatre, dance, film, and other arts that require performing fall under the performing arts category. literature and another form of interactive arts fall under the broader definition of arts while fields such as interior design, architecture, industrial design and the like fall under the category of applied arts. art can also be defined as the representation of reality, communication of emotion, expression or other qualities. aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that explores arts and related concepts such as interpretation and creativity. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 111 conclusion uli motifs have through this paper exposed the igbo cultural heritage and its aesthetics on architectural wall design in nigeria. art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as graphics, painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. art is a historical document which mirrors and reflects the social tendencies of the time of its creation, it provides the viewer with the artistic motivation into the visual power of .... in the expansion of and exploration into the nature of man and his history. the ideas or ways of doing something new are one way of changing and developing our environment. uli and nsibidi artists have introduced new ways of representing their works in the contemporary era. africans have embraced creativity and innovation as a way forward towards the expression of our artistic ingenuity to the whole world. creativity and spontaneity may succeed in limiting uncertainty leading to more stable living conditions in africans. changes brought by creativity and spontaneity can be subsumed under the more general framework of a quest for order which can be assumed to lie at the heart of any kind of socialization. the symbols, signs and motifs used by nsibidi and uli artists are a form of visual presentation and communication which indeed form part of our daily living. in the traditional setting these signs, symbols and motifs were used by our past generations to communicate messages, ideas and information in a form that can be read or looked upon for aesthetics and other purposes. the term "visual" presentation in graphics communication is used to refer to the actual presentation of information to the public through a visual medium such as text, images, symbols, and a combination of other graphics elements via a particular media of presentation. references arnot a.s. (1937) “art and industry in arochukwu” nigeria. no. 12, pp9-11 enugu, fourth dimension publishers. humanities number 1, june 1987 isichei elizabeth (1975) a history of the igbo people, london: macmillan, p. 3. jefferys, m.d. w (1957) ‘negro abstract art or ibo body patterns’. s. a.m. a. b. (south african kalu, o.u. (1978 ed). “writing in pre-colonial africa; a case study of nsibidi”, african cultural development; macgregor, j.k. (1909). “some notes on nsibidi” in the journal of the royal anthological institute of great britain and ireland. vol. 30. uli motifs: it’s aesthetics on architectural wall design in nigeria 112 murrey k.c. (1972) ‘ibo body painting’ unpublished notes and drawings. museums association bulletin) no. 6, pp. 219-229 murrey k.c. (1972) ‘ibo body painting’ unpublished notes and drawings museums association bulletin) no. 6, pp. 219-229 nigeria magazine nos. 134-135 talbot 1912:308, 1969:932). peoples, iv, pp95-96 ubom, i.p. (1987); “cultural development in cross river state” in akwa ibom and cross river state: the land, the people and their culture: abasiattai monday b. (ed), calabar, wusesn press limited. ubom, i.p. (1987); “cultural development in cross river state” in akwa ibom and cross river state: the land, the people and their culture: abasiattai monday b. (ed), calabar: wusesn press limited. udechukwu obiora (1981) uli and li: aspects of igbo and chinese drawing and painting. umoetuk, o. u. (1985); “body art in ibibio culture” nigeria magazine; vol. 53 no. 2 apriljune. willis elizabeth a (1987) a lexicon of igbo uli motifs in nsukka journal of the 1 interfacing biblical hermeneutics in textual contexts and socio-cultural environments emma uzuegbunam, ph.d. 2 first published, 2022 rabboni publishers international (a subsidiary of rabboni nigeria limited) camp of grace estate kilometer 5, enugu – abakaliki expressway opposite innosons company, emene express, enugu. phone: 08033425828, 08032088976 enugu, nigeria. e-mail: rabboni2003ng@yahoo.com website: www.rabbonipublishers.com.ng copyright: emma uzuegbunam, ph. d. all rights reserved isbn: 978 – 8081 – printed in nigeria by rabboni nigeria limited enugu. lagos. abuja. mailto:rabboni2003ng@yahoo.com http://www.rabbonipublishers.com.ng/ 3 table of contents dedication 4 preface 4-5 chapter one: introducing hermeneutical models 6-17 chapter two: orthodox and enlightenment biblical hermeneutics 18-26 chapter three: interrogating the historical-critical hermeneutical models 27-33 chapter four: hermeneutical colonialism 34-44 chapter five: the rise of social context hermeneutics 45-62 chapter six: interface hermeneutics for socio-economic development: the afro-centric paradigm 63-102 epilogue 103 bibliography 104-108 4 dedication i am very glad to dedicate this book to the lord bishop of the anglican diocese of nike, rt. rev. dr. christian onyeka onyia, and his wife, the president of nike diocesan women ministry, bar. mrs. nneka onyia. i have not, as yet, found a better way of appreciating the immense love they have shown to me and my family. may the lord, in his abundant mercies continue to bless and uphold them, amen. preface hermeneutics is the study of the principles and methods of textual interpretation. it derives from the greek verb hermeneuo, meaning, to interpret, or as the first person singular present indicative active verb form shows, i am interpreting, or i interpret. hermeneutics deals with the principles, rules and regulations of interpreting sacred texts. in recent times, hermeneutical procedures have been broadened to include both verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as semiotics, presuppositions and semantics. hermeneutical tools are today widely applied in the humanities, especially law, history and theology. hermeneutics as a discipline is closely related to exegesis. both share a common concern for exploration of textual meanings. however, while hermeneutics is a much broader discipline dealing with the principles, methods and models for interpreting texts, exegesis takes those principles and methods into the specific texts for purposes of “leading out” meanings. (exegesis derives from the greek word ex-egomai; the root, ago, means to lead, while the prefix ex, is the form of the preposition, ek, before a vowel, meaning, out.) over the years, the discipline of hermeneutics has grown from basic orthodox patterns and systematic, doctrinal and dogmatic interpretation, through the era of historical-critical methods to the 5 rise of social context hermeneutics. this era of social context hermeneutics has taken the expedition away from its traditional domains to areas where the models are directly confronting existing cultures and interrogating existing axioms, thus discovering and rediscovering cultural orientations within the contexts of societal dynamics. when we speak of culture today, we do so, not in the conventional context of reversion to retrogressive societal orientations, but in recognition of swift societal dynamics amidst threats against, and efforts at ultimate societal survival and enrichment. social context hermeneutics has opened up large vistas of hermeneutical avenues and, it must be admitted, released hermeneutics from the shackles of dogmatic limitations, otherwise referred to as fixation. life is not fixed but dynamically responding to the tempos of socio-cultural and economic challenges and threats to survival. as the perplexities of life enlarge, so does the search for life’s meanings and interpretations. the secularizing trends of modern society will not succeed in, nor be the better for it in its attempt at, relegating or ultimately vitiating the axioms of the biblical text. rather, it is a challenge to generate new interpretative models that directly confront societal threats, as has been eloquently demonstrated in the successes of the social context theologies. we are happy that at last our hermeneutical models are directly addressing the challenges confronting us and exciting new models are ingeniously presenting us with new vistas of creative meanings. 6 chapter one introducing hermeneutical models what is hermeneutics? according to brown and schneiders (1990), thegreek word, hermeneia (a noun) which forms the root of the word, ‘hermeneutics’, covered a wide scope of interpretation and clarification – a scope that modern scholars are trying to recapture and expand in their understanding of the hermeneutical task. first, it can refer to interpretation by speech itself, in as much as language brings to expression and interprets what is in one’s mind (conscious and unconscious), or even what constitutes one’s identity, being, and person. (we should conceive of this process dynamically, not statically; for not only does an established intention or identity find precise expression in language, but in the very act of linguistic communication, one’s identity and intention can grow or even come into being.) in biblical discussion, we must struggle with the added complexity of the capacity of (human) biblical language to bring to expression god’s “mind”, “will”, and “person”, (terms used analogously of god). second, hermeneia can refer to the process of translation from one language to another – a process that goes beyond the mechanical equivalents of 7 words and enters into the issue of transference from one culture or world view to another. third, hermeneia can be used for interpretation by commentary and explanation, which is a more formal aspect. (p. 1147). the essence of perspective rendering arises here especially as we call to mind, for instance, that many early christians knew the old testament not in its hebrew original form, but in the septuagint greek form, that is, a perspective of it that has already undergone linguistic and socio-cultural mediation and transference. similarly, the gospels communicated jesus’ message, not in his own semitic tongue but in greek. even specific aspects of translation can be from an unintelligible language to an intelligible one. a typical illustration of this is found in 1 corinthians 12:10, which deals with a charismatic gift of tongues (glossolalia), with a revelatory dimension. although modern hermeneutics concerns itself with the meaning of the written biblical texts, however, it is important to realize that initially, neither the israelite community, nor indeed the early christian community was a “religion of the book”. a set of experiences regarded as a divine deliverance from egypt, the selection of a people, the formation of a covenant, and the promise of a land, gave identity to israel’s religious orientation long before there came the written accounts of the experiences, which, in the course of time grew into the torah or the pentateuch. similarly, a religious community was formed around the belief in god’s 8 eschatological presence and action in jesus christ, long before there were the written gospels. in fact, the early jewish christians were in an intermediate position even before they had widely circulated writings of their own composition. in this interregnum and even after, the task of relating jesus to the already accepted writings of the hebrew and septuagint canons (later described by the same christian community as the old testament) was a major hermeneutical task. this hermeneutical assignment, it must be acknowledged, was assiduously pursued by the early christian community, and resolved to the finite conclusion, expressed in the simple dictum which we relate to, today, as if it has always been there from the very outset; ho iesous estin ho christos ((john 20:31), (meaning, that jesus of nazareth, a well-known historical personality, having satisfied all the messianic prophecies of the hebrew classical prophets, is the messiah (anointed one, greek, christos) whom the hebrew classical prophets had prophesied about). this resolution remains the greatest hermeneutical contribution of the early christian community, and without this resolution, a yawning gap would have existed till today between the operations of god in the ancient times and the religious experiences of the christian community. hermeneutical models we are concerned here with introducing and appraising hermeneutical models and perspectives, with a view to proposing the direction of the hermeneutical expedition in the next decade 9 and beyond. context hermeneutics, that is, hermeneutical models shaped by historical, political and socio-cultural circumstances, have given rise to a vast array of context theologies, namely, liberation theology, african theology, black theology, feminist theology, decolonization theology, motivational and inspirational theology, and so on. these could be rightly referred to as reactionary or revolutionary theologies which contain in themselves polemic or conventional postures that take hermeneutics away from its traditional (objective) domains, creating segregational tensions which escalate, rather than resolve the perceived situation being reacted to, or contended against. when we speak of reactionary or revolutionary theologies, and hence, by that token, reactionary and revolutionary hermeneutical models that produced them, we unwittingly ascribe to the conventional hermeneutical models the status of standard models, whereas those models are (or at least could be) reactionary or revolutionary in themselves, being products of prevailing sociocultural contexts. we know, at least that the earliest hermeneutical models were basically devotional and were content to dwell in a deluge of uninterrogated assumptions or presumptions. we know therefore that the eurocentric historical-critical hermeneutical models arose as an initial effort in the era, and as a product of scholasticism, to interrogate the assumptions or presumptions that, subjected to the light of empirical evidence, were already beginning to crumble. for instance, did moses write the pentateuch? did only one author compose the pentateuch? could a man have written 10 about his death and burial? in what perspective of historiography would you classify the expression, “in the beginning, god created”, especially in the realization that the man who was reporting the incident, assuming he grew to maturity immediately upon creation, was created on the sixth day, but was reporting events that took place some five days before he came into existence? what do we make of the curious duplications in the narratives, for instance two different creation narratives (gen. 1:1-2:4a and 2:4b to the end)? what do we make of the anachrostic expression, “to this day”, (example, no one knows where moses was buried to this day) in the text suggesting that the author was presenting the account in retrospect? what do we make of the consistent use of the different divine names in the different segments or pericopes of the text; for instance, ’elōhim is consistently used in gen.1:1-2:4a, and from 2:4b till the end of the periscope at the end of chapter three, yahweh ’elōhim is consistently used? and so on. that eurocentric historical-critical hermeneutical model formed the framework for conventional biblicism till today has long been admitted. adamo (2005) has succinctly stated that; my candid opinion is that colonization of biblical studies began with the establishment of bible colleges, seminaries and universities in africa by the missionaries. these bible colleges and seminaries became places where priests, pastors and evangelists were trained. during the early period, the teachers in these colleges were missionaries from the western 11 world. their methods of teaching were western. in their enthusiasm to teach students how to communicate the gospel of the lord jesus christ, they also taught western culture and ways of life. all students must learn how to interpret the christian scripture the way it is interpreted in the west. african culture and religion were not important and therefore were not taught to the students. (p. 21). even more important to adamo’s position is the content of the theology of the western missionaries. this is what african biblical scholars have come to describe as colonization hermeneutics because it is a hermeneutical model which started with a fundamental objective of utterly annihilating every facility of the african background, to the extent that to be truly converted to christianity, one had to be converted to european culture. african biblical studies, and hence, as enabling, formulating instrument, african biblical hermeneutics, have ever since arisen as credible indigenous perspectives of interpreting the text. in fact, it is to the founding fathers of the african indigenous churches (aic’s) that the credit must go for the formulation of what can be called the indigenous african reading of the missionary christian bible. in other words, the missionaries came to africa with the bible and their version of eurocentric christianity based on their perspectives of interpreting the text. the indigenous africans received the bible from the missionaries and reinterpreted it to suit the african 12 indigenous socio-cultural challenges and religious aspirations. thus, adeogun (2005) affirms that; the method applied by some aladura churches is the application of the principles of hermeneutics, as a key to unlock the meaning of the bible in relation to the african world view. in these churches, spiritual and physical liberation are intertwined; the malfunction of the one affects the other. these churches consider spiritual liberation as a way to the success of humankind, socially, economically. (p.182). there is so much to the reactionary hermeneutics of the african indigenous churches that deserves mention. first, it embraced the eurocentric missionary christian faith. next, it identified that its religious perspectives and aspirations run counter to those of the indigenous africans, for indigenous pre-christian africans do indeed have religious orientation and aspirations, definite and definable, contrary to the aspersions and vituperations cast on the african religious roots by the eurocentric christian missionaries. next, the african indigenous churches (having now fully embraced the eurocentric missionary christian faith) patiently read the christian bible (since they have received sufficient western education, even though such education is cast in the western colonialist world view that sees nothing good in the african). and strangely as it may seem, the african indigenous churches applied their indigenous hermeneutical models and tools in the christian bible and found out that even the bible of the eurocentric 13 missionary christian faith spoke to the indigenous african situation. that was how the indigenous african christians formulated the character, liturgy, theology, and hermeneutical models of the african indigenous churches, a variant of the christian faith diametrically and dialectically detracted from and opposed to the eurocentric missionary christian faith. adeogun (2005), summaring the character of the hermeneutical models of the african indigenous churches, stated that from thence, african liberation has come to be a term in doing contextual biblical studies because it makes the problems of the people the central axis in praxis and discussion” (p.181). the operation in the african indigenous churches is purely personalized and centered on meeting the need and aspirations of the individual persons involved, unlike that of the euro-christian missionary churches in which everyone is lost in the deluge of self-expression (as in modern pentecostal ecstatic and prophetic mesmerisms) rather constitute a total nuisance. even till today, the mainline churches still consider individual self-expressions as in prophetic pronouncements, visions and ecstatic mesmerisms (such as speaking in tongues) a complete nuisance. decolonization thus became the pronounced aspiration of african indigenous christian hermeneutics. to begin with, we can now confidently speak of hermeneutical models that are truly and indigenously african. west (2005) quoting ukpon (2000) 14 assiduously captures the character of african biblical hermeneutics (interpretation) thus; first, african biblical interpretation is predominantly interested in the historical and sociological dimensions of the biblical text. second, african life biblical interpretation is always aware of the ambiguous history of the bible’s arrival in africa and so is constantly attempting to assert itself over against the dominant discourses of western imperialism and colonialism. (p. 69). the reference to decolonization hermeneutics is a conscious recognition by the african biblical scholars, at least in part, of the existence of colonial intent either in the biblical text itself (through a reactionary redactive means) or in its hermeneutics by the eurocentric theologians. it is in this regard that oladunjoye (2005) observes that; some scholars have seen christianity as a bulldozer, leveling the jungle of the uncivilized world in order to allow the builders of imperialism to come and build. even some missioners taught that africans had to be westernized before becoming christians. desmond tutu, on the other hand sees the attitude of the colonial interpreters of the bible as exploitation through colonialism and neocolonialism. the africans were taught to despise everything african at the time of conversion. (p. 5). 15 mosala (1989) looks at the biblical text itself (not just its hermeneutical models) to highlight colonial intent; the bible is an ideologically layered product of a series of historical struggles, and so what is left of the voice of landless peasants and other marginalized sectors has been co-opted and represented by the discourse of the ruling elites (west, 2005, p. 65). dube (2000) states the matter rather categorically; “the bible is itself an imperial and patriarchal product”. (west, 2005, p. 65). thus, the reaction of african biblical scholars both to the biblical text itself and to its eurocentric hermeneutics has been many and varied, ranging from the one extreme of outright repudiation and rejection, to the other extreme of contextual re-reading. decolonization hermeneutics is therefore, at least in part, an attempt to see both that the bible speaks to the african sociocultural situation, and to highlight how it does. our aim here is to, at least, attempt to propose the direction in which african and indeed socio-cultural context hermeneutics will proceed in the next decade and beyond. having studied the basic principles of biblical hermeneutics, what do we make of it in our multiple socio-cultural, historical and political environments with all its nuances and challenges? non-western beneficiaries of western education have often been accused of revolving around the basic principles, axioms and maxims which they memorize, turn around in their minds, even translate to local facets, but do not 16 progress beyond that. it has often been argued that the bane of the underdevelopment of the third world, in spite of the large volume of existence of western education and its beneficiaries, is the fact that these beneficiaries have no clue for translating these basic principles and axioms into facilities and instruments for dealing with their local challenges, whether it be in engineering and technology, medicine and pharmacy, or arts and humanities. in proposing the direction for the application of our vast facilities of hermeneutics in dealing with africa’s underdevelopment, i take a cue from professor manus’ hint, quoted in oladunjoye (2005); the bible having been brought to us africans by the colonial church, has been read to us with the eye of the colonial and missionary slaves. in our post-colonial and post-modern contexts in africa, re-reading the texts often implies letting african religio-cultural, the socio-political and economic situations of africa to interface with the bible. in other words, the location of african biblical scholarship is the social, political, and ecclesiastical contexts of africa and real life issues. biblical scholarship belongs in the church and the community, not only in the academy. (p. 6). this may seem to have the same orientation with what some strands of scholars commonly propose as enculturation hermeneutics. even this enculturation hermeneutics has acquired diverse forms, depending on the extent of detraction from the locus 17 that the exegete is prepared to allow, within the ambient of traditional religious sentiments. even scholars who propose an adaptation of liturgical procedures using local facilities are content to consider that a sufficient act of enculturation. if that was all that the african indigenous churches did, changing the language of euro-christian mission churches to local language, and engaging local musical instruments, that would hardly have earned them any mention in enculturation hermeneutics. however, as is evident, they brought in whole structures of african personality into the faith and made the scriptures to speak to the african religious tensions and aspirations. that is holistic enculturation. in interface hermeneutics we bring the elements and phenomena face to face with each other, in a situation in which the concepts themselves acquire new contextual connotative meanings in the new socio-cultural circumstance. thus the yesua and soteria or salvation of the old and new testaments would, translated into the african context, acquire such meanings that liberate him from his socio-economic quagmire, rather than stop at a euphoric, forlon, unrealized expectation of the other-worldly condition of eternal bliss, in the hope that this new understanding will begin, in the here and now, to attack and dismantle the unjust structures of greed and exploitation, including the tyrannical exploitative church leadership and theology that breed the socio-economic crises of deprivation and impoverishment. 18 chapter two orthodox and enlightenment biblical hermeneutics in this chapter, we look at orthodox biblical hermeneutics which became rather thoroughly developed in the enlightenment period, and therefore suffered an accidental indenture at the hands of enlightenment philosophy, to the extent that today, when we talk about orthodox biblical hermeneutics, if we are not careful, we present enlightenment biblical hermeneutics because, admittedly, the enlightenment era took upon itself, the task of articulating biblical concepts, and in so doing, coloured it with its traits. this is in fact what has happened with much of biblical concepts. such concepts are defined within certain periods of learning in which they have been articulated and documented, and in addition, such periods have coloured such concepts with the prevailing philosophical orientation and disposition, such that it is no longer possible, except with careful study, to deliver such concepts from the encapsulating philosophical character of the period in which they have been articulated. for instance, when you say “eschatology”, you are already speaking in the language framework of 1st century ad greek, and by implication, new testament philosophical framework; (eschatos – greek second declension masculine noun for “last” or last things). but, ironically, for purposes of fundamental definition, you must necessarily go to the old testament in search of the concept that clearly owes its origin to a new testament framework or thought. if you now say to a 19 person that within the historical terminus ad quiem of the old testament, all that is known about the last things, that is life in the hereafter, is the še’ōl, he will argue that it is not so. in the argument, he would lean heavily on the books and redactional interjections placed in the old testament later than the historical period of the old testament. such books and interjections, referred to as apocalyptic writings, have their origin in the later second century bc, a period referred to as “inter-testament”, beyond the historical dating of the last event of the old testament, which is ezra’s national (endogamy) reforms. because of the character of the period in which the jews faced persecution, possibly as a result of the anti-semitic reactions generated by ezra’s endogamic exclusivist reforms, the apocalyptic writers predicted the soon collapse of the kingdoms of the persecutors and a coming future bliss for the persecuted, as they endured in the faith. it is these features of the apocalyptic writings that are interpreted as eschatological and, in any case, the period of such writings is beyond the old testament. so, anyway, in this section, we shall attempt to make out what biblical hermeneutics was like, prior to the enlightenment period in which, admittedly, a lot of biblical exegetical issues became carefully articulated and documented. we shall now see how that period ended up bringing a preposterous colouring to orthodox biblical hermeneutics, and in fact presenting enlightenment biblical hermeneutics as the authentic orthodox biblical hermeneutics. 20 1. orthodox biblical hermeneutics orthodox biblical hermeneutics actually encompasses both the theory and methodology for all forms of communication, verbal and non-verbal. orthodox biblical hermeneutics stems from a standpoint of firm belief and utmost confidence in god. in other words, it is wholly theistic. it is conducted from the context of basic relationship to, and dependence upon god. it is hermeneutics done from the basic standpoint of the bible as revealed word of god. such fundamental position and disposition governs and characterizes the entire hermeneutical expedition, affecting and influencing its ethos, its devices and its deductions. in other words, the outcome (theology or doctrinal position) precedes the process. it is, if you don’t mind, a hermeneutical procedure done from answer to question. in other words, it is a hermeneutical process done from a fundamental position in which certain theological conclusions or deductions are taken for granted. in biblical orthodox hermeneutics, the outcome cannot be other than the basic theological and doctrinal axioms resolved ab initio, prior to the hermeneutical process. orthodox hermeneutics does not intend to confront or investigate god’s word. as st. anselm put it, in his book, faith seeking understanding, orthodox biblical hermeneutics is done from the standpoint of belief in the bible as god’s word. it is not an effort to understand in order to believe. it is that having believed, 21 one seeks deeper understanding to consolidate that already accepted as fact. orthodox biblical hermeneutics seeks to understand, first, what the scripture communicated to the original audience, and secondly, what timeless principles and applications there can be for the contemporary audience. the objective is basically to help one grow in confidence to read and study the bible as god’s word. orthodox hermeneutics consists of four basic components, namely; 1. understanding the historical and cultural context of the text. 2. understanding the literary context of the text. 3. making observations around the text and 4. drawing valid contemporary applications from the text. we can look at these in some details. 1. historical and cultural context: the setting of the text. this preliminary hermeneutical step asks questions about the book as whole; the author, the audience, the dating of the book, the purpose for its writing as well as its theme. although in most cases, questions surrounding the authorship and dating may be conjectures supported by some references, however, the outcome becomes valid for understanding the text. 22 2. literary context (that is the literary style) it is now believed that to some extent, the literary style of a text can give very valid information about its authorship and dating. styles are often associated with prevailing philosophical ethos. for instance, the gospel of john opens up with the expression; “in the beginning was the word (logos) and the word was with god, and the word was god”. this alone has helped a great deal in assigning hellenistic character to the book, and this speaks volumes of it authorial background, dating and intended audience. the bible contains many biblical styles or genres, and one book may contain many of these styles. 3. observation (the content of the book) here, we are concerned with the details of the technical content of the text. an awareness of this detailed content provides much information for its interpretative process. 4. application (the contemporary, present-day application of the text) here, we identify the situation in present life similar to that in the primary audience that necessitated the text in the first instance. from here, we deduce the contemporary value and validity of the demands that the text makes to its present day audience. it must be stated therefore that orthodox biblical hermeneutics was primarily for devotional purposes. it was 23 not an exercise undertaken for academic value. its ultimate objective was to deepen devotional relationship with god. issues that tended to create confusion or raise critical questions are rather avoided or deferred until, in the light of other scripture, or with benefit of greater insight or revelation, they could be better understood. the ultimate aspiration of orthodox biblical hermeneutics was to draw out the moral value of the text, in other words, to make the hermeneutical audience more enhanced in terms of conduct and relationship with god. 2. enlightenment hermeneutics the 18th century ad became the age of enlightenment. this is largely because the 18th century was the period of scientific development, as well as the era of technological revolution in europe. it was an era of great learning and reason. reason as proclaimed by this era of enlightenment became opposed to faith. it was an era of investigation of the scriptural claims. this therefore became the era of questioning the scriptural claims until they are justified by valid proof. for these reasons, this period of enlightenment contributed to hermeneutics the historical-critical methods of textual interpretation. these historical-critical methods include textual criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, source criticism and so on. in this era, the traditional beliefs about authorship of the bible books were discarded for the documentary hypothesis. 24 the theologians thrown up by this age became, in the main, naturalist theologians. these naturalist theologians were those who did not want to approach biblical hermeneutics from the fundamental standpoint of belief and faith. it is in fact the other way round. they started the hermeneutical process from the standpoint of unbelief. being naturalist, they believed that only nature exists, and whatever does not conform to the facets of nature does not exist. their attitude to the scripture is that it is simple natural events that authors of the bible narratives disguised and clothed with the garb of mysterious happenings. their attitude to biblical hermeneutics is to reinterpret the miraculous events as disguised natural events. some of such naturalist theologians are julius wellhausen, gerrard von rad, w. albright, rudolf bultmann, gunther bornkamm, jurgen moltmann etc. in fact, rudolf bultmann, a new testament naturalist theologian started a project of demythologization of the gospel stories in which he set out to reinterpret the miraculous occurrences as over-blown natural events. for instance, the miracles regarding the raising of the dead were interpreted as arising from the special art in identifying and resuscitating someone in coma, an art prevalent in the 1st century ad greco-roman society. so, the major contribution of enlightenment to biblical hermeneutics is the removal of the elements of faith in biblical interpretation and elucidation. it was an era in which faith in scripture was discarded and replaced with reason. ironically this period also became the period of great expansion in learning, 25 documentation and literature. much of the literature produced in this period reflected the prevailing philosophical notion of rise of reason above faith. while the preceding era had little or no documentation of its hermeneutical ethos, the enlightenment era, being an era of learning and writing soon filled everywhere with publications which reflected this hermeneutical position. for that reason, whenever we talk about hermeneutical models, all that is readily available is the historical-critical hermeneutical models produced by the enlightenment era. it is to the extent that when we talk about orthodox biblical hermeneutics, because the preceding era has little or no write-ups to show what traditional orthodox hermeneutics was, all that one can lay hands on is the historicalcritical methods produced by enlightenment era. it is also very important to place on record that the enlightenment era preceded the coming of christianity into africa. therefore, the euro-christian churches that came to africa were actually products of the enlightenment, the era in which reason was exalted above faith. the euro-christian churches that came to africa were therefore scientific in orientation. they were miles away from the african orientation of belief in mysteries, and recourse to spiritual avenues in the search for solution to the challenges and mishaps of life. the euro-christian churches were already exposed to the scientific world in which occurrences were interpreted through scientific models. the world view of the african is that every mishap, and that includes the slightest illness or fever, has a spiritual cause. for these reasons, the indigenous africans quickly 26 rejected the euro-christian churches, but ironically did not completely reject christianity. soon after the establishment of the mission churches, the indigenous africans, having read the christian bible themselves, devised their own christianity which clearly satisfied the religious aspirations of the africans. so, it is important to note that, enlightenment historicalcritical hermeneutical model is not the traditional orthodox biblical hermeneutics. it is instead the first organized reaction to the orthodox biblical hermeneutics. secondly, the african hermeneutics, as originally made manifest in the hermeneutical models of the african indigenous churches, was not necessarily a reaction against orthodox biblical hermeneutics. it was instead a reaction against the enlightenment historical-critical hermeneutical model which threw the faith of the bible overboard and exalted reason over and above faith. when we place issues in the right perspectives, then it is possible to classify the aspirations of the hermeneutical models appropriately. then it is possible to appraise reaction hermeneutics correctly. 27 chapter three interrogating the historical-critical hermeneutical models according to collins (2016), historical criticism is the name usually given to what may be termed “mainline” biblical criticism over the last three centuries or so. historical-critical methods are those which take account of the fact that the biblical texts were written long ago in a cultural matrix very different from our own, and hence attempt to understand the texts first of all in the context of that ancient setting. historical considerations are a necessary part of that discussion because it requires at least an approximate idea of the time, place and circumstances of composition. the goal of this enquiry however, is not necessarily historical in a narrow sense. it might just as well be the theology or rhetoric of the text seen in the light of its historical context. historical-critical hermeneutical method dates back to 1753 when jean astruc first published the thesis that moses composed the pentateuch from two ancient memoires, and that the key for discerning the memoires lies in the use of the divine names, yahweh and ’elohim. alexander gedds followed up the indication and identified two written sources to the pentateuch, namely, the j (yahwist source, dated 10th to 9th century bc) and the e (elohist source, dated 9th century bc). the third source called the d or dtr (deuteronomist source dated 7th to 6th century bc) was later identified, and lastly, the p (priestly source, dated 6th to 5th 28 century bc). in 1864, julius wellhausen in his, prolegomena to the history of israel concisely articulated the nearly one hundred years of study of the sources (called source criticism or documentary hypothesis) of not just the pentateuch but also of the entire old testament. an investigation which initially started by interrogating the presumption of mosaic authorship of the pentateuch, held for nearly three thousand years from the tenth century bc to the 18th century ad, continued to broaden in scope and content until it had created a consummate position held till today regarding the authorship of the old testament. in 1901, herman gunkel, a folklorist, opined that the books of the old testament were composed from existing oral forms, thus giving vent to a new dimension of historical-critical hermeneutical method called tradition or form criticism, also credited to him, concerned about the existing oral forms that predate the written materials. redaction criticism which is complementary to tradition or form criticism examines how the authors of the written materials utilized the oral (or written) forms available to them. streeter (1924) discussed in detail the synoptic problem in the new testament, settling the matter of dependency, first of the synoptic gospels, in which he established the point of markan priority, showing evidence of how matthew and luke used mark and a material, called q (quelle, a german word for source) to compose their gospel versions. he showed in fact that the version of mark used by matthew and luke was in fact a more crude version, which he called ur-markus, and showed evidence of how mark formed the 29 profile for mathew and luke, a profile which they occasionally deviated from, to accommodate their peculiar materials, and to which they returned afterwards. he further showed that the author of john used luke as starting material for his composition. elsewhere, (uzuegbunam, 2017), we have presented a much fuller discussion on biblical criticism in textual exegesis. from the foregoing, it is evident that the historical-critical hermeneutical framework has interrupted and nearly distorted the nearly three thousand years of traditional devotional hermeneutics that had existed prior to its inception. in the period of preceding the 18th century enlightenment-based hermeneutical model, biblical hermeneutics took the form of, and had the following features: 1. the bible as god’s word (debar-yahweh) the starting point for doing hermeneutics in the period preceding the historical-critical hermeneutical method was the point of understanding of the bible as god’s word. thus both derived from, and enhanced the traditional devotional attitude to the bible. on the contrary, the historical-critical hermeneutical model has fundamentally debunked and demystified this critical axiom, reducing the bible to mere literature. rudolf bultmann, new testament redaction scholar, has in fact gone ahead to carry out a project he titled, demythologization of the gospels, (see jesus christ and mythology by rudolf bultmann). the crux of his argument is that it was the disciples of jesus who weaved a theological 30 christological (messianic) garment upon an ordinary good man, jesus of nazareth. no wonder, adamo (2005) clearly warned; i strongly believe that african scholars must not repeat the mistakes of the west in emptying jesus of his power. (p. 26). 2. the bible as sacred writing (hagiographa) hermeneutics in the period preceding the historical-critical hermeneutical methods started from the fundamental premise that the bible is sacred writing. what this meant was that its study would both take this axiom into primary account and endeavour to maintain it at all costs. critics of the historical critical hermeneutical methods have indeed observed that biblical hermeneutics has been approached using the methods and genres meant for secular literature. indeed, at the onset of the 18th century period of enlightenment, a clear distinction could still be perceived between the sacred and the secular writings. after the era of historical-critical studies, the dividing line became blurred, sacrificed, as it were on the altars of what was rightly or wrongly conceived as objectivity. goldengay (1981) had in fact asserted that; objectivity, distancing and concentrating on the descriptive may help us to avoid imposing our present beliefs, interests and questions on the text. but faith, involvement and commitment may open us to other 31 aspects of the text’s own concerns and enable us to avoid the barrenness of “objectivity”. (p. 23 – 24). barren objectivity, that is in fact the price to pay for an empirical historical-critical hermeneutical model which has in fact, in casting asunder the sacredness of the hagiographa, entered it with secular literary genres, ridding it of its sacred values. 3. hermeneutics as revelational in the period prior to that of the historical-critical biblical models, biblical interpretation was basically revelational. it was believed and expected to flow from the very source of the scripture which is from above. the historical-critical hermeneutical model took the essence of biblical hermeneutics from the domain of revelation to the domain of sense and reason. by so doing, it broke its vital power of depth and profundity and reduced biblical hermeneutics to an issue of mere mental gymnastics. 4. hermeneutics from allegorical framework the biblical text itself is saturated with the beauties of allegories and typologies, for instance, the typology of joseph depicting the suffering messiah, sold by his brethren; the typology of the scarlet chord of the house of rehab, likened to the blood of the lamb on the door lintels of the exodus eve, that warded off the angel of death, culminating in the grand 32 scheme of the great passover lamb slain on the eve of jewish passover. it was this beautiful array of glorious allegories and typologies that the faith devotional community reveled in, in the days prior to the critical assault of the sacred literature with the secular devices of the historical-critical hermeneutical models. the revulsion of the african indigenous church hermeneutics. let it be placed on record that the first and most original reaction to the historical-critical hermeneutical model that the left the text completely rid of its power, was the theology and hermeneutical pattern of the african indigenous churches. it can in fact be said that the bible was brought to africa to be restored of its health and reclothed with its glory which it lost at the hands of the eurocentric hermeneutical scholars. the african indigenous christian worshippers took the christian bible, the same book that eurocentric historical-critical hermeneutical models had reduced to mere literature, not any different from any other literature, and raised it to the height of glorious deification. see the height to which the african indigenous christian worshippers raised the christian document of faith, in this pictorial elucidation in which madueke (2000) points to the various ways the book is employed. the bible is; the most widely translated book, it makes a contribution to the construction of indigenous grammars and texts; it 33 is a basic textbook in primary and higher education; literacy has been closely tied to bible reading and memorization, it is the most accessible basic vernacular literature text, a story book, a compilation of novels and short stories, a book of prose and poetry, a book of spiritual devotion, (i.e. the word of god), as well as a “science” book that explains the origin of all creatures. in some parts of africa, the dead are buried with the bible on their chests, and the bible is buried with the concrete foundations on which new houses are built. in many african independent churches, it is the physical contact between the sick and the bible that is believed to hasten healing. (pp. 91 – 92). in other words, irrespective of what value the euro-christian missionaries attached to the bible, the indigenous african christian congregation embraced it with a glorious sense of certification, a fact which also became central to indigenous african hermeneutics and theology, because you cannot separate a person’s interpretation of a thing from his attitude to it, and vice versa. indigenous african hermeneutics therefore took on from this holistic embrace of the bible and built up a wholesome theology which culminated into the restoration of the power and glory, not just of the scripture, but also, more importantly of the faith community that issued it. we shall return to this matter a little more lucidly. 34 chapter four hermeneutical colonialism african biblical scholars have variously advanced the thought that the christian bible lends itself, or, at least, is lent as a tool for the advancement of the course of colonialism. oladunjoye (2005) has succinctly argued that: some scholars have seen christianity as a bulldozer, leveling the jungle of the uncivilized world in order to allow the builders of imperialism to come and build. even some missioners taught that africans had to become westernized before becoming christians. desmond tutu the other hand sees the attitude of the colonial interpreters of the bible as exploitation through colonialism and neo-colonialism. the africans were taught to despise everything african at the time of conversion. (p. 5). pratt (1997) further argued that; in the early phase of western expansion, the churches were allies of the colonial process. they spread under the protection of the colonial powers. they benefitted from the expansion of the empire. in return, they rendered special service to western imperialism by legitimizing it and accustoming their new adherents to accept compensatory expectations of an external reward for terrestrial misfortunes, including colonial exploitation. (p. 3). 35 on the whole, two different perspective issues have been raised in relation to the association of the christian bible with the colonial experience. 1. in-text evidence: does the bible contain materials that are in anyway colonial in orientation; that is supporting unjust structures? 2. colonial hermeneutics: is the bible or portions thereof being interpreted in such a way as to promote the tenets of social stratification and discrimination? it is to these two issues that we shall now turn attention. 1. evidence of colonial materials in the bible ukpong (2005) has already sufficiently discussed this matter and so we can firmly rely on his submissions here. according to him; one vital approach in dealing with this hermeneutical colonization is concerned with correcting negative images about africa and african peoples embedded in certain traditional readings of some biblical texts. he went further to state that; an important theme in this regard is the so called curse of ham whose descendants are listed in gen. 10:1-14 and 1chron.1:8-16 as the cushites (ethiopians), mizraimites (egyptians), putites, and canaanites. in gen. 9:18-27, ham sees the nakedness of his drunken father, noah, but instead of covering him, reports this to his two brothers, shem and japhet who cover their father. according to hebrew tradition, 36 ham has committed an act of great disrespect towards his father. noah wakes up and learns of the action of his children, he pronounces a curse, not on ham, but on canaan, ham’s son who was not yet born. a fifth century midrash on this narrative places noah’s curse directly on ham and adds: “your seed will be ugly and dark skinned”. also, the 6th century ce babylonian talmud states, “the descendants of ham are cursed by being black and are sinful with degenerate progeny”. from these came the idea that africans are black because of the curse of ham. (p. 41). this text has been lent to profound use by the whites in south africa and south america in support of their subjugation of the blacks in those places. ironically, the missionaries who brought christianity and by implication the bible to africa are the kith and kin of the same whites who colonized africa and inflicted such untold pains of exploitation and subjugation on the africans. and as has been shown, these missionaries not only benefitted from the logistic assistance provided by these colonialists and imperialists but also used the platform of the church to provide the atmosphere for fellowship and interaction with these colonialists and imperialists in such a manner that makes it impossible for an objective analyst to effectively draw a line between the missionaries on one hand, and the colonialists and imperialists on the other. in fact, in south africa, the very same people who brought the church and the christian bible were the ones who orchestrated, supported and supervised the ugly apartheid policy, a form of internal 37 colonization. it is on record that the dutch reformed church in south africa openly taught that inequality was an act of nature, and that just as god deliberately created the fingers to be unequal, so the inequality between the whites and blacks in south africa was a deliberate act of god. to begin with, those who are conversant with the genres of biblical exegesis know that some stories in the bible are referred to as aitiological. such stories are those which are deliberately composed in order to, at least, attempt to explain a seemingly inexplicable phenomenon. thus, the story of lot’s wife looking back to sodom after the deliverance by the angels, in contravention of the specific warning to the contrary, and consequently turning into a pillar of salt (gen. 19:26), was composed in order to explain the seemingly inexplicable feature of the pillar of salt. the story of the collapse of the wall of jericho in joshua 6 was composed to explain the huge mound of rubbles which the israelites met on arrival at jericho. now, look at the story of the purported curse on africa. the man who sinned was ham. noah woke up from sleep and learnt how ham had seen his nakedness, and he said; “cursed be canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” (gen. 9:25). anyway, this is even absurd in itself, but in fact portrays the true character of biblical aitiological illustrations. a man commits an offence, and his father places a curse on his unborn child. this is also a confirmation of the retrospective nature of old testament narratives. a man could not be so certain of what would be the name of his son’s unborn child, but anyway, the narrator who was 38 reporting this in retrospect had already known the descendants of ham and knew the one, out of the descendants, that was not doing well and seemed to be under a curse. biblical aitiologies actually start from the answer and attempt to raise the matching question. for instance, why is canaan manifesting the traits of perennial slavish orientation and bondage? it is because his father saw his father’s nakedness and made a mockery of him, instead of covering him. that is how biblical aitiology works. the gruesome irony of that text, particularly when placed side by side with the hermeneutical 5th century midrash, is that canaan (ham’s son purportedly cursed) refers to the thriving area of palestine or persian gulf which accounts for about eighty-five percent of the world’s crude oil deposits; and has been massively beautified with the proceeds of crude oil exports to europe, america and asia. on the contrary, the son of ham that is the father of africa and can be associated with the description “dark-skinned” and (perhaps) “ugly” is cush. the cushites, according to wikipedia.org, are “a grouping of people who are primarily indigineous to northeast africa”. so if anybody was cursed in the text or in the words of the hermeneutical midrash or even the babylonian talmud, it should have been cush, and then, by implication africans. but thank god, the bible did not say that god cursed africa. the truth is that god never cursed africa, never came close to wishing to do so, and never will. africa is a blessed continent. god 39 blessed africa and placed all the natural mineral resources under the african soil – gold, silver, precious stones, crude oil, etc. it was in fact these abundant natural resources that attracted the europeans to africa, and to be able to freely excavate these mineral resources, they had to use all kinds of mechanisms to subdue the africans. the african skin, deliberately the product of years of subjection to the intense scorching heat of the sun, is tough and impervious to a vast array of micro-organisms. you will not appreciate the blessing of the african skin until you see the ravaging impact of skin cancer in europe and america. the african environment is not cursed. it is in fact a blessing. it is already clear that in the recent bout of the global pandemic of covid-19 disease, the only continent in the world where its influence is rated in mere trickles is africa. the total one-year record of deaths from covid-19 in nigeria, in spite of the deliberate escalation to attract foreign aid, still falls short of what was once a daily record of deaths in italy, britain or ecuador. god in deed loves africa. the only problem with africa today is that the african is like a man caught at the middle of the road. having experienced european values, he wishes that he could suddenly transmutate into a european, which is impossible. on the other hand, the vital tangible and intangible elements of his traditional roots, despicably criminalized and tabooed by the euro-christian missionaries, are 40 exerting a pressure on him, daring him to be “honest to (his) african heritage” (apologies, prof. jude emeka madu). needless to say, the african attitude to life is that of endless vacillation. today, ironically, africans are travelling all the way back to their traditional religious roots, repudiating years of consolidated christianization, which, but for some insincere and exploitative activities of some of the missionaries, would have brought him to a place of new discovery. europe has totally and finally broken the ethos of the cherished communal life in africa and left in its wake a generation of africans who are unleashing on each other the exploitive mechanisms they have acquired from their european mentors. is it not ironical that in africa where per capita income, standard of living and quality of life are at the lowest ebb, that is where also you have the wealthiest church leaders in the world? pastors and church leaders in nigeria, for instance, are in the midst of the most impoverished congregations whom they recklessly milk and extort in tithes and sacrificial seeds, while cruising about in their private jets. in this regard, church leaders are not doing any better than the political leaders who stash away in foreign bank accounts, huge resources meant for developing the african nations and improving the lots of the people, leaving the people in perennial penury, starvation, illiteracy and disease. if this is the adduced effect of the purported curse on africa, it certainly makes a lot of sense to agree. . 41 2. adapting the bible to colonial interpretation. at the centre of african scholars’ grievance against the eurochristian missionaries is the disdain with which the missionaries appraised the african indigenous religious values, and the avowed commitment of the missionaries to annihilate the african heritage. to justify their action, the missionaries described the african religious roots in the most pejorative and despicable terms – fetish, idolatrous, heathen, magical, idol worship, and so on. in appraising the missionary styles of the euro-christian missionaries in africa, the easiest starting point is from the product end, an examination of the african product of the euro-christian missionary enterprise. a cursory look reveals an african clad in the european garb but still intrinsically and fundamentally, and functionally and even religiously african. he goes to the church on sunday, but his soul is still in his african religious roots where his confidence is still deeply embedded. recently, in anambra state in south east nigeria, a political god-father was going to invest his money in campaigns for the election of a political contestant to the office of the governor. as is the practice, the terms of the agreement would be drawn up to show how the constant would reward the god-father with the state resources when elected. ironically, the two, contestant and god-father, are knights of the church, that is, by implication, highly exalted church members. having drawn up the agreement among themselves, the two men needed to seal it with an oath. and to ensure the unalloyed effectiveness of their 42 oath, they knew where to go; not to the church altar, nor indeed to the church bishop, but to the shrine of a popular deity in anambra state. this is just to show that when the chips are down, the african knows where his religious conscience, confidence and affinity lie. in its over one hundred and sixty years of existence in africa, the church has made converts, but the african has remained essentially and intrinsically whom he is and his allegiance remains to his traditional roots. the explanation for this is obvious and those who teach missiological models are already learning, from the euro-christian missionaries models, how not to engage the local population in a missionary enterprise. to begin with, because the missionaries were too much in a haste to plant their new religion, they did not care to engender an atmosphere of communication and communion with the indigenous africans. if they had done that the first thing that would have happened is that they would have been exposed to the religious values and aspirations of the africans. because they had no communication or communion with the africans, they quickly concluded that africans were a people without religious roots, values and aspirations. nothing could be further from the truth. in fact, the fact that less than seventy years after the establishment of the euro-christian missionary churches in africa, the indigenous african christians not only rejected the european christian orientation but also established their own version of the christian church where their core religious values and aspirations were to be catered for. next, in their sensitivity to 43 hermeneutical models, they interpreted the christian bible in such a way that it squarely addressed the african roots, challenges and aspirations. so, indigenous pre-christian africans had a set of core religious values and aspirations, and when they could not find those values and aspirations in the euro-christian missionary churches, they resolved not to compromise their religious roots. they created their own versions of the christian church (called african indigenous churches, aic’s) and moved swiftly to use them to address their peculiar religious challenges and aspirations. for the avoidance of doubt, indigenous african religious facilities had a potency by which the society was ordered and crime was prevented. recently, as his contribution to the raging debate about how to eradicate corruption that is threatening to wipe out the nations of africa, general jerry rawlings, great revolutionist and one-time ghanaian head of state, asked a very pertinent question; “why swear in potential public office holders in africa, using the bible and quran, when it is clear to you that they have no atom of regard for those instruments?” and he went ahead to suggest; “instead, take them to swear before their local deities that they will never steal public funds, and if they do, the deities should kill them”. has it not been variously admitted that the african society was much better and more morally ordered in the prechristian era than in the post-christian era? so, at least from that premise, those who wrote off african traditional values as altogether inexistent have clearly missed it. 44 so, part of what the african biblical scholars consider colonial hermeneutics on the part of the euro-christian missionaries is their pejorative and disdainful attitude to the religious roots of africa, a stance which justified their calculated resolve to wipe out and utterly annihilate everything african in the african society. and you want to ask; with over one hundred and sixty years of the church in africa, has it now succeeded in wiping out the indigenous religious roots of africa? the answer, most clearly, is no. it is a colonial orientation that makes a missionary vastly superior to the people he has come to minister to. such a missionary then ascends the lofty ecclesiastical heights, far withdrawn from the people, lest they pollute or desecrate him. and from such ecclesiastical heights, he doles out strings “do’s” and “don’t’s”, invoking curses on people who dare disobey the orders. modern missionaries now know that in a true missionary enterprise, there is no difference between the leader (missionary) and the people. why was there the need for a betrayer to identify jesus from his disciples? it was because, ordinarily, you would not be able to tell jesus from his disciples. what great lesson for the pontifical, plutocratic, callous exploitive leaders that have hijacked the church today. in their own case, you certainly won’t need a betrayer to identify them. from afar, you will be able to distinguish them by their aristocratic flamboyance and their despotic stance, surrounded by multiple slaves who bear modern titles while playing the same ancient slavish roles. 45 chapter five the rise of social context hermeneutics as already seen in hermeneutical colonialism (otherwise called colonial hermeneutics) recipients of the diverse approaches to biblical interpretation have accused the proponents of these approaches, (and not without cause, anyway) of deliberately applying the tenets of hermeneutics unto discriminatory and exploitative objectives. this has in fact led to the pronounced critical outlook on the bible as an instrument designed for racial oppression. some have stated categorically that the laws of the bible are deliberately designed to hold down the oppressed from taking up arms against the oppressor(s). thus, the expectation of a blissful life in eternity, for those who remained calm in the face of oppression, is seen as serving no other purpose except the bidding of the callous oppressors. over the years, therefore, a stream of social context hermeneutics has arisen specifically for the purpose of addressing these hermeneutical anomalies – subjugations, intimidations and oppressions. the idea essentially is to embattle and utterly resist and subdue any hermeneutical position that grants impetus to oppression. these hermeneutical perspectives have given rise to context theologies that are named after the perspectives, namely; liberation theology, black theology, feminist theology, african theology, decolonization theology, motivational and inspirational 46 theology, and so on. a few of these hermeneutical perspectives and the main thrusts of their position deserve brief mention here. 1. liberation hermeneutics by far the most popular and most epoch-making of the social context hermeneutics is that which arose in latin america in the 1960’s, the major proponents of which were julian segundo (a catholic priest) and gustavo gutierrez. the situation that led to the emergence of liberation hermeneutics was the existence of a condition of abject poverty, deprivation and marginalization of the poor by the rich and affluent in the latin american society. it was rather ironical that both the wealthy oppressors and the deprived and oppressed, downtrodden poor, belonged to the same congregations of the thriving roman catholicism in the society. it thus became very clear that there was an ideological sharp divide between the message doled out from the church pulpits and the actual condition of living (particularly the disconnect between the affluent oppressor christians and the impoverished deprived christians). it was this situation that catalyzed this new approach of doing hermeneutics in line with the bible’s protection of the poor from the oppressive rich. according to sabrino (1978), “the poor are the authentic theological source for understanding christian truth and practice” (p. 56). in other words, liberation hermeneutics represents a slant of biblical interpretation in which the welfare and protection of the deprived, down-trodden poor form the central, focal point. as bonino (1975) puts it; “god is unequivocally on the 47 side of the poor” (p. 17). liberation hermeneutics asserts that the starting point of biblical interpretation is the point at which the welfare of the suffering, distressed poor is given the utmost pride of place. thus, this perspective of biblical interpretation condemned as utterly out of place, the prevailing alliance between the authorities of the church and the ungodly ruling powers of latin america. one common feature of liberation hermeneutics which also applies to all the social context hermeneutical models is the resolve to model hermeneutics towards the solution of societal challenges, in this case, the exploitation of the poor by the rich. in other words, social context hermeneutics believes that biblical interpretation cannot, and should not be done in a vacuum, but must be made to address and redress the existing social anomalies in the society. it is important to place on record that in response to the demands of the proponents of liberation hermeneutics in latin america, the conference of the catholic bishops of latin america held in 1968 in columbia, unanimously condemned the prevailing alliance between the church and the ruling powers in latin america. the vital biblical textual basis for liberation hermeneutics is the exodus story which contains the practical proof that god takes sides with the oppressed against the oppressors. liberation hermeneutics, however, interprets the exodus story as a violent action embarked upon by the oppressed to regain their freedom from the oppressors, thus urging the oppressed not to give in to 48 oppression. it nonetheless brings god into the picture, in the sense that the oppressed cannot do so much on their own to regain freedom from the powerful oppressors, but would require divine assistance. it is important, however, to note here that the major failure of liberation hermeneutics arises from its advocacy for violence by the oppressed to regain freedom from the oppressors. being a social context hermeneutical model, liberation hermeneutics quite often takes hermeneutics outside the rational ambits of biblical interpretation and ends up as a social movement entirely, advocating and adopting methods and strategies that the bible certainly cannot endorse. to take hermeneutics out of the text it intends to interpret becomes nothing but an aberration. 2. black theology hermeneutics this perspective to hermeneutics has its origin in the experiences of the blacks in north america and south africa who were going through all forms of discriminatory oppression at the hands of their white counterparts. ironically, they presumably shared the same faith and worshipped in the same faith communities with these agents of class distinction and oppression. yet, not even the commonality in the community of worship in any way mitigated the oppressive practices of these privileged elements. black theology hermeneutics thus became a hermeneutical slant to the sporadic civil rights (or black rights) movements that sprang 49 up in north america and south africa in the 1960’s. these societies at the time had one thing in common and that was racial discrimination against the blacks by the whites. elements of black theology hermeneutics can still be seen in the decolonization hermeneutics being championed in the main by african scholars. a significant component of this perspective to hermeneutics is the feeling that the bible itself is a colonial document and that it contains textual substance that lends support to the discrimination against the blacks. one of such references is the so-called curse of noah to his son ham which, in a complex pseudo-hermeneutical maneuver translates to a curse of the black race. another common reference is the content of exodus 12 to the effect that god commanded the israelites through moses to borrow items of gold and silver from the egyptians (africa or the black race) at the point of leaving egypt, and by so doing laid the prophetic foundation for the impoverishment of the black race by europe and america. the other dimension to this perspective of hermeneutics is the insinuation that the biblical reference to idolatry, graven images, heathenism, is basically a reference to african religious roots. modern african scholars are already profusely refuting this vituperative and pejorative description of african indigenous religious orientation. the impression that the black race did not know god, and had no tangible religious orientation prior to their coming in contact with the european missionaries is already being treated as erroneous and highly provocative by the stream of 50 contemporary african scholars. parrat (1997) laments this deliberate denigration of the black race, thus: the worst crime that can be laid at the door of the white man… is not our economic, social and political exploitation, however reprehensible that might be; no, it is that his policy succeeded in filling most of us with a self-disgust and self-hatred. this has been the most violent form of colonialism, our spiritual and mental enslavement, when we have suffered from what can only be called a religious or spiritual schizophrenia. (p. 37). black theological hermeneutics thus became the reaction of the black race to the fallouts of the long periods of enslavement of the black race by their white counterparts in north america, south africa and europe. essentially the black race in europe and north america represent the offsprings of the scores of slaves purchased from africa and ferried into europe and north america in slave cargoes. they were second class personnel at that time, hardly qualified to be called citizens of their host nations when they evidently did not share in the rights and entitlements of citizens of those nations. well, the era of civil rights agitations, complemented with the hermeneutical and theological corollary to the civil rights agitations, have produced a fairer society. racial discrimination has, at least in principle, been outlawed in north america, and the discriminatory apartheid policy in south africa has been dismantled. south africa has gained total independence from their 51 british colonial masters, and is now under the rule of indigenous leaders. black theology hermeneutics has in essence focused on the anti-discriminatory declarations in the biblical text such as “in christ, there is neither jew nor greek”. (gal. 3:28). the slave masters of north america had adopted as a policy a system of deculturizing and de-religionizing their victims (african slaves) while introducing them to the tenets of christianity, and employing them as mere tools. the slaves eventually studied the christian bible by themselves and then found no tenable biblical basis for the dehumanization that was being meted out to them. black theology hermeneutics saw through to the existence of an impartial, nondiscriminately, just and righteous god, as variously attested to in the christian bible. these ideas they advanced over and above the colonial exploitative and dehumanizing practices being meted out to them by their white overlords. however, later, two different perspectives to black theology hermeneutics arose. one was passive, patient and peaceful, believing that with more understanding and commitment to the tenets of the scripture of the christian faith, the discriminatory policies would ultimately collapse. the other stance was rather violent, believing that the unjust structures in society that bred the exploitation of the less privileged by the privileged few on whatever basis would not collapse on their own but would bow to pressure when sufficient pressure is brought upon them. thus, it would not be surprising that black theory hermeneutics eventual produced the 52 hermeneutical credence to the spite of wild agitations and violent actions that eventually compelled the operators of the discriminating policies to back down, giving rise to a more egalitarian society. 3. feminist hermeneutics the growing concern and agitations for women liberation gave birth to a hermeneutical component aimed at dismantling the textual elements that hold down women in subjugation and make them accept a position of inferiority to their male counterparts. this is in brief what feminist hermeneutics is all about. to begin with, feminist hermeneutics started with textual interpretation from the critical standpoint that even the biblical text, as other documents of faith, is male chauvinistic, and is a deliberate instrument for furthering male domination in the society. god is conceived of, and described as masculine, with a masculine gender pronoun used for him, and there is no modicum of mother figure around him. in the old testament, god reveals himself through the patriarchs, and the patriarchal dispensation soon gives way to a prolonged, maledominated monarchical era. the prophets who stood between god and humans were all male. even in the new testament, in the ministry of jesus, in spite of the huge contributions made by the highly sacrificial women, all the apostles appointed by jesus are male. thus, even in the new testament rather more reformed religious traditions, the elements of male chauvinism are not jettisoned. on a number of instances, jesus is said to feed four or five thousand men, including women and children, signifying that 53 women are too insignificant for anyone to expend efforts in counting. feminist hermeneutics in fact starts from the standpoint in which the biblical text, in accordance with the traditions of the environment that gave birth to it, is disdained as structurally patriarchal, calling in fact for its revision in order to eliminate the patriarchal elements inherent in it. there is no doubt that, not just israel, but also the entire society of the ancient near east is fundamentally patriarchal in orientation. in fact, many of them, till today, practice a system of government described as patrimonialism, a system of government presided over by family heads who are all male. no one dares prescribe democracy in those societies. one king rules until old age and eventual death, and is replaced by a brother or close male relation. in that system of government, some families are treated as royal and they alone must produce the kings, who must be male, even if the only available mature male in the family, at the time of vacancy in the office is an imbecile. this is the same administrative situation found in the old testament. till today, as a result of the inherent patriarchal orientation of the biblical text directly inherited by the churches, most churches cannot see the possibility of female clergy. this situation is more predominant in the orthodox churches. the new religious movements freely admit women into their clergy but even this situation is not acceptable to many societies. 54 whilst feminist hermeneutics seeks a reinterpretation of the biblical text in order to assert the relevance of women, and to eliminate the facets of male chauvinism or patriarchalism domiciled in the text, it would appear that the terminus ad quiem of its aspiration will be an outright discarding of the biblical text altogether, in favour of another that is, at least, more admissible of the role and relevance of women in the religious context. the credibility of the product of such a venture remains to be ascertained. it has remained our cardinal assertion that any hermeneutics that will qualify to be described as biblical hermeneutics, must begin at the point at which the sanctity and centrality of the biblical text must be acknowledged. a biblical hermeneutics which seeks an outright repudiation of the biblical text and its replacement with another has certainly obscured the valid point of critical biblicism, and could, to that extent, be anything but biblical in its hermeneutical orientation. 4. revisionist hermeneutics the term “revisionism” has been employed in recent hermeneutical studies in two diverse perspectives. the first is the perspective which looks at it, not as a distinct perspective of hermeneutics, but as umbrella term that embraces all hermeneutical positions advocating a radical updating or emendation of the biblical text in line with contemporary challenges. thus, in a broad sense, revisionist hermeneutics refers 55 to such recent hermeneutical movements as process theism, and various forms of political and socio-cultural hermeneutics which include feminism, liberation hermeneutics, black theory and third world and other related theological perspectives, including perspectives in african enculturation hermeneutics. what these hermeneutical perspectives have in common is their attempt, or at least advocacy, to reformulate from various critical perspectives the meaning and claims of the biblical texts, as well as the central theological or doctrinal notions advanced by the text. the second perspective of application of the term revisionism, and hence, revisionist theology or hermeneutics is the one which refers to the specific formal model of fundamental hermeneutics. in this perspective of use, the term was first put forward by david tracy, in his work; blessed rage for order. this work has remained the primary source for the most refined and detailed exposition of the model. for tracy, a revisionist fundamental christian theology is best described as philosophical reflection on the meanings present in common human experience and those present in the christian tradition. revisionist hermeneutics as a formal model or hermeneutical method is characterized by a specific understanding of the web of commitments which define the standpoint of the individual scholar’s approach to the biblical text. this methodological commitment at the level of fundamental hermeneutics finds its 56 embodiment in the sphere of systematic theology, and to the contemporary hermeneutical and theological movements. for revisionist hermeneutics, the primary responsibility of biblical theology is unto the community of scholarly enquiry and its respective canons of enquiry, (which include the philosophical, historical, literary-critical, ideological-critical, and so on) as well as the morality of the critical enquiry. revisionist hermeneutics asserts a commitment to the spirit of enquiry; a commitment to asserting only that for which warrants are provided; and a willingness to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, in the spirit of investigation of the present meaning and defensibility of the truth – claims of that tradition. thus, understanding of the hermeneutical expedition is aptly described as revisionist because it represents a critical corrective to the dominant neo-orthodox understanding of the process. in response to paul tillich’s position that “the task of the theologian is to show that the christian message contains answers to the questions implied in the human situation”, revisionist hermeneutics maintains that such a correlation is insufficiently critical. indeed it is simply a juxtaposition, as it derives the questions for theology from only one source – the human situation; and its answers from another one source – the christian message. it falls grossly short in that it does not allow for a correlation and interplay of the principal questions and answers of each source. thus, revisionist hermeneutics reaffirms the commitment to the principal values, 57 cognitive claims and existential faiths of classic liberal hermeneutics. essentially, the concern of revisionist hermeneutics is the deconstruction or deformulation of orthodox textual meanings. far from an advocacy for an abdication or a reconstruction of the text, as the name may suggest, revisionist hermeneutics seeks a broadening of the tenets for dogmatic interpretation. orthodox hermeneutics begins by a dogmatic fixation of the tenets and regions of meaning, a fact which revisionism considers absurd in itself. for revisionism, the exploration of textual meaning should be an ongoing expedition, and in this process, contexts of exploration need necessarily not to be fixatively constrained, but remain elastic as the search for new meanings and new contexts is admitted as an interminable phenomenon. 5. motivational and inspirational hermeneutics “it was a harsh summer, the summer of 1982. for many, it was as if the clock had rolled back to the thirties, the time of the great depression. company upon company declared bankruptcy. unemployment soared. the ‘severe and prolonged recession’, as it was dubbed by the media sent ripples of depression across america. no one could deny that the country had problems. but the biggest problem we had was our attitude toward the economic problem. negative thinking spread like a plague through all levels of society. it was not easy to protect oneself from the infection of negative thinking which spread by word of mouth, by conversation 58 with friends as well as strangers, by television screens and by news reports. it spread quickly because in recessive times, the tendency is to react negatively. once an organism, a business, a life, or a country is infected with negative thinking, the infection attacks the mind, the heart and the soul like termites that secretly gnaw at the emotional support system. it was in the midst of this national mood that i arrived at the hilton hotel in downtown chicago. i was there to present a motivational lecture at a major convention. delivering lectures of inspiration as well as on successful management principles was nothing new to me. each year i travel from coast to coast, giving nearly one hundred talks to doctors, executives, educators, you name it. however, i was particularly fascinated by this engagement. my audience would be members of the agindustry. (“ag” is, of course the abbreviation for agriculture). this industry represents those who are involved in farming enterprise in the midwest states of iowa, michigan, illinois and minnesota. my anticipation of a warm inspirational evening was quickly doused by a couple of somber-looking gentlemen. the convention badges pinned to their dark lapels identified them as the men for whom i was looking. they greeted me with restrained enthusiasm. these men were losing their farms. their businesses were going bankrupt. terrible pressures were being placed on their marriages and families.” this was the story that formed the setting for the rise of motivational and inspirational hermeneutics. it was a real problem that faced real people on the threshold of total annihilation. the 59 man who stood at the very point of dealing with this challenge shown above was dr. robert h. schuller, at that time the pastor of crystal cathedral in the united states of america. the real challenge that faced him in the circumstance was to take up the bible and look through it for a word to reignite the shattered lives of these men at the peak of a disaster-ridden economic depression, in such a manner that could at least draw out the lingering innate potentials in them, to enable them survive the threatening storm. hermeneutics is not static. it is a progressive, living expedition that endeavours to adapt itself in new circumstances, in the ongoing search for meaning in the overall journey of life. hermeneutics must therefore lend itself, creatively and ingeniously to new situations and circumstances in the ongoing quest to provide meaning to life’s intricate perplexities. the bible, as shown above, has been adapted to the process of mental and emotional incarceration and colonialism. it can also be adapted to the process of awakening dormant innate potentials in the inside of human persons, until such potentials, having been woken up, are assiduously unleashed at the challenging situation, and tangible positive results are yielded. motivational and inspirational hermeneutics thus became that perspective of the search for meanings of biblical texts that seeks to apply the biblical text as quickening tonic to awaken latent strengths in the inside of the human person, for the purpose of effectively dealing with a challenging situation. as robert schuller 60 himself put it, “when you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this; you haven’t”. dr. schuller’s book, “tough times never last but tough people do” became a classical epitomization of the tenets of motivational and inspirational hermeneutics. robert schuller’s contemporary in the motivational and inspirational hermeneutics is dr. norman vincent pearle, the author of the classical best seller, “the power of positive thinking”. pearle’s under-guarding philosophy, which also became the title of one of his best-selling books is, “you can, if you think you can”. his favourite scripture, “i can do all things through christ who strengthens me” (phil. 4:13) speaks volumes of the positive confession that turns innate discouragement into budding strength. 6. african inculturation hermeneutics strangely, and highly worthy of note, afro-centric hermeneutics has prospered exceedingly in the last couple of decades. afro-centric hermeneutics has progressed from the point of primitive textual colonialism to a neo-romantic posture in which the african can identify in the biblical text, no longer a motif of racial colonialism but one of consanguinity, universal affinity, and mutual integration. this progress, it must be admitted, has been largely the product of the years of process hermeneutics and theologies. for instance, it was a great eye-opener that the proponents of liberation theology could discover for themselves that the biblical text presents yahweh as identifying with the cause of the oppressed, and indeed takes sides with the oppressed against 61 their oppressors. a vital technical tool of liberation theology, the old testament book of exodus, presents the vivid picture of yahweh, taking up the cause of the oppressed against the oppressors, till all the oppressors became drowned, through yahweh’s drastic intervention, in the red sea, while the oppressed were mysteriously delivered. similarly, modern afro-centric hermeneutics has completely obliterated the impressions of racial colonial hermeneutics, and is willing to explore the universal humanity posture of the text; ouk eni ioudaios oude ellen en christo ieso (neither jew nor greek in christ jesus; gal.3:28). this implies a total abdication of the traces of racial discrimination, in favour of united universal humanity. modern afro-centric hermeneutics can presently identify a common provision in the biblical text, in spite, anyway, of the present socio-economic inequalities in the world. it is to this situation that modern african theologians are addressing their minds with a view to detangling the african mind from the orthodox mental inclinations that hold the people down perpetually in socio-economic bondage, in favour of more pragmatic mental orientations that would enable the african people to take their destinies in their own hands and liberate themselves from the circumstantially induced socio-economic slavery that pervades the african environment presently. it is to these issues of interface hermeneutics for socio-economic liberation that we turn our attention in the next and concluding chapter of this book. but for the purposes of an introduction, it needs to be stated that basically, the purpose of hermeneutics is essentially to generate such 62 perspectives of textual interpretation that create in a people an appropriate mental orientation necessary for dismantling the internal dissuasions and mobilizing the vast innate human resources for socio-economic growth of the human society. today, as we anticipate the conclusion of the first quarter of the 21st century, hermeneutics should now go beyond the traditional primitive concerns of whether god is white or black, male or female, jew or greek, and address itself much more to those mental frameworks necessary for confronting the real human developmental challenges of poverty, under-development, disease and dwindling life expectancy, and how these developmental challenges can be dealt with as mankind progresses into the second quarter of the 21st century. modern hermeneutics, it must be advocated, has now to have contemporary, pragmatic creative value. 63 chapter six interface hermeneutics for socio-economic development: the afro-centric paradigm for clarity purposes, interface hermeneutics takes the context of the hermeneutical model beyond the socio-cultural. whilst not ignoring the social and cultural tensions altogether, it engages an interface context which is rather more holistic in outlook. as has been hinted, the sole objective of hermeneutics is to create, by textual elucidation, a mental framework which interfaces with the basic challenges of society, and fully mobilizes the intra-psychic resources against such challenges. whereas the hermeneutics of the previous ages have lent themselves only to mere academic elucidation, the process theology hermeneutics has shown us that hermeneutics can be directed to addressing socio-cultural contexts, that is, doing hermeneutics from the basic standpoint of sociocultural inequalities, these inequalities being the making of human frailties. in interface hermeneutics, the inequalities are rather played down on as though they don’t matter anymore, so that the anti-human tensions generated by them, which break down human society along the lines of such tensions, instead of mobilizing whole human resources for the resolution of the challenges, can be avoided. thus, while the socio-cultural hermeneutical contexts place human beings at the receiving end of the vituperations, interface hermeneutics sees the human family as unbroken and undivided, for the purpose of mobilizing the whole human family 64 towards the resolution of the human challenges. we can now take a look at some biblical texts randomly chosen, for the purpose of applying the interface hermeneutical models of interpretation, in the afro-centric socio-economic development paradigm. we start with 2 kings 4:1-7 now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto elisha, saying; thy servant my husband is dead; and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. and elisha said unto her, what shall i do for thee? tell me, what has thou in thy house? and she said, thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil. then he said; go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. and when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. so she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. and it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, bring me yet a vessel. and he said unto her; there is not a vessel more. and the oil stayed. then she came and told the man of god. and he said; go sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. to begin with hermeneutics that is not targeted at changing the mental orientation of a people for creatively addressing and 65 redressing their fundamental challenges, is useless. twenty-first century hermeneutics must interface the critical developmental challenges of the human society with a view to creating a healthier happier human society. to begin with, the problem presented here is one of poverty. a certain widow cried to a religious leader (hermeneutical agent); her husband died a debtor, and two of her sons were the collateral security for the debts, and the creditor had come for her sons. the widow in this context, in our afro-centric paradigm model, is africa, a continent endowed with resources, yet basking in poverty, as a result of inability to apply the right systems and methods for deriving the necessary financial benefits from the natural resources. low per capita income, low standard of living, high rate of inflation, low level of amenities, unavailability of electric power supply for production purposes, lack of access roads for evacuating agricultural produce from the hinterland, huge post-harvest losses as a result of lack of processing and preservation facilities, ineffective educational system for tackling developmental challenges, these are the bane of african development. the fact of low level of industrialization coupled with high debt burden imply that these crises will persist for a long time to come. it must be admitted candidly that, unlike the traditional notion in the typical quasi-religious setting, poverty pertains more to unjust social structures rather than mysterious spiritual omens, and unless it is tackled from that perspective, it will never be resolved. 66 debt burden: this widow’s husband had died, and she had inadvertently inherited the debt, more so, when her two living sons were the collateral security for the debts, and the creditors had come for them. africa’s debt burden in the first quarter of the 21st century is reaching an alarming state, estimated in hundreds of billions of dollars. it has been reported in the dailies that the chinese government has taken over the major international airport in uganda because of that nation’s inability to repay the huge debts owed to china. in nigeria, as at the beginning of 2022, the debt burden of the country stands at 32.7 trillion naira, about 17 billion us dollars. in the 2021 nigerian national budget, about 80 percent of the budget was devoted to debt servicing, and the same applies to the 2022 budget. the creditors are really coming for the throats of the poor masses of africans as a result of years of poor management of the resources of the african nations. your servant feared the lord: (empty religious propensities). the double crises of the african situation is the extreme religious propensities which do not translate to genuine morality, on one hand, and the ethical orientation that does not promote genuine honest socio-economic growth and wealth creation. the only industry in africa is religion. in fact, it is only on matters of religion that africans are willing to stick out their necks and fight till the last drop of the blood. african leaders critically exploit their nations and cart away huge volumes of wealth of their nations to europe and america. the same criminal leaders walk freely on the streets without fear of molestation. no one would attack them. the 67 religious orientation of africans teaches them that only god can judge the ungodly. for that reason, criminal leaders stark away the huge wealth of the nations in foreign countries, and no one cares. but ironically, whisper a little uncomplimentary remark about a religious figure long dead and gone, and africans will not be content to let god fight for himself. they march out in the streets and burn down houses and kill and main fellow human beings on the other side of the religious divide. for goodness sake, those who committed heavier atrocities against generations yet unborn are walking about freely on the streets, and only a little uncomplimentary remark about a man cooling off in the grave long ago is causing such national upheaval. who bewitched us in africa? the widow appealed to the religious leader (an appeal unto a hermeneutical perspective) the appeal here stands at the very critical point of interface hermeneutics. it is like asking; “what hermeneutical perspective shall be most appropriate for dealing with africa’s poverty and high debt burden which is crippling the continent, with a threat of perpetual slavery staring everyone in the face? afro-centric hermeneutics must now be deliberately and consciously engaged in this search for the hermeneutical models that fundamentally address the real-life developmental challenges of africa, with a view to redressing them and creating a better, healthier african society. it will be an act of critical foolhardiness if african exegetes preoccupy themselves with the same euro-centric colonial 68 hermeneutical orientations which have left africans full of education, including religious education, without any moral disposition to the liberation of africa from the shackles of denigration, underdevelopment and socio-economic lethargy. what hermeneutical model, sir, would you recommend for freeing us, widow and sons, (in this case, africa and unborn generations) from the shackles of underdevelopment, poverty, and huge debt burden? that is the interface hermeneutical implication of the widow’s appeal to the religious leader (in this case, the prophet elisha). what do you have? the prophet (hermeneutical agent) started with a question equally cardinal in this interface hermeneutical context; what do you have? what does africa have to the bargain? what are africans placing on the bargain table in its bid to secure its liberty from the shackles of denigration and bondage? “what do you have?” “your servant has but a little oil”. africa is the homestead of industrial raw materials and production inputs. as a result of the trade imbalance, a crisis which walter rodney has already sufficiently explained in his book; how europe underdeveloped africa, the europeans have carted away large volumes of africa’s industrial raw materials, which are in fact processed and re-exported to african nations. till today, sixty one years after nigeria’s so-called independence, nigeria still exports 69 crude oil to some african and first world countries where they are refined and imported into the country as premium motor spirits and other products. every two or three months, nigerian government is discussing what percentage of petroleum subsidy it could remove, and what quantity it can retain. cartels of fraudulent businessmen are capitalizing on the shady deals to defraud the country of billions of naira every month. that is the crisis the nation finds itself in. now the prophet, the hermeneutical agent, in this story proposes a model of mass production of the oil for commercial purposes. borrow empty vessels, not a few. this is the point where orthodox hermeneutics misses it and misleads the people. people lock themselves in the house and expect oil to grow. yet, israelites who gave that biblical text to us do not revel in such mental stupor. israelites, in line with the hermeneutical model propounded by that hermeneutical agent, engage in industrial mass production of consumer items for commercial purposes. orthodox hermeneutics teaches people to jettison their mental resources, and lock up themselves in a room, expecting a pot of oil to grow into pots of oil. far from it! the hermeneutical model proposed here, in the context of the afrocentric interface paradigm for socio-economic development, is the use of machines for the mass production of consumer items for commercial purposes. the point about borrowing empty vessels refers, in the hermeneutical context, to mass production of 70 packages for the packaging of the mass produced consumer products. go and sell the oil (exporter of finished products) the point is further confirmed in the fact that the prophet, (hermeneutical agent) said: go and sell the oil. the point here is that africa would not be in the predicament it is in today, if she was a marketer of finished products. the major problem with africa is that she is a marketer of industrial raw materials and production inputs. now, because africa has no industries, she does not consume the raw materials. if the first world countries which have the industries do not buy those raw materials, they will be wasted because africa does not have the industries that can process the raw materials to consumer items. this is the major reason for the trade imbalance between africa and the european and asian trade partners. the reference to borrowing of empty vessels, going into the room and “processing” of the oil into the many empty vessels signifies, in the peculiar afro-centric context of interface hermeneutics, the manufacturing process for which technology provides both the intuitive knowledge and, as a consequence, the machines. the bane of african underdevelopment, it has been acknowledged, is the low level of technological growth and industrialization. africa’s production processes operate at manual levels, which lack the potentials for mass production. what the prophet therefore prescribes, speaking contextually, is a mass production from the raw material base, which technological 71 development alone can achieve, and which is, in itself, the only solution to poverty and high national debt burden. and the prophet, in this sense a hermeneutical agent, orders the widow (depicting africa in a state of poverty and high debt burden); “go and sell the oil, pay your debts, and you and your children (depicting future generations of africans), live on the rest (implying a new system of economic growth and material prosperity). a response to orthodox miraculous orientation without doubt, interface hermeneutics does not really completely vitiate or altogether abdicate the tenets of orthodoxy, nor does it deride its hermeneutical models and conclusions. interface hermeneutics, which brings context peculiarity to the forefront, instead acknowledges the gains of orthodoxy, but posits that meanings should be further sought within the larger frame of what is presently available, insisting that the limitations of orthodox hermeneutics are in historical and circumstantial, rather than discretional. orthodox orientation to textual issues that border on the miraculous and the mysterious are no doubt, to a large extent responsible for the abysmal levels of underdevelopment in africa. osundare (2022) lamented over this matter, thus: we lost the 20th century to ignorance and allied disabilities, and we are about three short years to the end of the first quarter of the 21st. shall we end this century too, still striving 72 heroically to trace ancient cattle grazing routes across impossible distances, still feeling so smug, so secure behind our shield of ignorance and medieval darkness? shall we continue to beg god to build our country for us, while we the people lie chloroformed by excessive supplication and mindless expectation of illusional miracles? miracles do not build bridges or erect skyscrapers; miracles will not build and secure our national power grid and rescue us from incapacitating outages that have turned nigeria into a land of interminable darkness. miracles do not build oil refineries and keep them in regular unfailing repair. miracles will not construct the network of roads and rails and air routes nigeria so sorely needs to become a mobile, enterprising, and infrastructurally connected country with wheels on the path to modernity and progress. miracles will not accomplish the fundamental equitable restructuring that is needed to correct nigeria’s presently fated “federalism”. osundare’s pain is shared profoundly by african elites, the pains that, alas, the religious class has deluded the people into a state of mental incapacitation and stupor. what a tragedy! the problem here is purely, wholly and entirely a hermeneutical, an interpretative problem. hermeneutics, orthodox hermeneutics, is wholly accountable for the perspective of thought which keeps people enslaved in their state of mental delusion, while looking up to heaven for manna. is god altogether obverse to 73 raining down manna from heaven to hungry humanity? certainly not! after all, he sends rain upon the earth at its season. and science has not been able to create rain outside of its season; except that science has devised alternative sources of water, with reservoirs and storage tanks and pumps that can ensure availability and distribution of water all the year round. is this not a part of divine miracle? is the scientific discovery of alternative sources of water and means of reticulation not a part of the grand programme of divine miracles? orthodox hermeneutics is too constrained to appreciate this. interface hermeneutics broadens its scope to appreciate this. orthodox hermeneutics is responsible for the feeling among african elites that religion has deluded the people into a state of mental stupor. you want to build a house in your village, you declare a ninety-day fast for the land to appear from the blues; then twenty-one days dry fast for the money to be provided for the project. and the cycles of these unrealized expectations keep the people perpetually enslaved in their state of penury. no wonder, africans, in spite of living in the most under-developed part of the world, are the most religious: using religious sentiments to nurse into unwholesome perpetuity their innate state of mental indolence and psychosomatic stupor. our text under consideration actually contains in it a pragmatic response to the orthodox hermeneutical notion of miracles. first, notice that the widow (depicting the poor, hungry, 74 deprived and burdened) had gone to the prophet (the pastor and agent of hermeneutical transformation), expecting a miracle. but she did not get the conventional miracle of the prophet detaining her for ninety-day dry fast. instead, the prophet quickly turns her back to herself. “what can i do for you? what do you have?” this is called introspection – looking inwards. the miracle you are running around for can be found. but where? inwards! what do you have? orthodox hermeneutics presents the miracle seekers as completely helpless, relying on the grace of the miracle worker for the slightest favour. but that is not the position here. “what can i do for you? what do you have?” the miracle begins and ends with you. the first miracle that africa needs is the miracle of introspection, looking inwards. years of euro-centric colonialism, including euro-centric colonial hermeneutics, has reduced the african to a mentality of total and absolute dependence on european values. when we thought that colonialism had ended, it was in fact only taking a new form. it was continuing in the exacerbated foreign taste of africans. nothing of africa is good for the african; only that which is foreign. in the post-colonial era, africa depended almost entirely on imported materials for her survival. from the health sector to the educational, the military, transportation, you name it, africa is littered with foreign goods. as africans consume these foreign goods, they invest heavily in the growth of the industries and economies of europe and america. 75 “what can i do for you? what do you have?” the first miracle of the deliverance of africa is at the point of introspection. until africans develop an appetite for home-grown values, it will remain enslaved to foreign values, and to that extent, continue to grow in debt burden, while her economy and capacity to defray the external debts will continue to dwindle. the critical point of deviation between orthodox hermeneutics and the interface model being proposed here is at the point of interpretation of the nature of engagement between the divine and the human in the miracle process. when the prophet turned the widow back to herself, she was required to go into her room and close the door behind her and then begin to empty her little jar of oil into empty vessels. orthodox hermeneutics posits that she prayed to the god of miracles who came down and multiplied the oil. that is wonderful. interface hermeneutics, whilst not vitiating or deriding the conclusions of orthodoxy, concentrates on this point of engagement and interaction, to make way for the emergence of ingenuity, mental resources, scientific interventions that can in turn lead to a process of mass production of the available original raw material. god is also the author of scientific and technological ingenuity. this is not any less so, even if the ingenuity is turned into destructive end; after all, man has always been at liberty to deploy divine ingenuity to productive or destructive ends. what this means is that even the scientific process of invitro-fertilization for a woman having difficulties of conception, is part of the divine scheme of miracles, contrary, as it were, to the narrow constraints 76 of orthodoxy. therefore, while orthodox hermeneutics may keep scores of women in several weeks of dry fasting for miraculous conception, the interface perspective, while not deriding other perspectives of miracles, considers scientific aids to conception as part of the workings of divine miracles. similarly, rather than engage in 21 days dry fast for miraculous fund for erecting a structure, or, in fact, complementary to the dry fast, the man may employ god-given initiative and creative faculties to produce goods and services which are exchanged for wealth, through divinely provided opportunities. such wealth is still, in fact, a vital component of the working of divine miracles. in fact, in the afro-centric interface hermeneutical models, miracles are re-defined with the vital components of human and divine contributions in place, for, as the text even clearly presents it; “it is god who is at work in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (philippians 2:13). let us for purposes of comparison look at a second passage, employing the tenets of interface hermeneutics in the afro-centric context. joshua chapter seven the story here is rather long. it was the event that took place while the israelites, under the leadership of joshua, had just arrived from egypt into the land of canaan which god had promised to give them. they had started series of wars with the nations resident in 77 the region and god had promised to grant them victory in all the wars. anyway, it at a primitive time in human history, before the delineation of national boundaries and recognition of the sovereignty of nations by global umbrella organizations. nations of the world prospered by invading other nations and slaughtering the people and taking away their possessions by force. the god of righteousness could not have endorsed such barbarism, neither does he endorse it even now. anyway, suddenly, a small nation called ai defeated israel, contrary to expectation, and against divine prediction. joshua the leader of the israelites was troubled, and he tarried before the presence of the lord all day, until the lord revealed to him why they suffered such humiliating defeat; “there is an accursed thing in the midst of thee oh israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you” (joshua 7:13b). thereupon, the lord made joshua marshal out all the israelite families for a lot to be conducted, to discover the family of, and eventually the man who had committed the act of theft (theft of a property of the inhabitants of the region, against divine command). it turned out to be achan, of the son of carmi, son of zabah of the family of the zarhites. the man achan was stoned to death and burnt with fire, and a great heap of stones was raised over him, perhaps, for a memorial. 78 examining this passage in an afro-centric interface hermeneutical sense, a number of issues stand out here, and these can be considered a little more closely: 1. theft precipitating national calamity the story tells of an act of theft committed by an israelite, and the result of it was a national calamity in the sense that the nation, israel, was humiliatingly defeated in war by a much smaller nation called ai. theft and fraud, otherwise called corruption, are the bane of african underdevelopment. in the 1990’s, it was estimated that a whooping sum of over one hundred and fifty billion us dollars has been stolen by african leaders and stashed away in foreign banks in europe. many of those leaders have now died and because of the coded records of those accounts, they cannot be accessed by anybody. up till the year 2021, nigerian government is still negotiating for, and receiving the repatriation of funds illegally deposited in foreign bank accounts by a former military head of state. in 2015, shortly after ascending office as nigerian head of state, president muhammadu buhari started investigating the military activities of the previous regime of president goodluck jonathan, and discovered that a whooping sum of 2.1 billion us dollars had been approved for purchase of arms, in the critical days of terrorist activities ravaging the northern parts of the country. it was shocking that rather than have the money deployed for the purpose for which it was approved, the investigation revealed that the money was shared between government office holders and 79 political party members. and yet everyone was wondering why the insurgents were proving insurmountable, when in fact, funds provided for strengthening the military against the insurgents were being diverted. theft of public fund is indeed the real bane of african underdevelopment, and unless there is a change of spirit in this regard, african will never make any headway. 2. concerted action to identify the culprits the second issue evident in that text was the fact that although the israelites were engaged in war at the time, everything had to be suspended until the culprit of the act of theft had been fished out. that is exactly how africa has to treat theft and misappropriation of public fund, if it is ever going to make any progress at all. in this regard, there is a fundamental difference between africa and the developed nations of the world. the developed nations of the world have institutions which are far stronger than the individuals, no matter how strong and powerfully connected the individuals could be. a case in point was the 2020 presidential election in america. the sitting president, donald trump, was not at peace with the outcome of the election, and tried by all means to use his position as sitting president to overturn it. the americans cooperated with him, but only within the ambits of the law. his subordinates and retinue of aides took orders from him, provided that in doing so, they did not contravene the existing laws of the nation. all the legitimate avenues of verifying the election results were put in place, 80 and nothing beyond that. that is the power of strong institutions. in africa unfortunately, there are weak institutions and strong persons. individual persons who commit crimes against the state use their positions and high-level connections to beat the system, and walk away unscathed. this is in the main reason why africa is the way it is. there are many people who hold public offices, who should in fact be serving prison sentences. but they walk about freely because they can beat the weak institutions. as long as this situation remains, africa will never make any headway at all. 3. drastic punishment achan’s theft brought national calamity to israel, but he did not live to do it again, nor did anyone gather from that an impetus to commit crime. the attraction to crime in africa is mainly by the fact that criminals acquire wealth that places them above the system. why would someone not want to commit crime when, evidently, all those who committed crime in the past are walking about freely, and are being celebrated on account of their ill-gotten wealth? in the case of israel, as shown in the text, and as we see in developed societies, those who commit crime do not escape the strong arm of the law. in developed societies, wealthy business owners are jailed for tax evasion, and it becomes engraved in the hearts of all that no one is above the law. african pre-christian societies were run on the basis of devotion to deities that guarded the morality of the land. the deities had such overwhelming influence that they did not have to depend on the 81 manipulatable testimonies of human beings. they just acted, and even people who committed crimes in utmost secrecy were fished out and punished. this kept the people in fear. it was this fear that maintained the moral framework of african societies in the period prior to the immigrant religions (christianity and islam). today, that traditional moral framework has been dismantled, without a matching system being put in place. that is exactly why african morality is deteriorating. people commit all kinds of blood rituals to acquire money, and having gotten the money, they elevate themselves above the institutions and can then commit more crime without anyone daring to call them to question. in a society where criminals cannot be punished, greater impetus is given for more people to engage in criminal activities. the third illustration is to be taken from 2 kings 6 and 7. thus: then the king of syria warred against israel, and he took counsel with his servants, saying, in such and such a place shall be my camp. and the man of god sent unto the king of israel saying; beware that thou pass not such a place for thither the syrians are come down. and the king of israel sent to the place which the man of god told him and warned him of: and saved himself there, not once nor twice. (6:8-10). 82 and it came to pass after this, that benhadad king of syria gathered all his hosts and went up and besieged samaria. and there was great famine in samaria: and behold, they besieged it until an ass’s head sold for four score pieces of silver, and a fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. and as the king of israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him saying; help, my lord, o king… and the king said to her, what aileth thee? and she answered, this woman said unto me; give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow… and it came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman that he rent his clothes… then he said, god do so and more also to me, if the head of elisha the son of shaphat shall stand on him this day. (6:24-31). then elisha said, hear ye the word of the lord; thus saith the lord, tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of samaria. … and there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate; and they said one to another; why sit we here until we die?... and they rose up in the twilight to go unto the camp of the syrians, and when they were come to the uttermost parts of the camp of syria, behold, there was no man there; for the lord had made the hosts of the syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host … (7:1-6). 83 we can now look at the issues a little closely. 1. political relevance of a religious personality our main concern in discussing these hermeneutical models is to show that in actuality, the biblical text speaks directly to our peculiar socio-economic and political situation in africa. as it affects the text under consideration, the bane of religious operation in africa is the gulf between the political class and the religious. the only meeting point of the political class and the religious class in africa is the point at which the religious leaders go cap in hands after the politicians who have looted the nation’s economy. the politicians are invited to special religious worships and programmes, and given all the prominence and honour as a way of providing the avenue for the religious leaders to get their own share of the fraudulent loot of the politicians. that done, the religious leaders now sacrifice their role and position as the conscience of the society, and take sides with the oppressors of the masses and agents of impoverishment, denigration, and societal dehumanization. little wonder religion has completely lost its cutting edge as instrument of societal transformation. african people now know whom their real enemies are. when african people count their oppressors and exploiters, they include the religious institutions in the number. a society in which the religious leaders receive gratification from the fraudulent political class and showers praises on the evil agents of dehumanization, such a society is permanently doomed. the religions which provide such callous platforms for fraudulent politicians and leaders to receive accolades 84 and praises are thoroughly evil and inimical to the collective aspirations of the people, and even more inimical to the purpose of god in setting up the religious institutions for ethical transformation of the society. in our text under consideration, the religious personality is not aloof from the process of governance. he is, in fact, directly involved. he employs his devices of spiritual discernment, insight, foresight, to get directly involved in the ordering of the society to which he belongs, knowing that if any evil befalls the nation, he would not be spared the destructive ordeals. notice also that the religious personality had attained such envious height, a height of personal integrity and character flawlessness, that the leader of the country deferred to him, and not the other way round. in africa, religious leaders go to lick the booth of the political leaders, throwing decency and morality to the dogs. in our text, the religious leader is exalted by integrity and character, above the ominous charade of the political leaders, such that when the religious leader speaks, the political leaders have no option than to tremble. great lesson! the bane of religion in africa is that the religious leaders have subordinated their positions to the fraudulent political class, the callous exploiters of the society. african religious leaders are even not sensitive to the fact that they have lost the people’s confidence. they are deceived by the fact that the people have not yet given up their age-long tradition of attending religious activities as part of a cherished social responsibility. some day, the 85 masses of africa will take up arms against their exploiters. and sadly, the religious leaders will not be spared the impact of the long accumulated venoms of the people. talking about discernment, orthodox hermeneutics restricts revelation to the direct divine summoning for giving a specific message. by so doing, orthodox hermeneutics restricts revelation to the highly religious or spiritual. yet, in diverse parts of the bible, such divine revelations were given to the irreligious and unspiritual. for instance, it was nebuchadnezzar who received the vision about seven years of prosperity in egypt, to be followed by seven years of chronic scarcity of food all over the world. and by divine inspiration, joseph, the hebrew interpreted the vision and was mandated to preside over the pragmatic programme for response to the revelation. the point anyway, is that in hebrew cosmology, there is a fluid connection between revelation (the propensity of the spirit) and perception (the effective operation of the active, working mind). again, in this wise, orthodox hermeneutics has altogether obscured the enormous resources of the human mind in favour of that which is exclusively of the spirit. the bible says concerning the human jesus: and the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of god was upon him. (luke 2:40). and jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with god and man. (luke 2:52). 86 both texts identify four components of domains or dimensions of human development, namely, the physical, the mental, the social, and the spiritual. orthodox hermeneutics has tended to show that the only way a person can be directed by god is through the working of the spirit. that is why religion, particularly in africa, has been often accused of inflicting upon the people an affliction of mental delusion and operational stupor. once people acquire, or get involved in a religion, their behavior turns bizarre; their relationship turns queer. african elites tear themselves and each other in pieces over such mundane issues as whether prayers should be made through jesus or through mary. meanwhile the elite professional class in other climes are making space aircrafts and exploring life in other planets. africans are tearing each other in pieces as a result of religious primitiveness. if we who belong to the elite religious class do not succeed in redirecting the minds of our african people towards finding solutions to the critical challenges that threaten our ultimate survival as a race, what have we really achieved, and of what creative value is all our study and education? in our text under consideration, the religious personality is, by perspicacity and discernment, deeply involved in the challenges facing the society, and providing an informed guidance that helps to save the society from utter annihilation. this is a great challenge to the religious elites of our age. 87 2. the political siege and the economic down-turn the text under consideration goes ahead to show that benhadad, the syrian king, mounted a siege over samaria until the level of inflation in the country became utterly unbearable. again, this situation speaks to the african situation. rodney (1972) has already shown in some detail how europe, through the instruments of colonialism, and beyond that, the devices of neo-colonial manipulation, has not only massively exploited africa, but also set the premise for the perpetual impoverishment, exploitation and underdevelopment of africa. that in itself amounts to a siege. also, siollun (2021) has shown in gory details how britain sowed the seed of perennial ethno-centric conflicts in nigeria, while harvesting of the conflicts. in other words, while nigerians are busy slaughtering each other over useless issues of religious leanings, avenues are provided through such evils, for the economic prosperity of britain and other european nations. that in itself is a siege. the civil war that was fought in nigeria between 1967 and 1970 cost the federal government of nigeria a whopping sum of eight hundred and forty million british pounds. all of that money went mainly to britain, and some to russia and other nations of europe that participated. the siege against africa is far from lifted. as a result of the collective facets and factors of underdevelopment, africa has become a dumping ground for foreign goods and service. occasionally, african nations have engaged europeans for the setting up of mega technological projects in africa, and all that one 88 finds as evidence of such huge investment is a collection of abandoned, fraudulently acquired equipment. who would ever believe that the ajaokuta steel plant in nigeria which has gulped up well over five billion us dollars would still be in such a state where there is little or nothing to show for it? africa is a nation under siege. while africans are slaughtering themselves over useless issues of whether jesus or mohammed is the authentic prophet, or whether prayers in the church should be made through jesus or mary, europeans are siphoning the wealth in africa, and african leaders are collaborating with callous foreign agents of impoverishment to gobble up the future of our nations. in nigeria, the foreign debt as at the end of 2021 is now about thirtythree trillion naira. in the 2021 national budget in nigeria, about eighty percent of the budget was devoted to debt servicing. this means that only twenty percent of the budget was actually to be spent on the capital and recurrent expenditures in the country. this situation is also retained in the 2022 budget. it is estimated that by 2023, nigeria’s external debts would have reached fifty trillion naira, as the national assembly is fast approving more foreign loans for the country. and yet, rather than come together and sink their differences, and strategize about how to save the nation from imminent collapse, religious leaders are busy injecting in their followers divisive venoms that will get them at each other’s throats, while the exploiters are busy exploiting, with hardly any one raising eyebrows at their callous exploitive activities. 89 3. the barbaric option the text under consideration also mentions the typical african barbaric option to surviving difficult times. two women had done a deal to take turns to eat their children. they had already eaten one of the women’s children before the pact broke down, and the offended party brought the report to the king. although african elites are quick to point out the crimes committed against the african society by the european imperialists, yet, however, they lose sight of the painstaking risks taken by the europeans to sanitize the african environment; to deliver the africans from themselves. historical records, corroborated by african authors, attest to the existence in africa of barbarian communities that regularly descend upon other communities, plundering them, and in most cases, eating the meat of the slain. african communities are still not any less barbaric even today. in times of economic adversity, africans reinvigorate their old nature, descend upon one another and slaughter, maim and destroy. actually, in many african countries, especially nigeria, the slaughter of human beings for money rituals is on the increase. kidnap is on the rise, and once people are kidnapped, if the ransom is not paid urgently, they end up on the money ritualist’s slaps, where they are dismembered and parts of them used for money rituals. it is needless being deceived by the profuse religious tendencies of africans. barbarism is enormously on the rise. many of those who have prospered by blood money rituals dominate the 90 religious gatherings, receive all kinds of accolades and investitures on religious platforms where they part with some of their bloody loot to the “prosperity” of the religious leaders. admittedly, in the traditional african societies, prior to the era of the immigrant religions, human beings were offered, alive or slain, to the deities, for the prosecution of certain functions in the society, and often for the coronation and burial of kings. those acts were done to empower the shrines of native doctors, and presumably for the ultimate good of the human society, such as in the case of communal wars or control of strange omens. there was, at that time, no indication that individuals slaughtered fellow human beings for rituals for personal prosperity. today, young men in their late teens and early twenties slaughter fellow human beings, including close relations, for the purpose of money rituals. why is it that the religion we practice in africa does not have an ethical, moral face? the reason is not far-fetched. the river has been polluted from the very source. the larger proportion of the religious practitioners in africa are fraudulent-minded people who have discovered that the simplest way to conceal crimes is to give them a religious covering. because of mental declivity and rational primitiveness, africans are very sentimental about issues of religion, so anything that receives a religious coloration, no matter how criminal it is, receives approval. robbery, battery (during deliverance), even rape, becomes sanctified if it is done on religious platform. it is only in africa that two equally hungry, marginalized, exploited, deprived, depraved people, victims of the same group of 91 vampire leaders, are deceived into a silly argument about the authenticity of religious doctrines, and they suddenly forget that they have one common enemy, their exploiter, and suddenly, they take up arms against each other, while their exploiters, who in fact are not as much worried the doctrine in question, are having a field day. the task before african elite hermeneutics is to take the texts to the very critical points of african underdevelopment, and apply the texts, hermeneutically, unto the development strategies that will deliver, at least, the future generations of africans from the mental quagmires of the present and the past generations. 4. the prophetic turn-around the critical high-point of this narrative is the prophetic turnaround. the prophet eventually made a declaration: “tomorrow, about this time, shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of samaria” (2 kings 7:1). this is amazing. first of all, notice that towards the end of the previous chapter when the king received the report of the barbaric activity going on in his kingdom, the king took it all out on the prophet. he must have asked himself; “how come we have a prophet of god in this land and we are going through such crisis?” he, in fact, followed up his declaration by sending his aides to go and arrest the prophet elisha. so it is known everywhere that the prophetic instrument is a blessing to the community. wherever prophetic devices are engaged with an honest intent, and not with a dubious intent, the community is richly blessed. the king’s 92 confidence in the power of the prophetic instrument to change the lots of a community from affliction to blessing was not in any doubt. even today, the destiny of africa lies in the power of prophetic declaration for a turn-around, provided africa, both its people and its religious ministers, will repent of their criminal and fraudulent roles, and embrace and god with a sincerity of purpose. elisha finally, prompted by the king’s declaration of his confidence in his prophetic oracle, was awakened from his ministerial slumber and lethargy. african ministers today must be awakened from ministerial slumber and lethargy, which are as a result of brazen criminality and spiritualized fraud. unless african ministers, and then all africans repent of deep-seated criminality and spiritualized fraud, africa will never make a headway. every day, africans, in their exacerbated superfluous religiosity devoid of morality, troop to the religious houses where they receive bouts of prophetic declarations. but unfortunately, these bouts of declarations, wonderful as they are, flow from filthy, corrupted, callous lips; the same lips that have “prophesied” the electoral victory of criminal and fraudulent political aspirants, and poured encomiums on the same vampire leaders that have milked the poor masses to death by their avaricious looting. prophetic declarations of blessings which flow from filthy, callous and corrupted lips can certainly not be blessings. the filth and callous corruption of the lips from which they flow, radically reverse whatever blessings they may have intended to convey. africa remains gruesomely imperiled, 93 as long as its religious class is made up of men of unclean lips dwelling among men of unclean lips. notice also something that happened in the next verse of the text; then the lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of god and said; behold, if the lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? and he said; behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat there of… and the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of god had said… (2 kings 7:2, 17). amen. the lord on whose hand the kind leaned… these are the agents of the callous leaders whom the leaders use to perpetrate their callous exploitations. many of them are even more callous than the leaders they represent. this is because, in addition to their over-bloated fraudulent salaries, they escalate the callous extortions in order to get their own avaricious portions. they are agents of the denigration and impoverishment and they profit heavily from the economic declivity in the country. for this reason, they will question, and radically oppose every step towards economic emancipation. they are the wicked servants of the callous leaders, and are the ones who service the evil system. you think they do not know the right things to do? haven’t you noticed that when the relation of a highly connected person is kidnapped, all of a sudden, the police will become very efficient and deliver instant 94 result? so, it is not that they do not know what to do. it is that the people they take orders from are accredited agents of the evil system from which many are profiting. you will be surprised that robbery, fraud, banditry, kidnap, terrorism, etc. are escalating in africa in spite of all the claimed efforts of the agencies of government, because the so called leaders and commanders of the combat forces are part of an evil system from which many are profiting. and who are you to attempt to halt an evil system that is making many people wealthy and prosperous? of course, they will interrogate any effort to halt the evil trend. “will this thing be?” but thank god for the prophetic reply; “behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not eat thereof”. amen. all the callous agents of the vampire leaders of africa who, by their roles are aiding and abetting the evil systems because they profit from them; they shall see the evil system collapse; they shall see the true prosperity of africa; but they shall not eat of it; amen. all the agents of the corrupt systems of african nations who do not mind totally annihilating the entire nations; they shall see the return of the economic glory of these african nations; but they will be trodden under foot by the revolting masses of these african nations, as these masses match to their glorious liberty and economic prosperity. amen. these great words of the prophet are about to come to pass in africa. the text indeed speaks eloquently to the african situation. the downtrodden masses of africa are rising and in a glorious march to their liberty and prosperity will tread down their callous exploiters under their feet. amen. 95 5. the activated step of faith one thing which a prophetic declaration does is to activate a step in the direction of the prophetic declaration. the words spoken by the prophet elisha activated in the four leprous men at the gate a nudge for an action, a faith action, a step of faith. the logic of the leprous men in line with their intended action is indeed stimulating. why sit we here until we die? literally, paraphrasing their logic; an action, a faith step is indispensable. but in which direction? simple logic makes every step a deadly option, even as remaining here is a deadly option. we stay here; we die. we move into the city; we die of hunger. the two are certainties. we move into the camp of the syrians. there, death is a possibility, though not a certainty, as in the two other options. the logic is great. who told us that faith obscures logic? orthodox hermeneutics presents faith as the eradication of logic. the text in question disapproves of this. even faith has a logical basis. the leprous men opted to take a step of faith. this point is vital. divine operation is impossible without human contribution, human action; human step of faith. this is the point at which african religious orientation has translated to a mental delusion. you want promotion, elevation, open doors, breakthroughs, you declare twenty-one days dry fast at the end of which you do nothing and a miracle happens. that is why, in africa, millions of people hang around places of worship believing that to be the only way to 96 receive a breakthrough. in contrast, the nations that have far less robust, far less pronounced religious orientation are the ones which have very high gdp (gross domestic product – a measure of national productivity); high foreign reserves, low level of debt, high per capita income, and high quality of life. orthodox hermeneutical presentation of miracles has left human contribution completely out of it. this is the error that has left africans deluded in their religious profession. the four leprous men took a step. though unsure what to expect and what was going to happen, but they took a step all the same. but it was at that point that god provided the miracle; “for the lord had made the host of the syrians to hear the noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, lo, the king of israel hath hired against us the kings of the hittites, and the kings of the egyptians to come upon us”. so, it was when the leprous men took a step of their own that the lord made available his divine help. the lesson of this is that god cannot (or at least does not) work until we humans work. how then can the scores of miracle chasing africans be delivered from the mental delusion of sleeping in the place of worship for weeks of dry fasting in expectation of god’s miracle. the text here is very instructive. god will not work for us until we rise up and work, do our own bit. it is in the context of doing our own bit that god works. africans who are waiting for god to build our collapsing 97 nations are waiting in vain. africans who are waiting for god to change their leaders are basking in empty euphoria. africans who are waiting for god to deliver them from economic collapse are waiting in vain. it is when africans rise up and disgrace evil leaders out of office by turning out in mass at the electoral polls to vote them out, not by holding twenty-one nights of vigil. it is when africans rise up and demand account from fraudulent leaders, and ensure that corrupt leaders are brought to book according to the law. it is when africans embrace the tenets of morality and honesty and ensure that only men and women of virtue are entrusted with the destinies of the people. it is only then that the god of the dry fastings and night vigils will appear and deliver africa from the shackles of denigration, impoverishment, economic stagnation, servitude and perpetual bondage. that is exactly what that text is saying, hermeneutically applied to the african context. let me conclude this section by taking one text from the new testament; john 9:1-7; from verse 6; when he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay; and said unto him; go, wash in the pool of siloam, (which is by interpretation, sent). he went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. i shall discuss this passage alongside another, an old testament passage; 2 kings 2:19-22. 98 and the men of the city said unto elisha, behold, i pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth; but the water is naught, and the ground barren. and he said, bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. and they brought it to him. and he went forth unto the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there and said; “thus saith the lord: i have healed these waters, there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land: so the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of elisha which he spake. in this concluding segment, i turn attention to the use of materials in doing miracles, especially healing miracles. for the avoidance of doubt, interface hermeneutics does not deny the mysterious element in miracles, as naturalist (or liberal) hermeneutics does. naturalist or liberal hermeneutics posits that what is presented in the bible as miracles are nothing but mystified natural occurrences. rudolf bultmann, new testament redactionist theologian is one of the greatest proponents of this position. bultmann has done an extensive work to achieve what he calls the “demythologization” of the new testament miracle stories, by which he hoped to take away the mystery elements in the miracle narratives and present them as over-bloated natural occurrences. bultmann would take the expression, “give place; for the maid is not dead but sleepeth” (matt. 9:24), as literally an indication of jesus’ insight by which he could differentiate a dead person from one in a state of comma. gunther bornkamm, bultmann’s disciple, 99 has further advanced the tenets of naturalist hermeneutics, in the new testament. interface hermeneutics is not naturalist hermeneutics, in the sense that while naturalist hermeneutics completely denies the mysterious elements in the text, in favour of the natural, interface hermeneutics, in its broad concern for varying contexts, accommodates the naturalist and the mysterious elements in the biblical text. in this segment, we are concerned with the place of materials of nature in the performance of miracles. in the new testament text, jesus met a blind man, and was going to do a healing miracle on him. he spat on the ground, and using the soil and the spittle, he moulded clay. then he rubbed the clay on the eyes of the blind man and asked him to go and wash, not with tap or rain water, or well or borehole water, or in any river or stream, but in the pool of siloam. the specific combination of these naturally occurring materials could be quite instructive for the context of our discussion. similarly, the prophet elisha received a complaint about the state of the land, and was going to carry out a curative ministration. he asked for a new cruse, then some salt, which he used, along with a prophetic declaration, to achieve the curative ministration. when the christian missionaries came to africa, they met a vast array of curative practitioners. for purposes of differentiation, we can classify these practitioners into three categories, namely: 100 1. diviners: these were people who inquired into the mysteries behind unpleasant occurrences in order to discover what needed to be done to bring healing and deliverance. 2. curators (herbalists): these were people who had extraordinary insight into the use of roots and herbs for the purpose of healing all kinds of ailments. they also had apprentices who gradually “learnt” the art and practiced it, as their mentors grew old and passed away. 3. wizards: these were people knowledgeable in all kinds of destructive spiritual devices, and could be consulted to raise spiritual afflictions against fellow human beings. when the christian missionaries came, they branded all of these practitioners as fetish, satanic, idolatrous and evil, and wrote them all off as ungodly. for these christian missionaries, whatever is not orthodox medical procedure is evil and satanic. it is in fact this type of position that should be rightly described as colonial hermeneutics or hermeneutical colonialism. what then has happened to the deep insight into the vast collection of roots and herbs that god has given to africans for nutritional and curative purposes? ironically, these euro-christian missionaries have hidden from the africans the fact that even orthodox pharmaceutical formulations are made up of extracts from roots and herbs occurring in europe. so, consuming processed roots and herbs is godly, but consuming the same roots and herbs in their 101 natural form in africa is satanic and idolatrous. nothing can be more discriminatory and colonialistic. so, when african theologians talk about decolonization hermeneutics, they should begin from this fundamental attitude of use of natural materials in africa, in such a manner as to create the needed mental shift. thankfully, in africa, traditional medical practitioners did not allow themselves to be cowed in. they have instead taken their practice one step forward, also employing the tenets of scientific insight to process and preserve their roots and herbs. it is well known today that there are some heath challenges in africa for which orthodox medicine does not have an answer. besides, in many areas of medical practice, the orthodox exists side by side with the traditional. for instance, the traditional orthopaedic management exists side by side with the orthodox, and in some cases, the traditional (bone setting) homes have proved more effective than the orthodox. in china, as in india, both of them asian countries that had suffered the same european imperialism as did african countries, orthodox medical practice exists side by side with the traditional, and both are recognized under the law. thankfully also, in nigeria, for instance, the national agency for food and drugs administration and control (nafdac) has started to test the traditional pharmaceutical formulations, and to grant official approval for their use in the country. in 2020, at the peak of the covid-19 pandemic, an african country, madagascar, was the first 102 country in the world to claim to have produced a cure to the covid19 disease. the formulation was made from local roots and herbs. the world health organization indicated interest to subject the formulation to analysis before granting official approval for its usage, but unfortunately, never got around to publishing its findings until european nations have come up with their own drugs and vaccines for covid-19. this clearly smacks of colonial or imperial denigration. in conclusion, jesus clearly could have done the stated miracle without any naturally occurring material, but in this instance, he chose to use a naturally occurring material for the miracle on the blind man. african trado-medical practitioners are not committing any act of ungodliness by exploring the use of naturally occurring roots and herbs for curative purposes. in fact, more research should be conducted into the curative functions of the vast occurring roots and herbs in africa, before the few stigmatized people who have exclusive insight into their functions pass away without any replacement in the on-going “christianization” of the african environment which stigmatizes the use of naturally occurring roots and herbs for curative purposes. 103 epilogue hermeneutics is a living, discipline which responds to the changing dynamics of human life. as the complexities and perplexities of life escalate, so does the search for new meanings and the expansion of models for textual interpretation. one of the major achievements of hermeneutics in our age is the removal of technical fixation which orthodoxy had compelled on the hermeneutical process. social context hermeneutics which made a drastic incursion into the discipline in the late 20th century has opened up large vistas of adaptation of hermeneutics to the social challenges of the human society. social context hermeneutics has taught us that hermeneutics ought not be performed in a vacuum but must be creatively adapted to confront the threats and errors of the human society. the enormous gains of social context theologies, products of social context hermeneutics, bring to reverberating heights the fact that the whole essence of learning is to elevate the human conditions. in the years ahead, the discipline of hermeneutics will obviously progress in such dimensions and directions that will completely rid it of empty doctrinal and dogmatic fixative frivolities, and channel all of its strengths and resources to dismantling the social maladies and structural inequities that perennially marginalize and demobilize the human race, in favour of more progressive and liberating perspective, for, the ultimate end of all learning is the upliftment and elevation of the human society. 104 bibliography adamo, d. t. 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(1989). biblical hermeneutics and black theology in south africa. grand rapids: eerdmans. oladunjoye, j. o. (2005). opening address. in abogunrin, s. o. (ed.) decolonization of biblical interpretation in africa. ibadan: national association for biblical studies. onwu, n. (1991). a critical introduction to the traditions of jesus. enugu: cecta. streeter, b. h. (1924). the four gospels: a study of origins. london: macmillan. 108 tracy, d. (1987). plurality on ambiguity: hermeneutics, religion and hope. san francisco: haper and row. ukpong, j. s. (2005). inculturation as decolonization of biblical studies in africa. in s. o. abogunrin (ed.) decolonization of biblical interpretation in africa. ibadan: national association for biblical studies. uzuegbunam, e. (2015). a critical introduction to the theology of the old testament. enugu: rabboni. uzuegbunam, e. (2017). a handbook of biblical textual exegesis. enugu: rabboni. west, g. (2005). decolonization (south) african biblical scholarship: the bible in (south) african history and culture. in s. o. abogunrin (ed.). decolonization of biblical interpretation in africa. ibadan: national association for biblical studies. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 133 chapter 10 visual pollution in the nigerian environment: sources and prevention godwin o. uka and ikechukwu anyaele department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract visual communication design plays a fundamental role in all aspects of education and information dissemination. designing the city environment involves the process and the product of constructing, building and other physical structures. visual pollution is a serious issue in our environment just like other aspects and can be prevented through the proper application of architectural graphics design resources. this study is a designer's didactic perception towards effective advertising employing graphics signs and symbols in preventing and reducing visual pollution in the environment. this research paper, therefore, addresses the sources and prevention of visual pollution in our environment. sign and architectural graphics are a new axiological (their value and their perception on the people), on the one hand, and one of their most obvious effects is sources, and prevention of visual pollution, which already starts to be in the attention of those who can counter it, on the other hand. this research on sign and architectural graphics, if properly implemented for advertising purposes can help reduce and prevent visual pollution. visual pollution on humans can be manifested in two forms which are direct, the effects being psychological and physiological; indirect, the effects being various, from road accidents caused by distraction. introduction visual pollution is a major problem in our environment, just like other types of pollution in nigeria. visual pollution is an aesthetic issue and refers to the impacts of pollution that impair one's ability to enjoy a vista or view. visual pollution disturbs the visual areas of people by creating harmful changes in the natural environment. billboards, other visual communication media, open storage of trash, antennas, electric wires, buildings, and automobiles are often considered visual pollution. visual pollution can be caused by crowding of an area. this is in effect the whole of irregular formations, which are mostly found in nature. the resultant effects of exposure to visual pollution include: distraction, eye fatigue, decreases in opinion diversity, and loss of identity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/construction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/personal_identity visual pollution in nigerian environment: sources and prevention 134 currently, the conviction of every visual artist and designer, professional or not, is that signs and architectural graphics undoubtedly play a fundamental role in all areas of pollution prevention and control. the value appears as well as the relationship between subject and object, in which through polarity or polarization and of hierarchy, people express their differentiated appreciation for certain things or their qualities, for certain persons or human acts, for certain works created under their ability to satisfy some specific needs, aspirations or interests. this study is an artistic/designer didactic perception towards effective advertising employing rich graphics signs and symbols in preventing and reducing visual pollution in the environment. architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements. plate 1: wires and building view, image credit uka 2022 wires should be stretched by following a well-planned design so that these do not cause any problems to view things from a distance. "architecture" can mean a general term to describe buildings and other physical structures. the art and science of designing buildings and (some) none building structures in addition it includes the style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures. it is also the knowledge of art, science & technology and humanity. the practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering professional services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, or built environments, is the design activity of the architect, from the macro-level (urban design, landscape architecture) to the micro-level (construction details and furniture). architecture has to do with planning and designing form, space and ambience to reflect functional, technical, social, environmental and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/planning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/construction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/building https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/work_of_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/building https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nonbuilding_structure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/building https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/architect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/urban_design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/landscape_architecture contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 135 aesthetic considerations. it requires the creative manipulation and coordination of materials and technology, and light and shadow. the environmental space and aesthetics of our environment have been badly handled and presented. graphics designs on well are mostly used to (enhance) enliven large public spaces which otherwise would be very dull. design can involve recognizable motifs appropriate or typical to the situation or may be completely abstract. concepts used this study will only focus on three values, which are directly related to sign and architectural graphics as it affects the environment, and have an impact on this activity, namely: economic, ethical and aesthetic values which, depending on the way they are perceived, lead to visual pollution. classification of values can be economic values, legal values, and political values, ethical values, historical values, aesthetic values, religious values. the first four values are determined by the constituent and regulating functions of the social life. the other three are determined by the frame in which the social reality exists and evolves. the aesthetic values relate to the aesthetic pleasure by the existence of an object that has a value, beauty is the central aesthetic value, to which all the other ones report. by their specifics, the aesthetic values are significantly related to sensitiveness. the aesthetic values can be intuited, felt, experienced, represented and imagined. and then we might ask ourselves: where is the beauty in all the pollution, which is a consequence of oversized and unjustified consumption? the forms of pollution are air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, radioactive contamination, and noise (sound) pollution, thermal and visual pollution. it is noticed the possibility to group them into three basic categories: chemical, sound and visual. it is important to mention that all living organisms (plants, insects, birds, animals, and humans) are affected by visual pollution. it is also important to note that anything that affects other creatures listed above, actually distorts the functioning of the ecosystems and hence of the human. if the bright light prevents insects to move, they can no longer be food for birds, the latter ones receive and transmit their influences in their turn, and the weaknesses chain continues. visual pollution on humans can be manifested in two forms which have been already recognized: direct, the effects being psychological and physiological;indirect, the effects being various, from road accidents caused by distraction to the economic decline of a community. dumitrescu a. and manolache d., define visual pollution as the presence, in the visual field, of some humanmade implants, which are in disharmony with the landscape and which promote excessive, depressed or subversive messages, (www.imst.pub.ro/tcm/dumi/ visual_pollution.pdf). this is strongly felt in the large urban areas where the aggressive outdoor advertising (posters, billboards, pictures, neon and so on.), became more than just unbearable. experts consider that graffiti, for example, has a strong negative influence, which may cause depression and acts of vandalism. the economic value is generally understood as the awareness of the usefulness of the goods compared to others, which satisfies a certain need. the needs are physical and mental, so there is the need to distinguish between two kinds of values: spiritual values and material values. the economic values are material. the value theory is more likely a theory of cost since it addresses a crucial moment of the value, which means the cost, the labour required to produce the goods and the limited usefulness. economic values are constituents of social reality; they represent only a part of the social values that span multiple levels with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aesthetics visual pollution in nigerian environment: sources and prevention 136 different functions in social life. ethical values relate to our desires which can be numerous, so we always require the same question: which is the best goal? for some people it is happiness for others wealth, virtue, and others. the psychological theory states that an ethical value has a mental basis; it is a product of the self will, of the will to upgrade one’s personality. plate 2: image credit uka 2019, wires along the lagos highway plate 3: torn billboard in front of godfrey okoye university. image credit uka 2021 billboards should be allowed to hang at the roadside for a specific period & after that time these should be removed to avoid the unwanted burden of billboards. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 137 plate 5: outdoor ad billboard on a building. source: www.google.com the visual pollution sources are: billboards, open storage of trash space debris, telephone towns, electric wires. this can be seen as an actual form of pollution in the environment that makes people feel insecure and uncomfortable. administrative negligence – the local public administration loses control over what is built or assembled in public spaces, it does not know what and where is displayed and does not solve the problem of buildings in ruins no matter who the owner is logic, architecture, cleanliness, space harmony must be kept in the urban jungle, but they are all suffering because of the business interests and the obtaining of the profit. it is a well-known skyscraper building type, with 19 floors or more, a ground floor and four underground levels, in cities like lagos in nigeria. development building and other changes in the environment are determined by the location of all kinds of items (terraces, public transport stations, garbage cans, huge panels so powerfully illuminated that they can blind drivers at night, stalls, tents, booths installed for commercial purposes, different network cables, and so on..) on the public spaces. excessive advertising suffocating because not even the green areas (trees, land, parks, and so on...) are not spared in the desire to ensure good visibility. the existence of giant billboards, and outdoor display in general, which is present from the means of transportation to garbage bins is also suffocating. many observers point out that advertising is both a mirror and also a shaper of public opinion, social manners and standards. they state that by the absolute value of exposure, advertising sets a social agenda on what is expected, what is fashionable and what is of good taste for a considerable number of people. this influence is manifested especially in young people, poorly educated and impressed people. but an image is not a universal language, even if there is an illusion that it forwards meaning because of its analogue capabilities. there is this confusion between perception and interpretation vandalism – from the graffiti mentioned above to offensive messages, obscenities, and street markings of different groups, all made without the owner's consent. visual pollution in nigerian environment: sources and prevention 138 the failure to comply, as the studies in this area emphasize studies, determines the feedback from participants in the process of communication, such as the increased blood pressure and heart rate; confusion; the trying to regain territory or the acceptance of an intruder; the lowering performance; the increased verbal aggressiveness; the diminishing of the sense of cohesion within the group. improper use of space and lack of control over what is built space and lack of control over what is built and assembled in public places contribute to the problem of the visual clutter in the environment, in a way can be attributed to poor planning in building and architectural construction for example high rise building, the transport systems can bring adverse changes to the visual and physical characteristics of a new city layout, which may reduce the readability of visuals. graffiti are writing or drawings that have been scribed, scratched, or painted, typically, illicitly, on wall buildings or other surfaces, often with public view. graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall painting and have existed since ancient time, example dates back to ancient egypt, ancient greece and roman empire. aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that explores art, beauty, and taste, with the creation of beauty. in its more technical epistemological perspective, it is defined as the study of subjective and sensor-emotional values, sometimes called the judgment of sentiment and taste. aesthetics studies how artist imagines, create and perform works of art, how people use, enjoy and criticizes art and what happens in their minds when they look at a painting, listen to music and read poetry and understand what they see and hear. in recent times people have been criticizing the way and manner billboards and artistic visuals sprang up in big cities in nigeria. it is therefore pertinent to introduce new technologies, fragmentation and incentive method of advertising methods to improve, to reduce the cluster of visuals in the environment. graffiti adds to visual clutter as it disturbs the view. highway beautification variations in the built environment are determined by the location of street furniture such as public transport stations, garbage cans, large panels and stalls. the insensitivity of local administration is another cause of visual pollution. for example, poorly planned buildings and transportation systems create visual pollution. high-rise buildings, if not planned properly or sufficiently, can bring adverse changes to the visual and physical characteristics of a city, which may reduce said city's readability. visual pollution prevention 1. billboards should be allowed to hang at the roadside for a specific period & after that time these should be removed to avoid the unwanted burden of billboards. 2. wires should be stretched by following a well-planned design so that these do not cause any problems to view things from a distance. 3. protect and enhance the urban and architectural qualities of individual buildings, groups, sectors and districts in the heritage building which should not be placed any external visual propaganda, except those expressly permitted by the regulations. 4. protect the environmental qualities of residential areas and only permits the use of notices in areas specifically marked for trade and in portions of buildings for such use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/built_environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/street_furniture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/street_furniture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/readability contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 139 5. protect all the elements of urban furniture, which should not hang banners or notices. 6. protect trees and natural resource elements of the city, which should not hang banners or notices. 7. protect the air space, aesthetics and urban landscape and refrain from placing structures and billboards on the roofs of buildings or attached to walls. 8. do not divert the attention of drivers and confuse elements and advertising attached to road signs. 9. do not put many posters or paintings in a place together 10. to monitor and reduce drawings of graffiti and others in public places 11. protect all elements of urban furniture ( poles, tress) 12. protect natural recourses elements of the city, which should not hang banners or notices signs and architectural graphics should be properly used in the environment to educate and make people aware and invariable to help prevent visual pollution. sign system or architectural graphics is very important and useful in the present changing world of things. it points the way or directs travellers quickly and clearly, thereby playing a crucial role in accelerating and making life what living. colourful design elements are particularly useful in old and new buildings or projects where there is a rich mixture of shops and restaurants; airports hospitals and public places. sign package and construction are not only determined by the graphics element of types and style but also by the environment in which the scheme has to appear and the function the signs are expected to play. the boundary between signs and architectural graphics (wall treatments, flags and banners for example) is often subtle, at times non-existence. some wall graphics can serve the dual function of displaying information and providing a large area of colour. but architectural graphics as abstract wall designs are mostly used to (enhance) enliven large public spaces which otherwise would be very dull. design can involve recognizable motifs appropriate or typical to the situation or may be completely abstract. signs in the built environment have always played an important role. it has always been used to identify, direct and inform views, and provide many other economic benefits. signs are an essential part of the overall advertising and identity of a corporation, sign language helps create easily recognizable and distinctive public images necessary for the corporation or establishment. interior signs and graphics decoration are used in such services-oriented establishments like banks, supermarkets, hotels, and institutions. sign language helps reduce the need for salespeople to direct customers to where they can find their needs when combined into a coordinated system. signs can direct the flow of traffics and pedestrians. signs are used in technical workshops and laboratories to indicate danger and safe operation. in institutions of learning directional signs are employed for easy identification and direction of visitors to their destinations without actually asking many questions. sign systems communicate information to people quickly and at a relatively low cost. the economic benefit of signing in terms of time-saving alone can far outweigh the cost of providing the sign. most especially signs can help reduce and prevent the effect of visual pollution in our environment. visual pollution in nigerian environment: sources and prevention 140 art which is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as graphics, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power should be respected not abused. visual art is the creation of images that can be seen by the eyes. conclusion this paper was concluded by one saying that “man and his environment are too close to be separated.” the value of diversity in terms of visual designs, therefore, is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. it is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within the environment. this can be appreciated when architectural graphics are well employed in reducing and preventing visual pollution from this paper, it is to can easily be seen that man cannot do without a healthy environment and the importance of communication visual in the environment cannot be overstated considering its usefulness to human beings. signs and architectural graphics should be properly used in the environment to educate and make people aware and invariable to help prevent visual pollution. sign system or architectural graphics is very important and useful in the present changing world of things by playing a crucial role in accelerating and making life what living. it has been observed that the placement of some graphics visual in our urban cities, dumping of refuse and other things that cause visual pollution should be looked into by the authority and proffers a corrective measure towards its prevention and control. also, the urgent need for proper maintenance of public and private buildings in our cities should be looked into and necessary action taken by the authority recommendations authorities concerned should properly educate individuals on the senesce of promotion and advertising visuals on our streets, especially the educative ones. to live good and pleasant life the built environment should attract important visual symbols and decorative elements relevant to our culture and civilization, such works should be approved before applying them to architectural buildings. the government should look into the area of administrative negligence and proper maintenance of public buildings and other faculties. space harmony must be maintained by builders. garbage can, a huge panel on the streets, and different network cables in the public space should be organized and adequately maintained. excessive advertising should be controlled to have good visibility. graffiti, offensive messages both visual media should be moderated and controlled. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 141 references art crimes; http://www.graffiti.org chmielewski, sz., lee, d., tompalski, p., chmielewski, t., j., wężyk, p. (2016) measuring visual pollution by outdoor advertisements in an urban street using indivisibility analysis and public surveys. international journal of geographical information, 30(4): chmielewski, s., samulowska m., lupa, m., lee, d., zagajewski, b., (2018) citizen science and webgis for outdoor advertisement visual pollution assessment. computers, environment and urban systems (67): 97-109 d'amico, daniel, 'thou shall not paint: a libertarian understanding of the problems associated with graffiti on public v private property', http://www.graffiti.org/faq/d_amico.html, 2003 dennant, pamela, 'urban expression...urban assault...urban wildstyle...new york city graffiti', http://www.graffiti.org/faq/pamdennant.html, thames university, london, 1997 gadsby, jane m., "looking at the writing on the wall: a critical review and taxonomy of graffiti texts," http://www.graffiti.org/faq/critical.review.html graycar, adam, 'graffiti: implications for law enforcement, local government and the community, paper presented at the graffiti and disorder conference convened by the australian institute of criminology and in conjunction with the australian local government association, held in brisbane, 18-19 august 2003, http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti/ hintz, june and pybus, calvin, 'summary of background to "tagger" graffiti culture', paper presented at the graffiti and disorder conference convened by the australian institute of criminology and in conjunction with the australian local government association, held in brisbane, 18-19 august 2003, http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti/ graffiti and disorder conference convened by the australian institute of criminology; http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti giller, sarah, 'graffiti: inscribing transgression on the urban landscape,' http://www.graffiti.org/faq/giller.html, 1997 graham, anne, 'soft architecture and invisible mending,' from mossop, elizabeth & walton, paul, eds., city spaces: art & design, craftsman house, sydney, 2002 hamm, mark s., 'crimes of style: urban graffiti and the politics of criminality (book review)', social justice, vol 20, nos. 3-4 fall-winter 1993, p203 https://www.graffiti.org/ https://www.graffiti.org/faq/d_amico.html https://www.graffiti.org/faq/pamdennant.html https://www.graffiti.org/faq/critical.review.html http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti/ http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti/ http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti https://www.graffiti.org/faq/giller.html visual pollution in nigerian environment: sources and prevention 142 knox, paul l. ed., 1993. the restless urban landscape, prentice hall, englewood cliffs, new jersey, 1993 jones, mick, 'graffiti culture and hip hop: working from within,' paper presented at the graffiti and disorder conference convened by the australian institute of criminology and in conjunction with the australian local government association, held in brisbane, 18-19 august 2003, http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti/ king, anthony d., ed., re-presenting the city: ethnicity, capital and culture in the 21st century metropolis, macmillan, 1996 kurlansky, mervyn, naar, jon, mailer, norman, the faith of graffiti, praeger publishers, new york, 1974. (aka, watching the name go by.]) lachmann, richard, 'graffiti as career and ideology', the american journal of sociology, vol 94, no. 2, sept 1998, p229-250 morozan, cristian; enache, elena; purice, suzana. "visual pollution: a new axiological dimension of marketing?" (pdf). the university of pite, faculty of managementmarketing in economic affairs brilla. retrieved 29 march 2013. powers, stephen, the art of getting over: graffiti at the millenium, st martin's press, new york, 1999 yilmaz, demet (may 2011). "in the context of visual pollution: effects to trabzon city center silhouette". the asian social science journal. 7 (5): 99. retrieved march 30, 2013. http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti/ http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf http://search.proquest.com/docview/866420567 http://search.proquest.com/docview/866420567 posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 147 le style et la technique de narration d’aminata sowfall dans douceurs du bercail muotoo chukwunonso .h. department of modern european languages nnamdi azikiwe university, awka email:chukwunonsomuotoo@yahoo.com résumé beaucoup de critiques littéraires ont travaillé sur les œuvres d’aminata sow fall. beaucoup d’entre eux ont travaillé sur douceurs du bercail. aminata sow fall est écrivaine sénégalaise qui occupe une place privilégiée en tant que sociocritique dans la littérature africaine d’expression française. ainsi, douceurs du bercail lui sert d’instrument pour critiquer le racisme, l’oppression et la violation des droits de l’homme. cette écrivaine travaille d’une manière consciente qui rend son œuvre artistique. il faut noter que son style distingue son œuvre des autres œuvres. sow fall choisit son langage d’une manière consciente et systématique pour bien aborder son message. dans cette étude, nous allons examiner le style que l’auteur emploie dans douceur du bercail et révéler les diverses normes stylistiques utilisées par aminata sow fall dans douceurs du bercail. abstract a lot of literary critics have worked on the works of aminata sow fall. a lot of them have worked on douceurs du bercail. aminata sow fall is a senegalese writer who as a sociocritic, occupies a priviledged place in african literature of french expression. hence, douceurs du bercail, for her, serves as an instrument of critiquing racism, oppression and the violation of human rights. the writer works in a conscious manner which makes her work artistic. it is worthy to note that her style distinguishes her works from others. sow fall chooses her language in a conscious and systematic manner in order to pass her message. in this study, we are going to examine the style that the author used in douceurs du bercail and highlight the different stylistic norms employed by aminata sow fall in douceurs du bercail. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 148 introduction aminata sow fall est née le 27 avril, 1941 à saint louis au sénégal. après quelques années passées au lycée van vo de dakar, elle se rend ensuite en france où elle prépare une licence de lettres modernes. elle se marie en 1963 puis elle rentre au sénégal où elle devient enseignante. elle travaille ensuite dans le cadre de la commission nationale de réforme de l’enseignement du français. de 1979 à 1988, elle était la directrice des lettres et de la propriété intellectuelle au ministère de la culture et directrice du centre d’etudes et de civilisations. cette écrivaine est aussi la fondatrice de la maison d’édition khoudia, du bureau africain pour la défense des libertés de l’ecrivain (badle) à dakar. elle est docteur honoris causa des nombreuses universités étrangères. quand on parle des œuvres d’aminata sow fall, on parle d’une littérature engagée qui traite des réalités sociales. cette écrivaine lance un appel révolutionnaire. elle écrit aussi sur les conditions sociales au sénégal en particulier, et l’afrique en général. l’œuvre de sow fall est consacrée généralement à la société sénégalaise postcoloniale. l’ère postcoloniale africaine se compose des africains en train de manifester les maux sociaux de l’administration coloniale. ainsi, elle prend une tache de condamner ces malfaisances à travers leurs œuvres. elle s’intéresse beaucoup à la vie sociale et culturelle, et surtout l’évolution de la société vers ce qu’on appelle le modernisme. elle montre que la société fournit la littérature. avec ses œuvres, elle souligne que c’est la littérature qui fait changer la société et que la littérature amène l’espoir et le progrès de la société. douceurs du bercail est le sixième œuvre d’aminata sow fall. le récit est raconté par l’auteur lui-même d’une manière consciente. l’histoire commence par l’atterrissage de l’avion qui a été pris par asta, suit par les activités à l’aéroport. asta qui est le personnage principal du récit est sénégalaise et elle a quarante-cinq ans. elle est une femme divorcée avec trois enfants dont deux filles à savoir maram et sira et puis un fils qui s’appelle paapi. asta étant une jeune journaliste est mandatée en europe par l’organisme qui l’emploie pour couvrir une conférence. à l’aéroport, le contrôle de routine se révèle exigeant et mesquin. asta est mise aux arrêts. l’intrigue de ce récit commence à la douane. les douaniers posent beaucoup de questions aux voyageurs qui quelque fois sont frustrés. la souffrance d’asta commence lorsque la douanière trouve un objet minuscule en fouillant posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 149 ses bagages. cette action provoque asta et elle réagit. elle est donc enfermée dans les caves. aminata sow fall en décrivant ces caves dit ; un espace rectangulaire surpeuplé d’hommes, de femmes et d’enfants. l’endroit s’appelle officiellement « le dépôt ». les pensionnaires l’ont dénommé « l’escale ». (39) on constate les souffrances et les malheurs qui arrivent aux gens dans le dépôt. ils attendent d’être expulsés vers leurs pays d’origine. dans ce dépôt, asta rencontre code, sega, yakham, dianor et babou. ils sont tous des personnages dans douceurs du bercail. la romancière conseille aux gens et même à tous les africains de chercher d’autres moyens de se débrouiller au lieu de se soumettre à toutes sortes d’humiliations à la douane. elle vise à transmettre la dignité de l’être-humain dans ce roman. le ton d’aminata sow fall dans ce récit est frappant. son ton est celui d’avertissement. elle vise à attirer l’attention des immigrants africains qui quittent l’afrique pour voyager en europe. notion du style ce qui distingue un auteur des autres c’est le style et l’emploi du langage. le style employé par un auteur peut être défini comme une manière d’utiliser le langage, voire les expressions dans son œuvre. d’après le dictionnaire hachette, le style est ‘‘une manière d’utiliser le langage propre à un auteur ou à un genre (1060). de sa part, le petit larousse définit le style comme ‘‘une manière particulière d’exprimer sa pensée, ses émotions et ses sentiments (967). aduke adebayo affirme que ‘‘le style est une emphase (expressive, affective ou esthétique) que l’on ajoute à l’information contenue dans l’énoncé sans altération du sens. ce qui veut dire que la langue exprime et le style met en relief (121). le style d’une œuvre aide les lecteurs du texte à mieux comprendre et apprécier une œuvre littéraire. le style peut être défini comme une manière ou une façon d’utiliser les moyens d’expression du langage. ayant vu les définitions du style, on dirait que chaque écrivain se sert des styles différents pour exprimer sa pensée dans une œuvre. douceurs du bercail est un récit raconté par l’auteur lui-même d’une manière consciente totale apparemment impersonnelle qui émet l’histoire d’un point du vue supérieur. c’est le style de l’auteur qui distingue son œuvre des autres œuvres. aussi, c’est le bon emploi du langage qui peut permettre les lecteurs pour mieux comprendre et apprécier une œuvre littéraire. la vivacité du style d’un auteur nous permet d’atteindre une compréhension nette de son texte. dans le posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 150 style d’aminata sow fall dans douceurs du bercail, on voit l’emploi des images, des symboles, des rythmes et des figures rhétoriques. les normes stylistiques employées dans ce roman comprennent la métaphore, la comparaison, la personnification, la synecdoque, l’ironie, la litote, l’hyperbole et l’allitération. aminata sow fall permet le transfert du sens par une substitution analogique en employant la métaphore. elle dit ; <<le courage est une richesse extraordinaire >> (106). lorsqu’ un écrivain cherche à établir une ressemblance entre deux êtres, deux choses ou deux idées, on utilise la comparaison. cette figure de style se réfère au rapprochement de deux mots, le comparé et le comparant. dans ce récit, la comparaison est évidente. sow fall dit ; <<elle était partie comme une flèche>>(71). l’auteur compare le départ d’asta avec une flèche spontanée et directe parce que le but de voyage d’asta est officiel et elle est partie avec des papiers authentiques. un autre exemple de la comparaison dans le récit est lorsque sow fall dit ; <<ses deux mains comme les crocs d’un automate>> (27). avec cette phrase, on compare les mains d’asta avec les crocs d’un automate qui rend claire la gravité de la colère d’asta et comment elle agrippe de toutes ses forces, les dents serrées et elle n’entend pas le cri déchirant qui attire l’attention des policiers. on remarque l’emploi de la personnification dans ce récit. la personnification consiste à évoquer un objet ou une idée sous les traits d’un être humain. c’est l’action de personnifier, de représenter une chose abstraite sous les traits d’une personne. sow fall personnifie le regard de la douanière lorsqu’elle dit ; << à la torture de son regard froid, glacial, inhumain>>(16) elle donne un attribut humain ‘au regard’ pour bien signaler les traitements inhumains infligés aux noirs par les blancs. la synecdoque est aussi employée dans le texte. selon ifeoma onyemelukwe, cette notion se réfère à la figure de rhétorique selon laquelle on prend le plus pour le moins, la matière pour l’objet, l’espèce pour le genre, la partie pour le tout, le singulier pour le pluriel ou inversement(151). sow fall utilise <<le pied>> pour représenter <<le corps>> lorsqu’elle dit ; <<quelle ne remette plus le pied ici et que tu cesses de la fréquenter>>(169) le pied ici, représente un être humain. cette assertion dévoile le racisme des blancs contre les noirs. cela se voit chez diouldé, le mari d’anne qui croit que posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 151 l’amitié qui grandit entre asta et anne va influencer sa femme car les races des noires n’ont pas la même valeur. la synecdoque permet d’exprimer un tout par une de ses parties, un objet par sa matière et vice-versa. l’ironie est une autre figure de style évidente dans douceurs du bercail. d’après le nouveau petit robert, l’ironie est <<une manière de se moquer de quelqu’un ou de quelque chose en disant le contraire de ce qu’on veut faire entendre>> son interlocuteur (1356). dans le récit sow fall affirme à travers la parole de codé à dianor ; <<avez-vous la paix ?>> en répondant à cette question, sow fall dit ; ah oui codé ! nous avons la paix, et comment ! la paix en pagailleregarde : partout la paix, les enfants en paix, moi ma culotte et ma chemise fermentées en paix ! hein codé paix, paix, paix. tu es contente(91). l’écrivaine utilise la musique pour expliquer comment les noirs passent leurs temps dans le dépôt. ces gens cherchent à trouver d’amusements. ainsi, ils dansent et chantent en attendant leur expulsion vers leurs pays d’origine. avec la musique, la romancière crée l’humeur. elle dit ; en attendant godot, dodo, dodo a l’escale godot, que c’est bon dodo en attendant godot, dodo, dodo c’est bon, c’est beau, c’est nice dodo on peut bien penser au pays dodo avec l’espoir qui fout camp, dodo et les paa qui rasent les murs qui s’effritent dodo(50) l’usage de l’allitération est évident dans le récit. l’allitération, c’est la répétition des consonnes initiales et par extension des consonnes intérieures dans une suite de mots rapprochés. dans ce roman, on trouve ; ‘‘regarde comme diaalo est perdu, perdu, pour lui-même, perdu pour nous, perdu pour tout le monde’’ (109). donc, il peut voir la répétition de la lettre ‘p’. on remarque l’emploi de cette figure de style aussi lorsque le narrateur dit ; ‘‘le policier tourne et retourne les documents, dans tous les sens, sans les lire vraiment’’ (16). posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 152 douceurs du bercail est émaillé d’expression wolof qui est une langue sénégalaise. le récit a des descriptions originales. c’est un roman écrit en langue française mais il y a des expressions sénégalaises ou plus généralement, africaines car les remarques en langue wolof valent pour la plupart des langues africaines. un exemple de cette langue maternelle qu’elle a utilisée dans ce récit, c’est : « jom et de ton fayada » (113) et « beree, ku mên sa moroom, duma » (104). concernant les temps employés dans le récit, on remarque l’emploi du présent historique, l’imparfait, le passé composé, le futur et le passé simple. tous ces temps aident à exprimer la façon ou la moyenne dont se déroule l’action. le présent historique aide à rendre le récit intéressant. il fait le récit apparaître comme une réalité plutôt que la littérature. un bon exemple se manifeste quand aminata sow fall dit ; ‘‘elle sait qu’anne l’attend à la sortie des passagers’’ (6) l’emploi de l’imparfait est vraiment évident dans le récit. l’auteur utilise ce temps pour exprimer des actions qui durent. voici un exemple ; ‘‘ses interlocuteurs ricanaient et exprimaient leur ferme détermination’’ (9) l’imparfait est utilisé pour décrire une scène et un paysage. il exprime un fait qui a déjà eu lieu au moment où nous nous exprimons mais qui peut encore se dérouler. ce temps tel qu’il manifeste dans le récit aide à situer l’action dans la chronologie. conclusion dans cette communication, nous avons examiné la notion de style et le style qu’aminata sow fall invente pour donner corps à ses idées et son message dans douceurs du bercail. chaque auteur se sert de certains styles littéraires pour rendre son message compréhensible aux lecteurs. le style d’un écrivain est sa manière de présenter ses idées dans une œuvre littéraire. en ce cas nous avons vu les techniques utilisés par aminata sow fall dans douceurs du bercail. son style est fort intéressant. en tant que sociocritique et écrivain, elle soumet la littérature aux lois des réalités sociales de chaque peuple. elle est réaliste. elle est engagée et utilise toute opportunité donnée pour réclamer la justice, la paix et la liberté pour tout posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 153 le monde dans la société. son écriture se caractérise par un recours aux termes wolof et par le choix d’un lexique argotique. le style simple d’aminata sow fall, sa manière de ficeler des histoires qui se tiennent lui valent un grand succès d’estime auprès des lecteurs. œuvres citées adebayo, aduke. textes et travaux de langue française, (compréhension, composition, explication de textes). ibadan : jutor publishing company, 1993. le dictionnaire hachette. france : nouvelle ed, 1994. le petit larousse. dictionnaire encyclopédique. paris, 1995. onyemelukwe, ifeoma. the french language and literary creativity in nigeria. zaria: labelle educational publishers, 2004. sow fall, aminata. douceurs du bercail. sénégal : editions khoudia, 1998. 114 osayi, kelechi k. & opara, ejimofor abstract the emergence of the cyber space has given rise to a new face of social relationship characterized by increased interaction among young people. this like, the physical space, has given rise to a peculiar form of criminality inimical to societal development. it is against this background that this paper aimed at examining the socio-economic determinants of cybercrimes among young people and its implications for sustainable development in nigeria. this study was anchored on the premise of differential association and space transition theories. it was conducted in owerri municipal local government area with a sample size of two hundred and fifty (250). the 250 participants were chosen through simple random and purposive sampling techniques. the questionnaire and in-depth interview schedule were the major instruments for data collection. quantitative data collected were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (spss), while narrative quotes were used in the analysis of qualitative data. findings from the study revealed that unemployment, crave for quick money, low income, bad company and poverty were the major determinants of cybercrimes. the study showed a significant relationship between level of educational attainment and being a victim of cybercrime. it was therefore recommended among many others that the government should capitalize on the opportunities that abound in the cyber space to create job for the teaming number of young people in the country as well as help initiate, together with other stakeholders, sensitization programmes to educate people on the implications of cybercrimes to societal development in nigeria. introduction each phase of societal development has been characterized by a unique pattern of crime. the breakthrough in digital technology has carried communication and commerce across the globe. this breakthrough has led to explosions of crime and criminality in the cyber space, therefore posing novel challenges to societal development. the prevalence of cyber-crime and its threat to electronic commerce (e-commerce) and critical infrastructure systems and indeed sustainable development have elicited serious global concerns (ndubueze, 2009), equally of global concern is the ability of law enforcement to keep pace with its prevalence and sophistication. a consensus seems to be emerging · socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication for sustainable development 115 socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication/or sustainable development among researchers that existing legislations are not enough to effectively prosecute cyber criminals (daramola, 2008; jaishanker, pang and hyde, 2008; kyungshick, 2006; nayak, 2008). as the criminal justice system grapples with the challenges of bringing within its purview cyber mis-conduct hitherto uncovered by law; the scope and dimensions of cyber-crimes keep increasing changing. cyber-crime raises very critical security issues. mansel (2005) observers that the cyber space raises issues that are fundamental to individual and collective human society and security. brenner (2007), elaborating on the concept of cyber-crime noted that just like traditional crimes, for there to be cyber-crime, four (4) elements must be present; actus reus (the prohibited act or failing to act when one is under obligation); mensrea (a culpable mental state); attendant circumstances (the existence of certain necessary conditions); and harm resulting to person or property. the variants of cyber-crime are many, most common being phising, hacking, identity theft, cyber stalking, securities fraud, online gambling etc. (ndubueze, 2009). "cyber-crime is emerging as a major criminological issue (roberts, 2008: i). the first conference entirely devoted to cyber criminology also referred to as "virtual criminology" was held in spoken valley, wa, united states in october, 2006 (jaishanker, 2007). cyber-crime represents a new phenomenon in criminal activity, the globalisation of criminal conduct (brenner, 2001). this globalization of criminal conduct as stimulated by the globalisation of the new information and communication technology (ict) which created borderless free market, where cyber-crime has international repercussion (foggeti, 2003). li (2007: 22) opined that, "the network context of cyber-crime makes it one of the most globalized offences of the present and the most modernised threat of the future". furthermore, mcafee virtual criminology report (2007) found that governments and allied groups were using the internet in cyber spying and cyberattacks critical national infrastructure network systems such as electricity, air traffic control, financial market and government computer networks are targets. about 120 countries now use the internet for web espionage operations. cyber assaults have progressed from initial curiosity probes to wellfunded and well organized political, military, economic and technical espionage (ndubueze, 2009). concerns on the use of the internet for cyber terrorism are rising. there are hundreds of terrorist websites on the internet (weimann, 2004). terrorist groups frequently use the internet to communicate, raise funds and gather intelligence on future targets (hydes, 2007). evidence suggests that terrorists used the internet to plan their operations on september ii, 200 i against the united states of america (usa). mohammed atter who led the attack made his ticket reservation online (wilson, 2003). peter cheriff, a french citizen, was recruited by ai qaeda over the internet while resident in france (powel, carsen, walt, gibson and gerlin, 2005). consequently, the proposal for the restructuring of the u.s federal bureau of investigation (fbi) provoked by the september ii, 200 i terrorist attack had its top priorities for the future as counterterrorism, counter-intelligence and cyber security as well as hitechnology crimes (muller in etter, 2002). 116 challenges of sustainable development: a social science approach on july 30, 2009 relevant stakeholders in nigeria gathered in abuja to review an international convention on cyber-crime. the treaty was the first on the issue that deals with infringement of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violation of network security (anuforo, 2009). foggetti (2003) distinguishes cyber-crime from other criminal activities and underscores the nature of cyberattack. he observes that the distinguishing feature of cyber-crime is basically its cross-border nature. it is usually difficult to identify the locus commissidelicti (the place where the offence was committed) when the offender uses information and telemetric means to commit the offence. he further noted that the attackers may violate several computer systems with just one illegal access and carryout several unlawful operations on computers which are interconnected, but physically located in different countries or territories. internet crime complaint centre (lc3) statistics graphically depicts the international trends of cyber-crime form january 1, 2004 to december 31, 2004; according to the source, ic3 websites received 207,449 complaints submission. this is a 66.6% increase over 2003 when 124,509 complaints primarily related to the internet were received. internet auction fraud was the most reported offence constituting 71.2% of the reported fraud complaints (lc3,' 2005). the latest report released by ic3 (2008) shows that it possessed more than 219,553 complaints in 2007. the total dollar loss from all reported cases of fraud was $680.00 per case. this was an increase from $198.44 million in total reported losses in 2006. statistics from other sources tend to support the increasing incidence of cyber-crime. puliam (2005) found that attack on the government, financial services, manufacturing and health care industries cost over 50% in 2005. this exposes societies to the negative consequences of underdevelopment, especially the third world countries in the 21st century. in december, 2004 one in every 52 e-mails contained a malicious security threat, such as virus attack. by june, 2005, it increased to one in every 28 e-mails. (ebay, 2006). the average annual loss reported by us companies more than doubled, from $168,000 in 2004 report to $350,424 in 2005 survey. security survey (2007) found that financial fraud over took virus attacks as the source of the greatest financial loss. insider abuse of network access or e-mail (such as trafficking in pornography or pirated software) edged out virus incidents as the most prevalent security problem with 59% and 52% respondents reporting each respectively. furthermore, in the analysis of prosecution of network attack from 1999-2006, the economic and financial crimes commission (efcc) found that individual attacks caused as much as $10 million in damages to individuals. organizations suffered the greatest financial loss and damage, more than $1.5 million per occurrence; this is very inimical to the country's drive to her vision 2020:20. however, 84% of these crimes could have been prevented if the identity of the computers connecting to the web were checked in addition to user i.ds and passwords (efcc reports, 2007). a survey of 1,150 internet users in lagos revealed that 94% of the respondents felt that identity theft is a serious problem. the survey reinforced the fact that the much bigger story was the amount of 117 socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication/or sustainable development money that is not getting spent. as stories of identity theft became more common, internet users are becoming less confident about making purchases online. it also found that a majority (50%) of internet users avoided making purchases on the internet because they were afraid that their financial information could get stolen. almost half (49%) of internet users who were worried about their financial information getting stolen said that they did not make purchase on the internet (sia digital confidence index survey, 2006). the internet has also witnessed an influx of sexual predators that use the platform to lure and victimize vulnerable children. a study on virtual (cyber) sex offending conducted in the united states involving 22 clients seen through a centre for online addiction revealed that all the clients were men who were arrested for engaging in sexual misconduct with minors using the internet. they aged 34 to 48 with mean of 38.5% who were employed in white-collar jobs mainly as engineers, doctors or lawyers, 17% were blue collar workers mainly working in factories, 15% were unemployed and 10% had some disabilities. in all cases, clients partook in paedophilic themed adult client rooms, unknowingly chatting with a federal agent or police officer who posed online as a minor (young, 2008). in their study of the role of internet access points in the facilitation of cyber-crimes in nigeria longe and chiemeke (2008), used statistical and simple random sampling to select a total of 50 cyber cases across four locations in south-western nigeria and analyzed a total of 232 validly filled and returned questionnaires. the study revealed that spamming activities remained prevalent among nigerian internet users and that cyber cafes, more than any other internet access point, had facilitated cyber-crime. the study also found a steady increase in the use of the internet for news, travel information and sports and a decline in pornographic viewing which they attributed to content future used by most cyber cafes. a survey conducted by it news africa in december, 2008, with subjects drawn from information and communication technology comprising, christian society, policy makers, and the general public, revealed widespread concern over nigeria's battered image across its borders because of high level and sophisticated incidences of cyber-crime. the respondents were worried that internet pornography, abuse of online visa application and online banking, among other felonies were on the increase in the country (it news africa, 2009). cybercrime incidences and statistics from some african countries, most particularly, nigeria, ghana and south africa have damaging impact on images and economies of these countries. the problem one of the first publicised cyber-crimes occurred in november, 1988 in the united states. a 23years old student, robert morris, launched a virus (morris worm) on the internet. over 6,000 computers of the estimated 60,000 systems linked to the internet at that time were. infected. it cost about $100 million (us dollars) to repair the infected systems. morns got a sentence of 3years probation and a $10,000 fine (stanbaugh, beaupre, icove, baker, cassedey and william, 2001). in 2008, companies worldwide lost more than 1 ooooooooooooo 118 challenges of sustainable development: a social science approach trillion, u.s dollars on intellectual property due to data theft and cyber-crime (mcafee 2009). cyber-crime is a widespread and growing global problem. according to the 2008 world internet crime report released by the internet crime complaint center (lc3, 2009); internet related criminal activities resulted in about $264.4 million reported losses, showing a significant increase from $239.1 trillion in 2007. a majority of the 72,940 cases referred for investigation by ic3 involved 'alleged fraud and had a median financial loss of $931.0. again, there is an increase from $239.1 million in 2007. the details of the report showed that; perpetrators were predominantly males (77.4%). the majority of the reported perpetrators were from the united states, but a significant number were located in the united kingdom (uk), nigeria, canada, china and south africa. the united states with 61.1 % of reported cyber-crimes, top the list of cyber-crime prone countries, followed by the u.k (10.5%) then nigeria (7.5%), canada (3.1 %), china (1.6%), south africa (0.7%), ghana (0.6%), italy (0.5%) and romania (0.5%). males comprised 55.4% of the complainants nearly half were between the ages 30-50. while most were from the united states, the ic3 received numerous complaints from canada, united kingdom, australia, india and france. male complainants reported losing more money than females at a ratio of $1.69 to every $1 lost per female. electronic mails (e-mail) at 74.0% and web pages at 28.9% were the two primary vehicles for the fraudulent contacts. studies show that over 80% of all e-mail is spam (dickson, 2008). children are not exempted from cyber-crime victimization. according to the lowa internet crime against children taskforce (2009), i in 7 children between the ages 10-17 are sexually solicited online. child exploitation occurs in all income groups and cultural backgrounds (ndubeze, 2009). the internet contains about 372 million online pages of pornography (mach and liederbach cited in mears, manichi, gertz and bratton, 2008). cyber-crime has joined the list of problems plaguing nigerian, and impeding her growth and development; culminating in the listing of nigeria as the third on the roll of top ten cybercrime host spots in the world by a 2008 internet crime report (lc3, 2009). the enormity of this problem can be better appreciated when we consider the fact that in spite of several interventions made by the nigeria government in tackling cyber-crime, nigeria has for three consecutive years (2006, 2007 and 2008) ranked third on the list of world cyber-crime perpetrator countries. again, the latest ic3 data released recently showed a rise in cybercrime in nigeria 5.7% in 2007 to 7.5% in 2008 of world reported cases (ic3, 2009). the erstwhile efcc boss in nigeria, ribadu (2007: 15) traced the origin of cyber-crime and criminality in nigeria, when he declared in west african sub-regional meeting on advanced fee fraud that: in no time the traditional nigerian value of honesty, integrity and hard work faced its rudest challenge as this new culture of dishonesty eroded all that was admirable and noble about us 119 socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication/or sustainable development especially in our urban conurbation. scammers became the new princes of achievement and the symbol of excellence, living well on stolen funds. in the face of tepid law enforcement environment, the late 90s announced a curious interface where crime and technology became engaged in an incestuous intercourse with the emergence of mobile telephone and the internet around the year 1997. suddenly, the problem escalated faster and cheaper in the face of masked identities of the perpetrators who found cosy shields in the anonymous ambience of the cyber space. the phenomenal growth in the number of internet users around the world has increased the number of potential vulnerabilities of cyber attacks. internet world statistics (2009) puts the number of internet users around the world at 1,574,313,184 (approximately 1.5 billion) as at december 31, 2008. the statistics further showed that in nigeria, internet users grew from 200,000 (two hundred thousand) in 2000 to 10,000,000 (ten million) in 2008. moritz (2008) observes that nigerians access the internet in many ways; 53% through very small aperture terminal. (vsat)·link, 19% through wireless microwave links and 14% through digital subscriber line (dsl). many of these sessions are through cyber cafes as very few nigerians own personal computers (ndubueze, 2009). awareness of cyber security in nigeria started with the press and covered all crucial areas (udotai, 2008). as a critical intervention, the federal government of nigeria in 2004 established a cyber-crime working group known as the nigeria cyber working group (ncgw), comprised all key law enforcement, security, intelligence and information communication technology (ict) organizations. consequently, former president, olusegun obasanjo on june 5, 2006 signed a new law (advanced fee fraud and other related act, 2006) to combat cyber-crime and fraud related offences in nigeria (e-nigeria, 2006). former efcc chairperson, mrs. farida waziri, in 2008 stated that the commission arrested 136 cyber-crime suspects in 28 raids across nigeria. she noted that 60 suspects were arrested in the south-west, 39 in the south-east, 26 in the south-south and i j .n the entire north (odapu, 2008). this breakdown indicated that the south-east ranked second behind the south-west, as region prone to the activities of cyber criminals than the rest of the zones in nigeria. recently, the efcc arraigned 58 suspects in court for various cybercrimes. out of this number, seven (7) were charged with operating cyber cafes not registered with the commission and for failing to obtain the particulars of their customers, required by law (nwosu, 2008). the war against cybercrime is far from being over. uwaje (2009:27) projects that "cyber-crime and cyber security activities will increase by about 53% in the next decade (2010-2015) worldwide." despite govern rent's intervention, the problem of cyber-crime has continued to escalate. odapu (2008) opines that cyber-crime is at an all-time high rate in nigeria, as cyber cafe owners sometimes collaborate with fraudsters. he further stated that, internet services being offered by 120 challenges of sustainable development: a social science approach starcomms, zoom mobile, visa phone, multi-links and other telephone operators also provide venue for cyber-crime commission. some cyber fraudsters aged between is. 2syears also carryout these illegal activities in their homes and hotel rooms (ndubueze 2009). the former speaker of the nigerian house of representatives, mr. dimeji bankole warned that the high incidence of online fraud involving nigerians could delay the country's vision to rank among the best 20 economies of the world by the year 2020 (ameh, 2009). despite the fact that cyber-crimes have become a serious problem in nigeria, there is no available statistics on its patterns and trends. there is not reliable data on the social and economic determinant of cyber-crimes. this study will therefore, attempt to fill the gap in the study of cyber-crimes in nigeria by focusing on the social and economic determinants of cybercrimes and its implication for sustainable development in owerri municipal local government area of imo state. . objectives of the study consequent upon the foregoing, the major objectives of the study include: 1. to ascertain the types of cyber-crimes in owerri municipal local government area of imo state. 2. to ascertain the economic factors that necessitates the occurrence of cyber-crimes in owerri municipal local government area of imo state. 3. to discover the social factors that give rise to cyber-crime in owerri municipal local government area in imo state. 4. to ascertain the most effective and efficient ways to curb the incidence of cyber crime in owerri municipal local government area of imo state. theoretical framework the differential association theory of sutherland (1939) and the space transition theory of jaishanker (2007) provide analytical framework for this study. a combination of the two provides an ideal context in which one can understand the socio-economic determinants of cyber-crime. cyber technology is complex and requires some expertise to manipulate. an individual needs to learn beyond the basics of computer programming to manipulate the cyber space. cyber-crimes take place in the cyber space where the offenders are less likely to be tracked.' the differential association theory enables us understand fully the process involved in learning and reinforcement of the techniques of cyber-crime and how these constitute, to a reasonable extent, a "push factor to cybercrime commission: in nigeria where there is no serious pro-active mechanism to checkmate cyber-crime, cyber criminals still hit their targets, amass wealth and receive the approval of their admirers. the space transition theory tends to cover some aspects not captured in the differential association theory. space transition basically involves the movement of persons from one space to another. cyber criminals behave differently when they move from the oooooooooooo 121 socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication/or sustainable development physical space to the cyber space, the relative anonymity the cyber space offers as well as the relative speed with which a target could be hit are strong motivations for cyber-crime commission. some terrorist groups are known to recruit and train their members online to carryout attack in the physical world. some criminal groups in nigeria who operate in the physical space may conflict with those of the cyber space. for example, one may be lured easily into disclosing some personal information on the internet by an impersonator than when the person comes physically, therefore, the differential association and space transition theories were adopted as the theoretical framework to guide this study, because both of them are the most relevant, suitable and appropriate theories for this nature of study. study hypotheses the following hypotheses were formulated to guide this study; i. there is a significant relationship between respondents' occupation and their perception of people's involvement in cybercrime ii. there is a significant relationship between respondents' level of educational attainment and their tendency of being victim of cybercrime. methodology the area of this study was owerri municipal local government area of lmo state. owerri municipal is one of the three (3) councils in owerri imo state. it is located in south-east nigeria with an area of 58 square kilometers (knr2). the 2006 nigerian census indicated that there are 62,405 males and 64,807 females in owerri municipal local government area of imo state. thus, there are 127,212 persons in owerri municipal local government area (npc, 2009:834 & 835). the target population for this study included persons between the ages 18 and 64. 8esides, the age category covers majority of cyber cafe users in owerri municipal local government area. it is very rare to find people over the age of 65 years patronizing cyber cafes. the sample size was 250. the purposive sampling technique and the simple random sampling technique were used for this study. the purposive sampling is a variant of the non-probability sampling technique (oranye, 2003) was employed in choosing two (2) cyber cafe's from each of the five (5) communities that make up owerri municipal local government area. bringing the total number of cyber cafes surveyed to ten (10). the simple random sampling is a type of probability sampling technique (aniekwe, 2005). the balloing method of the simple random sampling technique was adopted in selecting twenty-five (25) cyber cafe users from each of the ten (10) cyber cafe's earlier chosen to make up 250 respondents to whom the questionnaires were administered. while ten (10) cyber cafe operators were selected for the in-depth interview, bringing the total number of respondents for the study to 260. 122 challenges of sustainable development: a social science approach findings a uniform set of 250 questionnaires were 'administered out of which four (4) were wrongly filled. thus, bringing the total number of correctly filed and returned questionnaires to 246. also the in-depth interviews were successfully conducted with ten (10) cyber cafe operators. therefore, 246 correctly filled and returned questionnaires and data gotten from the idi were used for analysis in this study. types of cybercrimes in owerri municipal local government area table 1: distribution of respondents on the most common type of cyber crime response frequency percentage hacking 55 22.4% cracking 8 3.3% atm fraud 88 35.8% pornography 59 24.0% fake identity 20 8.1% virus attacks 4 1.6% don’t know 12 4.8% total 246 100 source: field survey, 2011. the above table indicates that 35.8% of the respondents identified a ™ fraud as the most common types of cyber-crime. the table further shows that 24.0% of the respondents affirmed that pornography is the most common type of cyber-crime in owerri municipal local government area. an idi respondent responds thus; there are different types of cyber-crime in owerri, but the most common i think, is atm fraud one thing you must understand is that everybody has his own format. it all depends on how smart you can be. (male, educated, 26 years). this is however at variance with submission of another idi respondent who stated that, "the most common type of cyber-crime in owerri is pornography. even many adults come to this cafe to embarrass themselves, watching naked men and women on the internet". it can be extrapolated from the data presented above, that atm fraud and internet pornography are the most common types of cyber-crimes preponderant in owerri municipal local government area. 123 socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication/or sustainable development economic determinants of cybercrimes in owerri municipal local government. distribution of respondents on the major economic determinants of cybercrime response frequency percentage unemployment 108 43.9% poverty 98 39.8% low income 25 10.2% electronic commerce 12 4.9% don’t know 3 1.2% total 246 100 source: field survey, 2011. the table above shows that 43.9% of the respondents identified unemployment as the major economic determinant of cyber-crime. other economic determinants as revealed by the study include; poverty (39.8%), low income (10.2%), and electronic commerce (4.9%), while 1.2% of the respondents said that they did not know the major economic determinant of cybercrime. data from the idi corroborated the submission on the table that unemployment (43.9%) is the major economic determinant of cyber-crime with the following assertion: the major reason why people commit cyber-crime is because of no job. if there were jobs, at least they will not engage in the act. but there are also people who are into the act for the fun of it. (male, programmer, 30 years). another respondent stated that. unemployment is already a problem in nigeria as a whole, so one can actually say that it is a major cause of even cybercrime. (male, educated, 28 years). the data above shows, therefore, that unemployment is the major economic determinant of cyber -crime in owerri municipal local government area. 124 challenges of sustainable development: a social science approach social determinants of cybercrimes in owerri municipal local government area table 3: distribution of respondents on the major social determinants of cyber crime . response frequency percentage crave for quick money 125 50.8% bad company 41 16.7% poor value system 30 12.2% parental negligence 25 10.2% peer pressure 20 8.1% corruption 5 2.0% total 246 100 source: field survey, 2011. the table above shows that 43.9% of the respondents identified "crave for quick money" as the major social determinant of cyber-crime in owerri municipal local government area. other social determinants identified by the respondents include; bad company (16.7%), poor value system (12.2%), peer pressure (8.1%), and corruption (2.0%). an idi respondent posited thus: everybody wants to make money, buy good cars. build exotic houses and all that. crave for quick money is the reason for all these cyber-crime and other crimes too. (female, educated, 25 years). the foregoing shows that the "crave for quick money" is the major social determinant of cybercrime in owerri municipal local government area of imo state. test of hypotheses hypothesis one: "there is a significant relationship between occupation and perception of the people's involvement in cybercrimes". data on table 4 formed the basis for testing hypothesis one. 125 socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication/or sustainable development table 4: distribution of respondents on whether occupation influences people’s perception of cyber crimes occupation low income unemployment poverty total unemployment 4 2 6 31 business/trading 9 20 15 4 artisan 1 3 0 4 teaching 4 12 5 21 civil/public servant 8 17 10 4 student 14 64 25 103 self employed 1 1 0 4 socio-economic status total 41 138 6 240 field survey, 2011 the computed value of chi-square is 9.757, while the table value of chi-square at 0.05 level of significance with a degree of freedom (df) of 12 is 21.026. since the calculated chi-square value is less than the critical value the researcher rejected the alternative hypothesis. it follows therefore that there is no significant relationship between occupation and perception of people's involvement in cyber crime in owerri municipal local government area. hypothesis two: "there is a significant relationship between level of educational attainment and being victim of cybercrime". data on table 5 formed the basis for testing hypothesis two. table 5: distribution of respondents on the relationship between educational attainment and being victim of cyber-crime. level of educational attainment hacking cracking atm fraud fake identity virus attacks pornography none total no formal education 0 0 4 1 0 2 1 8 fslc 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 5 wasc/gce/ ssce 6 0 11 25 2 20 17 81 ond/nce 4 6 11 7 4 3 10 45 b.sc./hnd 12 5 32 8 3 7 6 73 m.sc./ph.d. 2 4 3 4 1 2 1 17 total 25 15 63 45 11 35 35 229 field survey, 2011 126 challenges of sustainable development: a social science approach the computed value of chi-square is 68.012 while the table value of chi-square at 0.05 level of significance with a degree freedom (of) of30 is 43.773. since the computer chi. square value is greater than the table value, the researcher accepted the alternatives hypothesis. it implies that there is a significant relationship between level of educational attainment and being victim of cyber crime in owerri municipal local government area. discussion of findings it was discovered in this study that a ™ fraud was preponderant in owerri municipal local government area. this was followed by pornography, hacking and fake identity. earlier studies by it news africa (2008), jaishanker (2009), efcc report (2007) and ndubeze (2009) all corroborated this finding. pornography ranked third in the types of cyber-crimes that respondents have ever fallen victim of. this shows a decline in pornographic activities on the internet. longe and chiemeke (2008) corroborated this finding when they observed that there is a decline in pornographic viewing on the internet. the study also identified unemployment as the major economic determinant of cybercrime. this negates chawki (2005), pant (2008) and long & chiemeke (2008) who posited that the upsurge in cyber-crime can be attributed to factors such as; rapid increase in the number of internet users, high level anonymity and the growing number of computer technology. this study further reveals that, the "crave for quick money" is the major social determinant of cyber-crime. other social determinants of cyber-crimes discovered in this study are bad company and poor value systems. the differential association theory clearly explains the social impetus mustered by cyber criminals in cybercrime commission. this is revealed in the fact that cybercrime like -other crimes is socially learnt, with the intent to amass quick money from targets. however, the space transition theory's assertion on the impact of socio-structural causes of crime in the physical space (i.e, unemployment), similarly determines cybercrime commission. this was supported by the findings of this study, that unemployment is the major economic determinant of cybercrime in owerri municipal local government area. this is not totally different from the case with crime on the physical space, where people suffer from the austere effect of socio-structural dysfunction. conclusion the study has revealed that the cause of crime in the physical space is to a large extent similar to the cause of cyber-crime. the rising level of unemployment and crave for quick money have been identified as major reasons for high level of cyber-crime. many educated people who are unemployed resort to cyber-crime, channeling their expertise and skills to cyber criminality. from the findings of this study, it is very manifest that there is an urgent need for the reorientation and resocialization of the people on the imperatives of proper conduct on the internet irrespective of the anonymity it offers them; as this has massive implication on the society's march towards the realization of sustainable development in the 21st century. 127 socio-economic determinants of cyber crime: implication/or sustainable development recommendations therefore, the following recommendations are put forth to help mitigate the scourge of cybercrime and to enhance the chances of the society in achieving sustainable development; 1. the government and relevant stakeholders should capitalize on the opportunities lurking around in the cyber space to create employment opportunities for the teeming number of unemployed persons in our society. 2. current efforts at ensuring cyber security should be enhanced to meet the increasing rate of cyber-crime. this can be realized through an advanced training of law enforcement agencies on the use of sophisticated ict apparatuses, for the checkmating of cyber-crimes perpetrators. 3. relevant stakeholders in the society should pool resources together to organize sensitization programs for the youth and general public on the proper use of the internet and ict for societal development. 4. the study of cyber-crimes should be given serious attention by nigerian scholars and relevant agencies (governmental and non-governmental in order to initiate appropriate strategies in combating the menace of cyber-crimes. 5. parents and guardians should work together to inculcate the right values in their children, wards and young ones around them; the values of hard work, diligence, integrity and honesty. when this is done, it will definitely be made manifest in the activities of the cyber space. 6. cyber criminals should be prosecuted in the courts and if found guilty, be convicted and sentenced to no less than ten (10) years imprisonment. 7. in the face of increasing rate of social network sites on the internet, it has become imperative that a cyber space monitoring agency be established to entrench the development policy of the country on the cyber space. this is due to the changing scope of social interaction, which is largely driven by the sophistication of ict in the 21st century. references adelakun, a. o, (2001). state of the world children. new york: unicef publications. alan, m.s. (2007). strutting, struggling and saving: economic depression in northern nigeria kano; bayero university press. bourne, c. and berger, b. (2000). no guns please we are children. new york. unicef publication. buck, m. (1999). street and working children. kano. royal lux publication. chukudozie, o. (2002). education and the nigerian child in the journal of social inquiry: 42 (2) pp. 119121. collingsourth, c. (2007). child prostitution and hawking, new york: awake publishers. 128 challenges of sustainable development: a social science approach dube, c. (2002). education revolution in kenya journal of african countries: vol. i. no. 1 pp. 20-24. ebigbo, r. o. (2001). charter on the rights and welfare of the africa child enugu. anppncan publisher. . ejiro, p.o. (200s). child upbringing and care. enugu: royal links publisher. fekayo, i.g. (2007). silences in ngo discourses: the role of ngos in africa, oxford: fulham. gelles, b. (2003). sharing experiences for growth in children of africa. ibadan: spectrum books. . howling, n. (2001). child abusers get off the hook. journal of child rights: vol. 2, no.3, pp.li0-120. i.l.o, (2007). world labour report discover s, march: 16 24. i.l.o, (200s).child labour rights. retrieved, february 20, 2011 from htp//en.wikipedia.org.wiki/child labour right national population commission (2009). republic federal of nigeria official gazette on 2006 population census result. issued 2nd february, 2009, no.2, vol. 96. nnonyelu, au. (2009). sociological insights: ibadan. spectrum books. obikezie, a. (2001). children in street begging, journal of social inquiry: vol. 2, no.3, pp. 5 -6. okoye, n.n. (2001). observing and helping the falling child. journal of mother theresa foundation: vol. 3, no.4, pp. 50 55. oloko, b.a (1997). child labour in urban nigeria. kano: bayero press. omotosho, j.a. (1990). sexual abuse of children in nigeria: uyo: alafin publications schlemer, b. (2000). the exploited child london: zeal books. unicef (2003). child trafficking in west africa. journal of inquiry by unicef vol. 5, no.3, pp. 1013. w.h.o, (2002).analysis of nigerian response to child trafficking journal of world health organization. vol. 2, no.4, pp. 7 s. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 24 ga as a homonymous lexeme in igbo: a morphosyntactic and semantic analysis christiana ngozi ikegwuonu chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam, anambra state introduction in many natural languages, words may not only have meaning properties in isolation, they often bear some meaning relations with each other. words may be semantically related either because they share certain properties or because they exhibit contrastive semantic features. there are quite a number of meaning relations which words exhibit due to how they interact with each other in the sentence. some words enter into some kinds of meaning relations to make different meanings other than they could have made in isolation. it is this notion that gave rise to different meaning relation that obtain both at word and sentence levels. in igbo language, there are many homonymous lexemes. these lexemes have different and unrelated meanings, but their surface phonetic forms are the same. ga is among the homonymous lexemes we have in igbo. this study therefore undertakes its study to find out how it manifests in the syntactic structures of the language. this paper has five sections. section one is the introduction. section two is overview of homonymy. section is the morphological structure of ga whereas section four is the syntactic and semantic analysis of ga in igbo. section five is the conclusion. homonymy: an overview homonymy appears to be a universal phenomenon. in different natural languages, many words from different word classes appear to have the same spelling and pronunciation. a homonymy is a word which has the same sound, and the same spelling as another but with a different meaning or origin. crystal (2007:220) defines homonymy as “a term used in semantic analysis to refer to lexical items which have the same form but differ in meaning.” according to anagbogu, mbah and eme (2010), homonymy can be looked at from two different angles: the first is to see it as a word having many meanings (polysemy) or to assume that different meanings realize themselves in a similar form, that is, they are spelt and pronounced alike though they do not have the same meaning. to yule (2006:107), the term “homonymy” is used “when one form, (written and spoken) has two or more unrelated meanings.” allan (1986:84) defines homonymy as “a lexical meaning relation holding between lexemes that have the same phonetic features but have two or more different meanings.” palmer (1981:102) notes that “if identical forms have different origins, they are treated as homonyms and form separate entries.” in his view, saeed (2003) posits that homonyms are unrelated sense of the same phonological word. ndimele (1999:51) illustrates using below example: current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 25 living organism distinguished from animal plant a factory machine for generating electricity from the above example, we observe that the word plant describes three different items. that is, plant 1, describes living organism distinguished from animal, plant 2, describes a factory and plant 3, describes machines for generating electricity. the above example shows that a homonymous lexemes can have two or more entirely distinct meanings. the morphological structure of ga in igbo morphologically, ga is formed with a consonant and a vowel thus: g + a ga [cv] structure. with the cv structure, it can function as a full lexical verb as well as verb root, which can take affixes. nwachukwu (1983:132) posits that ga is not quite an auxiliary like na, because unlike na “it can function in a non-auxiliary capacity, that is, as the only verb of an independent clause in the language.” he gives the feature specification of na thus [+v, + aux.–], ga has the specification thus [+ v, + aux] since ga can be used as a verb that is [+v] and as an auxiliary, that is [+aux]. the syntactic and semantic analysis of ga in igbo constructions ga as a lexical verb the verb is a universal phenomenon in human natural languages. the meaning of a verb can be analyzed into a structure representation of events it designates. a verb has been described traditionally as a word which states the action performed by the subject. it is a word that tells us what the subject does in the sentence. that is why it is defined as an action or a doing word. the igbo verb form is complex and it is the most fascinating of all the word class in the language. mbah (2006) describes igbo language as a verb language. this is because verb plays significant roles in the grammatical structures of the language. unlike english where word formation cuts across different grammatical categories, igbo words are only formed from the verb. according to nwachukwu (1983) no verb is formed from any other part of speech. green and igwe (1963:64) claim that the “verb is distinguished formally from all other parts of speech by the fact that it is the only one in which an inflectional affix is found.” the verb takes the harmonizing vowel prefix a-/eaccording to the root vowel of the verb. the morpheme constituents of the verb in various verb forms are either the cv root or the root and the vowel prefix. the verb root can be independent in the sense that it can stand alone. the affixes which are attached to the verb root cannot stand alone but depend on the main verb to have meaning. the dependent particles are affixes which can come before the main verb root. they are called prefixes whereas those that are attached after are called the suffixes. it is important to not that the verb root and its nominal modifiers are in one semantic unit, and as such, they form one entry in any dictionary because without the nominal, the verb root would be very ambiguous and unspecified. emenanjo (1987:128) notes: current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 26 the inherent semantic nature of the igbo verb is that it obligatorily co-exists with a nominal element which always complements. it is the nominal element that we call the complement … the truth is that the semantic content of every igbo verb inherently describes a certain action or state which by its very nature implies the co-existence of complements. following emenanjo’s view, it implies that ga cannot in isolation form a meaningful semantic unit unless it co-occurs with inherent complements. below are the examples of some of the inherent complements of ga. 1. a. ga ǹga (imprisonment/go to prison) b. ga ǹjèm̀ (go for a journey) c. ga ògù (go to war) d. ga ọlàakā (bead the bangle) e. ga òwu (knit the thread) f. ga ihe olū (bead the neckles) g. ga ùle (go for examination) h. ga àkpà (bead the bag) i. ga mbọ (scratch) the data below show homonymous ga and its different unrelated meanings. 2. a. go b. pass through a small opening c. bead ga d. hook somewhere e. rake fallen leaves and make soil smooth f. scratch with nails or something sharp g. pin together/chain together from the above data, examples (2a – g) can be represented in the sentences below: 3. a. uchè gàrà ǹga. uche g-rvpst prison. uche went to prison. b. òkụkọ gàrà nà m̀pìo. fowl pass-rvpst prep small hole. the fowl passed through the small hole. c. ùju gàrà ọlàakā. uju bead-rvpst bangle. uju beaded the bangle. d. ijèọma gàrà òwu nà ǹtụtū. ijeoma knit –rvpst thread prep-needle. ijeoma knitted the thread. e. ọkpụkpụ gàdoro òbi n’àkpịrī. bone hook-rvpst obi prep-throat. . . . . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 27 the bone hooked obi inside the throat. f. ebe ogwu ahù gàdoro chikē dì njọ. place thong dem hook-rvpst chike be bad. the place that thong hooked chike is bad. ha gachara ugbo ha. 3pl rake-rvpst farm 3pl. they raked their farm. g. uchè gàrà ibè mbọ n’ihu. uche scratch-rvpst ibe nails prep-face. uche scratched ibe’s face. from the foregoing, ga takes the rv suffix in the syntactic structures to indicate different semantic readings. it is also observed that the ga in sentences (2a b) and (2c d) are somehow related in meaning in the sense that it indicates movement of an entity or object. examples (2e g) do not related to movement. ga in sentences (e, f and h) are related in the sense that pains are inflicted on the entities. ga can take an open vowel suffix to express imperative ga as the verb root can take an open vowel suffix to express imperative readings. the structure is thus: [cv + v] verb. consider examples below: 3. a. gàa ga – ovs go b. gàa ụkà ga-ovs church go to church c. gàa ōwū ga-ovs thread knit the thread d. gàa yā mbọ scratch-ovs 3pl nail scratch him/her/it e. gàa hā ichè ga-ovs 3pl different pin them differently in the above data, the tone of verb roots are consistently on low tones whereas the open vowels which are attached to them are consistently on high tones. ga can take -rv suffix to indicate past tense the -rv suffix is attached to the verb root ga to express past tense in igbo. the structure is thus: [cv + rv] verb. consider below examples: 5. a. àda gàrà ugbō. ada go-rvpst farm. ada went to the farm. . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 28 b. ijèọma gàrà ọlà ntì ya ùnyàahụ. ijeoma bead-rvpst earring 3g yesterday. ijeọma beaded her earring yesterday. c. nwambā gàrà obi mbō. cat scratch-rvpst obi nail. the cat scratched obi. d. ọ gàrà hà ọfụma. 3pl pin-rvpst 3pl well. he pinned them well. the -rv past tense marker assumes the features of the vowel of the cv root and becomes low tone. ga can take extensional suffixes ga can take extensional suffixes to extend the meaning of the verb root in the syntactic structures. consider the following examples: 6. a. ọ gàtèrè aka 3sg go-suff hand he went far b. ewu gafèrè n’oghere ahù. goat pass-rvpst prep-hole dem. the goat pass through that hole. c. ọ gaāla ihe olu àda. 3sg bead-rvp-ovs-perf thing neck ada. she has beaded ada’s neckless. d. ọ gakpọrọ ada anya m̀gbè ha rụrụ ọgù. scratch-rvpst ada eye when 3pl fight-rvpst war. scratched ada’s eye when they fought. e. m̀gbè uchè rìrì nri nnukwu ọkpụkpụ gachìrì ya n’àkpịrī. when uche eat-rvps food big bone hook-rvst 3sg throat. when uche was eating big bone hooked her throat. f. ibè agachasīala ebe ọ gà-akọ ugbo. ibe pr-rake-rvpst place 3sg fut-pr-farm farm. ibe has raked where he will farm. g. ọ gàkọtàrà akwụkwọ àbùọ. 3sg pin-rvspt book two. he pinned the two books together. in the above data, the underlined words indicate the cv root, that is ga which takes the extensional suffixes. ga can take the prefix i/ị to derive infinitive the structure is thus: [pref i/ị + cv] verb as in: i + ga ịgā (to go) 7. a. ịgā nga adịghī mmā. pr-go prison pr-be-neg good. . . . . . . . . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 29 to go to prison is not good. b. ọ hìàrà àhụ ànyìnyà ịgā n’oghere ahù. 3sg difficult body horse pr-pass prep-hole dem. it is difficult for the horse to pass through that hole. c. ha chòrò ịgākọ akwụkwọ ahù. 3pl want-rvps pr-pin book dem they wanted to pin those books together. d. onyeisī ānyị chọrọ ịgā ya mbọ ebe ahù. president 1pl want-rvpst pr-scratch-suff 3sg place dem. our president wanted to scratch him that place. in the above data, the tone of ga is no longer low. it changes to downstep tone because it indicates infinitive. ga can take the prefix o/ọ with cv + cv roots to derive gerund the morpheme structure is thus: [pref o/ọ + cv + cv] verb. in forming the gerund, the cv root is reduplicated as in: ọ + ga + ga ọgịga in the above data, the reduplication is a partial one. consider the following examples: 8.a. ògịga chikē gara be ezè wètàrà udo. going chike go-rvpst home eze bring-suff peace. chike’s going to eze’s home brought peace. b. ògịga ebe ahù sìrì ike. passing place dem cook-rvpst strenght. passing through that place is difficult. c. ògịga ọlà ntì ahù adīghī mmā. beading earring dem pr-be-neg good. the beading of that earring is not good. furthermore, n is prefixed to ga and another cv root to derive words such as: 9. a. ǹgàngà (pride) b. nganye (beading) c. ngado (hooking) d. ngacha (raking) e. ngakọta (pinning together) from the above data, (9a c) can be represented in the sentences thus: 10. a. ǹgàngà ya dì egwù pride 3sg be fear his pride is too much b. nganye ọlà ntị ahụ adịghī mmā beading ear ring dem pr-be-neg good the beading of that ear ring is not good c. ngàdo ogwu ahụ dị omimi hooking thong dem be deep. the hooking of that thong is deep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 30 from the foregoing, it is observed that the verb ga has different meanings in the sentences. it also takes different affixes to extend its meaning. ga as an auxiliary in igbo, there exist a number of auxiliaries. they have their phonological shapes and their syntactic behaviours respectively which vary from dialect to dialect. ga is among the well known auxiliaries recognized in igbo. nwachukwu (1983:122) posits that igbo auxiliaries are verbs because they can take inflectional affixes which are the strongest diagnostic test for verbs.” however, unlike full verbs which can be the only verbals in sentences, the auxiliaries cannot be found alone. they are always obligatorily used with the participle verb complement, that is, bound verb complement which are dominated by the verb. nwachukwu (1983:123) adds that in “terms of feature specifications, full verb are [+ v, aux] where auxiliaries are [+ v, + aux]”. he further comments that “the dependent nature of the auxiliary in an utterance is confirmed by the fact that whenever there is need to emphasis the meaning of the sentence by a cognate verbal qualification, this element (the bound cognate noun) is derived from the verb rather than from the auxiliary.” unlike the full verbs, auxiliaries cannot be used to derive any item. mbah (2011:20) contends that “the auxiliaries verb helps the main verb to function properly or have specific meaning.” we are going to discuss the auxiliary ga in below: ga can be used to express future time meaning (aspect) ga and the participle verb can be used to express future time meaning. in terms of semantic ‘implications of ga welmers and welmers (1968:73) quoted in nwachukwu (1983) posit that the verb form with ga is used for referring “to future” rather than “intensions”, something not yet begun.” winston (1973:151) quoted in nwachukwu (1983) contends that ga future also expresses probability or expectation” in addition to “literal future time”. consider the following examples expressing the affirmative and the negative counterparts: 11. a. ezè gà-èje ụkà ezè agāghī eje ụkà eze fut-pr-go church eze pr-go-neg-pr-go church eze will go to church eze will not go to church b. uchè gà-àbịa echi uchè agāghī ābịa echi uche fut-pr-come tomorrow uche pr-fut-neg-pr-come tomorrow uche will come tomorrow uche will not come tomorrow in the above data, the auxiliary is consistently on a low tone, following by the participle verb. the above sentences indicate simple future time meaning. furthermore, the ga future marker and the participle verb “aga” can co-occur in the sentence as in: 12. a. ọ gà-àga ụkà ọ agāghī āga ụkà 3sg fut-pr-go church 3sg pr-fut-neg pr-go church he will not go to church he will not go to church b. ọ gà-àga nga ọ agāghī āga nga 3sg fut pr-go prison 3sg pr-fut-neg pr-go prison he will go to prison he will not go to prison . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 31 the below examples express the future past time meaning that indicate unfulfilled action. it is expressed with gààrà which is always on a low tone and is followed by either the participle verb or infinitive. consider these examples: 13. a. ibè gààrà èje/ìje ụkà ibè agāraghī īje/ije ụkà ibe fut-suff pr-go church ibe pr-fut-suff-neg pr-go church ibe would have go church ibe would not have go to church b. ha gààrà abịā/ịbịā ebe à ha agāraghī abịā/ịbịā ebe à 3pl fut-suff pr-come here 3pl pr-fut suff-neg pr-come here they would have come they would not have come here ga can be used to express future progressive in some dialects of igbo, ga can be used as a suffix to the verb root in order to express future progressive aspect. examples: 14. a. ha rìgà nri 3pl eat-prog food they are eating food b. ike tàgà ọjị ike chew-prog kola ike is chewing kola c. ijèọma nùgà mmirī ijeoma drink-prog water ijeoma is drinking water when ga expresses progressive, it retains its low tone. ga can be used to express future perfective ga and the participle verb plus the perfective marker can be used to express future perfective. 15. a. òbi gà-azụtala akwụkwọ obi agāghī àzụtala akwụkwọ obi fut-pr-buy-suff-perf book obi fut-pr-buy-suff-perf book obi will (already) have bought the book obi will not have bought the book b. àda gà-echutela mmirī ada agāghī echutela mmirī ada fut-pr-fetch-suff-perf water ada pr-fut-neg pr-fetch-suff-perf water ada will (already) have fetched water ada will not have fetched water it is observed that the tone ga in the affirmative is low whereas in the negative becomes downstep with the negator ghị. ga as a plural enclitic ga can occur alone as an enclitic to indicate plural. it is glossed as some. consider the following examples. 16. a. àda bùte oche ga. . . . . . current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 32 ada bring-suff chair some. ada bring some chairs. b. ọ chọrọ akwụkwọ ga. 3sg want-rvpst book some. he wanted some books. c. akwụkwọ ga kà ọ chọ̀̀̀ ̀ rọ̀̀̀ ̀ . books some that 3sg want-rvpst. some books that he wanted. d. òbi, uchè nà egō bụ̀̀gà ụmụ̀̀nnē m. obi, uche and ego are siblings me. obi, uche and ego are my siblings. in the above data, ga becomes high tone and follows the nouns in the sentences to indicate plurality in (16a – c) whereas in (16d), it is attached to the verb to indicate plurality. conclusion in this work, we have analyzed ga as a homonymous lexeme in igbo. phonologically, ga can be realized as single lexeme but it can be semantically interpreted in different ways. it is observed that ga can function as a verb, auxiliary as well as plural marker in the syntactic structures. it can accept inherent complements. it can also take different affixes to extend its meaning in the syntactic structures. finally, if ga stands alone without any inherent complements or affixes, it will be semantically empty and ambiguous. therefore, as a homonymous lexeme, it needs inherent complements and attachment of different affixes to enable it become meaningful in the syntactic structures. references allan, k. 1986. semantics: an overview. in bright w. (ed). international encyclopedia of language. new york: oxford university press. vol. 11, 394 – 398. anagbogu, p.n, mbah, b.m and c.a. eme 2010. introduction to linguistics (2nd edition). awka dreams. crystal, d. 2007. a dictionary of linguistics and phonetics (15th edition). singapore: blackwell publishing. emenanjo, e.n. 1987. elements of modern igbo grammar. ibadan: university press. green, m.m and igwe, g.e.1963. a descriptive grammar of igbo. london: oxford university press. mbah, b.m. 2006. gb syntax: theory and application to igbo. enugu: st john-afam publications. mbah, b.m. 2011. gb syntax: a minimalist theory and application to igbo. cidjap press. ndimele, o.m. 1999. semantics and the frontier of communication (2nd edition). port harcourt: university of port harcourt press. current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 33 nwachukwu, p.a. 1983. reading on igbo verb. onitsha: africana feb. saeed j. 2003. semantics. oxford: blackwell welmers, w.m and b.e. welmers. 1968. igbo: a learner’s manual. los angeles: privalely publisher. winston, f.d.d. 1973. polarity, mood and aspect in ohuhu igbo verbs. africa language studies. 14.119 – 178 yule, g. 2006. the study of language (3rd edition). cambridge: cambridge university press. through the prism of history: ecological re-reading of wale okediran’s after the flood ikechukwu asika & chisom asika abstract through the prism of history, this paper examines ecological issues in okediran’s after the flood. ecological issues have been widely recognized as one of the major threats facing the planet, as man’s activities continue to endanger his ecosystem leaving in its wake, myriads of hazards and lethal consequences. consequent upon this, environmental writers have made environmental concerns top on the agenda of literature and the creatives. wale okediran is one of the few nigerian ecological writers whose work continues to attract favourable criticism in this regard. the paper underscores the environmental issues raised in the novel, most importantly, the writer’s stance that these crises are largely manmade and avoidable. with ecocriticism as a theoretical anchor, the study concludes on the confluence of history and literature in addressing environmental crisis as gleaned from okediran’s after the flood, vis-à-vis the practicable ways environmental issues can be addressed towards a healthy, humane, and more habitable society. keywords: ecology, degradation, exploitation, environment, history, hazard, humanity introduction unarguable, the ecological crisis is one of the most widely discussed issues at the turn of the 21st century. the reason is simply in the fact that it has become evidently glaring that our planet is on the verge of collapse resulting from man’s activities against nature and his natural environment. for sure, literature as a field of study is not unaffected by this new turn of events, for the sustenance of ecology and ecological discourse requires a more permeative model which literature comes in handy by the virtue of its power to reach out and speak to all manner of persons. it has the peculiarities to last longer and treat issues with more perceptiveness, more balance, and more inspiration. therefore, it is no gain saying that literature has a major role to play in the present environmental crisis as it continues to beam as a pointer to man and his responsibility to his environment. tracing the chronological rise of environmental literature at different epochs in nigeria, chinyere nwahunaya notes that in general, in all genres represented, (in his book) the concern of the writers have been mainly on environmental degradation and its consequences; and moral issues. others confront issues such as health and disease, lack of infrastructure, the need for human capital development and capacity building and socio-economic empowerment and political marginalization of the region… (xix) environmental issues are fast dominating literary scene which prompted the present study to pry into the ecological leanings in wale okediran’s after the flood, as part of contributing to ecocritical discourse and enriching the literature in this important area of scholarship. wale okediran is one of the voices in nigerian literature in the 21st century. like adichie, unaigwe, ujubuonu, habila, and a host of other household names, okediran’s creative talent is well harnessed to fulfill the goal of literature evident in the corpus of works produced in decades of writing. born april 14 1955 in oyo nigeria, okediran has published novels and short stories in several journals in nigeria and overseas. in june 2010, together with a few friends, he established the first writers' resort in nigeria, the ebedi international writers resort in iseyin, oyo state. a former president of the association of nigerian authors (ana), okediran is also a physician, writer, and politician and has represented his constituency in nigeria’s federal house of representatives. okediran is a joint winner of the 2010 wole soyinka prize for literature in africa which he shared with south africa’s kopano matiwa with his acclaimed novel, tenants of the house. his other publications include, the boys at the border (1991) strange encounters (2004) dreams die at twilight (2001) rainbows are for lovers (1987) tenants of a house (2009) the weaving looms (2005). first published in 2003, reprinted in 2004, 2008, and revised in 2012, the novel, after the flood is set against the background of death and destruction wrought by ogunpa flood disaster. the novel is categorized by anthony njoku and gloria eke as one of the lachrymal works of literature coming from africa, a branding charles nnolim used to label african literature as weeping literature, a literature of lamentation, a product of tears from slavery and colonialism. the critics affirm: wale okediran’s after the flood stands tall as a gland of tears, a nest of pain, synonymous with sorrow, mourning, and weeping in the valley of grief. in the novel, beasts and humans are savagely and tragically cut off from life by wild floods and thunderstorms. bloated carcasses and cadavers like zoomed images litter the streets, constituting a tragic scene as elemental forces run amok… (24). okediran ranks among the few nigerian writers whose works are concerned with the problems and devastations of the natural environment. others include isidore okpewho, kaine agary, tanure ojaide, ifeoma okoye, helon habila, chiemeka garricks, to mention only a few writers. after the flood is largely concerned with the problems of flooding, pollution, environmental degradation which makes it an interesting literary piece for eco-critical discourse. set in ibadan, the novel recreates, though fictionally, the flood devastation of the city of ibadan in 1980. this day newspaper editorial on 31st august 2011 accounts that: wale okediran’s after the flood is a fictional replay of the inundation of the city of ibadan in 1980, which took a toll on lives and property. okediran acknowledged this incident as the source of his inspiration in the sun’s interview of july 6, 2013, thus, ’after the flood was inspired by the ogunpa flood disaster, which ravaged ibadan in 1980’ indeed, this carnage left indelible relics in the annals of the city and its inhabitants. (qtd in njoku and eke 25) ‘to memorialize that ‘omiyale’ tragedy, many songs were rendered by leading fuji and juju artistes of the time while politicians bickered about whose responsibility it was to ensure it would never happen again. at the end, the ogunpa river which overflew its banks and resulted in many of the deaths was channelized and many people believed a lasting solution had been found. (njoku and eke 25) however, anthony njoku and linda gloria in their criticism of the novel, after the flood expose that the novel lacks that mutation necessary for an object that is bound to become a literary creation through the tinkering craftsmanship of an artist, the consequences of which are this melodramatic portrayal of reality in a supposedly de facto fictional world. in their view, okediran allows the harrowing emotions of flood victims to pour like the stupendous floods themselves into fiction in a way that makes the reader to wonder if one is actually in an imaginary universe. here a very blurred and graphic painting of the empirical begets fiction (47). nevertheless, the novel has made its mark on the nigerian literary scene and beyond and continues to elicit critical commentaries mostly on eco-critical discourse in postcolonial nigeria. ecological issues in wale okediran’s after the flood wale okediran’s after the flood, like earlier stated, ‘is a fictional replay of the inundation of the city of ibadan in 1980, which took a toll on lives and property. inspired by the ogunpa flood disaster, which ravaged ibadan in 1980, and the carnage it left behind, the novel presents the lethal consequences of environmental degradation on not just the environment but on the lives of the people. the failure to take care of our environment and provide lasting solutions to several environmental issues is the chief cause of many of the tragedies witnessed not just in nigeria but around the world. ecological issues have become a global concern even as man continues to reap several of its actions and negligence to the environment. the tragic scenarios and sad atmosphere that pervade the novel is as a result of the over flooding by the ogunpa river due to excess rain beyond what its bowels could carry. for sure, rainfall is a natural phenomenon that is unavoidable, but how this nature’s gift is managed and harnessed to be harmless on humans is manmade and can be controlled with careful planning. the beginning of the novel introduces us to a situation of imminent heavy rainfall. with the howling of the wind and clappings of thunder, the evening suddenly gave way to a heavy storm. (1) as a prelude to our argument in this study, it is worthy to note that though it was very heavy rain, nonetheless, it didn’t take the people by surprise. the rain had started gradually till it increased to a menacing level and there were warnings and signs from the weather and even weather reporters. the argument is that in a saner clime and other developed countries where the lives and property of the people is the sole priority of the government, unlike in nigeria, from the time of the weather forecast, adequate measures ought to have been put in place to forestall eventful moments. of course, ogunpa river would not have flooded in the first place if the government and contractors did their best to dredge as well as provide befitting channels for the flow of the river. typical of nigeria as gleaned from the narrative, people went on with their duties unconcerned about the rain that has turned to a storm. in civilized countries too, the flooding would have been detected and measures put in place to avert its looming tragedy and protecting lives and property will be the sole priority of all concerned agencies. with a state of emergency earlier declared on the areas near the river, everyone would be placed on red alert and none would be allowed to engage on frivolities during the predicted time of the rain. ironically, the case is in reverse in nigeria and worst still with sade, the wife of stanley who left behind her little son, tomi with a young maid, beauty, two young fellows who are unable to fend for themselves, to attend a party. even when the signs were evident that it might flood, the party occupied a greater portion in her mind that night. ‘this rain is getting heavier. i pray it doesn’t result in another ogunpa river flood.’ sade was feeling nervous. ‘relax, sade. how can this light rain cause a flood? your house is well built and safe. you know that.’ ‘i hope so, nana… ‘you know the house isn’t far from the river.’ (5) despite these initial fears, sade focused on the party, celebrating with nana on her twenty first birthday was her priority. the action of sade is only a reflection of the actions of other inhabitants of the city as the storm rages and ogunpa river continue to suck in more water before it finally flooded. none was reported to be prepared for an emergency: it was now 11 pm and the rain had been falling nonstop for hours. the ogunpa channel was having problems coping with the torrential rainfall…. it was not long before the swollen river broke its bank. the flood became unstoppable as it swept across the land adjacent to the river’s banks. before long it washed away the bridges and houses. since the river took its source from the northern part of the city where the flood had not yet exercised its force, houses in this neighbourhood including james’, were yet unaffected. thus, the guests at nana’s party were oblivious of the disaster going on in the city. (8) oblivious of the situation, the guests carried on with the party. men were making advances on the ladies; lovers were hooking up for the night as ogunpa river floods the city. sade too ran into an old boyfriend, sam boyo who discomforted her and made her uneasy all through the party. even james, nana’s man was all eyes for sade. beyond their unpreparedness in the face of the flooding, the inhabitants of the city are guilty of dumping all manner of refuse in the river bed which impeded the river’s smooth flow and made the flood spread into any available space along the river. again, the unplanned nature of the city contributed to the rate of the disaster. the city was described as overcrowded with several dilapidated and unregulated buildings along the roads. houses stand in the water runways and no one cared. the inhabitants of the city in many ways contribute to the problems leading to environmental disaster supporting our argument here that environmental degradation and its consequences on the people are largely manmade. what we witnessed in the narrative the response of an ‘angry nature’ the sole reason the writer described the flood as ‘an angry flood’ thus: as the angry flood flowed towards the city and sewage channels, it becomes more violent. to worsen the situation, different kinds of refuse which the inhabitants of the city had dumped into the river bed, also impeded the river’s smooth flow, and made the flood spread into any available space along the river. it caused a great disaster in the overcrowded heart of the city where the streets were narrow and many dilapidated buildings stood in utter defiance of planning regulations. houses here, most of them mud, were collapsing like sand castles as the destructive tongue of the ogunpa river licked them off the ground. (8) the continual abuse of nature and insensitivity on the parts of the people can only predict far worse disasters like the ogunpa river flood as witnessed in the novel. the flooding was terrible and menacing in all dimensions– children died in their numbers; death, tears, and hardship were left behind after the disaster. parents watched helplessly as their children were carried away and fathers gapped helplessly while their hard earned property float away with the flood like nothing they had ever since before. many lost their shanty buildings which shouldn’t have been in existence in the first place if the government had done more to better the lots of the citizens. in an oil-rich country such as nigeria, shanty and mud houses should only be recounted in history and not in reality but they exist as evidence of poverty, negligence and backwardness which the country can proudly boast of. the author reports: the storm had destroyed the power lines and thrown the nieghbourhood into darkness. parents could not help their drowning children; neither could children save their parents from the rampaging monster. piercing screams of the drowning and the wailing agonies of mothers who could no longer trace their children were heard in the dark night of horror. (8) the novel, after the flood centers more on sade and stanley, the two major characters created by wale okediran to be core representative other humans under the various forms of environmental degradation and exploitation and its over-reaching consequences on them. the environmental crisis in the novel was the chief factor that caused stanley and sade their peaceful marriage after the loss of their son, timi. after the loss of their marriage, their lives never became the same again and normalcy fled from their lives. following the loss of their only son, tomi, stanley lost his temper and for the first time in his marriage with sade, he raised his hands and did not just beat her but beat her mercilessly to the point of stupor and even to the side of what looked like an attempted suicide: as the blood pressure cuff tightened to her left arm, sade’s mind went back to the oneweek stay in the hospital. she was glad that she was now fully rested and, except for her swollen left eye and the plaster on her forehead… stanley had inflicted the injury on her when he lost his temper. apart from the swollen eye and the deep gash on the forehead which had required three stitches, her irate husband had also broken one of the teeth. it was the hospital porters who came to her rescue when they heard her cries… (14) the environmental crisis proved enough to destroy not just the lives of stanley and sade but the chains of other characters too. it made some complicit in a crime they would not ordinarily have committed as we could see in the lives of pa and ma lasisi. just like the speed of the ogunpa flood after it lost its temper, so was the speed of the disaster and the loss in the life of sade and other characters. ‘she never thought he could ever lose his temper to the point of hitting her, something had never done before. (15) stanley was embittered at the sight of a reckless wife who abandoned her little child to indulge in what he accused her to be a promiscuous act with her ex-boy friend at a birthday party. even nana accused sade of attempts to snatch her boyfriend at the party after she found the colour of sade’s lipstick on james’ lips. the novel, in a nutshell, examines the cases of exploitation of the environment, and how the environment is capable of fighting back, and the extent that the impact of such could be felt as lethal and devastating. there is no gainsaying that the level of exploitation and environmental degradation in wale okaderian’s after the flood is quite alarming and disheartening. the writer employs the use of certain characters to recount the issues and problems of exploitation. the military government and the citizens at large are all guilty of exploiting the environment to their collective detriment. as revealed in the novel, the ogunpa river is the duty of the government to rebuild. interestingly, the government allocated money for the construction of water canals and channels to forestall the damaging impact of the flooding. sadly, stanley’s co-contractors resorted to loot the fund and employing inferior materials to execute the projects. these contracts become symbolic, prototypes, and microcosmic representations of selfish leaders, politicians, and individuals who masquerade all around society holding its peace and progress to ransom. their efforts translate to exploitation of both human beings and the environment which the end product of this negligence results in ogunpa losing its temper as one of the characters laments while the flood rages on: ‘ha, ogunpa has lost her temper,’ a young man from the crowd shouted as he ran from the scene with the others following him. suddenly, another clap of thunder rang out and the mud walls of the shrine collapsed on the frail chief priest. apart from hundreds of people made homeless by the flood, countless others either got drowned in the flood or were killed by the falling walls. road railway lines and vast areas of farmlands were washed away. (9) the above excerpt rings a bell in one’s mind on how poor governance and negligence has eaten deep into the environment and how a poor environment keeps our lives at risk. one of the heartbreaking scenes during the flooding is the encounter between an old train driver and his teeming passengers. in the wake of the flooding, an old driver plunged into the river with his passengers after he had mistaken the flooded side of the river as the usual rail track, the pathway on the bridge he follows to cross it regularly. the twenty-coach train glided into the gaping frothy water of the angry river amidst the screams and wails of the over two hundred women and children and their lives were lost in the most gruesome manner. (40) the scene of wreckages and destruction left behind by the flood can best be imagined than described. deaths, collapsed buildings, destroyed property, irreplaceable losses, broken dreams, and families who knew their lives will never remain the same again. the environment like a dracula opened wide its jaws and swallowed people in their numbers: within that same neighbourhood, the destruction continued unabated. cars, houses, and belongings were swept away by the river. the destruction of electricity and all communication facilities plunged most of the city into pitch blackness. above the noise of the storm and thunder, the occasional screams and howls of the dying and drowning could be heard. once in a while from the illumination of the lightning, the bodies of infants and children could be seen floating on the river. and as major water pipes and aqueducts ruptured, water from the city massive dam was now being added to the mayhem. some tension wires electrocuted a great number of people. (41) some of the government property located around their river was smashed, all the power line were destroyed leaving the neigbhourhood in total darkness. people’s life time investments were shattered as they floated away like garbage. stanley’s building was also carried away by the flood while his wife was at her best friend’s 21st birthday, leaving the poor house girl, beauty to save the life of the helpless tomi, barely three months old. while the walls collapse and cave in, beauty’s bravery leaves much to be admired as she fought even till the last hour of her death to save the young innocent tomi: “…the water level rose rapidly and soon it was waist-high. a bump at her waist made her look down; she noticed a plastic laundry bucket. it was about two feet in length and two feet in circumference… she quickly dropped tomi in the bucket and the lid shut itself through a spring device attached to the lid…. by now, the water had reached beauty’s breast level. she continued crying, trying to see how to escape with the baby in the bucket. suddenly another loud clap of thunder rang out and the remaining wall caved in. beauty was knocked unconscious by the falling brick. she did not feel much pain, not even discomfort as the water swallowed her. but she lost her grip on the laundry bucket as it swept through the opening door to join the river which had now overrun the house” (42). the environmental crisis which culminated in the ogunpa flood became a deciding factor and a turning point in the life of sade and her family. she did not only lose her marriage, she was heavily criticized by her colleagues and she also faced betrayal from her best friend nana. in the end, the city general hospital sacked her for incompetence. later, she got a job at a christian medical hospital by the help of pastor adeoye. yet, while struggling to rebuild her life, her past came calling. with the scandal her ex-boyfriend published on the front page of the city echo newspaper her past engulfed her once more and with the persistent sexual advances of pastor adeoye, sade’s life was upturned and her struggles take another pedestal. one of the insightful satirical bits in the novel is the excruciating reality that it is not only the government that exploits us rather the masses are complicit in fueling exploitation and environmental crises. as recounted by the author, after the first ogunpa river disaster that took hundreds of lives and destroyed properties and government facilities worth millions, the government gave out money to some contractors to help rebuild the channels to avoid another flood from happening. stanley who was among the victim of the flood fortunately was one of the privileged contractors that got a contract from the government to rebuild the ogunpa river, largely because he too was affected by the disaster. though he did the best he could to make sure the channels were well built, his fellow contractors were only interested in amassing the contract allocation. these contractors resorted to buying cheap and fake materials to rebuild the canals and the excess was dumped in their bank accounts. some of the loot was channeled to partying, drinking and lavishing money with young girls all around the town with no care about the consequences of their actions to human and nature. stanley’s co-contractors are prototypes of the cankerworms that daily feed deep into the very fabrics of our everyday lives, and they are found in many sectors of our society. after the launching of the newly constructed water channels to forestall future ogunpa river flooding menace, there was heavy rain at midnight. everyone was at peace confident that a lasting solution has been provided to checkmate the flooding. after all, millions of naira had been employed to build three gigantic channels in the form of artificial lakes to take care of the river whenever it decides to overflow its bank. initially, when the heavy rain started, the ogunpa river was taking the storm well. the water from the semi-permeable soil that characterizes the city was rushing into the wide belly of the river and going down the torrents into the three artificial lakes. the lakes seemed to be holding out well as the run-off water carrying a large amount of sediment continued to be trapped in these wide bowls of concrete and earth. (142) yet, it was only a matter of time before midnight that the anger of ogunpa erupted again and the city flooded once more, this time on innocent and unprepared populace who slept calmly in the hope that the flooding has been taken care of by the huge investment the government allocated to building the canals. ironically, the flooding was more devastating and destructive than it had ever been in the history of the ogunpa flooding. houses were swept away, government properties destroyed and hundreds of lives lost in a more agonizing and traumatizing manner. a humorous but painful experience transpired in a popular brothel in the city during the flooding. in a popular three-storeyed brothel in the red light district, commercial sex workers and their patrons were seen running up to the third floor just before the whole building gave away. people clung hopefully to the roofs of their houses, while buildings disintegrated burying the occupants under torus of masonry, wood and water. (143) one can only pause a while to imagine the tragic end of the prostitutes and their clients and from a religious viewpoint will try to imagine them facing their creator before the judgment throne. the writer laments: “ironically, the lakes which had been constructed to save the people had turned out to be the chief culprits in the disaster. the flood several million cubic meters in valuing has struck and flattened completely the high density commercial nerve centre of the town. it was indeed a night of tears and sorrow” (143). bulldozers were deployed to aid rescue workers in the grim task of recovering the dead bodies. the workers could also be seen in their masks wading through the mud as they searched for corpses (144). the damages caused by the ogunpa river were disastrous. the anguished cries of an elderly woman suddenly rent the air; her two-year old grandson’s corpse was picked up from a nearby culvert… (144). some women were lucky to find their children alive, hundreds of others were not. the lucky ones among the lost children found themselves, foster parents, just like the case of tomi, sade’s boy who was discovered by pa and ma lasisi. they found the baby in the second disaster of ogunpa river and decided to take care of him as their own since their children were wiped away in the first disaster caused by ogunpa river. the couple keeps the baby they found with no consideration of the travails and psychological trauma of the real parents following their loss. they named him moses. it was years later, after the terrible accident that claimed the life of pa lasisi and left ma lasisi at the point of death, that she handed the baby, now grown to the white doctor, dr. graham: ‘i want the white… the white doctor to take care of … of the baby please, adopt him, and treat him like your child…. (70). ma lasisi failed to divulge the identity of moses before she passed on; nonetheless, dr graham granted her the wish and took care of tomi before he travelled back to his country with his wife and left him at the mercy of another couple, mr. and mrs. shelima. true the second ogunpa flooding cannot be blamed on the government or the residents of the city, nevertheless, the environmental crisis was orchestrated by human beings embodied in the actions of the contractors who siphoned public funds and resorted to cheap materials for the construction of ogunpa river channels, which is the crux of our argument here. again, it is the duty of the government to put measures in place to checkmate and certify projects they awarded. such was not the case in the novel and if one looks deeper, one is likely to find some of the government officials in collusion with the contractors and their palms greased with a fair percentage of the loot which invariably makes the government complicit in the crime and other individuals culprit in the miasma of exploitation, corruption and environmental abuse. following the massive outcry from the general public for the heads of the contractors and politicians involved in the execution of the contract, stanley, one of the contractors, knew that the military government was bound to ask questions and carry out an investigation about the cause of the flood again. he was seen sweating profusely, as his heart beat wildly within his chest. he would feel better if civilians were in power. but with the soldiers now in charge of affairs in the country, he could not predict how they were going to react to the incident. (145) stanley, during the heat generated by the flooding, realizes how much he was cheated in the entire project. while he was given two million naira to execute his side of the contract, the other two contractors received a whopping sum of over fifty million naira. though he executed his part of the contract solidly with expertise, yet, he knew he still had questions to answer as one of the contractors of the project. while on his quest to leave the country, stanley was clamped down by the military government who placed an express order for the contractors to report themselves to the nearest police station. they were all arrested and investigation only confirmed that the majority of the contractors used inferior materials to rebuild the river banks in other to make their self-gain. apart from the carnage and massive loss after the flood, an outbreak of disease such as cholera and typhoid was imminent in the whole city all consequences of man’s abuse and negligence of his environment. though stanley was innocent since he executed his part of the contract patriotically, nevertheless, in the spur of the moment, he was arrested alongside the rest of the contractors and with the evidence that he tried to leave the country after the flooding; he was found guilty and subsequently detained in kirikiri maximum prison. years later, following several interventions, sade was able to secure stanley’s release from prison. but before his release, sade discovers the existence of her lost son, courtesy of the laundry bucket she found, a bucket she lost years ago after the flood. it was the same laundry bucket beauty had placed tomi on that night of flood before she died and with that discovery sade passed through several bizarre experiences to recover her son. sade ends up in prison, after she was accused of stealing a child. she had stolen tomi, now moses, and ran since mr. and mrs. shelima could not release the boy to her for want of evidence to back up her claim as his mother. stanley secures his release through the process already initiated by sade and he goes in search of her with a lawyer to secure her release, armed with evidence to reclaim their child. the writer captures this last scenario thus: when mr. opobo arrived in kano the following day, he was allowed to see sade in the company of stanley. sade was ecstatic to see the two of them and she clung to stanley and cried profusely. ‘i never knew you would come. i thought i’d reach the end,’ she said, in between sobs. ‘yes, i am here. i was just released two days ago. very soon my dear, our son will be free too,’ stanley replied, as he held the trembling body of his. ‘it seems like a dream,’ sade continued. ‘my dear, i’ve come for you and it’s not a dream… from now on, all will be well.’ (193) all are expected to be well again for the couple though it will be difficult trying to fix their lives together again moving forward. in a similar fashion, all are invariably expected to be well if man will learn how better to deal and cope with nature. ogunpa river’s temper that resulted to flooding and loss of lives is only a representation of several other examples, across the globe where nature has lost its temper and charges destructively due to man’s excesses and abuse. again, stanley's appearance to save sade leaves a lesson that connects to our critical thoughts on man and his natural environment. sade, shoving the past away, did everything she could to secure stanley’s release and before her actions could come to fruition, she steals ‘her child’ and lands in prison awaiting the worst until stanley, now free, came for her. this cyclic bout of good gestures only proves that ‘one good deserves another. and drawing from this inspiration, to sum up our argument in this paper, we end that: one good turn on the environment will definitely deserve another. if we take care of the environment, all will certainly be well with us just as it obviously will be in the lives of stanley and sade afterwards. on the contrary, if we neglect the environment and continue to abuse, rob, and exploit it, the consequence of its anger and retaliation will certainly be at the height of human peril. this lesson is clear and seems the most vital take-home knowledge from the chains of episodic and sordid events that made up the structural framework of the disheartening story of a flood disaster made possible by the negligence of the environment in wale okediran’s after the flood. conclusion the novel, after the flood, brings to the limelight the consequences of environmental degradation and manmade actions against the nation. from the government who amass who neglect their duties to the politicians who fuel and profit from the neglect, down to the citizens who fail to do their part to protect nature, the natural environment, and the entire ecosystem, the novel satirically sound the bell on impending environmental crises around us. all around us today and glaring signs of imminent environmental ‘anger’ and ‘protest’ looming as a result of our activities to nature, typical of ogunpa river anger that left carnages and traumatic relics behind. wale okediran through careful and artistic creation and placement of these events and incidents or situations, beckoned on the minds of everyone concerned on the need to embrace lasting solutions towards curbing the environmental challenges. there is something for us to learn from history if we must forestall future environmental disasters looming all around us. this is akin to the position of anthony njoku and gloria eke that ‘what goes around comes around and in as much as humans, especially africans, in view of our common experience, tend not to learn from history. there was an encore in august 2011 when another tragedy struck. the author recognizes this fact in the same sun’s interview and noted: ‘when the same flood disaster occurred in ibadan two years ago, longman re-issued the book for wide spread distribution to schools in oyo state as a way of reminding us about the ability of history to repeat itself if care is not taken.’ (25) it is high time we allowed history to guide our further decisions and dealings with our environment which is posing greater danger daily and threatens our collective existence. to this end, the paper reechoes that the novel, after the flood makes an interesting ecocritical reading. it hinges on the lethal consequences and aftermaths of environmental abuse and pollution thus the fitting title –after the flood– what awaits us at the end of nature’s tunnel after our deed of abuse and exploitation is done at our own end of the tunnel. environmental crises can largely be avoided if we are honest enough to admit the truth and assume full responsibility for our ecosystem. the novel, after the flood, no doubt will continue to elicit critical thoughts that will enrich scholarship in eco-critical discourse but beyond all that will be said, the lesson is imprinted in our hearts that the environment is our to nurture not to plunder, our to save and not to loot. works cited asika, ikechukwu. literary appreciation: a practical demonstration. awka: scoa heritage nig. ltd 2015. --“the parasite and the host, oil exploration and exploitation of the niger delta: the poet’s reflection.” in five decades of oil production in nigeria: impact on the niger delta. vol 1, 2012. pp 215-230. --“poetry and militancy: niger-delta crisis and environmental concerns in odia ofeimun’s go tell the generals and peter onwudinjo’s camp fire songs.” ansu journal of integrated knowledge. vol. 1, no, i, 2011. pp 190-201. bagu, philip. “literature and enviromental degradation in nigeria: lessons from isidore okpewho’s tides” journal of nigerian english and literature. vol 8, june, 2010. igba luga camel. “environmental exploration in niyi osundare’s eye of the earth” journal of nigerian english and literature. vol 8, june 2010. njoku, anthony and eke, gloria. “suspense and catharsis as devices in tragic narratives: a reading of uwem akpan’s say you’re one of them and wale okediran’s after the flood” european journal of english language and literature studies vol.4, no.2, 2016. pp. 22-30. njoku, anthony and goin, linda. “irony as narrative tool in uwem akpan’s say you’re one of them and wale okediran’s after the flood: a comparative approach” european journal of english language and literature studies. vol.4, no.3, 2016. pp. 37-48. nwahunanya, chinyere. “introduction: from boom to doomthe niger delta in contemporary nigerian literature.” from boom to doom: protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the niger delta. edited by chinyere nwahunnaya.owerri: springfield publishers, 2011. nnolim, charles. approaches to the african novel: essay in analysis. port harcourt: sacross int. publishers, 1992. okediran, wale. after the flood. lagos: learn africa p.l.c., 2003. santangelo byron. “different shades of green: eco-criticism and african literature.” african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory. ed. ato quayson and olaniyan tejumola. usa: blackwell publishing ltd, 2007. slaymaker william. “ecoing the other(s): the call of global green and slack african responses,” african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory. ed. ato quayson and olaniyan tejumola. usa: blackwell publishing ltd, 2007. colour studies: theory and practice 23 chapter three colour studies: theory and practice chidiebere onwuekwe, chika chudi-duru, valentine ani introduction he study of colour is interesting. the value of human life would be meaningless without colour. this is because colour helps to enhance the beauty of both man-made and natural phenomena. colour is not easy to define, it simply explains what the eyes see or interpret in the presence of light. according to ngumah, ayoola, dalhatu, and samkay (2013), colour is the interplay of the eyes with the light. in other words the word colour cannot exist without the presence of light, it depends on light. ogumor (2007) sees colour as the waves of light separated by different things before reaching our eyes. colour is perception. the eyes see something (the sky, for example), and data sent from the eyes to the brains tells one it is a certain colour (blue). objects reflect light in different combinations of wavelengths. the brains pick up on those wavelength combinations and translate them into the phenomenon called colour (decker, 2017). in basic design, colour is seen as a pigment applied on a design surface. therefore colour is the application of pigment to a surface, shape, or design. there are varieties of colours and for easy understanding, colours can be t onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 24 discussed under the following terms; as, the visual response to different wavelengths of sunlight identified as red, green, blue and so on, having the physical properties of hue, intensity and value. in the field of arts and basic design, colour is seen as a pigment or substance used in organizing or arranging the other elements of art on a design or an object to satisfy our sense of beauty. features of colours light this is an agent of illumination that stimulates the sense of sight. it is the source of colour which begins and is derived from electromagnetic wavelengths from ambient light (sun) or artificial sources such as spot lamps. where there is light, there is colour. where there is little light there is little colour, and here there is strong light, the colour is likely to be intense. whenever the light is weak, such as at dusk or dawn, it is difficult to distinguish one colour from another. under bright strong, sunlight, as in tropical climates, colours seem to take an additional intensity; ocvirk (2006). every ray of light coming from the sun is composed of waves that vibrate at different speeds. humans see colours in light waves. mixing light—or the additive colour mixing model—allows one to create colours by mixing red, green and blue light sources of various intensities. the more light someone adds, the brighter the colour mix becomes. if one mixes all three colours of light, the result is pure, white light (decker, 2017). again, there is the pigment colour colour studies: theory and practice 25 mixing model. among the colours to be mixed as such are red-yellow-blue and cyan-magenta-yellow ones. tints, shades and tones tint: if white is added to any hue or colour, it is made lighter and the result is called a tint. shade: are relative darkness, dimness and the absence of light ocvirk (2006). shade is also the dark part of anything. it is the shadow. it can also be seen as a shield or screen protecting from bright light. shade is a place sheltered from the sun. if black is added to any colour, the darker version of it is called a shade. tones: this is when grey (black + white) is added, and the result is a different colour level of the same colour. hue: hue or colour is characteristic to which a name such as blue, red, or yellow is given to distinguish it from others. ocvirk (2006) explains hue as the name which differentiates one colour from another; there are red hue, yellow hue, and blue hues. hue is therefore another name for colour. in a colour chart, there are primary hues, secondary hues, and intermediate hues as the case may be. the hues of colour are divided into warm and cool hues. warm hues are very bright and appear to advance towards the viewer when they are in the company of other colours. warm hues are red, orange, and yellow. cool hues are those colours that do not appear very bright and they tend onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 26 to move backwards in the group of other colours. the cool hues are green, blue, and purple. therefore warm hues advance (i.e. coming forward) while cool hues recede (i.e. going backwards). intensity: intensity is the degree of brightness of a hue, rather than value (ocvirk 2006). intensity depends on the amount of greyness in a colour. the intensity of a colour is its relative purity or brilliance. chroma is another name for intensity, that is; the brightness or dullness of a hue. the word ‘chroma’ is used to differentiate a bright colour from a dull colour of the same hue, for example, bright blue and dull blue, bright red and dull red. similarly, (mckinley, 2016) observes that intensity is also the dimension of colour that tells the brightness or dullness, its strength or its weakness. intensity describes the distance of the colour from grey on the colour wheel classification of colours ngumah, et al (2013) classified colour as follows; primary colour the primary colour is a basic colour which cannot be derived from a mixture of other colours. primary colour is the three colours that cannot be got through mixing other colours. primary colour is used to obtain other colours depending on their mixture; they are red, blue and yellow. however, there are two categories of primary colours; additive primary colours (pigment) and colour studies: theory and practice 27 subtractive ones (light). decker (2017) adds that tvs, screens and projectors use red, green and blue (rgb) as their primary colours, and then mix them to create other colours. fig 1: three primary colours (additive); red, blue, and yellow (vector art: emodi, 2021) fig 2: another set of primary colours (additive, pigments); cyan, magenta and yellow. (vector art: emodi, 2021) fig 3: an illustration of the additive colour mixing, red light, blur light and green light. source: https://99designs.com/blog tips/the7-step-guide-to-understanding-color-theory/ onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 28 secondary colour secondary colours are those colours which are derived from a mixture of two primary colours in equal proportion. the secondary colours are orange purple and green. fig 4: the secondary colour chart. source: color mixing clipart 20 free cliparts | download images on clipground 2023 tertiary colour tertiary colour is the mixture of two secondary colours (ocvirk, et al 2006). for example, tertiary yellow appears like smoky yellow, tertiary blue is known as slate blue, and tertiary red is known as old red brick. according to (ocvirk, et al 2006), tertiary colours are partly neutralized colours that can be obtained by a colour studies: theory and practice 29 mixture of two secondary colours or they can be called neutralized primary colours. for example, blue dominates tertiary blue while yellow dominates tertiary yellow and red dominate tertiary red. the tertiary colours are identified by colours common to the two secondary colours, for example, purple and green have blue in common, while green and orange have yellow in common, and orange and purple have red in common. harmonious colour harmonious colours are colours that have a relationship with each other, ogumor (2007). they seem to belong to one family group and can be grouped into three monochromatic, analogous, and opposites (ocvirk, et al, 2006). monochromatic is a variation of a single hue, analogous is a family group of three or more closely allied colours, while opposites are complementary colours, they are pairs of diametrically opposite hues with regards to dominance in the colour wheel. complimentary colours are colours opposite each other in the colour wheel. they are colours that show marked differences when placed near each other, therefore red is said to be complementary to green, yellow is complementary to purple and orange is complementary to blue. intermediate or tertiary colour these are derived by mixing one primary colour and one secondary colour. the intermediate colour is a onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 30 result of a colour got from the mixture of a secondary colour and a primary colour. in a colour wheel, the intermediate colour lies mid-way between one primary and one secondary colour, ngumah, et al (2013) state the intermediate colour as; fig 5: the tertiary colour chart (vector art: emodi, 2021) neutral colour neutral colours are black, white and grey, (ocvirk, et al 2006),. they do not belong to any of the colour classes mentioned above. the neutral colour can go well with any other colour. according to (ocvirk, et al 2006), in colouring, tint is white, while shade is black. neutral colours, are colours of very low saturation, approaching greys. colour studies: theory and practice 31 warm and cool colours warm colours are colours which in their nature appear to be hot and appear to advance towards the viewers. warm colours are orange, red, and yellow. cool colours appear calm, dull, and seem to recede from the viewers. the cool colours are green, blue, and purple, ocvirk (2006). colour wheel colour wheel is a diagram that shows the placement of colours in relationship to each other, hornby (2012). fig 6: primary colour wheel (vector art: emodi, 2021) onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 32 the colour wheel theory fig. 7: colour wheel consisting of primary, secondary and tertiary colours. pngwing.com/en/search?q= color+wheel colour theory is the collection of rules and guidelines which designers use to communicate with users through appealing colour schemes in visual interfaces. having introduced the primary, secondary and tertiary colours, it is obvious that some people still find it difficult to choose colour combinations while designing or painting. to pick the best colours every time, designers use a colour wheel and refer to extensive collected knowledge about human optical ability, psychology, culture and more(interaction design foundation). colour studies: theory and practice 33 understanding how colours interact and their relationships on the colour wheel is important for successful colour combinations. in the colour wheel, there are several colour schemes which help a beginner while embarking on a work of design. according to schippers (2019), remembering all the gradation of the colour wheel can be tricky, but there are a few major things one can easily recall when crafting your art and design. of recent, artists and designers use rules of colour combinations to find colour harmonies on the colour wheel which results in pleasing and harmonious colour combinations. in colour theory, colour harmony refers to aesthetically pleasing and harmonious colour combinations based on geometric relationships on the colour wheel (colours explained –an internet blog). it also suggests that in a work of art or design, one can use any or a combination of the colour harmonies below. still, regardless of which harmony one chooses, it is essential to pay attention to the use of warm and cool colours so that the design will not look gaudy. last but not least, consider shade, tint, and tone when working on the colour harmony or scheme of a design, as they allow one to create rich, layered colour combinations. the seven major colour harmony or schemes are monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split complementary, triadic, square, and rectangle (or tetradic). https://www.colorsexplained.com/color-theory/ https://www.colorsexplained.com/shade-tint-tone/ onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 34 fig. 8: colour harmony. source: google.com complementary colour harmony complementary pairs are colours placed on opposite ends of the colour wheel (or colour circle), and they can be primary, secondary, or tertiary colours. these harmonious colour combinations create vibrant colour palettes with high contrast. it can be inappropriate if not properly managed. split-complimentary colour harmony split complementary combinations are slightly more complex than complementary colours because they have three hues. it has one key colour and two colours adjacent to that key colour’s complement. because of that, this colour harmony has a vibrant contrast that is generally easy to use. colour studies: theory and practice 35 beginner artists and designers often move towards these types of combinations as they start to branch out into more complex colour schemes since they’re approachable and intuitive. analogous colour harmony the analogous colour harmony consists of three hues all placed next to each other on the colour wheel quite unlike complementary colour harmony which consists of complementary pairs. they usually consist of one dominant colour, and then a supporting colour. the third colour can be the first two colours blended or an accent colour that pops. analogous colour schemes are widespread in decorating and interior design. these colour harmonies tend to be eye-soothing and have a sense of visual cohesion without being too flat, overwhelming, or monochromatic. triadic colour harmony triadic colour combinations consist of three colours evenly spaced on the colour wheel. they are very versatile, and more often than not, they create a vibrant, bold colour palette. when choosing colours in harmony for a design, let one hue dominate and use the others for accents only. this way, a child-like effect could be avoided that can ruin a design. onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 36 tetradic colour harmony tetradic colour harmony has four individual colours: a key colour and three more colours, all equidistant from the key colour on the colour wheel. this colour harmony can also be referred to as a “doublecomplementary colour scheme" because it consists of two complementary colour pairs. let one colour dominate and balance the use of warm colours and cool colours wisely, and use neutrals so that the colours are noticeable where they are supposed to be. square colour harmony this consists of four colours spaced evenly around the colour wheel. to create a square colour palette, pick the key colour to start with. then identify the other colours that are equidistant from that colour. one will end up with two complementary pairs. this colour harmony is very similar to the tetradic above, however, instead of a rectangular colour scheme; it is a square colour scheme. beyond that, square colour schemes are less common than some of the other colour combination options, which can provide an opportunity to utilize one and set the design, one can always let one colour dominate and balance the colour temperature to make a square colour scheme work for a project without it looking childish. monochromatic colour harmony monochromatic colour schemes use a single colour with varying shades and tints to produce a consistent look colour studies: theory and practice 37 and feel. although it lacks colour contrast, it often ends up looking very clean and polished. it also allows one to easily change the darkness and lightness of the colours. it uses a single base hue and extends the colour scheme by using different shades, tones, and tints of that colour family. the result is a complex and rich design very different from the common misconception that monochromatic colour harmonies are dull and lifeless. when choosing the colour schemes, make sure to add enough contrast in the shades to create visual interest. with colours in harmony, one can set a mood, draw attention, or make a statement in a design. by picking a harmonious colour scheme, one can energize or cool down the project, create an ambience of elegance, warmth, and tranquillity, or convey an image of playful youthfulness. whatever is chosen, use the concept of colour harmony to make a design stand out from other art and design works. colours in harmony have the power to convey messages effectively and evoke the right feelings. in other words, it is the most powerful design element. importance of colour in basic design colour generally plays a vital role in art, especially in designing and painting. ngumah, et al (2013) states the importance of colour in design and painting as follows; • colour increases the visual effect of any art form, it makes the work beautiful. onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 38 • colour helps to make an artwork look real and interesting. • the application of colour in design and painting helps to evoke or arouse feelings in the viewers about the artwork. • colour aids in attracting attention. • colour aids in defining and interpreting forms. • colour helps to suggest mood. • colour has cultural significance. • colour helps to speed up visual search. • use colour to improve object recognition. • use colour to enhance the meaning of a piece of artwork or design. • use colour to convey structure in some book designs. • colour projects symbolism in a design. • colour communicates mood in a design piece or artwork. • colour improves usability, especially in road signs and other signs placed in the environment. questions 1. explain colour 2. prepare the colour wheel of primary colours and a colour wheel of secondary colour 3. describe how secondary colours may be achieved. 4. create a design using the primary colours only. colour studies: theory and practice 39 5. explain colour harmony in a design. 6. explain the analogous colour harmony references interaction design foundation. (2016) colour theory. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/ topics/colourtheory. decker, kris. (2017). the fundamentals of understanding colour theory. https://99designs.com/blog/tips/ the-7-stepguide-to-understanding-color-theory/. assessed 24/6/2021. hornby. a. s. (2012). oxford advanced learners’ dictionary 12th edition. london: oxford university press. mckinley, j. (2018). a colour guide. college of agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences. https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/c316.pdf ngumah, h. c, ayoola, o., dalhatu, s., and samkay, a. (2013) cultural and creative arts for junior secondary schools. ibadan: evans brothers nigeria ltd. onwuekwe, chudi-duru, & ani 40 ocvirk, o., stinson, r., wigg, p.bone, r, & cayton, d. (2006). art fundamentals: theory and practice 8th edition. new york: mcgraw hill publishers. ogumor, e. (2007). certificate art. 4th edition. ibadan: evans press ltd schippers, h.l. (2019). how the nail color wheel can enhance your art. cnd.com/blog/how-thenailcolour-wheel-can-enhance-your-art/ https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=utf8&field-author=otto+ocvirk&text=otto+ocvirk&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_2?ie=utf8&field-author=robert+stinson&text=robert+stinson&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books https://www.amazon.com/art-fundamentals-practice-otto-ocvirk/dp/0073379271 https://www.amazon.com/art-fundamentals-practice-otto-ocvirk/dp/0073379271 shades of intimidation in language use: a study of selected nigerian film grace ikechukwu & chinwe ezeh abstract it has been established in sociolinguistics that language is a social tool used in communication; hence, anybody can learn any language for effective flow of communication. nevertheless, not everybody has access to the learning of some languages that affect their lives. consequently, languages have become not only a way of perfecting inequality but also a weapon for manipulation and intimidation of others. against this backdrop, this paper explicates some shades of language intimidation using a nollywood film titled the village bride. a limited number of studies have investigated language intimidation using movie paradigm. the paper highlights shades of classification, discrimination, inequality and above all intimidation using the above mentioned film. the study adopted a qualitative research design and de hann’s and maxwell’s theory of exclusion forms the theoretical framework. the work concludes that it is sheer intimidation to use a language in a situation which the interlocutors do not have one language in common and worse still, when both are literate in another language. again, trying to deprive someone of his/her cherished belonging or property on the premise of lack of education in a particular language or dialect is a clear intimidation as being observed. the study recommends that interlocutors should try to accommodate other language users irrespective of their class. keywords – sociolinguistics, language, communication, intimidation, english language introduction language is used for different communicative purposes. the functional approach to language studies goes beyond the linguistic or formal studies of language to describing what language is used to achieve in concrete situations. in different situations, language performs different functions which could be to appeal, request, advise, apologise, assert, insult, include, exclude, intimidate and many others. society has always had a way of making distinctions between groups as a way of classifying or determining inclusion and exclusion. prominent among these parameters include race, colour, gender, social class, ethnicity, nationality occupation, language, religion (bamgbose2000, p. 25). it is a truism that anyone can learn any language; however, not everyone has access to the learning of most languages that affect their daily lives. in view of this, language continues to serve as a parameter for making distinctions between and among people. the fact that language separates people into groups makes it a convenient way of classifying, exclusion and intimidation. in every human society, language plays a very vital role. it is the basic instrument through which human beings achieve and carry out collective behavior in a particular language area. it is a powerful instrument of identification and classification. it is one of the major ways by which social inequality is perpetuated in society. thus, language has become a weapon for the manipulation of others and a tool for societal domination, exclusion, marginalization, discrimination and above all intimidation. review of literature rereading of language language is central to every human endeavour for effective functioning and availability of information to society. it is a social tool whose major function is to enable people to communicate. language has taken several definitions.quoting brooks and naldman, azikiwe (1998,p. 1) states that ‘language is a learned systematic, symbolic vocal behavior and a culturally acquired and exclusive mark of man. it is a system of articulated sounds organized by human for purposes of communication. it could be seen that language is the exclusive preserve of human without which it will be different. this presupposes that the possession of language basically makes us human. language could be said to be a means of social control. it functions symbolically and so is used for verbal communication. language is a humancharacteristic that distinguishes man from the lower animals. in a similar view, hall quoted in lyons (1981, p. 4) opines that language is “the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols” emphasizing further, lyons perceives language to be a human institution. the implication is that the language that is used by a particular society is part of that society’s culture. hence, the feature of arbitrariness which argues that there is no direct link between the form and meaning of a word is explicitly x-rayed. language is an important and personal part of everyday life. in a country characterized by multiple languages and communication and peaceful co-existence, language is one of the strongest symbols of shared culture in human society. it is an integral part of society which reflects the people’s culture. this is strongly confirmed by wardhaugh when he says: “there are several possible relationships between language and society” (1998,p.10). this implies that there exist inter-relatedness between language and society. in all, language is a social tool whose basic function is to communicate. through language, people express, define as well as share their feelings, opinions, values and experiences. george yule (2002:p.6).it then means that for communication to flow without hitches, the language of interaction should be commonly shared between the speakers. in other words, there should be a shared medium of language for effective communication to exist. however, when there is lack of shared medium; in a situation in which the interlocutors do not have one language in common, exclusion, and intimidation might set in as effective communication will not be achieved. english in nigeria situation english, though, a colonial language has come to stay in nigeria. the multilingual settings usually faced by african developing countries of which nigeria is not left behind enhanced its survival and retention. it is an invaluable legacy left behind by the british. several years after the departure of the colonial administrators and independence, “english still survives and has assumed a more important status in nigeria”. (akindele &adegbite1999,p.57). besides being a national language, it is a means of social integration among the various ethnic groups in the society. in addition, english performs three broad functions in nigeria. they include; accommodation, participation and social mobility. in terms of accommodation function, english as a world language serves as a link between people of multilingual societies of africa and beyond. hence, it is the country’s official language. in view of this, those who wish to participate in the meaningful affairs of the nation ‘must know’ english as proficiency in english is a requirement via various essential domains of the country such as education, media, politics, and so on are discussed or shared (p. 61). looking at the social mobility function, akindele and adegbite (1999, p.6). assert that ‘because of the prestige attached to the language (english) a speaker is considered an illiterate if she/he cannot speak english, even if such a person, is literate in the mother tongue’.the above scenario might serve as a tool of marginalization, exclusion as well as intimidation. classification of english users in nigeria users of english in nigeria may be classified into basilect, mesolect and acrolect. the basilect the basilect is the least prestigious variety of a language. (mcarthur tom and ferimcarthur (1992, p.109). it is spoken by the least educated people in society fosu(2014,p.23) also lends his voice that basilectal users characteristically include those who have never been to school or who dropped out early in their school life. the mesolect the mesolect is found between the basilect and acrolect in the continuum of competence. again, fosu (2014:23) describes this level as where competence in the use of language decreases. it is english spoken by the middle class. acrolect this is the variety of english spoken by the elite. it is the most prestigious variety of a language; the highest point in speech continuum. in the second language situation, that is esl, acrolect is the standard that is equivalent to standard english. as fosu(2014,p.24) states it: “in the written medium, someone who produces the acrolect may be described as being linguistically competent or proficient” . the acrolects he continues, would be used, at least in a more formal situations by those with higher levels of education. regional variation acrolect mesolect basilect diagram of social variation (online source) the implication of the above is that one’s level of education determines one’s use of english. since english is regarded as an elitist language in nigeria, it is considered synonymous with a good command of english. invariably, english is the language of the literate and apparently the educated. the ability to speak english places one higher on the social ladder than one who is unable to speak it. in agreement, bamgbose (2007, p.78) asserts that “because english is the country’s official language … a gulf is created between the elite who can manipulate it and the masses who cannot”. still on the foregoing, some group of speakers tends to exert inequality as a result of their competence in the english language. this inequality sometimes attains a worse level of intimidation and discrimination on the side of the lower level. language and social class the relationship between language and social class has been a great concern in sociolinguistics. language use and social factors are closely related. consequently, some factors such as wealth, educational status as well as occupation are considered in relation to language and social class. in a similar dimension, some social groups such as working class, upper class, middle class are sometimes, used as measures of economic status. this invariably implies that social stratification plays an important role in the ordering of groups within a society. however, that is obtainable only in britain where group hierarchy may involve into middle class english and working class english (on-line source). in the nigerian society where social class is fluid, such stratification is based on one’s level of education, the educated and non-educated/illiterates or “elite and nonelite class”. akindele and adegbite 1999, p. 12). again, elugbe and omamor (2007, p.11) lend their voice in these words: “english is an elite’s language and that of the educated …”. akindele and adegbite still maintain that since education is achieved through school, many children do not have access of formal education while some that have dropped out along the line. hear them: in a country where a greater percentage of the nation’s citizens are illiterate and do not have access to education, and also in a country where a greater percentage of which who attend school terminate their education at the primary level, there is no doubt that some children have advantage over other children … (109). the concept of intimidation the term intimidation could mean subjecting someone in a reasonable state of fear using words or other conducts. an on-line source explains that intimidation implies “intentional behavior that would cause one to fear injury or harm”. (kupfer – man and golden family law). the harm they continue might not be physical but emotional and sometimes psychological. intimidation sometimes involves threats in order to get someone to do what you want. the feeling of intimidation can make someone short of words and appear worse than one really is. synopsis of the movie the movie ‘my village bride’ is a nollywood film from the eastern part of nigeria (igbo). the researcher says so because the directors, producers, actors and audience are all igbo. besides, the film porxays igbo world view. it is a film produced by judge austine and directed by yul edochie. it is about uchenna (one of the major characters in the movie) a wealthy and educated man who lives in america; hence “america nwa” as fondly calls him by his loving mother. he marries a beautiful, hardworking but native wife named ekwutosi as arranged by his mother, agnes. ekwutosi is the first daughter/child of akunna and omeeokachie who reside in a small village called umuoji. ekwutosi seems morally upright, beautiful in appearance and manners but not refined in behaviour. in other words, her social life is formless. this ugly behaviour irritates her husband and keeps him disgusting. this is no fault of ekwutosi, she is not educated and cannot speak english. though this is not intentional, as her father was very sick and she willingly decided to drop out of school in order to help her mother make money to take care of the family since she has two other siblings to carter for. ekwutosi becomes a drop out in primary two to join the mother in ‘akara’ business. she later proceeded to opening a restaurant where she prepares delicious “ofe onugbu”.she later got to the level of making public cooking which earned her the name “osite” in the whole umuoji and its environs, thus the reason for her lack of education and ill exposure. although, ekwutosi is good in other areas, but her lack of education and her inability to speak english makes her husband treat her with contempt. most times, he intimidates her just on that ground. besides, other people including ekwutosi’s younger sister nkiru and bosom friend chinenye try hiding under the same umbrella to intimidate her and snatch her husband. to them, she does not deserve such a fine man because she is not educated. at a point the husband threw her out of their matrimonial home in the bid to marry another woman who is educated and exposed. finally, the husband returned to take her back after pleading for forgiveness. theoretical framework the paper is guided by the theory of social exclusion. social exclusion is a multi-dimensional process. it embraces diverse ways in which people may be denied full participation in society and full effective rights of citizenship in the civil, political and social spheres. (rawal 2005,p.162). according to de haan and maxwell, there are ten social structures that impact exclusion and can fluctuate over time. these include: race, geographical location, class structure, globalization, social issues, personal habits and appearance, education, religion, economics and politics (2002,p.2). social exclusion is a process in which individuals are denied some rights, opportunities and resources that are normally available to others. it is the process through which individuals or groups are wholly or excluded from full participation in the society in which they live. it is something that can happen to anyone. however, some people are significantly more at risk than others. it has been observed according to on-line source that people with certain background and experiences are disproportionately likely to suffer social exclusion. the major factors again include low income, school problems, living in a deprived neighbourhood in urban or rural areas, etc. the outcome of social exclusion is that it affects both the quality of life of individual and the equity and cohesion of society as a whole. data analysis shades of intimidation and depression are not only drawn, but clearly painted in the movie titled “my village bride”; a nigerian movie directed by yul edochie and produced by judy austin. as given in the story line, uchenna, who is an acrolect speaker, commands a high proficiency in the use of english treats his wife, ekwutosi with disdain. because ekwutosi belongs to the basilect, the least prestigious class, on the ground of not being educated in the english language. she suffers intimidation from her husband. he intimidates her in several ways simply because of her inability to speak english. he assigns task to her without considering whether she understands the message or not. in fact, he usually makes use of big words just to intimidate her the more. hear him: uchenna: “cook continental dish as mark and his wife will be visiting our home today”. ekwutosi: konti … osinoo konti…-“ instead of uchenna to explain actually what he means, when she asked him he goes ahead to add “goggle it”.this leaves her more puzzled than before as she keeps on thinking of what the word means. when she decided to enquire from stephen, the gate man, he answers: okey, come ask me again, see e get one english wee oga speak for me since last two years which i still de look for the meaning in the dictionary till today (part one). this scenario buttresses the point that uchenna does not consider the class level of his interlocutors. hence, he deliberately uses language to exert pressure on his lower interlocutors thereby intimidating them and sometimes causing depression to them. furthermore, he derives pleasure in intimidating them and punishing them sometimes. this is clearly shown in the scene where he threatened to slash stephen’s salary for speaking bad english. excerpt: uchenna: “why are you still washing cars by this time?” stephen: “sorry oga, i wake up late, i late wake up”. uchenna: “you’re speaking wrong english and if it continues i am going to slash your salary”. in a similar manner, uchenna threw his wife out of their matrimonial home as a result of another woman whom he fancies because she is educated and so belongs to the same class. when the father-in-law called to ask him what happened he simply replied “she is not my class, your daughter is not my type”. he also added …. “it cannot be resolved”. by implication, the problem cannot be resolved since she is not educated (part 2). despite his friends plea to take it easy with her fell on deaf ears. again, the case of ekwutosi’s childhood friend (chinenye) who came in disguise to rejoice and congratulate her on her marriage. after pouring out her heart to her concerning her husband’s ill behavior as a result of her inability to speak english, she promised to talk to uchenna on her behalf. ironically, she goes in to lure uchenna into marrying her instead. according to her “ekwutosi is a dons. she therefore asked uchenna to consider her since they belong to the same class while ekwutosi does not. her words: … somebody of your education and class should not stoop so low to marry a stark illiterate like this …. that girl is trouble … bundle her and send her back to her parents. i will take care of you very well since we belong to the same class (part 2). as if that was not enough, chinenye also told ekwutosi to her face while lying on her husbands’ bed during her visit. ekwutosi – looking surprised chinenye “ekwutosi, you are not educated, go back to the kitchen where you belong, i belong here”. in addition and most surprising, ekwutosi’s younger sister (nkiru) exhibits another shade of intimidation to her elder sister. in pretence to go to the city and talk sense into uchenna, she repeatedly requested for uchenna’s address. when she finally gets it, she laughs her sister at her back as she feels such a handsome and rich man does not befit her sister who is an “illiterate goat”. she tells her girl friend that she is going to the city to persuade uchenna into marrying her rather than her sister. she sees herself a better match to uchenna since she is educated and can speak english. when ekwutosi gets to know of this she cried, “all these are happening to me because i am not educated”. it was because of this sister of hers and her only brother that made her drop out of school at primary two just to give them a better future.ekwutosi faced a lot of challenges and intimidation in the hands of her close persons: husband, sister, friend. at a point in her life; she felt so depressed and traumatized that she attempted to take her life with rat poison safe for the quick intervention of her mother. (part 2). in fact, the feeling of intimidation leaves her more devastated and even worse that she appears. conclusion language is a powerful instrument of identification and classification. it performs different functions is different situations.in the field of sociolinguistics, language and social class are among the existing, parameters of classification and determining inclusion, exclusion as well as intimidation. one’s level of education places one on a social ladder of elite and non –elite class. this fluid stratification, sometimes, leads to manipulation and invariably intimidation on the non-elite group or class. it is these discursive shades of intimidation based on educational level as well as social class that, the work highlights bringing out the social and psychological effect on the victim (s). it is observed in the film under discussion that ekwutosi faces so great a psychological trauma that pushed her to attempt suicide safe for the quick intervention of her mother. the paper finally recommends a situation where language accommodation, should be encouraged especially in a multilingual situation. english should be used with caution as not everyone has the opportunity of learning it. references akindele, f& wale a.(1999).the sociology and politics of english in nigeria: an introduction.ile-ife: obafemi awolowo press azikiwe, u.(1998).language teaching and learning. onitsha: africana feb publishers ltd; bamgbose, a.(2000).language factor in participation and exclusion. in language and exclusion: the consequences of language policies in africa. hamburg: london deustshe lit 1 veralag, fosu, m.(2014).the press and political participation: newspapers and politics of linguistic exclusion and inclusion in china.uk: university of leeds. haan, a.& simon m.(2002).poverty and social exclusion in north and south. new york: st martin’s press. holmes, j. (2013).an introduction to sociolinguistics. (4th ed) routledge: london & new york, mac arthur, t. and feni, m.(1992).the oxford companion to the english language. new york: oxford university press. rawal, n. n.(2005). social inclusion and exclusion. dhanlagirijournal of sociology and anthropology 2 161-168. uni, due. terma for varieties of english. https//www.due.de.sve,sv. wardaugh, r. (2006).an introduction to sociolinguistics(5thed). singapore:blackwell publishing. yule g. (2002). the study of language (2nd ed). cambridge: cambridgeuniversity press. filmography title – my village bride 1 and 2 story – judy austin and yul edochie screen play/casting yul edochie/judy austin additional screen play – ikenna donald ekwuibe executive producer – judy austin director yul edochie actors yul edochie, judy austin adaeze chiegbu, vanessa okeke language english and igbo date 2020 chapter 1: introduction to forensic graphics contributed by muhammad bashir hashim introduction the origin of graphic design can be traced back to the paleolithic period, when the first known visual communication, known as cave art, arose around 38,000 bc (de heij, 2012). numerous cave art images and symbols were found in various sites globally, such as altamira cave paintings in spain, apollo 11 cave stones in namibia, lascaux caves in southern france, binnin kudu cave art in jigawa state, nigeria, lower pecos rock art in texas, mexico, and kakadu national park, australia, just to mention a few. those art pieces that are usually referred to as cave art or cave painting are the origin of graphic design because they were mainly made to communicate among themselves, protect themselves from dangerous animals, and indicate a specific task or action at that time. they remain fundamentals of graphic design to this day, even though cave art is far from what is seen as graphic design presently. the word graphics is a generic term; in other words, it’s a broad field of study that encompasses many disciplines. graphics is a part of our daily lives and is an amazingly powerful and persuasive tool for communication and transmission. graphics can simply be defined as a process of communication through the use of text or image, or text and image combined to convey a message from a client to a specific audience utilizing posters, postcards, packages, banners, billboards, magazines, books, logos, the internet, and so on. graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to inform, persuade, organize, stimulate, locate, muhammad bashir hashim 2 identify, attract, and convey not only information but also moods and emotions to the target audience. on the other hand, the term forensics refers to the application of scientific methods, knowledge, techniques, and/or devices to identify a crime; likewise, it can seem to be scientific knowledge and/or methods of solving problems related to crime. similarly, the term forensic refers to the application of scientific knowledge to a legal problem, especially the scientific analysis of physical evidence in court (museum, 2022). nevertheless, forensics is not just important in the courtroom; forensic evidence needs to be found before any scientific discussion in court can take place. this evidence can be found by forensic scientists and allies such as chemists, forensic graphic designers, biologists, psychologists, mathematicians, security printers, and artists. forensic graphics is a scientific aspect of graphic design that deals with the research and development of sensitive paper documents and products. the main aim of forensic graphics is to protect and safeguard valuable paper documents from forgery and counterfeiting. similarly, forensic graphics is a segment in the printing industry that focuses on the printing and protection of sensitive paper documents such as banknotes, checks, and passports, from tamper-evident, product authentication, certificates, postage stamps, identity cards, and so on. the main goal of security printing is to prevent forgery and counterfeiting. document theft the concepts of forgery, counterfeiting, piracy, faking, alteration, fraud, corruption, and bribery are some of the global crimes that have received little or no attention from the international community and governmental and non-governmental organisations (hashim, 2016). document theft is one of the major societal ills in our society. this is because organized crimes aided by forgery and counterfeiting of valuable paper documents constitute a source of major societal problems in nigeria, with introduction to forensic graphics 3 attendant consequences such as damage to all facets of nigeria's corporate existence, enormous loss of government revenue, undermining national development efforts, economic potential and political instability, erosion of efficiency, and damage to the national image (dakyes, 2009). unfortunately, these menaces have not been well addressed, especially in third-world countries like nigeria, where the problem is becoming endemic every day. document theft is said to be an aspect of fraud that has become almost a way of life for nigerians at home and abroad ladan, (2008). today, in nigeria, it is hard to see an original product without seeing a counterfeit around it. many nigerians are seriously indicted for involvement in the menace. for example, a good number of politicians are forging to win elections, civil servants counterfeit to mismanage public funds, students fake to get admission or a scholarship, lecturers forge for promotion, pharmacists fabricate substandard drugs, businessmen import pirated products, contractors are also scamming tax documents, manufacturers are producing substandard products while traders are retailing counterfeited products, and so forth. these menaces have brought a great setback to national development. for this reason, there is a need for serious and urgent efforts from colour chemists, graphic designers, researchers, security printers, and law enforcement agencies to jointly tackle this ugly phenomenon. forgery and counterfeit the words forgery and counterfeit are two different names that are synonymous in usage and different in action. forgery has to do with the unlawful altering of genuine documents, such as the name, grade, year, rank, gender, registration number, plates, passport, or signature of a genuine document, with the intent to deceive someone. while counterfeiting has to do with the complete reproduction of fake documents or products to look indistinguishable from the original, with the intent to deceive the end-users, according to the national document fraud unit, united muhammad bashir hashim 4 kingdom (ndf uk, 2014), "forgery is a form of fraud that deals with the altering of products or valuable paper documents". a forged document is an original document that is unlawfully altered with the intent to deceive, while a counterfeit is the complete reproduction of a fake version of an original document from scratch to resemble an officially issued document (ndf uk, 2014). pseudo-documents pseudo-documents are illegal documents that belong to nowhere and have no legal basis because they are not issued by a legally recognized authority under state or international law. in other words, pseudo documents are fake documents without legal basis. camouflage documents a camouflage document is an unauthorized document that claims to come from a particular state or country that does not even exist or has a new name. for example, someone holding a visa issued by the biafra nation or by the sokoto caliphate or somebody who presented a document claiming gongola or the bendel state of nigeria can be referred to as camouflage documents because the mentioned states are not legally under a state or international law. history of counterfeiting the main aim of forensic design is to prevent counterfeiting; therefore, it is essential to trace the origin of counterfeiting. the crime of counterfeiting is as old as the making of the banknote itself (giesecke & devrient, 2015). the advent of the computer, direct imaging, desktop publishing, and computerized image systems that produce excellent colour jobs makes forgery and counterfeiting of sensitive paper documents and products easier and more rampant. counterfeiting and forgery of sensitive paper documents such as banknotes, certificates of occupancy, chequebooks, statements of results, cash receipts, identity cards, letterhead papers, drivers’ licenses, school certificates, passports, tamper-evident labels, stock introduction to forensic graphics 5 certificates, postage stamps, and so forth are on the increase in africa. to minimize the menace of forgery and counterfeiting, security features are developed by forensic graphic designers and other experts in the field. security features can be classified into three types: overt, the level one security features that can be seen by our naked eyes; covert, the level two security features that can be seen with the aid of tools like a magnifying glass, ultraviolet lamp, infrared viewer and so on; and lastly, forensics, the level three security features that can only be identified in the laboratory with sophisticated devices, paraphernalia, and equipment. security features anti-scan: this is a kind of security feature that essentially prevents forgery and counterfeiting through the scanning technique of sensitive paper documents. this technique is principally achieved by integrating an anti-scan feature into the design background to protect a sensitive paper document against unauthorized copying. in other words, image and pattern are embedded into the background design’s (hidden) information, which is invisible to the naked eye under normal inspection conditions but becomes visible, legible, or readable after photocopying or being reproduced with a scanner. plate 1. anti-scan muhammad bashir hashim 6 background pattern:this is a systematic arrangement of thin lines to form a regular or irregular pattern to serve as background design as well as security features on sensitive paper documents to protect them against counterfeiting. this technique is mostly achieved by drawing a continuous intertwining line to form an attractive background that will serve as a security feature. plate 2. background pattern source: https://regulaforensics.com/en/support/glossarybanknotes (2018) bar-code:this is a form of digital security feature that is fundamentally achieved by the systematic arrangement of sequential parallel lines (bars) that vary in their widths and spaces between them to store data readable by special devices. a barcode is usually printed by a letterpress machine using special inks (magnetic pigments) that contain additional security properties to prevent the forgery of sensitive paper documents. introduction to forensic graphics 7 plate 3. bar-code. clear window: this is transparency as a security feature that can only be found on polymer banknotes, created during the manufacturing process of the substrate. a – n 50 note with clear window (2014) and b– 20 brunei dollars (2007) plate 4. clear window source: https://regulaforensics.com/en/support/glossarybanknotes (2018) guilloches:this is a technique where an intricate geometrical pattern is systematically arranged by superpositioning curved lines using mathematical laws (a formula), which makes it impossible to reproduce the same guilloche pattern without these mathematical laws. guilloche designs form rosettes, frames, borders, vignettes, muhammad bashir hashim 8 and other images, as well as the elements of background patterns. a pattern can consist of either negative or positive lines. plate 5. guilloches. source: 10 pounds note source: glossary-banknotes (2018 hologram holography, also known as hologram technology, is the next level of photography method that records the light dispersed from an item and then projects it as a three-dimensional (3d) object that can be seen without the use of any additional equipment. this feature can only be achieved by the diffraction and refraction of light on gratings, which change at different illumination angles. in other words, holography is a technique that enables a light field (which is generally the result of a light source scattered off objects) to be recorded and later reconstructed when the original light field is no longer present due to the absence of the original objects. plate 6. hologram. source: 200 naira note (2018) introduction to forensic graphics 9 micro perforation:this is a kind of security feature that is fundamentally achieved through the orderly fabrication of microholes that can be seen in transmitted light. plate 7 micro perforation 200 swiss francs (1996) source: glossary-banknotes (2018 serial number:this is a unique combination of letters and/or numbers that are uniquely assigned to each banknote. it is usually printed by letterpress using uv, infrared, or magnetic inks. vital information like the issuing year, series, and other security information are exclusively encoded to form the serial numbers of a banknote. plate 8. multicoloured serial number 50 pounds sterling (2010) varnish coating:a varnish coating is one of the latest security features and consists of two varnishes: matte and glossy. the fiftynaira nigerian note is a good example of this security feature because it is printed with glossy varnish over matte varnish and is visualized when the banknote is tilted due to the contrast of the varnishes. muhammad bashir hashim 10 a – at right angles b – at an acute angle thermal ink:this is an invisible ink that changes its colour or optical density when the image and/or text are exposed to heat. a – general view b – decolourization. after its exposure to heat plate 9. thermal ink 500 latvian lats (2008) source: glossary-banknotes (2018) rainbow printing this is a printing technique in which multiple inks are applied at the same time and on the same printing plate to overrule tints with smooth colour transitions among the main colours of the image, as well as to avoid breaks and displacements. plate 10: rainbow printing in 1000 belarusian rubles (2000) source:https://regulaforensics.com/en/support/glossarybanknotesm (2018) introduction to forensic graphics 11 substrate a substrate is a special material (paper or polymer) used in the production of banknotes. paper substrate is a thin material consisting of plant fibres (cotton, linen etc.). polymer substrate is a thin (approximately 0.1 mm) clear plastic film covered with multiple layers of specialized coatings. plate 11: banknote substrate source: https://regulaforensics.com/en/support/glossarybanknotes (2018) banknote design a banknote is a genuine piece of art. a banknote reflects a country’s culture and communicates messages millions of times faster and more directly. the banknote must be functional, payable, acceptable, and secured. banknote designers assimilate the country’s artistic heritage and cultural valuestake psychological insights into design, as well as integrate security features to portray societal identity. banknote production process the banknote production process is extensively wide. this is because banknote design and development is not a one-man show but a collective responsibility of over 250 experts, but it can be summarized into five most important stages, such as the papermaking stage, design stage, plate-making stage, printing stage, and varnishing/finishing. every stage of the production is muhammad bashir hashim 12 strictly controlled and protected against forgery and counterfeiting. according to manisha and gupta (2016), "most of the modern banknote consists of the following security features: paper quality, security thread, gradient colouring, intaglio printing, uv glowing, micro text, anti-copying mark, watermarks, infrared glowing, and so forth". bank note as utility product banknote is not a consumer product; rather, it refers to utility products. equally, any utility product has to follow the principles of 'one size fits all'. banknote designers are unlike fashion designers their designs must fit one not all. people expect trouble-free daily use of their utility products, such as handsets, vehicles, electronic appliances, and so on. likewise, such a principle most often applies to banknotes as utility products. banknote redesign people frequently ask, ‘why do we need a new banknote?’ there are many issues facing the need to redesign a banknote, such as insecurity, corruption, government policy, changes in government, and so on. but the most foremost is to upgrade the security features of the banknote; in other words, to keep up with technological developments in the banknote industry. there are several reasons for introducing a new banknote. standard design process banknotes have existed for over 350 years, and probably over 50,000 different designs have been created. over time, banknote designers have developed from craftsmen to graphic designers (haij, 2017). today’s banknote design process follows the design phases of the standard design process, which are subsequently problem description, information, analysis, design requirements, exploring solutions, prototyping, and the selection of a final design. introduction to forensic graphics 13 problem description information analysis programme of requirements principle design solutions selection prototyping final design production use of product table 2.2standard design process source: heij (2017) plate: 12 proposed 10, 000 naira note source hashim 2020 ++ ++ muhammad bashir hashim 14 plate: 13 proposed 1000, eco note source: hashim 2020 plate: 14 proposed 10, eco note source|: hashim 2020 plate: 15 proposed 2000, eco note source: hashim 2020 introduction to forensic graphics 15 plate 16: abu sensitive document, security features (prototype) source: hashim 2016 below are the descriptions of the forensic features used on the above sensitive document. 1. anti-copying mark: this is an invisible mark that is hidden in the design background and becomes boldly visible after being scanned or copied. 2. bill paper. is a secured paper with a mixture of 73% rag (cotton) and 27% fibre (paper) embedded with security features during the paper-making process for protection against counterfeiting. 3. chemically reactive paper: this is a special white paper that changes from brownish to black when bleached solvents or any erasable chemicals are used on it in an attempt to alter the text. 4. ghost watermark: this is an artificial watermark created as a background during the paper-making process. 5. colour shifting ink: this is a special ink that changes to different rays of colours, based on the angle at which one holds the document. 6. invisible ink: this is a special ink that is only visible under ultraviolet light. muhammad bashir hashim 16 7. penetrating ink: this is a unique ink that contains a penetrating red dye, goes into the fibres of the paper, and shows through to the back of the document to deter forgers from trying to scrape the number off the document. 8. micro-text: this is a technique of creating very tiny and lighter repeated text that appears blurred as a dotted line when copied or scanned. 9. fluorescent coating: this is an invisible ink that glows under uv light or a sensor. 1. erasable ink: this is a special ink that contains a solvent and chemically reactive substance that rubs off when an attempt is made to alter the text written on it. 10. high-resolution image: this consists of a very fine line or image that is too thin to reproduce illegally. 11. security thread. a security thread is an embedded security feature into the valuable paper document, the thread with the text "abu zaria" embedded in it, and can be seen when the document is held to a light source. 12. raised print. raised ink is a special technique of security printing where one feels the raised text. 13. observe through register: this is a special technique by which a small hole, e.g., a logo, is printed both on the front (hollow) and back (filled up) of the document. 14. protection ornament: this is the process of integrating multifarious security features into the valuable paper document during the design process, guided by the elements and principles of design. (hashim, 2016). summary the origin of graphic design can be traced back to the paleolithic period, when the first known visual communication, known as cave art, arose around 38,000. conversely, forensic graphics is a segment in the printing industry that focuses on the printing and protection of sensitive paper documents such as banknotes, checks, introduction to forensic graphics 17 passports, tamper-evident, product authentication, certificates, postage stamps, identity cards, and so on, to prevent forgery and counterfeiting, piracy, faking, alteration, fraud, corruption, and bribery, which are some of the global crimes that have received little or no attention from the local and international community and governmental and non-governmental organisations. the advent of the computer, direct imaging, desktop publishing, and computerized image systems that produce excellent colour jobs makes forgery and counterfeiting of sensitive paper documents and products easier and more rampant. a banknote is a genuine piece of art. a banknote reflects a country’s culture and communicates messages millions of times faster and more directly. banknotes have existed for over 350 years, and probably over 50,000 different designs have been created. over time, banknote designers have developed from craftsmen to graphic designers. questions 1. trace the history of graphic design 2. what is forensics graphics? 3. differentiate the differences between forgery and counterfeiting 4. distinguish between the following terms: pseudo-documents and camouflage document. 5. write a short note on the following security features: anti-scan, bar-code, guilloches, holography, serial number, and substrate. 6. why do we need a new banknote? muhammad bashir hashim 18 references abrams, r. k., (1995).“introduction of a new national currency: policy, institutional, and technical issues,” imf working paper, wp/93/49, june 1993. adepetun, a. (2017). nigerian banks lose n237 billion to frauds in 10 years (https://guardian.ng/business-services/nigerian-bankslose-n237-billion-to-frauds bank of canada, (2014). principles for bank note design. www.bankofcanada.com central bank of nigeria. (2012). history of nigerian currency www.cln.org.ng/currency_ management/history of nigerian currency. cippon voice (2010).a quarterly bulletin of the chartered institute of professional printers of nigeria vol. 1 no 1. lagos, nigeria. chartered institute of professional printers of nigeria (2017) in mohammed s. nigeria spends n400bn annually on importation of print paper, independent news paper, of the nov 15, 2017 dakyes, s.u. (2006). exploration of local materials for developing security print inks: for the production of banknotes and security documents. an unpublished doctor of philosophy dissertation submitted to the department of industrial design. ahmadu bello university, zaria dakyes, s.u. (2009). local materials in security printing. a case of document protection in nigeria. design link faculty of environmental design students association, a.b.u. zaria dakyes, s.u. (2011). a critical evaluation of methods adopted to protect billboards against mutilation by strong wings. design review. journal of industrial design, department, ahmadu bello university, zaria-nigeria. p. 41. de heij, h. (2012). the banknote designer and the banknote design manager.who does what? publisher: international banknote designers association, lausanne, switzerland. de heij, h. (2017a). the banknote designer and the banknote design manager. who does what? counterfeit deterrence techniques iii, proceedings of spie vol. 3973. san jose. introduction to forensic graphics 19 fatf (2012), international standards on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism & proliferation: the fatf recommendations, fatf, paris,www.fatfgafi.org/topics/fatfrecommendations/documents/fatfrecommendations.html fatf, (2005), detecting and protecting and preventing the cross-border transportation of cash by terrorist and other criminals and other criminals: international best practices fatf, paris glossary-banknotes (2018) hashim, m. b. (2021). investigating banknote design and security features for protection of naira notes against counterfeiting. an unpublished masters dissertation submitted to the department of industrial design. ahmadu bello university, zaria hashim, m. b. (2016). adaptation of banknote security features on some ahmadu bello university sensitive documents for protection against counterfeiting. an unpublished masters dissertation submitted to the department of industrial design. ahmadu bello university, zaria heij, h. (2017). the banknote designer and the banknote design manager. who does what? publisher: international banknote designers association, lausanne, switzerland. international police, (interpol, 2018). security documents/counterfeit currency http://www.interpol.int/crimeareas/financial-crime/counterfeit-currency and kirk-greene, ahm (1960) major currencies in nigerian history. journal of the historical society of nigeria, 2(1): 132. national document fraud, unit united kingdom, (ndf uk, 2014), https://www.gov.uk/legal-right-work-uk. nigeria, 1900 – 1911. annual report, northern nigeria. in: kirk – greene ahma (1960). major currencies in nigerian history. journal of the historical society of nigeria, 2(1): 135. soludo, c. c. (2005). keynote address at the national seminar on cash handling, automation and management held in lagos, 9 – 10 august posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 70 poems of same title in selected anthologies of igbo poetry: a comparative study of themes and styles nkiru ifeoma meludu ministry of information, anambra state nkirumeludu@yahoo.com abstract this study was embarked on in order to carry out a comparative study of themes and styles in selected same title poems from selected anthologies of igbo poems. same title poems from selected anthologies of igbo poems are two or more poems that have the same title and written by two or more poets, and are collected in the same or different work(s) edited by one or more poets. it also sought to find out how far a poet’s style and theme affect the quality of work he/she produces in relation to works done by other poets who wrote on the same title. the researcher used the survey research method whereby relevant works done by different poets and scholars were used for data collection. also a review of related literature of previous works done by earlier researchers was carried out. out of twenty titles written by fifty-six poets selected from four different anthologies of igbo poems, the researcher employed a simple random sampling method to select the poems that were used for this work. the theories of formalism, feminism and mythology were adopted for this work. this study x-rayed the selected poems along the lines of the themes and styles employed by the poets which proved that no two writers are ever the same. it is hoped that this work would inspire other researchers to carry out further research on same title poems, spreading to more poems done by many more poets or focusing on other factors apart from themes and styles. keywords: poem, themes, styles posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 71 1.0 introduction every society or community has a specific way or method of teaching, sharing, or transferring its beliefs, norms, values and so on, from one generation to another. this is done through oral tradition. at the end of the orthography dispute which slowed down the pace of igbo literary development, creative artists went into action by documenting most of the igbo oral poetry. this gave rise to the writing of poems by different poets. definitely, no two writers ever have the same pattern of presentation; neither do they have the same philosophy. a writer employs his personal style when creating any work of art. this leads to the individual differences that exist among creative writers. in spite of this, they have some factors in common. they may write on the same topic or title but their themes will differ as well as their choice of words and employment of literary devices. the above observations and other factors have necessitated the researcher’s zeal to embark on this work in order to assess the different poems with same titles so as to carry out a comparative study of the themes and styles employed by the different poets. the researcher used the survey research method whereby relevant works done by different poets and scholars were used for data collection. also a review of related literature of previous works done by earlier researchers was carried out. 2.0 literature review theoretical framework the language of poetry has to do with aesthetics although very difficult to understand. for this reason, this study fits well into formalism being a school of criticism developed by the formalists. apart from this theory, others are feminism, and mythology. formalism looks at a work of art from its intrinsic perspective. it views poetry primarily as a specialized use of language. one thing with formalism is that it does posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 72 not afford one the opportunity to understand fast. it does not focus on the meaning rather it dwells on the beauty exhibited by the choice of words. it does not concern itself with the obedience to the rules of grammar as is found in structuralism. in formalism, literary language sounds strange and each time, gets unfamiliar thus eluding habitual perception. in fact, it intrigues the mind. reading over as many times as possible to enable one decode the real message removes the strangeness. it awakens the reader to new experiences and understandings, making him to see the piece before him as if just for the first time. formalism is more concerned with the artistic devices in a write-up than in the message. expressing their views on the term formalism, rice and waugh, (2001:43), observe that, the interest of the formalists lies in the fact that they believed in the systematic method for the analysis, appreciation, examination or evaluation of any literary work with their central focus on the literariness of the work of art rather than literature itself. again, the unique attributes of literary work or literary devices were their main concern and not the content. to drive this home further, lawrence, (1955:262), in his idea of literary criticism drawn from the principles of formalism, says that they judge a work of art by its effect on their sincere and vital emotion and not reason. they are concerned with value. in her own view, dobie, (2012:33), opines that, “formalism’s sustained popularity among readers comes primarily from the fact that it provides them with a way to understand and enjoy a work for its own inherent value as a piece of literary art. emphasizing close reading of work itself, formalism puts the focus on the text as literature… formalism makes those who apply its principles and follow its processes better, more discerning readers”. contributing, eagleton, (2008:3), observes that, formalism is more interested in the ability of the writer to twist words, use expressions, play with words, and use every literary device at his disposal to fascinate the reader. it even puts one’s brain in a spin through repetitive words and rhymes and so on, just to make one appreciate the literariness of the write-up, than the actual message it conveys. feminism is the next theory to be used for analysis in this study. looking at the historical background, dobie, (2012:103), traces the feminist movement back to the nineteenth century, though the modern attempt to look at literature through the posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 73 feminist lens began to develop and operated on the assumption that women were inferior creatures. on his own part, eagleton, (2008:194), says: feminist theory, however, was itself by no means unaffected by the general downturn in radical politics which the late 1970s and early 1980s were to witness. as the women’s movement was rebuffed by a traditionalist, family-centred, puritanical new right, it suffered a series of political setbacks which left their imprint on the theorizing itself. the heyday of feminist theory occurred in the 1970s… from the two records above it could be observed that feminism started a little later than mid twentieth century and the women’s movement was not favored, they were viewed from the negative perspective. according to dobie,(2012:102), “feminist criticism…is difficult to define because it has not yet been codified into a single critical perspective. instead, its several shapes and directions vary from one country to another, even from one critic to another… the premise that unites feminist critics is the assumption that western culture is fundamentally partriarcal, creating an imbalance of power that marginalizes women and their work.”eagleton, (2008:142), in discussing psychoanalysis of which sigmund freud is its greatest propounder reflects on feminism thus: one belief which has apparently not varied… is the assumption that girls and women are inferior to boys and men… since it is a prejudice with deep roots in our early sexual and familial development, psychoanalysis has become of major importance to some feminists. one freudian theorist to whom such feminists have had recourse for the purpose is the french psychoanalyst jacques lacan. it is not that lacan is a pro-feminist thinker: on the contrary, his attitudes to the women’s movement are the main arrogant and contemptuous. but lacan’s work is a strikingly original attempt to “rewrite” freudianism in ways relevant to all those concerned with the question of human subject… posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 74 lacan’s theory is of interest to literary theorists, hence the assertion on (p. 165). “the woman is both “inside” and “outside” male society, both romantically idealized member of it and a victimized outcast. she is sometimes what stands between man and chaos, and sometimes the embodiment of chaos itself… women represented within male-governed society, fixed by sign, image, meaning, yet because they are also the “negative” of that social order there is always in them something which is left over... “ eagleton goes on to explain that the feminist critic is not studying representation of gender simply because she believes that this will further her political ends. she believes that gender and sexuality are central themes in literature and other sorts of discourse, and that any critical account which suppresses them is seriously defective. also contributing, ogene, (2010:37), says, that “the emphasis of feminist approach to criticism is on the question of gender equality in literature. outside its concern with the place of female writers in the main stream of event, this approach has its strong bone on the area of criticism or attacks on culture that enthroned prtriarchy.” in their own opinion, rice and waugh, (2001:143), observe: …feminism is rooted in the political discourses of modernity, inheriting but also challenging its ideas of sovereignty, equality, liberty, rights, and rationality. feminism begins as an enlightenment discourse founded in the kantian idea of an autonomous and rational self who is free to choose; in the liberal concept of rights and ownership… also, ogene, (2010:37), says that the emphasis of feminist approach to criticism is on the question of gender equality in literature… this approach has its strong bone on the area of criticism or attacks on culture that enthroned patriarchy. mythology is the next theory to be used for this study. before looking at the historical background of mythology it is pertinent to explain the term myth. myths are symbolic tales of the distant past that talk about the origin and nature of the world and connect to the belief systems or rituals of a people. they are the traditional stories that are told to explain some natural events or to describe the exploits of immortal beings as well as the early or ancient history of a people. they could also be described as traditional narratives of stories told by unknown people posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 75 and are handed down from generation to generation. myths explain the origin of natural events and things like: gods, people, plants, places, animals and so on. these stories generally believed by many people may not exist; they are therefore taken to be false. for instance, the story of the moon and the sun is a myth. once upon a time, the sun and the moon had a serious disagreement; this caused a big row that led to a fight between them. in the course of the fight, the moon used a broom to smash the sun therefore defacing the sun. the resultant effect is the appearance of the rays of the sun. the sun, in retaliation, used an axe to cut the moon into two halves. this action is the reason why at a certain time one half of the moon will appear and later, the full moon. it is believed that at full moon, the sun is seen inside the moon with the raised axe. mythology could then be said to be the study of ancient myths of a people, culture, and society in general. it is the collection of mythical stories. mythology is seen as having emanated from greece as the historical development of mythology cannot be traced without greece being mentioned. to this end, an unnamed author, (june 4, 2014), explaining what mythology is on the internet, says: mythology was at the heart of everyday life in ancient greece. greeks regarded mythology as part of their history. they used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural varieties, traditional enmities and friendships. it was a source of pride to be able to trace one’s leaders’ descent from a mythological hero or a god…. after the rise of philosophy, history, prose and rationalism in the 5th century bc, the fate of myth became uncertain, and mythological genealogies gave place to a conception of history which tried to exclude the supernatural… the internet author goes ahead to talk about roman mythology which derived from greek mythology. he observed that in ancient roman times, a new roman mythology was born through syncretization of numerous greek and other foreign gods. this occurred because the romans had little mythology of their own and inheritance of the greek mythological tradition caused the major roman gods to adopt characteristics of greek equivalent. in addition to the combination of the two posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 76 mythological traditions, the association of the romans with eastern religions led to further syncretization. greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines and mythological creatures. these accounts initially were disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; today greek myths are known from greek literature. also contributing, another internet author, dr. joe kiff, (august 15, 2012), states as follows: the word mythology… is a story or legend that literally means the retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. in modern usage mythology is either the body of myths from a particular culture or religion (as in greek mythology, egyptian mythology or norse mythology) or the branch of knowledge dealing with the collection, study and interpretation of myths… in common usage, myth means falsehood – a story which many believe but which is not true… ogene, (2010:35), discusses mythology and archetype together as being broadly linked to symbolic criticism because they both exploit the use of images and create enduring efforts on readers to make their universal impacts. he goes on to state that the primary concern of the critics of this approach is to discover how myths are brought into the work of literature and their effects on the readers. also contributing, kennedy and gioia, (2007:1520), state: mythological criticism is an interdisciplinary approach that combines the insights of anthropology, psychology, history, and comparative religion. if psychological criticism examines the artist as an individual, mythological criticism explores the artist’s common humanity by tracing how the individual imagination uses symbols and situations – in ways that transcend its own historical milieu and resemble the mythology of other cultures or epochs. supporting the above citation, an unnamed author equally comes up on the internet with further explanation that the key concept in mythological criticism is the posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 77 archetype described as a symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep universal response which entered literary criticism from swiss psychologist carl jung. he says that according to jung, all individuals share a “collective unconscious, a set of primal memories common to the human race, existing below each person’s conscious mind”… he equally brings in another critic, northrop frye, who defined archetypes in a more limited way as “ a symbol usually an image, which recurs often enough in literature to be recognizable as an element of one’s literary experience as a whole.” a website account of myth criticism last modified on 11th july 2014 at 20.41pm explains thus: mythic criticism can show the writer where his imagery comes from and suggest reasons for its power. deep thought and reading may turn up further materials which usefulness can only be made manifest by testing it in the poem. some of the founding proponents of mythology see mythology variously thus: for karl kerényi, mythology is a body of materials contained in tales about gods and god-like beings, heroic battles and journeys to the underworld. according to jung, “myth forming structural elements must be present in the unconscious psyché”. he considers the identification of archetypes merely the first step in the interpretation of a myth. jung tries to understand the psychology behind world myths. he asserts that all humans share certain innate unconscious psychological forces, which he called archetypes. he believes that the similarities between the myths from different cultures reveal the existence of these universal archetypes. campbell simply identifies the archetype in the myth. he believes that there were two different orders of mythology: myths that “are metaphorical of spiritual potentiality in the human being” and myths “that have to do with specific societies” max müller applied the new science of comparative mythology to the study of myth. then sigmund freud introduced a transhistorical and biological conception of man and a view of myth as expression of repressed ideas. the raw material used in this study is poetry. poetry is the oldest of all the modes of literature and it is the most difficult aspect. it is not easy to put together; the language is difficult to understand; it is not easily analyzed or appreciated; the words or its expressions are carefully chosen. then during its appreciation, the critic goes the extra mile in order to put things in the right perspective and in order. various authors have different or peculiar definitions of poetry. to this end, ezugu, (1998:136), defines poetry thus: posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 78 poetry as a genre relies most on the power of words and their manifold suggestiveness. poetry is the most literary of all the branches of literature because it makes the most use of the raw material of literature which is words. poetry is written in verses and arranged in stanzas. it approximates to the speaking voice and it is said to be the first literary genre to evolve. poetry has been variously defined in terms of emotion, perfection or its instructiveness. it is highly spontaneous, creative, imaginative, and teaches by pleasing us. poetry is the most literary of all the aspects of literature because it uses words beautifully. it uses words to create beauty through the imaginative expression of thoughts, feelings, and experiences which are produced rhythmically when the poet or a reader delivers the piece very well. poetry involves emotional expression of thought usually compressed into beautifully selected and arranged words that appear in stanzas and verses. a poem is arranged in lines which may have regular or irregular rhythms as well as rhymes. poetry uses words that are alluring, captivating, and encapsulating. poetry, just like any other genre, does not exist in a vacuum. the poet makes use of the existing entities and life experiences when writing. he/she is normally inspired before he/she puts pen to paper. matterson and jones, (2011:56), quote wordsworth’s definition of poetry thus: “poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility”. wordsworth’s definition sees poetry as an expression of one’s emotion that is triggered off on the spur of the moment. it flows as the thought comes on or as the imagination builds up. awoonor, (1974:17), sees poetry from another angle and observes, “poetry among the ewe comes to life around the drums. in the mood and cadences of the drums, and in the structure of songs, we come face to face with the form and content of original poetry”. some instruments evoke emotions and make the morale of all concerned to heighten. the gradual undulating movements of the drums send messages to the psyche of the audience or even the player. for example, the talking drums or the flutes have special effects on both the player and the audience. they even spur the oral poet into unpredictable actions. “ima mbem” falls within the ambit of poetry. any dancer who listens as this is done, whether prepared or not, moves into action spontaneously. it works on the emotions of the individuals. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 79 still writing on poetry, nwachukwu-agbada, (2009:6),asserts that, “poetry is an attempt by a committed individual to articulate a vision of the world via compressed use of language in a manner which engage the senses and liberates the soul for a unique perception of life.” the nature of poetry is such that it makes use of imagery, symbolism, metaphor, and other poetic devices. rhymes and rhythms are special devices or features in poetry introduced in order to achieve effects. poets enjoy poetic licence which helps them to carve a niche for themselves, thereby creating their own style. whether written or oral, a piece of poetry remains and maintains its existence somewhere in that state until it is verbalized, actualized or performed. it is not just enough to read out a piece of literary work and expect it to have an impact on the audience. it has to combine with some body movement, undulating movement of tone, accompanied with background music from the drums. all these will draw the audience into participation. the deep meanings of poems are understood better especially when they are verbalized or sung. these beautiful imaginative, emotionpacked expressions made by the poet inspire or move the listener or the reader into actions that are either positive or negative. 3.0 comparative analysis the poems analyzed are “nwaanyi” by emenanjo; the message of this poem is that the woman is seen as evil, deceitful and not dependable. “nwaanyi” by nwaozuzu; this has many messages like: a married woman as an ambassador to her husband’s ensures peaceful co-existence and cordial relationship among her husband’s people; where there is no woman procreation ceases; and feeding is ensured and assured when she is there. “chineke” by okediadi; the message of this poem is “the almightiness of god of creation.then “chineke” by onuoha which has as its theme, god is god to everyone although in times of adversity, some tend to question god’s power and potency. also the poet loves god dearly because god knows her in and out. having x-rayed the individual poems by the different poets, the researcher brings out the areas of similarities and differences in the presentation. . nwaanyị nwaanyị is presented by two poets – nolue emenanjo and g.i. nwaozuzu. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 80 there is a marked difference between “nwaanyị” by emenanjo and “nwaanyị” by nwaozuzu. while emenanjo presents a one-verse-poem, nwaozuzu comes up with 6 verses. emenanjo presents a satire through which he runs down the woman while nwaozuzu sees the woman as an indispensable part of a man’s life. she eulogizes the woman all through; the woman enjoys dual citizenship. emenanjo uses derogatory expressions to describe the woman and says that the woman causes problem and anger which bring about enstrangement. but nwaozuzu eulogizes the woman all through, seeing her as a peace maker, as she gives her a second name “peace” because any home or family that lacks a woman lacks peace. this she freely gives so that whoever needs it will grab it. nwaozuzu describes the woman as the strength and light of the nation. both poems are didactic. emenanjo writes that every woman is expected to have sense of decorum; mind how she talks; and the circle around which she moves. the researcher notes that with emenanjo’s commentary not portraying the womenfolk in good light, they must strive hard to change this impression about them so as to be seen in better light. nwaozuzu on the other hand, writes on everything good about the woman: how she is naturally endowed with god-given gifts, how she is a homebuilder, peace-maker, nation-builder, care-giver, bridge, linking two nations, and how in spite of her delicate-looking-nature god created her to be strong in order to weather all storms. feminist criticism would be viewed from two sides. one as it concerns those women who read male produced literature and the other dwells on the women writers. to this end, analyzing hardy’s “the mayor of casterbridge”, howe, (1968:84), exhibits a lot of negativism and bias against womanhood. henchard’s wife, susan, may have been quiet and passive (judging from the role she was expected to play), but not the way howe described her as drooping and complaining in this excerpt: to shake loose from one’s wife; to discard the drooping rag of a woman, with her mute complaints and maddening passivity, to escape not by slinking abandonment but through the public sale of her body to a stranger, as horses are sold at a fair; and thus to wrest, through sheer amoral willfulness, a second chance of life… posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 81 in the above critique, it is very clear that howe portrayed the woman negatively just in the same way some african or precisely nigerian authors play down the powerful roles of women only to portray them in a negative light. from the above it could be observed that emenanjo employs a feminist theory – patriachy as well as essencialism to describe the woman. in his work, emenanjo focuses on androcentrism whereby he assumes that male norms should operate throughout all social institutions thereby upholding the saying that ladies should not be heard but seen. looking at feminism and myth as they affect women writers, and posted on the internet by mary magoulick, she states as follows: many feminists latch hopefully onto motifs in ancient myths that seem to indicate a possible past in which women had more agency, perhaps even a central role in society. these so-called “matriarchal myths” give women hope that they need not be condemned to permanent status as second class citizens, for such was not always the case. for instance some people interpret overthrow of female deities in some myths as evidence of a time in which people worshipped goddesses, or at least considered female deities the equals of male deities. some people also interpret prehistoric statuettes of apparently pregnant women as evidence that women must have occupied a more important role in those societies – otherwise why would artists devote so much time to sculpting them… nwaozuzu used ecriture feminine which states that a literary women’s writing is a philosophy that promotes women’s experiences and feelings to the point that it strengthens the work. therefore she eulogizes the woman and even creates very good impression about her. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 82 chineke chineke is presented by nkechi okediadi and joy onuoha. both poems are philosophical, full of praises for god almighty. they are both based on nature from creation. although okediadi uses her poem to worship god, onuoha brings in sarcasm, satirizing the thieves who call on god before they go out to rob others as well as others who indulge in other forms of evil deeds. while chineke by okediadi is made up of seven verses with 5 lines each, onuoha’s has 9 verses with lines 1,2,3,4,5 and 8 having 4 lines each, verses 6 & 7 have 5 lines each and verse 9, 6 lines. okediadi’s lines are short and rhythmic while onuoha’s lines are mixed. okediadi’s verses start each with a praise name for god but onuoha’s verses do not have such beginnings. okediadi employs lots of biblical expressions, personification, as well as symbolism and imagery while onuoha uses metaphor, personification.in okediadi’s chineke, the tone is prayerful with encomiums and praises showered on the almighty god. chineke by onuoha has a tone of praise laced with sarcasm. both poems focus on the benevolence of god, but while okediadi portrays god as the great healer and provider of solution to our diverse problems, onuoha sees god as kind and merciful god who forgives our sins. igbo mythology talks about igbo peoples’ perception of god; and looking at kennedy and gioia, (2010), posted on the internet by michelle foster on june 2 2011, they say that carl jung – a major proponent of mythological criticism states that it is about the symbolic meaning, the undertones of the archetypes: the moon that looms large on the horizon is different from the moon the sits quietly unnoticed in the heavens – each has a different undertone of the archetype of the moon. while they share certain qualities they also vary in certain qualities and meanings. analyzing the poem “chineke” from the point of view of mythological theory, one will observe that both poets exhibited religious inclination. while different versions of these mythical poems exist side by side, what remain fixed are the poem’s narrative basic patterns. the two poems on “chineke” are reflections on the belief system of the igbo. chineke talks about igbo peoples’ perception of chukwu (god). posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 83 okediadi’s poem exhibited lots of symbolic meanings, using allegory to ascribe to god so many praise names. it is true that the concept of god as used by the christians is alien to the igbo traditional belief system; they still believe that there is that supernatural being they worship. this is mainly seen represented in the artwork of the igbo which the traditionalists use as representative of deities – gods and goddesses. these are symbols or images, some representing their supposed ancestors. it is these symbols, images, characters, themes, and motives that jung called archetypes. some of the mythological poems are “chukwu okike”, “chukwu hapụ ụwa gbagoo elu igwe”, “ọnwụ”, by philip okoye; “ọnwụ” is a title written by eight other poets; “ọmụmụ” by ogonnaya onuoha, “ọjị” by tony ubesie and emeka ikedimma, “chi” by tagbo nzeako and “ọgbanje” by i.e. akoma 4.0 findings and recommendation at the end of the detailed study of these two titles by four poets, the researcher observed that two or more poets may write on the same title from different perspectives, and what constitutes style for poet ‘a’ may not necessariy constitute style for poet ‘b’. to this end, the following findings were made: i. “nwaanyị” by emenanjo was characterized by everything negative about the woman – he used derogatory expression to describe the woman. therefore it could be said that he portrayed the woman as evil, deceitful and nondependable, and so, he does not have a likeness for women. ii. nwaozuzu eulogized the woman all through – she ascribed beautiful and positive characters to the woman to the extent that it seemed that she covered anything adverse in the life of the woman. iii. okediadi, through the poem “chineke” showered encomiums and praises on god almighty. iv. okediadi’s “chineke” dwelt on the almightiness of god as well as different praise names by which man yearns to reach god, thus portraying her religious inclination. v. although onuoha praised god and portrayed him as merciful and kind, she laced all these with sarcasm. she made efforts to bring to light the fact that in spite of the goodness of god, some evil ones still profane the name of god cunningly. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 84 vi. the mindset and philosophy of the different poets could easily be read from their works it is a fact that no two writers ever write the same way, poets inclusive. this work was able to establish that while there were marked differences in terms of themes and styles among the works of poets, there were equally some similarities.for instance, the meeting point of emenanjo’s and nwaozuzu’s works is the fact that they are both didactic and have the same title “nwaanyị”. furthermore, okediadi and onuoha shared the same title “chineke”. both of them worshipped and praised god. they equally focused on the benevolence of god. they are both philosophical and are based on nature from creation. the two poets addressed god directly as a second person singular. this researcher therefore recommends that further research should be carried out more extensively on related research topic. 5.0 conclusion it takes deep reasoning and over reading to understand poetry. equally, it takes special art and creativity to come up with a beautiful poem. poetry is the most difficult aspect of literature. its language is difficult in nature. a good poet must have a good command of the language in use. the choice of words and manner of presentation matter a lot. to this end, as have been stated earlier, no two writers ever have the same pattern of presentation; neither do they have the same philosophy. this was very evident in the poems x-rayed. the mindset of most poets could easily be read from their works. be that as it may, the two titles presented by four poets have come to confirm that the style adopted by any poet and the central thought portrayed all lead to individual differences that exist among creative writers. every poet carves a niche for himself or herself. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 85 references awoonor, k. (1974). guardians of the sacred word: ewe poetry. new york: nok publishers di yanni, r.m. (2002). literature: reading, fiction, poetry and drama. new york: mcgraw hill. dobie, a.b. (2012).theory into practice: an introduction of literary criticism. united states of america: wadsworth cengage learning. eagleton, t. (2008). literary theory: an introduction. usa: blackwell publishing. emenanjo, n. (1983). nkemakolam. owerri: heins nigeria publishers. ezugu, m.a. (1998). fundamentals of english language and literature for tertiary institutions. enugu: school of general studies. institute of management and technology. kennedy, x.j. and gioia, d. (2007). literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama and writing. (5th ed.). new york: pearson longman. lawrence, d.h. (1955). the white stocking: the complete short stories. london: heineman. magoulick, m. what is myth? accessed at 4.25am on wednesday 25th june, 2014. www.faculty.de.gesu.edu/˜mmagouli/defmyth.htm matterson, s. and jones, d. (2011). studying poetry. london: bloomsbury academic. michelle, f. (june 2, 2011), “literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama and writing”,11d, x.j. kennedy and d. gioia © 2010. voices.yahoo.com/types-literary-criticism-mythology nwachukwu-agbada, j.o.j. “ezenwa-ohaeto, the poet and national development: implications for african literature of the twentyfirst century.” in j. eyisi, i. odimegwu, and n. ezenwa-ohaeto, posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 86 (2009). african literature and development in the twenty-first century. nigeria: living flames resources. nwadike, i.u. (2006). akọnauche (akwụkwọ abụ igbo). obosi, nigeria: pacific publishers. rice, p. and waugh, p. (2001). modern literary theory. london. hodder arnold. wikipedia the free encyclopedia. greek mythology last modified 4th june, 2014 at 19.49pm. accessed at 20.14pm on 18th june 2014. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/greek_mythology. wikipedia the free encyclopedia. myth criticism last modified 11th july, 2014 at 20.41pm. accessed at 4.45am on 27th july, 2014 by en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mythcriticism. art history and criticism: a new perspective 8 chapter 2 art history and criticism: a new perspective godwin ogbu uka department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka keywords: art history, art criticism, iconography, visual art introduction art history is the study of art objects considered within their period and time. the art historian in their capacity to study and analyse visual arts: painting, sculpture, graphics, textile, fashion and architecture at the time they were created? in art history, students study the art and architecture of cultures around the world and across the millennia. a lot of approaches can be employed in the study of objects of art, but the main focus of this book will be on the aesthetic and historical significance as well as the social relevance of the subject. studying art history provides students with an opportunity to develop essential skills and talents that lie at the liberal art education, which include informal and critical reading, writing and speaking. the art history study includes visual art and how meaning in visual terms and, how we read and understand the world that is largely presented to us as visual information. the study of art history of the past teaches students how people have seen themselves and their world, and how they want to show this to others. art history provides means by which we can understand our human past and its relationship to our present because the act of producing and making art is one of humanity's most obliquities activities. art history in general terms is the study of our rich and fundamental strand of human and culture. it is therefore, the study of art from all over the world from different periods and places, in the same way, that others learn and write about other related subjects. the history of art and design can begin with a survey of the artefacts of prehistoric humans, showing how functional objects throughout history have been designed with a sense of visual awareness as well as operational needs. it is through art that man had his first instrument of writing and feeding. art was also the first means of communication. this was because of language problems, with particular reference to nomenclature and vocabulary. the visual illustration was, therefore, interpreted and understood. the visual arts comprise a factor of tremendous importance to our cultural growth and development. art was simply known as art in its earliest beginning. industrialization and the explosion of knowledge leading to specialization have been the main factors responsible for classifying art into fine, applied/industrial and craft. fine art was linked with painting and sculpture, which contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 9 were appealing because of their beauty, applied art was associated with pottery and utility related areas and crafts are known as handcrafts. what we have today as "fine and applied arts” was originally not so. the history of art and design in its broadest sense as an embodiment of human skill is the history of human ingenuity, beginning and self-discipline. this has been part of human culture, ever since mankind first emerged two million years ago. however, design in the modern sense did not exist until the industrial revolution. the intervention of modern technology has created tremendous changes in the conception and practice of art and design. it was the industrial revolution that brought about the transition from manual to machine-based techniques of production in great britain in the 18th century. to improve the design quality of machine made goods, the german architect, walter gropius, founded the bauhaus school of design. the modern society, which emerged from industrial society demanded modern designs suitable for mass production that has led to the present state of the art today. definition of art art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. art is often considered the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the sense or emotions. arts encompass a diverse range of human activities, creation, and ways of expression including other areas like music, literature, film, glass design, textiles, sculpture, graphics, painting, ceramic and so on. it can also be looked at as something that is intelligently created to serve the following purposes: communicate, represent, decorate, persuade, convey or evoke emotion, and provide self-expression, even if work is never shared with another person. exploring new ideas, including what art itself is. visual art is constructed from very basic elements or components that we experience through our sense of sight and/or touch; namely, lines, two and/or threedimensional shapes, textures, colours, dark and light qualities, and actual or implied space. almost everything that we see can be described or interpreted in terms of these same visual (or sensory) components. why do we ascribe the term "art" to some of these objects while others are merely described as useful or interesting or even beautiful? the subject of art can be defined in many other ways broadly but critically. what is art history? art history is the study of art and design in its historical development and stylistic contexts; that field is the design, format and style. it can be seen as the study of objects of art considered within their period. art historian analyses visual arts' that is painting, sculpture, graphics, ceramics, architecture, textiles and others at the time they were created. the historian identifies the visual elements of the art work and interprets its meaning. the main preoccupation of art historians is simply to establish the origins of works of art, that is discovering who created a particular artwork, when, where and for what reason. art historians are interested in what the works of art represented at the time, they were created, which is a way of learning about the civilization of the past. it is very important because is one of the ways to recount stories of past events, art history allows us to look back and understand how our civilization evolved over the art history and criticism: a new perspective 10 centuries. this is a way we will be able to know ourselves better, in trying to do so; we should ask why we have certain values. what shaped the way we think and our vision of the world? it is very important to note that the study of art history is all about developing critical thinking ability, and is not only about memorizing dates, artists' names, art movements, and so on. instead, it drives the historian to analyze art works. to support this type of analysis, the art historian must build rational and convincing arguments, hence developing his/her critical thinking. art history is a field that deals with the study of different groups of people and their cultures represented throughout their artwork in different forms, times or periods in the world. it can be shown by their attire, architecture, religion, sports or more visual pieces of art such as drawing, painting, sculpture and others. art history is distinguished from art criticism, which is concerned with establishing a relative artistic value upon individual work concerning other works of comparable style, or on entire style or movement, and art theory or "philosophy of art", which is concerned with the fundamentals of art. one branch of this area is aesthetics, which includes investigating the mystery of the sublime and determining the essence of beauty art appreciation and art history the study of art history and appreciation are the same but the difference comes to play when this knowledge is put into practice. art appreciation is focused on studying to better understand and analyze art while art criticism involves evaluating an art works with formal assessment tools. this requires an understanding of art movement, history and techniques. art history as a discipline is the academic study of the history and development of visual art and art appreciation, the application of basic tools of literature to understand and appreciate works of art. art historians in any art historical analysis should have the following questions in mind. why does a work of art look the way it does? who made it and why? what does it mean? these questions and others alike should be the major deliberation of art historical inquiry. art historian uses various types of analysis to provide answers. these have varied over time and continue to evolve. iconography iconography is a branch of art history, that studies the identification, description, and interpretation of the content of images employed in an art work, the subject depicted in the particular composition and details used to do so and other elements that are different from artistic style. it consists in analyzing the symbolism of works of art. for instance, art historians identify the visual elements of any work of art and interpret its meaning. art historians are interested in what the works of art represented at the time they were created, which is a way to lean about the civilization of the past. it is important to note that the visual art recounts stories of past events. art as physical objects a work of art can be considered as the visual arts in physical two or three-dimensional objects that is professionally determined or otherwise considered to fulfil a primarily independent aesthetic function. dimensional form: here the designer or artist draws or crafts out his works in various plans of space to represent the real objects intended to produce. this type of design process can further be classified into 2d and 3d designs. 2 dimensional contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 11 designs are works done on flat surface. it involves such activities as drawing, painting on fabrics, well paper and advertising layout that is designed in two plans. 3 dimensional designs are works executed in the round. it includes such activities as sculpture, architecture, handicrafts such as jewellery, pottery, leather works, clothing and machine-made objects such as chairs, automobiles, packages, 3d animation and so on. a work of art is defined as something that is considered to have aesthetic values, something of beauty or a creative skill which produces an aesthetic result. physical art when contrasted with conceptual art refers to the art that concretely exists in physical reality, in space and time. art as a visual experience a focus is on the functions, style and structures of the major visual art forms, it examines the connection between the visual, social and physical dimensions of everyday life in which art perform essential roles, while illustrating clearly the common features of the theme and culture, art critics, artist and all those interested in art criticism. art as a cultural artefact this term is used to describe anything created by humans who give information about the culture of its creator and user. a cultural artefact is more generic and should be considered with two words similar, but narrower and fine distinction. it includes objects received from archaeological sites i.e. archaeological objects, but also includes objects of modern and early modern society important roles of the artist or designer artists and designers are creators who keep and document visual records of people, places, and events of their time and place. they help us to see the world in a new and innovative way. every art creator plays a different and necessary part in contributing to the overall health, development, and well being of our society, as creative thinkers and makers the provide their communities with joy, interaction, and inspiration but they also give thoughtful critique to our political economic and social system pushing communities to engage in thoughtful and make steps towards social progress, from documenting human history to expressing collective emotion. they are a major vehicle for expressing universal emotions. this can be personal and sometimes universal. they have the ability 'feel strongly' about the paint, gesture or colour. they can “absorb” the atmosphere of a place or the memory of a feeling. they are responsible for unearthing the truth, their work is to illuminate the margins and make societal changes, tell stories and pass traditions, and connect with and inspire people globally. they record and preserve our human history, and offer messages of hope. they are ambassadors of the natural world and create a sense of community people live in. art history in the present historical context art is a subject of study that exists in every history of the world. art object created by the artist anywhere or in society is a product of materials intention and outcomes that reflects a time art history and criticism: a new perspective 12 and place. people interested in art seeking to understand and benefit from the cultural legacy art provides, may travel across time and space through art to discover its various interwoven histories, in this way it is a form of education in the art. the best way to understand art lies in an individual’s conception of what they see in any art work. what is deemed to be aesthetic value by their culture or subculture and from which artists and objects are included in histories or traditions, they are taught. art history is not one history but many histories that people have different art history. these histories have been developing throughout time, since before recorded history, yet many only recently are being included in art history text and discussion. it is good and nice to approach the study of art as a global phenomenon; this is so because art history refers to art in its present and recent past with a focus on the art world. art history refers to the study of art in the world of humans and society. these art pieces from different places are available at multiple places, events, market places. art history in the present time is considered the breakthrough of the global approach to art history within a broader historical, sociological, and institutional context. it is necessary to put into perspective the interdisciplinary openness of the global oriented approach which many people, and researchers have been advocating and their impact on the discipline. the scholars of global art history borrowed certain ideas from other fields of study. such as history, anthropology, philosophy, and psychology, but their work was gradually put aside in the process of building art history as a discipline. the idea of global art history has long been started, in a world cat, global library, a global database that integrates the print collection of libraries all over the world, the number of catalogues items containing the phrase 'art history' that also refers to 'global art history' or 'world art history'. in a more detailed disciplinary survey one can carry out an art-historical journal. in the academic english speaking field of art history, the art bulletin shows a similar increase in the frequency of these terms. the twentyfirst century marked the beginning of global challenges in art history, with awareness to review and renew the discipline's objects and methods. art history should be global affairs. basic western art history, such as formal analysis, per iodization and iconography, already exist in other countries of the world, such as chine, africa and others. what is art criticism? art criticism is the act of analyzing and evaluating any visual art, in a more precise term, art criticism involves a personal interpretation, which is undertaken to understand a particular work of art using the knowledge of art theory, establishing where a work fits in with different artistic styles and movement throughout art history. art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. an art critic usually criticizes art in the content of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. a goal of art criticism is the perfectionist of a coherent basis for art and appreciation. art criticism can be broken down into four steps: 1, description 2, analysis 3. interpretation 4. evaluation contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 13 types of art criticism the most common division in art criticism is between historical and evaluation, a form of art history and contemporary criticism of works of living artists, many different variables determine one judgment of art such as aesthetic, cognition or perception assessing a work of art fundamental steps critics/historians should use to describe the elements contained in any work of art are: the size, scale, general shape used, the use of vertical and horizontal lines and angles, colour and scheme, used, the texture of it, and where and when it was produced to give it historical context, following that would be to analyze the work of art by determining what they described elements are suggesting and why the artist used those specific colours, angles, shapes and so on to convey feelings, ideas or historical events. it is important to describe and analyze the composition of the work, focusing on details, such as its use of light, shadow, space and landscape. also, think about the way it shows movement, and how your emotional response to it. the next step is interpretation, which is used to establish context, explaining why we think the artist created it and what it means when interpreting a work of art, interpret the overall meaning of the work by pointing to evidence inside the work, historical context clues such as what is going on in history when it was created or produced, and what art theories movement relates to it. the last step is evaluation or judgment, the critic/historian must decide where the artwork stands alongside similar works and explain what aspect of it are most important when deciding its quality, evaluation can be tricky because the critic can be biased which often come to play here, and should not be so. what is visual art? visual art is a form of art, made by human thoughts and hands, to be appreciated by human sight. example of such is graphics, ceramics, fashion, painting, sculpture and filmmaking as contrasted with literature and music. visual art is also known in some circle as plastic art objects, which are contrasted with the performing arts these includes the following: drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, craft and architecture. many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual arts, and textiles art also involve aspects of visual arts as well as art of other types. looking at it more closely, it can be defined as the process whereby one learns how to produce art, engage in the aesthetic and critical analysis of art, and talk, read and write about art. although this definition is broad in scope, it does not begin to describe the concepts and activities involved in becoming visually and aesthetically literate. the process of learning has both form and content; form is concerned with how one learns and content pertains to what is learned. visual art: definition and meaning "visual arts" can presently be seen in modem times but in precise terms for a broad category of art which includes several artistic disciplines from various subcategories. the definition of visual art usually encompasses the following: art history and criticism: a new perspective 14 (a) fine arts all aspects of fine art belong to the general categories of visual arts. these include activities, such as drawing, painting, and sculpture others are graphics art, ceramics, fashion, textile, and glass design, with associated activates like manuscript illustration, book illustration, calligraphy, architecture and others. (b) contemporary arts visual art also includes some modern art forms such as assemblage, collage, mixedmedia, conceptual art, installation, happenings and performances and film art, and associated disciplines such as photography, video arts and animation, or any combination thereof. this group of activities includes high-tech discipline and others like computer graphics and so on. another modern visual art is new environmental or experimental graphics, land art which includes transitory forms like ice/snow sculpture and presumably graffiti art. (c) decorative arts and craft in addition, the general categories of visual arts encompass many decorative art disciplines and crafts, including ceramics and studies in pottery, mosaic art, mobiles, tapestry, glass art (including stained glass and others. (d) others a wider definition of visual art sometimes includes applied art areas such as graphics design, textile, fashion design, glass design and interior design. in addition, a new type of body art may also fall under the general heading of visual arts. these include tattoo art, face painting and body painting. visual art and design are about creating and making the general aesthetics of the work, for example to create the aesthetics style of any art or any related work of art, it is important to work with fundamental elements of art and design, arranging them according to the principles. these elements and principles together form the building blocks of art and design and a firm understanding of them is crucial in creating visual design/art of any product. there are the main media through which especially designers and artists translate images and ideas into concrete terms. in man's visual communication experience everything large and small, natural or man-made can be described in terms of these elements and principles. sign, symbol and metaphor a metaphor is a figure of speech that transfers one thing to another through implied comparisons. it is used to infuse writing and speech with vitality, which makes both more interesting; an example is when "the artist made minced meat out of his colours. when an artist starts thinking beyond merely identifying a work's visual elements (the character of its lines, shapes, colours, and so on.) and how these elements are organized. it is essential to consider the proposition that works of art speak to us through both their formal organization and the signs, symbols and metaphors that can be associated with them. works of art become most meaningful for us when they evoke thoughts and feelings. “visual metaphors are implied as a consequence of analyzing the relationships between the formal structures and subject matter of works of art. in addition to their role as symbols, the crosses can also function as visual metaphors if the artist will take the time to analyze their form content relationships. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 15 another way to think about sign, symbol and metaphor is to relate these concepts to the notions of what is denoted (actually there) and what is connoted (what is implied) in works of art. signs for objects are denoted; the signs exist in works as representations of objects. these signs for objects function as symbols only if appropriate associations can be made with them; therefore, symbols are connoted or implied. they are inferred from what can be observed. visual metaphors are also connoted, but they are inferred from a holistic interpretation of the objects in a work and the way the work is put together; i.e., its subject matter, its technical properties (how it is rendered), and its formal style. how to identify what is in a work of art how best can artists and others identify what is in a work of art? perceiving works of art aesthetically begins with an objective analysis of their inherent qualities or properties, which can reveal the following features of a work of art. sensory properties the elements of art are very necessary for any visual discussion, assailment and criticism, the qualities that we experience through our senses: shape, line, texture, value, colour, space, and scale are very important. a common practice when looking at a work of art is to briefly study its surface and then conclude what its subject appears to be and how much the work is to be admired. however, to begin to arrive at the actual aesthetic and expressive significance of the work, its surface must first be very carefully examined. the specific character of its lines, shapes, textures, values, colours, scale, space and volume, and the images these elements are associated with need to be identified. formal properties sensory properties are organized to achieve a sense of unity, balance, movement, and dominance. what can be seen in a work of art includes the ways visual elements and images have been arranged, how the work has been formed, in other words, its formal properties. a careful and critical study of a work will reveal: the means used to achieve a sense of unity, the elements that appear to be dominant, the nature of implied movements, and how balance is achieved ranging between symmetry and asymmetry. technical propertiesappearances of shapes, values, colours, and others, that are due to the use of particular materials and techniques. while carefully observing a work's sensory and formal properties is essential to speculating productively about what the work appears to be expressing. expressive properties of a work's subject, for instance, can contribute to evoking: (a) feelings such as fear, loneliness or joy, or a sense of tension or tranquillity, and/or (b) ideas and ideals associated with, for example, the power of nature or the innocence of youth. the art historian is trained to determine after identifying a work's sensory and formal properties, should be able to speculate about how these particular properties contribute to what the work may be saying to us, literally, symbolically and metaphorically; that is, its expressive properties. what appears to be the mood of the work (sombre, gay, and menacing)? what is its art history and criticism: a new perspective 16 dynamic state (tension, conflict, relaxation)? what ideas and/or ideals does the work evoke (bravery, intelligence, hard work and so on.)? in addition to these properties, a work of art will reflect the time and the geographic area in which it was produced, and/or the particular way its creator utilizes and organizes its properties. when a work of art is analyzed in terms of these characteristics, the nature of its "style" is investigated. the style of a work of art refers to its distinctive features, a family of characteristics, that recur in particular works is an important thing to note in any art analysis. in addition to creating works with distinctive formal characteristics, artists of every age employ particular subjects, themes and symbols. art historians help us to understand works of art by relating individual works to other works and to the ideas, values and events associated with the time and culture in which such works were produced. identifying the style of works of art and the meanings associated with their subjects, themes and symbols are tasks for the art historian. art historians all over the world help people to understand works of art by relating individual works to other works and to the ideas, values and events associated with the time and culture in which such works were produced. in so doing the art historian identifies the style of works of art and the meanings associated with their subjects, themes and symbols. visual art is constructed from very basic elements or components that we experience through our sense of sight and/or touch; namely, lines, two and/or three-dimensional shapes, textures, colours, dark and light qualities, and actual or implied space. for any analysis and criticism of any work of art, the following should be critically considered or looked into: • should natural objects be considered as works of art? • is art anything we want it to be, or does the term "art" refer to objects that have special characteristics? • what conditions need to exist before we are willing to classify something as art? art works and styles what is style? art style describes the way the artwork looks, it describes how the artist portrays his or her subject matter and how the artist compresses his or her vision. all of these stylistic elements are defined by the choices artists make while composing their artwork. in visual art, style is a "distinctive manner which permits the group of works into related categories" and made it refers to the visual appearance of a work of art that relate to other works by the same artist or any other from the same period, location, training, school, art movement. the notion of style has long been the art historian's principal mode of classifying works of art. by style, the historian selects and shapes the history of art. style is often divided into the general style of the period, country, cultural group or artist or art movement and individual styles of artists within the group style. how does style of work relate to the world of art? an informed understanding of a work of art should include its content, iconography, and a genuine appreciation for its relative significance. the answer to these questions provides contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 17 insights into a work of art that enable a more comprehensive response to the work. without such information, it will be difficult to place such a work. before you can consider a work it is proper to understand the following: temporal (time) pre-historic (paleolithic, upper-paleolithic, neolithic, bronze age, stone age, iron age), egyptian, greek, byzantine, etruscan, roman, early christian, medieval, carolingian, ottoman, gothic, renaissance, baroque, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century, precolumbian, ming, sung, chou, han, fujiwara, kamakura, ashikaga, and nara. geographical (place) temporal (time) pre-historic (paleolithic, upper-paleolithic, neolithic, bronze age, stone age, iron age), egyptian, greek, byzantine, etruscan, roman, early christian, medieval, carolingian, ottoman, gothic, renaissance, baroque, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century, precolumbian, ming, sung, chou, han, kamakura, ashikaga, and nara. geographical (place) geographical places include african, american, assyrian, chinese, egyptian, european, greek, india, italian, japanese, korean, oceanic, northern european, persian, peruvian, and sumerian. cultural different art cultures include balinese, amana, celtic, chinese, egyptian, eskimo, blur, kwakiutl, maori, mayan, minoan, moorish, navajo, peloponnesian, roman, snafu, sioux. types of styles abstract, abstract-geometric, anti-mannerist, archaic, baroque, classic, impressionistic, mannerism, naturalistic, neoclassic, non-objective, painterly, realistic, representational, and romantic. school/custom/tradition abstract expressionism, ash can, barbizon, bauhaus, reiter, byzantine, cinema verity, constructivism, hudson river, impressionism, coptic, cubism, dadaism, expressionism, fauvism, florentine, futurism, hard-edge, hellenistic, minimal, naturalism, new realism, op, orphism, pointillism, pop, precisionist, primitivism, realism, regionalism, song, surrealism, venetian, yamato-e. idioms (styles of individual artists, just a few examples): bergman, bernini, bramante, brunelleschi, cellini, fellini, giotto, kurosawa, rembrandt, la tours, van gogh, frank lloyd wright fusion of styles etruscan italian, french-baroque, greco roman, hellenistic, italian renaissance, northern renaissance, spanish gothic. art history and criticism: a new perspective 18 who makes art? there are, of course, many types of artists. artists are people who make aesthetic decisions as they produce objects (paintings or pottery) and/or organize events (motion pictures or television programs). artist designers plan and/or produce all manner of commodities. these range from packages for food to children's toys which stimulate imagination, from photographs and illustrations for books and magazines to symbolic forms which enhance religious ceremonies. the variables that can affect the appraisal of works of art appraising art work requires the need to comprehend the technical, formal and symbolic aspects of the art. technical considerations include knowing how works of art are constructed. all art forms contain 'formal' elements such as shapes, values and some form of balance. it is essential to practice identifying and describing these elements because (a) the ways they are organized evoke feelings such as a sense of tranquillity or tension and (b) this kind of analysis precedes interpreting the possible meanings in a work of art. one should also realize that art works often depict or employ objects which represent or symbolize particular meanings and feelings. being aware of how judging works of art can be conditioned by cultural, political and economic values is an important factor. thus, studying art as a subject should include the consideration of variables which affect responses not inherent within the forms, themselves. one needs to be conscious of the fact that appraisals of art are always relative to particular criteria. by making these criteria explicit, it is possible to develop logical justifications for one's judgments about art. in addition, objective justifications, rather than mere expressions of personal preference (e.g., "i love it" or "i hate it"), make provocative and productive discourse about particular works of art feasible. terms used when examining and evaluating art perceive: apprehend, attend, be acquainted with, be aware of, be conscious of, comprehend, conceive, detect, discern, discover, distinguish, experience, get the idea, grasp identify, know, look, make out, name, notice, observe, realize, respond, see, sense, view, watch, witness. react: apprehend, be aware of, empathize, encounter, examine, experience, feel, go through, handle, hear, know, listen, look, manipulate, perceive, react, respond, see, sense, smell, suppose, sympathize, taste, touch, undergo. talk: acknowledge, admit, analyze, answer, argue, ask, cite, comment, comment upon, communicate, consider, concede, contend, contest, converse, convey, deal with, debate, declare, disclose, discuss, dispute, examine, express, generalize, go into, handle, hypothesize, investigate, justify, mention, name, note, observe, present, propose, prove, question, rationalize, reason, recall, recite, reflect, relate, remember, reply, report, review, say, speak, speculate, state, suggest, take sides, take up, talk, talk over, theorize, treat, verbalize, verify. analyze: account for, arrange, catalogue, categorize, characterize, choose, cite, clarify, classify, compare, contrast, define, delineate, demonstrate, depict, describe, differentiate, discriminate, contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 19 draw, examine, exclude, explain, explore, express, give a reason for, give the meaning of, grade, group, illustrate, list, make clear, match, name, organize, outline, pair, pick, picture, place, point, portray, prefer, prove, question, rank, read into, represent, select, symbolize, test, translate, understand, verify. judge: accept, appraise, approve, ascertain, assess, assume, believe, comment upon, conceive, conclude, consider, criticize, decide, determine, disapprove, dislike, estimate, evaluate, favour, feel, find, form an opinion, gather, guess, have an idea, imagine, infer, justify, look upon, object to, oppose, predict, rank, rate, regard, reject, resolve, review, suppose, theorize, think, tolerate, understand, value. valuing art: admire, appraise, appreciate, assess, care for, estimate, evaluate, gauge, give importance to, like, order, prefer, prize, rank, rate highly, regard, respect, think of, treasure, weigh. technical skills in a work of art tools and materials utilized to produce visual qualities constitute a major component of the artwork. if one is to make expressive visual statements that communicate meanings to others, some knowledge of how to use these media is required. if students are asked to use crayons or oil pastels, for instance, they should be able to investigate the characteristics of these drawing media; that is learn how to use the point and side, how to apply more or less pressure to vary values and intensity, and how to mix and blend colours utilizing surface textures. examples of other technical skills include: stippling, hatching and cross-hatching with pencil, pen, crayon or brush; folding, scoring, perforating, shredding, curling, and cutting paper; producing washes of flat and graduated colour, and other painting, and glazing, with paint; and pounding, pinching, rolling, texturing, wheel throwing, glazing, and firing clay and so on. observational skills knowing how to look at something and see its essential character that is adaptable into an expressive statement is a way of art appropriation. what you are describing is the way artists look at objects or images. artists do not usually seek to reproduce the complexities that exist in nature. what is sought are the aspects of an object that will convey appearances and/or will serve as a stimulus to expressing something about the object; e.g., its majesty, loneliness, delicacy, peace of mind and so on. skills of representation and interpretation the visual arts employ a spatial aesthetic emotions or thoughts that may be evoked in response to works of art that possess visual qualities that exist in either actual or illusionist space. if the media of art are to be utilized for expressive purposes, skills need to be developed for employing such media to produce visual qualities that range from thin to thick and straight to curved lines, light to dark values, organic to geometric shapes, rough to smooth textures, and transparent to opaque and dull to bright colours. these fundamental skills are required to exemplify objects such as trees, houses, furniture, human and animal forms, and anything else that we encounter visually. art history and criticism: a new perspective 20 interpretative skills always come into play because we do not produce or reproduce the objects and events that are stimuli for expression. when we look at a painting or sculpture or animation of a man or woman, for instance, we are not responding to a real person; the person is not present. it is always the artist's representation and interpretation of the person to which we respond. we may look at a nose, hand or any other part of the body, but we do not see a nose or hand. we see a "sign" for the object; i.e., shapes and colours that add up to an image that represents a nose or hand. in addition, objects or subjects are interpreted in ways that convey meanings that go beyond what is there, and what is being denoted. as appearances are produced they carry connotations of strength, weakness, elegance, fragility, etc., which are evoked as a consequence of how media are utilized and visual qualities are produced. for example, rendering a hand using pale colours and very thin lines may convey a sense of delicacy. being able to produce art implies possessing some control over media coupled with skills for observing the visual world artistically (not just scientifically), and for representing and interpreting visual qualities while producing an assortment of appearances that convey a variety of meanings. creative skills creativity is a term that is often used indiscriminately. distinctions are not made between "making," "producing" or "creating" works of art. artists are expected to create such works whenever they are engaged in art activities. "creative self-expression" implies that when artists are expressing reactions to their own experiences they are being creative. articulating the skills associated with the production of art includes clarifying the aspects of creative behaviour that are agreeable to change in the process of art creation. for example, "fluency" and "flexibility" are traits that are associated with creative behaviour. to insure that these traits are nurtured, art activities must be assigned that require students to generate a variety of responses (fluency) and/or easily alter their works (flexibility) to increase their expressive impact. it must be remembered, however, that the extent to which artists will be successful and creative (producing art that is both worthy as art and innovative) will depend on the artists having acquired an adequate range of the technical, observational, representational and interpretative skills that are essential to the production of art. what constitutes the vocabulary of art? attempting to respond to art logically and analytically the critic or historian will demonstrate the importance of words (concepts) in guiding perception, and developing understanding and appreciation. there are, of course, many terms which comprise the vocabulary relevant to art. when these terms are known, and employed with precision, they facilitate discussions about art as well as contribute significantly to increasing levels of visual aesthetic literacy. the following is an extensive listing of a variety of terms which can be associated with art. this list should prove to be an invaluable aid to becoming acquainted with the scope of the subject, and when thinking, writing or speaking about the visual arts. manufactured forms as potential sources for aesthetic experience: contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 21 advertisement, arch, architecture, aquatint, assemblage, basketry, bas-relief, book, bridge, building, calligraphy, caricature, cathedral, chapel, ceramic, church, collage, computer graphics, computer sculpture, construction, costume, design, drawing, embroidery, enamel, engraving, etching, factory, film, fountain, fresco, furniture, garden, glass, graphics, happening, highway, house, illumination, medal, mezzotint, mobile, monument, mosaic, mural, musical instrument, palace, painting, photograph, porcelain, poster, print, rug, sculpture, serigraph, stained glass window, statue, synagogue, temple, textile, tomb, tool, typography, utensil, vase, watercolour, and woodcut. aesthetics generally speaking, aesthetics can be a set of principles that concern the nature and appreciation of beauty, specifically, a set of principles underling the work of a particular artist or artistic movement. in fine and applied art, aesthetics can be looked at as a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste as well as the philosophy of art. aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of art and our experience of it. in fine and applied art, aesthetic qualities are qualities seen by the viewer when looking at the artwork for the artist/designer, aesthetic qualities are when art elements and principles come together to create a certain feel, to the image such as warm colour which creates a sense of beauty and harmony. the area of aesthetics can be divided into five groupings of issues, questions and problems that are usually addressed by a philosopher aestheticians. when approached in ways that are relevant to particular groups, these areas can also be investigated by non philosophers; 1) defining what is and what is not art: what conditions must be present for something to be called art? what concepts enable us to identify qualities in works of art and the nature of their aesthetic form? what meanings can be conveyed by works of art? 2) engaging in the aesthetic encounter and making valid responses to works of art: what is the nature of aesthetic experience? what are appropriate ways for looking at art? what does a work of art express? 3) identifying standards and making critical judgments about art: what are the differences between personal preferences and objective judgments? can there be a set of standards for what is beautiful? how do we distinguish between beauty and ugliness? 4) clarifying the role of the artist and the creative process: how does making art differ from other activities? what does it mean to be expressive, imaginative, or original? 5) exploring the nature of the art world, and the relationships between art and ideology and morality: how do the meanings in works of art relate to the artist's culture? is art amoral? a political? are art forms parts of other values? how does the "art world" relate to other cultural institutions? art history and criticism: a new perspective 22 there are, of course, no single "right" answers to these questions. it is when searching for the most logical, relevant and reasonable explanations and conclusions that one expands his or her understanding of and appreciation for the nature and values of art. what is aesthetics? when an artist is engaged in the study of aesthetics, the following three groups of questions will help to clarify the meaning of "aesthetics" as a domain to be investigated • what are the subject and the theme of a particular work of art? • how are illusions of space and volume created? • what ideas and/or emotions are being expressed? • what social conditions existed when this particular work was created? • what artistic style is associated with this particle work • who created this work of art? • how do ordinary and master works of art differ? • why do works of art evoke emotional responses? • how are works of art different from other objects? which of these groups of questions relate to the area of aesthetics? it is only the last set of questions that can be associated with the types of issues addressed by aestheticians, philosophers who study systematically the nature of art. philosophy is a field that is usually divided into three specialized areas: the first group is concerned with identifying formal and expressive qualities in specific works of art, which implies engaging in art criticism. an interest in the socio-cultural context of particular works characterizes the second set of questions, which relate to art history. • practical philosophy concerned with ethics (worth of human actions, and judgments of what is right and good) and aesthetics (defining the nature of beauty and art, formulating principles governing its production and evaluation). • speculative philosophy concerned with metaphysics (first principles and causes) and epistemology (methods for gaining valid knowledge) • applied philosophy relating philosophical concepts and methods to other fields (philosophy of science, philosophy of education, philosophy of history, etc.) what is an aesthetic quality? aesthetics means "pleasing to people's senses" but the sub meaning is "pleasing to people's sensibilities". our senses tell us various things about the environment we live in, and the objects in it these objects evoke to some degree emotional statue people may or may not be aware of. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 23 an example of someone who is aesthetics might be an artist/designer. aesthetic in a more general sense means the pleasant, positive and artful appearance of a person or a thing. an example of the word aesthetics is to say that a particular art work or car design or any other thing is beautiful. how do we engage in the aesthetic analysis of a work of art? how do we make sense out of works of art? very often a work's vital statistics (names, dates, styles) and its creator's views (if known) are the only items of information available. can we only comment about a work's subject and the degree to which it is liked or disliked? it is as if the question "what does a work of art express" can only be answered by citing its vital statistics, discovering the intentions of the artist or, even more frequently, by leaving it to personal preference; i.e., whatever one believes it expresses. while these approaches have their merits they also have one great limitation: the expressive import of the work its content that involves us most profoundly in its aesthetic character, the primary basis for its emotional appeal is seldom investigated. what is the importance of aesthetic analysis in any work of art? the foregoing approach to making sense of works of art can be described as aesthetic analysis. aesthetic provides a systematic means for encountering a work of art those results in responding to what is inherent within the work itself. as a consequence, the work of art acts upon the viewer; it speaks of its unique character and forms the basis for both more objective and profound responses. aesthetic analyses can only inform us about the expressive nature of works of art. to fully appreciate the work and to appraise it critically, it is also essential to know about the historical -cultural milieu in which it was created. to demonstrate the value of learning about the cultural context of works of art, the aesthetic analysis exercise that follows will also include reviewing some of the cultural components associated with the work. words related to aesthetics alluring, appealing, charming, cunning, delightful, engaging, fascinating, glamorous, exquisite glorious, magnificent, perfect, radiant delicate and so on. while all types of objects and events may involve us in the aesthetic aspects of experience, are we willing to call all of them art? • what are the components of an aesthetic response? • how does an aesthetic focus differ from other types of emphases? • we may respond to the aesthetic qualities in a variety of objects produced by people who have no word for art in their language. are we willing to call such objects art even though they were produced primarily as objects to give form to values and traditions, and not as art, per se; i.e., objects designed primarily to evoke responses to aesthetic qualities? • can people who have not been taught how to make art produce works of art? • are children able to produce art? art history and criticism: a new perspective 24 what does a work of art express? • the intentions of the artist? • only what art historians tell us about the work? • anything we want it to express? is it strictly an individual thing? subject and theme in art works subject matter; images or topics which comprise the subject matter of a work of art include: dreams, emotions, fantasies, figures (symbolic, mythological, nudes, single and group portraits), historical and/or political events, landscapes, religious events, still-life (flowers, interiors, tables of fruit). some possible themes: ideas which appear to permeate a work of art reflect themes such as anguish, barbarism, bravery, brutality, debauchery, delicacy, domesticity, fear, gracefulness, horror, humour, injustice, joy, love, passion, patriotism, pleasure, sadness, terror, and tranquillity. words used to describe the processes for making art? the following terms describe what is done when one participates in the art-making process include: accomplish, achieve, act, adapt, add, adjust, alter, amplify, assemble, attain bring about, build, invent, join, make, manage, manipulate, modify, obtain, operate, order, originate, perform, plan, practice, prepare, present, produce, put together realize, rearrange, render, reorder, represent, reshape, reveal, revise, set up, shape, show, structure, succeed, symbolize transform, try out, use, utilize, work, work out. enlarge, erect, execute, exhibit, expand, experiment, express, extend fashion, form, formulate fulfil, gather, generate, improve, improvise, incorporate, indicate, carry out, carry through, cause, change, collect, combine, complete, compose, construct, control, correct, create demonstrate, develop, devise, display, do, elaborate, employ, enlarge, erect, execute, exhibit, expand, experiment, express, extend art history and its relationship with the society? art history and society are inseparable from each other, just as the environment is to human beings. it is good to understand that there is the largest number of human beings who in one way or the other interact to satisfy their social needs and share a common culture. society as an organization is a system created to achieve common goals through people-to-people and people to work relationships. it can be seen as a group of people involved with each other through persistent relations, or a large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectation. art history is all about that. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 25 art history therefore, is the study of the visual art in its historical development and stylistic contexts; it can be seen as the study of objects of art considered within their period. the work of the art historian is to analyse the visual arts' at the time they were created. in any work of art, the historian’s work is to identify the visual elements of the art work and interprets its meaning. the main preoccupation of art historians is therefore to establish the origins of works of art, that is discovering who created a particular artwork, when, where and for what reason. art historians are interested in what the works of art represented at the time, they were created, which is a way of learning about the civilization of the past. it is very important because is one of the ways to recount stories of past events. art history allows us to look back and understand how our civilization evolved over the centuries. this is a way to know ourselves better, and in trying to do so; we should ask why we have certain values in what we do. what shaped the way we think and our vision of the world should be put into consideration. art impacts and influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experience, across space and time in different ways. art in this sense is communication; it allows people from different cultures and different times to communicate with each other via images, sound and stories. art is often a vehicle for social change. art history deals with the historical development of a community, which includes the study of objects of art considered within their period. the work of the art historian is to analyse the visual arts' at the time they were created. the historian's work is to identify the visual elements of the art work and interprets its meaning. the main preoccupation of art historians is to establish the origins of works of art, that is discovering who created a particular artwork, when, where and for what reason. it is important to note that the study of art history is all about developing critical thinking ability, and is not only about memorizing dates, artists' names, art movements, and so on. instead, it drives the historian to analyze art works. to support this type of analysis, the art historian must build rational and convincing arguments, hence developing his/her critical thinking abilities. why is art history important – it is important because it gives humanities subjects, relating them to draw conclusions and critical evaluation of different artwork from different places. the history behind these artworks at separate times helps to learn about different tribes and their cultures. art impacts and influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experience, across space and time in different ways. art in this sense is communication; it allows people from different cultures and different times to communicate with each other via images, sound and stories. art is often a vehicle for social change. art history and context global challenges in art history, with awareness to review and renew the discipline's objects and methods, are ongoing, art history in a real sense should be a global affair because, .basic western art histories, such as formal analysis, per iodization and iconography, already exist in other countries of the world, such as chine, africa and others. the idea of global art history has long been started, in a world cat, in the global database that integrates the print collection of libraries all over the world, the number of catalogues items containing the phrase 'art history' that also refers to 'global art history' or 'world art history'. in a more detailed disciplinary survey one art history and criticism: a new perspective 26 can carry out on art-historical journal. in the academic english speaking field of art history, the art bulletin shows a similar increase in the frequency of these terms. the way moving forward there have been new developments, and challenges in recent times and also there has been great interest shown by people in artistic production all over the world hitherto has enabled some art historians to work on small production and to find their research. it has enabled researchers from geographical areas considered peripheral to introduce their interpretation, readings, methodologies, and even theoretical perspective into the western academic sphere. recently, we have seen the redesign of the program of art museums and anthropology museums, with a significant shift towards the contemporary with contemporary art works included in exhibitions of ancient themes. it is also good to note that museum collection strategies have also been renewed. a new vocabulary has become widespread, preferring the plural to the singular; art world rather than world art, modernity's rather a modernity. cross-fertilization, world market, institutional reforms, museum policies and their evolution, artistic migration, legacies and plural heritage are the subject of numerous theses that have opened a horizon of the art historical discipline that is now aware of the need to break away with this way of thinking. nevertheless, most of these challenges remain to be resolved, which could also explain why the debate on global art history and its possibilities are not closed. the most heated concern is the identities of those who make the global art history and their authority to do so, as debates about feminist studies and the study of 'black arts’ and much more. the pressure of globalization has undoubtedly many positive effects, including a concern to account for the artistic creation of all countries, without hierarchies. global approaches to art history should include a lot of art activities as it concerns artists, objects, culture and individuals. the documentation of objects and stories of diverse women and men who have created artistic objects, events and ideas, bringing the excitement and influence of history into the present is good in any artistic study. art history reveals the many ways that people make art and new technologies, events and resources affect art making. intentions, audience and interpretations vary even more than styles and media. formal and contextual appreciation vary with emphasis on both forms, meaning should be incorporated into a more encompassing view of art objects. more importantly, museums and classrooms should be centred on the learning motivation, questions and reference points bringing art to life, not facts to memorize processes and concepts to be taught there are many ways in which art history and society are related. this can be seen in the ways events and technology affect the content. the pervasiveness and centrality of art in society amplified its cultural gifts. histories and cultural ideologies are revealed through various art forms reflecting concepts of time and space. the interconnections of history and art can be seen in the interplay of events and the art world. what is displayed and where is determined by the valuing and editing of art. in some countries more freedom is given to artists than other works at various times in history, thus pointing to or restricting artistic production, content and public access to it. creating and sharing art celebrates the freedom of the human creative spirit. it is equally important to know that the roles and training of artists may be determined by the artist, contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 27 the society that they function in or by historians. some people create exquisite aesthetic objects but do not consider art as separate from daily life. others strive to become a part of an elite group of artists, they consider to be exemplary or famous. artists may be informally educated, selftaught or apprenticed in various ways. all these people are all artists. art has utilized materials and technologies that are as simple as two leaves on a bed of grass, and as complex as intricate computer programming. availability of materials and discoveries at any particular time and space affects the form of art example, it takes fire proceeded the firing of ceramic pottery. oil paint in tubes enables paining on location outdoors to occur. photography documented events not seen before. society creates art and records its history in various ways that reflect differing concepts of time and space. the recording and sharing of these cultural achievements give a sense of unity and life to art history. art history in the present? art and artist of the past influence and enrich current knowledge and creation of the arts, which have been shaped and reshaped by art, art itself is reaffirmed and redefined what is seen, how it is valued and that history is shaped, and shaped by public awareness and appreciation. art history is studied across time as well as across cultures. interesting recurring trends weave histories such as stories of creation, explorations of the nature of the power of art to urge social change, and celebration of birth, adulthood and marriage. thematic cycles reveal timelessness (visual tracking may evidence the recurrence of visual imagery as well). trends and styles in art are related to processes, content and preference. it is important to note that the urge to create is universal. the name of artists or cultural contributions is a source of rich study and valuable influences on art. the audience provides another important dimension of the art experience. the definition and roles of the artist and audience can change in differing places and times. there is no one way of interpreting art. artists' interactions may be communicated through a variety of symbols, visuals, configurations, and metaphors, and interpretations vary and should be discussed about meanings for current classroom seminar, conference and audience as well as within the original cultural context for the initial intended meaning there are many ways of understanding the world as reflected in many disciplines of study. visual art's relationship with other disciplines has changed throughout time. art is separate from life, psychology, culture, sociology, and ecology. wonderful harmonies of knowledge through thoughtful balance in interdisciplinary connection can expand the field of art rather than diminish it global perspective in art education the cultural history of art is by nature multicultural. global perspectives in art education foster the inclusion of multicultural histories, promote equality in gender representation, embraces a variety of art forms and aesthetics and use resources consciously with the interconnected and pluralistic nature of life as a foundation. it is good to note that multiple art histories are worthy of inclusion in any art historical study. many may have oral traditions. the naming of cultural groups should replace labels connoting inferiority such as "primitive", and" native “this type of language should not be used in global art history. social agendas have art history and criticism: a new perspective 28 determined the historic inclusion of certain art of the past. inclusiveness of artists and art forms is very important, which is the attitude of welcoming all sorts of artistss and art forms into the world of art and art history. women artistss have existed throughout time "histories", are being acknowledged as important, reversing impressionss and exclusion of women's's art forms. art began to bring attention and change to inequities in art history, women's issues, artistic achievements of women, the art of crafts and the value of collaboration and multiple interpretation of art. most recently, incorporating a global perspective attends to consideration have utilized natural and synthetic materials in many ways, and careful use of resources can affect their suitability. the definition and boundaries of art have changed. art has aesthetic qualities and may be functional or formal. artifacts, frequently art of non western culture are now more included as art. the audience as well as experts can determine what is called art by what they treasure. every design table-ware, clothes, furniture, found objects and glassware are now found in museums and considered expressive of the art and design impulse. each art form must be evaluated by its definition of qualities, not by a single overall standard. assemblage found objects and collage frequently give a new identity to reuse materials in art, ideas of what is considered desirable art materials are affected by cultural aesthetic and economic influences. innovative and creative art teachers interested in conservation promote imaginative reuse. some movement of ancient times has lasted for thousands of years, challenging eternity in their permanence. other art forms are ephemeral, lasting only as long as the split second required to take photographs as documentation of the structures or events. time affects works of art in many ways. art may use or attempt to counteract time on their work. display and conservation: traditionally, galleries were founded on the desire to acquire, preserve and display art. historical context teaching art learning about art history should be lively, interactive and effectively as well as cognitively rewarding. dry facts disconnected from students' experiences develop the inquiring attitude and appreciation of different artistic expressions that begin a life of rich art appreciation. some suggestions for meaningful and lasting learning would include: • sharing the global communities of art processes, purpose and themes • discussing and applying personal, family, community, national and world history • studying the present and past multiple functions of art and including diverse pluralistic histories of culture and subculture groups • avoiding teaching the ethnocentric perspective of history that exclusively focuses on western (europe/american) and african art. • exploring cross-cultural themes as well as rich cultural and historic contexts • using lively creative motivations and art projects that incorporate students authentically with expansive knowledge of the world of art. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 29 functions of art the most important function of art is to contribute towards the development of human society in general by stimulating the imagination and expanding our perception of ideas. the actual function of an artwork depends on context; it is important and ideally, to look at a piece and know where it came from and when. the best-case scenario includes identifying the artist, as well, because the artist is half of the contextual equation (i.e.: what was the artist thinking at the time s/he created the work?). you, the viewer, are the other half and are important (i.e.: what does this piece of art mean to you, living right now?). these are all factors that should be considered before trying to assign functions to artworks. functions of art normally fall within three categories. these are personal, social or physical functions. these categories can, and (often) do, overlap in any given piece of art. the physical functions of art are most easily dealt with. works of art that are created to perform some service have physical functions, ceramics ware are produced to serve a physical function. architecture, any of the crafts and industrial design are all types of art that have physical functions. art has social functions when it addresses aspects of (collective) life, as opposed to one person's point of view or experience. (political art) art that depicts social conditions performs social functions. sometimes having specific pieces of art in a community can perform the social function of elevating that community's status. the personal functions of art are the most difficult to explain in great detail. there are many of them, and they vary from person to person. an artist may create out of a need for selfexpression, or gratification. s/he might have wanted to communicate a thought or point to the viewer. perhaps the artist was trying to provide an aesthetic experience, both for self and viewers. a piece might have been meant to "merely" entertain others. sometimes a piece isn't meant to have any meaning at all. art may serve the personal functions of control. art has been used to attempt to exert magical control over time, the seasons or even the acquisition of food. art is used to bring order to a messy and disorderly world. conversely, art can be used to create chaos when an artist feels life is too serious and ordinary. art can also be therapeutic for both the artist and the viewer. art therapy as a subject of study integrates the fields of human development, visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art forms), and the creative process with models of counselling and psychotherapy. in terms of religion, some art forms serve as objects of reverence to transcendental deities. christendom, especially catholic depicts the iconographies of christianity in threedimensional forms, as metaphors. again, in traditional societies, carved images are symbols of the invisible beings that humans owe the obligation of consultations. in the muslim world, emphasis is laid on motifs, calligraphy and architecture, as against sculptural depiction of historical icons. biological functions of art would include fertility symbols (in any culture)"the functions of art": (1) context and (2) personal, (3) social and (4) physical functions. terms used to describe the purpose of art forms? terms describing purposes for which a work is created (for aesthetic, intrinsic appeal or utility in serving a religious, domestic or industrial function) include: art history and criticism: a new perspective 30 • aesthetic, amusing, artistic, cathartic, commemorative, commercial, cultural • decorative, economic, educational, entertaining, experimental, expressive, historical, hypnotic, instructional • magical, moral, persuasive, political, practical, propagandistic, psychological, religious • satirical, sensitizing, social (didactic, satiric), spiritual, stimulating, and therapeutic. cultural-historical context of works of art a thorough aesthetic analysis of a work of art will reveal the nature of its formal and expressive content; it will also answer the following types of questions. when one provides answers to the following types of questions that will help learn about the cultural and historical context of art. when and where was the work produced? who created the work of art, and what were the artist's motivations? how was the work created and what were the sources for the artist's particular approach? what is the style of the work and how does it relate to the world of art? the answers to these questions provide insights into a work of art that enable a more comprehensive response to the work. without such information, an informed understanding of its content, its iconography, and a genuine appreciation for its relative significance are not possible. these latter categories are essential to engaging in art criticism. socio-cultural functions of art works of art are significant players in the evolution of culture in that they contribute both to cultural continuity and, through innovations in forms and techniques, to cultural change. it is good to note that works of art give form to fundamental beliefs and feelings when such works are employed; they serve as culture carriers in communication. such works make a significant contribution to transmitting ideas, values and attitudes from person to person and from generation to generation. beliefs in the mystical and all-powerful role of natural forces or the possibility of an immortal existence in paradise would be extremely difficult to communicate without such works. it is important to note that art forms are essential to engage in the rituals that serve as the ingredients required to nurture and sustain any society. art functions in a myriad of ways for individuals and society. a life without art or a society devoid of art would not only be uninteresting, it would be unthinkable. it appears that humans instinctively seek to enhance and beautify their lives. the visual arts and other art forms -literature, music, dance, theatre, and film range from very primitive to very sophisticated models of expression and communication. personal and psychological needs of art an involvement with art can serve us personally and psychologically. art has important social and educational roles to perform. in addition, art is essential to maintaining a healthy economy. enhancing the appearance of objects, whether they are utilitarian, recreational, religious and/or commemorative, is the most obvious and pervasive function of art. it would be hard to imagine a world devoid of art. almost everything manufactured (as opposed to what is natural) that we see or use is, at least in part, the result of making choices and decisions that involve us in the aesthetic aspects of experience. although most manufactured or contrived contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 31 objects and events would not be classified primarily as works of art, they are the result of humans deciding to make something appear to be, for instance, elegant, comfortable, or hightech in appearance. in other words, an arrangement of visual elements shapes, colours, textures, etc. has been created for expressive purposes, which is one way to define art. an important psychological function for art is to create an awareness of subjective reality because works of art reflect and give form to our inner thoughts and feelings, making them public and, therefore, perceivable and knowable. works of art can offer convincing insights into a wide range of ideas, moods and passions derived from the collection of human experience. it may mean a sense of the magnitude of the task and how such burdens must be endured when machines are not available. historical artworks can be employed to create or reflect our times cultural and historical context also come into play when one considers more direct influences of the past upon the present. some contemporary artists employ acknowledged masterworks as the subject of their works. modifications are normally made by artists that can change the theme of a given work, which makes the work more relevant to contemporary issues and values. an example of this process – is where the old artist is the source of inspiration for the new. roles played by media and techniques almost anything can be used to make art. however, whether media are traditional or nonconventional, the visual qualities they produce should become the focus of study. one needs to recognize that particular media are utilized in different ways to produce qualities such as roundness, thickness, sharpness, fuzziness, and brilliance. these qualities can be organized to evoke various feelings and meanings for the viewer. one can experiment by painting lines which convey a sense of vigour or relaxation, drawing a tree which appears to be ancient and decayed, or manipulating clay to create a form which evokes an illusion of tender educational values of art in general education, art contributes to the development of a very important area of literacy by cultivating abilities to utilize a non-verbal language of expression and communication. art plays an essential role in supporting and changing culture. it enhances almost everything that humans manufacture. art is so important in our personal lives and as fundamental as a vehicle of expression and communication that individuals and societies could hardly exist without it. the artist engaging in cognitive activity includes acquiring and utilizing the storehouse of mental images that are the basis for concept formation and comprehension. art can make an important contribution to building this storehouse because it is an image-centered phenomenon. making or responding to art requires that one be involved in either producing or decoding a variety of images. for instance, understanding complex concepts such as tension, symmetry, and abstraction is dependent upon possessing relevant images (mental pictures or percepts) for these concepts. art history and criticism: a new perspective 32 these images can be acquired by producing them in appropriate art activities or by observing them in particular works of art. picture making and picture study involve using one's imagination; that is engaging in generating or identifying images that are associated with particular ideas by relating percepts to concepts. relevant mental pictures are developed and stored through appropriate learning experiences which include observing examples that incorporate these images and engaging in discussions that clarify similarities and differences. for example, creating an illustration for an animated film or any other illustration that involves a human figure requires that one imagine his enormous size, as well as body and facial structure and the design of his clothing. as one produces such an illustration, images are created that reflect and define the following list of complex concepts: scale, proportion, gesture, space, illusion, power, strength, and asymmetry. in other words, as one engages in this art activity, opportunities are provided to increase one's comprehension and repertoire of essential concepts. responding to works of art requires the use of one's imagination to make sense of the difference between what is implied and what exists (coloured pigments on a canvas, carved or chiselled wood, etc.). both images and concepts (ideas) are represented through the use of signs and symbols. actual objects such as eyes or houses or trees are not observed in works of art. shapes and other visual qualities are fashioned to serve as signs for objects. we may recognize a particular rendering of a shape as a sign of a hand. if it is depicted in a certain way, as a fist, for instance, the shape may also function as a symbol of power or strength. transforming mental shapes, colours and textures into signs and symbols is a complex intellectual task requiring both analytical and critical thinking. acquiring the skills and knowledge associated with art production is critical for those who aspire to be artists, designers, architects, and others. involvement in art production activities is also necessary when educating the general student who only aspires to become an informed consumer of art. art history assignment formal analysis in any formal analysis assignment, what is expected or required is a detailed description of the "formal" qualities of the art objects (formal here means "related to the form", not "fancy or elegant") in order words, what the artist is looking at, is it the individual design elements, such as compositions (arrangement of part of or in the work), colour, line, texture, scale, proportion, balance, contrast, and rhythm. the art student should be critical in his observation; the primary concern in this assignment is to attempt to explain how the artist arranges and uses these various elements. usually, the student has to look at the objects for a long time and then write down what he/she sees. in this case, the lecturer expects a highly detailed description of the objects. you might struggle with this assignment because it is hard to translate what you see in words don't give up and take more notes than you might think you need. why would your lecturer ask you to do this assignment? first, translating something from visual language to textual language is one of the most vital tasks of the art historian. most art historians at some point describe fully and accurately their objects of study to communicate their ideas about them. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 33 art historians vary in their approach to art, and there are a few common approaches that form the backbone of the field. you may already have found this tendency helpful in reading your textbook or another assignment your lecturer realizes that you are not accustomed to scrutinizing objects in this way and know that you need to practice doing so. lecturers who assign formal analyses want you to look and look carefully. think of the objects as a series of decisions that an artist made. your job is to figure out and describe, explain and interpret these decisions and why the artist may have made them. ideally, if you were to give your written formal analysis to somebody who had never seen the objects, s/he would be able to describe or draw the object for you, or at least pick it out of a lineup. in writing a formal analysis, focus on creating a logical order so that your reader doesn't get lost, your lecturer already knows what you are talking about. here are some guidelines, 1. summarize the overall appearance; the artist can describe the details of the object. 2. describe the composition and then move on to a description of the material used (for example acrylic, watercolour, plaster, etc) 3. begin discussing one side of the work and then move across the object to the other side 4. describe things in the order in which they draw your eye around the object starting with the first you notice and moving to the next. some lecturers would want your formal analysis to consist of pure description with little interpretation or no interpretation. in this case, you should just describe your object, while others will expect you to go further and comment on the significance of what you have observed. find out which way your lecturer wants you to write your formal analysis in your assignment. most art historians include formal analysis at some point in their essays; there are lots of examples to look at in textbooks and other reading materials. stylistic analysis you may be asking to look at an object and talk about its style. some lecturers will want you to discuss how an object fits into a particular stylistic category for example, impressionism, renaissance, early macedonian or others. more often, they will ask you to compare two works in either the same or very different stylistic categories e.g. comparing one impressionist painting by monet to one by morisot or comparing a correggio still life with picasso's life. you will still focus on the formal qualities of the objects but this time you will probably be expected to conclude one of the following: • how the work fits the stylistic category • how the work does not fit the category • how two works with the same type of content look different from each other, because of style (for example, both paintings are still lives, but they show different approaches to three-dimensional etc. a stylistic analysis will acquaint us with art history and criticism: a new perspective 34 some of the large historical trends and forces in the culture and how they influence the development of art. iconography/ iconology this kind of assignment occurs in courses covering art before the modern period: here you will for a particular element that occurs in the object (an object, action, gesture, pose) and explain either: when some elements occur in other objects through history and how this object's representation of it is unique, or what that element means generally in art or to art historian in other words, the traditional association an art historian might make between that depiction and other things. if you are confused, makes a clear distinction between iconography and iconology but many art historians do notthey often use the word "iconography" when they mean both. art historian study iconography and iconology so often that they have compiled reference texts that list many of the famous works that show particular themes. provenance/patronage study some assignment requires you to examine the life of the object itself: the circumstances surrounding its production and/or where and why it has changed hands throughout history. these assignments focus on either: how, when, where and why the patrons, (the person who orders or buys the object, or generally supports the artist) ask for or acquired the object from the artist. the assignment may ask you to comment on what the patronage suggests about how the artist made their living at different points in history, how, /why the patron choose the artist they did or the history of the object passing from art to patron to museum etc. such assignments usually appear in classes oriented towards museum studies. the assignment may also ask you to comment on the significance of this history. theory/criticism all four of the previous assignment types focus on the objects themselves (the painting, sculpture, drawing, or building.) however, in some courses, particularly in modern art courses you may be asked to look beyond or through the objects toward the theoretical, historical, or social context of the object, artist or time. the lecturer may want you to talk about how the formal or stylistic qualities of the object reflect or affect the time in which they were made. more specifically, you may ask to look at the object's relationship to ideas about gender class, artistic relation, culture, or politics associated with that time, or you may be asked to connect artworks with the theories of a particular person. you can talk or discuss one popular modern artist and look at how many different ways he has been studied from a theoretical/critical perspective or another. • streaming from and/ or helping to create a traditional or modern nigerian art culture of masculinity and superiority • exploring the relationship between nigerian culture and others. • portraying a stylistic progression from a more abstract representation that emphasizes the flatness of the canvas and the paint over the content or narrative. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 35 as you can see, these assignment may leave you a fair amount of latitude in finding and pursing a topic, regardless of the theatrical perspectives you use or apply, be sure that your paper contains a strong argument. remember to pay attention to your lecturer also when you are writing a paper on theory /criticism, the art object or objects should be at the forefront of your discussion. the theory or criticism should arise out of the art, rather than be imposed on it. focus on the object first, to write a formal analysis before getting the theory; you may not include this analysis in your final paper, but writing it will give you insight into the object or objects you are discussing. you may also wish to keep an image of the object or objects in view, tracking down the resources it is necessary to review resources that will help you to answer that type of question. you may have to find any or all of the following books or materials: • the object itself or a book that talks about it at length. • your textbook (look through the whole thing there are often helpful glossaries and timelines. art bibliographies for further reading • standard art historical reference text (especially for iconographical or patronage studies • theory or analysis of what has already been written (usually articles or books rather than survey text or dictionaries) the more object-oriented research assignment requires you to spend more time with monographs; catalogues and other art history reference books. the first two types of books focus on an artist's entire body of work and/or biography and give details that might not show up in a more theoretical text (like the measurement of the object, their provenance, details about their condition etc. the more theoretical the assignment the more time you will spend reading journals and articles (sometimes directly related) books even when writing a more theoretical paper don't ever forget the art objectit is the reason for your power. the "pure" formal analysis is the only paper in which description alone is enoughso if you are asked to compare two objects, do not just list their similar or different qualities. instead, suggest what those differences or similarities mean and analyze them on some level. additional resources some books that can help you write your paper in art history, are widely available examples; 1. action, mary, leaning to look at paintings. new york: rutledge 1997 2. barnet, sylvan, a short guide to writing about art. new york: harper collins college, 1993 a glossary of art terms students and professionals of art and design need to engage in a great deal of discussion about the possible meanings of art vocabulary. it is through the process and examining art history and criticism: a new perspective 36 alternative definitions for art terms that words evolve into functional concepts for thinking about, analyzing, criticizing, appreciating, and producing the varied forms of the visual arts. abstraction a device in art which alters or simplifies reality (nature) to facilitate the expressive purposes of the artist (e.g., the exaggerated antelope horns and ears of the masks used in some african artworks aesthetic analysis is a careful investigation of the qualities which belong to objects and events that evoke thoughts and feelings because of the character of these qualities and the particular ways they are organized. aesthetic aspects of experience that are inherent within the experience itself and to which we respond through our senses, whatever the primary nature of the experience. aesthetic response a felt sense of pleasure, joy or excitement (and, under certain conditions, a sense of tension or apprehension) when responding to the surface and representational qualities inherent within a natural or manufactured object and/or event. allegory pictorial device in which characters or events stand for abstract ideas or principles, enabling what is represented to suggest deeper symbolic meanings; e.g., employed in the masterpieces by botticelli and vermeer. art objects and events formulated primarily (consciously or unintentionally) to evoke aesthetic responses; or, put more simply, forms made by people which because of the way they are created arouse emotional reactions in others. assemblage three-dimensional artworks 'assembled' from a variety of existing objects and materials. balance – does a perceived equilibrium exist among visual, surface qualities? asymmetrical, dynamic or informal balance – is a controlling opposite force by manipulating visual components to create a sense of equilibrium (e.g., a large grey area balanced by a small red shape). symmetrical, static or formal balance – is an equal distribution of similar visual components on either side of an implied or actual central axis. baroque – is a major art style characterized by a dramatic unification of complex elements and undulating spatial forces. the baroque style achieved its greatest heights in the 17th and 18th centuries; its tenets are still practised by artists and architects today. classicism an emphasis upon idealized subjects and themes initiated in ancient greece and given renewed impetus in the 'perfection of the form' achieved by such renaissance masters as contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 37 botticelli. (artists continue to seek ideal relationships even in the nonobjective works of the 20th century; e.g., the classical linear compositions of piet mondrian.) cubism a 20th-century style which focuses upon the structural character of objects; analytical cubism presents several views of an object simultaneously; synthetic cubism is more decorative because it stresses the two-dimensional nature of the canvas and does not attempt to create spatial illusions. cultural context aspects of objects and events that exemplify the values, beliefs, traditions, economy and/or other characteristics that can be associated with a particular individual, group or society. dada is an anti-art movement which emerged in europe in 1916 as a reaction against the antihuman calamity of world war i. it continues today when artists interpret irrational and nihilistic social forces by creating ridiculous and ridiculing sensory images. distortion – is the modification and exaggeration of visual qualities to enhance expressive impact. dominance emphasizing an idea and/or particular visual components (through repeated use, the intensity of colour, and/or relative scale) to the degree that all other aspects of a work become subordinate. elaboration the embellishment of an idea or object through constant repetition and/or variation of some visual components while other components may remain simplified or lack complexity. expressionism a style which deliberately abandons 'naturalistic' and 'idealistic' approaches, and utilizes exaggerations and distortions of form and colour, which often result in a more direct and greater emotional impact. expressive character – is the sensory, formal and technical aspects of works of art (objects or events) that result in evoking particular thoughts and/or emotions. expressive properties the ideas or ideals, dynamic states, and/or mood or spirit that can be identified and/or associated with objects or events, which, when coupled with a work's other properties, contribute to the evocation of particular thoughts and feelings. formal properties –it is the means by whereby sensory properties (shapes, colours, textures, etc.) are formed; e.g., unified, emphasized, and balanced, and so on. genre specifically, artworks that depict scenes of everyday life; e.g., 17th-century dutch paintings of domestic settings; more generally, art forms which share certain structural or stylistic characteristics; for example marine or still-life paintings. art history and criticism: a new perspective 38 gradation subduing contrast through related steps; example developing spatial illusion in a landscape by using slightly changing value contrasts from foreground to background. iconography the subject matter in works of art; specific and/or traditional symbolic representations or elements associated with the subject or themes of works of art. innovation – is bringing into being something new; an original (creative) way of depicting subjects or themes. line a device used to abstract and delineate space into shapes on a two-dimensional surface. lost wax also known as cire perdue, is a technique for casting metal that involves producing a model in wax, investing the completed model in clay, heating the clay mould so that the wax melts and can be poured out of the mould, and filling the negative space with molten metal. it is a technique that has been practised by various cultures around the world over the last several thousand years. motif a design or arrangement which is the basic element within a patterned surface; e.g., an abstract flower used repeatedly to create an overall visual texture. naturalism a style which emphasizes the conscious emulation, but not necessarily the imitation of natural phenomena. nonobjective – is a type of art that evokes responses to surface qualities which do not allude, in any way, to recognizable objects or events (the opposite of naturalism). opposition a method for achieving contrast and conflict between visual qualities those results in the creation of heightened interest and the arousal of a sense of tension or turmoil. primitive – is a type of art characterized by flat and somewhat unrealistic forms which reflect the artist's lack of formal training; e.g., the painting of a cat by an anonymous artist. the term "naive" is often used in the same context which is not supposed to be in a global art history. realism a style of art that is characterized by a denial of 'idealized' or 'romanticized' subjects and interpretations, and stresses the factual recording of more 'earthy' objects and events. romanticism an artistic style initiated in early 19th century europe as a reaction against the detached and formal emphases of the neoclassicism of the time. it is characterized by a freer, more expressive use of media to depict highly dramatic, mysterious and exotic themes. rhythm a sense of an actual or implied movement existing within some form of organized pattern. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 39 scale is the relationship between the size or intensity of surface qualities which establishes a sense of relative proportion and emphasis. sensory properties the qualities which are inherent within (belong to) an object or event that is experienced through one's sense of sight, touch, hearing and/or smell. sensual a response to the visual, aural, kinesthetic and/or olfactory aspects of objects or events with a special focus on sexual connotations. sensuous – is a response to the physical character of stimuli; e.g., shapes colours and textures. surrealism a 20th-century movement which emphasizes imaginative and intuitive interpretations of the subconscious. technical properties particular attributes of works of art that result from how tools and materials are employed. tension an implied opposition of visual forces which evoke a sense of strained relationships between surface qualities, thereby, creating feelings of tautness or excitement. texture the suggested, implied (visual) or actual (tactile) character of an object's surface. unity a sense of 'wholeness' or 'relatedness' achieved through various techniques such as repetition, gradation, alternation, or radiation of visual qualities. value the term used to identify the variations in dark and light qualities of visual phenomena. careers and occupations associated with the visual arts food: designer of cooking and baking utensils, dinnerware, flatware, packages, and paper goods also: ceramist (dinnerwarepottery), chef, merchandiser, pastry decorator clothing and appearance fashion: buyer, commentator, coordinator, designer, editor, illustrator, photographer, costume designer, dress maker, fabric draper, furrier, hair stylist, jewelry designer and jewelry maker, make-up consultant, milliner, textile designer, shelter architect: commercial, domestic, industrial, landscape, school designer of: fabric, floor coverings also: cabinet maker, ceramist (tiles), city planner, house painter, paperhanger, stained glass designer/maker, stonemason, woodworker education: pre school: aide, sitter, teacher elementary: art consultant, art supervisor, principal, teacher secondary: arts supervisor, art teacher, artist in residence, craft – art history and criticism: a new perspective 40 home economics industrial arts photography teacher post secondary: community college art instructor, university studio art history art education aesthetics professor museum catalogue designer, curator, director, educator, exhibition designer/builder, framer, photographer, restorer, conservator mass media billboard-poster: designer, painter, printer, serigraphy magazine: art critic, art director, art editor, cartoonist, comic strip creator, illustrator, letterer, photographer motion picture and television: animator, art director, camera operator, costume designer/maker, hair dresser, make-up artist, mock-up builder, set designer and builder, titles creator, cartoonist computer: web site designers, computer images and graphics religion architect, illustrator, silversmith, stained glass designer and/or fabricator transportation aeroplane: interior stylist, technical illustrator, trademark uniform designer automobile: body repairer, brochure designer, illustrator, customizer, map cartographer, model designer/ maker, painter, stylist bicycle-motorcycle: body stylist, painter, pinstriper, mobile home: equipment interior exterior designer recreation vehicles: equipment interior shell designer; exterior scenic painter train: interior sign station designer truck: designer, painter, sign-poster designer/painter services medical: art therapist, illustrator, model maker, occupational therapist library: fine arts librarian, sign/display maker police: composite sketch artist, court artist, photographer military: aerial photographer, arts & crafts instructor, combat artist/photographer, training aids designer/builder shopping advertising designer, advertising agency art director, catalogue designer/illustrator, direct mail designer, florist, gift wrapper, point-of-sale display designer/maker, product designer, toy designer, window decorator the arts ballet/opera/theatre: costume designer, publicity designer/photographer, program designer, set designer/builder literature: book binder, book jacket designer, story illustrator, layout/type designer visual arts: calligrapher, enamellist, glass blower, jeweler, contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 41 mosaics, muralist, painter, printmaker, potter, sculptor, silversmith, weaver also: arts & crafts camp counselor, art auctioneer, candlemaker, circus wagon poster designer, heraldry trophy award designer, parade float designer/builder conclusion this chapter discussed art history, appreciation, criticism and other components of art history. art history uses the same language and approach that art historian considers the meaning of art in a large social context. art is the study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic content. art appreciation is normally narrowed down to the value attached to art, that is focusing on art objects to better understand and analyze its content and take out meaning from it. art criticism in a similar way involves evaluations of artwork with formal assignment tools. this to a greater extent requires an understanding of art movement, history and techniques of production. in recent time art history is the academic study of the history and development of visual arts and art appreciation, the application of basic tools of visual literacy to understand and appreciate works and understand their meaning. art history is the study of objects considered within a specific time. art historians are preoccupied with the main aim to analyze the visual arts to find the meaning of the work at the time they were created, for instance, to identify the visual elements of the work and interpret its meaning. art history's mission, therefore, is to establish the authorial origin of artworks, i.e. discovering who created a particular artwork, when, where and for what reason or purpose. this is why it is very important to study a branch of art history called iconography, which consists of analyzing the symbolism of works of art here, the historian identifies the visual elements of any branch of visual art and interprets its meaning. art historians are interested in what the works of art represent at the time they were created so doing it is a way to learn about the civilization of the past. art history is important, in that, it helps individuals to understand their culture. visual art recount stories of the past, it gives an account of past events. art history allows us to look back and understand how civilization evolved over the centuries. it is a way to know ourselves better, why do we have certain values? what shaped the way we think and our vision of the world? historical context bibliography biscom, william. (1973). african art in cultural perspective. new york: w.w. norton & company. chalmers, graeme. (1996). celebrating pluralism: art education and cultural diversity. california: the getty education for the arts congdon, kristen. (1996). gender issues in art education: art history, traditional art, and artistic practice. reston, va: naea. dake, dennis. (spring, 1995). effective uses of art history in the k-12 art classroom part 1: reshm king. attitude towards art history reston va naea fitchner rathus, lois(1995).understanding art. what is art? meaning, purpose, styles. new jersey: prentice hall, englewood cliffs gablik, suzi. (1991).the enchantments of art new york: themes &hudson. art history and criticism: a new perspective 42 hobbs, jack &salome, richard (1991).the visual experience. westchester m.a. davies publications lippard, lucy. (1083). overlay contemporary art and art history of prehistory. new york: new press marquez, gabriel garcia & matthiessen , peter (1991).the circle of life. new york. cohen publishers preble, d. & s. (1994). art form new york: harper collins college publication smith, annie. (1993) getting into history: the experimental approach to teaching art history. ontario, canada: barnes press willet, frank.(1991).african art. new york. oxford university press references akinboye, j. o. (2004) creativity, innovation and success. stirlinghordens publishers ltd, ibadan-nigeria anya, a.o. (1982) the environment of isolation. the ahiajoku lecture, ministry of information, owerri, nigeria baxter, m.r. (1995) product design. practical methods for the systematic development of new products, new york: chapman and hall bolaji, s.d. (2007) akinpelu’s educational philosophy and its implication to educational system in nigeria, unpublished master’s thesis submitted to the department of educational foundations, faculty of education, university of lagos lower field and brittan, l. (1995) creative and mental growth. macmillan publishing co. inc., new york. murray, j. (1966) introduction to african art. camelot press ltd, london. rodney, w. (1982) how europe underdeveloped africa, ikenga publishers enugu, nigeria runco, a. m. (1994) encyclopedia of human behavior. academic press inc. new york. uche okeke, art in the development of nigeria: a perspective, henchman grier, asele institute, mimo, nigeria and african enter. minneapolis ola 0loidi, historical foundation of art education in nigeria: 1900-1955, unpublished manuscript. uka, godwin ogbu.(2007) pioneers of visual communication design in eastern nigeria, 1959 1970, phd dissertation, university of nigeria, nsukka toyin ogunton, industrial design and society: changes in the next millennium" guest speech delivered at std's week, seminar ahmadu bello university zaria section f: gender and feminism studies 17. women’s identities and subjectivity of self in lesley nneka arimah’s ‘what it means when a man falls from the sky’ adaoma igwedibia & michael olughu abstract this paper examines the representation of women’s identities and embedded subjectivity of self in lesley nneka arimah’s what it means when a man falls from the sky. considering the dearth of critical works on the debut collection, this paper fills the gap, in reading some of the purposively selected stories through a feminist standpoint. the textual analysis of the selected stories reveals patriarchal social order and the power tussle among women as challenges facing the true emancipation of women. the latter challenge, however, the paper argues, emanates from the sole aim to either undermine or strengthen the weak amongst affected women. this paper equally underscores both dignified and degrading identities evident in some of the female characters, ranging from being assertive, independent, dubious and aggressive to being wayward. in manifesting through these identities, the paper exposes the subjective interests behind the roles or actions of the women which are to better their lives and those of others around them. furthermore, there is an overt display of personal struggle for emotional fulfilment among majority of the female characters in most of the studied stories. this paper concludes that arimah, as a new feminist voice in the corpus of african literature, has, through this debut collection, added fresh insights to the identities of african women with vistas of underlying issues for critical engagements among feminist critics and writers. keywords:women, identities, subjective self, feminism, arimah introduction the portrayal of diverse identities of women in literary works, over time, is predicated on the evolution of societal and ideological consciousness. such portrayal, either on liberal or radical stance, indicates the essence of women and those spotlight situations and experiences that construe their identities and existence. nevertheless, the polemics of women in any society always attract the vibes of committed critics toward revolutionizing against the overt bordered freedom of their manifestation and relevance. as human events move in same acceleration with modern advancement, women’s identities, which are part of interactional ambiance and coexistential human relationships, are (re)configured based on cultural exigencies of the immediate society. it is not an oblivious fact that women thrive in condescension as regards their primal role and relevance, either due to male chauvinistic tendencies or hostile conditions orchestrated by themselves (same female group). the latter situation, however, deconstructs the cliché of feministic dogma which assumes that the oppressive experience of women is borne out of patriarchal construction. there seems to be an upsurge of evolving behavioural patterns among women in the feminist world with the propensity of blowing the unity of their struggle against their assumed common enemy, ‘male dominance’, out of proportion. this scenario, either manifesting consciously or unconsciously, suggests the existence of a dual war in the house of feminism: first, to be free from patriarchal forces and, second, to tackle self-induced limitations indirectly posed by women themselves. this dual war, (re)occurring within the territories of the women’s world, has strongly created a vista of interests regarding its correlation in women, their diverse identities and emancipation mantra, which abound in both old and emerging literary feminist works. there is no gainsaying the fact that the struggle for the emancipation of women from the shackles of patriarchal order has remained one of the focal engagements in the body of literary theory and criticism. this engagement, as the case may be, metamorphoses into what seems a unified ideology through committed postures of some scholars, critics and theorists; hence the term ‘feminism’. according to charles bressler, “feminism is an ideological movement that seeks to change the degrading views of women so that all women will realize that they are not a non-significant other…possessing the same privileges and rights as every man” (144). this movement for women and their rights, irrespective of its later ideological modification, has its foundational western interrogation in seminal and critical works of mary wollstonecraft, virginia woolf, simone de beauvoir, and julia kristeva, among others. due to the movement’s assumed eurocentric nature, its reception in other continents of the world, especially africa, was greeted with dissenting voices among critics. in this regard, molly chiluwa submits that, “for an african feminist, forms of women oppression are peculiar to their individual societies and cultural milieus…those theories [of african orientation] pitch the african philosophy galaxy as their world view … borne out of the urge for african women to articulate their brand of marginalization and experience that differ in many ways from those of western women” (103104). there is a wide gap in the reception of issues that bother women in both western and african societies. for instance, in a traditional african setting of igbo extraction there are some cultural dogmas which are not favourable to women, and in most cases they are obligated to respect them without any form of defiance. suffice it to say that such cultural ideology and its influence on women’s condition is in total contrast with what is tenable in western climes. in lending more credence to the earlier position of chiluwa, akachi t. ezeigbo posits: feminist literary theory and criticism in the west tended to ignore the experience of black women, african women and women of colour from other cultures of the world…. the universal application of the western model as if it the only experience has provoked a dissenting voice from feminist theorists, critics and scholars from non-white cultures. they dissociate themselves from the brand of feminism espoused by middleclass western women…they have sought to define their type of feminism. (14-15). in solidarity with the dual views above, some afrocentric feminist critics cum theorists have propounded diverse indigenous theories which they believe have the strength in catering for the aspirations of black or african women. these afrocentric feminists and their theories include alice walker’s womanism, clenora hudson-weems’ africana womanism, omolara ogundipeleslie’s stiwanism, chikwenye ogunyemi’s black womanism, catherine acholonu’s motherism, chioma opara’s femalism, obioma nnaemeka’s nego-feminism and recently, ezeigbo’s snail-sense feminism, among others. in no small measure, these diverse postulations of african-oriented feminist theories or models portend the continuous realistic happenings as they affect the lives of women, especially in african societies. this claim is validated in the words of aderemi raji-oyelade, that “…the interpretation and misinterpretation of the woman the critique and integration of the female is perhaps the most crucial subject of contemporary african literature today” (67). it is worthy of note that african literature is replete with creative writings be it prose, poetry, drama and most especially short stories, which explore the state of women and their identities. this is glaring in the creative productions of her pioneer female writers flora nwapa, ama ata aidoo, mabel segun, ifeoma okoye, mariama ba, buchi emecheta, bessie head, grace ogot, calixthe bayela and zaynab alkali, among others. arguably, these female writers and their feminist writings form the sublime foundation upon which the new generation of african feminist writers, especially lesley nneka arimah, whose creative work this paper focuses on, derives her prodigious and ideological strengths in tackling women’s travails in society. in attesting to this claim, alioune sow argues that “african writers [especially feminist writers] have been particularly accurate in their depiction of the collective and individual tragedies that lead to the fragmentation of societies [as it affects women]” (207). over time, various african female writers have emerged, with diverse orientations, (re)creating various identities of women through literary representations. this is achieved through apportioning either dignifying or demeaning roles to women characters as for and against the ones being done by their male counterparts who dominated the writing world before their epoch. in accounting for the disparities in the creation of women’s role which is part of their identity formation among feminist writers, both male and female, in african literary period, e.e. ojaruega concludes that: while the first [african] generation of feminist writers cautiously presented heroines whose desire for prosperity or power often jeopardizes their fulfilment in the domestic sphere, recent trends in feminist narratives show these debutantes [including arimah] concerned with reassessing human experiences so as to build bridges and expand frontiers in human relationship by fostering true emancipation for women…re-inscribing new identities, new roles and canons of power for the contemporary nigerian [and other african] woman via fictional space (108). in support of ojaruega’s view, emeka nwabueze, agrees that “it is clear that the portrayal of women in african society now wears a new look. their traditional portrayal as people who play a secondary but cheerfully accepted role has changed…as well as on the pages of african creative literature” (86). out of sheer bravery or what can be seen as will-power, women expand their life influence beyond mere stereotyped pattern of existence. they are not only questioning the dichotomy being posed by patriarchal social order, they also counteract those impediments caused by themselves (women) as a group. buttressing further, helen chukwuma says that “the rural, back house, timid, sub-servient, lack-lustre woman has been replaced by the modern counter-part, a full rounder human being, rational, individualistic and assertive, fighting for, claiming and keeping her own” (3). in same light, simone de beauvoir avers that "the modern woman accepts masculine values; she prides herself on thinking, taking action, working, creating on the same terms as man" (cited in walters, 98). this cross-gendered personality transition, from what women used to be in the ‘dark era’ to this modern period, shows the triumph of subjectivity in the (re)configuration of ‘self’ as represented in the creative world. such transformation of women’s roles, in the words of sule e. egya, points to the “metamorphosis of the heroine arising from the author’s programmatic infractions of patriarchal conventions” (212). subjectivity of ‘self” as it is intended in this paper, thrives on the manifestation of women’s identities collapsing boundaries of limitation for others to benefit from or for personal gain. those boundaries, nevertheless, are primarily built by male hegemonic forces. under such stringent boundaries, women do take masculine roles or actions, acting beyond conventional parochial gender perception to liberate themselves or others who are dependent on their intervention. margaret walters affirms that “it was one thing to act in ‘unfeminine’ ways if divinely inspired, not quite so easy to act unconventionally out of personal ambition” (17). women are currently taking independent-willed positions which project them as strong as their male counterparts. this pattern of women identity and likes abound in the literary production toward bringing to limelight such trendy and significant existence “...for cross-fertilizing dialogue to replace the self-absorbed conversations among women that were inevitable at the height of the gender wars” (ogunyemi 7). female characters, through characterization, are imbued with qualities of a subjective nature in thoughts and actions aimed at placating their plights as well as asserting their own opinions. according to charles e. nnolim, “the african woman, through the efforts of the female writers and critics, is now much more aware of her identity and is determined not only to assert her separate personhood, but also to break away from the encircling shackles imposed by men and tradition [including the ones orchestrated by them]…” (146). to this end, taking cognizance of the forgoing issues, this paper, therefore, through feminist lens, seeks to explore various manifestations of women’s identities and the underlying subjectivity of self in arimah’s what it means when a man falls from the sky. women, identities and the subjective self: the example of lesley nneka arimah arimah’s what it means when a man falls from the sky is a debut collection of short stories whose title was shortlisted for 2016 caine prize; but unfortunately, it is characterized with dearth of critical attention, especially on a feminist engagement, apart from this present study. nevertheless, the feminist tempo that overwhelms the margin and centre axis of the stories suggests the prodigiousness of the writer as another strong crusader of women emancipation in the new nigerian and african literary world; and this lends credence to her emergence as the winner, 2019 caine prize for african writing. such feminist concern as it revolves around women in the collection, points toward a group of assumed weak individuals suffering from the whims and caprices of patriarchal order and other challenges to survival and the need for their freedom. the stories in the collection are also imbued with tales of women and their staunch poise in taking the bull by the horn toward salvaging their pitiable conditions. in achieving the aim of this paper, therefore, some of those stories in the collection are to be selected for textual analysis in order to ascertain how the writer, through characterization, projects the (re)configuration of the identities of female characters and the subjective motivation behind their diverse attitudinal postures. in “the future looks good,” arimah presents a society where womanhood thrives in dilemma. the story revolves around assertiveness, independency and aggressiveness in the making of womanhood. there is equally hatred, disappointment, regret and violence besieging female characters which construe and influence their struggle for emancipation from many difficulties. the reader’s first contact with the story creates an intriguing focus on some key female characters, especially ezinma, her sister, bibi, mother and grandmother. the narrator accounts for the experiences of women as it revolves around ezinma’s grandmother: her grandmother, overworked to the bone by the women whose houses she dusted, whose laundry she washed, whose children’s assets she scrubbed clean; overworked by the bones of a husband who wanted many sons and the men she entertained to give him, sees her son to his thirteenth year with the perfunction of a nurse and dies in her bed with a long, weary sigh. (1) the excerpt is a manifestation of industrious, slave-like and despondent condition emanating from harsh conditions of women toward surviving against all odds. ezinma’s grandmother is seen as a workaholic who engages in all manner of menial jobs as a cleaner and nanny. this singular act swiftly raises the bar of revamping the fate of women in society who are viewed as weaker vessels and dependent parasites on men for survival. in spite of strict struggles, ezinma’s grandmother is also under uncontrolled procreation as a result of inconsiderate choice of her husband for more male children. her obedience in giving the husband many male children as recounted by the narrator above, emphasizes the patriarchal construct of african society in which she finds herself. in this circumstance and likes, it is a parochial chauvinistic notion that any marriage that produces more female children than or with no male ones has failed, with its concomitant acrimony and rejection. this notion, not only creates imbalance in the gender relevance in society, it equally subjects women, in such a male dominated society, to various inhuman treatments. despite this terrible experience of women in patriarchal society, arimah, creates the identity of a passionate woman in the character of ezinma’s grandmother who extends her caring nature to the son. before her painful death, her aspirations to enjoy a meaningful motherhood was dashed due to frequent pregnancies that she has had for the husband who is bent of having more male children. furthermore, the story captures the condition of ezinma in the hands of her stepmother after her mother’s untimely death. ezinma’s father falls into the hands of another wife who lured him into sending away his fifteen-year old son his possible next of kin as evident in igbo traditional society. such a disposition by ezinma’s stepmother is anchored on her major interest in acquiring every possible wealth possessed by her husband without any iota of opposition. the writer equally ushers in the events of pre, during and post-civil war days, where the identity of women becomes somewhat confident, thriving toward displaying their innermost desires in asserting their real ‘selves’. the narrator simply puts it thus: her mother [ezinmma’s mother] is a brash girl who takes more than is offered. it’s 1966, months before everything changes, and she is at a party hosted by friends of her parents and there is a man there, yellow-skinned like a mango and square-jawed and bodied like the statue of david, wealthy; the unmarried women strap on their weaponry (winsome smiles, robust cleavage, accommodating personalities) and go to war over him. when she comes out the victor, she takes it as her due (2-3). the excerpt depicts a new generation of women, in taking bold steps especially as it affects their emotions and intimate affection. it is always seen as anathema and culturally abnormal in african society for a woman to go after a man; and to profess her love toward the latter on the first contact. rather, women, as regards the said society, are seen to be the paradise which every man must desire to have and ought to take the first possible step in luring her emotionally. ezinma’s mother and her contemporaries, break what seems to be a cultural protocol in their african society. they represent new generation of modern women who go after a man that tickles their fancies without being apologetic whatsoever in their pursuits. as a result of the biafra war as presented in the story, the newly won fiancé (ezinma’s father) left her lover due to war conditions. the lover (ezinma’s mother) is subjected to poverty during the war, as confirmed by the words of the narrator that, “…food is so scarce, she slips into farms at night and harvests tender tubes of half-grown corn in stealth. they [her family] boils so soft and she eats the inner core and the fibrous husk, too” (3). however, before the disappearance of her lover, she became pregnant and thereafter, gave birth to two daughters, bibi and ezinma. the lives of the duo are full of bitterness, especially emanating from the aggressive and assertive character of bibi. the narrator captures bibi’s disposition toward her mother: when bibi is twenty-one and her parents struggling to pay the university fees, she meets godwin, yellow-skinned and square-jawed like his father, and falls in love. she falls harder when her mother warns her away. and when her mother presses, saying, you don’t know what his people are like, i do, bibi responds, you’re just angry and bitter that i have a better man than you…. (4-5). bibi sees her mother as an obstructive force; against having her newly found love – godwin, as her husband. there is a clear evidence that bibi is fearless in her quest to go after the love of her life, despite her mother’s stern opposition. this is due to the former’s enthusiasm in having a man who even provides more than her father. godwin makes sure that she does not lack anything. the narrator expresses that “he rents her a flat. he lends her a car. he blinds her with a constellation of gifts, things she’s never had before, like spending money and orgasms” (5). the actual motive of godwin in providing every pleasure of life for bibi, is geared toward using her as a sex toy. bibi is so soaked in the dreams of futile future marriage with godwin. when she makes her marriage intentions known to godwin, it results to a terrible end. she is assaulted and battered. the alarming rate at which marriage among women has become a do or die affair is evident in this instance. women see such a hidden marriage plan as only passage to be selffulfilled as shown in the life of bibi. the story equally shows the corrosive patriarchal mindset of godwin who, after manhandling bibi, also fires a gun into ezinma’s neck when the latter is fumbling the unfamiliar keys against the lock of bibi’s apartment to get her sister’s abandoned belongings. the writer, in “war stories,” exposes the self-induced show of power and supremacy among women as a barrier to themselves. the story revolves around strong-willed girls in secondary school enmeshed in power tussle as exhibited by anita and nwando in the membership of the girl club. the narrator accounts for the wrangling among the girls as captured below: i wanted to tell them about how anita had started the girl club after claiming that her father had sent her expensive bras from london edged with barely-there lace and soft ribbons and powdered with fairy dust, and how she made the rule that only girls with bras could be in the girl club and that if you weren’t in the girl club you couldn’t sit in the girl area and you had to play with the boys. anita would confirm who was girl by escorting each applicant behind the school to check if she was wearing the required undergarment. (7-8) this excerpt recreates the picture of the aged tussle between men and women in patriarchal society where the former appears powerful, and the latter rendered powerless because of their assumed weakness. nwando, in defence of the vulnerable girls, plays a major role in dismantling the forces of discrimination among the girls in school. it is clear that the disposition of anita toward quarantining some unfortunate girls from identifying with their assumed superior group based on one possessing the ‘required undergarment’ leads to nwando’s defiance. it is obvious that anita’s attitude lured other girls in school into stewing in bitterness just to be a girl (8). in order to put an end to this experience of subjugation and discrimination of other girls by anita and her group, nwando undresses anita in school in order to check if truly she does wear the expensive bra which she claims before other school girls to have been sent by her father from london. this radical act amounts to the dethronement of the unfavaourable oppressive structure like that of the patriarchy, which affects the girls, in their liberty of association and relevance. in achieving this feat, nwando, expresses thus, “i arrived at school the next day a hero. fellow students patted my back and i was soon surrounded by the girls who hadn’t made anita’s club and a few who had but wanted to curry favour with the new regime. by exposing anita and cutting the head off the beast, i’d inherited my very own girl army” (11). due to the humiliation after her encounter with nwando, anita becomes an object of public and sexual harassment among the boys in school. to this end, nwando says that, “what i hadn’t expected were the boys who ran behind her during recess and lifted up her skirt, as though my actions had given them permission, as though because they had seen her bare breast they were entitled to the rest. it was a boyish expectation most would not outgrow even after they became men” (12). strikingly, arimah also creates assertive roles in women toward configuring their identities in “wild”. the story opens with the brave display by ada, showing love kissing her newly found love, bartholomew fradkin, in school. this self-indulged and assertive behaviour of ada is greeted by her mother with stern; the latter sees such act as immoral and a sign of being too carried away by the western culture which is in total contrast to their indigenous african cultural values. in this regard, the mother complains, “you are not like these oyinbo girls, you can’t just do your body anyhow” (20). the mother, on the other hand, tends reconfiguring ada’s identity (although in subjective mode) into being a reserved african lady irrespective of their long stay overseas. the author also presents a strong character in ada. she opposes, without fear, the position of her debate and news teacher in trivial matters. she was suspended for calling the teacher a fascist cow because he refuses her to argue for abortion rights, an issue she did not feel one way or the other about until she was denied the opportunity to support it (20). due to this unwavering attitude, she was suspended from school for a week and a half which affects her academic performance, ruining her chances of becoming a valedictorian of the graduating class her teacher keeps scheduling pop quiz every day, lowering her grading scores. her mother sees such attitude as a disappointment, considering the various efforts put in place to enrol her in a school in america. this uncontainable situation prompts the mother to send ada back to auntie ugo in nigeria. upon ada’s return to nigeria, she excludes another strong identity of a woman bereft of undue influence in her fashion. her cousin expects to see american style of fashion but gets disappointed in her appearance at the airport. ada confided in auntie ugo who is still surprised at her expected thought about her foreign-based cousin that, “my mother constantly complained about my dressing, the baggy jeans and shirts too masculine for her liking, but i had always dressed for comfort, not much caring how i looked” (22). ada’s mother usually uses her niece in nigeria, chinyere, who behaves well and dresses beautifully as an example for her to emulate what seems to be an ideal women identity. ada accounts thus, “my mother loved invoking chinyere to nudge me into correct behaviour. chinyere was such a sweet girl; was so obedient. even after her indiscretion, the lectures continued. chinyere was so nice, you see….” (23). the story also brings to light the independent nature of ada in refusing her mother’s desire to change her belief in putting the type of cloths she thinks the right type that is befitting of a lady of her stature. her mother’s stubborn stance becomes evident when chinyere ransacks ada’s suitcase after her return from the airport, pulling out new tops and dresses. ada cries out, “i looked at the suitcase. not a scrap of flannel or denim in sight. no doubt my shirts and jeans were being sorted at a thrift shop right that minute, or possibly aflame in our backyard fire pit. ‘ugh, my mom must have. i don’t dress like this” (24-25) because it makes me “look a whore” (29). ada becomes a transformed person fashion-wise, through the efforts of her mother and the consolidation by chinyere. to this effect, the narrator states: i picked a blue dress from the collection my mother had packed and had to admit that when it came to clothing, my mother knew what she was doing. after watching me struggle with a tube of caked mascara, chinyere went and retrieved an arsenal of tubes and brushes, sat me at the foot of the bed, and went to work. she said nothing except to direct me close your eyes, smack your lips and was done within ten minutes after she began. the mirror showed that nice young woman my mother was always hoping for. i looked like a promise fulfilled (30). the writer also brings to the fore, the pitiable notion of identity which foreign women in diaspora have about african women. the message from the black immigrant friend, leila, to ada, confirms this assertion. it reads, “yeah, i heard your mom sent you back to africa. text me some topless women” (27). this excerpt shows the wrong notion about african women by their foreign counterparts who see them as uncivilized people with no dignified existence. in the same vein, the author through ada reconfigures the reception of single motherhood which is seen as an omen of irresponsibility on the affected ladies in african society. she confides in her mother, through a telephone conversation concerning the state of chinyere and her son that, “single women with children aren’t bad people” (28). this positive belief is in contradiction to the action of grace, who indirectly mocked chinyere over her son, jonathan, during the fund-raising ceremony. chinyere, due to this stigma, becomes traumatized over what the likes of grace in her society do in frustrating ladies in such a condition. she left the event unplanned due to hostility she faced at the hands of grace. however, it is through grace who once dated ada’s late father, that inhuman treatment being done against women in a male dominated society is also exposed. ada’s mother lost almost every property of her late husband at the hands of the latter’s relatives. in corroborating the mother’s experiences after the demise of her husband, ada expresses: even though my mother had inherited the few properties outside the country, my father’s brothers had challenged her right to his businesses in nigeria, and they had battled it out in the courts for five years, till i was seven. chinyere’s father managed what little my mother had been able to win the bottle factory, various tracts of land and wielded some small influence. my father’s brothers had retained the majority of his nigerian holdings, despite the will (35). arimah, no doubt, is one of the celebrated african short story writers in recent times, owing to her dazzling power of narration and characterization. one of her short stories, “light” in the studied collection, won the commonwealth short story prize for africa in 2015. in “light,” she captures the life of a girl growing in the absence of love, care and training of the mother. this unfortunate situation is caused by the travel of the girl’s mother (enebeli’s wife) to america for her master’s degree programme. such distance caused a whole lot of things on a girl-child, growing unguardedly independent in her life desires. living only with the father who pays less or no active role in bringing out an ideal womanhood in her, she is lost to emotional frivolities. at fourteen, she is caught showing emotional attachment to a boy, buki, in school. one of her letters to the boy reads, “buki, i love you. i will give you many sons” (48). her idea of giving ‘many sons’ to the desired potential husband (buki), is a tactic geared toward winning the latter’s attention and love. this consciousness is glaring predicated on the preference of male children against the female ones in a typical african patriarchal society. not minding the distance, enebeli’s wife also sets out to build up an ideal woman in her daughter through caution and care. the narrator presents: at fourteen the girl is almost a woman, but still a girl, and her mother is trying to prepare her for the world. stop laughing so loud, dear. how is it that i can hear you chewing all the way from here in america? what do you mean daddy made you breakfast, you are old enough to be cooking. distance between mother and daughter widens till the girl doesn’t enjoy talking to her mother anymore, begins to see it as a chore (50). the instance above indicates that the daughter enjoys free hand with the father. she only spends most of her days basking in frivolities, and orders their house girl around. the mother detests such behaviour; she wants her daughter to do the house chores by herself and be responsible to avoid “learning all the wrong ways to be in the world” (51). the mother succeeds in convincing her father to send the house girl back to the village. in the same wake of thought, the mother is also perturbed over the seemingly reckless life of her daughter. in one of the skype calls with her husband, she bitterly complains, “what is this, the girl is wearing? the girl should be sitting with her legs crossed at the ankles. why is the girl’s hair scattered like that, when was the last time she had a relaxer? (51). the girl, however, grows up without much motherly guidance. she sees herself as being independent of her own self as regards emotional fulfilment. the narrator recounts that she: …confesses to her mother about the boy. she strings his virtues out like christmas lights− he’s shorter than her, so he has to obey her, he’s finally learning how to kiss welland her mother silences her by saying, sadly, that she didn’t think she’d raised that kind of girl. this is the first time the girl becomes aware that the world requires something other than what she is (52). in “second chances,” the writer captures the consciousness of independence in a young girl, uche, who thinks that she is old enough to fend for herself. she sees herself as the light upon her feet for survival in spite of any difficulty. after two years from the graduate school, she takes on the mantle of responsibility in doing things that seem assertive in nature. she admits thus, “i’m old enough to buy my own bed and shouldn’t ask my father to chip in on a mattress…” (55). this utterance, however, indicates the spirit of zealousness in uche in taking charge of her needs. such a trait is in contrast to her mother, who is always dependent on her husband. in one of their family outings, she exposes that, “my mother is digging through her purse and i know it’s not to pay because she never does when my dad is around” (56). in other words, uche’s identity is crested with hues of pity and regret. in this regard, she recalls her childhood experience, “i was a child prone to hysterics. every cut was a deep wound that would surely keloid and scar me for life, every playground slights an unforgivable infraction that merited a meltdown. i also took to stealing, a habit that saw me disinvited from many of my schoolmates’ homes…” (59). it is obvious that uche’s childhood experience, as captured above, influences her stiff personality in her dealings with other characters but not without resultant disdain as demonstrated in the story. as a result of her independent nature, uche receives a scornful approach from her mother, when she misses out time to pick up her sister, udoma, from the airport. indeed, it is a pile up of annoyance on the mother over her daughter’s seemingly over-blown assertive attitude. the narrator presents the outburst of uche’s mother thus, “what you are is disappointing. you are so disappointing…. every tantrum i’d [uche] pulled, every item i’d stolen, every time she must have cringed at having to introduce me as her daughter” (64). moreover, in “windfalls,” there is an evidence of dubious identity of womanhood. this identity is created out of harsh conditions that come after the death of a husband and the burden of catering for the surviving child. the narrator exposes the unfortunate experience and the strategies being deployed by a vulnerable woman to eke out living for herself and her only daughter overseas. the story presents women as go-getters, where a mother uses her daughter as a bet for survival. the little daughter is being staged-planned by the mother to fall in the grocery stores in order to claim damages and also for the latter, to enrich herself. the narrator notes the aftermath of one of such escapades, “you [the little daughter] like to believe that the first fall, the one that left you with a permanent brace on your ankle, was real…she was reaching over to grab the biggest, freshest eggplant off the display but slipped, oh shit, dropped the baby. the store settled without a fuss, blaming the overzealous produce misters for leaving the floor wet. the money lasted for good three years…” (69). on the other hand, the story also traces what constitutes the underlying issue that led to the harsh situation of the said mother and her little daughter as depicted above. the underlying issue, however, is due to the zealousness of the mother, who is bent on undermining stringent positions of her own father based on her choice of a man to marry. the narrator expresses, “she’d married against his [father’s] wishes, moved to the states against his wishes, and had you against his wishes, all with a man he called that fool from calabar” (69). the promiscuous nature of the mother manifested after the loss of contact with the father of her daughter. the narrator exposes, “…your mother occupied herself with shopping and the men who darted in and out of her life like a lizard’s tongue” (72). the daughter, at fifteen, later gets exposed to doing a blow job with the law clerk, billy, in order to achieve her mother’s desire she wants a price cut on a battered green toyota. she later got pregnant and delivered a baby girl. at the hospital, the narrator accounts for the mischievousness of the mother, “you [the daughter] woke every few minutes as your mother entered and exited the room. you could hear her voice in the hallway. it was shrill and you knew she was either excited or angry” (77). due to poverty, the mother in connivance with the nurse sold the baby at the cost of five hundred thousand dollars (78) out of selfishness to make ends meet. in “glory,” the envisioned better life on the protagonist, glory, by her parents, opens up many issues concerning her identity as a woman. this is owing to many obstacles which her parents faced six years of bareness and six hours of labour. they project a good life for her but all becomes an illusion. the narrator accounts, “pinning on her every hope they had yet to realize, her parents imagined the type of life well-situated igbos imagined for their children. she would be a smart girl with the best schooling. she would attend church regularly and never stay away from the word. (amen!). she would learn to cook like her grandmother, her father added…” (145). glory’s inability to get married at almost thirty years old, led to a strained relationship with her parents. this is coupled with her failure to graduate from law school and her becoming a customer service representative. in spite of all these challenges, the narrator expresses a strongwilled spirit which is embodied in glory: all of this was true, and not. her parents did put pressure on her, but it was sort of hopeful pressure that might have encouraged a better person. and she was unlucky, yes, but it was less fate and more her propensity for arguing with professors and storming out of classrooms never to return that saw her almost flunk out of college. she eventually graduated with an embarrassing gpa. then came law school…. but she’d managed to screw that up, too, choosing naps instead of class and happy hours instead of studying, unable to do right no matter how small the choice…. (147-148). furthermore, in “redemption,” there is a representation of demeaning identities of women; working as house cleaners and nannies. mayowa who finds herself in the house of mr and mrs ajayi at the age of thirteen becomes a victim of such degrading figure. this happened because of the inability of the parents to send her to school. this pitiable situation of women, especially as house helps, is really worrisome due to misfortunes that are attached to such jobs and the likes. arimah creates a brave character in mayowa. she is able to withstand all obstacles on her way. she displays bravery while in school, when she hold one of the opposing students and pinns her head down and scraps off half her cornrows with a razor blade (181). the story also bothers on infidelity. mayowa accounts, “…and seeing the woman my father left us for. she came every few sundays, when the weighty sin of fornicating with a married man became too heavy to bear. my mother didn’t know that i knew who she was and understood why my mother never clapped when the woman gave a testimony of god’s goodness” (182). in the story, women are also seen as representatives of trustworthiness. this manifests when the ‘special offering’ taken to support the widows and orphans fund including weekly donations in the church are being given to female members by the pastor to secure. in this regard, mayowa says that “this was the second time in a row my mother had gotten it and her sixth time overall. she was the most trusted woman in our church” (183). this serves as a source of pride as she admonishes grace that “men want a trustworthy and godly woman. it is not just looks; you have to be honest and good” (183). on the other hand, mayowa’s visit to their house helps is aimed at correcting her mother’s wrong impression concerning house maids. she says, “when i took a breath, i smelled the soap she [grace] used to wash her hair (disapproving my mother’s assertion that all village girls are dirty”) (185). however, mayowa’s connivance with grace in stealing the church money under the custody of her mother led to her horrible experience in the hands of brother benni, who is so good with troubled children in need of prayers (190). in worsening the matter, brother benni, in an attempt to rape mayowa, received a severe razor blade cut from her. according to the narrator, “it was mrs ajayi who got the story from her, about how brother benni pulled out his ‘oko’ and tried to make her taste it…by pointing out that brother benni’s belt was unbuckled and asking why, if mayowa cut his leg for no reason…someone called the police despite brother benni’s claim that the devil made him do it” (190-200), which exposes the experience of mayowa in such a horrible condition. conclusion the focus of this paper has been on the exploration of diverse identities of women and subjectivity of self as represented by arimah, in the selected stories in her debut collection through a feminist viewpoint. the textual analysis of the stories shows challenges faced by women patriarchal construct, widowhood experience, attempted forced marriage, infidelity, prominence of male child, rape, and poverty, as well as the ones posed by women themselves, emanate from power tussle either to undermine or strengthen the weak amongst them, especially mother versus daughter, and misconception of african women from their western counterparts. in a similar vein, the writer creates dignifying and degrading identities in some of the female characters ranging from assertiveness, independence, dubiousness, aggressiveness to waywardness. there is also an evident display of personal struggles for emotional fulfilment among majority of the female characters in most of the stories. arimah, as a new feminist writer in the body of african literature, has, through this debut collection, created room for a reexamination of the identities of women and the attendant subjective interests, among critics for the advancement of women struggles in all ramifications. works cited arimah, lesley nneka. what it means when a man falls from the sky. kachifo limited, 2017. bressler, charles. feminist literary theory: an introduction to theory and practice. prentice hall, 2007. chiluwa, molly. “patriarchy versus womanism in nigeria: rethinking womanist theorization.” new perspectives on a literary enigma: a festschrift in honour of professor theodora akachi adimora-ezeigbo, eds. emmanuel a. adedun and onuora benedict nweke, university press plc, 2014, pp. 102-135. chukwuma, helen. “positivism and female crisis: the novels of buchi emecheta.” nigeria female writers. malthouse press, 1989. egya, sule e. “the new woman in nigerian fiction: zaynab alkali, akachi adimora-ezeigbo and sefi atta.” writing the female image in african fiction, ed. sophia obiajulu ogwude, ibadan university press, 2013, pp. 211-235. ezeigbo, akachi t. snail-sense feminism: building on an indigenous model. faculty of arts, university of lagos monograph series, no. 17, april, 2012. nnolim, charles e. “a house divided: feminism in african literature.” issues in african literature. treasure resources communications limited, 2009. nwabueze, emeka, ed. “africa’s female playwrights: a critical profile.” african female playwrights: a study of matter and manner. abic books & equip, 2016, pp. 10-39. ogunyemi, chikwenye o. africa wo/man palava: the nigerian novel by women. university of chicago press, 1996. ojaruega, e. e. “relocating the modern nigerian woman in fictional space: voices of debutantes.” re-visioning humanistic studies, eds. a. e. eruvbetine and udu yakubu, african cultural institute, 2009, pp. 97-110. raji-oyelade, aderemi. “bondage of bonding: the challenge of literary criticism in the new age.” the postcolonial lamp: essays in honour of dan izevbaye, eds. aderemi rajioyelade & oyeniyi okunoye, bookcraft, 2008, pp. 59-72. sow, alioune. “forbidden bodies: relocation and empowerment in williams sassine’s novels.” body, sexuality, and gender: versions and subversions in african literatures 1, eds. flora veit-wild & dirk naguschewski, rodopi, nos. 29-30, 2005, pp. 207-218. walters, margaret. feminism: a short introduction. oxford university press, 2005. chapter 11: an invention of uli typeface for visual communication design contributed by chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe introduction uli, the heritage of the ancient igbo people, which was a very popular form of art, served aesthetic and symbolic purposes. uli drawing comprises of raw lines of various types, shapes of various nature and also numerous witty and sharp images, representing everyday life of the igbo, from farms, cooking pots, plants, birds, animals, the sun, moon and kola nut. the uli design motifs and patterns however were drawn on various surfaces like the human body, mud walls, wooden surfaces, textile, among others. apart from beauty, uli served symbolic purposes in the ancient igbo. utoh-ezeajugh (2006) opines: the fact that then design practices play important roles in a wide range of ceremonies dealing with rites of passage, healing, war, agriculture and many others, is an indication of the enormous potentials abounding in african body design traditions. (45) every line, shape and object of uli motif drawn on surfaces has significance, relating to real life situations. these designs either suggests case joyous moments or mournful events. it could be marriage ceremony, child birth and naming, manhood initiation ceremony, burial of great warriors and gallant men, among others. udemezue (2005) chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe 190 this has gone a long way to project uli motif as symbolic design that is suitable for passing on messages on on-going events. the drawing and printing of uli motif were prominent among women and girls of the olden days. they saw it as their duty to make decorations and drawing, where and when necessary. uli art was able to excel because of the level of interest women of those days had in it. peck (2002), speaking on the role of women in uli motif drawing hinted that “traditionally, the women of the ibo people of nigeria painted their bodies with patterns. they used dyes made from the seeds of uli plants that temporarily stained the skin black.” women were great promoters of uli art since it served them daily purpose, ranging from social, religious and cultural matters. the materials used for uli motif design were natural extracts from plants. this made the materials readily available. speaking on the materials used in for uli application udemezue (2005) made it known that: “originally the term uli was the igbo name for indigo dye, which is extracted from different types of plants with botanical names like rothmania cuspica and rothmania ucelli. in igbo language they are called uli oba, uli edeji and uli okolobo.” to buttress this point, utoh-ezajugh (2006: 65) reiterates that: uli design is made from liquids extracted from seeds embedded in fleshy pulp in pods of some species of uli plants, or the fruits from species of the uli plant. these species are known by different names in different communities of igbo land, but their function are basically the same. these go a long way to explain how available the sources of uli were. uli plants grew in the compounds of every family and this made it very easy for the women to have access to necessary pigments for uli drawing. an invention of uli typeface for visual communication design 191 when the european explorers, as well as missionaries came to nigeria with their culture and religion, the new religion, culture and lifestyle were adopted. many women that were into uli design were converted to christians, and were tricked into believing that uli was fetish, to that, they let go of it. since there was no written tradition on uli, it waned. udemezue (2005) declares that “…the christian women were forbade by their priests from getting involved in the traditional art which now bears the label of being part of idol worship.” the british colonialists worsened the situation with their coming, because their new lifestyle and religion took the attention of vast majority of the women away from their precious heritage. many people were brainwashed by these strangers into believing that uli art is devilish while the young men and women of today, instead of reinventing uli, imbibe the western tattoo. it spreads like wild fire amongst the young men and women. in present times, women and girls are addicted to fashion and taste for modernism. unlike in the olden days when women were in the frontiers of uli design. udemezue (2005) speaking in view of this, hints thus: among the present crop of young women and girls in igbo communities the art is regarded as occultic, satanic and pagan tradition. they associate this art with the shrine and shrine priests. this is sad indeed as this was not so in the past. it is disheartening that the young girls and women of today abandoned our heritage, beauty and aesthetics for another people’s value, instead of harnessing our heritage to a new dimension. purpose of the study the main aim of this study is to design and find models of lettering using uli motifs chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe 192 nsukka art school and the reinvention of uli the art of uli diminished considerably until the contemporary nigerian art era. in nsukka art school, a group of artists revived uli art and introduced it in the dimensions of paintings, sculpture, prints, ceramics and textiles. thus an art movement was born – ulism. it was believed that uche okeke was the father of ulism, since he was the pioneer artist that spearheaded uli art movement. he was subsequently followed by such artists like el-anatsui, a ghanaian, chike aniakor, chuka amaefuna, among others. okoye (2006) buttressed this idea when he states that: “the revival of interest in uli through contemporary art had begun with uche okeke in the 1960s, when nigeria’s independence produced a growing sense of freedom from colonial restraints on cultural tradition.” this reveals that before ulism was born, the colonial master in so many ways, held back the development of cultural tradition, including uli art. as a painter, draughtsman and mosaic artist, he found it necessary to delve into the new art form, believing he would influence many artists. ottenberg (2002) in his view on uche okeke’s contribution to ulism adds: it fully developed among teachers and students in the 1970s at the university in nsukka and was linked to renewed interest in igbo culture after the destructive biafra war. like other movements and styles all over the world, ulism flourished in nsukka school of art as the teachers spread the knowledge amongst the students. (30) jegede (2004) enumerates that “it is nsukka-based. the members were artists who believe in the philosophy of uli art as a stylistic expression using its linear and spiral motifs in terms of forms and using themes that have socio-cultural advantages.” the members of uli movement include obiora udechukwu, tayo adenike, chris afuba, chris echeta, el-anasui, chika okeke, olu oguibe, victor ecoma, ndidi dike, krydz ikwuemesi, ozioma onuzulike and many others. many of these artists were taught by an invention of uli typeface for visual communication design 193 uche okeke, the pioneer uli artist. highlighting the contributions of uche okeke made to the growth of uli art, ikwuemesi (2003) observes that: “in the early 1970s when he was appointed lecturer and acting head of fine arts departments at the university of nigeria, he reviewed the entire course programme introducing new courses and research into igbo art tradition.” this went a long way towards influencing many artists, such as: obiora udechukwu, tayo adenike, bons nwabani, benjamin njelita, and many others who were students under okeke at that time. thus, uli has a lot of apostles who have theorized and utilized the uli idiom, such that it has become doctrinal cleavage in contemporary nigerian art, thereby leading to the emergence of ulism as a movement. utohezeajugh (2006 49). obiora udechukwu (born 1946) contributed immensely towards the development of ulism. trained under uche okeke in nsukka, he adopted uli art and developed his own styles. udechukwu studied art with and was much influenced by uche okeke, then head of the fine and applied art department of university of nigeria nsukka, whose own creations relied heavily on drawing skills and whose content based largely on igbo culture. okeke and udechukwu in ottenberg (2002 36). udechukwu’s style was subject to many influences, including the works of the poets, dramatists, the biafra war, nigerian military, economic situation, among others. ottenberg (2002) in his view on the factors that influenced udechukwu’s works of art maintains: udechukwu was particularly influenced by the igbo poet christopher okigbo, killed in 1967 in the biafra war… some of his visual art has okigbo’s poetic and lyrical qualities and complexities of interpretation, and at times there are close associations between his poetry and visual art.(38) it is understandable that the works of obiora udechukwu which were influenced by poets and dramatists were in the form of poetic images which told marvelous stories but never divulged from his ulistic styles. chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe 194 fig 1:homage to christopher okigbo, obiora udechukwu medium: ink on paper. source: african arts volume 35, no2 this is the portrait of late chris okigbo. the lines and uli forms are visible and distinct, even the typeface has traces of uli forms. this looks much like a book cover for poetic images or something of that sort. his usage of positive and negative spaces is quite remarkable as he provides rest points for the eyes in the work. this means that there is sufficient space in his work, which is an element of uli design. the nsukka art school revived the almost dead art tradition in so many ways, which ottenberg (2002) reveals that, “ by placing uli in modern social settings on sculptural surfaces and on paper, board and canvass, framed and hung on walls in homes, institutions and galleries, they helped revive it.” (37) uli symbols and communication uli motifs, apart from the ones painted on shrine walls are not generally sacred, but served so many functional purposes. so many clans in igbo society are known for their own uli styles. however, they served some communicative purposes. according to utohan invention of uli typeface for visual communication design 195 ezeajugh (2006), “the design process is described as ide uli (literarily to draw uli)” (67). nearly all the towns in igbo province had uli designers. however there were towns noted for “ide uli”. these towns include: mbaise, mbaitoli, umuaka, uturu, abatete, nri, agulu, nsukka, enugu, ezza, to mention but a few. utohezeajugh (2006) speaking on the styles and functions of uli, hints: however, clans, villages or towns groups do sometimes develop styles within a style which can be recognized. for example, uli anya mmiri (uli for mourning) design which is drawn from under the eyes down to the cheeks, to give an impression of tears dropping from the eyes, is worn by a person who is bereaved in communities such as umuaka, mbaitoli and mbaise in present day imo state. (6) people within the community understand with little efforts the communicative functions of uli. the meaning to a particular design in a given community maybe of different interpretation to another clan. figure 2 shows few selected illustrated uli motifs from utoh-ezejugh (2006) which are basic uli motifs the illustrations above are distinctly rhythmic lines. line, as we know is an element of design. the motifs are either used individually or composed to form a design as a whole. apart from the basic uli designs, which are made up of simple lines, there are more complicated uli motifs, which are more of shapes and objects that represents everyday igbo life. chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe 196 fig 3: the illustration above show prominent uli motifs such as isi oji and okpa okuko. source: utoli-ezeajugh (2006) figure 5: culled from the national museum of african arts are few samples that also represent everyday igbo activities. fig 6: shows ogene, okala isioji and onwa. source: ezeajughi (2006) an invention of uli typeface for visual communication design 197 the ogene is used by the village criers and dancers respectively for announcements and entertainment. kolanut as we know is what the igbo man used on a daily basis to receive visitors, to consult the deity (igba afa) and also to grace occasions. it is a symbol of peace and unity and is still used today by ndi igbo. onwa, is a celestial body graced by the igbo associated with folktales drama and plays. every motif drawn and painted by the artists has a relationship with life situations. uli and typography uli is a pure graphic from which is made up of simple lines and from which serves communicative, aesthetic and in some occasion, ritual purposes. typography, on the other hand according to knight (2008) is the art and process of arranging type for a variety of media purposes and is made up of several parts. on the other hand typography is not just about text. njelita (2010) believes that, “typography is the totality of the arrangement of types, illustrations and other visual elements in an orderly manner for communicative purposes.” muster (2010) agrees to that when he opines that, “even historically typography has always been more than putting text on paper.” the similarity between uli and types is communication, while the difference is that uli is more of icon and signs while types are texts which send messages in form of words. here, efforts will be made to merge similarities and differences between uli and types together in order to achieve results. classification & types typefaces we see every day in ads, documents, the media etc are classified into various classes. the basic classification is roman type, gothic, block or san serif, script type and ornament type. however, pastille (2010) classified types into nine. they are: old style, transitional, modern, slab serif, san serif, gothic handwritten, handwritten, decorative/novelty, ornamental, old style, transitional, modern i believe are roman types while slab chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe 198 serif, san serif are both the block types. hornby (2000) defines decorative as something that makes something look more beautiful and ornamental as a thing to add beauty to something. therefore, decorative and ornamental fonts are the same. he simply subdivided the original type classes. figures 5-9 are classes of typefaces for layout designs fig. 7 roman type fig. 8 san serif type fig.9 script type fig. 10 gothic type fig. 11 decorative type combination of uli and san serif type for a new result the typefaces below are under experiments by researcher. here there is conscious efforts towards creating a typeface named uli slim san serif, by the by merging of uli forms and sanserif typeface. the typefaces, when completed, could be used for calligraphic writing, graphic designs and typesetting, among others. an invention of uli typeface for visual communication design 199 fig 12. shows the result of an experiment by the researcher in combining sanserif typeface and uli forms (upper case). courtesy: onwuekwe, 2011 fig 13. shows the result of an experiment by the researcher in combining sanserif typeface and uli forms (lower case), onwuekwe 2011 chibuzor asogwa and chidiebere onwuekwe 200 conclusion uli design is the heritage of ndi igbo, modern trends and western culture put it almost to the background. the knowledge was transmitted orally, until when nsukka art school formed ulism, a movement that took uli to modern dimensions, spearheaded by uche okeke, el-anatsui, chike aniakor and others. through them uli was able to take modern turn and appeared in paintings, drawings, sculpture, textile and prints. here the researcher arrived at combining uli with types to form designs suitable for casual wears, with the polo shirts as medium. this helps to bring uli further to the forefront particularly to the people of today. moreover, the people of the western world yearn and demand for such form of art, which is new and strange to them. if such styles of wears are harnessed and mass produced for sale both home and overseas at cheap prices, it will not only educate and promote the igbo uli heritage, it also has economic value. it will result in sustainable cultural and economic development of nigeria. questions list the uli communicative iconographies you know what are the main characteristics of ulism? list the various classes of type faces references “decorative” (2001). oxford advanced learners dictionary volume 6. london: oxford university press ikwuemesi, k. (2011). “uche okeke: a profile.” pendulumartsgallery.com, n.d. retrieved april 2011. jegede, e. (2011). “african arts and art criticism”, n.d. extracted from africanpainters.blogspot.com. on march 22 2011 http://pendulumartsgallery.com/ http://www.africanpainters.blogspot.com/ an invention of uli typeface for visual communication design 201 knight, l. (2011). typography essentials – a getting started guide. retrieved from freelancefolder.com march on march 2011. muster, k. (2011). what is typography today? kilianmuster.com. 2010 retrieved april 15, 2011. okeke, c. (1999). the quest for nigerian art. invia.org. extracted february 2011. okoye, c. (2006). magic lines of uli art style. buzzle.com. retrieved march 12 2011. “ornamentation”. oxford advanced learners dictionary volume 6. london. oxford university press 2001. print. ottenberg, simon. “sources and themes in the art of obiora udechukwu.” african arts, volume xxxv no 2 pp 3043, summer 2002. peck, jennifer and reid, bryon. “uli body art.” retrieved from. prm.ox.ac.uk. pitt rivers museum april 2011. pintilie, daniel. “the classification of font.” speckyboy.com 2010. retrieved april 2011. udemezue, gozie. “the uli art in igboland nigeria.” retrieved from brighthub.com 2011. utoh-ezeajugh, tracie chima. “globalisation of culture and culture of globalization; impact of autochthonous body design tradition.” the humanities and globalisation in the third millennium. nimo. rex charles and partrick ltd. anambra 2010. print. --“harnessing the uli design as make-up for the contemporary nigerian theatre.” diss.university of port harcourt. 2006. print. http://freelancefolder.com/ http://www.kilianmuster.com/ http://www.buzzle.com/ http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/ http://www.brighthub.com/ [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 348 folktales and gender among the bikpakpaam ‘konkomba’ of ghana kwesi abraham bisilki university of education, winneba, ghana introduction many researchers, writing on the folkloric traditions of africa, have attested, in no uncertain terms, to the profound needs that these oral genres serve in communities and societies in africa. for instance, in a study on kasena riddles, tangwam (2012:150) indicates that riddles constitute a nucleic aspect of the education system in the kasena milieu. he goes further to specify that this oral gnomic genre is not only a means of sharpening the reasoning skills of the young ones and providing recreation to participants, but also to orientating them on their culture and beliefs. similarly, agozie (2000:6) notes that proverbs serve to reflect the thoughts and insights of people into the realities of life. indeed, several researchers have sought to inquire into various aspects of societies and cultures through oral traditions. a classic example can be the study of parental preferences and racial inequality as an ideological theme in african oral literature by gorog-karady (1997). apparently, folktales is one of the oral genres that have greatly attracted the interest of innumerable scholars across the globe. finnegan (1967), philip (1992), acquaye (1987), ukala (1992), ofori-mankata (1995) and winston (1998) etc. are examples of such works devoted to the subject of tales. in particular, african trickster tales, (popularly known by the akan of ghana as anansesem 'spider tales/stories'), an allotrope of folktales have received systematic scholarly studies by many prolific academics on the continent. mention can be made of tekpetey (1979), yankah (1983), sutherland (1995), ryan (1999), terkper (2008), mireku-gyimah (2012) and adjei (2012) among others. the afore-listed works all engage in analysing one aspect or the other of the trickster tale. perhaps, the key justification for the wide attention given the subject of folktales is the immense values or functions attached to them. these functions, as discussed by ahenkorah (2011:182), can be classified dually into manifest and latent levels, from a sociological perspective. the functions/benefits of folktales further come in the forms of aesthetic, social, didactic and therapeutic. to highlight the significance of tales, bulsa (1993: 5), in a study of the folktales of the bulsa in northern ghana, notes that african tales form an important source of information on certain aspects of the cultural traditions of african peoples, especially on their attitudes and value systems. in much a related sense, ahenkorah (2011: 184) argues that the folktale functions as a chronicle and vehicle of the akan social ideology, adding that it also serves as a bastion of the akan cultural identity while allowing the outsider a glimse into the akan psyche. in spite of the widely acknowledged importance of folktales and the attendant great deal of research on the subject, there seems to have been no single such work carried out in relation to the folktales of the bikpakpaam of ghana. this situation may appear paradoxical, given [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 349 that the ethnic group known as bikpakpaam constitute a whopping 1.6% of the entire ghanaian population, immigration and refugee board of canada (gh) (1996) .it is against the preceding background that this paper seeks to venture into bikpakpaam folktales, looking at how this oral genre mirrors the gender phenomenon of the people and, by extension, provide some solid ethnographic data on the bikpakpaam as a people. this is done by collecting a number of folktales in the bikpakpaam repertoire and trying to juxtapose the gender issues depicted in the folkloric tradition and world with the prototypical reality in kikpokpan. the tradition of storytelling among the bikpakpaam from the cultural actor’s perspective, the culture of itiin ‘folktales’ among the bikpakpaam stretches as far back as their anthropogeny on earth. however, at the moment, there is no known concrete account as to the origin of folktales in the culture. all that is known is that these tales descended from their remotest ancestors and continue to enjoy perpetual sustenance, by way of being handed-down from one generation to another. this is unlike the case with some other cultures where there are various conjectures, sometimes through mythological tales or by normal etymological accounts on the genesis of folktales as indicated by rattray (1930: iii), atakorah (1964:4-5) and ahenkorah (2011:174) about the akan of ghana. in kikpokpan, storytelling remains, purely, an oral performance, unaccompanied by any other form of instrument(s) (musical instruments or performance props). the song interludes in bikpakpaam folktales are not even backed with the clapping of hands, even though a lot of the tales in the bikpakpaam repertoire have intermittent melodies. a story simply begins by the teller making an oral declaration as ma tiin ncha yaa ‘here goes my story/tale’ and then continues with the story, usually, with the affirmation of the audience. there is also no any rigidly defined form of response expected from the audience as they may simply respond anhaa ‘ an oral gesture that can be used as a response to a call’ or the audience may say tipili ‘we are listening or lichaa ‘go’. the end of a story may be marked by any of a number of concluding remarks/statements by the tale teller as: ma tiin do ‘my story ends’ or ma tiin mᴐ ŋa mᴐ, n pri ki di lii … bu ‘whether my story is interesting or not, i carry it on …’ in the second utterance, the storyteller ends by nominating, from amongst the audience, the one to take over by mentioning the one’s name in the ellipsis as shown above . a third option to ending a tale is for the teller to say: ma tiin ngru ka mmuu chaa kei n-yajah agbinja yaa ‘my tale or story be stunted and let me grow tall like my grandfather’s male kapok tree.’ this third way of ending a tale seems to have linkage with the bikpakpaam creed, as earlier indicated, that storytelling can have a toll on one’s physical growth. a close study of the bikpakpaam folktales reveal that all manner of objects, both animate and inanimate can feature as characters. however, in the characterization style, non-human creatures or entities are either anthropomorphized or personified in the tales. the tale below is a quintessence of a bikpakpaam tale with both animate and inanimate characters. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 350 why it now happens that the broom is tied long before now mr. broom lived with humans and could talk like humans do, without anybody ever thinking of tying him in rope(s). around this same era, there also lived a great king who had nine (9) wives. unimaginably, despite this king having many wives, he still developed an amorous interest in his own biological mother and, on a secret note, began going to bed with his mother at night. mr. broom, who lay in the room there, witnessed this despicable act. one day, mr. mouse descends from the roof to cut some part of mr. broom to make his (mouse’s) nest. just as mr. mouse was about to pounce on mr. broom, he (mr. broom) asked mr. mouse to kindly spare him (mr. broom) in return for a very fascinating story. this story is that the king has been having carnal knowledge of his (king’s) mother. mr. mouse found this story rewarding enough for him (mr. mouse) to spare mr. broom’s life. the next moment, mr. mouse also runs into mr. cat who threatens to devour him (mr. mouse). he (mr. mouse) also made the same appeal to mr. cat to spare his life for the reward of an interesting secret that was not known to anybody else. the king’s scandal with his mother (king’s mother) is then further divulged to the cat. soon after mr. cat and mr. mouse parted company, mr. cat also clashed with mr. dog who wanted to smash him (mr. cat). to save his (mr. cat’s) life, mr. cat also repeated the same plea to mr. dog and was saved. unfortunately, the following morning, mr. dog goes to the riverside to drink water. at the riverside, mr. dog encounters mr. crocodile who wanted to swallow him (mr. dog) up. mr. dog then begged mr. crocodile to forgive him (mr. dog) so that he (mr. dog) would tell him a very great and wonderful story. mr. crocodile got curious and decided to spare mr. dog and hear the story. mr. dog then went ahead and also disclosed to mr. crocodile that the king had gone to bed with his (king’s) own biological mother. mr. crocodile then composed this story into a song and began to sing it at the riverside to the hearing of those who went to fetch water. eventually, the king learnt of this and ordered the arrest of mr. crocodile. upon interrogation, he (mr. crocodile) confessed that it was mr. dog who told him the story. this chain of interrogation continued until it was finally settled that mr. broom was the one responsible for the leakage of the king’s sacrilege with his (king’s) mother. in anger and punishment to mr. broom, the king decreed that his (mr. broom’s) neck be tied firmly with a rope. since then, mr. broom has remained tied in ropes. from the above tale, it is confirmed that both animate and inanimate objects can constitute characters in the bikpakpaam tales. thus, the broom, the mouse, the cat, the dog, the crocodile and the human king constitute characters. the storytelling platform in kikpokpan is confined to lichiln ‘the compound within a household’ as the houses of the people are predominantly the compound type. storytelling sessions are hardly held outside the domestic arena. this is different from the akan situation where, in addition to the confines of the household, the storytelling theatre can also be held more as a larger public event, that is, at the market square, the adwabirem ‘royal durbar grounds’ etc., ahenkorah (2011: 27). the use of ‘domestic arena’ to refer to the story telling forum in kikpokpan is not to say that it is only the members of a household that are admitted at a session. in fact, a tale telling session underway in a household is open to all other members of the community. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 351 may be, something, particularly, interesting about the tradition of folktale performance among the bikpakpaam is the fact that the storytelling session is a period when all members of the family or communitymales, females, adults and children are brought to a common platform for mutual interaction. there is no any form of social stratification at a storytelling session, as every participant, regardless of age or gender, has an equal opportunity to listen and to have a turn(s) to tell a tale(s). in effect, the household or community becomes highly egalitarian at the moment of storytelling. this is, of course, a remarkable rarity among a people like bikpakpaam in whose culture there are rigorous lines of social polarity along age and gender lines. for example, among the bikpakpaam, a person of the opposite sex is not expected or encouraged to sit in a gathering of the other sex and to share in their discussion(s)/conversation(s), unless all can agree that the occasion demands it. in the case of boys and girls, anyone violating this socialcultural observance will often attract upon himself or herself the verbal rebuke: (a) a san ubuninja a bamba do? ‘you are a boy; what do you want here?’ or (b) a san ubunimpᴐ abamba do? ‘you are a girl; what do you want here ?’ that is, on such an occasion of one falling foul of this social etiquette, ‘a’ and ‘b’ above are used in reprimand to boys and girls respectively. the timeline for storytelling among the bikpakpaam is during the night, specifically, the time after supper. it is likobil ‘a taboo’ to tell a folktale during the day and no adult ever thinks of a tale, if it is not at night. among the repercussions for violating this socio-cultural norm are that a culprit’s mother will develop protruding testicles or that one will have a stunted growth, in the case of children. on the rare occasion that a child has or wants to breach this cultural norm to tell a tale in daytime, the child can only do so without suffering the afore-mentioned retribution if and only if s/he has self-imposed some sanctions on himself or herself. these include pulling out one’s own eyelash, hair from the armpit or the head. one (1) or two (2) or all three (3) could be done in a single instance of one wanting to tell a tale during the day. it must be added that the supposed calamity that one would incur on telling a tale during daytime is yet to see any scientific corroboration, but to a most significant extent, this belief still remains very well regarded by the people. up to date, storytelling in kikpokpan has not drifted from the amateur level. the term ‘amateur’ is employed here for no other meaning, except to say that among the people concerned, the art of storytelling has not yet become a profession or an economic venture. folktales are still maintained in kikpokpan as a means of regaling members of the community for no form of direct economic gains from the practice. on this basis, it appears that the use of folktales in kikpokpan ties up much with what pertains with the wala of wa in northwestern ghana. for, in a study of the oral traditions of the wala, fikry-atallah (1972) establishes that folktales, which the wala call silima, to them, are for entertainment and are not to be taken seriously. this is not like the situation in some cultures where the tradition of folktales has received adaptations and metamorphosed into an income earning avenue. ahenkorah (2011) reveals this ‘modern’ trend in the folktale traditions of the fante in the central and western regions of ghana. this comes in the form of the emergence of what has been described as semi-professional storytelling groups. ahenkorah mentions the asassan anansesemkuo at asassan in the central region, the kurunkun ananseasem at elmina in the [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 352 central region and the ananse akuamoa group in the city of sekondi, western region as examples of such semi-professional storytelling groups. this account does not purport to pontificate that the tradition of folktales in kikpokpan could not have assumed any form or level of adaptation, but that if this occurs, then it does so on quite a subtle or latent note and this paper does not delve into that, since that is not in focus, at least for now. storytelling does carry intriguing benefits for the bikpakpaam, apart from the universal entertainment, moralization and pedagogic benefits/functions that come with folktales. it is discovered that, among the bikpakpaam, telling of tales becomes especially useful when there is some work to be done in the night and people need to be kept awake and refreshed as they do this work. notable among such tasks include the cracking of groundnuts and the thrashing of maize. aside the fact that storytelling is used to keep participants refreshed through such tasks, it is also to lure others to join the gathering and to add to the work force. therefore, the bikpakpaam as agrarians who rely fundamentally on manpower for the processing of their farm produce for both domestic consumption and for the market find their folktales a very useful ally in mobilizing the necessary labour force. by indirection, then, storytelling can be seen to have a socio-economic value for the bikpakpaam too. beyond, the foregoing function(s), it is fascinating to learn that a young man who is prolific at storytelling can win admiration and get a wife or at least a girlfriend by virtue of that. this comes in different ways, mutatis mutandis. a parent who so cherish such a young man for his prolificness at storytelling could invite him and offer him a girl to marry. it could also be a girl herself developing or showing a soft spot for the young man who might end up in a love affair with her. from a contemporary perspective, is indicated that the use of folktales in kikpokpan is a practice in debilitation. storytelling sessions are now seldom held and this has been attributed to new trends such as increasing urbanization where even villages, by reason of the explosion of multimedia tools and the attendant globalization are no longer villages in terms of exposure to other forms of entertainment such as carried out on the radio and the television channels. this means that one anywhere can now entertain himself or herself with world class music, sports and a host other entertainment oriented programmes, regardless of one’s location. also, the vibrancy of modern formal education, the resultant carrier paths and the advent of technology have contributed their quota to the dislocation of the traditional storytelling system in kikpokpan. in the face of western formal education, children who would usually gather at storytelling scenes at night now have to spend time with their books. an ukpakpanja ‘a bikpakpakpaam man’ or an ukpakpanpii ‘a bikpakapaam woman/lady’ who is now in a teaching or a nursing profession will hardly find time for folktale sessions in the night as that might be the time to prepare for the classroom lessons ahead or to attend to patients at the hospital during night shift. to crown it all, in view of the new technological impetus, there is machinery available for tasks like thrashing of maize and cracking of groundnuts. hence, the call for storytelling avenues through the performance of such tasks at night is visibly heading for extinction. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 353 the portrayal of males as kings/ lords in the folkloric communities it is a clear observation that the power structure in kikpokpan is absolutistic in favour of males. the nature of power sharing, as reflected in decision making and property owning, largely amounts to a less inclusion of women, even though women play an indispensable role(s) in the very survival and progress of every society. this is as often reported in many circles where gender issues have received consideration. for instance, bottah (2010) comments that in every african country out there, women outnumber men in terms of population, but, paradoxically, they (women) are abysmally under represented at the commanding heights of the economy and power. as a patriarchic people, the leadership landscape of the bikpakpaam, from the household through the clan to the larger community/township level witness the dominance of men. within a household in kikpokpan, the leadership superstructure is the uchindaan ‘owner/head of the house.’ though a neuter item, uchindaan almost invariably remains a title to males, usually referring to the father of a household. likewise, at the clan level, there is uninkpil ‘male elder’ who, by established tradition, is vested with a leadership mandate over the entire clan. at the macro community/town level, the legitimate authority figure is the utindaan ‘land owner’. the utindaan, in kikpokpan, has always been a man who, as revealed by maasole (2006), exercises his powers more in his religious recognition and duties. the absence of female figures in the power hierarchies of the bikpakpaam is, therefore, a corroboration of a sort of ‘men-take-all’ character of a culture. even in current times when chieftaincy as an institution is solidifying among the bikpakpaam, with the setting up of their own local chiefs over their towns and people, the corresponding practice of getting queen mothers in the towns/communities to partner the chiefs is much less gravitated towards. as power and wealth are inseparable, it comes as no surprise that, in a stereotypic sense, a woman does not acquire or own valuable property such as land, a house, a car or the mechanical corn mill etc. by herself. her wealth is supposed to be sent or given to the males of her father side where she is thought to belong by all intents and purposes. numerous bikpakpaam folktales have representations of males as kings and, for that matter, rulers over their people. similar representations of females as queens in the folktales of the people are not easily seen, at least if compared with the characterization of males as kings in the tales of the people. this is clearly seen in quite a number out of the about sixty (60) tales that were collected in three different communities in the nkwanta north district of northern volta. in one of the tales, there once lived a king and his people. any time any member of the community went for hunting and had some game, the king was served some of the meat. somehow, one of the king’s wives thought that the king’s subjects did not respect him enough for not bringing the animals killed whole to the king, but cut only portions of the meat for him. this wife of the king kept pestering him about the fact that the meat the people brought him was not appreciable/big enough. this compelled the king to decide to go for a hunting expedition himself so that he could get more meat for his household as was being demanded by his wife. at the hunting grounds, the king dips his hand into a hole in an attempt to catch an animal, but, unfortunately, got bitten by a very venomous snake inhabiting the hole. this leads to the instantaneous demise of the king. also, in another tale, there once lived a pregnant woman with her husband in another village far from where the [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 354 woman’s parents lived. one day this pregnant woman decided to pay her parents a visit, but en route to her parents’ village, she gave birth to twinsa boy and a girl. since there was nobody around to help the woman carry her twin babies home, she chose to pick the girl and abandon the boy. her reason for deciding to take the girl instead of the girl was that the girl would be more of a service to her (the mother) in terms of performing domestic chores. later on, an old lady came to find the abandon baby boy and went to raise him. the boy grew into a youth and began to herd cattle for his surrogate old lady mother. many years later, while taking cattle to drink at the stream, he met his biological mother and mysteriously identified her. he began to communicate his identity to his mother by insinuating through a song he played on his flute. this moved his mother to run home and report the incident to her husband and, for that matter, the boy’s biological father. the couple now traced the boy to the old lady’s house and tried to make claims to their child. this leads to a heated debate between the old lady and the couple over ownership of the boy. the matter is then taken to the king’s palace for settlement. the king, unable to resolve this enigmatic controversy, decides that the boy be slashed into two and given to the contending parties. the old lady readily accepts this verdict, but the boy’s biological mother throws in the towel, suggesting that the boy rather be left alive and given to the old lady. this convinces the king that the woman, instead of the old lady is the true mother of the boy and so she should have her child back. as exemplified in the two (2) tales above, in addition to the one earlier on ‘how the broom now comes to be tied’, one sees a projection of male characters as kings or overlords in bikpakpaam tales, so reflective of the power and leadership practicalities of the people. a keener curiosity arises when one comes to know that in the collection of bikpakpaam tales used for this study, it is only one tale that portrays a female character in the fashion of a queen. even in this tale, the said female figure is depicted more as an epicurean personality than someone having established, legitimate traditional authority. as the tale has it, there lived a woman who went into marriage. in her matrimonial home in a distant land from her family of orientation, she enjoys prosperity and the associated privileges. out of affluence, she acquires a lot of maids and decides to build a room without a door around herself. she never stepped foot outside the room to do anything and had her maids relish her with delicacies posted to her through an only window in the room she built around herself. she also never remembered to visit her family back home until all her relatives were dead. one day, a dove comes to perch on her roof and, in a song, scold her for neglecting her people and place of birth. this awakens her to mount her horse and go to visit her people, but this becomes too late. on her arrival, she realizes that the whole place was left in total desolation, as no remnant of her kinsmen was still alive. in excruciating anguish, she turns into the grass/bush that grows on house compounds. the inducement of males by females in the de facto gender relations between males and females in kikpokpan, the bikpakpaam belief and, indeed, confirm that their women easily prevail on the attitudes, decisions and actions of their men. no wonder, it is common to hear, among the people, [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 355 remarks like: unimpu lan ŋani wᴐ ‘his wife/lady will deceive him’ and unimpu ŋani wᴐ ‘his wife/lady has deceived him’. what this means is that even though women are not in frontline decision making in the bikpakpaam society, they may end up being the originators of the decisions that the powerful men make and the propellers of the actions that are engaged in by the powerful men. it seems incongruous that in a culture where all power and wealth is the preserve of the males, females can still so effectively employ their manipulative tendencies to exert their influence on the men and the larger community/society. this form of female influence in the bikpakpaam culture is confirmed in the view of budgen (2005) that the female sex developed deceitful forms of domination and applied their charm as a political instrument for the cultivation of power over men. a number of folktales in kikpokpan really tend to show that women are capable of prevailing upon men and, indeed, do so for whatever reasons. this does not come by way of physical confrontation, but normally, by playing on the psyche of the male(s) concerned. an example of such a tale is ‘how the pied crow gets an ugly beak/mouth’. this tale says that the pied crow’s mouth used to be nicer than it is today. the pied crow went in for a girlfriend who advised him (the pied crow) to take his (pied crow’s) mouth to a blacksmith to refine it to look more appealing than it was. unfortunately, the blacksmith rather deteriorates the beauty of the pied crow’s mouth, leaving it in the ugly shape that it is seen today. a similar story goes that there once lived a king who had two wives. one of the two wives happened to be a hermaphrodite. the other wife (the normal wife) who did not like her rival kept inciting their husband (the king) to murder her rival on the basis of her hermaphroditism. the king eventually succumbed to the wife’s incitation by setting aside a day for the murder of his hermaphroditic wife. by the mysterious intervention of a monster hawk, the hermaphroditism is transferred from the victim to her uncompromising rival. on the day of execution, the known victim gets exonerated as the condition was no longer there while her treacherous rival rather got killed. thus, in foregoing tales, it is the pied crow’s girlfriend who influences his resolve to make his mouth better than how god designed it, but this ends him up in disappointment. also, it is the king’s wife who pushes him into taking such a deadly decision against his innocent wife. even though the king is in no qualms with his hermaphroditic wife, the other wife manipulates him into attempting to eliminate her (the earlier hermaphroditic wife). before rounding off this discussion on the question of how females can influence males in kikpokpan, the influence from females seems to be held in some reservation. as indicated in the tales above, the inducement of men by women is a phenomenon that rather leads to disastrous consequences. the picture rather appears to be that women, most often, use such influence as cunning schemes and that these schemes either backfire or bring destruction in society. this is crystalized in cases of the pied crow and the hermaphroditic wife. tale preference as a point of gender disparity a careful attention to types of tales based on the folkloric scenes, activities and characters point to some differences in tale preferences between males and females. in the collection relied on for this analysis, it is revealed that males or men in kikpokpan tell more [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 356 of tales that bother on adventurism, mostly, featuring hunters as characters. in comparison, women or females tell tales that will often feature domestic scenes and, generally, with less adventurous activities. this is evidenced, in for instance, a storytelling session of four (4) tales held with the researcher’s mother and younger brother at kpassa. two (2) of the stories told by the brother both featured hunters and some amount of horrific experiences. the other two (2) told by the mother showed no such elements. the turn-taking at this four (4) story session was only one (1) story at a time by each of the two storytellers. the 1st tale of the brother was that there lived a young man who was a great hunter. this young man killed innumerable animals in the forest. notable about him was the fact that he could survive all kinds of attacks by wild beasts. a buffalo turns into a very beautiful lady and then comes to charm the young man into a love affair, just as a subterfuge to unravel his hunting secrets. one day, while the young man and his buffalo-turned-human lover were engaged in a lively chat, she tricked the young man into revealing how he escaped all attacks by wild beasts in the forest. the young man divulges two of his secrets, but his father who happens to be around during the conversation intervenes to stop the young man from letting out his third and last secret. the secrets were that anytime he shot at a wild beast and it charged at him, he first turned into a tree stump, then if attacked again, he changed into grass and the for the third time, he turned into a needle. on that note, his buffalo-turned-human girlfriend got to know only two (2) of his secrets and not all the three (3). the next time the young man goes for hunting, the buffalo he spots is his buffaloturned-human lover, but unknowingly, the young shoots at the buffalo. the buffalo charges at him, but as he turns into a tree stump, the buffalo still onslaughts him. he changes into a standing-by grass and the buffalo tries to squeeze him, but he further changes into a needle, unknown to the buffalo and clings firmly to its tail. as the buffalo could not find him again and began to walk away, he dropped off behind and shot it completely dead. upon the young man’s return from the forest, he discovers that his lover has disappeared from home without anybody knowing her whereabouts. on another occasion, another wild beast turns into an equally beautiful young lady and comes to marry this same young man. his parents protests vehemently against his marrying the lady but he turns deaf-ears to the calls of his parents. this time round, the beast-turnedhuman lady succeeds in knowing every secret about the young man, eventually crushing him on one of his hunting sprees. the brother’s 2nd tale was that there were two young men who lived together as friends. one faithful day, one borrowed the other’s gun to go for hunting. while hunting, he saw a wild beast and shot at it, but could not kill it. the beast ferociously pursued the young man who got so scared that in the course of fleeing for his dear life, he lost the gun he had borrowed from his friend. upon reaching home and narrating his ordeal to his friend, his friend insisted that he went back to the forest and found the gun back. he (the gun borrower) goes back and, fortunately, retrieves the gun and, in addition, also discovers and takes home a wonderful egg that can sing so melodiously. during a social function, the other friend also borrows the wonderful egg from his friend, but accidentally breaks the egg at the function while performing with it. on his return, his friend (the owner of the wonderful egg) questions him if it is good to also demand that he (the gun owner and now egg borrower) replaces his wonderful egg which will be impossible for one to get. [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 357 the mother, on her part, told the following two (2) tales: first, that in the olden days, people with visual impairment could borrow eyes from the other people, but were expected to return the borrowed eye(s) timely to their owners. one day a young blind man went to borrow an old man’s eyes to enable him (the young man) travel to another town to woo a lady. he (the young blind man and eye borrower) went to over stay at his destination. this compelled the old man to trace him for his (old man’s) eyes. since then, no one lends his eye(s) to the blind any more. the second tale of the mother goes this way: sandee ‘rabbit’ (the trickster character in bikpakpaam folktales) and his wife lived together. rabbit’s wife had a goat that he (rabbit) wanted a way of slaughtering the goat and eating it up all by himself. eventually, rabbits schemed out to do this, but ended up being severely and cruelly punished by a monster testicle that he encountered in the bush where he (rabbit) went to slaughter the goat. from the tale samples above, one comes to the realization that all the stories told by the male, in this instance, feature hunters and their escapades whilst those told by the female do not entail similar characters and activities. conclusion this paper has provided an account on the tradition of storytelling among the bikpakpaam of ghana. particular attention has been paid to how this important traditional lore serves a portraiture of the gender world of the people. in specific terms, the paper has argued out that true to the socio-cultural characteristics of the bikpakpaam, their folktales depict them as a patriarchic society and that women, though culturally sidelined in power, decision making and the distribution of wealth, have a recognizable form of prevalence over the men. added to the above is the paper’s assertion that the storytelling session is one of the rare moments when all members of the household or community, across sex and age are brought into an egalitarian polity and that there appears to be some amount of differences between males and females, with regard to tale preferences. references acquaye, f. a. (1987). folktale and professionalism: the asassan storytelling group. a master thesis. department of linguistics, university of ghana, legon, accra agozie, e. k. (2000). cult names and appellations in the socio-cultural milieu of the people of wheta traditional area. m. phil. thesis. institute of african studies, university of ghana, legon, accra ahenkorah, f. (2011). oral performance and modern literary drama in africa : a study of the influence of akan oral traditions on modern ghanaian literary theatre in english. a ph.d. dissertation. department of culture studies and oriental languages, university of oslo, norway adjei, m. (2012). adaptations of the trickster character in west african video-film productions. in azasu, k. (ed). gumaga : journal of language and literature, 3(131-146).accra: yamens printing press ltd [document title] current issues in linguistics, language and gender studies: a festschrift in honour of professor cecilia amaoge eme 358 atakorah, t. a. (1964). mmuguo: song-interludes in akan folktales. ph. d. dissertation. institute of african studies, university of ghana, legon, accra budgen, s. (ed.). (2005). historical materialism,13:2. leiden: brill nv bulsa, s. (1993). folktales of the bulsa in northern ghana. hamburg: lit verlag finnegan, r. (1967). limba stories and storytelling. oxford : oxford university press fikry-atallah, m. (1972). oral traditions of the wala of wa. in dorson, m. r.(ed.). african folklore, 379-440. new york city: doubleday gorog-karady, v. (1997). parental preference and racial inequality: an ideological theme in african oral literature. in lindfors, b. (ed.). forms of folklore in africa. texas: university of texas press maasole, c. s. (2006). the konkomba and their neighbours in pre-european period up to 1914: a study in their ethnic relations in northern ghana. accra : universities press mireku-gyimah, p. b. (2012). the other side of kwaku ananse of akan folktales. in azasu, k. (ed). gumaga : journal of language and literature, 3(23-30) ofori-mankata, m. (1995). yaa foriwaa: a ghanaian folktale retold. accra: afram publications philip, n. (1992).the penguin book of english folktales. london : penguin books rattray, r. s. (1930). akan-ashanti folktales. oxford: clarendon press ryan, a. j. (1999). the trickster shift: humour and irony in contemporary native art. washington: university of washington press sutherland, e. t. (1995). the marriage of anasewaa. accra : sedco publishing tangwam, k. j. (2012). the structure and aesthetics of kasena riddles. in gumaga : journal of language and literature, 3(147-156). tekpetey, k. (1979). the tricster in akan asante -folktale. in asɛmka, 5 (78-82). tekper, m. (2008). playing kwaku ananse and the ghanaian mindset. accra, daily graphic, 10th january ukala, s. (1992). plot and conflict in african folktales. in. african literature today, 18 (62-72) winston, j. (1998). drama, narrative and moral education : exploring traditional tales in the primary years. london; washington dc: falmer press yankah, k. (1983). the trickster cycle : myth or folktale? indiana: indiana university press immigration and refugee board of canada (gh):http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac25k.html basics of literature ifeoma odinye first published in nigeria in 2021 isbn: 979-978-8454-90-6 copyright © ifeoma odinye 2021 telephone: 08032617858 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. printed by: thinkers publishers p.o. box 306 agulu anambra state, nigeria e-mail: thinkerspublishers@yahoo.com website: https://thinkerspublishers.business.site phone: 07031048438, 08038393389 mailto:thinkerspublishers@yahoo.com https://thinkerspublishers.business.site/ dedication to lovers of literature, people who drink knowledge like water. preface this book has been written for students, teachers and all lovers of imaginative literature. it can be used by students at different levels of higher education. i have written this book to add value to academic readership. the book explores the dynamics of literature with coherent exploration of the basic genres. the book also takes into account the perspectives of others with apt interpretation laced with simple expressions and clarity. the cited works are literary proofs chosen to deepen clarity in the interpretation given about literature, its genres, features and important elements. notably, this book has been carved out of my years of teaching and mentoring in the university. i wouldn’t have written it without the good academic background made available by my teachers at different levels of my academic journey. ifeoma ezinne odinye (phd) contents dedication …………………………………………………………. iii preface ……………………………………………………………... iv table of contents …………………………………………………… v chapter one: the rubrics of literature ………………………….. 1 literature ……..……………………………………………………… 2 introduction: understanding literature and its basic concepts …….. 2 basic functions of literature ………………………………………... 6 basic forms of literature …………………………………………… 10 oral literature ……………………………………………….. 10 written literature ……………………………………………. 11 three main genres of literature ……………………………………. 12 poetry …………………………………………………........... 13 drama …………………………………………………….….. 13 prose ……………………………………………………….… 13 literary appreciation …………………………………………….….. 14 criteria for literary appreciation ………………………………….... 16 context-based appreciation ………………………………… 16 structure-based appreciation ……………………………….. 16 theme-based appreciation …………………………………. 16 style-based appreciation …………………………………… 17 theories for literary criticism/appreciation ……………………….. 17 feminist theory ……………………………………………... 17 postcolonial theory …………………………………………. 18 marxist theory …………………………………………….…19 psychoanalytic theory ……………………………………… 20 ecocriticism ……………………………………….………... 21 structuralist theory ………………………………….……... 22 elements useful for literary appreciation …………………………. 23 subject matter/ theme ……………………………………… 23 plot ………………………………………………………….. 24 setting ……………………………………………………….. 24 diction/style ………………………………………………… 24 character/characterization ………………………………….. 24 point of view ………………………………………………… 25 tone/ mood ………………………………………………….. 25 chapter two: the essentials of poetry …………………………… 27 poetry as a literary genre .....................................................................28 what is poetry? ………………………...…………………………….. 29 who is a poet? ……………………………………………………….. 32 poetic diction ………………………………………………………... 33 poetic license ……………………………………………………….. 35 essential characteristics of poetry …………………………………... 37 essential elements of poetry ………………………………………… 41 title ………………………………………………………... 41 subject matter/theme …………………………………….. 41 diction …………………………………………………….. 42 style ……………………………………………………….. 42 rhythm/rhyme ……………………………………………. 43 figures of speech ………………………………………….. 45 mood/tone ………………………………………………… 49 stanza ……………………………………………………… 49 point of view ……………………………………………… 50 types of poetry ……………………………………………………….. 51 sonnet ……………………………………………………… 51 epic ………………………………………………………… 53 ballad ………………………………………………………. 81 elegy ……………………………………………………….. 91 dirge ……………………………………………………….. 95 ode ………………………………………………………… 97 narrative poem ……………………………………………..101 pastoral poem ……………………………………………… 110 lyric poems ……………………………………………….. 117 parody ……………………………………………………... 118 poetry and literary appreciation …………………………………….. 120 chapter three: basics of drama …………………………………... 125 drama as a literary genre …………………………………………… 126 definition of drama ………………………………………………….. 126 basic distinguishing features of drama ……………………………. 132 basic genres of drama ……………………………………………… 136 tragedy ……………………………………………………… 137 tragedy and intrisic measures ……………………………… 139 comedy ……………………………………………………... 140 characteristics of comedy ………………………………….. 142 types of comedy …………………………………………… 142 comedy of manners ………………………………… 144 comedy of humours ………………………………... 145 comedy of errors …………………………………… 145 comedy of intrigues ………………………………… 145 farce ………………………………………………… 145 masque ……………………………………………… 146 sentimental comedy ………………………………... 146 burlesque …………………………………………… 146 parody ………………………………………………. 146 dark comedy ……………………………………….. 147 tragicomedy ……………………………………………………... 147 melodrama ……………………………………………………….. 148 basic elements of drama ………………………………………... 148 plot …………………………………………………………. 148 character/imitation…………………………………………. 150 theme ……………………………………………………… 150 diction / dialogue …………………………………………. 151 music ………………………………………………………. 152 spectacle ………………………………………………….... 152 action ……………………………………………………… 152 audience …………………………………………………... 152 mood …………………………………………………….... 153 setting …………………………………………………….. 153 conflict …………………………………………………… 153 climax ……………………………………………………. 153 chapter four: rudiments of prose fiction ……………………. 155 prose as a literary genre …………………………………………. 156 kinds of prose …………………………………………………….. 157 the descriptive prose ……………………………………. 157 expository prose …………………………………………. 158 the narrative prose ……………………………………… 159 argumentative prose …………………………………….. 159 dramatic prose ……………………………………………159 contemplative prose ……………………………………... 160 informative prose ……………………………………........ 160 emotional prose ………………………………………….. 160 significant aspects of prose ………………………………………160 prose poetry ……………………………………………… 160 non-fiction ………………………………………………. 160 categories of non-fiction ………………………... 161 autobiography ……………………………………. 161 biography ………………………………………… 161 essay ……………………………………………… 161 pamphlet ………………………………………….. 162 travelogue ………………………………………... 162 fiction ……………….……………………………………. 162 aspects of fiction ………………………………………… 164 short story ………………………………………. 164 novella or novelette ……………………………. 164 novel ……………………………………………. 165 romance ………………………………………… 166 elements of prose fiction ………………………………….. 167 plot …………………………………………….... 167 characterization/character ……………………… 172 setting …………………………………………… 175 subject matter/themes ………………………...... 176 style ……………………………………………... 177 diction/language ……………………………….. 177 point of view ……………………………………. 178 title ……………………………………………… 179 distinctive features of prose ………………………………………. 180 works cited ……………………………………………………….. 181 artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 50 chapter 4 artistic and scientific research: goals and methods godwin ogbu uka department of fine and applied arts, university of nigeria, nsukka introduction what is research? generally speaking, research can be seen as the application of practical knowledge on theories, principles, guidelines and the verification of these principles, and reliability to solve different types of problems or achieve concrete results. research in visual art is the systematic use of the artistic process, the actual making of artistic expression in all the different forms of arts, as a primary way of understanding and examining experience by both researchers and the people that they involve in their studies. research in art and science should to a greater extent complement each other, to make meaningful and good research. what is the research methodology? research methodology is a contextual framework for academic inquiry, that is a coherent and logical scheme based on views, beliefs, and values that guide the choices researchers for other users make. it is the strategies or art and design by which the artist or designers maps out an approach to problem-finding or problem-solving in their various works. research in visual art is the systematic use of the artistic process, the actual making of artistic expression in all the different forms of arts, as a primary way of understanding and examining experience by both researchers and the people that they involve in their studies. scientific research on the other hand is the systematic investigation of scientific theories and hypotheses ... such a method allows scientists to construct questions about observed phenomena, conduct experiments, and analyze results. in addition to the scientific method, researchers in this area depend on peer reviews to ascertain the truth. research in its totality is the systematic investigation into the study of material, sources to establish facts and arrive at a new conclusion. in art and design many research projects are carried out by students and others and there have been seeking to find a place to position their professional and scholarly contribution within the broader art and design area of discourse. exploration of art and design projects alongside critique, literature, reading, peer review, and reflection enabled the understanding to become clear and more explicit. the discussion stresses contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 51 the importance and value of art research was discovered through critical reflection on research in the science and visual arts. it is important to explore, review or re-examine the practice-based research in this area or cluster of research activities within the action of the practice traditionally, art and science have been treated as two separate disciplines, but when they are studied together it is clear to see the impact one has on the other. a great deal of creativity is required to make scientific breakthroughs, and art is just as often an expression or a product of scientific knowledge, this simply explains the situation. art-informed research is a mode and form of quantitative research that is influenced by, but not based on the arts. the methodology infuses the language, process, and form of literacy, visual, and performance arts into scholarly inquiry to advance knowledge. creative research method is often treated as though they are new, yet researcher has always used creative ways to solve problems. any research project is made up of hundreds or thousands of decisions and each decision holds space for creativity. research in any society is highly valued, and we need to understand why being engaged in legitimate artmaking tasks implies that one is also engaged in worthwhile research activities. while the values of research in the natural and social sciences are widely recognized, the fact that artists are also engaged in research must also be acknowledged and not ignored. however, the research operations associated with creating art are quite different from the research activities of the scientists. research is the systematic investigation into the study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions. it can also be looked at as a systematic investigative process employed to increase or revise current knowledge by discovering new facts. it is divided into two general categories: (1) research in the sciences is aimed at increasing know-how or knowledge, and (2) creative research activity is an effort aimed at using basic research for solving problems or developing new processes, products, or techniques. research in both natural and social sciences relies upon measures that generate quantitative data from which qualities are inferred; for example, a high number equals the intensity of agreement, pressure, what is valued, and so on. in visual art counting the number of times something occurs reflects on the level of its significance. for example, if when excavating an ancient temple a particular symbol appears again and again on a variety of objects, it is concluded that the symbol was important to the ancients who built and used the temple or any other similar thing. in science, specific instances of behaviour are identified and quantified very carefully. these are translated into qualities which become the basis for formulating generalizations about phenomena. these formulations become principles or constructs that govern our understanding of the natural and social world. in art “style", a term used by both art historians and art critics, is a construct for thinking about reoccurring characteristics in works of art. a particular style is inferred from observing and categorizing common elements in works produced by a variety of artists, or in the works of an individual artist or art movement. over the past years, the writer has supervised many practised-based research submissions. these have spanned across the fields of art, communication design, art history/criticism, sociology of arts and discourse on the nature of material thinking and practiceorientated research. yet, consistent across these investigations has been the literacy of practice that includes methods for making and communicating new knowledge, which is pertinent to a particular field of professional activity. gardner (1993) builds on this idea of clustering http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/systematic.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/process.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/employed.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/current.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/knowledge.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/general.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/basic-research.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/applied-research.html artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 52 knowledge and knowing by arguing for multiple forms of intelligence. there are various ways for clustering knowledge and different individuals have strengths in different clusters. in addition to this, there is also the phenomenon of professional literacy, as understood by a domain of professional practice that may be aligned to a particular discipline or a clustering of activities within a professional field. art and design are one of such clustering. it is essential that when we explore, review or examine practice-based research this be framed within the language and actions of the practice of the practitioner. in the field of art and design many research projects are carried out by researchers and others but there are still seeking to find a place to position their professional and scholarly contribution within broader art and design discourses. postgraduate degrees in art and design are still relatively nascent, in communication design are even more so. this is particularly true in art history and criticism about doctorates undertaken through, rather than about, the practice of art and design. postgraduate degrees in communication design are more common where it examines, contextualize or historicize design. i believe that one of the key contributions of this book or research is presented in a language that addressed both the expectations of the academy whilst still being accessible to practitioners. the author has through critical reflection been able to make insights that integrated the theory with the everyday practice of art and design. the visualization process presented in the exegesis was the means for communicating this, and more importantly it was an example of the literacy of communication design being used as a scholarly reflective tool of research. exploration of the art and design projects alongside critique, literature reading, peer reviews and reflection enabled this understanding to become clearer and more explicit. the discussion here stresses the importance of the journey in which the values in this research were discovered through critical reflection on research in visual art and sciences. art can best be defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, especially in the area of fine and applied arts, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. art is often considered the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the sense or emotions. it encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creation, and ways of expression including other areas like music, literature, film, glass design, textiles, sculpture, graphics, painting, ceramic and others. art is something that is intelligently created to serve the following purposes: communicate, represent, decorate, persuade, convey or evoke emotion, and provide selfexpression, even if the work is never shared with another person. explore new ideas, including what art itself is. visual art is constructed from very basic elements or components that we experience through our sense of sight and/or touch; namely, lines, two and/or three-dimensional shapes, textures, colours, dark and light qualities, and actual or implied space. almost everything that we see can be described or interpreted in terms of these same visual (or sensory) components. why do we ascribe the term "art" to some of these objects while others are merely described as useful or interesting or even beautiful? art can be defined in many other ways broadly but critically, in trying to define art, one should consider the following points ; • does something have to be beautiful to be called art? • does the subject of the work have to be momentous for the work to be important? contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 53 • can work with "ordinary" subjects be important works of art? • can works that deviate from representing the natural world be works of art? • basic research methodology steps introduction aims and objectives the primary focus of your research project is usually expressed in terms of aims and objectives. what is the difference between an aim and an objective in an academic context? aim an intention or aspiration; what you hope to achieve. aims are statements of intent, written in broad terms. aims to set out what you hope to achieve at the end of the project. objective a goal or a step on the way to meeting the aim; how you will achieve it. objectives use specific statements which define measurable outcomes. for example: what steps will you take to achieve the desired outcome? research objectives should be s.m.a.r.t.: specific – be precise about what you are going to do measurable – you will know when you have reached your goal achievable – don’t attempt too much. a less ambitious but completed objective is better than an over-ambitious one that you cannot possibly achieve. realistic – do you have the necessary resources to achieve the objective? for example time, money, skills, etc. time-constrained – determine when each stage needs to be completed. is there time in your schedule to allow for unexpected delays? remember: use strong positive statements which use strong verbs. avoid weak verbs. strong verbs: collect, construct, classify, develop, devise, measure, provide, revise, select. syntheses. weak verbs: appreciate, consider, enquire, learn, know, understand, be aware of, appreciate, learn, perceive how many aims or objectives should there be? there is no fixed number of aims or objectives. some lecturers and professors are happy with one clear strong aim, whilst others like to see the main aim supported by at least two subsidiary aims. one is required to produce sufficient objectives to be able to measure progress towards meeting the aims. http://mycourse.solent.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=2744&chapterid=1293#cm_submenu_26 artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 54 remember: aims describe what you want to achieve. objectives describe how you are going to achieve those aims. methodology remember to do the following when writing your methodology: explain what methods you intend to use when researching and developing your report. use a descriptive writing approach. it is important to explain what research methods you used to collect your info. do not include your questionnaires, interview transcripts, etc. these go in the project appendices. discuss with your project supervisor the extent and level of detail required; original research will require a more detailed description than a project based solely on secondary research. literature survey secondary data will be reviewed initially through the university library using a range of information sources such as the opac system, academic and commercial abstracts, bibliographic databases, and internet search engines. to aid the search, a table of key terms will be constructed and the sources located will be correlated with this. a secondary cross-reference table will be developed so that data can be viewed from different perspectives. data collection and sampling is good to test current practices against the historical record an online survey will be conducted to gather primary source data from companies currently engaged in the export of goods related to heavy areas of projects. the survey will collect quantitative data on the range of goods requiring an end-user license. data analysis it is anticipated that a commercial spreadsheet package such as ms excel would be suitable, although more sophisticated analysis software such as spss is available within the university’s, centre should this be required. remember: if someone else chooses to carry out the same or a very similar type of study, they should be able to understand and copy your methods from your descriptions. literature survey the literature survey (also known as a literature review): uses a descriptive writing approach to describe the existing and established theory and research in your report area by providing a context for your work can show where you are filling a perceived gap in the existing theory or knowledge can propose something that goes against or is controversial to existing ideas, accurately references all sources mentioned in the survey and gives a full citation in the reference list. http://mycourse.solent.ac.uk/mod/glossary/showentry.php?eid=25&displayformat=dictionary contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 55 scope and constraints set the boundaries clearly in this section. for example: you may have too much material to cover so you will need to put some limits in place on the project you may not be able to conduct some research due to constraints imposed by time, cost or availability of materials. scope and constraints step 1: dissertation proposals resources list resources that you will need to complete your study in the resources section. example: the university’s library and it facilities should provide adequate material for the majority of the research and analysis required by this study. however, the graphical representation of some of the data may require the use of specialist software such as pro graph. below is a proposed timetable for your project. it should also be sufficiently detailed for your supervisor to identify any areas of weakness to provide you with appropriate guidance: outline of sections/chapters give an outline of the structure of your dissertation in this section. this is usually restricted to the main body as the overall structure is often prescribed. the main discussion will require a more detailed breakdown than other sections. you should give suggested chapter headings and one or two paragraphs about the proposed content. example outline for the main body: • introduction • literature survey • methodology • results (if appropriate) • discussion • conclusions • recommendations (if appropriate) remember: check if your faculty/department has any requirements. references the reference list at the end of your work demonstrates the depth of your research. it acknowledges your sources of information, protecting you against the serious charge of plagiarism (passing off others’ ideas as your own). this is where you list all of your research reading if you have included a literature survey. http://mycourse.solent.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=2744&chapterid=1296 http://mycourse.solent.ac.uk/mod/glossary/showentry.php?eid=23&displayformat=dictionary artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 56 remember: if you present your literature survey separately, you would have referred to some aspects of the reading in your introduction (your statement of the problem you must cite and reference those aspects in this section. below is a list of the sections a project may contain. however, not every project includes all these sections. find out which sections you need to include by asking your supervisor, by identifying what is standard practice in your discipline or by reading papers written by other students: • cover • title page • acknowledgements • abstract • contents page • list of figures or illustrations • main body • introduction • literature survey • methodology • results • discussion • conclusion • recommendations • reference list / bibliography • appendices check list on research procedure: • the title of the research adequately captured the scope and objective of the study • the background provided by the researcher is relevant to the research problem and objectives • has the candidate reviewed key issues as regards the research topic and research problem? • is there research justified? • is the research well-articulated as regards what is not well-known in the research area • has the candidate applied that methodology that yielded the kind of information relevant to the research objectives? • in terms of his findings/date analysis and general interpretation • has the research adequately and correctly acknowledged the sources of the information gathered from the research? • finding and observation contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 57 types of research and scholarly articles quantitative/qualitative/mixed method some types of social science research books about research types of scholarly articles critical reading questions education statistics curriculum & lesson plan sources quantitative/qualitative/mixed method quantitative research involves the use of numerical calculations or summarize, describe and explore relationships among traits; reliance on control of variables, statistics, measurement, and experiments. qualitative research emphasis is on conducting studies in natural settings using mostly verbal descriptions, resulting in stories and case studies rather than statistical reports. mixed methods employs both quantitative and qualitative designs characteristics of research type description case study: studies an individual or small group of individuals with an unusual condition or situation. case studies are typically clinical in scope. survey: involves interviewing or administering questionnaires, or written surveys, to large numbers of people. investigator analyzes the data obtained from surveys to learn about similarities, differences, and trends. predictions are made about the population being studied. observational: directly observing subjects' reactions, either in a laboratory (called laboratory observation) or in a natural setting (called naturalistic observation). observational research reduces distortions sometimes found in survey research correlation: correlation research attempts to determine if a relationship exists between the two variables and the degree of that relationship. descriptive: describing a group, situation or individual to gain knowledge that may be applied to other situations. experimental: experimental research tests how an independent variable (the factor that the scientist manipulates) affects a dependent variable (the factor that the scientist observes). artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 58 cross-cultural: designed to reveal variations across different groups of people. most crosscultural research involves surveys, direct observation, and participant observation methods of research. types of scholarly articles characteristics of articles type description research/empirical: article reporting on the results of one or more studies or experiments, written by the person(s) who conducted the research. this is considered one type of primary source. look in the title or abstract for words like study, research, measure, subjects, data, effects, survey, or statistical which might indicate empirical research. case study: detailed account of clinically important cases of common and uncommon conditions. review: summarizes the findings of other studies or experiments; attempts to discover trends or draw broader conclusions. scholarly in nature but not a primary source or research article, however its references to other articles will include primary sources or research articles. meta-analysis: a meta-analysis is a mathematical synthesis of the results of two or more primary studies that addressed the same hypothesis in the same way. letters or communications: short descriptions of important latest studies or research findings which are usually considered urgent for immediate publication. theoretical: containing or referring to a set of abstract principles related to a specific field of knowledge; characteristically it does not contain original empirical research or present experimental data, although it is scholarly. in any applied research it is important to describe technique, workflow, management or human resources issues. professional communications, book reviews, letters to the editor: most scholarly journals publish articles that pertain to the workings of the profession but are not 'scholarly' in nature. important questions questions to ask when reading and interpreting scholarly articles: 1. what is the source (journal) of the article? 2. was the article peer-reviewed? 3. who are the authors and what are their affiliations? 4. what is the main subject of the study? 5. what was the problem(s) investigated? 6. what is the purpose of the rationale for the study? contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 59 7. who or what constituted the sample of the population? 8. what was the design of the study? 9. what are the statistical analyses used? 10. what are the results? 11. are the results clear? 12. did the results answer the identified questions? 13. do the results seem valid? 14. are the interpretations of the results consistent with design and analysis? 15. are the results consistent with findings from similar studies? 16. what do the results mean to medicine and health care, to health care workers, patients and others? a research proposal a research proposal is a document proposing a research project, generally in the science(s) or art, academia, and generally constitutes a request for sponsorship of the research. proposals are evaluated on the cost and potential impact of the proposed plan for carrying it out. research proposals generally address several key points • what research question(s) will be addressed, and how they will be addressed • how much time and expenses will be required for the research • what prior research has been done on the topic? • how the result of the research will be evaluated • how the research will benefit the sponsoring organization and other parties types of proposal research proposals may be solicited, meaning that they are submitted in response to a request with specific requirements such as a request for proposal, or they may be unsolicited, meaning they are submitted without your prior request. other types of proposal include "preproposals" where a letter of intent or brief abstract is submitted for review before submission of a full proposal; continuation proposals which reiterate an original proposal and its funding requirement to ensure continued funding; and renewal proposals, which seek continued sponsorship; and renewal proposal, which seek continued sponsorship of a project which be otherwise terminated. academia research proposal research in the sciences and visual art research in art and science should to a greater extent complement each other, to make meaningful and good research in education going forward. generally speaking, research is always seen as the application of practical knowledge on theories, principles, and guidelines and the verification of these principles and the reliability of these principles to solve different types of problems or achieve concrete results. research in visual art is the systematic use of the artistic process, the actual making of artistic expression in all the different forms of arts, as a primary way of understanding and examining experience by both researchers and the people that they involve in their studies [r artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 60 work. scientific research on the other hand is the systematic investigation of scientific theories and hypotheses ... such a method allows scientists to construct questions about observed phenomena, conduct experiments, and analyze results. in addition to the scientific method, researchers in this area depend on the peer reviews. the relationship between art and science traditionally, art and science have been treated as two separate disciplines, but when they are studied together it is clear to see the impact one has on the other. a great deal of creativity is required to make scientific breakthroughs, and art is just as often an expression or a product of scientific knowledge, this simply explains the situation. art-informed research is a mode and form of quantitative research that is influenced by, but not based on the arts. the methodology infuses the language, process, and form of literacy, visual, and performance arts into scholarly inquiry to advance knowledge. creative research method is often treated as though they are new, yet researcher has always used creative ways to solve problems. any research project is made up of hundreds or thousands of decisions and each decision holds space for creativity. research in any society is highly valued, we need to understand why being engaged in legitimate art-making tasks or process implies that one is also engaged in worthwhile research activities. while the values of research in the natural and social sciences are widely recognized, the fact that artists are also engaged in research must also be acknowledged and not ignored. however, the research operations associated with creating art are quite different from the research activities of the scientists. research is the systematic investigation into the study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions. it can also be looked at as a systematic investigative process employed to increase or revise current knowledge by discovering new facts. it is divided into two general categories: (1) research in the sciences is aimed at increasing know-how or knowledge, and (2) creative research activity is an effort aimed at using basic research for solving problems or developing new processes, products, or techniques. research in both natural and social sciences relies upon measures that generate quantitative data from which qualities are inferred; for example, a high number equals the intensity of agreement, pressure, what is valued, and so on. in visual art counting the number of times something occurs reflects on the level of its significance. for example, if when excavating an ancient temple a particular symbol appears again and again on a variety of objects, it is concluded that the symbol was important to the ancients who built and used the temple or any other similar thing. in science, specific instances of behaviour are identified and quantified very carefully. these are translated into qualities which become the basis for formulating generalizations about phenomena. these formulations become principles or constructs that govern our understanding of the natural and social world. in art “style", a term used by both art historians and art critics, is a construct for thinking about reoccurring characteristics in works of art. a particular style is inferred from observing and categorizing common elements in works produced by a variety of artists, or in the works of an individual artist or art movement. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/systematic.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/process.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/employed.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/current.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/knowledge.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/general.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/basic-research.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/applied-research.html contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 61 the artist as researcher artistic research is not concerned with either identifying or quantifying data. artists rely upon their perceptions of the natural and social world. the focus of research activity it is the experience of a phenomenon and the qualities of a work of art that instils the focus of the artist's research. as artists respond to objects and events the description of a particular person or design that is the varying character of graphic media particular feelings or thoughts are evoked that are translated into personal statements. these responses relate to qualities such as the intensity of colours and variations in spatial forces and tensions that are associated with experiencing a particular phenomenon. careful observation is central to the efforts of scientists while examining phenomena the behaviour of humans or animals. the chemical reactions of compounds are the basis for generating the information required for translating observations into facts and generalizations. a scientific response would be to observe the sunset as a predictor of hot weather based upon having quantified how often such sunsets are followed by hot days. methods for generating data the artist's methods for generating materials for his works are non-standard. observational techniques and what artists will respond to are characteristic and are often dependent upon the artist's frame of mind. rather than being logical, the methods used by artists for generating data are expressive; e.g., creating accidental colours when spreading paint, or attending to and distorting particular facial features or a spatial field. to observe phenomena as objectively as possible, scientists utilize standardized techniques and approaches which have been established empirically. their methods are logical and can be replicated by other scientists. forms for reporting data the artist, who is expressing personal reactions to experience, and standardization, is abhorrence. in addition, the particular form that is employed is inseparable from the content of what is being expressed. for example, a symmetrical and static organization of visual elements impacts differently upon what is ultimately expressed than would an asymmetrical and dynamic arrangement. scientists utilize a variety of devices for reporting the nature and findings of their research; e.g., graphs, pie and bar charts, etc. there are standardized methods for describing data and even standardized writing styles for reporting one's findings. ways of representing results of research discursive, serial, logical, and literal interpretations and descriptions of observations are employed by scientists to represent their activities and findings clearly and unemotionally. artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 62 nature of generalization artists employ poetic, non-literal, symbolic and metaphoric interpretations of their experiences. compositions are designed to convey a vibrant and imaginative sense of one's experience. the literal aspects of the research of artists are limited to the actual physical nature of the materials or media of expression; e.g., tactile (not visual) textures of paints or pastels, projected coloured light (films), concave or convex volumes (sculptural forms), etc. almost everything else is a representation or an interpretation of experience. particular arrangements of shapes and colours can denote signs for hands or feet or facial components, etc. signs become symbols when relevant associations are made. for instance, a pursed mouth in a carved mask may symbolize sadness within the culture where such an association has evolved. when technique and form merge into meaningful content, the artist's efforts may serve as a visual metaphor for feelings and beliefs. artistic research flows from the general to the specific. works of art are created in response to life's experiences, which are reflected in distinctive statements that embody particular aspects of broad experience. the artist studies objects or things in general and then creates a particular work concerning it. but particular works also embody generalizations. for example, a distinctive portrait of an individual may also project a general sense of worldweariness or dignity or a demeanour of restrained elegance, as in an artist's portrait of a professor. scientific research flows from the particular to the general. findings from investigations of specific phenomena are the bases for stipulating broader generalizations. interest in prediction and control neither control nor predictions are of interest to artists. their concerns are centred on making a heuristic (exploratory and self-educating) effort when engaged in creating expressive forms. the results of these efforts are not pre-determined because it is essential to remain ready to take advantage of unforeseen, unexpected events ("happy" accidents) as one's work evolves. scientists are very concerned with carefully controlling the nature of their experimentation and/or study. controls are essential to generating data that are both reliable (stable) and valid (accurate). it is these kinds of data that are of interest to scientists because such information can be used to formulate testable hypotheses and to confidently predict future events. criteria for establishing the worth of research the validity of the artist's effort is based on the work of art created that is based upon judging the credibility of the relationship between form and content, as well as the integrity of the artist's personal view. within the realm of science, establishing the worth of one's activities and findings is achieved through the use of formalized procedures and instruments. for instance, particular statistics, selected based on the nature of one's research, are computed to project the levels of confidence one can have in the reliability and validity of one's findings. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 63 ultimate aims of the research art moves from a general view of experience to a particular interpretation of the meaning. self-expression and the creation of meaning are the ultimate aims of artists. they seek to produce images that will be reflective of one's particular interpretation of the meaning of one's experience, which includes both individual and cultural attitudes and values. because it is primarily concerned with expressing the perceptions and beliefs of individual artists living within particular cultures, art does not improve. the art forms produced today are no better than those produced thousands of years ago. the primary concern of art is the exposition of meaning; what it means (and feels like) to be old, delighted, awed, exalted, attacked, maimed, elated, exhausted, sombre or sober, peaceful or agitated, conflicted or tranquil. art speaks to us metaphorically about the nature of phenomena and one's emotional (as well as intellectual) reactions to life's experiences. and the value of artists and their works is based upon the extent to which the meanings created are significant and cogent expressions of both the artist and the psychological and social contexts in which works of art are created the ultimate aim of science is to discover the truth. scientists strive to generate true statements about reality by describing the physical and social world with ever-increasing reliability. their investigations move from examining particular objects and events to the exposition of facts (reliable knowledge) and valid generalizations. because of its logical and cumulative nature, science is always improving. writing your research paper the first questions that come to your mind should be what type of paper are you writing? is it a report, analysis, or argument? the type of points you intend to make will determine the types of information (facts, statistics, opinions, interviews, historical studies, etc.) and the amount of cited research you will need to include to fully support your ideas. what is the minimum word count or page length required for your paper? is there a maximum? knowing how much material your lecturer/professor expects gives you an idea of the depth of your research topic. can you fully explain your ideas and make your points about your specific topic within the guidelines of the research work? knowing how much you will need to write lets you scale the topic to the assignment, and gives you an idea of the amount of material you can use to support your thesis. which citation style will you use? this is an important time-saver, allowing you to format in-text and reference list citations correctly from the beginning. what types of sources can you cite as support for your thesis? are peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles expected? are websites, blogs, or interviews permissible? is your lecturer/professor looking for strictly primary materials, or is some combination of primary, secondary, and tertiary materials acceptable? knowing all this in advance lets you focus your information-gathering efforts on the right types of support materials, saving time in the long run. when is your paper due? be sure to start your paper early enough that you leave enough time after writing your drafts for proofreading and revision. often, reviewers or project supervisors will note that some points are unclear or confusing, requiring you to gather additional support materials to strengthen your arguments. artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 64 formulating your thesis your literature review likely strengthened your familiarity with your topic, helping you to identify a refined focus for your research. now that you are aware of the issues, trends, and mysteries regarding your topic, you should have an idea about how to contribute answers, further questions, and observations of your own. your research question will drive your entire project the information that you gather, explore and write will all focus on this question. depending on your assignment, you will write a thesis statement or a problem statement to introduce your paper. a good thesis statement is neither too broad nor too narrow, is interesting to you, and poses a unique question that you will answer through your research. a thesis statement includes your narrowed topic (your research focus) and the main idea of your paper (what you will show or prove about your topic). a problem statement typically defines the problem, states a proposed solution, and describes the research that you will conduct to reach the solution or attempt to solve the problem. 1. why does your research question need to be unique? your research question needs to be unique because your research should add to the body of knowledge. find your perspective about your topic, and focus on the ideas, problems, or connections that others have not yet addressed academic work can be interesting! 2. does your research question always need to be interesting to you? what if your class is boring and you just don't like the subject matter? the purpose of education research is to gain knowledge. if your research question is interesting to you, the process of researching and writing will also be more interesting and will result in a better paper and better knowledge. with a bit of brainstorming, it is possible to find an interesting angle on almost any topic, even one that initially appears boring! finding that angle at the beginning of the process makes the rest of the work much more exciting. analyzing your data if your research or assignment involves the collection of data, you will need to both figure out what your data means and be able to explain it accurately to your readers. analyze your results mathematically, using mean, median, mode, range, percentages, etc. to find explanations of your results, and then present your findings visually using charts, graphs, and other visuals. below are some data analysis and visualization tools: simple interactive statistical analysis – is an online tool that you can use to perform statistical analysis instantly. vassar stats an online analysis tool with great instructions included. excel charts step-by-step charts using excel, from microsoft office. many eyes s site that allows anyone to upload data, visualize it, and talk about discoveries with other people. power view/excel quickly create a variety of visualizations, including all kinds of charts, maps, and combinations. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 65 supporting your points when you are writing, it is important to read the materials that you collected during your literature review and identify ideas that both support your own and present differing opinions. you want to be able to address all sides of the issues related to your thesis to make your arguments stronger. but how do you integrate portions of your source material throughout your thoughts in a logical manner? create a first draft using your ideas only. this allows you to clarify your ideas and find your own writer’s voice. developed points as a first step result in an original paper and eliminates problems with including too much-cited information. support your ideas. once you have written your first draft, you can more easily identify which points need support remember that other authors' writing is included to explain, clarify, or illustrate your own, original ideas. you will need to add as much as is needed to fully support your points, making your ideas completely clear for your audience. there are several ways to blend source materials into your final document: full quotations are verbatim sentences or passages that are surrounded by quotation marks, with in-text citations following each. these can be considered when the support material to be quoted would be incomplete otherwise. be aware of the rules required by your citation style for longer quotations; some styles require indentation or other special formatting. partial quotations are useful when only a portion or even one word from the source is needed to provide validity to your work. these are also surrounded by quotation marks and include in-text citations. paraphrasing is a useful strategy when the source contains good information but is poorly written or written in a style that makes it difficult to read or understand. paraphrasing, or restating another person's writing in your own words, allows you to maintain the original ideas in the source material but incorporate them more smoothly into your writing. paraphrased content does not contain quotation marks, but it does require in-text citations. summarizing source material lets you convey the message in the source material but with fewer words. rather than restating all of the details in the support material, summaries retain the most important idea of the material, providing general support for your writing. summaries are not quoted, but are always cited. explain why the support material matters to your argument. as you write, remember that support material cannot stand on its own. your ideas, observations, and results are made clearer and fully understandable with the addition of support material, but the relationships between other people's writing and your own must be explained. what connections are you attempting to make between the source material and your ideas? why did you choose a particular quotation to support a particular idea? explain your reasoning. don't make your audience work to figure out meaning. explain your point, explain it again, give an example, and then explain that example. make your paper readable. signal phrases can help to introduce cited material, indicating the relationships of quoted material to your points and blending quotes smoothly into your writing. this approach interweaves your thoughts together with those of your sources, providing structure, better flow, and continuity. artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 66 presenting your research before your paper presentation, get your ideas out and share your work with others! whether you will present your research to your academic department, a group of 20 peers, or a conference attended by 3,000 people, planning your presentation with a few key points in mind will ensure that you get your message across and survive to tell the tale. ask yourself these questions when planning the speaking portion of your presentation: what is the purpose of your presentation? what points or lessons do you want your audience to get from your presentation? who is in your audience? will you present to experts in your topic or a mixed group with various knowledge levels? is your audience international, and will that impact what you say? how much time do you have? you want to make sure you get to make all of your points, but be respectful of your audience's attention span. keep your points simple and memorable! are you being clear? present the basic or background information before explaining complicated data analysis or results. a basic format is below: introduction: present yourself, your topic, and your key points body: tell the highlights of your findings, observations, and trends discussion: include any diversions from your original thesis statement and any need for future research thanks: tell your audience that you appreciate their attention, and let them know how they can contact you for further questions. are your visuals effective? be intentional about the content you add to your slides. a very brief summary of your point adds more value than a full slide of text, and a well-chosen image can get your point across in ways that words cannot. below are some visual presentation tools to peruse: powerpoint microsoft's presentation software is a popular option for putting together visual slideshows. your powerpoint can also be saved and shared to many other sites. slide share this lets you upload and share your powerpoint which is a very nice cloud storage option. haiku deck presentation software with a very visual, "keep it simple" focus. prezi dynamic, easy-to-create presentations stored online. issuu offers a free option for creating presentations with page-turn animations. 1. when presenting a paper to a group of people, why not simply read it in its entirety? when presenting a paper to a group of people, reading a paper in its entirety might result in a roomful of sleeping audience members! keep your audience's attention by identifying the contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 67 absolute take away points of your paper and focusing on getting those points across in a more personal, engaging way. when done right, your presentation may lead audience members to obtain a copy of your paper to read them for further information. 2. why is it important to understand the familiarity of your audience with your topic? understanding your audience's familiarity with your topic gives you an idea of how much background information you need to include so that everyone can engage with your talk and follow along with your points. including too much background may cause experts in your topic to lose interest, making it more difficult to engage those people for the new observations portion of your talk. including too little background may make novices feel that your talk is over their heads. a few very quick questions at the beginning of the talk can help you to gauge levels of understanding if you don't already have an idea of your audience's knowledge writing a research paper for an artist introduction 1. compose the statement 2. then "frame" your thesis 3. if you are focusing on artwork, remember to put the artist's name/artist name(s), the title(s) of the work (s) and the date(s) in the first paragraph writing an art history paper • choose your desired topic • look through an art history book. slow and leisurely • look through a list of art history topics for ideas. good starting points state or write the artists' bios and images galleries • pick a topic based on an eye appeal and compelling personal interest fill your brain with information • the brain works with information, empty brain, empty writing • research your topic using websites, books, and articles • read footnotes in the books and articles, they can lead to creative thinking • be an active reader • ask yourself questions while you read and look up what you can't find or don't understand on take note • search the internet with words, names, and titles you learn • write down interesting facts and thoughts that come to mind while you read writing your introduction compose a thesis statement. declare that you have noticed something about the art, artist, critic, patron or whatever your focus is for your analysis. then "frame" your thesis. tell your reader about discovering information that can help us understand the works of art better. for example, the french artist paul gauguin moved to tahiti late in life. your thesis analyze his late paintings in terms of the tahiti lifestyle that you have read in his biography. if you are focusing on artistic and scientific research: goals and methods 68 artworks, remember to put the artist's name/artist's name, the title(s) of his works and the date(s) in the first paragraph. you can refer to the title(s) alone after describe and point out what you want the reader to notice if you are going to include the artist(s) biography begin with a summary, unless your paper is a biography of the person, most of your paper should be about art not life. make sure your arguments are constructed in a parallel fashion. establish a sequence of information and consider the paragraph unit f information. each paragraph should discuss the topic within the quantity of information you plan to cover. ideas for units of information or topics, appearance, narrative, iconography, history, artist's biography, patronage etc. whatever will help you support your thesis? iconography might require more than one paragraph especially if your whole paper is about analyzing the iconography of a work of art. again, write about the connection between what you decide in these analyses and what you declare in the statement. follow the same sequence of ideas for the second artwork, artist, critic, patron etc. follow the same sequence for the third work, artist etc. when you have analyzed all the examples, synthesize, compare and contrast. comparison: dedicate one paragraph to discussing the differences between the artwork, the critics, the patron etc. what do you want your reader to learn from your essay? reiterate the thesis. remind your reader about your findings in a summary sentence or two persuade the reader that you have demonstrates that your thesis is soundly based on your findings. optional; state your analysis is important in terms of understanding a large picture (but not too large). for example, the artist's other works from that period, the artist's work together, and the work's relationship to the movement of the artwork to the movement in history. the connection should not open new topics, but simply offer the reader food for thought and then declare this investigation is beyond the scope of your paper. do not write that art history is wonderful and you have learned a lot. editing be sure to footnote/cite your sources. in the body of the paper when you use information or an opinion from a book, article, website etc. make a list of your sources at the end of your paper. follow your teacher's instructions and /or visit a website on citation styles or biography style. ask the teacher which citation style she/he wants you to use. check the followings: titles for works of art should be in italics the birth of venus. first and last names begin with a capital letter. exceptions include places and familiar indicators including "da" "de", "den" and "van" and others unless the last name begins the sentence. ("van gogh life in paris"), mouths contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 69 and days of the week begin with a capital letter. language, nationality and countries name begin with capital letters. leonardo is not called da vinci conclusion research is highly valued because of its importance in education, is essential for us to understand why being engaged in legitimate art-making tasks or process implies that one is also engaged in worthwhile research activities. while the values of research in the natural and social sciences are widely recognized, the fact that artists are also engaged in research must also be acknowledged and not ignored. however, the research operations associated with creating art are quite different from the research activities of the scientists. research is the systematic investigation into the study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions. research in the sciences is aimed at increasing knowhow or knowledge, and creative research activity is an effort aimed at using basic research for solving problems or developing new processes, products, or techniques. research in both natural and social sciences relies upon measures that generate quantitative data from which qualities are inferred; for example, a high number equals the intensity of agreement, pressure, what is valued, and so on. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/basic-research.html chapter 4: semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly art school, abeokuta, nigeria contributed by adesiji o. p., oligbinde s. r., adetoyinbo a. s. and umeh c. e. introduction the aesthetics of african arts have been appreciated by a lot of scholars and used as inspiration for their works. upon getting motivation from african arts, picasso stepped up his works and modernised western arts through african inspiration. according to picasso, most present-day western arts were sourced from african origin and upon which he started a revolution in western arts (dereje, liu and zhou, 2013). evidence from excavations and readily accessible works from various nigerian art cultures such as nok, benin, igbo ukwu, owo, esie and ife were not enough to advance a developmental reason to fuel the passionate drive of aina onabolu that art be included in nigerian education curriculum as at 1915, 18 years after the discovery of first bronze works from africa through the benin punitive expedition (alex marshal, 2 1) and these works were deemed to have been made hundreds of years earlier. his clamour raged till 1922 when he was appointed to teach art at king’s college, lagos and in 1932 when he obtained approval for the art syllabus he drafted to be used to teach art. at the emergence of aina onabolu, he had to contend with european poor reputation for african artists as primitive and crude despite high and mighty skills seen in the works discovered in the art traditions earlier mentioned, the reputation of good standing was built over time when educational dimension was adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 62 added to his practice and his students/apprentices or other notable artists whose training were facilitated or influenced by him such as ben enwonwu, uche okeke, bruce onobrakpeya, solomon wangboje, akinola lasekan, etc this is attributed to an assertion that arts and artists have raised the bar of creative exploits of the talent class while boosting the entrepreneurial acumen of the economic-skill profile-building class; on this foundation was the establishment of formal art schools laid supported on the sidelines by informal training workshops with each registering a formidable niche for the pleasurable delight of all. this wave of establishment of formal art schools was started by the nigerian college of arts and science technology, zaria (now ahmadu bello university), then nicknamed zaria art school (chukueggu, 2010). aim and objectives of the study the paper aims to describe the exploration of symbols and utility in the artworks produced in the studio experimentations of the students of the department of art and industrial design, of moshood abiola polytechnic, abeokuta and the objectives are: 1. to introduce the department of art and industrial design, moshood abiola polytechnic, abeokuta; 2. to chronicle the artworks and art forms of mapoly art school; 3. examine the interaction and influence of mapoly art school on her immediate environment in terms of yoruba semiotics, culture, trade and aesthetic enhancement a brief history of mapoly art school, abeokuta the rich historical heritage of artistic practice of ogun state is significant to the nigerian artistic map in all facets and across generations; this among other paramount factors such as the need for an increased capacity for training of artists and designers as part of the creativity to drive the development of technical semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 63 manpower and entrepreneurship thrust for micro, small and medium scale enterprises (msmes) in the economy. in 2013, the national board for technical education (nbte) approved the flag-off of the department of art and industrial design for awarding a national diploma (nd) in the state-owned institution which was established in 1979 as ogun state polytechnic, abeokuta (ogun-poly) and renamed moshood abiola polytechnic, abeokuta (mapoly) in 1999. the course objectives are set thus: at the end of the national diploma programme, the diplomats should be able to: 1. assist effectively in running art and design studios; 2. analyse and solve simple problems related to art and design; 3. maintain, select and manipulate tools and equipment used in the profession; 4. provide technical support, especially in visual form to industries, organisations, institutions, etc where such services are required. armed with the foregoing objectives, the first set of students were admitted in the 2013/14 academic session, the curriculum is structured in four semesters of classroom lectures, and studio/workshop activities consisting of three main components which encompass general studies courses, foundation course, professional core courses, four-month siwes industrial work experience scheme (siwes) as well as final year design project. the studio practice areas are life and general drawing, ceramics, graphics, painting, sculpture and textiles. olayemi azeem bello (nd, 1990; b.a., 1995, m.a., 2003, pgde, 2013) was appointed as the pioneer coordinator of the department, later appointed also as the pioneer head of the department. he is a painter, stage designer, interior designer and a skilled teacher. other members of his academic team were, akeem ashiyanbi, and lateef adedayo lasisi; they were later joined by adeola i. oridola, oladunni philip adesiji, akinlolu olusola adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 64 olawale, rotimi samuel oligbinde, ajibola sunday adetoyinbo, stephen oluwatosin ojomo and amusa moshood. interaction and influence of mapoly art school with the community since its establishment, the resonating impacts and influence of mapoly art school have been glowingly felt on the campus since 2015 with the first art exhibition hosted by the department. this event witnessed the unveiling of the first-ever artistic sculptural piece in the 36-year-old institution. the work titled diligence is located at the car park of the school of environmental studies which also serves as the exhibition ground of the department. more are being added in the subsequent years, and the springing of creative artistic paintings, crafts and murals abounds strategically and aesthetically on campus particularly evidenced at venues such as the administrative block (adebisi adebayo building), the main library (salawu abiola memorial library), centre for entrepreneurship, entry route to the school of communication and information technology (scit), entry corridor of the school of environmental studies (senvs) and school of engineering adorned with sculptural pieces of diverse media. the senvs studios, engineering lecture theatre, directorate of students’ affairs building, accountancy lecture room, architectural studios, and office complex of senvs are all enhanced with creative murals. the graphic design dexterity of the lecturers and students of the department is being felt on a daily basis on book cover designs commissioned by lecturers on campus, the design of the corporate logo of moshood abiola university of science and technology (maustech yet to be unveiled), universite du liberte, benin republic. the offices of the director, senvs and not leaving out the office of the head of department of arts and industrial design are embellished in uniquely designed tie-dye fabric material as their window blinds, while the walls were adorned with works of different media and sizes executed by semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 65 the students of the department. other products of the department including graphic signages such as point of order and code of conduct were located at the marketing/market bus stop and campus shuttle bus shed respectively. the mastery and culture of adire art and craft practice by the egba people of abeokuta have been explored by exposing our students to training in this crafts of textile designs during their siwes programme, this affords the department a diffusion of ideas as we encourage symbiotic collaboration and complimentary learning process between the studio and practising professionals thereby inculcating the principle of complementarity between the “town and the gown”. the result of this has started yielding early positive results as records abound that a good number of our students have carved a for themselves in creating unique designs that have caught the fancy of the nigerian adire market. another benefit of this interaction was the tetfund fabrication grant obtained by orelaja, lasisi, adesiji and akinlolu in 2017 for the fabrication of the repromaster dyeing machine designed by the lecturers of the department. the repromaster dyeing machine speeds up the dyeing process, reduces exposure to dyestuff by the artist and saves cost. the machine consists of a drum compartment which houses a roller with four arms, as the roller is driven by the connected motor, it moves the fabric through the injected hot dye solution from the dye solution compartment. around the drum is a huge perforated cylinder with four doors that lift out from each arm while fabric materials are being loaded inside and shut water-tight while the roller is moving the fabric through the dye solution. a timer circuit terminates the operation after the set time of the rolling action which is dependent on the concentration of the dye solution and the type of fabric being processed. while mapoly art school evolves, our products in the area of fabrication are worthy of exhibition as we have outputs such as the repromaster dyeing machine, electric and gas fired oven, adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 66 paint mixer, ceramic plunger, metal and wooden tables, metal panel doors made from scrap metals, multi-compartment locker cabinets, studio light box, printing table and several other fabrications serving the need of the department as well as other departments such as science laboratory technology, tourism, hospitality and leisure management, mechanical engineering, architecture etc. this interaction has contributed greatly to job creation among the youth populace and with the potential to do much more, raised more creative minds as well as advanced teaching, practice and research desires of all stakeholders. in the professional realm, we have maintained cordial relationship with the national gallery of art, from whom we have enjoyed support at all times; the society of nigerian artists, where the current public relations officer, ogun state chapter is mr. adesiji, a graphic lecturer in the department. results of the creative exploits of the mapoly art school in various studio practices communicative purposes of encoding and embellishment are worldwide applications of symbols used in artworks, which are rendered in motifs. however, the conceptual process of decoding the motifs culturally demands learning to gain mastery in approaching its interpretation which this paper aims to achieve. ceramics studio ceramics studio works concentrate on the creation of utility and decorative wares in terracotta. clay is a natural fusible earth. that is when wet with the proper amount of water, it will tend to hold the shape which is given to it. this property is also known as plasticity and it is one of the principal virtues of the material (daniel, 1974:210.) pottery is a craft that has been in existence for centuries, since man discovered the need for its use, it has become a vital aspect of african cultural and traditional life. necessity gave birth to the creation of vessels and figurines; this necessity includes semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 67 utilitarian, decorative and religious needs (umoru, 2003). the ceramics lecturers in the department to date are oridola i. adeola, nce (fine and applied arts, 2007) – adeniran ogunsanya college of education, otto-ijanikin, lagos, b. a. (ceramics, 2010) and mfa (ceramics, 2015), both from obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife. he is a scholar and ceramic artist described by adepegba (2015) as a profound user of clay from its raw stage to the finished stage, . . . exploring other complimentary materials to produce wholesome ceramic works that are unique in their classes. the other lecturer is adetoyinbo ajibola s., a ceramic graduate of olabisi onabanjo university, ago-iwoye, a master’s degree student in the department of industrial design, ahmadu bello university, zaria. the ceramic mastery of ajibola is evident in his unique forms from floral and fauna for utilitarian and aesthetic purposes. ceramic works a o m’erin j’oba the yoruba folktale is one of the several thousands of indigenous african stories that teach the african child lots of home lessons. however, as a result of modernization resulting from the influence of western education and cultures, african folktales are not given a rightful social place in the lives of both the young and old (okunade, 2003). pottery as an art has been in existence for quite some time, glemn (1971) suggested that pottery most likely emerged out of the need of the neolithic families. the terracotta work “a o m’erin j’oba” is an example of a work of art otherwise called ise-wa in yoruba land. this ceramics work is a combination of ceramic and sculpture which makes it a ceramic sculpture. the canon of frontality of the african sculpture is observed in the ceramics sculpture. the figure assumes a single posture as it suits its purpose as a free-standing figure serving the purpose of a flower vase. the cracks depict the painful agony the elephant went adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 68 through and the decorative calabash depicts the deceitfulness of the human. assemblage terracotta is fired clay ware and can be termed as unglazed reddish brown pottery. pottery vessels for utilitarian purposes and environmental pottery are a few of the developed ceramic practices among the yorubas. sculptural ceramic pots should not only be seen in religious or ritual contexts but also for aesthetic beautification that reflects traditional and social-cultural values. most of the motifs and symbols used on the pottery are greatly stylized and loaded with exoteric meanings relevant and related to various and individual thoughts, emphasizing their importance. the works are mainly for decoration and reflect how forms can be employed in trade-ceramic forms. passage the terracotta pot titled, passage, is embellished with nigerian traditional motifs such as the northern knot signifying unity in diversity of the northern nigeria’s people; this set of people are referred to as people of oke-oya among the yorubas, implying they came beyond river niger, alangba (lizard) meaning, i do not know your thoughts towards me, footprint signifying hereditary traits, linkages and/or movement. these three were utilised by the artist to communicate that while i do not know your thoughts towards me, you must relate with me with caution because we may have come from two divides by river niger, yet we may share one form of ancestral linkage or the other. visual communication design basic output expected from this area of experimentation includes branding, corporate design concepts, advertising and publicity design and layouts, television graphics, photography, lettering and all areas of their applications. adesiji oladunni philip took up the semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 69 assignment of taking classes in this section in 2014. the lecturer is a federal university of technology, akure (futa) – trained printmaker, designer, photographer and art educator in the simplest of possible terms. he bagged his national diploma from federal polytechnic, ede (electrical/electronics engineering, 2005), b. tech – industrial design (graphics) and m. tech – graphics, both from futa from where his printmaking skill was acquired and he adopted the white-line woodcut which characterises the printmaking projects from mapoly art school. among the works produced so far in this area are: invocations these woodcut prints were dedicated to the children who are victims of terrorism in northeast nigeria as orphans, and war slaves particularly the chibok girls whose rescue is still daily prayer in the lips of compassionate nigerians after 6 years in captivity. the twin celebrates the gallantry, sacrifice and resilience of the nigeria armed forces cheering them to victory over all forms of insurrection against the peace of nigeria. still remember, still grateful the mosaic project is an experimentation with glass titles produced in honour of a heroine (and her colleagues) of a pandemic, ebola whose waves would have caused unimaginable loss of lives and economic resources to africa’s most populous nation. the mosaic painting of the portraiture of dr stella adadevoh is executed on a 4 mm thick aluminium composite panel popularly called alucobond dimensioned 48in x 48in utilizing 1 in x l in glass tiles stuck on the board with arabic gum. while mosaic art has been widely employed for decorative purposes, this project has attempted making a commemorative portraiture of a nigeria heroine as an artistic input to celebrate the diligence, patriotism, loyalty, brilliance, ethical and professional excellence of dr amos abaniwo; nurse justina obi ejelon, nurse evelyn ukoand dr adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 70 stella ameyo adadevoh. this is an avenue to tell their beautiful souls, their relatives and the whole world that we are grateful because their labour of love is still fresh in our memory. painting this studies the creation of pictures for aesthetic, functional and decorative purposes such as portraiture, murals, mosaics and other pictorial compositions. the pioneer coordinator of the department and later hod, mr. olayemi azeem bello has been taking painting classes since inception of the department with an array of creative young minds raised by his intensive attention on the individual students passing through his hands. the painter and innovative stage designer had nd (architecture,1990) from ogun state polytechnic, abeokuta now moshood abiola polytechnic, abeokuta, b.a. (fine art, 1995) and m. a. (visual art, 2003) from obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, and university of ibadan respectively. also in the painting section is mr moshood amusa, an hnd painting graduate of yaba college of technology, whose mastery of murals, figures, life and general drawing is exceptional both in teaching and practice. dexterity pyrography is the act of decorating wood or other burnt marks resulting from the controlled applications of heated objects (walkers, 2005). dexterity (fig. 8) is an aesthetic piece to showcase the tie – dye tradition, trade culture and profession of the egba people, the immediate host of mapoly art school. the process of executing it involved burning the surface of the particle board, with a naked flame from gas burner, incising the image on the burnt board and scratching out the shades to bring-out the desired detail. it is our prayer that the soul of the artist, koleowo temitope abimbola, continues to rest in perfect peace, she died in 2019. her practice and commissions were creative masterpieces in the few years she held the brush and mixed the paints. semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 71 asa keke in depicting yoruba connotation that asa keke aajo ewa ni nse, a bu abaja, aajo ewa ni nse; adebayo ogunsola, a 2016 nd diplomate was of the opinion that since body tattooing resurfaced and gained global patronage despite the campaign of the west against facial tribal marks among africans, he assured that facial marks will return to be a popular trend as a result of modernization which will help in preserving this heritage of decoration (ossai – llyah and ogunrombi , 2012, rosevear, 1990), ethno – spiritual identification (drewal, 1988 ayeni, 2004), beauty enhancement (oyetade, 1982), therefore, there is a need to consider the assertion of bello & adesiji (2017) that policymakers and regulatory agencies in the health sector need to have a rethink on harnessing the economic gains which can be gotten from safe body marking. ba w’aye, b’ari, laari! this project work aims at using recyclable waste items embedded in painting mix-media work with a focus on representing the destiny journey of a man on earth based on yoruba’s belief in destiny as well as the semiotics of cultural icons among the yorubas. the process of birth biologically registers a large mass into the destiny race with each struggling to attain the top among their colleagues in different strata; education, politics, career, leadership, religion etc, however, the factors determining the attainment of such pursuit may be total according to their destiny (which is inalterable) by different scholars e.g. oduwole (1996), abimbola (1976) or alterable, according to other scholars such as campbell (1996), idowu (1962). this informs the role played by social interaction (symbolised in this work as ooya, alangba, spiral lines representing curly nature of a snake which may be experienced in human relationship) and character of individuals which may clog their progress or even eliminate them untimely from the race of destiny (see bello and adesiji, 2021, for full semiological analysis) adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 72 sculpture modelling in clay, carving in wood, construction in metal and paper to serve as decoration, monuments, insignia, totems, etc to record history, immortalise, award, architectural support etc are areas of exploration that sculptural practice entails. mapoly art school students at different times have been moulded by tested hands of ashiyanbi, oligbinde and akinlolu. ashiyanbi akeem abiodun is a sculpture graduate of obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, b. a (fine art), m. a. (visual art, 2003) – university of ibadan. he is an eclectic and well-versed art historian. oligbinde samuel rotimi had a b. a. (fine art scuplture, 2012), mfa – sculpture (2019) both from obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife. his works project basic characteristics african as seen in facial presentation, directional emphasis, stylisation, boldness of forms and hierarchy. mr akinlolu olusola olawale, an hnd-sculpture graduate of lagos state polytechnic, ikorodu (2013) has mastery of forms rendered in various media such as cement, fibreglass, as well as wood, is excellent and the works of his students can attest to this. the lost waste the lost waste utilises waste paper as a material form in sculpture. waste paper has long symbolised a world of carefree consumerism and revolutionary innovation, opening doors of creative expression for artists to mop up the mess of all. the high relief work is a depiction of visualisation of the popular argungu fishing festival celebrated in kebbi and other northern nigerian states. it is acclaimed as africa’s biggest fishing celebration. in the paper sculpture, one can feel the celebration of volume which is an expression of the patience and diligent labour each fisherman passes through in an attempt to make the biggest catch. the work semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 73 is cast with waste paper and top bond, edged with welded scrap metals from brake pads – giving a rhythmic finish. iya ilu the metal sculpture titled iya ilu, the talking drum of the yoruba people is popularly employed for socio-cultural, religious, ritual, and other related purposes in the southwestern part of nigeria and the world over where yoruba people live or have inhabited before. the hourglass-shaped drum has two drum heads covered with animal skin and connected along the wooden frame with leather/skin tension cords. the cords are the instrument of tuning the pitch by the drummer. adorned in traditional yoruba attire with a matching abeti-aja cap, the drummer welcomes all to the walkway leading to the department of art and industrial design just as palace drummers welcome the king’s guests in yoruba palaces and to other social gatherings. mother’s love passion, care and love of a mother are the expression of this fibreglass work. it shows the extent a mother goes in nurturing her children and helps to actualise the dreams of her children. the work is cast in fibre polyester resin and patinated with bronze finishing, it is installed on a high pedestal seated in the middle of a water fountain. the artists were inspired by the attribute of flamingos flocking in groups and catering for one another. textiles textiles study the art of weaving, decorating and designing fabric and related materials in batik, tie and dye, embroidery etc for diverse applications. in mapoly, this section has had lasisi lateef adedayo, a widely experimental artist, and the selfacclaimed inventor of embroidery on canvas. he obtained nce (fine and applied arts, 2004) from adeniran ogunsanya college of education, otto-ijanikin, lagos, b. a. (textiles, 2010) and adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 74 mfa (textiles, 2015), both from obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife; ojomo oluwatosin stephen graduated from the federal university of technology, akure with b. tech (textiles – industrial design, 2009) and m. tech (textile, 2016), he has exhibited interesting creativity in textile design and prints and also umeh chioma emilia, she bagged a b. a. – fine and applied arts, textile specialisation. ankara yebeyebe this mixed media work executed by surface cut and paste textured pattern using left-over african prints (ankara) collected from fashion design shops with skin areas rendered in acrylic medium on 1-inch thick plywood is installed on the outer wall of the textile studio. textile waste is globally estimated at 92 million tonnes each year (beall, 2020) and poses a severe danger to human health and the ecosystem. an attempt to repurpose waste motivated ibukun to depict the dancing culture of the yoruba people with waste textile materials. the work consists of a bata drummer, the bàtá drum is a membranophonic double-headed/conical drum, the largest of a set of drums (typically three to four) used by the yoruba people. at inception and for some centuries past, the drum set was used as a speech surrogate and was associated with sàngó, esu, egungun, oya and other yoruba orisa cults, the male dancer is adorned in matching dresses and traditional gobi caps while the three female dancers have flamboyant head gears all rendered in ankara pieces. in the yoruba culture, the fabric used for tying the gele is the asooke which is a hand-woven fabric. after weaving, it is made into a rectangular piece that is long enough to go around the head at least twice. the art of gele is marked by a sense of dynamic form, in which eloquent and elegant creases, vertical stretching, horizontal elongation, perpendicular balance, and spiral twists, among other design configurations, are used to create a structure out of cloth, a structure that acts as a crown for the head. semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 75 sustainability at the setting out of the department of art and industrial design, moshood abiola polytechnic, part of our sustainability plan includes the following: i. organising yearly art exhibition – this has been taking place since 2015 when the first set of diplomates graduated; it is usually held during the students’ activities week to carry along the majority of the students’ population on campus. however, the 2022 edition billed for march 21st, 2022 is remarkable as 21st march is the international day of colour, this date has also been approved for the annual exhibition of the department by the polytechnic management led by the acting rector, dr david adeoye odedeji. it is hoped to be graced by dignitaries from the state government, academia, professional bodies and in collaboration with the national gallery of art. it is noteworthy to state that the exhibition has become selfsustaining as we raise banners of artistic learning and practice as well as raise the bar of the artistic teaching process. ii. other areas of financial support for the department are commissioning from public and private agencies in the fastgrowing gateway state. iii. aesthetic need for indoor and outdoor spaces, high rate of industrialisation, diverse clay deposits, world-renown traditional artistic practice etc. are other factors assuring of bright future for art consumption in ogun state. adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 76 summary this paper has introduced the department of art and industrial design, moshood abiola polytechnic, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria also referred to as mapoly art school; it provided a chronicle of the artworks and art forms from the home base of aina onabolu, the visionary of art inclusion in nigerian education curriculum. from contextual assertions of the paper, the objectives and justification for creating the department have been fulfilled as studio practices in ceramics, graphics, painting, sculpture and textiles have impacted the lives of the people of ogun state in terms of providing skilled and creative artists who can effectively run art studios, solve art & design related problems, manipulate tools and materials employed in artistic practice as well as provide technical support in the industrial development of ogun state and the nation at large. beyond this, a strong army of creative entrepreneurs has been raised through the training provided in the last seven years of the existence of this art, applied art and industrial design training centre with attendant cordial relationships within professional and required social engagements. the paper has also provided an educative trajectory to the yoruba semiological study of motifs and cultural connotations. finally, among the immediate impact of this art school is the efforts directed at checking climate change through recycling and repurposing wastes such as scrap metals for sculptural pieces e.g. elephant sculpture-in-the-round, ostrich sculpture-in-theround, iya-ilu sculpture-in-the-round, waste paper for relief sculptures, waste tyres for window decoration (for painting studio) and decorative stools; waste textile materials for footmats, decorative stools. questions 1. how did mapoly evolve? 2. what genres of art are practised and taught in mapoly? 3. what are the sustainability plans for the institution? semiological and utilitarian introduction of mapoly … 77 references abimbola wande (1976). ifa: an exposition of ifa literary corpus. ibadan, nigeria: oxford university press, 1976), 96-115 adepegba kehinde (2015): oridola on the highway of keramos’ journey. in keramos journey: a master of fine and applied arts solo exhibition of ceramic wares by oridola adeola ibrahim, department of fine and applied arts, obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria. beall abigail (2020). why clothes are so hard to recycle. published by bbc. retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-whyclothes-are-so-hard-to-recycle. bello o. a. and adesiji o. p. (2017): comparative analysis of modern and traditional tattoos: case study of yewa north local government in ogun state. a paper presented at the 2nd international conference of school of environmental studies, moshood abiola polytechnic, abeokuta, ogun state, jan 17th-19th, 2017. bello o. a. and adesiji o. p. (2021). aesthetics, semiotics and illustrative analysis of yoruba cultural motifs. international journal of advanced research and innovative ideas in education, ijariie, vol 1, 7. chukueggu c.(2010): origin and development of formal art schools in nigeria. iarrr vol 4 (2) daniel r.,(1957). clay and glaze for the potter. chilton company and ambassador books ltd. dereje d., liu j. and zhou j. (2013): african textile design and fabric arts as a source for contemporary fashion trends. proceedings of the 2nd international conference on science and social science research (icssr 2013) pp 229-233. atlantis press. adesiji, o.p, oligbinde, s.r. adetoyinbo, a. s., and umeh, c.e. 78 idowu e. b. (1962): olodumare: god in yoruba belief. london: longman ltd. 169-186. oduwole e. o. (1996): the concepts of ori and human destiny," in journal of philosophy and development, vol. 1, nos. 1 and 2. okunade m.a, (2003). “a o merin j’oba”: articulating yoruba folktales through art. creative traditions in nigeria art, published by culture and creative art forum (ccaf), lagos, 2003. pp 30-46. oyetade b. a. (1982): body beautification. in n. s. lawal, m. sadiku & a. dopemu (eds) understanding life and culture of the yoruba. africa world press inc. trenton pp 389-408 umoru o.n., (2003). the relevance of sculptural creativity in yoruba pottery. a publication of culture and creative art forum (ccaf), lagos, 2003. pp. 153 – 162 walker s. (2005): pyrography workbook: a complete guide to the art of wood burning. fox chapel pp.13-14 ossai – ugbah & ogunronbi (2012) walkers s. (2005): pyrography workbook: a complete guide to the art of wood burning. fox chapel pp13-14 chapter 9: the state of art and culture in nigeria: a catalyst for the advancement of cultural fiesta contributed by benjamin ejiohuo and vivian s. davies introduction many continents and nations rely on tourism, a worldwide phenomenon that is still spreading around the world, to earn foreign exchange. some nations and regions use it as part of their overall development strategy to lessen economic inequality and diversify their economies. recognized as a favourable means of development by many governments around the world telfer, 2015); although difficulties of new problems and trends have usually benefited the global economy, it is an increasingly competitive sector (kim, uysal & sirgy, 2012). despite the challenge threatening tourism globally, tourism is one of africa’s fastest-growing economic sectors and one of the highest employers of labour (african development bank, 2015). due to the presence of numerous cultural communities, nigeria is rich in cultural celebrations. nigeria's geographical layout is so favourable that it serves as a foundation for many celebrations. the majority of the prerequisites for a nigerian cultural display are not standard, making it simple to mobilise the resources that are currently available but mostly untapped. this chapter sought to describe how cultural celebrations could be used to tap into cultural resources for sustainable development. the paper also comes from the environmental determinism school of benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 142 thought, which holds that a man's behaviour is strongly influenced by his immediate physical surroundings. africa is home to a plethora of vibrant festivals and rites that are as enthralling as they are unique. they are mostly utilized to appease or deify cosmic powers over which man has no control before they influence his environment. at other times, such festivals are held in the pursuit of relaxation and enjoyment for the benefit of society and its citizens. the cornerstone of a person's culture, which is their way of life and values, is their past. culture is the basic link between nature and man. nonetheless, it is the only tool that man has to deal with nature. according to jell-bahisen (2014), a person's culture is a part of their history and is critical to their individual and collective identity, productivity, and progress. these festivals and ceremonies serve a specific purpose as well as satisfy a particular need in society. such needs, most of the time, are the same, but the mode adopted to express them differs from one society to the other. the operational definitions of the concepts of art and culture are beyond the scope of this study. however, it is important to note that art and culture are interchangeable with the lives and living patterns of a group of people. culture, according to fasuyi (1973) and bur (1987), is the total of a society's way of life. a society without culture is a society that has died. culture can be defined as the learned, created, and shared patterns of behaviour and thought by people living in social groups. it separates one human group from the others, as well as humans from other animals. a person's culture includes this/her beliefs, language, rituals, art, technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking food, political and economic systems, and is the sum of a person's way of life. this evolved in response to the challenge of living in their environment and gives order and meaning to their social, political, economic, aesthetic, and religious the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 143 norms and modes of organization. for this paper, this definition will be sufficient as it is in line with the united nation’s definition. art and culture represent what people are renowned for, whether it be what they do or say. for example, in nigeria, culture is expressed through art, dance, dressing, language, and even the environment. nigeria is known for its vast diversity of art forms, including music, dance, sculpture, drama, painting, pottery, installation art, and so on. these art forms can be found all around us, our culture, carnivals, and festivals, such as the argungun festival, new yam festival, iria saki festival, traditional boat regatta, eyo festival, and inagha festival, play an important role in the lives of our people. it's crucial to consider the significance of festivals. festivals are defined as an organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place), feasting, and celebration, according to the world web dictionary (2019). festivals are occasions for feasting and the periodic celebration of a feast or religious significance. furthermore, carnivals are annual public festivals characterized by revelry and processions, as well as disturbances suggestive of a large public entertainment. culture, art, and tourism because a person's way of life is their identity, which is expressed via art, culture and art are like twin phenomena of human existence. art has an impact on society because it can change people's minds, inculcate ideals, and translate experiences across places and time. art, in this sense, is a form of communication that allows people from many cultures and eras to communicate with one another through visuals, sounds, and tales. our culture includes art, people should place a high value on it. it is the manifestation of our imaginative and creative ideas. the key thing is that they can turn their thoughts and imaginations into something solid, even if it is subject to other people's benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 144 understanding and appreciation. this study suggests that using indigenous knowledge of people's socio-cultural values through eco-tourism is critical. in this way, the people's history and culture are preserved and sustained in harmony with the built environment, to the advantage of both locals and visitors. let's have a look at what a festival is, according to the wikipedia encyclopaedia (2009), a festival is "an event generally enjoyed by a community and centering on some distinguishing trait of that group, its religion, or its traditions." it is frequently observed as a mela or eid, a local or national holiday. "festivals, according to this definition, are occasions for feasting or celebration, particularly a day or period with religious importance that recurs. an organized succession of feast celebrations. a festival is an example of globalization as well as the interaction between high and low cultures. aside from religion and folklore, agriculture is a key source. harvest time is associated with many events because food is such a valuable resource. in the events that take place, religious remembrance and thanksgiving for successful harvests are mixed. festivals are frequently used to fulfil certain communal goals, particularly when it comes to honouring or praising the gods and goddesses. through celebrations, religious, social, or geographical groups can feel a sense of belonging, which helps to foster group cohesion. they may also provide entertainment, which was especially vital to local communities before mass-produced entertainment became popular. festivals that focus on cultural or ethnic subjects also aim to educate community members about their traditions; the participation of elders sin haring their stories and experiences helps to bring families together. the adjective "festival" was first used in the late fourteenth century, and it comes from latin via old french. a "festival dai" was a religious holiday in middle english. it was used as a noun for the first time in 1589 (as "festival"). feast was first used as a noun around 1200, and it was first used as a verb around 1300. the term "feast" is often used as a synonym for any large or extravagant dinner in secular usage. the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 145 when the term "festival" is employed, it usually alludes to a religious event rather than a film or art festival. the spanish word "fiesta" is used to refer to a communal religious feast honouring a patron saint in the philippines and many other former spanish colonies. (wikipedia encyclopedia 2009) many festivals have religious roots and incorporate cultural and religious elements into traditional activities. christmas, eid alfitr, and eid al-adha are the major religious festivals that serve to celebrate the end of the year. harvest festivals, for example, celebrate the change of seasons. the impulse for a festival can come from historical events such as significant military victories or other nation-building events. the ancient egyptian pharaoh, ramesses iii instituted a celebration to commemorate his victory against the libyans. royal holidays celebrate dynastic events in various countries, similar to how agricultural holidays honour harvests. festivals are frequently commemorated on an annual basis. there are different sorts of festivals around the world, and most countries use traditional/ cultural events and activities to commemorate key events or customs. the majority of them end with the consumption of specially prepared food (demonstrating the link to "feasting") and bring people together. national holidays are also heavily related to festivals. to make participation in national festivals easier, lists of festivals are released. cultural festivities in some states in nigeria, festivals are held to show the culture of a particular region at a certain point in time. these festivals help people appreciate their cultural history, the way their ancestors lived, and their connection to their historical and cultural roots. in the majority of the world, communal and seasonal festivals with carefully organized cultural activities for joy established by the group or supported by other cultural groups or organizations are very prevalent. amazing traditions and cultures are practised in nigeria, some of which are displayed at festivals. due to their benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 146 pomp, pageantry, cultural exhibits, and incredible sights that may not be seen anywhere else, these festivals are among the tourist attractions that even foreign visitors enjoy seeing. as a result, every state in nigeria hosts more than one interesting cultural event throughout the year. most religions also observe certain major festivals, such as passover, easter, and eid al-adha. nigeria's national festival of art and culture the national festival of arts and culture is still one of the most important cultural events, serving as a great platform for stakeholders in the arts and culture industry to interact, showcase talents, and project the values of our heritage, as well as foster a sense of national identity and peaceful coexistence. it serves as a focal point for encouraging creativity in the arts, sciences, and technology, as well as maintaining the continuity and progressive upgrading of traditional skills and sports to meet modern developmental demands. the first all-nigeria arts festival, which was limited to visual arts at the time, participation was restricted to a few government-run primary and secondary schools and colleges where art was taught (festac 77, lagos). more schools are incorporating art into their curricula as the number of art teachers increases. the trend broadened the extent of festival participation, culminating in a remarkable event in 1947 that included students from a wide range of schools and universities. on this voyage, the event underwent significant changes (ncac 1990). although the festival of unity was created in 1969 to represent the freed eastern states' cultural reintegration, the first nigerian festival of the arts was held in 1970. as a warm-up for the second world black festival of art and culture, the fourth edition was held in kaduna and lagos in 1977. (festac 1977). more particular sorts of festivals, such as science festivals, literary festivals, music festivals, film festivals, and so on, are among the many offshoots of general arts festivals. the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 147 black heritage festival this is an annual event in lagos that also includes the lagos carnival. the festival is a feast of culture and history aimed to showcase the richness and diversity of the african heritage. this festival takes place in april. carnival processions are held in the streets in remembrance of the slave trade in africa. during this festival, dance performances are displayed about the story of the slave trade for seven days of festivity. art exhibitions and films are presented to retell the stories. food and drink festivals a food festival is an event dedicated to the enjoyment of food or drink. these are frequently used to showcase the production of producers in a specific location. here are some popular food festivals in nigeria; the guaranty trust bank (gtco) food & drink festival, abuja food expo, ojude oba festival, eko street food festival, nigerian food fair, lagos international food and drinks festival, rivers’ bole festival etc. this are some nigeria annual food exhibition and sales event that projects the diverse angles of the food industry by connecting various businesses involved in the production and sale of food-related items to a cosmopolitan audience of food enthusiasts. cultural festivals in nigeria kogi state: every year, the italo festival brings together all igala sons and daughters, whether they reside domestically or overseas. local music and dancing are performed at anyigba during this festival. the attah igala, the igala kingdom's highest monarch, is expected to address the crowd. the aboko celebration is a part of the igala people's yearly convocation in idah. one of the major occasions in the igala territory features boat racing and entertainment from the local culture. the ovia-osese festival, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lagos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lagos_carnival https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lagos_carnival benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 148 which is held every year by the ogori-magongo people, is another event. it deals with the transition of young girls with a strong moral character who have reached the age of 15 into womanhood. kano state: sallah durbar: kano, which serves as the main hub for trans-saharan trade, is one of the most well-known ancient cities in africa. it has a lot of historical and cultural features to draw travellers, particularly during the sallah festival. the durbar festivities in kano are well known. it occurs twice a year (1st 5th of shawwal and 10th 15th zul-hijja islamic calendar). the emir of kano organizes these incredibly colourful events (galadima, 2016). eyo festival: the adamu orisha play, also known as the eyo celebration, is a yoruba festival held in lagos, nigeria. it is now presented by the people of lagos as a tourist attraction, and it is customarily performed on lagos island due to its history. the eyo celebration was once celebrated to accompany the soul of a deceased lagos ruler or chief and to usher in a new king. on eyo day, the city's major route (from carter bridge to tinubu square) is blocked to traffic to allow for a procession from idumota to the iga idunganran palace. the abuja carnival: abuja, nigeria's capital, lies at the centre of africa's most populous black country, and it is poised to become a global hub and magnet for cultural, adventure, educational, and leisure tourism in nigeria and beyond. the abuja carnival was founded in 2005 to display the rich culture and crystallization of the nigerian people's creative energy and cultural diversity. it has also become a major international calendar event and is distinctive in many respects. 200,000 local and international participants attend the carnival, including state and international contingents, visitors, volunteers, vendors, exhibitors, photographers, set and the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 149 costume designers, artisans, students, security personnel, paramedics, traffic officers, officials from supporting agencies, and media. it's also a "breathtaking photo-event that combines over 250 cultures and numerous types of entertainment together in abuja, nigeria's capital city, in several events spanning four days." the carnival's events include the cultural parade, which features all of nigeria's cultural expressions, and the indigenous circus show, which has itinerant performers such as acrobats, comedians, fire-swallowers, jugglers, magicians, live animal handlers, and jesters. nigerian cuisine includes eran igbe venison, isi-ewu, cow foot, salted meats, fish, pepper soup, ogi, garri, obe-onigba, obe eja dindin, chin chin, puff puff, spicy scrambled egg, waina, akara, fried plantain, kuli kuli, dodo oni, textiles, leathercraft, carvings, bronzes, beads, paintings, and plaited baskets are among the crafts on display. the processional route begins on ahmadu bello way and continues over 7 kilometres, culminating in front of the president and his guests at eagle square. durbar, a well-established cultural event that is most commonly found in nigeria's northern states, is one of the world's longest horseman processions. it also displays the emirate's prior glory before the intrusion of western civilization. the horses were frequently decked with swords that were polished and gleaming, as well as expensive traditional headdresses and robes, while their riders were usually adorned with rich traditional headwear and robes. a boat regatta is a display of the riverine people of nigeria's rich cultural heritage when dancing and gyrations are performed to delight and thrill the audience. the regatta is being paraded around abuja's streets and lagoons. traditional music and dance include koroso dance music from kano state, famous talking drum music from the western states, atilogwu from the eastern part of nigeria, jarawa from plateau, ekemini music from akwa-ibom state, and tiv swange dance, to name a few. all of the traditional dances are performed in both traditional and contemporary ways, benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 150 and the music played will include many other forms of contemporary dance. at static sound systems, djs spin modern international music from africa, the united states, the caribbean, and europe. the carnival route is strategically positioned to encourage cross-cultural fertilization between local art, culture, and the international music scene. nigeria's top international bands and performers are invited to perform at the abuja carnival on the live stage. the abuja carnival is the mother of all nigerian carnivals because it brings together people of various cultures and traditions for the improvement of the country and the promotion of harmony and peaceful coexistence in the lives of nigerians. plate 1: ceremonial display at abuja carnival, 2019. source: https://www.informationng.com/ the new yam festival the new yam festival is held all over nigeria, but notably in the south. the festival takes place every year from august through october, near the end of the wet season. the iri ji festival (meaning "new-yam eating") is celebrated across west africa (particularly in nigeria and ghana) as well as other african countries and abroad, https://www.informationng.com/ the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 151 and it marks the end of one work cycle and the start of the next. the festival is a highly cultural event that binds local communities together as being basically agrarian and reliant on yam, the king of crops. yam is the first crop to be harvested, and it is the region's most significant crop. the new yam festival is thus a commemoration of the importance of yams in the igbo people's social and cultural lives. all old yams (from the previous year's crop) are devoured or discarded the evening before the festival. because the event is indicative of the richness of the produce, only yam dishes are served at the feast the next day. though the manner and tactics may vary from one village to the next, the festival's core components remain the same. the celebration may span an entire day in certain towns, whereas it may continue for a week or more in others. these celebrations usually feature a range of entertainment and ceremonies, such as rites performed by the igwe (king), or the eldest male, and cultural dances performed by igbo men, women, and children. contemporary shows, masquerade dances, and fashion parades are among the igbo cultural festivities. the yams are usually offered to the gods and ancestors first before being distributed to the villagers at the start of the festival. the rite is done by either the community's eldest man, the king, or an outstanding title holder. they also sacrifice the yams to gods, the deities, and their ancestors as a gesture of thanks for god's protection and kindness in guiding them through lean times to abundant harvests without causing them to die of hunger. they eat the first yam after praying to god in thanksgiving, as it is thought that their status grants them the privilege of acting as intermediaries between their communities and the gods of the land. they are frequently observed despite more recent modifications brought about by christianity's influence in the area. as a result, the pragmatic, religious, and appreciative aspects of the igbo worldview are explained. the yam is cooked in palm oil (mmanụ benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 152 esi nri) iwa ji and the asian mid-autumn festival have certain similarities, as both are based on lunar cycles and are essentially community harvest feasts. this is a significant event in the calendars of igbo people around the world. the arrival of the new moon in august heralds the start of the major "iri ji ohu" festival, but the exact date and style of preparation vary in each community. the new yam festival is an enthralling artistic event, the vibrant event is a visual spectacle of cohesion, dancing, joy, and feasting; an annual show for community members to commemorate the end of the agriculture season; and a festival where the people express their gratitude to those who assisted them in reaping a rich harvest. plateau state (nzem beron) people come to the nzem berom cultural festival to celebrate their lineage. every year, in the fourth month, a royal procession, traditional dances, and exhibits of cuisine, artefacts, and handicrafts are held to honour the occasion. tarok is another festival, the tarok people of plateau state celebrate ilum o'tarok, an annual festival that highlights their traditions and culture. additionally, it has helped to unite the tarok people. wushiri's cultural festival is organized to express gratitude for a great harvest. bokkos l.g.a.'s kulere ethnic community generally celebrates it in january. ebonyi state (aju festival) the ohaozara local government area of ebonyi state is home to the ezeokechima village of ugwulangwu. this community, which has existed for more than a century, is made up of a number of settlements, including amata, uhuotaru, mgbom, ufuezeraku, anene, anenu, ufuovoke, and others. the indigenous people celebrate their culture annually with the aju festival, which was the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 153 handed down to them by their ancestors. it is a time for getting together and conversing with the people's deities and ancestors. at this time, the people's traditional calendar year ends and a new one starts. the exact days of celebration are calculated by the elders using the moonlight to calculate the months. tradition dictates that people keep track of the days between important occasions by counting the weeks, months, and market days, too. therefore, as the new month begins, people normally appreciate moonlight. their names are derived from the occasions and celebrations that take place each month. the following are a few of them and notable events observed during the months: the months onwa aju, onwa nta, onwa ukoro, onwa aju ogirinya, and onwa efhuna are a few that are associated with ritualistic events. other names are onwa inyima, onwa amoha, onwa nnamikgwu, onwa nja-oba, and onwa ji eze. additional names are onwa ji ofhu, onwa nzogbu n'okpa, onwa abanifhi, and onwa nta achiegwu. cross river state (calabar festival) the "africa's biggest street party" festival, which takes place before the actual carnival, is without a doubt the biggest and best leisure and entertainment event in sub-saharan africa. it was created with the intention of achieving cross river state's status as the top travel destination in both nigeria and the entire world. the former governor, mr. donald duke, had this vision and wanted to make calabar the tourism hub of nigeria and all of west africa (ulom, 2016). it all started with the first edition in 2004. since the event's inception, esekong and ibok (2012) reported a more than 50% increase in visitors to cross rivers every december, which serves as an excellent platform for people to connect. since the start of the carnival, evidence shows that cross river state has made benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 154 great strides in the tourist, carnival, and hospitality sectors, proving that the state has achieved great success as a popular travel destination on a global scale. on the final day of the eleventh month, the celebration always kicks off with a tree-lighting ceremony in millennium park in the state capital, and on the first day of the new year, it comes to an end with a special thanksgiving service. the religious function brings to an end the christmas festival for that year. it requires a remarkable annual turnout of more than a million people from all over the world for a total of 32 days of exciting events and activities (crtb, 2013). product displays are made by businesses, according to isine (2015), the carnival aimed to better represent local history and culture while also enabling the general public to participate in ways that were advantageous to them. rivers state (carniriv) the many cultures and common heritage of the local population form the core of rivers state's tourist industry in nigeria. this heritage, which is as opulent and diverse as it is, is a lovely blend of the customs and cultural practices of the many ethnic communities that make up rivers state. the port harcourt carnival's franchise rights are owned by the nigerian state of rivers. it is properly known as the "land of a thousand masquerades," the centre of the state's tourism wealth and an expressive band of ethnic variances. rivers state, one of the seven states of the niger delta in nigeria, includes 23 local government councils, speaks 17 different languages, and has more than 300 dialects that are relevant. the festival “carniriv”, hosts cultural parades, with over 10,000 dancers, masqueraders, puppeteers, and warriors filling the streets of port harcourt, the state capital, during cultural parades and the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 155 performances. the festival highlights this rich diversity. this week-long celebration has been frenetic and breathtaking. everybody agrees that the carnival is a sincere celebration of the numerous ancient human civilizations, and it becomes more significant on a global level every year. the oldest carnival in nigeria is carniriv, which debuted in 1988. the most notable example is car-niriv '88, which was a spectacular accomplishment in nigeria and had striking parallels to the major modern events of the period. plate 2: revellers take to the water at rivers state’s carniriv festival. source: rivers state tourism development agency (rstda) in 2012, abia state the ikeji, iwaji, and ekpe festivals are celebrated in abia, like in every other state in nigeria, on their respective lively traditional holidays. to mark important events like the beginning of the planting and harvesting seasons, these holidays are commemorated all year long. they occur in order to thank god for the fruitful crop. http://www.rstda.com.ng/ http://www.rstda.com.ng/ benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 156 ikeji is a celebration of praise, joy, and thanksgiving that happens every year in either march or april. there are numerous historical and cultural celebrations there. it is filled to the brim with mesmerizing views, funny masquerade acts, and captivating dances by diverse dance ensembles. the festivals got their start with the rituals that signalled the start of the harvest and the end of the planting season. some other cultural heritages of nigeria northern nigeria 1. annual argungu festivals in kebbi state. 2. annual sallah durbar in katsina state 3. gidan hausa in kano state 4. farribachama annual festival of adamawa state southern nigeria 1. the bakor yam festival in cross river state and others 2. osun – oshogbo festival in osun state 3. imo-awka masquerade ceremony in awka, anambra state. art contributions to the success of festivals the arts play important roles in fostering social cohesiveness. many of these events are centred on cultural or ethnic themes, with the goal of informing community members about their heritage. they entail community elders sharing their memories and experiences, as well as establishing patterns for keeping family, art galleries and dealers, art instruction and education, commercial art, performing art, visual art, literary arts, events and facilities, cultural facilities, service and material providers, and others are among the businesses, institutions, individuals, and organizations that contribute directly to the production, facilitation, the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 157 performance, and servicing of the arts and cultural affinities within the regional economy. fine art (painting, sketching, music, photography, textiles, ceramics, body art, and other visual types are all covered under the umbrella phrase "arts festival." music, film, theatre, the act of pouring libation, incantations, and other forms of art are utilized to depict the festival's activities during the event. throughout the festival, artefacts and art are employed in the performance of various rites and rituals. those artefacts are merely items to the celebrants who maintain the festival's continuity but to the critical observer. according to the researcher's observations, most festivals will not have values worth examining without art, but this could be achievable if and only if the role of art is stressed in the festival. as a result, this research was conducted in order to identify the specific art forms that play distinct roles in the festival, as well as to provide a platform for the analysis of the festival's socio-economic benefits in relation to the arts. many benefits are accrued to the host community as a result of festivals and special events. as previously noted, these advantages include increased social cohesion, a sense of place, public goods beyond entertainment, and a socially acceptable venue for public activity. people's values and opinions might differ within a group depending on how their experiences have shaped them. the emphasis of community-based festivals is on the economic benefits to host towns and the effects of tourism marketing. residents and visitors can get together to experience an event that is different from normal life at these festivals (huang, li & chi, 2010). derrett researched communities in order to learn more about how individuals are influenced. a person's space and environment influence their values, interests, and aspirations, which leads to a sense of community, determines how the benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 158 community celebrates, affects the community's well-being, and in turn, informs the environment in which people and groups define their values and beliefs. development potentials of nigerian cultural heritage nigeria stands to benefit a lot if her cultural heritage is adequately preserved. it has great potential to boost the country’s economy through tourism. when cultural heritages are properly preserved and advertised through print and electronic media, they stand a chance of attracting tourists from the nooks and crannies of the world. this would be a plus to national revenue (nr) and gross domestic product (gdp), which will in turn provide more funds for the development of the country. nigerian cultural heritages also are capable of promoting mutual understanding and respect among nigerians. for instance, when people attend state or national cultural festivals, they will learn to appreciate the various cultures exhibited by people in nigeria and this will engender unity in diversity. museums could contribute to nigerians’ appreciation of aesthetics, relaxation, and leisure, which could go a long way in dousing tensions and blood pressure. some non-material cultural heritages such as values of respect, integrity, and dignity of labour, will re-orientate nigerians from materialism to appreciating appropriate morally right pursuits and endeavours. all these will culminate in a better nigeria. summary this research investigated the role of art, culture, and tourism in the progress of cultural fiestas in nigeria. in this way, we demonstrate the importance of art in cultural fiestas. carnivals are creative events that serve as avenues for unity, bringing together renowned cultural fiestas and exhibitions. the festival is a means the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 159 for demonstrating the rich cultural heritage of not only nigerians but the world in general. it brings happiness and strength to the lives of people by spreading the message of brotherhood, adding structure to the socio-economic wellbeing as well and enlighten us about other customs and traditions we do not know about. the economy is mobilizing during festivals especially when looking at unusual congestion of markets and roads at a particular period of the event. nigerian people living in different areas of the country have learned to adapt to their environment as it determines the types of culture to practice in that particular environment. their environment affects the type of occupation and businesses they have. it affects the kind of food they eat, the home they build according to the potential mentioned in this chapter, cultural fiestas are crucial instruments in providing leisure for families across religions, and tribal and cultural divisions. art is enjoyable, but it also promotes and maintains one’s cultural legacy. therefore, the artist's function as a catalyst in the development of a cultural fiesta cannot be overstated. according to the document, art, culture, and tourism should be used to establish a sustainable economy. art festivals and carnivals benefit nigerian communities and states, as well as tourism is a method of developing cross-cultural interaction and understanding among the people of nigeria's numerous regional blocks, which would ensure trust and peaceful coexistence. question 1. what is in an art festival? 2. mention three types of food festivals in nigeria 3. what is an example of an art festival? 4. what activities are done at a festival? benjamin ejiohuo and vivian davies 160 5. how do you write a festival? 6. what are the objectives of the art festival? 7. what is the national arts festival? references galadima, m. (2016). bikin sallah a kano www.kanoonline.com gallagher, w. (1993). the power of place: how our surroundings shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions. new york: poseidon press. gallagher, w. (1993). the power of place: how our surroundings shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions. new york: poseidon press. james e. g. (2014). the modern middle east: a history. oxford university press. p. 21. jump up to festival, adj. and n. "oed online. march 2014. oxford university press. accessed april 16, 2014. kim, k., uysal, & sirg, m.j. (2012). how does tourism in a community impact the quality of life of community residents? tourism management, in press. "bbc birmingham 2005". bbc.co.uk. 2005-08-06. retrieved 2012-09-27. picard, david; robinson, mike (2006). "remaking worlds: festivals, tourism and change". in david picard and mike robinson (ed.). festivals, tourism and social change. channel view publications. pp. 1–3. robson, james p. (2007). "local approaches to biodiversity conservation: lessons from oaxaca, southern mexico". international journal of sustainable development. 10 (3): 267. doi:10.1504/ijsd.2007.017647. issn 0960-1406. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/oxford_university_press https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/oxford_university_press http://www.oed.com/view/entry/69567 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/oed_online https://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/08/16/iwaji_festival2005_feature.shtml https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/channel_view_publications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/doi_(identifier) https://doi.org/10.1504%2fijsd.2007.017647 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/issn_(identifier) https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0960-1406 the state of art and culture in nigeria: … 161 roy, christian (2005). "sikh vaisakhi: anniversary of the pure". traditional festivals, vol. 2 [m – z]: a multicultural encyclopedia. abc-clio. p. 480. isbn 978-1-57607-089-5. telfer, d.j. (2015). tourism and regional development issues in sharpley, r. and telfer,d.j. (2015). tourism and development: concepts and issues. channel view publications, britol uk. (2013) the economic impact of annual community festivals: a case of sturgis falls celebration, "the maiden new yam festival (okuka iri ji ndi igbo) at igboukwu". nacd.gov.ng. archived from the original on 201603-05. retrieved 2015-09-18. https://archive.org/details/traditionalfesti0000royc/page/480 https://archive.org/details/traditionalfesti0000royc/page/480 https://archive.org/details/traditionalfesti0000royc/page/480 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/isbn_(identifier) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/special:booksources/978-1-57607-089-5 https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032258/http:/www.nacd.gov.ng/anambra_state_new_yam_festival.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032258/http:/www.nacd.gov.ng/anambra_state_new_yam_festival.htm http://nacd.gov.ng/anambra_state_new_yam_festival.htm posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 154 the image of a poet from a layman’s perspective: a case study of igbo society oluchi nebolisa department of linguistics and other nigerian languages alvan ikoku federal college of education, owerri abstract poetry is expression of a poet’s individuality, feelings, emotions and experiences common to other people in society. hence, a poet is generally perceived as a lyricist who expresses his/her experiences, feelings and emotions in a clear language which connects him/her to the listening audience. this study examines the characteristics of a poet from an ordinary igbo man’s perspective. it suggests that since the igbo people engage themselves in the creative expression of feelings, emotions and experiences through songs, proverbs, chants, and word play; then everyone in igbo society is consciously or unconsciously a poet. this is to say that in a traditional igbo society, events, social or religious activities are often chanted by individuals or groups of individuals. keywords: poetry, poet, layman generally speaking, the term ‘poetry’ is an art of composition which can be written (documented) and orally presented by an individual or groups of individuals. in essence, poetry as a form of artistic composition represents the emotions, feelings and the individual thought of a person who wrote the poems. hence, poetry is a literary type that shares the same characteristics; whether written or spoken. different societies have their own forms of poetry irrespective of their levels of development. this is to say that poetry has been part of a cultural milieu with its unique characteristics. these characteristics are determined by the linguistic resources of language, geographical environment, tradition, culture and habits of a given society. therefore, poetry varies from society to society, from one cultural milieu to another. based on the above mentioned views, the meaning and values of poetry are explored from a layman’s perspective. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 155 what is poetry? the term poetry is defined as the expression of feelings, emotions and ideas which is communicated through language. kirsner and mandell (2007) define ‘poetry’ as “the language of emotions; the medium of expression people use when they speak from their hearts” (816). this simply means that poetry is a medium of spiritual and philosophical expression. the impulse to create and appreciate poetry is part of human experiences, thoughts and emotions. thus, poetry is an ancient art which has been existing since human beings discovered beauty in language. the tribal traditional and religious ceremonies which are often celebrated in igbo cultural milieu with poetic songs, chants and proverbs suggest that poetry existed in the earliest primitive igbo society. these religious and traditional ritual ceremonies are carried out using chants, songs and eulogies which express what people regard as significant and memorable in their lives. some of these ceremonies are ikwa-ozu (burial), igba-nkwu (marriage),iti-mmanwu (masquarde), iri-ji (yam festival), egwu-onwa (moonlight play),etc. during these festivals or ceremonies, the entire community takes active part in dancing and singing. thus, they echo their feelings, emotions and experiences in order to express their pain or pleasure. this also signifies that they are all poets since they orally express their feelings, thoughts, emotions, and experiences in a poetic manner. essentially, poetry is a verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas or emotions in a clear and imaginative way through language. the origin of poetry is unknown but the fact remains that poetry has been part of every society which probably stemmed up from oral tradition. however, cultural traditions and languages affect poetry to a large extent because they determine the rules that govern the form of its composition in a cultural milieu. generally, these rules vary considerably from one society to another. in igbo cultural society, poetry is seen as an ancient art which uses the oral forms to express the real experiences of people. poetry exists as part of igbo culture, religious rites and daily experiences which are usually accompanied by music and dance. hence, the lives of heroes, kings and dead ancestors are eulogized through poetic songs. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 156 who is a poet? a poet is a person who composes or writes poems. he/she also adopts language or words as his/her principal tool in order to convey specific messages or express individual feelings to the audience. in essence, a poet may choose to document his poems in a written form or communicate orally to the immediate audience. in english society, poetry generally is written in terms of some recognizable forms such as the sonnet, ballad, elegy, dirge, epic, lyric, ode, etc. these forms can also be narrative, satirical, dramatic or lyric. ezeaku (2014) explains that the “narrative poems stress emotion and song. each of these types has numerous subdivisions: narrative poetry includes the epic, romance, and the heroic chants; lyric poetry includes ballad, pastoral poetry, elegy and epigraph, sonnet and ode” (44). some of these forms of poetry may be irrelevant in discussing the poetic expressions of the igbo cultural society. the poetry genres relevant in the discussion of igbo society are epic, song-poem (lyric), dirge, heroic recitations, masqueraded chants and poetry of dance and drum. the differences in the poetic forms of english and igbo societies arise as a result of the differences in their cultural and structural organizations. these societies have different stylistic modes of presenting poetry. the modes of presentation are seen in the areas of rhyme, patterns, stanzas, length, rhythmic tempo and artistic expression of feeling, ideas or experiences. akporobaro () explains that “it is a matter of differences in the social use of the genres; of their oral modes of delivery, and in the degree of emphasis placed upon such musical values as rhythm, melody and harmony” (296). the categories of poets from a layman’s perspective, poetry is generally categorized into two, namely: (a) published poet, and (b) unpublished poet. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 157 published poet this is a poet who expresses his/her individuality, experiences and emotions common to other individuals in society or peculiar to himself or herself as a unique individual. this category of poets is usually educated and will be expected to be either a lyricist singing in clear language about his/her experiences and emotions or a philosophical poet, analyzing his/her experiences and emotions in a clear language accessible to the audience. these experiences are often written and documented for the educated people to read and enjoy. poems under this category sometimes employ the european or english forms or standards of poetry while exploring the african features or characteristics. they can also be documented using english or igbo language; hence this makes it widely accessible to a whole range of educated audience. it is also important to understand that poems under this category which are documented can also be presented orally to the audience for pleasure. some of the poems published in this category have yielded to the philosophy of the western aesthetics as the only and universal concept. unpublished poet this category of poets is very complex in nature. here, poets explore their individuality, experiences and emotions using an oral mode of communication. both the educated and uneducated poets fall into this category since this form of poetry is meant to entertain, express pain or pleasure at a particular point in time. the poems under this category are usually unpublished and are performed in a natural or unnatural situation (context) such as social gatherings, like new yam festival, moonlight setting, religious worships, and play sections. the poems are not written in verses or stanza but are rhythmic and orally presented. the image of a poet from a layman’s perspective it is clear that in writing poems; the poet expresses his/her emotions which touches people’s feeling and at the same time resounds with their hope, dreams and philosophical views. rhythm is a very important element of poetry. ezeaku () explains that rhythm “has its origin in primitive dance and its accompaniments. it implies beat, pulse or movements, etc. thus, it is expressed through meter which posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 158 is a sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables and arranged in a more or less regular pattern. this pattern is not strictly maintained otherwise poetry will be monotonous and dull” (49). in igbo society, rhythm is in every song or chant presented by a versifier or poet. it is built by an emotional factor; as a person’s feeling grows more intense, his speech tends to become more rhythmic. in daily experiences, passionate expressions have noticeable rhythm; the angry man, happy crowd, the mourners, the drunk, etc reflect rhythm in their vocal/ verbal expressions. hence, the pulse is the initial rhythm of life, the heartbeat is the man’s rhythmic pattern. songs influence every activity in igbo cultural milieu. the stages of life from birth to death are marked by ceremonies which are reenacted using songs and chants. this suggests that virtually everyone in igbo society learns the act of singing and chanting which are often times rhythmic in nature. these songs are rendered in ceremonies such as burial ceremonies, childbirth/ child dedication, new yam festival, masquerade festival, etc. songs are generally associated with different social events which can be religious, social (entertaining), and moral. in this type of gathering, everyone is expected to sing or chorus with the audience. therefore, if one does not belong to the people that chorus as a group, he/she will be the chorus leader. this work tries to establish that songs presented by individuals at different situations and contexts in igbo cultural milieu are poetic and fully laden with rhythm which helps the free flow of powerful emotions or feelings. thus, in igbo society social songs are rendered poetically in different social events. these songs are also named to fit the context of the gathering. for examples: marriage songs, funeral songs, moral and educative songs, religious songs, and pleasure songs. marriage songs this type of song is usually poetic and is rendered by an individual or groups of individuals. it expresses happiness for the new bride who is getting married. it is sung amidst joy and merriment. thus: ada o bu ka i ghara anyi (ada are you leaving us) ada o bu ka i ghara anyi (anyi are you leaving us) lawa be di gi (to your husband house) ada o bu ka i ghara anyi (ada are you leaving us) lawa be di gi (to your husband house) posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 159 ada chukwu gozie gi (god bless you ada) ma i lawa be di gi (as you go to your husband’s house) ada chukwu gozie di gi (god bless your husband) bu ogo anyi nwoke (who is our in-law) ada chukwu nyekwa gi nwa (may god give you children) ma i ruo be di gi. (when you arrive your husband’s house) the song blesses the newly married bride and whishes her well in her new marriage. the poetic song blesses the couple, advises them, consoles the bride’s parents for giving their daughter away and congratulates the family of the bridegroom for winning the heart of a beautiful damsel. in this context, the act of singing or rendering the poetic song makes the poet an unpublished poet. though the audience may be educated or uneducated. funeral songs this is a type of poetic song rendered or sung at the funeral ceremony of an individual. this type of song expresses sorrow and anger over the death of the deceased. thus, the songs are rendered to console the mourners, and extol the virtues or legacies of the dead. for example: ugegbe etiwago na o tiwago (mirror has broken) ezigbo ugegbe e tiwago na o tiwago (a good mirror has broken) na o tiwara n’ike (it was broken suddenly) here mirror connotes life, health and breath. in igbo cultural concept, once a song like this is rendered; it simply suggests that a person has died. in essence, once a mirror is broken and the pieces can never be collected. death is transitional; it marks the end of life and the beginning of another journey in the ancestral world. to the living, death is a personal experience which must be experienced individually. in any burial ceremony, mourners render poetic sorrowful songs which express their feelings or emotions towards the death of the deceased. moral and educative song this type of song is purposely rendered to teach morals or educate the audience. these songs have some underlying message that teach, correct and entertain. the posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 160 topic of the songs can be drawn from any subject which must aim at educating people. for example: e zukwala ohi (do not steal) a gbakwala asiri (do not gossip) e gbukwala ochu (do not kill) maka na mkpuru onye kuru (because whatever one sows) ka o ga aghoro (that is what one reaps) both the leader of the poetic song and the audience engage in act of singing. the song is poetically rendered with the sole aim of educating people for the general good of the society. religious songs these are poetic song rendered in the worship to god or gods in the igbo cultural society. these songs are often lyrical and people dance to their rhythms. the themes border on religious worship or godly virtues. the poems evoke feelings of dedication and trust towards the subject of worship. for example: chineke anyi di nma (our god is good) o di nma (he is good) onye kere uwa di nma (the creator of the world is good) o di nma (he is good). poetry is the expression of communally shared experiences and emotions: individuals ranging from children to adults can orally express these emotions, experiences and feelings in songs. he/she may be expected to act either as a brilliant commentator who turns the general beliefs, feelings and goals into good poetry or as a visionary and guide who looks critically at past communal experiences and gives correction for the future. if he/she is a commentator, then his/her language is expected to be clear and precise; and easily accessible to his/her audience. thus, he assumes the role of an interpreter whose utterances, songs and chants deepen the collective awareness and appreciation of his/her audience. posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor r.o. ezeuko, edited by dr. odinye, egenti & orji 161 conclusion there is no doubt that the art of oral composition stemmed up from oral tradition. oral tradition was very strong in early igbo culture and songs were recited to be performed and enjoyed. songs or chants sometimes present a simple account of some heroic deeds recited or sang by a bard or minstrel who is gifted in the area of poetry and song. the songs or chants are mastered by the people who in turn render them at any given time. these itinerant bards of african orature often sing of joys and sorrows of their communities. therefore in this contemporary igbo cultural milieu, igbo people still believe that modern igbo poet should be a communal voice and a commentator who express his/her opinions about human experiences. virtually everyone engages in this act; thus everyone successfully performs the role of a poet and is sentitive to feel what others feel and express what others express. in conclusion, from a layman’s perspective every igbo person is a poet whether a published or unpublished poet. references abrams, m.h. a glossary of literary terms. new york: rinehart and winston, 1993. akporobaro, f.b.o. introduction to african oral literature. lagos: princeton publishing co., 2012. ezeaku, a. fundamental of literature. awka: fab anieh nig. ltd, 2014. kirsner, l.g. and mandell, s.r. literature, reading, reacting and writing. usa: thompson press, 2007. the sociology of visual arts 70 chapter 5 the sociology of visual arts godwin o. uka and elizabeth o. ogbu uka department of fine and applied arts, and department of psychology, university of nigeria, nsukka abstract sociology of arts provides an introduction to the fundamental debates in the sociology of art, using extracts from the core foundational and most influential contemporary writers in the field. it is set on a disciplinary border that highlights sociological discourses about specific issues in society. the sources and information were from the field of anthropology, art history and art criticism. firstly, this course discusses the complex cultural processes linking the visual arts and society in general. in such an endeavour the course adopts the assumption that artistic expressions are the result of those ongoing processes of ‘social construction’ that take place between artists, their audiences (art critics, curators, the media etc.), their economic and cultural environments as well as their historical and social contexts. it is important to review issues of artistic ‘production’. the role of the artist, the critic/dealer and of the curator was examined to understand their place in contemporary societies, while – on the other hand – attention was granted to different kinds of audiences and the use they make of art objects. sociological consideration of the arts has a long history. it extends back to the works of such classical writers as karl marx, max weber, and georg simmel and weaves its way to contemporary work by such scholars as paul dimaggio. keywords: sociology, arts, sociology of arts, visual art and art history this course is focused on: introduction to sociology and art history classical sociological theory and the sociology of art the social production of art the sociology of the artist museums and the social construction aesthetic form and the specificity of art the sociology of arts should provide students with an introduction to the fundamentals and debates in the sociology of art. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 71 introduction sociology of arts provides students and others alike with an introduction to the fundamental debates in the sociology of art, using extracts from the core foundational and most influential contemporary writer in the field. this subject is set on a disciplinary border that highlights sociological discourses about specific western and african phenomena of artistic creativity and their uses and reception. the sources and information for this write-up were gathered from the field of anthropology, art history and art criticism. different topics are interwoven within the course. firstly, is the discussion on the complex cultural processes linking the visual arts and society in africa? in such an endeavour, the assumption is that artistic expressions are the result of those ongoing processes of ‘social construction’ that take place between artists, their audiences (art critics, curators, the media etc.), their economic and cultural environments as well as their historical and social contexts. issues of artistic ‘production were reviewed.’ the role of the artist and the the critic/dealer and the curator are examined in an effort at understanding the place occupied by art in contemporary societies, while – on the other hand – attention was granted to different kinds of audiences and the use they make of art objects. sociological consideration of the arts has a long history. it extends back to the works of such classical writers as karl marx, max weber, and georg simmel and weaves its way to contemporary work by such scholars as paul dimaggio. what is the sociology of art? sociology of art is a subfield of sociology that is concerned with the social world of art and its aesthetics. it is the study of the sociology of art throughout history or the study of the social history of art that is how various societies contribute to the appearance of certain artists. sociology of art is a sub-set of culture, which is a field of study that deals with the social production of artistic objects and its implications. sociology of art deals with the creation of works of art by the artist and their effect on the people; this is a process that can be observed all through history. sociology of arts represents a universal phenomenon of human society in action; meaning of sociology of art sociology of arts is the creation of artworks or objects that in one way or the other affects society. it focuses mainly on sociological consideration of the artwork. there is hardly any aspect of social life of people that have not been expressed through art, and its socio-economic and psychological effects and influence that have to a great extent led to the development of art in any nation. this development can be made possible through the artist, and his audience, and it has been made evident through the works of prehistoric humans showing how functional objects throughout history have been designed and produced with a sense of visual awareness as well as operational needs. it was through art that man had his first instrument of communication, which is a form of visual expression visual illustrations, were therefore interpreted and understood, in this way, visual art comprised a factor of tremendous importance to our cultural growth and development. this is well captured in the social construction that always takes place between the artist and his audience, which manifest in their economic and socio-cultural environment as well as their historical and social context. the sociology of visual arts 72 sociology of art students should be able to define and discuss the sociology of arts in great detail. this is because; there is hardly any aspect of social life of people that has not been expressed through art. that is an artistic representation of things, with the environment, about the environment, peoples, activities, social events, and so on, discussion on or about the artist who produces these works bring to bear at least three (3) various perspectives on the meanings of sociology of art. artistic expressions in different media are the result of those ongoing processes of ‘social construction’ that take place between artists, their audiences (art critics, curators, the media of expression etc.), their economic and cultural environments as well as their historical and social contexts. the role of the artist and the critic/dealer and the curator are examined in an effort at understanding the place occupied by art in contemporary societies, while – on the other hand – attention was granted to different kinds of audiences and the use they make of art objects. sociology of arts applies concepts of social sciences to art phenomena but it also utilizes concepts and methods used in humanistic art research. sociology of art studies in addition to works of art, deals with any other communal activity making art possible in the society, i.e. production, distribution, reception and consumption. the social regulation of art and culture is also one of the research interest studies of the sociology of art students. the sociology of art course focuses on how the sociology of art combines the approach of humanistic art research with the sociology of thinking. understanding the social system of art and its various dimensions is also an essential part of the basic studies. it is necessary to direct your studies towards the area of art and art life and theories in the field that personally interest you also advanced studies with common studies in cultural studies and specialization in the sociology of art. focus areas include: analysis and interpretation of works of art and cultural products about the surrounding society, cultural policy, especially in the regional context, and the art system, art system agents and their adjustment to today's market-based society. what is sociology? it is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order, disorder, and change in society. sociology is the study of social behaviour or society, and institutions including its origins, development, organization, and networks, many sociologists aim to conduct research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, while others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes. subject matter ranges from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and social structure. what is art? are the physical two or three-dimensional objects that is professionally determined or otherwise considered to fulfil a primarily independent aesthetic function? the visual experience is on function, style and structures of the major art forms. it examines the connection between the visual, social and physical dimensions of everyday life in which art perform essential roles, contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 73 while illustrating clearly the common features of the theme and culture, art critics, artist and all those interested in art criticism to discuss. art as a cultural artefact is used to describe anything created by a human who gives information about the culture of its creator and user. looking at art critically, it is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, especially in the area of fine and applied arts, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. it is often considered the process or product of deliberate arranging elements in a way that appeals to the sense or emotions. it encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creation, and ways of expression including other areas like music, literature, film, glass design, textiles, sculpture, graphics, painting, ceramic and others in another way, art can be seen as something that is intelligently created to serve the following purposes: communicate, represent, decorate, persuade, convey or evoke emotion and provide self-expression, even if the work is never shared with another person. explore new ideas, including what art itself is. visual art is constructed from very basic elements or components that we experience through our sense of sight and/or touch; namely, lines, two and/or threedimensional shapes, textures, colours, dark and light qualities, and actual or implied space. almost everything that we see can be described or interpreted in terms of these same visual (or sensory) components. why do we ascribe the term "art" to some of these objects while others are merely described as useful or interesting or even beautiful? what is art history? art history is the study of art and design in its historical development and stylistic contexts; including its format and style. it can be seen as the study of objects of art considered within their particular period. art historians analyse visual arts' that is painting, sculpture, graphics, ceramics, architecture, textiles and others at the time they were created. historians identify the visual elements of the artwork and interpret its meaning. the main preoccupation of art historians is simply to establish the origins of works of art, that is discovering who created a particular artwork, when, where and for what reason. art history deals with the study of people and their culture represented throughout their artwork in different forms and times or periods. it can be shown by their attire, architecture, religion, sports or more visual pieces of art such as drawing, painting, sculpture and others, art history is distinguished from art criticism, which is concerned with establishing a relative artistic value upon individual work concerning other works of comparable style, or sanction on entire style or movement, and art theory. "philosophy of art", is concerned with the fundamental of art, one branch of this area is aesthetics, which include investigating the enigma of the sublime and determining the essence of beauty. iconography is a branch of art history, that studies the identification, description, and interpretation of the content of images employed in an artwork, the subject depicted in the particular composition and details used to do so and other elements that are different from artistic style. it consists in analyzing the symbolism of works of art. for instance, art historians identify the visual elements of any work of art and interpret its meaning. art historians are interested in what the works of art represented at the time they were created, which is a way to learn about the civilization of the past. it is important to note that the visual arts recount stories of past events. the sociology of visual arts 74 the study of art history and appreciation are the same but the difference comes to play when this knowledge is put into practice. art appreciation is focused on a study to better understand and analyze art while art criticism involves evaluating art works with formal assessment tools. this requires an understanding of art movement, history and techniques. art history is the academic study of the history and development of visual art and art appreciation, the application of basic tools of literature to understand and appreciate works of art. art historians in any art historical analysis should have the following questions in mind. why does a work of art look the way it does? who made it and why? what does it mean? these questions and others alike should be the major deliberation of art historical inquiry. art historian uses various types of analysis to provide answers. artistic production is the creation or production of beautified or significant things or artworks? investigating sources for artists' inspiration provides one with innumerable alternatives for generating ideas for their works. how do artists create art? do artists, for instance, merely stand in front of a canvas or block of wood and begin to paint or carve? these views are reflected in the belief that one simply takes a brush or chisel in hand and creates a work which expresses one's interests or feelings. such a naive conception of artistic behaviour is very misleading and unprofessional and neglects the research roles played by the unique preparatory experiences and motivations of the artist. acquiring such knowledge forms another segment of the subject matter of art which needs to be studied. the variety of sources artists use for their ideas and visual studies include: • people, animals and still-life; • views of land, sea and sky; • social, historical and political events; • myths, dreams and fantasies; • philosophical, psychological and scientific theories; • art forms produced at other times and in other places; • artistic and scientific innovations; • the technical possibilities of materials and the functional purposes of objects. biography of the artist the artist (name (s) date and birth (from-to) early life type of artwork, his works, exhibition, analysis, importance price, award if any of the artists and others art history and the society society as an organization is a system created to achieve common goals through peopleto-people and people to work relationships. it can be seen as a group of people involved with each other through persistent relations, or a large social group sharing the same geographical or contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 75 social territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectation. art history is all about that. art history and society are inseparable, just as the environment is to human beings. the society in which we live can be looked at as the largest number of human beings who in one way or another other interact to satisfy their social and economic needs and share a common culture art history, therefore, is the study of visual art in its historical development and stylistic contexts; it can be seen as the study of objects of art considered within their period. the work of the art historian is to analyse the visual arts at the time they were created. the historian's work is to identify the visual elements of the artwork and interprets its meaning. the main preoccupation of art historians is therefore to establish the origins of works of art, that is discovering who created a particular artwork, when, where and for what reason. art historians are interested in what the works of art represented at the time, they were created, which is a way of learning about the civilization of the past. it is very important because is one of the ways to recount stories of past events. art history allows us to look back and understand how our civilization evolved over the centuries. this is a way to know ourselves better, and in trying to do so; we should ask why we have certain values in what we do. what shaped the way we think and our vision of the world should be put into consideration. it is important to note that the study of art history is all about developing critical thinking ability, and is not only about memorizing dates, artists' names, art movements, and so on. instead, it drives the historian to analyze artworks. to support this type of analysis, the art historian must build rational and convincing arguments, hence developing his/her critical thinking abilities. why art history is important – it is important because it gives humanities subjects, relating them to draw conclusions and critical evaluation of different artwork from different places. the history behind these artworks at separate times helps to learn about different tribes and their cultures. art impacts and influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experience, across space and time in different ways. art in this sense is communication; it allows people from different cultures and different times to communicate with each other via images, sound and stories. art is often a vehicle for social change. artists and designers are creators who keep and document visual records of people, places, and events of their time and place. they help us to see the world in a new and innovative way. every art creator plays a different and necessary part in contributing to the overall health, development, and well-being of our society, as creative thinkers and makers provide their communities with joy, interaction, and inspiration but they also give thoughtful critique to our political and economic and social system pushing communities to engage in thoughtful and make steps towards social progress, from documenting human history to expressing collective emotion. they are a major vehicle for expressing universal emotions. this can be personal and sometimes universal. they have the ability 'feel strongly' about the paint, gesture or colour. they can “absorb” the atmosphere of a place or the memory of a feeling. they are responsible for unearthing the truth, their work is to illuminate the margins and make societal changes, tell stories and pass traditions, and connect with and inspire people globally. the sociology of visual arts 76 they record and preserve our human history, and offer messages of hope. they are ambassadors of the natural world and create a sense of community life. analysis of the artists' works formal analysis a formal analysis requires a detailed description of the "formal" qualities of the art objects (formal here means "related to the form", not "fancy or elegant"), in order words, what the artist is looking for in the individual design elements, such as compositions (arrangement of part in the work), colour, line, texture, scale, proportion, balance, contrast, and rhythm. you are a primary concern in this assignment is to attempt to explain how the artist arranges and uses these various elements. usually, you have to look at the objects for a long time and then write down what you see. the assignment requires a highly detailed description of the objects. first, transacting something from visual language to textual language is one of the most vital tasks of the art historian. most art historians at some point describe fully and accurately their objects of study to communicate their ideas about them. art historians vary in their approach to art, there are a few common approaches that form the backbone of the field. formal analyses want you to look and look carefully. think of the objects as a series of decisions that an artist made. your job is to figure out and describe, explain and interpret these decisions and why the artist may have made them. ideally, if you were to give your written formal analysis to somebody who had never seen the objects, s/he would be able to describe or draw the object. in writing a formal analysis, focus on creating a logical order so that your reader doesn't let lost, your lecturer already knows what you are talking about. here are a couple of options; 1. summarize the overall appearance, and also describe the details of the object. 2. describe the composition and then move on to a description of the material used (acrylic, watercolour, plaster and so on) 3. begin discussing one side of the work and then move across the object to the other side 4. describe things in the order in which they draw your eye around the object starting with the first thing you notice and moving to the next. some lecturers will want your formal analysis to consist of pure description with little interpretation or no interpretation. in this case, you should just describe your object, while others will expect you to go further and comment on the significance of what you have observed. find out which way your lecturer wants you to write your formal analysis in your assignment. most art historians include formal analysis at some point in their essay; there are lots of examples to look at in textbooks and other reading materials contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 77 stylistic analysis look at an object and talk about its style. discuss how an object fits into a particular stylistic category for example, impressionism, renaissance, or early macedonian more often, they will ask you to compare two works in either the same or very different stylistic categories e.g. comparing one impressionist painting by monet to one by morisot or comparing a correggio still life with picasso life. you will still focus on the formal qualities of the objects but this time you will probably be expected to conclude one of the following: how the work fits the stylistic category how the work does not fit the category how two works with the same type of content look different from each other, because of style (for example, both paintings are still lives, but they show different approaches on three dimensional etc. a stylistic analysis will acquaint us with some of the large historical trends and forces in the culture and how they influence the development of art. iconography/ iconology look for a particular element that occurs in the object (an object, action, gesture, pose) and explain either: when some elements occur in other objects through history and how this object's representation of it is unique, or what that element means generally in art or to art historian-in other words, the traditional association an art historian might make between that depiction and other things. provenance/patronage study examined the life of the objects itself: the circumstances surrounding its production and/or where and why it has changed hands throughout history. these focus on either: how, when, where and why the patrons, (the person who orders or buys the object, or generally supports the artist) ask for or acquired the object from the artist. you may have to comment on what the patronage suggests about how the artist made their living at different points in history, how / why the patron choose the artist they did or the history of the object passing from art to patron to museum etc. such assignments usually appear in classes oriented towards museum studies. you may also comment on the significance of this work. the "pure" formal analysis is the only paper in which description alone is enoughyou can ask to compare two objects, not just list their similar or different qualities. instead, suggest what those differences or similarities mean and analyze them on some level. identify the works of the artist and discuss their social meaning. state the social content of the artist's work and its implication. discuss social issues of artist work in nigeria and other places and their social significance. write and analyse works of the artist of your choice, discuss the social implication of their work, and its significance to the development of the society. what does a work of art express? • the intentions of the artist? audiences/ • only what art historians tell us about the work? the sociology of visual arts 78 • anything we want it to express? is it strictly an individual thing? who produces art and for who? the sociology of art is all about the production of art for the society, so an understanding of it is important. a definition and discussion of the sociology of arts is necessary, this is so because there is hardly any aspect of social life that has not been expressed through art. it is important to discuss the artist that creates and produces an artwork, his work and how it affects society necessary the foregoing brings to bear at least three (3) various perspectives on the meanings of sociology of art. kollwitz's "out of work", (charcoal and whitewash over graphite) and picasso's "guernica", serve as a testament to the social malaise within the half of the 20th century. state briefly (a) the biography of the artists (b) the formal analysis and (3) the social content of the works. the art of bruce onobrakpeya has some social implications. identify three works of the artist and enunciate their social meanings. besides "night soil men, refugees, and politicians: or, peculiar situations, peculiar responses" by obiora udechukwu, list three (3) other works of the artists through which the artist interrogated some key social issues in nigeria. discuss the place of art in the time of alexander the great, summarizing under three (3) points the social significance of art. a work of art can be considered as the visual arts in physical two or three-dimensional objects that is professionally determined or otherwise considered to fulfil a primarily independent aesthetic function. dimensional form: the designer or artist draws or crafts out his works in various plans of space to represent the real objects intended to produce. art as visual experience examines the connection between the visual, social and physical dimensions of everyday life in which art perform essential roles while illustrating clearly the common features of the theme and culture, art critics, artist and all those interested in art criticism. art as a cultural artefact is used to describe anything created by humans who give information about the culture of its creator and user. the visual arts are art objects created or whose products are to be appreciated by sight, such as graphics, ceramics, fashion, painting, sculpture and filmmaking as contrasted with literature and music. visual art also known in some circle as plastic art objects, this are contrasted with the performing arts these includes the following: drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, craft and architecture., many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual arts, and textile art also involve aspects of visual arts as well as art of other types. some art history and sociology of art writers art writers such as friedrich schiller and johnson joachim winckelmann who profoundly shaped the modern discipline of art history, and early sociologists such as karl max weber who have discussed art history and sociology in terms of their cultural value to society are important studies students should study. 1. art history, sociology and the genesis of modernity? 2. the social and cultural origins of sociology 3, autonomy of art and the origins of art history contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 79 4. art and society in the eighteenthand nineteenth-century art history writing 5. disciplinary formations: from kulturgeschichte to art history and the sociology of art 6. art history for art history's sake: wolfflin, panofsky, mannheim and the problem of art interpretation? 7. sociology and art history: conflict and confrontations 8. sociology and art history: the new syntheses 9. art and its contexts in art history and sociology a critical research program for the sociology of art this course description and outline is unique in two ways first, graduate students will collectively construct the course syllabus, thereby ensuring that their respective substantive interests are addressed. second, graduate students will take the lead in detailed discussions that address important theoretical and empirical concerns. by the end of the semester, then, students should be well-versed in the sociology of the arts and well-equipped to pursue their work in this area. sociological discussion as it affects the sociology of arts sociology of art as it relates to the environment. what is the inter-relationship between sociology and other discipline and its effect on human development? 1. african/western phenomenon of artistic creativity 2. art history, criticism and appreciation 3. artist, audience (art critics, curator, media) their economic and cultural environment as well as their historical and social context 4. art production 5. culture 6. information and technology, internet and digital media 7. environment and disaster 8. human ecology, architecture, visual space 9. family, childhood, gender, furmenty 10. health illness and medical 11, death, dying, bereavement students should be encouraged to write term papers, assignments and practical products of works based on the above topics. art production sociological and sociology of art studies in the following areas: 1. culture 2. information and technology, internet and digital media 3. environment and disaster 4. human ecology, architecture, visual space 5. family, childhood, gender, furmenty the sociology of visual arts 80 6. health illness and medical 7. death, dying, bereavement some key figures in the sociology of arts howard saul becker (born april 18, 1828) is an american sociologist who has made a major contribution to the sociology of deviance, the sociology of art, and the sociology of music. becker also wrote extensively on sociological writing styles and methodologies. becker's 1963 book outsiders provide red the foundation for the labelling theory. becker is often called a symbolic interaction or social constructionist. he graduated from the university of chicago, usa. becker is considered part of the second chicago school of sociology, which also includes erving goffman and anselm strauss. key scholars in the sociology of arts include howard s. becker, arnold hauser and harrison white. obiora's udechukwu sociological consciousness in his artworks of the 1980s was mainly focused on those who were being seriously stabbed with hunger. these works in terms of his theme are all sociological problems that confront humans in our society. among his works are, war, baggers, refugees, poverty, and people in exile. these works titled “road to abuja" depicts the artist's interest in social issues. in this artwork, one can see many people in the movement to plan the new capital of nigeria, hoping to gain from it, these are businessmen and women. the work in addition depicts two types of people, the affluent and the powerful. throughout his artworks, it is clear that the artistic and socio-political expression shows how he devoted his art and life to the course of the oppressed in society. several artists recognize the socio-political potential or relevance of artwork, this artist in their or through their works septic the following artist of the nsukka school and their unique creative, cultural and intellectual contribution to the development of the sociology of art in nigeria should be recognised in this creative writing/ contribution to art in general. some of these artists are obiora udechukwu, olu oguibe, and krdz ikwuemesi who are still practising and devoting their professional activities to various societal issues and problems in nigeria. those in their various areas of artistic endeavour demonstrated a high level of draughtsman, printmaking, poetry and paintings, and have also been discussed very critically and analytically in their work as it affects society. these entire artists were mostly painters who particularly made their art not only of social and economic issues but also a vigorous expression of ordinary events in people’s lives. these mentioned artists also saw art as a tool of sociological importance, through their works, it is important to acknowledge the socio-economic, cultural and political consciousness like those of other african nations. nigerian artists should start seeing their importance in this regard by redefining their philosophy and seeing themselves as the historians and sociologist of society. it is necessary to look at artistic issues from a philosophical concept or perspective by constantly contributing to society through artwork to give people or show them their rightful place in society. the social, cultural, economic, political and creative experience of the artist should be recognised. the theory of the sociology of art should be the use of or production of art images that offer positive and feasible solutions to humanitarian problems and issues. art in many circles has been contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 81 recognized and seen as the sociological tool and creative medium that is "conditioned by human nature and social order". what is the social significance of art? art influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experiences across space and time. research has also shown that art affects the fundamental sense of itself. painting, sculpture, music, literature and other arts are often considered to be the repository of the society's collective memory. the individual, society and art how are money and power related to producing art and culture? on what condition can art be in political opposition? where do you draw the line between art and popular art? art has important social and educational roles to perform in our lives and that of society in general. an involvement with art can serve us personally and psychologically. in addition, art is essential to maintaining a healthy economy. enhancing the appearance of objects, whether they be utilitarian, recreational, religious and/or commemorative, is the most obvious and pervasive function of art. it would be hard to imagine a world devoid of art. almost everything manufactured (as opposed to what is natural) that we see or use is, at least in part, the result of making choices and decisions that involve us in the aesthetic aspects of experience. although most manufactured or contrived objects and events would not be classified primarily as works of art, they are the result of humans deciding to make something appear to be, for instance, elegant, comfortable, or high-tech in appearance. in other words, an arrangement of visual elements - shapes, colours, textures, etc. -has been created for expressive purposes, which is one way to define art. cultural and historical context also come into play when one considers more direct influences of the past upon the present. some contemporary artists employ acknowledged masterworks as the subject of their works. modifications are normally made by artists that can change the theme of a given work, which makes the work more relevant to contemporary issues and values. an example of this process – is where the old is the source of inspiration for the new. an important psychological function for art is to create an awareness of subjective reality because works of art reflect and give form to our inner thoughts and feelings, making them public and, therefore, perceivable and knowable. works of art can offer convincing insights into a wide range of ideas, moods and passions derived from the collection of human experience. the most important function of art is to contribute towards the development of human society in general by stimulating the imagination and expanding our perception of ideas. the function of an artwork depends on context; it is important and ideally, to look at a piece and know where it came from and when. the best-case scenario includes identifying the artist, as well, because the artist is the main actor. what was the artist thinking at the time s/he created this?). the viewer is second in command. what does this piece of art mean to you, living right now?). these are all factors that should be considered before trying to assign functions or meaning. besides, taking anything out of context can lead to misunderstanding. other functions are personal, social or physical. these categories can, and (often) do, overlap in any given piece of art. the physical functions of art are the sociology of visual arts 82 most easily dealt with. works of art that are created to perform some service have physical functions, ceramics ware are produced to serve a physical function. architecture, any of the crafts and industrial design are all types of art that have physical functions. art has social functions when it addresses aspects of (collective) life, as opposed to one person's point of view or experience. art that depicts social conditions performs social functions. sometimes having specific pieces of art in a community can perform the social function of elevating that community's status. the personal functions of art are the most difficult to explain in any great detail. there are many of them, and they vary from person to person. an artist may create out of a need for self-expression, or gratification. s/he might have wanted to communicate a thought or point to the viewer. perhaps the artist was trying to provide an aesthetic experience, both for self and viewers. a piece might have been meant to "merely" entertain others. sometimes a piece isn't meant to have any meaning at all. cultural-historical context of works of art when an artist start provides an answer to the following types of questions, which will help learn about the cultural and historical context of art. when and where was the work produced? who created the work of art, and what were the artist's motivations? how was the work created and what were the sources for the artist's particular approach? what is the style of the work and how does it relate to the world of art? the answers to these questions provide insights into a work of art that enable a more comprehensive response to the work. without such information, an informed understanding of its content, its iconography, and a genuine appreciation for its relative significance are not possible. these latter categories are essential to engaging in art criticism. socio-cultural functions of art works of art are significant players in the evolution of culture in that they contribute both to cultural continuity and through innovations in forms and techniques, to cultural change. it is good to note that works of art give form to fundamental beliefs and feelings when such works are employed; they serve as culture carriers in communication. such works make a significant contribution to transmitting ideas, values and attitudes from person to person and from generation to generation. beliefs in the mystical and all-powerful role of natural forces or the possibility of an immortal existence in paradise would be extremely difficult to communicate without such works. art forms are essential to engage in the rituals that serve as the ingredients required to nurture and sustain any society. art functions in a myriad of ways for individuals and society. a life without art or a society devoid of art would not only be uninteresting, it would be unthinkable. it appears that humans instinctively seek to enhance and beautify their lives. the visual arts and other art forms -literature, music, dance, theatre, and film range from very primitive to very sophisticated models of expression and communication. social contraction takes place between artists, their audience (art critics, curators and the media etc,) their economic and cultural environment as well as their historical and social context. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 83 some classical writers of the course karl marx marxism and art history (a) social being and social consciousness (b) art and ideology (c) historical development and cultural traditions max weber art and cultural rationalization (a) magical religion, salvation religion and evolution of art (b) the tension between art and ethical religion (c) art and rationalization in the western world. georg simmel symmetry and social organization emile durkheim social structure-material culture and symbolic communication (a) symbolic meaning and objectification (b) symbolic objects, communicative interaction and social creativity the social production of art art, institutions and production of culture production perspectives in art history and the sociology of art raymond williams marxism and the social production of art (a) productive forces (b) from reflection to mediation howard s. berker art as collective action pierre bourdieu but who created the creators the sociology of the artist the lives and death of the creative artist statues and role in the sociology of artist rethinking creativity: the question of artistic agency arnold hauser the social statues of the renaissance artist natalie heinich the sociology of visual arts 84 the van gogh effect an artistic paradigm a new order the test of posterity a religion of art norbert elias craftsmen's art and artists 'art david brain material agency and the art of artifacts the art of artifacts the practical logic of modernism museums and the social construction of high culture introduction art and mass culture in the critical theory of frankfurt school art lovers, cultural capital and social stratification the institutionalization of high culture the art museum: social organization and cultural agents revaluing high culture jurgen habermas art criticism and the institutions of the public sphere pierre bourdieu outline of a sociological theory of art perception paul dimaggio cultural entrepreneurship in nineteenth-century boston the creation of an organizational base for high culture in america the predecessor’s organizational models before the gilded age the context of cultural capitalism cultural entrepreneurship: the museum of fine arts the brahmins as organization -forming class sociology, aesthetic form and specificity of art introduction integrating art analysis in the sociology of art art styles, social groups, social structures art and material culture karl mannheim the dynamics of spiritual realities robert witkin contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 85 van eyck through the looking glass van eyck compromise with perceptual -realism the painting -a formal analysis talcott parsons art as expressive symbolism: action theory and the sociology of art (a) expressive symbolism and social interaction the role of the artist (b) the cultural elaboration of expressive meaning and the evolution of art cathectic meaning and expressive symbols the cultural base of expressive meaning the evolution of expressive culture art influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experiences across space and time. the sociology of arts permits a diverse range of methodological approaches to the relationship between societies and cultural objects. in order words, art can reveal certain aspects of society that other social phenomena cannot. the sociology of culture, and the related cultural sociology, concerns the systematic analysis of culture, understanding as the ensemble of symbolic codes used for a member of a society as it manifests in the society. for george simmel, culture referred to “the cultivation of individual through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history”. culture in the sociological field is analyzed as the way of thinking and describing, acting, and material objects that together shape a group of people’s way of .life contemporary sociologist's approach to culture is often divided between a sociology of culture and culture of sociology the terms are similar though not interchangeable. social organization, custom and traditions, symbols, norms, religion, language, art and literature, forms of government, economic systems, artifacts, social institution common points of departure for marx, wener, and durkheim all three were preoccupied with the great transformation polony that occurred with the industrialization and urbanization of europe in the 19th century. all three of them applauded darwin's work. again, three of them analyzed the contexts e.g. structure that shaped market exchanges. more, the three theorists can be considered structures but they focused on different types of structures. for marx, think about factories that convert natural recourses into commodities through human labour. for weber, think about norms, but also about offices that contain bureaucracies that enforce norms. for durkheim, think about norms, but also about cities that house different kinds of occupational specialists with different distinct sets of norms. marx conceived of societies largely as factories and cities that looked for massive amounts of resources and used them to spew out a continuing stream of communities and massive amounts of pollution. the sociology of visual arts 86 social construction social construction does not have inherent meaning. the only meaning is the one given to it by people how is art a social construct? one of the first interactions between the artists' works is the influences that other artists have had on the person. an artist may believe that everything they make comes from solely within themselves, but someone before made an impression on them, and in turn, their work. peter berger and thomas luckmann wrote a book called the social construction of reality. in it, they argued that society is created by humans and human interaction, which is called habitualization. in other words, society is, in fact, a habit. i. the thomas theorem states that people’s behaviour can be determined by their subjective construction of reality rather than by objective reality. in other words the belief and behaviour of a group of people can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, where even a false idea can become true if it is acted upon if people act upon this false belief it because true in its consequences what is meant by social construction? an idea that has been created and accepted by people in a society, class destruction is a social construct. what is a museum? it is an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value. american museum of national history is also a place where objects are exhibited an art museum. a museum can be a building where a large number of interesting and valuable objects, such as works of art or historical items are kept, studied and displayed by the public. why is museum important? a museum plays a crucial role in preserving local culture, with careful documentation and artifact preservation, a culture can be recorded and remembered regardless of its future. it can also be shared and understood by those from different cultural backgrounds. sociology of art, film and music the sociology of arts is a subset of the sociology of culture. this field studies the social production of artistic objects and its social implications. none of the founding fathers of sociology produced a detailed study of art, but they did develop ideas that were subsequently applied to literature by others. marx's theory of ideology was directed at literature by pierre macherey, terry eagleton and fredric jameson. weber's theory of modernity as cultural rationalization, which he applied to music, was later applied to all the arts. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 87 symbolic interaction symbolic interaction; often associated with interactions, the approach focuses on creating a framework for building a theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact with one another. this approach sees people interacting in countless settings using symbolic communications to accomplish the tasks at hand. therefore, society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic of subjective meanings. some critics of this approach argue that it only looks at what is happening in a particular social situation, and disregards the effects that culture, race or gender (i.e. social-historical structures) may have in that situation. some important sociologists associated with this approach include max weber, george herbert mead, erving goffman, george homans and peter blau. sociology research method in the social sciences traditional socialist focuses on social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality and deviance in their discourse. as all spheres of human activity are affected by the interplay between social structure and individual agency, it is good to be aware that sociology has gradually expanded its focus to further subjects, such as health, medical, military and penal institutions, the internet, education, and the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge. the range of social scientific methods has also expanded. social researchers draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s have seen the rise of new analytically, mathematically and computationally rigorous techniques, such as agent-based modelling and social network analysis. social research informs politicians and policymakers, educators, planners, lawmakers, administrators, developers, business magnates, managers, social workers, non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and people interested in resolving social issues in general. there is often a great deal of crossover between social research, market research, and other statistical fields. sociological research methods may be divided into two broad categories: quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable evidence, and often rely on statistical analysis of many cases (or across intentionally designed treatments in an experiment) to create valid and reliable general claims. qualitative designs emphasize understanding social phenomena through direct observation, communication with participants, or analysis of texts and may stress contextual and subjective accuracy over generality the choice of method often depends largely on what the researcher intends to investigate. for example, a researcher concerned with drawing a statistical generalization across an entire population may administer a survey questionnaire to a representative sample population. by contrast, a researcher who seeks a full contextual understanding of an individual's social actions may choose ethnographic participant observation or open-ended interviews. studies will commonly combine, or 'triangulate', quantitative and qualitative methods as part of a 'multistrategy' design. for instance, a quantitative study may be performed to gain statistical patterns or a target sample, and then combined with a qualitative interview to determine the play of agency. the sociology of visual arts 88 sampling quantitative methods are often used to ask questions about a population that is very large, making a census or a complete enumeration of all the members of that population infeasible. a 'sample' then forms a manageable subset of a population. in quantitative research, statistics are used to draw inferences from this sample regarding the population as a whole. the process of selecting a sample is referred to as 'sampling'. while it is usually best to sample randomly, concern with differences between specific subpopulations sometimes calls for stratified sampling. conversely, the impossibility of random sampling sometimes necessitates nonprobability sampling, such as convenience sampling. methods the following list of research methods is neither exclusive nor exhaustive: archival research or the historical method: draws upon the secondary data located in historical archives and records, such as biographies, memoirs, journals, and so on. content analysis: the content of interviews and other texts is systematically analysed. often data is 'coded' as a part of the 'grounded theory' approach using qualitative data analysis. experimental research: the researcher isolates a single social process and reproduces it in a laboratory (for example, by creating a situation where unconscious sexist judgments are possible), seeking to determine whether or not certain social variables can cause, or depend upon, other variables (for instance, seeing if people's feelings about traditional gender roles can be manipulated by the activation of contrasting gender stereotypes). participants are randomly assigned to different groups that either serve as controls—acting as reference points because they are tested about the dependent variable, albeit without having been exposed to any independent variables of interest—or receive one or more treatments. randomization allows the researcher to be sure that any resulting differences between groups are the result of the treatment. longitudinal study: an extensive examination of a specific person or group over a long period. observation: using data from the senses, the researcher records information about social phenomena or behaviour. observation techniques may or may not feature participation. in participant observation, the researcher goes into the field (such as a community or a place of work), and participates in the activities of the field for a prolonged time to acquire a deep understanding of it. data acquired through these techniques may be analyzed either quantitatively or qualitatively. survey research: the researcher gathers data using interviews, questionnaires, or similar feedback from a set of people sampled from a particular population of interest. survey items from an interview or questionnaire may be open-ended or closed-ended. data from surveys is usually analyzed statistically on a computer. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 89 computational sociology sociologists increasingly draw upon computationally intensive methods to analyze and model social phenomena. using computer simulations, artificial intelligence, text mining, complex statistical methods, and new analytic approaches like social network analysis and social sequence analysis, computational sociology develops and tests theories of complex social processes through bottom-up modelling of social interactions. although the subject matter and methodologies in social science differ from those in natural science or computer science, several of the approaches used in contemporary social simulation originated from fields such as physics and artificial intelligence. by the same token, some of the approaches that originated in computational sociology have been imported into the natural sciences, such as measures of network centrality from the fields of social network analysis and network science. in the relevant literature, computational sociology is often related to the study of social complexity. social complexity concepts such as complex systems, nonlinear interconnection among macro and micro processes, and emergence, have entered the vocabulary of computational sociology. a practical and well-known example is the construction of a computational model in the form of an "artificial society", by which researchers can analyze the structure of a social system. sociology of culture and cultural studies sociologists' approach to culture can be divided into a "sociology of culture" and "cultural sociology"—the terms are similar, though not entirely interchangeable. the sociology of culture is an older term and considers some topics and objects as more-or-less "cultural" than others. conversely, cultural sociology sees all social phenomena as inherently cultural. sociology of culture often attempts to explain certain cultural phenomena as a product of social processes, while cultural sociology sees culture as a potential explanation of social phenomena. cultural sociology often involves the hermeneutic analysis of words, artefacts and symbols. some sociologists employ historical-comparative or quantitative techniques in the analysis of culture,. cultural studies aims to examine its subject matter in terms of cultural practices and their relation to power. communications and information technologies the sociology of communications and information technologies includes "the social aspects of computing, the internet, new media, computer networks, and other communication and information technologies". sociology of the internet and digital sociology the internet is of interest to sociologists in various ways; most practically as a tool for research and as a discussion platform. the sociology of the internet in the broad sense regards the analysis of online communities (e.g. newsgroups, social networking sites) and virtual worlds, thus there is often overlap with community sociology. online communities may be studied statistically through network analysis or interpreted qualitatively through virtual ethnography. closely related to the sociology of the internet, is digital sociology, which expands the scope of the sociology of visual arts 90 study to address not only the internet but also the impact of the other digital media and devices that have emerged since the first decade of the twenty-first century. media studies media study is a distinct discipline that owes to the convergence of sociology and other social sciences and humanities, in particular, literary criticism and critical theory. though the production process or the critique of aesthetic forms is not in the remit of sociologists, analyses of socializing factors, such as ideological effects and audience reception, stem from sociological theory and method. thus the 'sociology of the media' is not a sub-discipline per se, but the media is a common and often-indispensable topic. environmental sociology and sociology of disaster environmental sociology is the study of human interactions with the natural environment, social impacts of those problems, and efforts to resolve them. attention is paid also to the processes by which environmental problems become defined and known to humans. as argued by notable environmental sociologist john bellamy foster, the predecessor to modern environmental sociology is marx's analysis of the metabolic rift, which influenced contemporary thought on sustainability. environmental sociology is often interdisciplinary and overlaps with the sociology of risk, rural sociology and the sociology of disaster. human ecology, architectural sociology, visual sociology and sociology of space human ecology deals with the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. in addition to environmental sociology, this field overlaps with architectural sociology, urban sociology, and to some extent visual sociology. in turn, visual sociology—which is concerned with all visual dimensions of social life—overlaps with media studies in that it utilizes photography, film and other technologies of media. sociology of the family, sociology of childhood, sociology of gender, feminist sociology, feminist theory and queer theory a family is a group of people who are related by kinship ties: relations of blood/marriage / civil partnership or adoption. family, gender and sexuality form a broad area of inquiry studied in many sub-fields of sociology. the family unit is one of the most important social institutions found in some form in nearly all known societies. it is the basic unit of social organization and plays a keyhole in socializing children into the culture of their society. the sociology of the family examines the family, as an institution and unit of socialization, with special concern for the comparatively modern historical emergence of the nuclear family and its distinct gender roles. feminist sociology, on the other hand, is a normative sub-field that observes and critiques the cultural categories of gender and sexuality, particularly concerning power and inequality. the primary concern of feminist theory is the patriarchy and the systematic oppression of women apparent in many societies, both at the level of small-scale interaction and in terms of the broader social structure. feminist sociology also analyses how gender interlocks with race and class to produce and perpetuate social inequalities. the social psychology of gender, on the other hand, contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 91 uses experimental methods to uncover the micro-processes of gender stratification. for example, one recent study has shown that resume evaluators penalize women for motherhood while giving a boost to men for fatherhood. sociology of health and illness and medical sociology the sociology of health and illness focuses on the social effects of, and public attitudes toward, illnesses, diseases, mental health and disabilities. this sub-field also overlaps with gerontology and the study of the ageing process. medical sociology, by contrast, focuses on the inner workings of medical organizations and clinical institutions. the sociology of the body and embodiment takes a broad perspective on the idea of "the body" and includes "a wide range of embodied dynamics including human and non-human bodies, morphology, human reproduction, anatomy, body fluids, biotechnology, and genetics. this often intersects with health and illness, but also theories of bodies as political, social, cultural, economic and ideological productions. death, dying, bereavement a subfield of the sociology of health and illness that overlaps with cultural sociology is the study of death, dying and bereavement, sometimes referred to broadly as the sociology of death. sociology of knowledge, sociology of scientific knowledge, sociology of the history of science and sociology of science the sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises, and of the effects prevailing ideas have on societies. the sociology of science involves the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing "with the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity. sociology of leisure and sociology of sport the sociology of leisure is the study of how humans organize their free time. leisure includes a broad array of activities, such as sports, tourism, and the playing of games. the sociology of leisure is closely tied to the sociology of work, as each explores a different side of the work-leisure relationship. more recent studies in the field move away from the work-leisure relationship and focus on the relationship between leisure and culture. peace and conflict studies, military sociology and sociology of terrorism this is a subfield of sociology studies, broadly, the dynamics of war, conflict resolution, peace movements, war refugees, conflict resolution and military institutions. as a subset of this subfield, military sociology aims toward the systematic study of the military as a social group rather than as an organization. it is a highly specialized sub-field which examines issues related to service personnel as a distinct group with coerced collective action based on shared interests linked to survival in vocation and combat, with purposes and values that are more defined and narrow than within civil society. military sociology also concerns civilian-military relations and the sociology of visual arts 92 interactions between other groups or governmental agencies. topics include the dominant assumptions held by those in the military, changes in military members' willingness to fight, military unionization, military professionalism, the increased utilization of women, the military industrial-academic complex, the military's dependence on research, and the institutional and organizational structure of the military. social psychology (sociology) and psychoanalytic sociology sociological social psychology focuses on micro-scale social actions. it examines the whole society through the study of individual thoughts and emotions as well as the behavior of small groups. of special concern to psychological sociologists is how to explain a variety of demographic, social, and cultural facts in terms of human social interaction. some of the major topics in this field are social inequality, group dynamics, prejudice, aggression, social perception, group behaviour, social change, non-verbal behaviour, socialization, conformity, leadership, and social identity. social psychology may be taught with psychological emphasis. in sociology, researchers in this field are the most prominent users of the experimental method (however, unlike their psychological counterparts, they also frequently employ other methodologies). social psychology looks at social influences, as well as social perception and social interaction. sociology and the other academic disciplines sociology overlaps with a variety of disciplines that study society, in particular anthropology, political science, economics, social work and social philosophy. many comparative fields such as communication studies, cultural studies, demography and literary theory, draw upon methods that originated in sociology. the terms "social science" and "social research" have both gained a degree of autonomy since they originated in classical sociology. the distinct field of social psychology emerged from the many intersections of sociological and psychological interests and is further distinguished in terms of sociological or psychological emphasis. sociology and applied sociology are connected to the professional and academic discipline of social work. both disciplines study social interactions, community and the effect of various systems (i.e. family, school, community, laws, and political sphere) on the individual. however, social work is generally more focused on practical strategies to alleviate social dysfunctions; sociology, in general, provides a thorough examination of the root causes of these problems. social anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies how contemporary humans behave in social groups. practitioners of social anthropology, like sociologists, investigate various facets of social organization. traditionally, social anthropologists analyzed non-industrial and non-western societies, whereas sociologists focused on industrialized societies in the western world. in recent years, however, social anthropology has expanded its focus to modern western societies, meaning that the two disciplines increasingly converge. list of sociology journals the most highly-ranked general journals which publish original research in the field of sociology are the american journal of sociology and the american sociological review. the contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 93 annual review of sociology, which publishes original review essays, is also highly ranked. many other generalist and specialized journals exist. conclusion sociology of arts which is a sub-field of sociology concerns the artistic production of works and its social and aesthetic implication. to a broad extent, it is the study of the sociology of art throughout history or it is the social art history and how the various societies have contributed to the appearance of a certain artist. the sociology of art can also be seen as the creation of artworks or objects that in one way or the other affects the individual and the society. this work looked at: the sociology and art history, art history, sociology, and genesis of modernity, social production of art, classical sociology theory, sociology of art and art history: conflict and confrontation, art and society, museum and social construction of culture and others, chosen reference is to the visual arts and the growing role of images in contemporary culture griswold, wendy. 1987. “a methodological framework for the sociology of culture.” sociological methodology 17: 1-35. the institutionalization of high culture blau, judith r. 1996. “the toggle switch of institutions: religion and art in the u.s. in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” social forces 74: 1159-1177. dimaggio, paul. 1987. “classification in art.” american sociological review 52: 440455. dimaggio, paul. 1992. “cultural boundaries and structural change: the extension of the high culture model to theater, opera, and dance, 1900-1940.” pages 21-57 in cultivating differences: symbolic boundaries and the making of inequality, edited by michele lamont and marcel fournier. chicago: university of chicago press. elias, norbert. 1993. mozart: portrait of a genius. berkeley, ca: university of california press. pages 3-63 and 111-130. levine, lawrence w. 1984. “william shakespeare and the american people: a study in cultural transformation.” american historical review 89:34-66 cultural capital dimaggio, paul. 1982. “cultural capital and school success: the impact of status culture participation on the grades of u.s. high school students.” american sociological review 47: 189-201. dimaggio, paul and john mohr. 1985. “cultural capital, educational attainment, and marital selection.” american journal of sociology 90: 1231-1261. dimaggio, paul and francieostrower. 1990. “participation in the arts by black and white americans.” social forces 68: 753-778. dumais, susan a. 2002. “cultural capital, gender, and school success: the role of habitus.” sociology of education 75: 44-68. ostrower, francie. 1998. “the arts as cultural capital among elites: bourdieu's theory reconsidered.” poetics 26: 43-53. the sociology of visual arts 94 the active reception of the arts crane, diana. 1999. “gender and hegemony in fashion magazines: women's interpretations of fashion photographs.” sociological quarterly 40: 541-563. hennion, antoine. 2002. “music lovers: taste as performance.” theory culture & society 18: 1-22. innovation and diversity in the arts blair, helen and al rainnie. 2000. “flexible films?” media, culture & society 22: 187-204. crane, diana. 1997. “globalization, organizational size, and innovation in the french luxury fashion industry: production of culture theory revisited.” poetics 24: 393-414 trajtenberg, graciela. 2003. “modernisms in action: comparing the relationship between visual arts, social classes and politics in israeli nation-building.” comparative social research 21: 87-109. zolberg, vera l. 1980. “displayed art and performed music: selective innovation and the structure of artistic media.” sociological quarterly 21: 219-231. globalization and the arts appadurai, arjun. 1990. “disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy.” public culture 2: 1-24. griswold, wendy. 1992. "the writing on the mud wall: nigerian novels and the imaginary village." american sociological review 57: 709-724. mukerji, chandra. 1979. “mass culture and the modern world-system: the rise of the graphic arts.” theory & society 8: 245-268. chosen reference is to the visual arts and the growing role of images in contemporary culture clignet, remi. 1979. “the variability of paradigms in the production of culture: a comparison of the arts and sciences.” american sociological review 44: 392-409. griswold, wendy. 1987. “a methodological framework for the sociology of culture.” sociological methodology 17: 1-35. mohr, john. 1998. “measuring meaning structures.” annual review of sociology 24: 345-370. early statements in the sociology of the arts schutz, alfred. 1951. “making music together: a study in social relationships.” social research 18: 76-97. simmel, georg. 1957. “fashion.” american journal of sociology 62: 541-558. sorokin, pitrim. 1957. social and cultural dynamics: a study of change in major system of art, truth, ethics, law and social relations. chapters 1-6 & 9. tanner, jeremy. 2003. the sociology of art: a reader. london: routledge. introduction, pages 27-68. weber, max. 1958. the rational and social foundations of music. carbondale, il: southern university illinois press. chapters 1-2. contemporary issues in the visual arts in nigeria 95 arts organizations allmendinger, jutta and j. richard hackman. 1996. “organizations in changing environments: the case of east german symphony orchestras.” administrative science quarterly 41: 337369. balio, tino. 1976. united artists: the company built by stars. madison, wi: university of wisconsin press. preface, and chapters 1-5. glynn, mary ann. 2002. “chord and dischord: organizational crisis, institutional shifts, and the musical canon of the symphony.” poetics 30: 63-85. murningham, j. keith and donald e. conlon. 1991. “the dynamics of intense work groups: a study of british string quartets.” administrative science quarterly 36: 165-186. peterson, karin. 1997. “the distribution and dynamics of uncertainty in art galleries: a case study of new dealerships in the parisian art market, 1985-1990.” poetics 25: 241-263. work and career in the arts fine, gary alan. 1996. “justifying work: occupational rhetorics as resources in restaurant kitchens.”administrative science quarterly 41: 90-115. giuffre, katherine a. 1999. “sandpiles of opportunity: success in the art world.” social forces 77: 815-832. lachmann, richard. 1988. “graffiti as career and ideology.” american journal of sociology 94: 229-250. menger, pierre-michel. 1999. “artistic labor markets and careers.” annual review of sociology 25: 541-574. tuchman, gaye and nina e. fortin. 1984. “fame and misfortune: edging women out of the great literary tradition.” american journal of sociology 90: 72-96. critical theory and beyond adorno, theodor. 1988. “on the fetish-character in music and the regression of listening.” pages 270-299 in the essential frankfurt reader, edited by andrew arato and eike gebhardt. new york: continuum. benjamin, walter. 1969. “the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.” pages 217251 in illuminations, edited by hannah arendt. new york: schocken books. denora, tia. 2003. beyond adorno: rethinking music sociology. cambridge: cambridge university press. chapters 1-3, and 6. marcuse, herbert. 1978. the aesthetic dimension: toward a critique of marxist aesthetics. boston: beacon press. witten, robert w. 2000. “why did adorno ‘hate’ jazz?” sociological theory 18: 145-170. critics and evaluation anheier, helmut k. and jurgengerhards. 1991. “the acknowledgment of literary influence: a structural analysis of a german literary network.” sociological forum 6: 137-156. janssen, susanne. 1997. “reviewing as social practice: institutional constraints on critics' attention for contemporary fiction.” poetics 24: 275-297. the sociology of visual arts 96 lang, gladys engel and kurt lang. 1988. “recognition and renown: the survival of artistic reputation.” american journal of sociology 94: 79-109. lopes, paul. 2002. the rise of a jazz art world. new york: cambridge university press. introduction and chapter 4. peck, janice. 2002. “the oprah effect: texts, readers, and the dialectic of signification.” communication review 5: 143-178. the institutionalization of high culture dimaggio, paul. 1992. “cultural boundaries and structural change: the extension of the high culture model to theater, opera, and dance, 1900-1940.” pages 21-57 in cultivating differences: symbolic boundaries and the making of inequality, edited by michele lamont and marcel fournier chicago: university of chicago press. cultural capital ostrower, francie. 1998. “the arts as cultural capital among elites: bourdieu's theory reconsidered.” poetics 26: 43-53. the active reception of the arts crane, diana. 1999. “gender and hegemony in fashion magazines: women's interpretations of fashion photographs.” sociological quarterly 40: 541-563. innovation and diversity in the arts trajtenberg, graciela. 2003. “modernisms in action: comparing the relationship between visual arts, social classes and politics in israeli nation-building.” comparative social research 21: 87-109. zolberg, vera l. 1980. “displayed art and performed music: selective innovation and the structure of artistic media.” sociological quarterly 21: 219-231. i ii pain in the neck by ifeoma odinye iii first printed in nigeria by amaka dreams ltd 106 arthur eze avenue, awka, anambra state, nigeria. isbn: 978-978-969-286-6 copyright © ifeoma odinye 2018 telephone: 08032617858 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. iv dedication to the girl-child who is a victim of molestation, sexual abuse and trafficking. v acknowledgements my gratitude goes to god almighty for his endless grace and mercy in my life throughout the period of writing this novel. may his name be praised forever. i am indebted to my lovely and caring husband, dr. sunny ifeanyi odinye for being a great motivator and educator during the period of depicting the experiences in this novel. i appreciate my lovely children, ifeoma blossom, ifeanyi noble and ifesinachi sunny whose sweet company provided a comfortable atmosphere where i wrote most of the chapters. thanks to my lovely parents, dr. chukwuma and mrs. virginia ezike for being the best parents ever. i am immensely grateful to them. i also appreciate my lovely siblings, uchenna, nnamdi, adaobi and echezona for their encouragement and support. my special thanks go to prophet t.b joshua for all his humanitarian services to the downtrodden people of the world. i appreciate him for changing lives, changing nations and changing the world. i appreciate chimamanda ngozi adichie whose novel, americanah provided contrastive language pattern rich in diasporic depiction of beijing. i am grateful to all my editors and reviewers for their patience and dedication which in no small measure contributed to the success of this novel. finally, i am responsible for any errors and mistakes in this work. vi chapter one when conscience speaks adanna had never been a happy child. her experiences on the road of life had been tortuous and heart-wringing. the trauma of her family background and past painful experiences had caused her untold depression. her personal recollections as well as the events surrounding her life had taught her a bitter lesson in life. the eve of her traditional wedding generated an atmosphere of confusion and anxiety. at the back of the huge building somewhere near the deserted small mud house, ada stood gazing and listening as though she was being lectured by the silent wind. i noticed her cold attitude towards everyone that evening. the moment i arrived at her father’s compound that fateful day, i knew that something was wrong. adanna was trapped and lost in her thoughts. she could barely notice voices high and low in swift joyous mood. she did not hear people jolting, shouting and discussing in loud voices. my friend, ada was just nineteen but her experiences did not match her age at all. i had always been an inquisitive person. that indeed had given me different nicknames. i am unworried because i had been very sensitive to people’s plight. this was one big flaw that had put people off about me. ‘my name is chika, but my friends call me amibo! this is a white truth! yes, i know! i did not learn it at all. it is just a natural gift from above. talking is my hobby and i enjoy it very well. it has saved me a lot of stress throughout my journey in china. that is my life and i cannot run away from myself. people always tell me, ‘you vii are beautiful, but you talk like a parrot.’ sometimes, i am weighed down by this comment, but the fact remains that i am myself and cannot run away from being me’. chika muttered, swinging her eyes from one side to the other. ‘my mother has warned me about this several times but nature does not lie at all. grace is what i need, that’s all! i have made many new year’s resolutions but i still find myself back to square one! is talking too much bad? can’t people accept me the way i am? the fact remains that i don’t steal and i don’t fancy lies at all! my journey in life might be rough and crooked, but i guess there is still a good portion of humanity left in me! my only glaring weakness is ‘talking too much!’ hummm mmm! people are indeed funny. complaint here and there! my own is only to talk and talk! what can we say about young girls who snatch old women’s husbands, young girls’ boyfriends and fornicate as though sex is food? which one is a lesser evil?’ this was the very question i asked my mother after one long night of advice on this particular issue. she simply held me tight with her two arms and said, ‘chy, nwam, hei! don’t say that again! please, don’t try that at all. you are unique the way you are. you are a good child’, my mother muttered! that was the very first time my mother appreciated my imperfection. she looked straight into my searching eyes, caressed my head with her motherly palms and said, ‘nwam, you are wonderfully made!’ at that moment, i knew that my mother’s love for me was deeper than what i ever imagined. i used to think that my mother hated me more than my other siblings, because she would scold me, beat me and decline giving me money as a result of my talking habit. but that day, she viii revealed the deepest secret of her heart to me. she told me that talking too much was bad and could put someone into a big trouble. my mother said something that shocked me to the bones. ‘you talk too much, yes i know, but you always said them just the way they happened! talking too much has no medicine my dear, but you need to be very careful so that you wouldn’t put yourself in great danger!’ she said smiling broadly. that was the candid advice my mother gave me that night. i was very happy and the respect i had for my mother deepened the more. that was the best advice i ever received in the world which taught me the best way of coping with my bad habit. i did all within my power to avoid talking too much. the more i tried, the more i failed. **** ix chapter two there’s blindness in truth ‘evil must not continue! the truth must be told and evil exposed! ngozi must be exposed! i must do my part and leave the rest to god! god does not use spirits to reveal secrets, he sends his angels and these are people. yes, i mean people like you and i! my friend must not be humiliated again! enough is enough!’ chika said moving towards the huge building. ngozi had once threatened to ruin adanna’s marriage. chika knew that she would resort to cheap blackmail if nothing was done. she sounded very convincing the day she issued the threat. a group of girls sat in front of the huge building chatting in their usual girlish manner. ngozi sat in the middle busy with her black berry phone. she was silent. unusually silent and calm! she only scrutinized the cheerful faces of the girls who were busy talking. she wished there was a way she could know what happened after her meeting with emeka. she had envisaged problems, problems that would put an end to ada’s marriage. similing mischievously, ngozi looked at adanna. she thought, ‘this marriage must not happen! not today! not tomorrow! never! ashawo na ashawo! once ashawo, always ashawo!’ ngozi felt an encroaching restlessness as she watched adanna talking to an unknown caller. at first, she had enjoyed the company of the girls talking about adanna’s suitor. but she soon became bored and worried, half listening and half present. i always had a peculiar discomfort about ngozi’s presence in adanna’s house. x her facial expression and action said something about her hatred for adanna. she slipped her phone into her bag and left the girls. she was indeed strangely angry about something. she hurried to the small mud house close to the low kitchen stool where ada sat. ngozi looked at adanna’s screwed-up face and asked, ‘what’s the matter? why do you look so tensed and erratic?’ ‘i’m shocked and so nervous now!’ adanna said striding up the tight steps of the new building. as she entered the big building through the narrow backyard door, ngozi reviewed her interaction with emeka. she remembered how she had racked his brain to believe all her truth and lies. on that very day she spilled the venom of her bitterness, her room had no peculiar smell. in that hot afternoon, her room smelled of nothing, only neglect and frustration. her face only showed a rare blend of jealousy and hatred as she stared at ada’s mini picture on her phone. that afternoon, she did her best, the very best she could do to sow a seed! a seed of discord, endless discord! she took her phone and called emeka. ‘marry ada and regret later. marriage is a lifelong journey ooo. if you want more explanations, come to my house!’ ngozi shouted in a tone that startled emeka and switched off her phone. ‘what else could i have done? i told him lies and truth to sever their relationship. ada made me kill my fiancé! i killed nedu because of this useless girl!’ ngozi muttered to herself. she could still remember how emeka’s eyes dropped like that of a hurt dog when he entered her room. his face resembled a rat its small head had been battered by hungry looking children. xi ‘where did you get this sudden news from, ngo?’ emeka asked. ‘or are you now doing what i hear some young ladies do to destroy their girlfriend’s personality? ada is beautiful, stubborn and smart, but very descent. i’ll not let you insult and humiliate her.’ emeka said automatically stunned by her silent gaze. ‘what is this for? eh? you have disorganized me now!’ emeka’s eyes bulged. he moved forward and backward with his fingers clenched, as if to attack ngozi and then stopped. ‘cool down’, ngozi shouted. ‘don’t mention it, talk, talk, talk!’ emeka shouted, grumbling bitterly. ngozi stood up and adjusted her mini gown. ‘let’s sit down and talk if you don’t mind, i would like to make a few more frank comments about your girl. who would want to marry an abused girl from childhood? who would even want to be the husband of a loose woman? we are not sisters, we are just friends! we are not related by blood. i hate adanna. i simply hate her! i am afraid, she is not your kind of woman’. ngozi repeated, her voice rising, and tears filling up her eyes. ‘i’m sorry emeka, you can’t marry that hopeless girl,’ she said. ‘what is the problem?’ emeka asked, looking into her watery eyes. why don’t you tell me what the problem is? from your impromptu performance now, i would rather say you are a good actress. that’s quite a strong allegation from a friend against a friend!’ emeka shouted. xii ‘but i am shocked that this would come from you. you know what’s going on in my mind?’ emeka asked, ‘why don’t you tell me your story?’ ngozi continued. ‘adanna is an emblem of sexual exploitation and rejection. she is an orphan whose body has been battered by men’s hungry urge for sex. her alluring beauty has been a web used in manipulating men. my fiancé was one of her victims! yes, he was!’ngozi shouted. ‘adanna was a victim of incestuous rape. she was continuously raped by her father at a very tender age. this ushered her into series of rape and sexual exploitation. in fact, she was a local and international prostitute. she slept with men for money! yes, she did everything for money! she wanted it more than her life!’ngozi said pouting her lips. ‘i can’t believe that adanna had slept with hundreds of men! i can’t believe we are here to discuss adanna, the only girl that got my poor heart beating!’ emeka lamented. ‘calm down my dear’, ngozi said. ‘i am not here for you to lament over my friend’s betrayal. i am only here to save your life, your lineage and your future. i want my revenge! my mind will only relax when i have fully exposed her. she is an unrepentant prostitute without a living womb! she seduced my fiancé, slept with him and virtually everything in trousers! adanna is an embodiment of disgrace. tufiawa!’ emeka could sense anxiety in his muscles over this heart racking revelation. he wondered whether he had heard ngozi correctly, or whether her bitter hatred for adanna had made him dizzy. he guided his knees from right to left, flashed a glance at his sliver wristwatch, and xiii hissed. emeka could never have imagined that such an austere young lady could be a prostitute. ‘this is mere fiction! i‘m convinced that this is not true. it cannot be my ada! no no no no!’ emeka’s usual warmth had deserted him. he seemed tongue-tied, and unable to look into ngozi’s eyes. he suddenly felt like fainting. ‘are you changing your mind?’ ngozi interrupted tongue-in-cheek. ‘stop asking that nonsense question!’ emeka sounded irritated and angry. ‘this news is eating you, emeka. why are you so angry? oh, well i forgot that adanna is your sweetheart, your tomatoe jos, your akwa nwa! let’s go and eat. you need some food and drinks if you are feeling dizzy.’ ngozi mumbled. emeka quietly walked to the entrance through the narrow passage full of his own thoughts. he climbed down the sloppy cemented stairs, entered his car and zoomed off. everything had happened as planned. ngozi alone knew what irritated emeka. she lifted up her head from the test message she was reading, in the direction of the speeding car, wondering what would become of emeka’s marriage plans with adanna. ngozi could sense the anxiety in her muscles as she pondered to understand emeka’s reaction. ngozi looked at adanna’s picture on her phone, her oval-shaped face and pointed nose radiated a rear beauty that rekindled ngozi’s anger. an ominous air hung over her room for the rest of the day. she could not eat, or watch television. she felt visibly uneasy and couldn’t sleep a wink that night. **** xiv chapter three voices from within as time passed without seeing adanna coming back to the girls, i became very worried. what was keeping her away from the girls for so long? apart from my anxiety over ngozi’s questionable behaviour, i needed someone to talk to. someone to reveal the dirty secret that burdened my heart. i felt a little weak and leaned against the cemented wall close to the mud house. suddenly, emeka, adanna’s fiancé meandered through a group of guests in the compound, strode towards the mud house and demanded to know more about ada. he was furiously angry and lacked the usual patience that he had been known for. ‘thanks for concealing evil! i’ve heard everything! indeed, all females are mysterious, big and small. they are like a big ocean, deep and unfathomable!’ emeka said confronting chika. chika stared at him for some minutes and then turned away. ‘don’t tell me that you are here just to confirm the malicious lies someone told you about your fiancée. she is just a victim of circumstances.’ chika said irritatedly. ‘tell me what you know and save me the long sermon. i simply need the truth! final!’emeka shouted at her. ‘it’s alright. don’t worry, i will tell you,’ chika said. you will hear all you seek to know and judge her by yourself. but remember what happened the day you came to the shop, that very day you proposed to her. she wanted to open up to you about her life but you declined. the love xv you had for her blinded you. you refused to allow her utter a word. all you wanted to hear was her ‘yes’, her formal acceptance of your marriage proposal. i will tell you what i know about adanna, but that must start by narrating my own ordeal because our friendship started in a foreign land. our path crossed in china, not nigeria. you really need to be patient to make a good judgment.’ ‘ok, go on,’ emeka snorted. **** ada had often told me about her unlucky and unhappy life, especially her childhood experiences through adulthood. many times, ada had said to me, ‘life is cruel and people are wicked!’ i did not understand until i became submerged in the wickedness that nearly ruined my life. my dream of learning the chinese language had become a mere illusion and my fate had become so twisted and wasted. the only option for me was to become a skilled apprentice in order to patch my broken life until god sent me a helper. chika began to walk around the mud house, carefully avoiding the broken pieces of palm kernel that lay scattered on the ground. her mind went back to her journey to china. she darted to the cemented wall and sat down on a half broken block. she was unable to take her mind off that journey. that experience at beijing terminal created a lasting memory that triggered many bizarre memories. while narrating the story, chika remembered all the times her mother had sat her down begging her not to bring disgrace to their family. that evening, before her departure to lagos, her mother had told her to make a firm promise that she would concentrate on her studies and be as modest as she could be. xvi ‘i want a promise from you,’ she said gazing deeply into chika’s watery eyes. ‘what promise nnem?’ ‘a promise to remain a good girl i raised you! a promise to face your studies squarely! a promise to avoid evil association and illegal activities!’ it was the type of promise chika expected. she held her mother’s right hand and gave her a soft kiss. she could not avoid her mother’s gaze as she waited for her to make the promise. ‘i will make you proud! nnem, i will make you proud!’ chika said. ‘i trust you, my daughter’, mrs ugah said. ‘may the lord lead you safely to china. may he guide and protect you! may you be a success in all areas of your life!’ ‘amen!’ chika shouted. but her voice had lost a force that usually accompanied her speeches. again, chika returned her attention to the beijing airport. she shut her eyes tightly and screamed bitterly. **** chika fought back her tears as she wandered at the beijing airport terminal. people were streaming down the immigration section for the arrivals’ clearance and check-in. she seemed so confused and frustrated amidst the yellow and white skins. she could barely speak as a feeling of inferiority waved in her drumming heart. the piercing eyes of the chinese travelers generated in her a feeling of hatred for her dark complexion. at that moment, she wished she was white skinned. xvii ‘zhe ge shi ni de toufa?’ (is this your hair?) a cute young chinese lady asked! as chika tried to comprehend what she said, the young lady asked again. ‘shi zhen de haishi jiade?’(is your hair real or artificial?) touching her neatly braided long hair. at that moment, it dawned on chika that she was different from the people around her and a totally confused stranger. she was thrown into a state of confusion since she could barely understand what the young lady said. ‘pardon? what did you say?’ chika asked. ‘wo?’ (me?) the young chinese lady replied smiling broadly. judging by her facial expression, chika felt she was very polite and friendly. stretching forth her right hand she said. ‘i’m chika from nigeria’. what’s your name?’ ‘soly,soly,soly, buhaoyisi’ my engirish is nootu good !’(sorry sorry sorry, my english is not good.) the young chinese lady hurriedly replied drawing backwards as if she was being chased by someone. chika was puzzled and rooted to the ground as she saw the young lady hurrying down to join a very long queue. she merely looked in utter confusion and surprise. ‘what’s wrong with this yellow pawpaw? why is she shying away from telling me her name? oooooh! you sabi!’ chika muttered in her anambra accent as she carried her heavy bag to join the queue. ‘chei! chei! chei!’ china mara mma ooo! (china is beautiful ooo!)’ she glanced from one end of the terminal to the other. her friend’s father had once told her that ‘china is undeveloped with the largest population and that everything in china is fake and very inferior!’ she was also told in nigeria that ‘chinese people are ugly, flat nosed, very short with big heads, short hands and legs.’ xviii before coming to china, chika had already painted in her mind the assumed picture of china and her citizens. to her utmost surprise, none of these descriptions matched with reality. all she could see were cute faces, very stylish and well-marbled buildings. the beijing airport building was very classy, magnificent and fully furnished with big tv screens on the marbled walls. judging by the shiny floors, she would have sworn the airport was newly built by the chinese government. chika slowly walked down the big beautifully decorated high towered hall to join the line. she could hardly believe what she saw. her mind raced back to the murtala mohammed international airport at lagos, the old and scantly furnished two storied building, the noisy arena, the rush, and the clumsiness of the airport workers as people check in their luggage. chika could not hide her sense of anger, shame and hatred for the poor state of her country. once again, her thoughts were interrupted by the immigration officer. ‘please, may i help you?’ chika turned immediately. she saw the young handsome chinese smiling down at her. ‘oooooooh! no, noooooo! i was about joining the queue!’ chika replied. ‘are you from which country?’ the handsome tall chinese asked with a clear asian accent. ‘nigeria’, she muttered. ‘nigelia?’ he repeated as if he was confused. ‘you mean africa?’ the young man asked. chika told him that ‘africa is a continent and not a country.’ he simply told her that they assumed all africans were black in complexion, so they never bothered themselves about their different countries. xix ‘hao hao hao,okay la!’ (okay!) the officer said nodding in affirmation. ‘are you a student?’ he asked. ‘yes, i am a new student. it is my first time in china’. chika answered! ‘zhen de ma?’ (really?) huanying dao zhongguo! (welcome to china!) china is a very peaceful and beautiful place. please enjoy your stay here.’ he said. the conversation was interrupted by another immigration officer who demanded to see chika’s passport for verification. to her astonishment, chika noticed that the female immigration officer could speak good english with no asian accent. her eyes reverted to the long column of officers attending to the passengers at the arrival section, their faces looked very cheerful and calm. they seemed to be enjoying their work unlike the nigerian officers whose faces looked angry and tired. she noticed the officers were all young people approximately below the age of thirty-five. they were smartly dressed in their uniforms and had a charming look that swept chika off her feet. she wondered why in nigeria the case was different. there were many old people working in the airport. there were no rules concerning the airport dress code, the older workers wore agbada while the younger ones wore uniforms half tucked in with little or no smartness. ‘your passport please’, the female officer cut in. as chika stretched out her hand to present her passport, her lovely dark fingers brushed against the cute white skinned officer’s hand who gave her a warm smile. ‘have a happy and crime free stay in china’, the female officer added. xx ‘thanks!’ chika replied heading towards the exit passage **** xxi chapter four unknown journey the airport was a very huge one with different adjacent revolving doors and direction signs written in chinese characters. walking down the exit, chika felt a pressure below her abdomen. she looked for the direction signs but could not read the written chinese characters inscribed on the sign posts. she approached a middle aged female chinese mopping the marbled floor. ‘please, where is the toilet? chika asked. the woman looked at her and muttered something she could not comprehend while concentrating on her cleaning. she thought the chinese woman didn’t hear her clearly. so she repeated her question. ‘please ma, could you show me the toilet? i am very pressed!’ the woman simply smiled back at her and said, ‘ting bu dong!’ (i don’t understand). chika was totally confused and frustrated that she nearly messed up her pant. as she stood there trying to guess what was written on the sign posts, she saw a dark complexioned man walking down the exit passage with a young chinese man. she quickly ran to him and asked for the direction of the toilet, luckily for her the young man and his friend led her to the rest room and waited until she came out! when chika came out, she was very surprised to see the dark complexioned man and his chinese friend standing outside the public convenience. she looked at him and said in the usual nigerian pidgin accent. ‘maka chukwu! bro, i for don die or even shit for my pant if u no save me oooo!’ xxii ‘i bu onye igbo!’ (you are an igbo person) the dark complexioned guy shouted in surprise! ‘nwanne m! welcome to china’, he added. ‘what’s your name?’ the young man asked. ‘i’m chika’, she replied. ‘okay! i’m chinedu. you can call me nedu boy. i am from igbukwu town in anambra state. this is my friend, chang. he is from guangzhou in guangdong province.’ ‘nice to meet you, chang. waooh! i am also from anambra state, precisely agulu’, chika said. ‘what brought you to china? is this your first time here?’ chinedu asked. ‘yes oooo! i have come to study chinese language in beijing foreign studies university.’ ‘are you also a student?’chika asked. ‘no! i am a businessman. i do business in a city called guangzhou. can i have your phone number?’ chinedu asked. ‘oh! i have two numbers. one is glo and the other one is mtn. which one do you want?’chika asked. nedu looked at her and had a long stretched laugh… ‘haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ewo! adanne, mtn and glo no dey work here ooo! na only china sim card go work for china!’ ‘but they told us in naija that mtn is everywhere u go’, chika added. ‘for china no bi so! na china u dey ooo! things dey different here ooo! so get prepared ooo!’ nedu told her. he gave her his complimentary card and asked her to give him a call whenever she settled down. shortly after that, he left with his chinese friend to check-in their xxiii luggage for their trip to guangzhou. chika was indeed very happy that she met someone from her country. she carefully put the card in her small aba wallet and headed out to board a taxi to her destination. she saw a long line of new cars parked at a section she assumed was the taxi stand. she would have mistaken them to be owned by private individuals if not for the inscription on the new cars written taxi. again, she looked at the long line of people as they entered the bus without any form of rush, fighting or pushing. ‘na waoooh! which kind country bi this oooo？ see how people just dey relaxed, no rush rush, no pushing pushing, no talk talk! this one na china wonder! no bi american wonder again oooo! ewoooh! no bi small tin oooh!’chika muttered. she saw a long queue of chinese people waiting to board the taxi. chika joined the queue and greeted them but none of them responded to her greetings. they simply looked at her from hair to toes. their faces looked confused and their eyes searched her body in astonishment. she saw them pointing at her and saying, ‘hei ren’ (black person). she was confused, ashamed and angry! the worst of it all was that she did not understand what they were saying. at that particular moment she thought of racism. ‘are these people racists? why are they looking at me like that? what is wrong in being black?’ she murmured! she felt like disappearing and longed for her dear country nigeria. ‘indeed, there is no place like home! home is home, no matter what!’ she again muttered. a wave of xxiv inferiority engulfed her as she glanced from one yellow skinned chinese to the other. ‘chei! this is a mass of great injustice to africa! look at their smooth yellowish skin, pointed noses, curved figures and slim bodies. i thought they said the chinese are ugly, short, flat-nosed and shapeless! nawa ooooooh! see their long dark hair! see ooo! they don’t have buttocks but their shapes and curves are indeed something else!’ her thoughts were interrupted by the taxi man who demanded for her destination. ‘ni qu nar?’ (what’s your destination?) the taxi man asked. chika could hardly understand his statement. she told the man that she was going to beijing foreign studies university but the man quickly said, ‘ting bu dong!’ (i don’t understand) and went for another chinese passenger. chika stood there lost, angry and frustrated. she tried speaking with some chinese people at the taxi park but all shied away saying ‘ting bu dong’ (i don’t understand) in their usual chinese manner while covering their mouths with their palms. chika stood there depressed and dejected. she wondered why they covered their mouths while answering her back. ‘could it be that i smell? no, it can’t be! i brushed my teeth, cleaned up and sprayed my perfume when i used the restroom. i smell fresh. what could be the problem?’ she contemplated. ‘hallo’, a voice cut in. ‘where are you folooom?’ stretching forth her hand to greet chika. chika looked at her and wondered the type of person she was. instead of asking for her name, she asked xxv for her country. at first, chika was infuriated but on a second thought she replied. ‘nice to meet you! i’m chika from nigeria.’ what’s your name?’ ‘callu me wang! i am a student at peking university. you are from aflica?’ wang asked. ‘i’m from africa but africa is not a country. it is a continent for god’s sake!’ chika added! she wondered why they referred to all black people from different countries as africans as if africa had become a country and not a continent. chika was not in the mood for any conversation. her greatest concern was to take a taxi to her destination. ‘please, i am a new student! i want to board a taxi to my new school but i’m not fluent in chinese language’, chika said. ‘whatu isee your new school?’ wang asked. ‘beijing foreign studies university’, chika answered. ‘okay la! bei wai’, the young chinese shouted! she told chika to enter the next available taxi and she spoke to the taxi driver in a language that sounded so funny and curly. wang waved at chika and said, ‘welicome tu china! pye pye” (bye bye). chika waved back at her and the noiseless taxi sped off the airport road. **** xxvi chapter five this world is different chika fought with her conscience. her eyes searched the beijing streets in amazement, and she could see high towered buildings on both sides of the road. she could barely hide her astonishment. ‘ewoooo oh! this na building abi na toy house?’ she exclaimed! the roads were very wide and clean. the sides were beautified with colourful flowers and she could barely see people walking about in the street. she wondered what the problem was. again, she glanced through her watch and shouted. ‘what? 4am? this is impossible! maybe something is wrong with my wristwatch. but i bought this watch just two days ago and it was okay.’ her eyes reverted to the time set in the taxi and it was eleven o’clock. she could not understand at that time but assumed that something was wrong with her wristwatch. chika sat nervously at the edge of the car seat. again, she glanced at her wristwatch and the time set in the taxi and hissed. she wondered why they had not reached their destination. her heart was drumming and she could feel it. just then, her stomach made a rumbling sound and she felt a very sharp pain at the center of her belly. tension and fear gripped her. she felt some watery substance coming out of her anus. she tightened her anus and perched her buttocks at the edge of the taxi seat. she was clutching her stomach with both hands as if to prevent the liquid substance from passing through her anus. xxvii ‘o god, please save me from this shame and humiliation! why did i even eat those pilipili food they served us in the airplane? why did i even allow my longer throat to put me in this piteous condition?’ her memory again went back to when they were in the airplane. she could remember how she yearned to taste all the drinks and continental dishes served in the airplane which never satisfied her hunger. she could still hear the soft voice of the air hostess singing like a mosquito in her ears. ‘tea, coffee, juice, soft drinks, beer or water. marched curry potatoes, beef rice, blended rice, fruit salad. which one do you care for?’ the pretty chinese hostess asked smiling politely. ‘i want marched curry potatoes, fruit salad and juice, pleaseee!’ chika replied. ‘ok, wait for a moment’, the hostess said. the aroma of different types of dishes saturated the plane. the aroma was very inviting that she felt like emptying all the food in her stomach. she eagerly waited for the food and drinks to be served. she could see some white people in the first roll of the plane cabin munching and licking their lips. again she salivated and felt like tearing the food away from them. chika was terribly hungry to the extent that her stomach was rumbling and drumming like a huge drum. she had no supper before leaving her cousin’s house for the airport. she hurriedly moved into the busy streets of lagos so that she would not miss her flight. she was so hungry but refused to buy food or drinks at the airport because she heard that things were expensive abroad. she kept the little money she had and went on hunger strike for hours. **** xxviii chapter six newness in uncertainty the journey to the university was very long and tiring. chika sat at the back seat of the taxi angry and tired. a sense of sadness and frustration waved in her heart as a result of her twenty-one hours’ journey from nigeria to china. she looked at the driver whose face never showed any emotion but yawned at internals. a strong garlic smell brushed chika’s nose, causing her to squeeze her face and hold her breath. the driver continued to gape uncontrollably. chika did not like the smell at all. she shifted her gaze to the window. she noticed that the streets were clean and the roads were very smooth with no potholes. there were no hawkers on the streets and high ways calling out for customers. immediately, her memory reverted to high ways and streets in nigeria where different groups of hawkers and beggars positioned themselves calling out to travelers in moving vehicles. again her thoughts were disrupted. she could see groups of yellow skinned people moving towards the same direction with umbrellas. she couldn’t understand why people were holding umbrellas under a very good weather. chika also noticed the skimpy wears and short pants that revealed some parts of their bodies. she looked at the driver and he was wearing a light blue shirt. ‘they said that obodo oyibo is cold and that people always wear jackets and rain coats to shield them from catching pneumonia. ahaaaaaa! why are these people wearing pants?’ chika mumbled. xxix she critically looked at herself and the heavy sweater she was wearing. chika was neither cold nor hot. she hurriedly removed her sweater and folded it neatly into her big black ‘ghana-must-go’ bag. her attention was again disrupted by the sudden halting of the car in front of a huge gate. the statues of two giant lions boldly stood at both sides of the gate. behind the statues, were the pillars and above them was the inscription written in bold letters bei wai (beijing foreign studies university, china). chika could see people trudging in and out of the gate. some of them sipping juice and munching fruits while others chat in an unusual manner. the taxi driver said, ‘women dao le!’(we have arrived) chika looked confused. but for the inscription on the entrance of the gate she would have believed the school was a king’s palace. ‘how much is your money?’ chika asked. the driver did not reply but pointed to the meter in the taxi. chika’s eyes reverted to the meter which read hundred yuan of chinese currency. she hurriedly searched through her hand bag and brought out a hundred naira note. she quickly offered it to the driver who waved his hand and said. ‘bu bu bu! bu yao!’(no no no. i don’t want) 'but, this is hundred naira! please sir, take it! that’s what your meter reads.’ chika said. the driver brought out a neat reddish pink and white rectangular shaped paper and said, ‘dis one moni, moni, one hondreedi yuan! givu mii, givu mii!’ he said angrily. chika looked in confusion and replied, ‘see me see trouble ooo. i just gave you a hundred naira but you refused. what else do you want?’ xxx turning away from the scene, chika glanced at a group of people looking sheepishly towards their direction. a young light skinned lady in a lovely pink and white short gown walked up to them and began to talk to the driver. she had promised to give the driver the taxi fare. the young lady opened her wallet and brought out the same reddish pink and white rectangular shaped cut paper initially displayed by the driver. she handed it over to him as they talked in what sounded like mandarin. with some efforts chika controlled the aching urge to flare up. she kept her mouth shot and silently watched the driver enter his taxi and drove away. all the same, chika had learnt from her bitter foreign experience. she looked at the jostling crowd in front of the school gate and was overwhelmed by a strong wave of shame. she turned to the young lady who paid her taxi fare as she heaved a sigh of relief. she said gently, ‘hummm! thanks for saving my face! i am very grateful. i gave the driver this hundred naira note from my country, he declined accepting it.’ chika brought out the roughly folded money from her bag and showed the lady. the lady’s face brightened. ‘don’t trouble yourself! there’s no problem. i guess you are new here? my name is jessica.’ the young lady said stretching her right hand towards chika. ‘i am chika. this is my first time out of my country. could you please direct me to the students’ registration building?’ ‘sure!’ the young lady replied leading the way. the school environment seemed very strange to chika. it was like a fairy world displayed on a television set. nobody at the school looked like her. she saw some mixed colours of people who had long silky hair like the xxxi chinese but none of them were as dark as her. each of them gave her a broad look as she thrashed her way to the registration hall. the walk to the new students’ registration hall lasted a little over thirty minutes because of the vast landscape of the school. huge buildings stood neatly at different corners. they were very intimidating buildings nicely decorated with transparent glass windows, brick blocks and porches. the lawns and flower gardens in front of these buildings were neatly cut and well maintained. the roads were broad and the path ways neatly marbled and carved. students were seen going about their usual business. ‘this is a beautiful place.’ chika muttered to jessica. ‘wait until you settle down’, she replied with a simple smile. ‘china is a beautiful country and the chinese people are very industrious and traditional. they are also kind and friendly.’ jessica continued walking towards a giant building. she entered the building and chika followed her silently noting with admiration the chinese flower pots, neatly curved panes and the sparkling stair case. no description would have made it easy for chika to locate the building-all the buildings in the school look alike. their patterns were similar except for the inscriptions written in mandarin chinese character. a lanky chinese young man wearing what seemed like a nigerian police uniform opened the glass door wide enough to let them in and at the same time muttering something that sounded awkward. xxxii ‘huanying!’ (you are welcome.) he said standing like a tree. chika thought that was even ridiculous, greeting without any display of emotion. the young man looked cute in his sky-blue shirt, black trousers and well-polished shoes. some ideas were already springing up in her mind… her thoughts were interrupted by jessica who beckoned her to follow closely. ‘please pardon me,’ chika said walking towards the lobby. chika stood in the lobby of the huge building watching students file one by one in the hall. the sign above the counter read: ‘new students registration office’. it was a tuesday mid-day, supposedly the most tedious period for the office attendants. the line was long and filled with new students who probably had arrived as freshmen in the school. their bags and other belongings were kept at one corner of the building. no one was smiling. they looked as if they had all come from a funeral. their faces were squeezed and long that you could sense their frustration and disappointment. in fact, there was a horrible sense of sadness that overwhelmed the hall. ‘please come back at 2pm. we are on break!’ one of the office attendants said locking the main door leading to other offices. jessica glanced at her watch and heaved a sigh of frustration. ‘sorry, the office is closed for now! it’s 12 noon sharp!’ she said. ‘what do you mean? it’s just 12 noon and they are on break?’ chika shouted a deep sign of disappointed written over her face. ‘yes! that’s the tradition here! chinese people do things differently. they have their modus operandi. they xxxiii go to work at 7am, take a break from 12 noon to 2pm and then close at 6pm.’ jessica explained. there was a horrible sense of loneliness and sadness that enveloped the hall. many of the students headed to different directions. some of them walked out of the revolving door as if the whole world had collapsed on their shoulders. chika, irritatedly stomped around the huge building. each minute that passed meant a lot to her. for several hours, she had not showered and had been without any good food. her mind jumped from one thing to another. chika stared in front of her for a second and stepped out of the building. ‘studying abroad is not an easy task’, chika was thinking to herself. her coming to china marked the beginning of a new life of struggle without her family or relatives. jessica was surprised to see chika behaving in that awkward manner. she felt like leaving chika alone, but cautioned herself and strode towards her. **** xxxiv chapter seven what i never knew chika had gone through stress to meet each of the requirements as a foreign student. lying on her bed at the international students’ hostel chika suppressed a yawn, stretching out her arms to hold back sleep. the journey had been very hectic for her. the twenty-one hours’ journey and the new students’ registration process had shortened her hours of sleep. there was a vacuum in her life, an absolute emptiness without family, friends and home. chika liked the campus, the high towered buildings with marble-laced walls and the sophisticated environment adorned with flowers. she liked her room which was fully furnished like a hotel. she was lying down on the bed. suddenly, she got up and stood looking out of the only window onto the surroundings. she gazed admiringly out of the window. chika turned around and firmly tugged the robe of the thick white curtain to allow in the cool evening air. she picked up her ghana-must-go bag from the floor and made for the wardrobe. she wanted to unpack before going out to eat dinner. chika was stopped by a loud knock on the door. she peeped through the small security opening and she saw, standing there in the door way, jessica. jessica stood solidly by the doorway, with lowered eyes. chika knew the reason for jessica’s visit. she felt as if time was playing a fast game on her. she opened the door and jessica walked in. xxxv jessica gasped. ‘are you ready?’ she asked. ‘what? gini?’ chika asked in her usual anambra accent. she looked angrily at jessica. she wanted to unpack and rest yet there was that gnawing in her stomach that had become familiar. she was hungry and desperately wanted to quench it. ‘you are not in africa, come on let’s go for dinner before the school canteen closes. you can’t afford to eat outside the school. it’s quite expensive! come on, be quick. let’s go! come on chika, let’s go for our food.’ jessica said. chika did not utter a word. it saddened her that she had not settled before jessica arrived. she quickly grabbed her bag and her electronic room card on the bed and headed outside with jessica. **** the first time chika went to the school canteen, she was really fascinated and intimidated by different shades of students who trooped in to have their dinner. chika looked again at the jostling crowd in front of the food counters. ‘can’t we exercise some patience? there are many people lined up for food’. she said again feeling so reluctant. ‘we don’t have to stand there forever. look, there are many counters over there! come on.’ jessica said pulling chika by the hand. xxxvi chika stood watching and absorbing everything. and then and there was pretty wu, a tiny chinese lady. pretty wu with her ancient look, her panda shaped eyes, short scanty hair and yellowish skin seated at the front table of the school canteen with a smile that suggested something. she was so tiny and was wearing a brownish tight gown that made her buttock look like a flat board. she smiled often and constantly covered her mouth with her two palms. she looked so small and childlike that chika could not ignore her. chika, half smiled in sympathy followed jessica to join a line of students. it was indeed a tedious day. chika had walked past students sprawled on the nicely carved wooden chairs in the canteen. different types of food were displayed in glass covered containers below students’ canteen menu sign written in chinese characters and english. chika flinched when she saw a full fried toad-like creature in one of the containers. in that tensed still second she saw the toad-like creature, she flinched. ‘what’s this?’ she asked jessica. ‘a toad or what?’ chika asked again. jessica simply looked at her and smiled through the corners of her lips. she opened her small blue purse and brought out her student card. she then turned to chika and said, ‘try the frogs, they are really delicious!’ ‘toads or frogs? tufiakwa! we don’t eat toads in our country! they can be very poisonous!’ chika replied with an air of indignation. xxxvii a firm female voice from the school canteen counter, with a clear chinese accent, asked, ‘whatu do youu want to eatii?’ a silent sigh, like air, swept through chika. she opened her mouth and tightened her lips. she pointed at the silver tray containing white rice and another one with red tomatoes stew. she raised her hand to the waitress indicating that she did not want any other food. jessica ordered for some rice with chicken curry and some long uncut vegetables. she placed her card on a telephone-like device and paid the bill. chika was puzzled by many things but she had learned not say too much to save herself from constant embarrassment. she silently followed jessica to a table looking around, as though seeking for someone. it took chika and jessica just five minutes to collect their food. the queue was long but the students were well mannered and organized unlike in most nigerian universities were students continuously jumped the queue, fought and engaged in verbal attacks. in most cases, constant pushing and elbowing became a norm. chika grumbled as she ate the under-cooked rice and sugary stew. she abruptly stopped eating when the sugary taste became unbearable. ‘damn these people!’ she cried as she dropped the spoon on the table. ‘what is this? sweetened red stew? how could these people cook food with sugar? in nigeria, this is not done at all! this country is funny. sugar and tomatoes xxxviii kwa? eeeh? they have terrible cooks here! hummmmm!’ chika said with disgust. ‘it’s not the fault of the cooks. this is a special kind of food for most chinese and other foreigners. you made a wrong choice here. next time please tell me what you want so that i would help you choose your food. in china, we do not judge any food by looking at it, we always like asking the flavour and taste. i’m so sorry dear.’ jessica put in. chika pushed her plate away and declared she was going to her room to eat the biscuits with a bottle of coke she bought from a mini supermarket in the campus. she stood up. chika was about to leave when she was interrupted. a girl next to her, face well rounded and flushing pink-red, burst out pointing at her, ‘hei ren!’ (black person). ‘ni kan zhe ge hei ren!’ (see this black person) the girl said to her friends. chika looked at the ugly rounded-face chinese girl to see how the word ‘hei’ got connected to her. again, the girl unafraid pointed at chika the third time a vague terror freezing her compressed facial features into a scornfulsmile. ‘please do not get angry dear’, jessica said. ‘they are my coursemates and they are puzzled seeing a black person as dark as you with long braided hair.’ jessica pleaded with chika. ‘try and make friends with them in a spirit of true friendship. but make sure you remain friends with xxxix other africans, as this would help you keep your ego high.’ jessica muttered holding her chinese chop-sticks in the air. there was a pause. chika looked deeply at jessica. ‘is that all?’ chika asked. ‘what do you mean? jessica asked ‘what is hei ren? chika asked. ‘black person or dark complexioned individual. but it is not derogatory dear. the thing is, each time chinese people say the word, it hurts africans’, jessica said. ‘they should stop identifying people with their colours. i mean, the word, ‘hei ren’ is derogatory. i think it’s insulting to spill it out.’ chika said. ‘i don’t think it’s always hurtful. i think it depends on the intention of the person saying the word. i don’t think they mean any harm. they are simply fascinated seeing a black person’, jessica cut in. jessica and chika were wrapped in a minute silence. then a tiny ringing voice rose from one of the girls who clustered around the wooden table. she walked towards chika touching her dark skin to ascertain the extent it had been covered with dirt. the other girls threw their heads back and roared with laughter. tears clustered in their eyes leaving traces of wetness on their cheeks. they stopped laughing when they noticed that jessica and chika were staring angrily at them as if they had lost their minds. xl ‘you are from africa, right? she asked extending her right hand to chika. ‘hi. i’m mei. i’m from xiamen city, an island city in the southeast china’s fujian province.’ mei had a peculiar comic air of a person who could amuse people while having a serious discussion. chika was frowning and silent. she did not answer the question right away because she was very furious. ‘yes. i’m chika. i am from nigeria not africa! africa is a continent with many countries just like asia.’ chika replied with great difficulty. she dropped the ceramic spoon noisily on the plate and looked at wang with narrowed eyes. she stared at her for want of what to say. she took a deep breath and said to jessica, ‘i want to be alone. i’m heading straight to my room.’ ‘no you are not going anywhere now.’ please don’t be offended. you need to finish your food.’ jessica pleaded. chika walked over to jessica and placed her right hand on her left shoulder. ‘i want to be alone,’ chika said in a low voice. ‘my head is buzzing and throbbing. i feel so dizzy and my body is seriously aching.’ chika withdrew her hand and adjusted her trousers. she took her purse, lifted her plates and headed to the washing sink. chika knew that she was going to have a serious problem with the derogatory word. she felt so dejected, inferior and alone in the world. she left the school canteen and sat down close to a flower garden. xli after some minutes of pondering, chika walked back to her room. she opened the door and sat on her bed. she was feeling so unhappy and it was very difficult to put her thoughts together. she went to the window and focused her gaze on the small artificial river in front of the hostel. she gazed at the river because she wanted to escape from her world. again, chika went back to her bed but found it difficult to sleep. the short encounter with those tiny chinese girls had reminded her of racial discrimination, a common topic discussed in african literature. she hoped she would be able to cope with the humiliation that awaited her. it was unfair for those girls to point fingers at her calling her a black person. she gently placed her head on the white pillow and shut her eyes to forcefully usher sleep in. she however resolved not to be hard on herself. after all, she was all by herself here. her friends and family were too far away to cheer her up. she had just arrived and a wave of inferiority complex and loneliness had overwhelmed her whole body. chika remained on the bed. her stomach fluttered. she couldn’t believe that the incident at the school canteen would make her so nervous. again forces inside her took over, one telling her to remain calm and sleep. another faint voice inside her was warning and spurring her to retaliate. she had been humiliated and intimidated by those students. chika remembered many people telling her that africans were not respected in foreign countries because they had been classified as third world people. the remark xlii by the girls had hurt her badly. the girls didn’t know the difference between someone’s natural complexion and being a dirty pig. in their thinking, ‘all africans are dark complexioned because they were very poor and dirty.’ this was the story circulated by many chinese grandparents who had no glimpse of what africa looked like. jessica was different because her father had african friends who patronized his business at guangzhou. jessica also had many african friends who had helped to improve her spoken english. she always had a soft spot for african students because they were free and very open, unlike the chinese people who were more conservative. chika remained silent. she remembered her decision to make her mother proud. ‘i must keep my ambition alive! i must not allow these yellow skinny chinese girls to intimidate me and thwart my dreams.’ chika said to herself. she had stopped thinking now and was gazing at the chinese designs on the ceiling of her room when sleep snapped a shot on her. **** xliii chapter eight painting beijing in chimamanda adichie’s words beijing, in the summer, was very hot and humid. chika liked the temperate and continental monsoon climate, the noiseless crowds and the sophisticated high towered buildings sequentially lined up on the clean streets. the quiet but foggy air that smelled more of green teas, garlic and ginger nauseated her and prevented her from taking deep breaths. beijing had a peculiar strong scent of garlic. the streets smelled of garlic, and every corner smelled of garlic-ginger. she liked watching the locals especially the aged exercising their bodies outside the streets every morning. she liked the campus, the architectural modeled lion and dragon designs on the buildings and school gates that looked rather gothic. she liked the way everything was transformed linking the day to the night except for the darkened skies. she liked her new freedom, her life of affluent ease, someone whose study expenses had been taken care of by the chinese government. but she did not like that she was the only dark complexioned girl in the schoolfew black students had been seen in the school but they were so light-skinned and silky-haired that they could be called black americans not minding their originality. the chinese were so obsessed with america, so black americans were as good as white, red and yellow americans. no chinese wanted dark complexioned babies. they believed that blackness xliv signaled two thing: poverty and dirtiness. oftentimes, blackness was associated with foul odour which explained why some chinese who covered their noses on meeting chika expressed a deep sense of awe at the sweet rasp berry fragrance emanating from her body. the constant compliment on the sweet smell that accompanied her body had always been a major topic of conversation. ‘ni de xiangshui hen hao!’ (your perfume smells good) they said. chika still wondered why black irritated most people. in nigeria, most men wanted fair girls for marriage. dark complexioned girls were always consoled by that common slogan, ‘black is beautiful!’ the craziness for fair complexion had so enriched many businessmen and caused various kinds of skin diseases to unsuspecting girls in a bid to look shinny. during chika’s first month in beijing, when she walked the streets, entered a bus or took the subway, she was struck by how mostly ugly chinese ladies would point at her and would shout ‘hei ren’ (black person). they would gather around her giggling and touching her skin to check if she indeed coated herself with black paint or charcoal. she had not thought of them as ‘morons’ because that would be a bad judgment according to her friend, jessica. so she always struggled to banish inferiority complex from her mind whenever a similar incident occurred. again, chika faced another problem that troubled her so much. her long braided hair had been a strong xlv attraction that fascinated many chinese people. the braided hair now looked more like dreadlock or twine ropes. they would point at her and laugh. others who had the boldness to confront her, would touch her braids pulling it to know if it was a wig. they reminded her of the story told about white men who first visited the african regions. on seeing those white people, africans thought they were ghosts. that was the picture that was painted on chika’s mind whenever a similar incident occurred. in fact, she was not angry but presumed they were naïve and uncivilized. one day, a rude old woman in the supermarket outside the school – who was haggard, short and smalllipped had intended to offend her by shouting and following her around but had instead insulted herself. the old woman who consistently shouted ‘feizhou ren’ (african person) while following chika was accosted by the security guards who ousted her out of the supermarket. that was the very first time chika heard the word, ‘feizhou’. that word kept her thinking for a very long time. she did not think of her hair most of the time, but constant embarrassments had pushed her to look for places where she would braid her hair. she did not like that she had to travel so far to braid her hair. it was so unreasonable to expect a braiding salon in beijing. there were few black people that had stubborn and hard hair like chika. so the only option was to cut her hair or travel to guangzhou city just like chinedu said. she had never cut her hair as a young lady and would not xlvi do it now that she had many challenges. she wondered why there were a few black people in beijing. she also wondered why many africans settled in guangzhou. she began to plan and dream, to travel to guangzhou. but as the weeks passed, she knew she would never be sure. china was strangely wrapped in gauze. chika could not understand many things. she greatly missed her home. sometimes she worried about the possible consequences of returning home without fulfilling her dream. ‘assuming i encounter a huge problem here or enter into trouble of any kind?’ chika would mutter to herself, tongue-in-cheek. the idea of returning home without finishing her studies haunted her greatly. she started developing weak knees when she was only at the starting blocks of a reeling marathon. her mother had cautioned her to avoid anything that could result in love relationships or cause troubles. many thoughts had triggered off other brainwaves. her choice of studying the chinese language had begun as one such brainwave. learning the language seemed an ideal avenue for assisting most igbo rich people who patronized the chinese people. she believed that her role as an interpreter would fetch her more money and eventually help her secure a good job. ‘china is becoming very powerful’, the mother would say to her back then in nigeria. as usual, hope resurrected in her as she recalled her mother’s kind words and encouragement. chika heaved a sigh. she was thinking of going back to the classroom to revise what had been taught. the first five weeks of stay in china had been xlvii tedious. studying chinese language seemed very difficult and demanding. many hours of lecture with chinese teachers who rarely spoke english weakened her more. she barely understood the words they pronounced while lecturing. at that time, she confessed that learning the language in nigeria was easier and elementary. during her certificate classes at the confucius institute, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, learning was quite easy and fun. the chinese teachers were liberal and lenient in every aspect. they were friendlier and cared less about the teaching hours and students’ attitudes. they never displayed an uncommon attitude of ‘mind your business’ or a stern look which overwhelmed the students with constant fear. all offices were always accessible at any time and students could easily enter any office of their choice to discuss or chat with the teachers. beijing foreign studies university of china was quite different. the opposite was the case, teachers were serious minded and rarely had a serious chit-chat friendly conversation with the students. chika had criticized many things and had consistently threatened herself until she began to take her studies seriously. constant revision and study would be better than nothing, she had reasoned. she was the only african in her class. all were chinese students except for two students who came from ukraine and india. apart from her anxiety over her studies, chika needed someone to talk to, someone to tell her that she would overcome her xlviii challenges and emerge victorious in the end. she had been thinking and wondering what her results would be like. **** xlix chapter nine a different life in a different world studying in china was not quite easy for chika, classes were demanding and being dark complexioned made her situation worse. everything was provided by the chinese government, so she never worried over buying or borrowing textbooks during classes. she concentrated more on taking notes in the class and reading them later. her new friend, jiali, a thin young girl who always worked around with umbrella and avoided the sun, often saying ‘it affects my skin and eyes,’ would help chika with her coursework and other issues related to her studies. jiali was a very timid person with unsophisticated look. her quest for knowledge and great interest in learning the english language kept her glued to any foreigner. jiali was not a difficult person, a childish young girl who was so naïve that chika often thought her stupid. jiali wore a constant mourning demeanour, her body language and facial expressions made others think less of her. she was dark-yellow complexioned and always talked low of herself which suggested something, a rural peasant background. she spoke english to a considerable extent, but her strong chinese accent gave it a different tone that was rather funny. jiali was intelligent but not smart. at first, chika disliked her, responding to her was a very difficult task. chika was cold to jiali during her first week of study in the class, determined not to indulge in the l affairs of a peasant chinese girl who looked rather less sophisticated. but she had come, with the passing weeks, to care for jiali due to her challenges. chika thought often of her classes. after each lecture, she would leave the classroom in search of a peaceful spot to revise what had been taught. she constantly buried her face in her book to keep her ambition alive. chika had suppressed the anger in her heart. she had decided to ignore the insolent look that greeted her every day. she was used to people pointing and looking at her. she needed to work out many things about her studies. she needed to come up with a new strategy. she also needed to study hard for good grades. chika needed no one to tell her that she would find it difficult to make good grades. she kept thinking of the best way to help herself. **** it was now fifty minutes after the first class which ended since 11am. chika was in a garden, in a small garden near the school canteen. jiali was with her. they were sitting on a long wooden carved chair, each full of her thoughts. chika was trying to make sense of what had been taught in the class when jiali interrupted. ‘look at this, shika,’ she said. ‘look at this woman from aflica,’ she said again pointing at the picture displayed on her phone. li ‘she is so dark-skinned like you. this is very stunning! do aflicans paint themselves to be so dark complexioned? why are you so dark?’ jiali asked. chika did not laugh. she was firm staring back when jiali starred. she did it rather coldly and indifferently. ‘yes, she is,’ chika said. ‘she is just as dark as me, only that she is skinny with projected forehead. we never created ourselves. god made us black and we are not complaining! why are you worrying over it. that young woman is not from my country anyways. she is from kenya. she is from africa and not aflica! africa is a continent and not a country. we might have the same complexion but we are from different countries. it’s high time you stopped referring to africa as a country! africa is a continent, please!’ chika said. ‘please shika, don’t be offended. i don’t understand why all black people are called ‘feizhou ren’ (an african) in china,’ jali said. ‘the word, ‘fei’ in the chinese dictionary has negative meaning.’ aflica … mmmm africa is called ‘feizhou’! is aflica evil? are the people evil? please tell me’, jiali asked almost pleading. at first, chika disliked jiali’s questions, responding to what she thought was jali’s disturbing questions became a difficult task. she was careful not to show jiali that she was angry and disappointed. suddenly, chika put down her book, calmly walked past jiali, leaving her behind without any comment. lii **** chika sat down on a black chair near her bed in the hostel and tried to figure out the possible way to answer jali’s questions without showing her resentment. she needed her companionship. she needed her to remain her student-teacher. chika smiled with satisfaction as she flipped through the pages of her notebook. it was very important to know much about china and to collect as much information as possible in order to cope with difficult situations. she was particularly happy that she did not overreact when jiali interrupted her reading with bizarre questions. chika would have felt bad going ahead to shun a girl who stood by her in difficult times. jiali indeed had helped her to keep her sanity in situations much more complicated than the questions she asked. ‘studying in china must be a harrowing experience for many black people’, chika muttered to herself. ‘what can we do?’chika asked despondently. ‘we didn’t create ourselves! we are africans. we cannot run away from our identity. we are mocked everywhere! we live everyday with a strong stench of stereotype which has weakened our self-worth. chinese people can at least be reasonable in their acts. they should stop embarrassing black people by moping and pointing at them everywhere. i think they should be reoriented to change this unfair tradition.’ chika said. liii chika assured herself that everything would be okay. she was greatly relieved that she had controlled her emotions at the nick of time. **** liv chapter ten solitude is my companion chika looked out of the window. she felt so lonely and homesick. there was a unique kind of solitude that crept into her life, a stark emptiness, without relatives and friends. she wondered what she knew about chinedu apart from his name and that he lived in a city called guangzhou and that he was a businessman. chika remained silent. she was thinking of the best way to wriggle out of the solitude that crippled her happiness in china. she assured herself that she would visit chinedu in guangzhou very soon. ‘how could i visit a man i merely met at the airport?’chika queried herself, pouting. she knew nothing about chinedu except the one he had told her. she knew he must be very rich, but something about him intimidated and scared her leaving a big question mark in her tender heart. ‘to tell the truth, i know nothing about this man. i don’t know the kind of business he does over there. as for the kind of business he does for which most nigerian men are often associated with, i could not tell.’ chika said. chinedu sounded genuine and convincing, but a faint voice inside chika was giving her a stern warning. **** lv chika pulled out her phone from her small black purse and then suddenly slipped it back with an air of frustration. ‘i don’t know why chinedu refused to call as he promised. i will go and see him wherever he is.’ chika said. her eyes melted and her face collapsed into despair. chika watched a tiny black ant crawling on the silver window panes in front of her, perhaps wandering about in search of food or shelter. she was thinking deeply again. life would be boring for her during the ‘chinese golden week’. she would never be able to tour round beijing now that jessica and jiali had gone home for the chinese national day. she would have travelled with jiali or jessica to their hometown but decided to stay behind after receiving a call from chinedu. she went back to her bed and sat down, unable to take her mind off her thoughts. the strenuous classes she had affected her adversely that she needed to move to a different atmosphere for fresh air. she remembered vividly the day jiali had spoken to her about the chinese national day. it was during her first month at beijing foreign studies university, when she had many difficulties and struggles. jiali would often stare at chika like a young man who had suddenly lost the boldness to woo a young girl. chika could remember how she looked her straight in the face and said in simple mandarin (chinese language), ‘ni weishenma kan wo? (why are you looking at me?)’ chika asked. lvi ‘ni hen hei ! you look so dark! why are you so dark complexioned?’ jiali asked looking so astonished. chika remembered her words to jiali after receiving that thrilling question from her. ‘i am not ashamed of my body and complexion. i am not responsible for the way i look,’ she had told jiali. ‘i don’t like worrying about things i can’t change or control. you and i were not given the opportunity to choose our countries or complexion. but i can choose not to let all these bother me!’ chika said half serious, half smiling. jiali looked her straight in the face feeling so sorry and said, ‘i am sorry for being rude but i must confess, you are beautiful, shika. please, may i be your friend?’ chika accepted her friendship request but was only interested in classwork. chika was very thirsty for knowledge, and so determined to understand her courses which were purely taught in chinese. jiali told chika to come to her whenever she had problems. she also taught chika how to use her phone to search for words in chinese. jiali came into chika’s life when she was feeling low, when some chinese people ridiculed and embarrassed her. she was indeed a good a companion in time of need. **** one moody afternoon, chika visited jiali in her small room in the chinese hostel. she had tearfully begged jiali to help her with one of her chinese courses. teacher lui had told her that morning to ask jiali for help as she lvii was his best student. it was comforting to see how jiali accepted and helped chika. it was during that visit that jiali asked chika to travel with her to xiamen, her home town. jiali felt that chika was lonely. she wished she could help her live a relaxed life in china. ‘i will be going home on the 30th of september to celebrate the chinese national day with my parents. i am the only child of my parents. i must visit them and enjoy a full one week with them. do you care to go with me? they will be pleased to meet you?’ jiali asked smiling broadly. ‘what do you mean by chinese national day? when is it celebrated?’ chika asked. sitting on the brown wooden table, jiali put an arm across chika’s shoulder and said softly, ‘chinese national day is celebrated on october 1st every year to commemorate the founding of the people’s republic of china. on that very day, many activities are held nationwide. the seven-day holiday is marked from october 1st to 7th and it is called the ‘golden week’ by the chinese. during this period, many chinese people travel to stay with their loved ones.’ jaili asked.‘do you want to travel with me or visit the tiananmen square to witness the grand ceremony?’ she continued. ‘every 1st october, impressive military reviews had attracted people from both home and abroad who came to watch. there were other parades by other chinese citizens who express their patriotic feelings. lviii the military review and parade had been organized in small scale every five years and in large scale every ten years. this year’s parade is going to be a big one. other activities like flag-raising ceremonies, dance and song shows, firework displays, painting and calligraphy exhibitions are also held to celebrate the national day. if one loves shopping, national day is a great time for many shopping malls to give huge discounts’, jiali continued looking so excited. **** as time passed without chinedu visiting, chika became worried. what was keeping him away for so long? apart from her anxiety over chinedu, she needed someone to talk to, somebody to help her wad off solitude. she herself would have to do something. she still had one more day to go before the 1st of october. she was thinking deeply and very pessimistic again. this one-week holiday would be so boring for her if chinedu did not visit. and this would mean the end of her dream, the dream of touring round beijing and guangzhou. the school environment was becoming unusually quiet. chika looked from one corner to another. some young chinese men were staring at her, but they did not see a young girl who was sad and lonely. they saw a young black girl, whose complexion astonished everyone and left passersby turning 360 degrees to have a full glimpse. they all laughed, except chika. she tried to hide lix her face by looking into the opposite direction. yes, she was really sad and forlorn. chika remained alone in the foreign students’ lounge, not until the holiday was over could she see students moving up and down. the hostel almost looked deserted and the environment wore an atmosphere of renewed solitude. she simply got up and headed back to her room. chika stopped lamenting over chinedu’s absence and simply lumped herself on her bed and gave way to a glorious grief. tears poured down her face like rain. she was all alone by herself wallowing in her moment of selfpity when suddenly a knock was heard. she listened and peeped through the security hole on the door to feel safe and sure. it was difficult to see clearly the face of her visitor. the knock came again, but she ignored it, completely encapsulated as she was still deeply hurt by nedu’s absence. chinedu banged the door harder with so much force that chika immediately became startled. ‘who is that? who are you? what’s wrong with you?’chika asked almost frightened. ‘nne, it’s me chinedu! don’t be afraid, come and open the door.’ nedu replied, in a voice so soft that it was apparent it was meant for her ears alone. chika recoiled on her bed and did not reply. ‘please darling, come open the door for me! please, please please! nedu pleaded.’ chika mumbled her reply and got up, almost colliding with everything in her room to show her frustration. lx what was the matter with her? chika wondered. she was upset about chinedu, that was clear, but she herself could not understand what it was that was making her restless. she grabbed the door handle mopping the tears from her face. ‘look, are you asleep?’chinedu asked. ‘what’s wrong with you, nne?’he repeated. ‘aren’t you expecting me? so what you are going to do is to stand there and stare at me right?’ chinedu said almost disappointed. ‘but how could you leave me alone without communicating your travel details? chika asked almost crying. ‘sorry about my attitude.’ chinedu said. her stomach fluttered. she couldn’t believe that chinedu was making her nervous. perhaps it was his sudden appearance that caused her current state. chinedu placed his right arm on chika’s waist while apologizing for his behaviour. chika was feeling so uneasy. she wriggled her way out from nedu’s firm grip and sat on her bed. she tightened her legs and placed her pillow on her laps because her legs were behaving funny. she suddenly became too shy to look chinedu in the face. a wave of timidity and inferiority overwhelmed her. forces inside her struggled as she sat looking at him like someone who had been hypnotized. a very strange passion possessed her, a stimuli so powerful and alluring. she knew she liked him the very first day they met at the airport. he was very handsome, tall and dark complexioned. his straight nose, lxi well shaved beards, bushy eyebrows, pink lips and sexy fish-like eyes attracted chika. his masculine perfume saturated the entire atmosphere leaving a feeling of passion which consumed her. she stealthily looked at chinedu before moving to the direction of the window. **** lxii chapter eleven no pity in romance chinedu stood at the door of the wardrobe, watching chika prepare for the outing. he kept his eyes glued on her well curved buttocks as if daring it. almost some months after they met in the airport, the same feelings still kept him yearning for chika. ‘sorry for keeping you in the dark sweetheart’, chinedu admitted. ‘i was only trying to give you a pleasant surprise.’ chinedu said, his jutting adam’s apple rising and falling as he spoke. chika remained standing and silent. her stomach was earnestly fluttering. she still couldn’t believe that chinedu was making her so jittery. she was thinking of what to say. her lips formed a smiley shape. chinedu’s words had taken control of her vulnerable emotions. she seemed to have lost the skill in handling the situation. ‘don’t stand there like a tree,’ chinedu said. ‘come to me! i really missed you! i have been longing to see you for some months,’ chinedu continued. ‘i came here only to see your beautiful face again. i knew you would be on holiday. so, i’m here to see you sweetheart.’ chika stealthily looked chinedu over. it was still very difficult for her to look people in the face. she went and sat on her bed, not because she was tired but because her emotions had taken control of her body. a feeling of timidity and love moved like current over her body. she wished chinedu was not so handsome and alluring. she lxiii had a secret reason for wishing that. forces inside her were gradually subdued by his mere presence. her principles and girly ego were gradually waning. unquenchable and uncontrollable stimuli engulfed her body and made her quiver. more like the emotions accompanying love at first sight kept her heart beating and pounding uncontrollably. ‘i love you chika! i simply do! i am damn serious and i mean it!’ chinedu smiled and patted the back of his head. his head was nicely shaped and neatly carved. his fine face and clean appearance gave him the manly gaits of some american romantic actors that left chika daydreaming as a young girl. chika got up from the bed and headed towards the window. she was not unprepared for his visit, but his sudden confession took everything from her. she had thought so much about him and had longed to be with him. for the past few days her heart had been grossly occupied with the thoughts of chinedu’s visit. she still could not believe that he was in her room in flesh and blood. again, chika was struck by a feeling of insecurity. ‘i hope this guy is not expecting me to respond without knowing him well.’ she said. she knew nothing about him and merely knew a little truth about his stay in china. she then summoned up courage and decided to ask him. chinedu gently gazed at her and smiled at her question. he seemed to be very calm and always smiling. he moved to her direction, and said, ‘chika, i’ll be so happy if you become the love of my life, my future, my wi…’ lxiv ‘who are you? and what do you do for a living in this country?’ chika cut in refusing to display her emotions. ‘i’m a businessman in guangzhou! i have lived in that city for fifteen years, and i export goods to different countries.’ ‘what exactly do you export? chika asked’ ‘i’m into male and female wears, furniture, jewelry and money exchange. in fact, i’m into any business that can yield profit,’ chinedu said clenching his fingers. ‘i will take you to my factory and warehouses in guangzhou to see for yourself dear. tomorrow, we will travel to guangzhou to spend the rest of the holiday there. i have many chinese friends over there. it is my second home sweetheart! i tell you, there is nothing to fear! i simply love you. yes, i do!’ chika knew nothing about guangzhou and china but she knew that chinedu must be very rich if he had business scattered everywhere in china. ‘we have wasted too much time already,’ she heard chinedu mutter to her. he was worried about her emotions. the more they stayed indoors, the more their discussion, especially his business experiences would open more avenues for distrust and inherent conflicts. chika stooped and, lifting her white laced shoes, sat on the bed and placed her right foot on a small stool. ‘can i help?’ he asked with a gentle voice bending towards her. while chinedu was helping chika with the shoes, he caught her admiring him from the left side of his eyes. it pleased him greatly to see that pleasant and radiant look on her face. she stared at him and he returned her gaze romantically. lxv after a long silence, chinedu said, ‘chy, i love you so much. the feeling is so strong and i mean it! he held chika’s small face and kissed her full lips with indescribable passion. chika responded with earnest hunger and passion. **** chika mumbled something and stumbled out, colliding with almost everything and everybody on her way. what was the matter with her? chinedu wondered. she was indeed nervous about something, that was very clear, but chinedu could not identify what it was that was making her so nervous. chika lumped herself at the foot of the staircase of her hostel, to give way to her emotions. tears poured down in torrents. and she did not care about anything anymore. chinedu was standing behind her, but she completely ignored him and yielded more to her emotions. she had lost her moral stance in a short time and could not withstand losing herself to a man she barely knew. her mother’s stern warnings were literally lost to her. she was so deeply engrossed with passion that it was difficult to remember anything. she was too young and inexperienced to control her emotions. as a girl, and the only daughter of her mother, she had never been allowed to do what she liked, and anyway she was too young to be left with making decisions on her own. her mother was friendly but well principled, if she were told her experience on the phone would surely have high blood pressure and die. it was so clear to chika that she needed to grow up and face life courageously. she sat there, dry-eyed now, starring hard into the atmosphere without actually seeing anything. lxvi she was silent and completely absorbed in her own troubled thoughts. ‘chika, i think we need to go back to your room. you need to be stable before we go out!’ chinedu said softly almost whispering. she looked up in the direction of the voice to see chinedu standing behind her, a disturbed expression on his face. ‘you wanted me to come and here i am! why should you be disturbed by what happened between us? you know as well as i do that we feel something for each other! i love you deeply and nothing will ever change that!’ chinedu assured her. chika could say nothing to explain herself. she merely gazed at him there, standing tall and very handsome. his fish-like eyes piercing lovingly into her eyes melted the hardness that was beginning to form in her heart. chika remained silent. she was learning a few things from chinedu’s words. his words were quite consoling and blunt. ‘please, chika,’ chinedu said, his voice very soft and almost pleading, don’t do this to yourself. don’t crucify yourself because of nothing. i love you, more than i’ve loved any lady before. i will make you happy, sweetheart. i bet you will never regret it dear!’ chika wondered what her mother would say about her sudden relationship. she had never lied to her or hid things from her. she felt her mother’s presence every. she remembered her mother’s advice, ‘nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither anything hidden that shall not be known and exposed.’ chika was very tired, physically, emotionally and mentally. she needed some time to settle her feelings. ‘what was the matter with you dear?’ chinedu asked again, this time sounding more romantic. lxvii something in his voice made her look up once again as they stride the staircase. how could she explain that she had offended her mother by not yielding to her advice? how could she tell him that she needed to be careful so that her studies would not be marred by any eventuality? she took refuge in her occasional sobbing once more and remained silent. ‘do you want me to go?’ he asked. chika turned to him and suddenly shook her head. she did not want him to return to guangzhou without her. but should she tell him that ever since the first time she had met him at the airport she had not stopped thinking of him. she had always pictured him in her mind, feeling so excited at the sound of his voice whenever he called and longing to see him soon. how could she tell him that she needed him, that she was lonely and the only dark skinned student in her class? how could she tell him the humiliation she had suffered here as a dark complexioned student and many bizarre questions that made her feel less human? her eyes mirrored her thoughts and she felt like sobbing again. she wrapped her hand on his waist and buried her face on his chest. he raised her head and searched her upturned eyes, noticing their redness, the pain in them and the tears springing up. ‘what’s wrong? why are you so unhappy? why do you cry so much about nothing? my presence is supposed to bring you joy, but the opposite is now the case. from now, i will make sure that you only shade tears out of happiness, not pain or sadness.’ chinedu promised. he held her closer, not caring whether her breasts were pressed tightly on his chest. he wanted her more than anything. she was all that mattered to him now. as he held her to his broad chest, her body shook, from fear and from lxviii some feelings which she could not explain. chinedu gave her a stroke and dipped his nose into her natural hair which smelt of rapse berry fragrance. ‘you smell good.’ nedu said. ‘thanks.’ her reply was more of a whisper. he slowly ran his long fingers over her back. she told him that she felt funny. she could feel her heart pounding and beating very fast. he placed his palms on his cheeks, raised her chin and kissed her thick lips passionately. she allowed him to take over. he seemed more experienced, gentle and so caring. her fear was slowly giving way to new sensation filled with passion and joy, especially as she noticed that chinedu called her ‘nwunye’, meaning ‘my wife’. she did not mind becoming his wife. she would like to marry a man like chinedu. if only he was good as he displayed. there was nothing for her to do but to relax in his arms and cherish the moment. **** lxix chapter twelve life is a dream of many yearnings chika lay on her bed and drifted into a fitful sleep. her mind was still unsettled and gloomy by her sudden outburst of emotion. she had never been so close to a man. she had never been kissed deeply by a man except the occasional childhood romantic displays exhibited by some of the boys who lived in their former yard at awka. she felt so sad and moody. she pretended to be strong but human conscience always had a way of haunting somebody who had erred. chinedu had ordered some food and bought her everything she needed for the evening. he patiently waited for her to wake up. he sat beside her on the bed and put his arm around her. he caressed her bosom touching her soft but firm breasts with the tips of his right fingers. chika could not resist but felt her body going funny. she was afraid of chinedu who took her right palm and placed it in-between his thighs, which was hardening and thrusting forward like a medium sized cucumber placed horizontally on the table. she saw his eyes clouding, and knew that he was already emotionally drowned with passion. he held her tightly and asked her what she thought they should do. ‘tell me, do you truly love me?’ chinedu asked, his voice very faint and whispery. his soft hand fondled her more in a desperate manner. she gave a subdued cry, and held him tightly. his lxx softness and alluring nature had completely overpowered her after last night’s emotional outburst. she placed her little finger on his pink lips, not knowing where the boldness suddenly came from. she was indeed growing into a young woman. ‘shsssssssh! i love you deeply more than…i love you! i simply love you, nedu! i don’t even know any man. there is no other person for me in this world, nedu. you are my first boyfriend and i wish you will become my last….my future hubby!’ chinedu did not know what else to do. he carried her gently and started kissing her like white people do in most of their romantic films. chika knew that she was almost close to the love affair reenacted in the famous titanic movie. she knew that she was supposed to enjoy every bit of that experience but was too scarred not to allow him consume the forbidden fruit. ‘you will be mine always!’ nedu whispered into her ear, his voice so coarse and heavy that she could swear it was from another man. she was worried about what might happen next, so she pulled her mouth, telling him that she was very famished and would like to eat. it would be rude to push him away, so she deliberately fabricated the story of not being able to eat the chinese food in order to deceive him and bring down his rising emotion. she desperately wanted to leave the room to avoid building up emotions. she felt that they were moving too fast and needed to take things slowly. lxxi ‘could we go out for dinner?’ chika said with her eyes lowered. she did not dare look up. chinedu might see the passion that still lurked in her eyes. so many things had happened to her in just a few hours, so many emotional displays which she did not understand. from her childhood, her mother, aunts and uncles had drummed into her ears that the only honourable path for any young lady was to abstain from illicit sexual relationships. this advice struck her like a thunder and had greatly influenced her perception about men and relationship. it offered a ray of hope to chika when chinedu agreed to take her out for dinner. ‘that’s very reasonable.’ chika thought. she was indeed emotionally relieved of her fears. she needed some space and time to search her emotions and come out clean in her decisions. **** in the taxi, chika wondered just how she would persuade chinedu to book a hotel for the night. her head was aching and she never wanted him to claim her fully. to her, sleeping together in her room could result to more romantic emotional outburst. ‘how would he react to her suggestion?’chika spoke slowly, as if she was weighing each word. she stared in front of her for some seconds and asked. ‘which hotel dear?’ ‘beijing friendship hotel, sweetheart. it is only 1.0 miles from beijing foreign studies university. i chose lxxii this hotel to seal our friendship and love.’ chinedu pointed out. ‘oooohhh, i see!’ chika said. ‘i don’t know this city well. so you must take me round to have a glimpse, right?’ ‘don’t worry, chy. i will definitely take you to spotty places.’ chinedu moved towards chika, gripped her shoulder gently as though to embrace her. the taxi had just stopped at a building with very sophisticated designs. chika stared out of the window, half listening thinking how beautiful the building was; the entrance gate artistically decorated with colourful flowers. ‘here we are’, chinedu said. ‘hummm! this place is pretty good’, chika said alighting from the taxi. she imagined spending her night here with him. her stomach fluttered again and sent a sensation down her spine. ‘this is not good. i must not be foolish to succumb so easily.’ chika muttered to herself, her tone pacifying and sad. she climbed out of the taxi which packed in front of the building. the security man was staring at her, eyes narrowed. the young man looked cowed and confused. he was so surprised to see dark complexioned people in a hotel mainly populated by americans who actually came to take a virtual tour of beijing. beijing friendship hotel was located at no. 1 zhongguancun south main street, haidian district. it was a classical chinese garden type hotel built a few decades ago. the main buildings and grounds around the hotel lxxiii were quite impressive. the complex had dining options as a result of the huge number of international guests staying in the hotel. the hotel site also had an american style fridays restaurant with special delicacies and no local beer. chika was resigned to the fact that things would be different that night, but had not bargained for anything more than the emotional twist that almost carried her away. as they entered the building, people looked up from whatever they were doing. there was a concerned expression on chika’s face as she glanced from one onlooker to the other. she was not just that fussed about people looking at them, but was worried about the motive behind their bizarre attitude. suddenly, chika realized that chinedu was talking to her. ‘dear, are you so shy that you cannot move again?’chinedu asked. after a moment’s hesitation, chika mumbled to herself: ‘mba oooo! (not at all)’ chinedu looked at her appealingly, then quickly starred at the receptionist who motioned to them to come forward. chika was aware that they were now being watched by people as they were surrounded by human silence. chinedu exhibited no signs of being conscious of the onlookers’ scrutiny. he was waiting to book a room. all he wanted to do was to take her away to the hotel room where they would see no one. he realized that his fantasies were drifting his mind when chika said something. lxxiv ‘people are staring at us, chinedu,’ she mumbled rather fussed. the receptionist was very nice and friendly. she spoke good english and displayed a considerable knowledge of the african environments. it was a comfortable hotel within easy reach of the metro. they were quickly checked into room 237 in building no 1, the main building of the hotel. the room was a little small, being a standard size room, compared to other hotels chinedu had stayed in shanghai, xiamen, guangzhou, jiande and hangzhou. however, the room looked tranquil and comfortable. there was a large double bed, small flat tv, desk, coffee and tea facilities, reasonable bedside reading lights and plenty of storage spaces. the bathroom was a little cramped with wc, bath and shower combined. it also had a sliding door. there was an opaque glass window between the bathroom and the main room. the only problem was that there was no constructed rail to hang towels, sponge or washed panties. chinedu booked the hotel for two nights. the main buildings and grounds around the hotel were quite impressive. however, the rooms were 5 stars at best and a little sophisticated. the hotel had dining options, although it had huge number of international guests. the food was plentiful in quantity with variety of options available. the american style fridays restaurant, an outdoor site located at the hotel had a summer promotion which ran from may to october. chika and chinedu were informed about the restaurant by the hostess who briefed them about the promotion. the outdoor area displayed lxxv different types of food and beer stalls. they ate heavily, drank and enjoyed sitting out with some friendly locals who bombarded them with funny questions about their love affairs and country. **** the emotion that grazed chinedu’s body startled her. the sudden effect of the local beers consumed in the restaurant, in fact without apparent warnings left them tipsy. while heading back to their room, they were slightly drunk, almost staggering as a result of the drinks. chinedu’s action was telling her that she could never escape this night without the day witnessing a special romantic bond. she was indeed trapped in the intricate web of her emotions and her staggering body. her fuddled body and mind synchronized to ignite the fire in her. they were indeed excited and cheerful. she could hear chinedu’s voice murmuring in rhythmic tune. she could barely understand the melody, but only succumbed to its lyrics which sounded good. her heart ached and tears began to well up in her eyes because she felt that this time, she would be trapped into an act that would have an everlasting impact on her life. her mind yearned for chinedu, and so did her body. she deeply loved him in her heart, and knew quite well that her love was not as a result of infatuation. she opened her mind, body and soul to claim the emotions that had been lurking at the corner. clenching and unclenching, they became exhausted, and drifted away. lxxvi **** lxxvii chapter thirteen there’s no sweetness in guilt what appealed to chinedu more was the gentle helplessness about her. chika was beautiful, in fact her innocence and chastity made her more attractive. she slept so peacefully on the blood stained bedspread that chinedu could do nothing but only admired her. what puzzled him most was that she had all along displayed her emotions without telling him that she was a virgin. he again studied her and wondered whether she was crying and at the same time sleeping. he knew that she would be emotional when she finally woke up from slumber. the guilt that she had been deflowered would hang on her neck like an albatross. it was with a sense of heaviness and drowsiness that chika woke up that morning. without any facial expression, she dragged herself to the bathroom. the bitterness chika was feeling had gone beyond tears. she remained unusually silent. she had heard people say that one’s mother was one’s best friend and could not deceive her in making decisions. she felted so ashamed of herself for throwing away her mother’s advice so cheaply on the mud. after the shower, she felt light and better for she needed to clean up the mess from yesterday’s emotional jamboree. she indeed looked helpless and moody. chinedu could feel her heart beating fast. she had stopped humming a song, and her eyes were busy probing his. lxxviii ‘good morning angel! hope you slept well?’ he asked trying to free himself from the guilt that overwhelmed him. ‘i’m well!’she answered brushing her scattered hair with her right fingers. ‘i must go to my school now!’ chika said. ‘i never planned to sleep in this hotel with you! please take me back. i really need to go. i am a huge disappointment to my mother. i’ve failed her indeed!’ she said tears welling up in her eyes. ‘all right my babe! you are not a disappointment to anyone. you are indeed a blessing to me! i will obey your wish, but first of all know that you are so precious to me. you are indeed my missing rib, my love, my wife to be!’ chinedu said. chinedu quickly wore his shirt and told chika to zip her nylon blouse which was bare open at her back. chika’s mood did not improve as they entered the elevator to exit the hotel building. with the way she walked, legs slightly spread in ‘a’ form, one would think that chika had hurt her legs, or that a huge boil had settled on her laps making movement so tedious and slow for her. she managed to enter the taxi and sat down breathing quickly, her eyes flashing with pain. **** lxxix chinedu could feel her pains. a kind of dizziness overcame him. when they arrived at her room in the university, chika was feeling tired and feverish. there was no need for chinedu to wait any longer. at that moment he murmured to himself that something needed to be done to arrest the situation. he quickly dashed out to the nearest pharmacy and bought some necessary drugs for her. at least, she would be relieved of pains in no distant time. he shuddered and waited patiently until sleep claimed her once again. **** this time chika woke up emotionally stronger and stable. it was not too long since he had left her to buy the food they would eat. he went straight to her, held her shoulders and gently gave her a peck on the forehead. she did not say a word. she simply looked at him and smiled. ‘have you ever seen a person who was given a cube of sugar or honey to lick and he spits it out?’ no, chy! not at all! you are my honey. i can never stop having you! without you, i’m incomplete!’ chinedu said. chika stared at him but her mind was not focused on what he was saying. chinedu looked like a man drowning in the river of love. chika whirled around and wept unashamedly into chinedu’s chest. every single drop of tears from her eyes seemed to hit him like the sharp end of a needle. they stayed quiet and silent as they listened to each other’s heartbeat and breathing. lxxx chinedu brought the food. he fed her gently and carefully like a baby who had no skills in feeding herself. he was a little surprised that she could have enormous appetite after the fever and pains that nearly crippled her in the morning. he jokingly called her ‘nwa baby’ (small baby) as he continued to feed her. they giggled as they ate and she looked more beautiful and placid. ‘you are not to worry. we shall visit some places today. i want you to feel the freshness of today and embrace happiness! i want you to feel loved and cherished because you are indeed priceless!’ chinedu said chuckling. he took her in his arms once again and kissed her lips to show how precious she was to him. ‘you are strong! thanks for being strong for me! i have never slept with a virgin! you are my first and you will be my last! chinedu promised. chika was listening very hard, but her mind was too emotional to react to everything chinedu said. all she knew was that she had disobeyed her mother to love this man, and that there was no going back. chika had a very embarrassing experience that threatened her mind and health in the morning, but she had used her imagination to work out a strategy she hoped would work to keep her sane. it offered a ray of hope to know that chinedu felt something for chika. he cared so much for her that any change in her demeanour would automatically obstruct his happiness. chinedu had told her several times how thrilled lxxxi he would be if she would gladly accept him as her future husband. he had told his friends that he had found the girl of his dreams, and they had been looking forward to seeing her. chika could not resist the opportunity of touring beijing despite the pain she experienced. she reminded him of his promise to take her round beijing. ‘oh dear, never mind,’ chinedu said. ‘we will soon leave for the sightseeing.’ chika heaved a sigh of relief. she desperately wanted to have a fresh breath outside. she needed to look around and refresh her mind. she needed it urgently because it was a route to fleeing from the thoughts of her mother which haunted her like a ghost. chika was indeed convinced that the outing would relieve her spirit from the emotional torment she had experienced after the love affair. for the first time in her life, chika had defied her mother. she consoled herself with the fact that her mother was very far away from her and would not know what had happened to her if she had not told her. she again sneaked a glance at chinedu, who was still busy eating. she now realized, judging by the manner he munched the food that hunger had dealt him a solid blow. he perhaps sacrificed his hunger to see her well and happy. it was indeed his self-indulgence that melted her heart more. his facial appearance, caring and humane nature got her attracted to him. now, sitting there on her bed she admired him and blessed the day she met him. lxxxii chinedu finished the remaining food. he rose and took the plastic takeaway plates and pushed them into the trash can. as he walked back to where he sat before, he noticed chika staring blankly at him. it implied that her thoughts had been occupied by something. he knew that yesterday’s experience had kept her mind occupied with different thoughts that her attention became so divided. chinedu breathed a sigh. ‘chy, i’m done! are you ready?’ he asked. ‘sure!’ she replied heading to the wardrobe to grab her bag. **** lxxxiii chapter fourteen history is a close friend a tuesday afternoon in september was fast approaching the time of sunset, and the splendors of beijing tian’anmen square still occupied chika’s mind moment by moment. it was indeed the last day of the month, the thick stretch of whitish blue clouds suddenly turned dark shutting out the sky like a tent. tian’anmen square had been the spiritual heart of china, the world’s most populous country. the square had been serving as the stage for momentous historical events, like the demonstrations on may 4th 1919 that inspired young chinese to fight imperialists and warlords, to build a strong independent country. since october 1st, 1949 the day mao zedong, the founder of the communist party of china (cpc) climbed atop the ‘gate of heavenly peace’ which gave the square its name, it had become a scenic place where national holidays were celebrated. most days tian’anmen square had been filled with sightseers and kite-flyers. during the national holidays, it was usually festooned with banners and floral decorations. many people, especially the chinese visit there to see elite people’s liberation army troops conduct flag raising or lowering ceremonies. on the north end of the square was the ‘gate of heavenly peace’ which led to the ‘forbidden city’. above the gate hung the famous picture of mao zedong, the chairman of cpc. on the left side of the gate was the inscription, ‘long live the people’s lxxxiv republic of china’ (prc) and on the right side was written, ‘long live the people of the world.’ the wide view of the square ascended to the top of the gate where mao zedong proclaimed and founded the prc. also, in the center of the square was a 40m-high monument of the people’s heroes, an obelisk with friezes depicting revolutionary heroes and calligraphy by mao zedong and former premier zhou enlai. again, south of the monument was the chairman mao’s mausoleum, where people could peer at the embalmed figure of the great helmsman in his casket. at the square’s south end, behind the mausoleum was 600year-old qianmen, one of the few remaining ming-era city gates. the building on the square’s east side housed the chinese historical and revolution museum. on the west of the tian’anmen square was an imposing edifice called the ‘great hall of the people’ which became the home of china’s parliament, the national people’s congress. the hall was said to have been built within ten month in 1958 to 1959. the hall’s grandeur was seen in its 5,000-seat banquet room, 10,000seat auditorium which had a large red star on the ceiling outlined by 500 light bulbs and the national theater, a futuristic bubble of titanium and glass resting on an artificial lake. the theater was built on an area directly west of the great wall of the people. summer palace was another scenic spot that captivated chika the most with its handsome buildings, lxxxv pretty scenery and tumultuous history. it was located at haidian district, beijing. summer palace was indeed a wonderful place to explore. the vast summer palace compound centered on kunming lake, visitors were seen on a boat exploring the lake. the highly photogenic 17 arch bridge linked the lake’s eastern shore to the south lake island. chika and chinedu had a pleasurable moment by strolling on the willow-shaded paths and arched bridges that encircled the lake. they also took memorable pictures on different walkways to remind them of the beautiful time they spent together. **** chika returned tired and sleepy. she slumped on the bed and dozed off instantly. she did not know for how long she laid there unconscious, but she was awakened by the cool breeze that entered the room through the opened window. when she tried to rise from the bed, her feet became very heavy and she fell back on the bed and rested her head on the pillow. that morning, her body was stiff and she could feel pains on her joints as a result of yesterday’s sightseeing. she sat there starring into vacancy, thinking of nothing, aware only of the approaching sunrise. the hotel room was indeed tranquil and the artistic designs on the walls gave her a unique chinese feeling that catapulted her mood to yesterday’s happiness. she smiled and shot her eyes to savour the moment once again. she indeed relished yesterday’s lxxxvi experience except that she was grossly fatigued and wornout. as she laid there on the bed, the revived feelings of their past passion hit her like a wave. a heartfelt passion glowed in her now, and she leaned forward as if about to put her face towards chinedu’s cheek. ‘oh no,’ chika said, intractably moving to the other side of the bed. ‘what am i trying to do?’ she asked herself. ‘perhaps i am becoming too forward!’she said looking at chinedu who was deep in sleep. she sighed, it was no ordinary sigh, but a sigh which awakened her consciousness of time and shook her like a shiver. she dashed towards the mini table in the room and grabbed her wristwatch. ‘oh no! we will be late. it’s already 9.00 am! wake up nedu, our flight is at 11.00 am! we will be late! i don’t want us to miss our flight.’ chinedu merely got up from the bed because he was very tired. he shook his head at her. ‘i know you too well sweetheart! i know you too well. you are pulling my leg dear!’ nedu said half asleep, half awake. she seized the moment, and throwing herself playfully on chinedu to disrupt his sleep, said with a smile, ‘honey, look at the watch and see for yourself!’ like a hop-frog chinedu jumped out of the bed and headed towards the bathroom. lxxxvii **** beijing on the 1st of october was very busy and clustered with people. the broad streets and houses were decorated with golden and red buntings signaling a festive period. chika was happy to bask in the national day celebration as she glanced from one side to the other through the taxi windows. she was nevertheless developing into a courageous character. she was just desperate to escape the loneliness that once engulfed her. much to chinedu’s surprise, chika was eagerly looking forward to exploring guangzhou. **** they arrived in beijing capital international airport at 10: 00 am and immediately dashed into the building to check in before the closure time. the ‘terminal 2’ served the china southern airlines which also had its headquarters in guangzhou and other cities. the airline was among the most famous airlines in china. many passengers booked tickets in advance before traveling, and formed a long queue at least an hour prior to departure to confirm their airfare. chika and chinedu joined the queue in the terminal and patiently waited for their turn. chinedu had booked their tickets online before visiting. that day, beijing capital international airport was unusually crowded, very busy with people walking up and down in different directions. lxxxviii during national day, more chinese people go traveling around the country. it led to a sea of people at the airport, train stations and attraction sites. during that period, flight tickets were usually expensive and train tickets also difficult to get. chika again could not hide her excitement. she looked forward to landing at guangzhou baiyun airport which chinedu had talked about several times. chika’s face flagged. she was traveling to a new environment; not with a friend, but a stranger that captivated her heart. **** the air space between beijing and guangzhou was just 1,231 kilometers (about 765 miles). the flying time was about two and half hours. guangzhou baiyun airport had glorious hangars of people watching from different corners. the airport had a ludicrous design which displayed the black face of usain bolt, the black sprinter and other black faces not recognized by chika. the security lines were wretched, long and snake-like. getting from one terminal to another was a massive pain. it took an hour to clear immigration. it took also another one hour just to obtain arrivals forms before immigration processes began. there were five manned immigration booths, but only one was processing passengers at a painfully slow rate. frustratingly, other immigration officers seemed to be on a permanent break at their desk. lxxxix many black passengers who were probably traveling to different destinations were seen taking off their shoes, socks, belts and hair clips through the metal detector. it was assumed that most black guys were likely to be carrying narcotics, as a result thorough checks were conducted on them by the security guys. one tall dark man was pulled out of the queue and taken into an interview room by a couple of mean looking chinese guys presumably because he fitted the profile of a drug mule. after a couple of phone calls to verify that he was telling the truth, the guy was finally released. the chinese security guys were said to be soulless but clean and efficient in discharging their duties. another dark complexioned guy was stopped four times in the airport for carrying suspiciously large amount of electronics in hand carry luggage. the guy’s experiences put across a moral lesson that traveling with too many electronic devices could raise suspicion. chika had seen enough within hours of arrival in the airport. she could feel the tension between the chinese security guys and the black africans. she was tired, hungry and at that moment beyond irritated. one of the security men came with a supervisor 20 minutes after the guy with electric devices was released, took one look at chika, then told her to follow them. she was ushered down a hallway, before walking with them to a door. she asked them what was going on. ‘why are you here? what have you come here to do?’the short mean security guy asked. xc ‘i am here to spend the holiday with my newly found friends. i am a new student at beijing foreign studies university. this is my first time here sir!’ chika answered almost shivering. ‘welcome to guangzhou young lady. this is a very hot zone. please stay safe and take good care of yourself okay!’ the security men both echoed. thank you very much sirs! i am so grateful! chika said heading towards the door. **** xci chapter fifteen life is a teacher chika’s first experience in guangzhou, china’s third largest city situated in the guangdong province was quite different and less challenging. she wondered what to expect from the city. ‘what will it be like here? is it really the case that none speaks english here? will there be crowds of local people wanting to take a picture with her?’ chika questioned in her heart. ‘why are you silent sweetheart?’ chinedu asked and turned to chika who was busy glancing from one corner to the other as the taxi drive past through different streets. ‘nothing so serious dear! i’m just tired and hungry.’ she said almost whispering. the streets were littered with many black people who walked up and down without any definite destination. chika saw dark skinned chinese locals selling phones and other items along the neatly decorated streets beckoning to tourists and foreigners to patronize them. she remembered what jessica told her about buying phones on the streets of guangzhou. ‘don’t buy phones on the street! even if they are real when they are shown to you, the one in the package may not be the original! it might be fake!’ xcii chika gazed at the local sellers, the environment seemed quite different from beijing. it was indeed full of mini markets clustered with sellers and buyers. chinedu noticed her surprise and sudden fear of insecurity and said: ‘this city is extremely safe, there are no pickpockets, and there are a lot of surveillance cameras.’ she wondered how many the cameras could be to monitor everyone’s movement. ‘how many could they be? well certainly more than we expected, as every pole and street corner has one!’ she said, glancing from one end to the other. chika also remembered seeing cameras everywhere at beijing. she became less nervous and relaxed to explore the surprises the city would offer. they left the airport a little earlier before sunset, so chika was very hungry and tired. she enjoyed looking around but was occasionally carried away by sleep. finally, she drifted away. the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was enormous skyscrapers and an extremely green city. the bridges were covered in artistic chinese flower pots, many alleys, parks with ponds, greenery, and a lot of people exercising in the parks. there were many local and foreign tourists in guangzhou, visiting the liuhuahu park, chimelong safari, circus, water and other entrainment parks. most of the foreigners came for business. the parks were impeccably clean. not even the smallest leaf , cellophane bags , papers, sachet water bags or other condemned materials where seen on xciii the ground. the parks were mainly filled with old people and young children. **** chinedu spoke chinese fluently but he spoke english in a very funny way to the driver. chika thought that his efforts were useless as most chinese cab drivers at beijing didn’t speak english. ‘driver, me go down down! chinedu said in chinenglish pointing towards a direction. the cab man quite understood what he said and moved to that direction. chinenglish was the common mode of communication used by chinese traders and african businessmen in their transactions in guangzhou. the manner chinedu expressed himself in chinenglish was so unusual that chika became very amused. ‘ahaaaa, there are many englishes in this world oo! british, american, south african, nigerian, chinese…hummmm! nawa ooo! chika said half smiling, half laughing. chika had heard horror stories about china and its major cities. foreigners were warned not to travel alone because they could be kidnapped and their liver, kidneys or other vital organs would be harvested for private use without permission. she also heard that most chinese people could not speak english at all, and all sign posts were written in chinese characters. it came to chika clearly now that many of the things said about china were not true. wherever chika turned her head, she would see a sign in english and chinese with the station name and map. xciv chika was so much impressed about the chinese people who integrated high tech into their daily lives; they were quite different from nigeria where many things depended on hearsay, fate and destiny. she also noticed that air pollution wasn’t as bad in guangzhou as in beijing. the evening of their arrival was indeed yellow gray that she anticipated having a lovely holiday in the city. **** chinedu’s house was close to baima market, a popular market opposite guangzhou railway station. it was the largest railway station in guangzhou, located at huanshi road west in yuexiu district. his apartment was situated in the 6th floor of a beautiful giant building. the flat was very spacious, in fact, the description of a perfect home. the sitting room and other rooms were well furnished. the kitchen was fully equipped with a flat-screen tv with cable, two huge refrigerators, microwave and other necessary facilities. each bedroom was fitted with a cable tv and air conditioner. the balcony features a massage chair with garden views. chika walked into the visitor’s room carrying her small black bag. after a while she said, ‘nedu, do you mean that you own this flat? are you sure that you are not living with your family here?’ chika asked glancing at the shinny marble on the floor. when she raised her head, she xcv looked at chinedu and asked again, ‘can you tell me the truth? are you alone here? ‘yes dear! sure! i am all by myself. that’s why i look forward to you becoming my wife!’ chinedu said smiling. as chika listened to him talking about his apartment and the loneliness that had gradually overwhelmed him without a wife; she thought of her mother once again. she had grossly disobeyed her mother, and neglecting her principles was a thorn in her flesh. she wondered whether distance had the tendency of stripping one of some moral qualities. back home, the fear of her mother was the beginning of wisdom and doing wrong was out of her dictionary. but here, her mother’s absence had paved way for a new way of life and challenges. as lonely as she was, would her mother have minded if she did something morally wrong to feel loved or have companionship? she already knew the answer to the question as she could only see the image of her mother warning her sternly about men and their troubles. chika gazed at her reflection in the mirror. she had reduced from her normal size, but looked more shapely and lighter in complexion now. admiring from behind chinedu said, ‘you are sexy!’ ‘you are cute and sexier.’ chika replied. chinedu told her that he had not been attracted to any african lady before. it indeed amused chika that a handsome man like chinedu had never admired any young xcvi girl before. she wanted to argue with him but changed her mind to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. ‘well chy, right now we are going to be spending a lot of time together for the next five days, to get to know each other.’ ‘ooooooh, okay,’ chika said, slightly dispirited. a wave of jealousy crept into her mind and left her thinking of other unknown young ladies who must have graced chinedu’s bed before her. at that moment, chika ran into his arms holding him so tight. ‘promise that you will love me forever, honey. promise that you will be mine and mine alone!’ chika said almost sobbing. chinedu first looked surprised, and then his face stretched into a tight smile. his surprise about chika’s questions reminded him of ngozi, a boss lady that wanted to get him entangled in her delicate threads of romance. ngozi was his business partner who had also lived in guangzhou for more than fifteen years. she was his saviour when he first came to china and had no one to turn to. at that time, she was the only black girl he knew, an adventurer who loved exotic night lifestyle and partied constantly until the early hours. in those days, they often joked about marriage, but as time passed he realized that they were not meant to be together. chika was soft. her skin was glowing and smooth. a sense of emotion overwhelmed him and he began to touch her rapidly. how quickly she had become used to his touch that she slipped out of his arms onto the bed. he xcvii followed her immediately increasing the tempo and searching her all over with his amorous hands. indeed, words could not describe the kind of love making and romance that kept them fondling for so long. **** guangzhou was indeed an organized and busy place, and there were many foreigners especially africans. it was known to be full of people who came mainly for business. chika came to love guangzhou for its clean air and busy streets populated by africans. it felt more like home bursting with green flowers and all shades of human beings. chika was famished and needed to have a taste of african dishes after a long time. she needed igbo local soup and fufu to regain the strength lost during her short stay in beijing. she needed the taste of nsala or bitter leaf soup to regain the sanity stolen by eating food flavoured with garlic and ginger. she needed it urgently. **** chika enjoyed the familiar taste of nsala soup with cat-fish and fufu. she scooped the soup straight from the ceramic plate with her bare fingers feeling relaxed and more at home. it was her first real food after some weeks of food torturing. madam louis african restaurant gave chika the feeling she had lost on arriving china. her xcviii peppered nsala soup tasted just like her mother’s soup. the long room in which the restaurant was situated shook with hilarious laughter from some guys who watched chika licking her fingers without any air of pretentiousness. chinedu also laughed, a long-pitched laugh that startled chika. ‘what’s the problem?’ chika asked looking so serious and at the same time licking the back of her fingers. her action generated a new ripple of laughter that dispelled her question. chika surveyed the room, taking note of the people who were there so that she would know what caused the laughter. the room was mostly occupied by black africans. many of the guys there spoke igbo and were very noisy. six men and three young ladies were sitting together on a rounded table eating hot-chicken pepper soup and drinking different brands of alcoholic drinks. empty bottles lay scattered on the big rounded table as they talked in loud voices. two men sat away from the others. they were drenching themselves with strong alcoholic drinks while smoking. in a whining tone, one of them complained of being neglected by a beautiful young girl who worked tirelessly to make sure that everyone was well served and satisfied. she smiled often but behind those smiles was a hint of nervousness that always kept her on her toes. the man let out a dry cough and motioned to the young lady to come. ‘ada, bia ebe a sharp sharp!’ (ada, come here quickly!) one of the men said. xcix ‘adanna or what is she called? come here and attend to me’, the man repeated hitting her buttocks romantically with his right hand. the other guy touched her well rounded and projected breasts with a claim of ownership that sent shivers down chika’s spine. adanna could not say anything to defend herself. she merely gazed at them, standing tall, beautiful and expressionless. chika shook her head sadly as she watched madam louis pleading with her customers to forgive the young girl’s rude behaviour. other men in the restaurant found what happened as a welcome diversion and started to heckle and jeer. chika forgot about her delicious food and could only picture herself in her mind’s eye, telling them to leave the young girl alone. but how could those men leave her alone when their illicit behaviours were condoned by the owner of the restaurant? if she did not interfere in her life, only god could tell what would become of her in a restaurant situated in an underground floor with unpredictable guys. ‘what did that girl do to you guys? chika asked. the men simply looked at her and laughed. madam louis told her not to bother herself with adanna’s trouble because it was bigger than her. ‘but i am a witness to what happened,’ chika continued almost bursting into anger. chinedu calmed chika down and signaled her to remain silent. chika told him that what she felt for the girl was pity. chika explained that the girl had been humiliated and nobody spoke or defended her. c ‘this is china, chika! you barely know anybody here. nobody can be trusted here too! please dear, don’t start a fight you cannot finish. let’s eat our dinner and leave this place, okay. how sure the young girl didn’t come here for prostitution? you can never know sweetheart.’ chinedu told chika in a voice that sounded more like a whisper. chika sat there very angry now, following the movement of the young girl as she tried to obey the men one by one. chika’s spirit was indeed troubled when madame louis held one of the girl’s ears and dragged her into the inner room and locked the door behind her. chika was absorbed in her own thoughts as she tried to figure out what a beautiful young girl was doing in a hostile environment. it was surprising that a young beautiful girl like adanna looked helpless in the midst of humiliation. she indeed looked like one who had been stripped of her selfworth and freedom. heavy footsteps thudded into the restaurant which was quite long and spacious. the long hall was imperfectly illuminated and the tiny coloured bulbs were merely fixed to hide the identity of the customers. chika could not see the faces of men who entered the inner room because the restaurant was gloomy. suddenly, there were strange voices, men’s voices, diffused with a portentous sense of pressure. other girls were seen parading the hall with trays either serving drinks or cleaning the table. those girls were different from the young adanna. they looked wild and fearless. their ci carefree attitude signaled one thing-prostitution. they flirted with many guys that came to fill in their stomachs with drinks or food without feeling ashamed. they knew the game so well that many customers responded without much difficulty. chika was tired and her body ached and the restaurant had begun to irritate her, with its stuffy air and too many guys. ‘why couldn’t these nigerian guys keep quiet for once? why are they so noisy and silly? chika’s food was almost finished, only a small portion was left on her plate. she was eager to leave. chinedu looked at her, with an expression that made her uncomfortable, because she was not sure what his eyes held, and then he got up to leave the restaurant. ‘you need to get over what happened here’, chinedu told her. ‘it’s okay love. i will be okay.’ chika said as they made their exit at the opportune time. **** cii chapter sixteen no words anymore visiting guangzhou did not become a test for chika’s taste. she did not only eat her popular choice for dinner, she quite enjoyed it. chinedu told her that she was extremely lucky to have visited madam louis african restaurant, as her food was the tastiest in guangzhou. chika thought about the girl in the restaurant. she remembered the situation that had made adanna so nervous. madam louis had threatened to throw her out of the restaurant for not allowing their customers fondle her. it was madam louis’ threat that made chika feel pity for the young girl. chinedu told chika that madame louis was often violent. she was also known in the restaurant for insensitively enforcing rules and for demanding strict obedience to her decisions. it was rumoured that she used to employ girls who had been trafficked to work as sex slaves in her restaurant. chika could not believe what chinedu told her. she gasped and quickly stepped backward. her chest heaved up and down in an increased tempo. ‘i said it, nedu. that girl may be one of them! she has been forced into prostitution. she has been deceived and lured into illicit acts.’ chika said almost choking with anger. an hour later, when they came back from madam louis restaurant, chinedu’s friend visited. ciii ‘it has taken you ages to visit, tunde,’ chinedu said. tunde was sitting on a long white sofa next to chika who was now sitting on a cushioned chinese chair. ‘but you don’t care to know why i had been scarce for some time now,’ tunde said as courteously as his bitterness would let him. he put his phone on the transparent glass table at the center of the sitting room and rested his back on the soft sofa to get his breath back. ‘i arrived here some hours ago,’ chinedu said, ‘and i’ve been away for some time now. i travelled to beijing to bring my fiancée. sweetheart, please meet my friend, tunde from ondo state.’ ‘oh, nice to meet you sir! i am chika. ‘it’s my pleasure! are you a student at beijing?’ tunde asked. ‘yes sir!’ chika replied. ‘i hope you would concentrate on your studies and ignore some wealth driven igbo girls that left their studies to make quick dirty money. i guess you are different! please flee from them and do something meaningful with your life. i am a yoruba man. i know that yoruba people love money too, but they are not controlled by it! igbo people, haba! how many yoruba guys do you see on the streets of guangzhou? everywhere, igbo guys and girls! everywhere, imo and anambra people! haba! what is really happening? please dear, education is indeed power! face it squarely and thank me later for this piece of advice!’ tunde said with a tone of seriousness that got chika worried. civ ‘thanks, i appreciate,’ chika said. when chika remained seated, tunde asked if it was her first time of visiting and continued with his unending story of igbo people and their lifestyle in guangzhou. ‘igbo people are very noisy. chinese people know their place and are very orderly. but you see these igbo guys and girls; they are too materialistic, carefree and noisy! they enjoy causing troubles on the streets, shouting and always fighting their brothers! they can even kill their blood relations for money. one day, they will cause riot in guangzhou. beating, smashing and looting might become the order of the day.’ tunde said angrily. ‘you see, many responsible chinese citizens are not happy with them because they deceive their girls and marry them just to have legal business in china. they give birth to children who are neither chinese nor nigerians. and they travel back to nigeria to begin a new life with their igbo wives. then, tell me what happens to those chinese women they married? what will their children do? this is indeed a serious problem ooo! go to all the streets, you will see black people everywhere! i don’t even know if i’m in guangzhou or africa! tunde said. ‘tunde, you no like igbo people at all!’ chinedu said smiling sarcastically. ‘no, no no! if you think i so much hate your people, please go to the streets of this city and confirm. you rarely see any hausa or yoruba man on the streets misbehaving or in the pub drinking beer and making unnecessary noise. igbo people are very industrious. this i know, but too cv many hands spoil the soup! a lot of bad eggs! they are all interested in money, money, money!’ tunde argued. ‘many igbo girls left school for money. i mean girls who were on scholarships! i mean chinese government full scholarship! they are all here loitering the streets as prostitutes. some innocent ones who have been deceived and trafficked are soliciting for help in one way or the other. they have no legal papers here! they move around more in the night! they are mainly night crawlers! those girls are bought and manipulated by their pimps to do their biddings. they are often threatened with death to succumb to their traitors’ wishes. they are forced to sleep with many africans, men or women who come for one business or the other in guangzhou only to survive. these girls are really suffering ooo! they make little or nothing from these illicit activities. they only enrich their pimps. they are in great danger of exposing themselves to organ harvesters, killers, drug barons or chronic diseases. i just pity the innocent ones! not those wild eyed girls roaming the streets unrepentantly! see ooo, most of these nigerian guys or girls are panders. please be careful whenever you are in this city. trust no one!’ tunde warned chika bursting into anger. ‘you are very lucky dear, no normal young woman would think twice before accepting chinedu as her boyfriend,’ tunde continued. ‘chinedu is handsome and mega rich. he is cool and gentle. that’s why many young girls in this city admire him! but don’t be jealous, he is not a casanova! he is a good man! i am only worried about you! i hope you will stay true to him? all the same, i wish you good luck!’ chika listened to all that tunde said which actually confirmed her suspicion. ‘madam louis might be a pimp. cvi ada is indeed her stooge!’ she murmured to herself. she didn’t like some of the things tunde said about igbo people, but his observations were right. she became emotionally weak and almost cried for the poor girl. she shook her head sadly and headed to her room leaving chinedu and his friend behind in the sitting room. the sitting room shook with laughter from the two friends who had not seen each other for some time now. they were obviously teasing each other about something so interesting or appealing to them. tunde laughed the loudest, his voice resonating like the yoruba ifa priest. his laughter was not noisy, but the tone was a happy one obviously more of a compliment. chika was not happy. the thoughts of adanna kept clouding her memory. that night tunde narrated the ordeals of many nigerian girls, chika stayed on her bed alone and was restlessly tortured by her thoughts. * * * * the following morning, chika woke up with a splitting headache. she got the headache as a result of the long hours of waiting in guangzhou airport and adanna’s trouble which kept her thinking all night. it was indeed a cold and wet day in october. chika was feeling so unwell and unhappy. she hoped that there would be a way of escaping the sadness that had suddenly crept into her life. she needed to be happy for her to enjoy the holiday. that morning, chinedu took an unwontedly long time to return from where he went leaving chika alone and tortured by her thoughts. she was thinking again about adanna. she was always on her mind since yesterday’s encounter. chika hated to displease chinedu, who had been remarkably courteous to her. her eyes narrowed in cvii deep thought as she tried to make plans that would save adanna. she wanted to help the poor girl, but didn’t want to appear ungrateful to chinedu. chika moved softly out of the room when she heard the sound of someone’s footsteps. ‘i knew you would be the one dear.’ chika said almost afraid. she hugged chinedu and sat down on the sofa to relax her back. she thought deeply, chinedu was the sun that brightened her lonely life in china. ‘i can’t afford to make him regret ever meeting me!’ she had told herself many times. **** the weather that afternoon was beautiful and very tranquil. as chinedu and chika stepped out of the apartment to walk down the streets of guangzhou, they were greeted with a sea of people. locals and africans roamed the decorated streets in full holiday spirit. some of these africans didn’t reside in china. they had shops in their countries, but occasionally came to guangzhou to select goods to ship back home. many of those black people never cared about the quality of their goods or the brands. they loved to bargain low-end products which were the characteristics of large groups of african businessmen especially those from nigeria. the europeans and arabs were just different since they maintained the habit of purchasing high quality goods. nevertheless, africans’ demand for cheap products had interestingly opened up many new areas in china. it had allowed the processing factories around the outskirts of guangzhou to prosper. the expansion of africans’ export business had also spawned the emergence of african cviii restaurants, african interpreters, african trafficker, african trafficked, african beggars, african destitutes, african prostitutes, african fraudsters and other supporting business. life in guangzhou was invariable affordable for the rich and the poor. some african guys were seen pouring drinks on the streets and chanting noisy songs that attracted onlookers. their behaviours were quite out of place for most people who had never encountered the african communal life and attitude. most of the guys wore white polo and sea green shorts. they all seemed uncultured and very wild raising the nigerian flag in an unpatriotic manner devoid of passion for nigeria. they only chanted the nigeria national anthem to celebrate the october 1st which coincided with the chinese national day. it was for them a double celebration for two countries directly opposite in many things. the guys’ unkempt dreadlocks and perforated ears grossly decorated with earrings made them look more irresponsible and assumedly insane. nobody behaved normal. they were all under the spell of noisy lifestyle that spelt more misfortune than fortune. they indeed had nothing to celebrate about a country that had plunged its citizens into abject poverty, insecurity and daily migration of helpless youths to many countries in search of greener pastures. chika wondered what atrocities those guys must have committed in a bid to making life less miserable for themselves and their families back home. **** chika was fascinated by the famous guangzhou 20 stories tall shopping centers with architectural chinese cix designs. a young chinese woman wanted a picture of them and herself together, so she gave her friend her phone to take a snapshot. she looked very excited that chika and chinedu were so tall, neatly dressed and behaved differently. due to her limited english language skills, she couldn’t express further what exactly ignited her excitement. she simply stood there waving and shouting, ‘pye-pye!’ (bye-bye) another group of people really wanted to snap with them. when chika and chinedu saw them approaching, they disappeared quickly into the most famous pan-pan african hotel and restaurant. the restaurant catered for a large expatriate community in guangzhou. it was a well-known classic restaurant. the racist coverage by some chinese journalists who criticized african customers for eating with their hands, a tradition across the continent attracted many chinese and other foreigners to the restaurant. many chinese visited the restaurant only to explore african dishes. some chinese men believed that african dishes had the tendency of building your body muscles and could help in enhancing sexual performance which was fast becoming a hot topic in china. the assumption was strongly connected to most chinese girls marrying or befriending african guys leaving young chinese guys fuming with rage and loneliness. despite the unruly behaviour exhibited by many nigerian men, some chinese hot and rich babes still yearned for them which had led to constant heartbreaks and fraud stories. the dining experience was good and very new to chika. the environment was more sophisticated and not mainly populated by africans. it was indeed more expensive when compared to madam louis restaurant. cx the least african dish was not below 200 yuan which explained why only rich african business moguls patronized them. some beautiful black girls who wore skimpy clothes were seen serving food to black men who needed services like massage and other intimate fondling to calm their nerves. it was indeed a high-class brow restaurant with classic rooms for quick relaxation. the restaurant was opened by an american who married a chinese woman in order to bridge a gap between cultures. it was rumoured that he hired different nationals to prepare their local dishes to the taste of their customers. stephen and zao for years had concentrated more on africans who always had tough times whenever they visited china. so they had tried to entertain them with their home food. the restaurant for many years had been a comforting refuge in a foreign land. stereotypes against africans were evident but the owner of the restaurant had employed more beautiful african girls to attend to his customers. apart from constant eating, drinking and flirting which were very common, the restaurant faced more police scrutiny than its neighbouring restaurants. it was believed that drug barons from different countries had transformed the restaurant to their meeting place. as such, it had become a very hot spot where drug addicts were nabbed. chika could not help thinking that adanna and the other african girls with skimpy wears were similar in some ways. she believed that they were totally different. those girls looked wild and fearless; ada looked very timid and naïve with all her alluring beauty. the african girls in the restaurant threw themselves at men and they were constantly on the move all the time. adanna was cxi indeed different. she was pushed and intimidated by her madam to yield to men’s desires. **** chika felt that she had a burden that was too heavy to bear. after all, ‘a toad does not run in the noon day in vain.’ this expression appropriately described her situation. she had been terrorized by her disobedience. her inability to obey mother’s advice kept her tortured. she had not called her mother for some time now. she knew that her mother would be worried by now. chika walked into the visitor’s room to call her mother. she sighed. why was she torturing herself? memories and some experiences must be buried to live life freely. the phone was ringing steadily and her mind was beating fast. ‘hellow, onye?’ (who is calling?) a voice asked. ‘mama, it’s chika ooo! she said clenching her fist. she was so nervous to continue the conversation. ‘ah, chukwu daalu oo! (thank god). your silence kept me thinking for a long time! hope you are well? ‘yes ma, i am doing great! my only problem and challenge is too much study! chinese language is too difficult and very challenging! mama, please pray for me ooo! i am indeed facing a lot here!’ chika said in a serious tone. ‘chy, i pray for you every day. you can do all things through christ that strengthens you! this should always be your confession my daughter. don’t squash your dreams with fear. you are born to conquer and rule. you must succeed my dear. and no weapons or distractions of the enemy against you shall prosper. you are blessed my daughter.’ cxii ‘amen, amen and amen!’ chika replied feeling light and happy. ‘are you enjoying the weather over there?’ her mother asked. ‘yes of course, the weather over here is not as cold as i thought. perhaps around december it might be so cold. but mama, this country is too beautiful ooo! i love it! i simply love it. i have not been to america but i think it beats america hands down.’ chika told her mother. chinedu came into the room and chika looked at him, the ferocious expression on her face had warned him not to utter a word. he remained silent and sat on the bed with her. ‘okay mama, don’t ever worry about me okay! i will not be calling often. it’s quite expensive to call from here. also, i have good christian friends who take good care of me over here. they have lived here for over fifteen years. so ma, as you can see, i am happy and relaxed.’ chika told her. ‘ooo, nwa m! (ooo my child) take good care of yourself ooo! i am also fine except for the occasional bp issues that come up randomly.’ ‘ndo, nnem! (sorry mother). it is well! i will keep praying for you, okay! send my greetings to chibuzo and chibunna. tell them that their lovely elder sister is saving towards surprising them with their articulated and unarticulated wishes. tell them that i love and miss them every day. tell them to remain obedient and focused in their studies because an uneducated man is a fool in this generation.’ chika said laughing loudly. ‘may god bless you my daughter! may he shine his light on you!’ cxiii ‘amen! bye-bye mama. my credit is finishing oooo! love you, mama. bye-bye!’ chika cut the phone with so much difficulty that left her heart weak. she had grown to love and fear her mother deeply. the death of her father many years ago left the poor woman struggling to make ends meet. she staggered to her feet and fell back on the bed. her knees were riddled with numbness because of the way she positioned her feet while discussing with her mother. chinedu laughed at her, and held her tightly on the waist until she began to scream. she quickly pulled away shouting in a low voice. she went into the kitchen and locked the door. chika did not want any intimate fondling. at least, not after talking with her mother. she felt that her mother’s prying eyes were everywhere watching her actions. chinedu gazed at the kitchen door surprised and speechless. he simply went to the sitting room and sat down on the sofa swimming in an unquenched passion. **** ‘come and sit here, chika.’ chinedu said, patting the space beside him on the sofa. ‘i am fine standing here sweetheart,’ chika said. she remained standing. she was thinking of the best thing to say. it would be better to tell him a lie about her mother’s ill health she thought. chika looked at him again and was about to say something when chinedu interrupted. ‘i guess you are missing your mother.’ chinedu said. he smiled and scratched his well carved beard. it was as if a faint voice inside him was warning him to be careful cxiv with her now. he remained silent. he was trying to understand her and was indeed learning a few things about her. she was becoming more emotional. ‘please, chika,’ chinedu said, his voice gentle and pleading,’ don’t shut me out of your problems. ‘i love you, more than i’ve loved anyone else. i am ready to share your problems with you. i swear dear. i’ll definitely be of great help.’ ‘that’s reasonable,’ chika thought. she needed to tell him about ada, the girl in the restaurant. she was mentally exhausted but was ready to welcome any discussion on adanna’s plight. chika was standing near the kitchen door. apparently, chinedu hadn’t been able to persuade her to calm her nerves and avoid becoming too emotional. ‘calm down and let’s talk over the matter amicably,’ chinedu pleaded. by now, her squeezed facial expression had lost its strong grip and paved way to a faint smile that radiated her beauty. chinedu watched her silently as she walked from her position to where he sat on the sofa. he was imagining what she must be thinking about. he looked at her, making a mental assessment to know the problem that was eating her up. ‘she is a girl like me. people are indeed heartless!’ chika said shifting her position from one leg to another, wondering how best to present the issues that had troubled her without making chinedu angry. ‘who are you referring to dear?’chinedu asked looking straight into her eye. ‘but you already know her dear,’ chika said softly. ‘you know her sweetheart. you know her dear!’ cxv chika strode behind chinedu. ‘please dear, let’s help her. she will continue to suffer if she is not saved.’ chinedu turned and faced chika. ‘i am afraid dear. i don’t know who you are talking about.’ chika visibly nervous, stood behind him unable to say a word. she said, with her softest voice, ‘nedu, please let’s help adanna. the girl we saw in the restaurant the other day. i am really feeling bad about her situation. i don’t think she is desperate like the other girls we saw. i think she has been lured and deceived. she is pushed to live a lifestyle that she hates. there is something about her that is troubling my conscience.’ ‘i will see to that sweetheart. but we don’t know this girl. we don’t know who brought her here and the agreement they had before her journey. this is indeed a very difficult situation ooo! this is china, and not nigeria ooo! so we need to be very careful. just like i said, i will see to it dear! i will do anything for my darling! i mean everything for you dear!’ chinedu said pulling her right hand. ‘let’s go into the room,’ chinedu said holding her hand in soft grip as he led the way. chika was caught in between gratitude and her rapidly growing emotions. she clutched his hand tightly determined to achieve her purpose. **** cxvi chapter seventeen emotions are colours guangzhou climate was overly warm and humid. october was indeed the best time to visit a city devoid of clear divisions of the seasons. chika was happy that she did not visit when the weather was extremely hot. countless tourists were seen roaming the streets. the air smelled mostly of garlic and turmeric. here everyone was busy heading to different directions. it smelled of tourism, business, more of foreign businesses. it dripped, also of drug business and sex business. chinedu said that he didn’t chase ladies in guangzhou because he didn’t want to be a suspect all the time. most african young ladies in the city had been mysteriously seen as prostitutes or drug agents. guangzhou had trading in its blood. it had been the hub of trading products in and out of china. the streets were littered with blocks of marketplaces. these marketplaces range from electronics to gadgets, to home and gift, to clothes and bags! the marketplaces had factory and a product line where commodities could be produced and sold in large quantities. the factory representatives had marketplaces where people could see samples of goods before booking for more. guangzhou was known for the ‘nonelectronics’-such as textiles, shoes, bags and home products. chika and chinedu wandered around guangzhou for days and chika had been awe struck at some of the architecture and sights that she had seen. she enjoyed going round the canton fair. the canton fair was the oldest trade show, and the famous in guangzhou. it was a long trade fair which occurred twice a year, in spring cxvii time (april) and fall (october). she was happy to have participated in that year’s trade fair but was lost in thought as many of the traders spoke in cantonese. guangzhou was the heart of the old canton era. many locals spoke cantonese, not mandarin, not english. the rest of china especially those in the north had fully adopted mandarin chinese while guangzhou and other cantonese cities of the south were still holding tenaciously to their mother tongue. the influx of foreigners for business had pushed more for english and mandarin as the major modes of communication. the uber car services had resorted to using chinenglish to communicate with foreigners who could not speak cantonese or mandarin as they rendered their services. most foreigners had dedicated their time to learning mandarin chinese which had been the official language of china and the dominant language for the long haul. **** on that lucky friday, at the top of baima market, chika ran into adanna. chika was very excited and ready to get going with her plans. she was pleasantly surprised that fate had favoured her plans to hear from the horse’s mouth. ‘i’m sorry dear about what happened that day,’ chika said. adanna was carrying a mini bag on her right shoulder. she heaved a sigh and folded her arms across her chest. ‘never mind sister! you won’t understand!’ she said looking at chika’s face. ‘what do you mean? chika asked. she held her left hand and looked inquiringly at her. ‘were you not sad about what happened that day?’ cxviii ‘no dear, i was not. i never felt anything. i was just there like a piece of furniture owned by everybody. what happened to me that day was nothing! worst things had happened to me there, but i’m not bothered anymore! i’ve resigned to fate! i am simply waiting for the future to unleash more hardship and thorns of pains into my life! this life is indeed cruel.’ adanna said with an air of total indifference that left chika speechless. ‘are you happy there? chika asked. ‘who is talking of happiness in a cruel world? happiness has developed wings and had since vanished into the thin air. my happiness does not count anymore. my madam’s happiness is my ultimate goal now. the fear of my madam is the beginning of wisdom. her word is final! her decisions are binding dear!’ ‘and so? you want to die there? you want to be a pawn in the hands of those ruthless igbo guys that have no respect for women? you want to die there ruthlessly without liberating yourself?’ chika asked almost choking with anger. ‘my body is an engine now! it does not rest from men’s constant touch and abuse. you will not understand dear! my story is a long one. my childhood is not different from what i’m experiencing now. sister, to tell you the truth, i don’t care anymore. if you care so much about me, tell your fiancé to come and pay at least two thousand rmb to my madam as her customer. she would be glad to release me for a whole day without thinking twice. then, i will come over to your place and narrate my ordeals to you. i am a controlled prostitute. my time is money for my madam.’ ‘not today, ada,’ chika said. ‘tomorrow, maybe.’ ‘don’t forget, sister.’ cxix ‘i won’t, ada,’ chika promised and hurried on to meet chinedu who was busy selecting clothes in a nearby shop. **** that night chika lay on her bed awake. she remembered how adanna’s buttocks were touched by one of the guys in the restaurant. she stirred and turned to face the wall. sleep indeed eluded her and hours passed as her mind wandered into the past. the events of that day came clearly into her thoughts. she had not taken kindly to adanna’s idea of living a life of slavery and sexual exploitation. she turned severally on the bed and lay on her back. she stared at the ceiling, her eyes following the white and silver chinese design that projected the beauty of the room. she began to trace the lines and the artistic connections that produced such a master design. she thought about adanna, about the holiday that would soon end, about the loneliness that would soon envelop her in beijing and about her tedious studies in beijing foreign studies university. a part of her wanted the easy life in guangzhou, another part of her was scared and urged her to face her studies squarely. **** guangzhou was indeed a chocolate dream land for many africans especially the igbo people who thought life would make a turn for the better. nonso, an energetic 29year-old guy from imo state, arrived in china very desperate to become rich. after hearing of china’s rise and many business opportunities available for foreigners, he sold off the goods in his shop. he also sold his father’s cxx plots of land, bought his airplane ticket and paid a local visa dealer to get him to china. he taught his life was going to change only to be trapped in a tight web of disillusionment and poverty. as the oldest of his five siblings, he was responsible for caring for his family since their parents passed away. his condition had raised his concern for the siblings he left behind in a search for quick money. life in nigeria was indeed very challenging with less job opportunities for many vibrant youths. the continuous quest for money, heightened poverty and excessive materialism had led to constant migration. the eastern region of nigeria had been losing many of their sons and daughters to migration mostly to europe and some parts of asia. chinese border restrictions had been easier than in europe or north america as a result of the free trade policy between china and many african countries. guangzhou had become a hub for african migrants, traders and entrepreneurs. nonso’s new life didn’t turn out the way he imagined. he struggled to feed himself and had no job that would fetch him money. when his three months visa expired after unsuccessfully looking for job, he resorted to constant hiding in the day. night became his day and day time, his night. since he sold off his few assets-optimism replaced his desperation as he tried to scrabble enough money to go home. indeed the dream nonso hoped for, the better opportunities, better life, were not there. it was just a mere dream that was nowhere to be seen in china. nonso’s experiences in china as a migrant depicted a hard life with no hope for survival. nonso and other migrants lived in cramped apartments where they had to take turns to sleep because there were not enough cxxi beds. they spent their days hiding inside their apartments, afraid of being caught by the police with expired visas. they struggled to get enough water and food in order to survive. the solidarity of other igbo guys helped to sustain them. the igbo traders whose papers were legal contributed seven yuan a day for food and water supply. sometimes, they brought left-over food from african restaurants packed in plastic bags for nonso and other migrants to quench their hunger. each day that passed meant less food for nonso. and he could not leave the apartment in the day for job haunting. for several years, he had walked the streets of guangzhou in the night in search of home services or restaurant jobs. he was ready to accept any job as long as it would put food on his table. **** that saturday night, chika’s eyes sparkled as she listened to nonso’s tale of struggle. she didn’t believe he had passed through a lot. ‘oh, god, this is too bad to be true, chika muttered. she felt like crying and offering a help, but was very careful not to make a promise that would consume her relationship. she asked nonso to call adanna who was busy attending to noisy customers in madam louis restaurant. the customers’ inconsiderate demands were becoming increasingly irritating. chika couldn’t understand why she was allowing her emotions to control her. it would be unsafe for her to delve into a story that she was not too sure of. chika folded her arms under her armpits. she had only seen nonso for the first time that night. he was busy clearing the once occupied table where cxxii a few customers ate before she called his attention. she had asked him about adanna and the kind of job she had been employed to do in the restaurant. ‘job is job dear! how i wish i had many customers like her. the lives of young ladies are quite easy here! a mere opening of legs gives them a good amount of money in a day! what do you expect a pretty young lady like her to be doing here? washing plate? smiling? or… nonso said laughing mockingly. ‘every young lady in this restaurant is a prostitute. none has legal papers. they either migrated to china on their own accord or were deceived and manipulated. so don’t bother yourself asking too many questions.’ nonso helped chika call adanna as she waited for him in a dark corner of the restaurant. it was in guangzhou that nonso started his new bizarre life of prostitution, not with single girls but with older married women and men who were ready to grease his palms with a good amount of money. he would send the money to his siblings as a proof of his hard work in a faraway land. prostitution was indeed the only way he could make fast money to enable him maintain his prestige at home. he had admired adanna for her beauty which attracted more customers to her. he had in many occasions helped madam louis in arranging for men who took adanna home for the whole night and brought her back the next day after paying a huge sum. it was from nonso’s narration that chika first heard that prostitution was not only meant for girls or women. boys and men also threaded on that path. booking ada for the night was easy as a result of nonso’s involvement. with a little sum of 300 yuan given to him by chika, he was able to convince madam louis to release adanna for the night. chika gave him 2,000 yuan to settle cxxiii their madam and left the restaurant with adanna before idle businessmen who lived oily lives in hotels would demand for her. **** chika slumped into the revolving chair close to the dining table, held up her forehead with her two hands, and shut her eyes. adanna sat on the sofa in the sitting room, took a deep breath, and shut her eyes too. neither of them spoke for some minutes. ‘what brought you to this city?’ chika broke the silence. ‘i hardly know how to tell my story without expressing my grief,’ adanna said. ‘i never had the privilege of living a decent life of innocence. my childhood was full of pains and sorrows. i have spent my life living in fear and agony! hummmm!’ adanna paused. chika pondered as she swung round in her chair. she hoped to nose around, to find out more about adanna and her family background. ‘come on dear! spill it! chika said, ‘don’t prolong the suspense! i heard the guys in the restaurant call you ada-awka. are you from awka?’ chika asked. ‘yes sister.’ adanna replied floating back to the sofa to ponder over the question and her past bizarre experiences. ‘anything can happen in a society characterized by pedophiles and rapists. life for me is meaningless and unfair. my childhood had been wasted by men who had no pity for my fragile nature. my father was the first male that started this chain of abuse.’ adanna said tears welling up in her eyes. ‘you mean your real father?’ chika asked. cxxiv ‘pardon my asking, but this is unbelievable! i shudder! chika shrugged her shoulder and beckoned on adanna to continue her story. ‘when i was barely six years old, i was consistently molested by my father. i was indeed scared and alone, and didn’t have anyone to complain to. my father was a night watchman in a firm and would return home early in the morning before leaving again in the night. my mother was a trader who would leave home in the morning only to return very late in the evening. my father would wait for me to come home after school and would consume my strength like a man who had not eaten for some days. he threatened to kill me if i would let the cat out of the bag. he used to beat my mother and demanded for sex even when she was tired and seriously sick.’ ada sighed a sigh that was nearly a groan. ‘my mother loved my father dearly and would do anything to make him happy, but my father despised her a lot because she had failed to give birth to more children. i didn’t tell anyone because i was too scared to light more fire that would consume my mother. i was upset with what was happening but lacked the willpower to face the consequences. my father molested me almost on daily basis. he would touch my small buttocks and bare chest and would always close his eyes like somebody who was waiting for spiritual inspiration. and for years, i didn’t say anything to anybody. then, i was newly admitted into secondary school. one day, i came back from school and was feeling hot, and i had to go to the bathroom. when i came out he was waiting right outside the door for me with his long gun pointing directly into my small face. i lost my senses and fear gripped me. he pushed me into the big bathroom and locked the door. he took his clothes off and cxxv forced me to do the same. he raped me ruthlessly, and then told me that if i tell anyone he would kill me and my mother. i died and woke up. i didn’t tell anyone. i only nurtured my pain in the secret chamber of my little heart. then a day after my 11th birthday, i started feeling weird and fainted. my body hurt so badly and i was taken to the hospital. it was confirmed that i was pregnant with my father’s baby.’ ‘what?’ chika interrupted. ‘i felt that i was going to die. so i subconsciously confessed what transpired between my father and i for years. i heard my mother cursing, shouting and pacing around in confusion. that was the last time i heard my mother’s voice. i was later told by my mother’s friend that my mother could not bear the shame so she drank rat poison and died. that was the first time i told my story of being a victim of incest and sexual abuse. my father was arrested and jailed because i thought he would do something to me for telling the truth. i had a traumatic attack, and my mother’s friend took me away with her because i was severely depressed. two weeks later in aunty chinwe’s house, i became so ill as a result of the pregnancy which threatened my existence. i agreed to abort the baby because i hated my father. that was indeed the beginning of my pain and sorrow. i became painfully hurt and sexually active at a very young age. i felt as though it was my entire fault that this awful thing happened to me. i kept my mouth shut for years and i had very low self-esteem, and didn’t care what happened to me. instead of running away from men, i ran to them.’ ‘why did you run to men? haba!’ chika exclaimed. cxxvi adanna continued. ‘fate played a funny game on me as chinwe’s husband and house boys took their turn for years molesting my body without mercy. i had no other choice, but to run away after series of abortions that nearly killed me. people were very sympathetic to my situation and helped me secure a job in a saloon. i was barely sixteen when i left. the owner of the saloon was not so kind to me. she treated me more like a slave and called me all sorts of names. it was in the saloon that i met auntie white, the fair complexioned lady who introduced me to michael. michael who was also called mike was the one that processed my papers for the journey. auntie white paid my flight ticket to china and promised to introduce me to a friend who would employ me. if it weren’t for god’s grace and mercy my dear, i don’t know where i would be today.’ adanna said looking very depressed. **** cxxvii chapter eighteen chika lay wide awake in bed thinking about adanna. she wondered why fate had decided to play painful games with her life. she had thought that it was wrong for a young girl of her age to be submerged in wicked circumstances that thwarted her dreams. adanna had come into the world as the only child of her parents. men’s continuous stemming irresponsibility on her had left a deep wound which could not be cured. this was not what she truly wanted. she truly wanted a home that would offer her protection. she wanted a decent life that would give her the peace to face her education. but these dreams were out of her reach. they were dreams suppressed by men’s wicked manipulations and selfish desires. chika stirred and turned to face the ceiling. adanna’s story had indeed weakened her. she tried to concentrate on manipulating herself to sleep. but sleep eluded her and hours passed ushering her into deep thoughts. in her state of deep thoughts, her mind took flight to unknown destinations. **** the holiday was almost over. chika arrived beijing late due to an internal flight delay. the rush that sunday morning at the airport was something else as many chinese needed to resume school or work on monday. chika was not so excited and ready to get going with her studies. she had only been in guangzhou for a few days and the thought of chinedu left her empty. she needed some rest to enable her attend classes early tomorrow. classes ran from monday to friday cxxviii starting at 8am and finishing at 1pm or 4pm depending on whether or not there was an afternoon class. chika stared at her small bookshelf and lost the inner strength to face her studies. her mind had been occupied by many thoughts, thoughts of chinedu and guangzhou. she now had responsibilities, to maintain her new relationship and to put more efforts in her studies. **** the start of classes after the holiday was the most difficult period for chika, as this time was spent adjusting to the content of the course outline and the teaching method. the class was slightly higher than chika’s ability and recognizing chinese characters was indeed a difficult task. chika was unable to grasp the basic grammar structures and a large vocabulary that would help her in comprehending her courses. there was no other african in her class. it was incredibly diverse with the majority of students from different parts of china who mainly spoke in mandarin. chika remembered the nervous atmosphere of her first class with wu laoshi who was very mean and intolerant of students’ inability to give good answers to his questions. that class alone caused her blood pressure to rise leaving her frustrated and hopeless. another teacher, tao laoshi was very unique and different. she cared so much about chika and helped her settle into life in the university as well as gave her grammar lessons that would aid her in her studies. chika had five classes: reading, listening, speaking, grammar and character writing with different class teachers for each course. each class was around one and half hours long with a twenty minutes break in the middle. it was indeed very hard for chika who cxxix worked incredibly hard just to have good grades since poor grades would affect the renewal of her scholarship. as time passed, chika became more accustomed to speaking chinese. words she had heard from her teachers and talented coursemates during classes suddenly began appearing in her vocabulary. **** the first winter was chika’s worst season of waiting. the real china she felt in beijing was indeed very cold and freezing. winter was the coldest season in china across one year from december to february. beijing had a very cold and dry weather. the chilly cold feeling left her so nervous during the period of her examinations that she yearned for the nigeria weather. the air was indeed cold because beijing in winter was full of gusty wind and less sunshine. the streets and roofs were covered with white, displaying a beauteous snow city sight. the trees and flowers also wore thick white snow coats once admired by chika in television during christmas period. it was indeed a dream come true. **** december 25th was like other normal days in china. christmas was not a public holiday. students and workers were not allowed to enjoy a day off. on christmas eve, chika and some of her chinese friends went to the church to perform some religious activities. people were seen trimming and lighting the christmas tree, sending cards and gifts, and holding parties without attaching more importance to the reason behind the celebration. it was indeed quite different from home. for the first time, the feelings attached to christmas season eluded her. she was cxxx so lonely and empty. different popular commercial streets and shopping malls were well decorated and the festive music was heard everywhere. the lyrics of ‘jingle bells’, ‘we wish you a merry christmas’ and ‘silent night’ awakened in her a feeling of nostalgia that left her feeling sad and lonely. the only thing about christmas celebration that chika enjoyed was the discounts and small gifts offered by most department stores, supermarkets and other on-line shops to their customers. her visit to some exciting places left her feeling bored and tired. to her, christmas in china was more of a carnival. **** chika’s mind went to the past. her forays into her experiences in guangzhou always ended in mixed feelings, yet she couldn’t subdue them. no moment passed without her thinking of chinedu and adanna. it had been two months since she had returned from guangzhou, yet it seemed like yesterday. memories like these should be buried. but how could she forget, when bizarre stories of nonso and adanna emerged every moment to add to her frustration. ‘why should a young girl be subjected to a life of molestation and prostitution? what is the justice in a situation where a sexually exploited girl, is also molested in a place where she ran for shelter?’ chika muttered feeling so sad. chika felt that she had a huge burden that was too heavy to carry. she was indeed terrorized by adanna’s stories and felt she had been molested herself. in the past, chika was awed by people who went abroad but now, her perception had changed. there was something about abroad that made her almost hate it: the helplessness of migrants, constant police monitoring and an air of cxxxi superiority that made africans so nervous. china indeed was not free of restraint, internet services, walking on the streets without attracting comments – not indeed free of monitoring. life in china did not take the familiar shape of life in nigeria. it was pleasant and direct, but there was no privacy at all. everything was strictly monitored with cameras. chika would remember her final moments in guangzhou in a blur, chinedu refusing to go to madam louis restaurant to avoid being connected to adanna in any way. he had warned her to be very careful of girls who had no legal papers and background. he was indeed not happy about chika’s decision which left him with the option of sleeping in his friend’s house that night. after chinedu left the apartment that night, chika told herself, ‘there was a feeling i wanted to feel that i did not feel. it was true that i loved him deeply, but adanna’s helpless condition had awakened in me the spirit of agitation and revolution. i do stupid things when i’m curious, but there must be important reasons for my actions. adanna’s situation calls for one. she is from umuogbu awka, a place very familiar to me. i must help that poor girl.’ **** life in beijing was quite different and challenging. chika liked sunday mornings, the only day she would collect some charity gifts donated by white people heaped at the church entrance and see different shades of dark people from different continents. the church was not a conventional building but a private hall situated in a hotel hired by pastors to accommodate foreigners who were christians. for months, chika stumbled around trying to place her usefulness in a church that was totally controlled cxxxii by white people. the church indeed bored her. people did the same thing every sunday; chatting, singing, eating, drinking juice and laughing without purpose. preaching seemed more like a friendly chat with less force or emotional condemnation which was quite uncommon in nigeria. the pastors had no authoritative control over the congregation and never cared much about money for weekly thanksgiving. perhaps it had always been so in many foreign countries. the hall in the hotel used as a church was in a cluster of buildings. the environment was carefully landscaped and decorated with colourful flowers at the corners of the building. in fact the perfect metaphor for the environment was a park. every sunday, white and black foreigners were seen dramatically looking around. white foreigners’ eyes were unusually averted and precarious as though to seek a response to questions that haunted their imagination. chika was new to the church, the people and environment were unfamiliar to her. she longed for other foreigners, and she longed to hear the experiences of other people in china. panicked, chika took a step and approached a young beautiful dark complexioned jamaican who merely stared, arms folded without responding to her greetings. she remained silent and her eyes communicated one thing: disdain. chika stood in perfect silence, staring at her, flabbergasted by the hardness of her eyes which sustained a fixed gaze in front of her without turning to any direction. chika felt humiliated and very sad. she simply moved away looking around the surroundings, as though seeking for something. she raised her palms and pressed her natural coarse hair to hide her frustration. her natural negro hair was very thick, cxxxiii full and dark. actually, she had not singed her hair straight like many black girls did. chika had bound it with black elastic buntings in afro style. she looked less sophisticated and abnormal to the white foreigners who gazed consciously at the coarse hair that had not been smeared with relaxers. chika had rocked her natural hair since she returned from guangzhou because there were a few african saloons in beijing. she did not patronize them because they we very expensive. most black girls’ hairs were silky and long. they had used relaxers and hot electric appliances to straighten their hair. chika looked more natural and african. the way she pressed her woolly hair with apt attention attracted some white people who were curious observing her. ‘can i touch your hair?’ kerry, a very lanky beautiful white lady who controlled the children’s service asked. ‘yes,’ chika said, even though she did not like the idea. her hair was quite different and had a very hard texture. an unusual numbness spread swiftly through her as the lady stretched her hand to touch the hair. ‘look how thick and coarse your african hair is. is it really natural or artificial? how do you cope with lice and dandruff? it must be very tedious and frustrating to keep your bushy hair tidy. i don’t envy you at all! i am damn serious. this is one hell of a trouble!’ the lady said heading to the convenience to wash her hands. chika felt the familiar sadness and tightening of panic in her chest. she followed the white lady almost immediately and spilled the venom in her heart. ‘i don’t envy you too! i like my hair. it is natural and very unique. no lice, no dandruff! say what you know and remain cxxxiv where you are! please, next time, don’t go looking for trouble where there is none!’ ‘thank you,’ the lanky lady said, and tried to unfreeze her long face which was almost turning purple red. chika was very happy that the words came out at the right time with a swift eloquence that displayed her courage and self-worth. **** the problem of race was still a major issue which haunted chika like a ghost. beijing had been set up to make the issue of race, colour and superiority very glaring. all dark people were labelled africans without any formal introduction. people’s complexions defined their nationality and continent. most of the dark complexioned people from europe who attended the church had an air of superiority which placed them above people from africa. they were very unfriendly and unapproachable. they hated everything about africa and avoided any form of association with them. chika was left only in the company of people from rwanda, ghana, south africa and kenya whose english she barely understood. complaints came from most african students who visited the church often. their stories of discrimination were similar and very pathetic. black people were monitored and suspected. black people couldn’t enter the church without submitting their international passports for scrutiny. this was indeed very humiliating and stereotypical. nothing was done in china without your passport. in fact, ‘you can’t get anything in this country as a black person without your passport,’ one of the girls from rwanda told chika with a tone of finality. in beijing, racism existed but in different forms. chinese racists were very common and often refer to a dark cxxxv complexioned person as hei ren (black person). their constant use of that word was more derogatory and unrefined. perhaps racism was more experienced in their use of language during assumed friendly conversations. ‘so why do many africans seem so unhappy in china? why do they have similar stories to tell? if they had come for studies or business in china, then why are they always looking so guilty, nervous and disturbed?’ chika asked meme-lee, a young girl from rwanda. meelee laid her long dark hand on one of chika’s hands, her reddened eyes focused on chika to caution her to be silenct as church service was still in progress. despite meme-lee’s warnings to chika, some little african instinct in her told her to reassure chika that they would continue their conversation after service. at first, the feeling of inferiority overwhelmed chika. the woman sitting in front of her was a white woman, and her voice was filling chika’s ears with curly sounds that left her more emotional. chika had grown up knowing that the church was a sacred place, talking was not allowed in any form. the white usher was staring at her, eyes narrowed. she had been warned severally by the white man to stop talking. chika looked reluctant. here, she felt that anything was possible, white people could do or say anything without any consequences. black people were expected to always sit and watch the superior people direct their affairs. chika struggled to grasp the unspoken. why had black people become so weak? why had black become a taboo? why did chinese people and other europeans disdain africans? ‘chinese blackie!’ meme-lee teased chika. ‘you are looking at things with african eyes. here, life is cxxxvi different! you have to adapt and relax! just relax and face your life. we are africans! we are different!’ chika stared out of the window, half listening, thinking how unreasonable white people were by looking down on blacks in the church; church populated with black students who were eager to participate actively in different activities. she was waiting endlessly for the service to end. of her mixed unrelated feelings, she only felt sad and humiliated. throughout the service, chika did not speak, but only acknowledged people’s greetings with a cold nod. **** after the service, meme-lee and other africans joked about a young african guy who had dedicated his time to holding the microphone for pastors and other church officials during bible study. kofi was a ghanaian with the darkest skin chika had ever seen. he spoke more formal english like the british and carried himself like an important personality. he ignored other africans and greeted them as formally as he could without any friendly gestures. chika was indeed puzzled, and she wondered why anybody would go through that trouble just to associate with white people. an angry sense of disdain and betrayal overwhelmed her. she shrugged and headed towards the bus stand. chika did not ask questions again, but the thought was there in her mind, muddled but persistent. **** cxxxvii chapter nineteen counting my thoughts chika laid her small hand on her forehead, for a while the sad expression on her bloated face disappeared. her eyes focused on chinedu’s picture on the reading table, the corners of her eyes formed small wrinkles and her face brightened. living on the university campus protected her a little from the devouring eyes of some chinese racists and the to and fro of the city. she picked up her small travelling bag, which she had placed on a chair before leaving for church service and adjusted it on her left shoulder before leaving her room. chika stood on the tarred road in front of the university waiting for the taxi that would convey her to the train station. it was a great feeling visiting guangzhou after busy months of studying. her heart yearned for chinedu’s love. the thought of him created a special happiness that left her weak and trembling. she was happy that her examinations ended well and learning chinese had enabled her get behind the scene while expressing her feelings. it filled her with confidence, hope and excitement as she was going to be surrounded by the buzz of a rapidly growing city. she could see surprises on taxi drivers’ faces when she spoke chinese bargaining the taxi fare with them. she hoped for a great adventure and dreamed of more romantic moments with chinedu. **** travelling to guangzhou by train was not convenient at all. as the busiest rail transport hub in china, beijing had five main train stations and many railway trunks leading to almost different cities of the cxxxviii country. it took no more than 10 hours to guangzhou by high-speed train. the busy rail transportation made it difficult to get tickets, especially during major holidays such as chinese new year and national day when it was highly recommended that travellers book tickets as early as possible. the beijing-guangzhou high speed railway is the longest high speed railway in china with a total distance of 2,298km (1,428 miles). it connects beijing west railway station and guangzhou south railway station, passing through twenty-eight cities. the d type trains were mainly overnight sleeper trains available only on fridays, saturdays, sundays, and mondays. chika had never travelled by train. she had never seen a sea of people like the one she encountered in the train station. her surprise reminded her of the beijing airport – the first impression she had about the chinese people. she thought that most people in beijing were rich and elegant, but it did not occur to her to think that both the poor and the rich exist to form a balance in society. it terrified her, to be unable to visualize the situation she found herself. chika had wanted to disappear from the yellow, dark-yellow, pink-yellow and white-yellow crowd who were so engrossed looking at her. she indeed was at war with the crowd, and stood each minute feeling emotionally bruised by their comments. chika had wanted to fight the ugly peasant chinese lady who made fun of her hair and complexion but did not retaliate because she was at war with the crowd. she simply moved to a corner, reclined her arms on the table and sighed. chika had never been a good fighter. she sat at the table with some chinese migrants, watching people hurry past while pointing at her. two chinese guys whispered into their friends’ ears saying ‘hei ren’ (black person), cxxxix perhaps wondering what a black young girl was doing alone in a train station. the two guys looked alike, with narrow eyes that were slightly closed. their panda-like shaped eyes and thick eyebrows that almost touched resembled that of the ancient chinese emperors displayed on television. chika laughed when she discovered how similar the facial expressions of those chinese guys and the ancient chinese emperors had been. she stood there watching and laughing until the arrival of their train was announced. **** at first, chika forgot that she was in china. in the train, a tired thin-faced yellow woman in official uniform requested for her ticket and led her into a compartment with strong stench of garlic and ginger. three chinese people were already resting on their bunks in a slightlylighted compartment of a third-class train. the compartment was dark and unaired. chika imagined herself staying in a steeped upper section for ten hours without clear air. from inside the compartment, a middle aged woman was groaning heavy and weird sounds. they were the throaty sound of a woman who had not slept for many nights. her body seemed lifeless and the sound frightened chika. ‘that’s your section’, the woman said in english flavoured with a mandarin accent pointing at the number written on the ticket. ‘ok, thanks! chika said very reluctant. she fought the urge to escape from the compartment that had automatically changed her system. she wanted to vomit but was left with the only choice of suppressing the nausea. she put her hand into her purse and brought out the chewing gum that was shared in the church that cxl morning. the flavoured chewing gum did the magic and she regained her sanity. ‘where are youuu fromm?’ a young pastoral looking young man suddenly asked alighting from his bunk. ‘nigeria.’ ‘you mean africa?’ ‘no, nigeria!’ ‘isn’t there a war going on in that country? ‘aren’t people there killing themselves? i saw that on cctv last week. guess you are a refugee student right? oh, poor you!’ the rustic looking young man said fixing his gaze on chika. ‘can i see your international passport?’ the train attendant suddenly asked interrupting the stiff conversation that nearly choked chika with anger. chika opened her small black bag and pulled out her green passport. ‘have it ma!’ she said. glancing at the international passport the attendant asked, ‘how do i pronounce your name? ‘chika.’ ‘pardon?’ ‘chi, chi, ka, ka… chika.’ chika almost bit her tongue. ‘ooh, i see. shika!’ the attendant said with an air of superiority that amused chika. ‘you have a student visa. guess you are heading to gaungzhou where your silly african brothers reside. i hope they won’t corrupt you over there. there are a bunch of naughty african guys roaming the streets of gaungzhou without legal papers. please be careful and guard your passport jealously.’ the attendant warned chika sternly cxli before returning the passport to her. chika had opened her mouth as though to say something and then closed it, aware that there was something significant about that statement. chika had assumed that things were not too bad in guangzhou, although she realized now that the train attendant issued a warning mentioning the noisy igbo guys and their illegal activities in guangzhou without details. the attendant’s warning rang in her head. ‘thank you, ma,’ chika said heading towards her bunk. **** the compartment smelled more of garlic when chika entered. she walked in and glanced at the young man who was sipping hot spicy water from a small plastic plate containing noodles. chika merely stared at him, she could not think. there was something about the young man that made her want to react, but her mind was occupied with thoughts. his constant gaze and frequent scornful remarks made her angry and irritated. chika hurried past the young man’s bunk and towards her bunk, knowing that her emotions could fail her at any further provocation. the bunk smelled of cold dust in winter. she liked that her bunk was the last, closer to the roof of the train where nobody would disturb her. she liked the bunk, the height above average human height and the dark upper layer that transformed everything into darkness. she liked most of all, that in the bunk, she could recoil in disgust when faced with uncertainty. but she hated taking deep breaths there. she liked watching the chinese gothic buildings with their dragon design-laced wall through the medium sized window in the compartment. cxlii chika did not like that she had to go to guangzhou feeling sad. the rude chinese man in the compartment had intended to offend her but had instead prodded her to think. she began to plan and to dream about the chinese spring festival because it was her first experience. her chinese friends had told her that chinese new year also called the spring festival was an important annual event for chinese people. it was a festival celebrated according to chinese twelve animal zodiac signs. it was also a traditional festival that united family members for centuries; similar to christmas celebration. during this festival, many chinese workers had at least seven days off work, including three days legal holiday. students would take one whole month before school would resume. happiness seemed to have descended from somewhere onto her heart. chika could feel it and never hurried to escape from it. she wanted to enjoy her holiday in guangzhou; all she wanted was chinedu’s heart and happiness, and as long as she had those there was little else she desired. chika became so engrossed in her thoughts that she drifted away. **** some hours later, when chika woke up, she found her black bag on the floor. luckily, she hid her wallet, phone and passport inside her tight elastic underwear before sleep took her away. the train was filled with chinese from different backgrounds, so it was obvious that thieves would be having their targets attacked during the festive period. chika noticed that her mini laptop had been stolen. she alighted from her bed, picked up her bag from the floor and headed towards the complaint section. cxliii ‘i was robbed while sleeping!’ please, help me catch this thief. he must be here! please, please!’ chika said to the train attendant almost sobbing. she sounded curious and was so afraid. ‘i don’t think it is possible now, the person must have escaped with the stolen items. we have already covered many cities and i guess the person must have alighted. i’ m so sorry. please, next time be very careful with your precious items,’ the train attendant told chika. ‘but you have cameras in this train! you can replay the cameras to catch the thief! please help me! chika cried. ‘there are no cameras mounted in the compartment. we respect the privacy of our customers. i am sorry that i cannot help you.’ for the first few minutes, chika sat on the bare floor of the train sobbing. all her vital documents were stored in the mini laptop that chinedu bought for her. ‘this is unbelievable! this is unbelievable!’ she told herself often, and again, endless thoughts of what had happened churned in her head. many chinese migrants clustered around chika watching her like an alien that was imported into their planet. chika searched their gestures, faces and words, for a sign that showed pity or concern. they looked no different from their expressions before. there were no sympathetic gestures, no special concern or efforts to catch the thief. suddenly, chika noticed an unusual thing which was not common in nigeria. she saw traces of slippery secretion which lay spattered on the floor. she immediately got up and was heading to her compartment when an old woman blew her nostrils. she was spattered with smelly thick mucus that almost made her vomit. she cxliv did not tell her anything but headed to the convenience to clean up the mess. **** on her bunk, morning came too soon. it hung on the small window like a threat, ready to shatter her happiness. ‘wo men dou la!’ (we have reached our final stop). a man in official uniform shouted standing at the entrance of chika’s compartment. the man was very short and chubby. obviously, the man was talking to chika who was the only person left in the train. indeed, yesterday’s experiences left her emotionally wrecked and plunged her into a deep slumber. when chika got up from her bunk, she looked him over, sizing him up in self defense, then she smiled and said to him in mandarin. ‘zao shang hao!’ (good morning). i’m sorry, i overslept.’ ‘mei guangxi!’ (no problem).the man said heading towards the door. chika’s heart prickled and a tingling sensation of discomfort overwhelmed her as she carried her bag to leave the train. her world was wrapped in gauze. she could see a sea of people moving to and fro in the train station. she told herself, ‘a journey of ten long hours has finally come to an end. thank god i wasn’t kidnapped ooo!’ as soon as she alighted, chinedu hurried to her and carried her in his arms touching and kissing her. his touch was warm against her skin and she felt normal again. they left the scene and headed to where chinedu packed his suv. in a sluice of seconds, they entered the car and drove off. **** cxlv chika had a singular insight into life, considering that she had never experienced some bizarre aspects of it. she was a young girl who for the first time in her life had fallen madly in love. the last time chika and chinedu met, he had told her how much he loved her and his desire to return to nigeria with her for their traditional marriage ceremony. chika was resigned to the fact that things happen too fast in life and that she should not go too far without proper marriage. chinedu had missed her greatly, his voice sounded tearful and quite sexy. he was ready to make her his wife. he had told her over the phone while in nigeria of the discussions he had with his father, mentioning the points he knew would make her happy and put her mind at rest; that she was a beautiful girl and that she came from a good family. chinedu’s visit to nigeria was not in vain. his two months in nigeria after many years in china gave him the opportunity of making good inquiry about chika. his visit to chika’s house at awka where her mother and other siblings reside created in chinedu a new feeling of eternal bond. he could not wait to marry her and cherish her family like his own. the motherly advice and gentle nature of chika’s mother had in a very short time filled the vacuum created by the death of his mother. happiness once again returned to him with deeper roots. ‘i love you deeply my sweetie. i really missed you. you have taken all of me. i am now helpless!’ chinedu confessed while driving. chika listened with her face lowered. she had not brushed her teeth and so did not dare look up. she was too shy and lacked the confidence to speak into his face. **** cxlvi chika watched the crowd silently. the period was the busiest time for the chinese people. many chinese living away from their ancestral homes were returning to celebrate the spring festival. and so airports, railway stations and long distance bus stations were fully crowded with returnees. the celebration was accentuated with religious ceremonies and worship in honour of family ancestors and different gods. the animal sign celebrated in the lunar calendar was the ‘dog’ which was virtually used as a design pattern on every item in china. different buildings and streets were decorated with golden and red buntings to signal a festive period. to many chinese people, inability to decorate a house with red and golden buntings was a taboo that could usher in bad luck. the chinese spring festival was like christmas in nigeria. chika could not wait to experience it for the first time. she was imagining what people must be feeling about the festival. not knowing what to say, she took a deep breath and only stared at the crowd. **** cxlvii chapter twenty i didn’t see it coming ‘what a long journey sweetie! you look worn-out but very pretty.’ in the living room, chinedu smiled and moved closer to chika. she was very erratic, obviously anxious to wash her body clean. chinedu had to incline his body against the wall to avoid being pushed down by chika. he held her small face and looked thoughtfully into her eyes. ‘i’m not sure you love me the way i do. you look good, any day – any time. i like you the way you are… fresh, dirty…. i simply love you! what’s wrong with you? did i offend you?’ chinedu asked. chika gave him a surprised look. her eyes were a bit simplified but radiated a strong passion that ignited powerful emotion in chinedu. she indeed loved him, and the unmonitored freedom he gave her. chika opened her mouth as though to say something. chinedu placed his fingers over her lips. he placed his hands on her waist and swung her up, kissed her and nuzzled her neck. he laid her gently on the sofa and took off her blouse and bra. she laid bare chest on her back moaning softly. his long fingers caressed her soft rounded breast as he prepared to claim her fully. her fingers clutched his head, as he lowered his body to meet hers. chika looked straight into the open space. she did not see anything. something in chinedu’s voice made her dance to the rhythm of their emotion. she was not capable of putting the sweet sensation into words. she simply held him tight and allowed tears fall on her cheeks. **** cxlviii chinedu did not bother to tell ngozi who it was that had put on his boxers and slept on his private bed. it was ngozi, who had been entitled to such a privilege in the past. ngozi did not believe her eyes. since she met chinedu, she had wanted to be his wife but wasn’t lucky enough. chinedu never loved her, but accepted her friendship as a result of the favour she did to him in the past. chika was fast asleep when ngozi entered the room. ngozi touched chika’s right leg; yet chika did not stir. ngozi bent over her and peered into her face to check if she was really asleep. she took a glance at the mini brown table in the room and saw a lady’s handbag. she bent over again to see if chika was still asleep before tiptoeing to the table. she picked up the bag and opened it to check the content. she was surprised to see a nigerian passport in the bag. ngozi opened the passport, flipped through the pages and hid it inside her tight jean trouser pocket. she was indeed very furious. she darted a glance at chika who was deep in sleep and muttered, ‘don’t get flip with me or i’ll knock you into next world!’ **** ‘chinedu! chinedu! hummmm! she is your new girl friend, right? a student at beijing! you are very ungrateful and shameless! i don’t really blame you! you have done your worst! now watch me do mine, you shameless idiot! you are an ungrateful brat from a poor lineage!’ ngozi said pacing up and down. she grabbed her travelling bag and dashed towards the door. suddenly she turned and said, ‘before evening get that little brat away from this house!’ cxlix ‘it will never happen! she is not just my girl friend. she is my wife to be! she is my true love!’ chinedu said feeling so irritated. ‘who said so? you haven’t seen anything! you have indeed touched the tail of a tiger. i cannot sleep until i ruin you and that girl. you know what i’m capable of doing. guess you have forgotten so soon! let that girl disappear before i return to this house this evening or else, i make her roam the streets of guangzhou like a criminal without a passport. you know me…’ ngozi grabbed the door handle and exited. **** ‘nawa ooooo, marriage na by force? i no wan marry you bi say, i no wan marry you! what kind of arrant nonsense is this naw? what have i really gotten myself into? what a crazy lady; spoilt girl without a living conscience! how could i marry a girl that had the heart to sell one of her kidneys for money? how could i marry a drug baroness, pimp and an evil genius? tufiakwa! (god forbid!)’ chinedu shouted in heightened anger. chinedu had no intention of leaving chika. she was indeed everything to him; he did not want her to suffer for what she did not know. he sat on the sofa and shut his eyes tightly and groaned in pain. ‘i guess that girl is up to something! i must defend my true love.’ chinedu said, more to himself than to chika. chinedu silently went to the room, he was very happy that chika was still in deep sleep. the argument between him and ngozi had not disturbed her sleep. immediately, he returned to the living room very worried and tensed. he thought about his life and journey in china. he did not like the threats in ngozi’s voice and eyes. he cl remembered the first day he met her at ukanna’s shop at the baidu shopping complex. he had come for business and needed to make more contacts for chief akaego’s goods. at that time, his life was full of struggles and he didn’t want to go down the path of his father who struggled all his life as an ordinary labourer without achieving much. in those days, money was a stranger that rarely visited their house. chinedu’s mother died when he was very young because they had no money to make a huge deposit that the hospital demanded for before her surgery. they were indeed ‘cut up’ in that situation until the ruptured vermiform appendix killed his mother. before her death, his father had borrowed enough money from his friends using his lands as collateral. he had borrowed too much money without any foreseeable means of paying back that his friends had refused to lend him more money. the day chinedu’s mother died, his father wanted to use him as collateral to one of his friends, a businessman who was living at onitsha to raise money for his wife’s surgery. chinedu could still remember the shock on his father’s face when the doctor pronounced his mother dead at the surgical ward. it was as if nothing existed again in the world. he had made plans to go to onitsha that very day in order to seal the plan between chief akaego and his father. unfortunately, his mother died when he came to behold her face before travelling. his mother’s death had signaled one thing: her resentment over the decision they made. she never wanted her husband to commit such an abominable act just to save her life. she chose death over that humiliation. that singular episode of chinedu’s life had pushed him to his present situation. he had vowed to drink money like water. he cli definitely wanted to put a smile on his father’s face. he wanted to prove to him that wealth could smile at them. after his mother’s burial rites, his ambition took him to onitsha main market where he served akaego with dedication and complete loyalty. chinedu became his eye in his absence and handled his business like his own. akaego was very pleased that he decided to put him in his other line of business. akaego was not just a wealthy businessman but also a drug baron. he wanted chinedu to be his eye in guangzhou, monitoring the activities of other guys and giving him feedback. akaego loved him so much that he never wanted him to join the other guys in transacting and transporting drugs. he needed him to stay alive for his father and other siblings. he wanted him to watch his back over there just like he did at onitsha in his absence. chinedu’s trip to china was fully sponsored by chief akaego. he had been told that he came to china to oversee chief akaego’s business just like he did at onitsha. he never expected the circumstances that surrounded his life in guangzhou; though he never bargained for such a lifestyle. barely three week he arrived guangzhou, chinedu met ngozi at baidu shopping complex. their meeting was divinely arranged by god. indeed his story would have been different without her support. that was the first contact they had before the incident that nearly marred his life. chinedu was in charge of chief akaego’s account and transactions in china. his master had business scattered all over china which he used as camouflage to cover his drug business. chinedu’s master was brutally killed in nigeria three weeks after he travelled to china. no one told chinedu about his death. nothing indeed gave him a clue. akaego clii died tragically in the hands of hoodlums sent by his detractors who wanted to control his drug money. chinedu’s presence in china was a threat to chief akaego’s associates who connived and killed him. the same people who murdered akaego plotted to implicate chinedu with drug related issue. they had secretly planned to get rid of him by planting cocaine in the bag packed with money as he headed to deposit them in china bank of industry. that particular day, the spirit of his mother was disturbed. her mother’s spirit was stirred to fulfill the promise she made on her sick bed. that day, she had told him that women would always come to offer help to him in time of need. that promise indeed came alive when ngozi maneuvered and thwarted the plans of other drug dealers to save chinedu’s life. his mother’s words were true. her spirit evoked pity and love in ngozi’s heart. chinedu had already carried the bag and was ready to enter a taxi when ngozi stopped him. she quickly took him by the hand and headed towards his apartment. she forced the bag open and displayed the content at once. that very day, life had a different taste for chinedu. he would have embarked on a journey of no return but ngozi’s intervention saved the whole situation. chief akaego’s detractors had alerted the police who had laid siege for chinedu, but his dead mother’s prayers on her sick bed availed. ngozi took the drugs and flushed it down the toilet before the police could track chinedu down to his house. they stayed up there in his room waiting for the next action. **** ngozi was a classic prostitute, a young baroness and a pimp. she had her people everywhere both chinese cliii and africans. she was barely fifteen when she came to china for business. her mother was an edo woman who divorced her poverty-stricken igbo husband and absconded with her only child, ngozi. ngozi’s mother doted on wealthy classic women who had excess money through prostitution. she also became very rich and influential after joining the cult of prostitution. her influence grew and her daughter’s initiation at a very tender age earned her more powerful status. ngozi was a replica of her mother. her mentality was no different from hers. ngozi’s boldness and subtle nature had favoured her greatly in this business. her beauty was exceptional – this she got from her mother. again, her mother’s slim body and well curved hips were also her best attraction. the very day ngozi saved chinedu’s life was also the day he lost his freedom. chinedu could still recollect the despondence in his voice and the utter frustration that seized his body after ngozi’s sudden revelation which got him emotionally trapped to her. the thought of being killed for the crime he did not commit got him depressed and afraid. there and there, in his own room, ngozi took advantage of chinedu and robbed him of his innocence for he had never touched a woman before. it was not in chinedu’s nature to admire or feel something easily for a girl, but ngozi’s presence in his life had awakened the beast in him. he could play occasionally with other girls any time ngozi travelled out of china. **** chinedu knew that ngozi’s story was very complex to narrate. it was not the type of story that any reasonable young man would hear and ignore. the story cliv of ngozi’s life was a common knowledge in guangzhou; a place where the african community shared their pains and sorrows like siblings. a chocolate city populated with nigerians, mostly igbo people who could betray or offer protection to their own. ngozi had no good moral background. she was nurtured by a wayward mother who left her husband’s house to live a free life of prostitution. ngozi grew in her mother’s house at edo. she took her mother’s family name and grew up to regard her grandfather as her biological father. ngozi enjoyed dangerous adventures. she was not afraid to take risks at all. chinedu had always been bothered about the issue of marriage. his mind had been plagued by many bizarre thoughts of ngozi. ‘how could i possibly marry a loose girl who sold one of her kidneys to venture into drug business? this is very impossible! i cannot marry a drug addict and a baroness! how could i allow one incident which i had no control over ruin my life. i must forge a new life. i must socialize and create a new future for myself. ngozi cannot stop me. no, it’s late now!’ chinedu said determinedly. **** chinedu had been unable to work out how to tell chika what transpired between him and ngozi without revealing her threats and warnings. he had not even introduced her to chika for the first time. chika noticed a change in chinedu’s demeanor that evening at madam louis restaurant. his demeanor made chika suspicious of something. it was supposed to be a lovely evening, the eve of the chinese new year. chinedu had wanted a different restaurant for the evening outing but chika’s persuasive nature left him with no clv choice. he knew that ngozi would be at the restaurant to see the girls she indirectly recruited now she was in the country. she would give them money, perfumes, skimpy lovely gowns and shoes like the good samaritan or dorcas in the bible who took good care of the less privileged. the girls were usually happy any time she came visiting because of her supposedly acclaimed generosity and love for them. she would give madame louis some huge amount of money as a bailing charge in order to take the girls to different hotels where they would satisfy her arab friends who came for business. ngozi loved adanna because of her rare beauty and calm nature. adanna’s psychological makeup had been grossly affected by past traumatic events that she had no willpower to resist any humiliation. of course, adanna’s will was often regulated by ngozi’s reason. in fact, she submitted to ngozi’s will without any display of resentment. ngozi entered the restaurant with adanna and the other girls. she began to urge them to smile and treat their customers nicely. and as the urges threatened to turn into shouts, chinedu quickly told chika that he had to go to the convenience to ease and tidy himself. ‘ok my love, and don’t leave me so lonely here. go and come back quickly before something happens to me ooo!’ chika said sarcastically. **** chinedu stifled the urge to tell chika the truth, to reveal to her that her life was in danger. he suppressed the temptation, remembering that chika was very emotional and outspoken. he knew that chika’s reaction could trigger up issues that could create complex problems for her. clvi **** adanna walked happily to the restaurant, thankful that at least she had been released from the clutches of those arab guys who nearly devoured her. she used to enjoy their company, but her body had betrayed her. she had been feeling feverish and weak. at least that day, she had been allowed the freedom to relax and move around without being monitored by madam louis unlike the days when she had been chaperoned by nonso. adanna feigned indifference to ngozi’s orders. she ignored her call and went straight to chika’s table. she pulled one of the plastic chairs and sat very close to chika who was busy looking at ngozi as she gave her command. adanna clucked. ‘you don’t know aunty ngozi. these girls will continue with their work ooo. as for me ooo, i am done today! anytime aunty ngozi comes around, my level changes. she gives me good food, shoes, clothes, perfume and…the most interesting part is that she does not allow me to satisfy all those local chinese and african men who never treated me nicely. she takes me to very expensive hotels to satisfy her wealthy friends from europe. i mean clean, handsome and caring men who cherished me more than the local ones. they handle me with so much love and gentility that i can never regret having fun with them. they are also very generous with money. they could give me twenty thousand rmb just for a contact. these men are mega rich. they are well known drug barons with immunity. i enjoy their company and feel high whenever they are around.’ ‘what are you talking about? you enjoy prostitution?’ chika asked. she shook her head as though adanna were mad. ‘ada, honestly, sometimes i don’t understand you.’ clvii ‘you will not understand chy. i don’t like what i do, but i think i have the right to enjoy what i cannot change. i have enjoyed them for three years now. and i have changed my myopic belief that all men are rapists. i used to hate men before, but now my opinion has changed.’ adanna said smiling broadly. ‘this is really absurd! i think you are a self – sabotager! you don’t really know what you want dear. i was feeling pity for you. i couldn’t sleep or have rest of mind because of your bizarre experiences and you are here talking about men who handle prostitutes with love and care. that’s quite absurd! chika said so irritated. ‘chy, you will not understand. my own father was a beast! he hurt me several times and threatened to shoot or kill me whenever i displayed resistance. he was indeed a monster in human skin. these european guys are very caring and gentle. i have never enjoyed sex with africans or chinese guys because they treated me more like a slave. they are merely interested in satisfying themselves to utilize the money paid for my services. sometimes, they would pull my hair, use objects on me or force me to use my mouth on them. my dear, you will not understand. experience is the best teacher. i can tell the story best. i have totally resigned to fate to direct my life. ngozi has been nice to me in this business and i truly owe her my trust and obedience. she has been sheltering me in her house ever since i entered this country. i live in her wellfurnished duplex while doing my job. she has taken it upon herself to renew my stay here. she is with my passport now and i think it is safe with her. ngozi is so wealthy and influential. in fact she is highly connected and a guru in this business. the difference is that she is classic clviii and international. we are cheap, helpless and very local. she loves me and wants me to be like her.’ ‘where did you meet this ngozi?’ chika asked. ‘here! the lady who brought me to china introduced her to me. she told me that ngozi would help me find a better job, but for the mean time i should be helping madame louis in her business since she is desperately looking for helpers. ngozi accepted me like her own and brought me to live in her mansion. i was indeed very happy, and felt at home. **** other girls were aware of what they had come to do in china. as long as they were still under madam louis, they must work. the girls never determined the number of men they would sleep with in a day. as long as men kept coming, they made their bodies available to them. ngozi’s love for adanna was different and very peculiar. no other girl had ever been accorded such privilege. since she came to china, her life had been revolving around men. this was the type of venture into which many nigerian girls seemed to be rushing as the country moved towards hardship and constant unemployment. chika could not help thinking that though adanna and the other girls were very alike in yielding their bodies to men, they were not the same in many ways. adanna was very calm and gentle. she liked solitude. she still had a conscience and could readily listen to your advice if you had cared to offer one. she had once told chika that she wanted to study if she could get a better job. she had a clix positive mind that could change her life within a minute, but the people surrounding her were not helping matters. **** chinedu was moving towards the table where chika sat when ngozi suddenly walked over to him and put an affectionate arm around his shoulders. ‘i want you to come to my party,’ she said. i’m so sorry for being so rude to you. i was jealous. you know i love you dearly. please forgive me sweetheart. i left the country for some months now. i didn’t expect this to happen so soon. you didn’t tell me about your new girl! you left me in the dark. you took me unawares, so i overreacted. please forgive me, okay! you can’t afford to miss this year’s chinese new year party in my house. pleaseeeee, forgive my bad attitude.’ ‘ok, i’ve heard! please, next time try to control your emotions and behave in a mature manner. do not brew up tension where there is none, okay!’ chinedu said patting ngozi’s back. ‘i won’t haunt your girl. i won’t hurt her as threatened. she is free to be with you. i have withdrawn my words.’ ngozi said moving towards adanna and chika. chinedu withdrew his arm from ngozi’s back and straightened up to meet chika who was gazing at him frowning. he was in no doubt that he was going to have problems with chika if he had not withdrawn his arm. the signs were already there on her face. ngozi had noticed too. ngozi stepped forward and held adanna’s shoulders to make a formal introduction. clx ‘i guess you still remember adanna, the girl that lives in my house.’ ngozi said glancing at chinedu. ‘really? i’m not too good at recognizing people. of course, you recruit many girls every year to work for you. how could i have recognized her?’ chinedu asked sarcastically. ngozi glanced at chika, her face clouded with jealousy and smile. ‘what’s your name dear?’ ‘i’m chika, chinedu’s fiancée. ‘oooh, that’s your new girl nedu! ngozi muttered. ‘yep’, chinedu said and sat down on the chair. ‘i guess you will be coming with her tonight. they seem to be locked in their discussion. my dear, you are warmly invited. your new friend here will keep you company. you will have more time to chat and enjoy yourselves. nedu is my very good friend. he is a good man. please, handle him with special care.’ ngozi said smiling broadly. chika sat in perfect silence, staring at ngozi, fascinated by her beauty and facial expressions which glued her attention. ‘ok, see you tonight,’ ngozi’s voice echoed as she turned to leave the table.’ **** clxi chapter twenty-one there’s deepness in thoughts ngozi’s house looked quite expensive and sophisticated. it was indeed a well-built western modern duplex. chika liked the airiness of the living room, with its unique decoration and arrangement that gave it a classic look. it resembled the kind of houses found in western magazines which caught chika’s fancies in the past. the fully rugged staircase that led to a small balcony decorated with colourful flowers also fascinated chika. growing up, she had fancied some of the houses displayed in foreign magazines. she thought they were mere drawings until she came to china. on arrival, she stood on the balcony watching people move up and down. the ground floor was fully crowded. there were many africans, chinese and europeans. it was not an ordinary party; it was an adult party. chika glanced often at chinedu, like a jealous lover who was monitoring her man to see his facial expression while greeting other beautiful guests that graced the party with their presence. as adanna spoke introducing chika to her friends, chika nodded continuously as though adanna’s words made meanings to her. her thoughts were occupied with her relationship with chinedu. she could not afford to lose him now that she had fully surrendered her heart to him. other girls nodded thoughtfully, as though adanna had said something very interesting, but chika recalling herself said, ‘i’m not sure i understand what you said, ada.’ clxii ‘let’s go and high ourselves!’ adanna said. ‘what does that mean? chika asked a little confused. ‘i mean, let’s join others to eat, drink and celebrate the spring festival. this is your first time, right? come along, you will enjoy and meet africans from beijing and other parts of china.’ adanna said dragging her downstairs. the music blared through the loud speakers and chika’s aching feet signalled her to have a break from dancing. they had been at the party for a few hours and were having a great time. chika shouted to the waitress, ‘i need a glass of chinese wine or juice.’ chinedu had introduced her to drinking wine claiming it was an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting the juice of grapes. as she waited, she saw ngozi and a group of guys discussing. ngozi approached her and smiled broadly at her. ‘you look beautiful dear,’ she grinned, inspecting her up and down. the waitress suddenly appeared and poured the drink into an empty tumbler and handed it to chika. ‘thanks,’ chika smiled, sipping from the tumbler. ngozi and chika got chatting about the party and her experiences in beijing as an african student, minutes later chika’s legs started feeling heavy. ‘strong wine,’ she figured! adanna saw her staggering and came over to see if everything was okay. she took chika by the hand and headed to the dining table. **** clxiii ngozi’s terraced private home, with its well preserved carpet green grasses that led to the front door smelled of chinese beer and strong wine of different brands. chika wondered if chinedu had so completely absorbed his own liquor just like she did. she was seeing double and nothing made sense to her. she could barely recognize adanna who sat sipping her strong alcoholic drink. chika looked around, as though seeing everybody and everything through new eyes. the dining table was a riot of different types of dishes, wine, meat, vegetables, sweets, fried rice, nuts, cakes, puddings and fruits. chika stared into her glass. there was something definitely wrong with her. she did not know what it was, but her body felt very strange and weak. something was indeed wrong with her. she was gradually drifting away as a sense of restlessness overwhelmed her. she got up from her chair staggering in an uncontrollable manner. it was so serious that adanna and her friends carried her to the guest room, and headed off into the crowd. she lay on the bed drunk and weak. for a long time afterwards, her body was still and pilled-up. **** it was now hours after she came into the room. chika was lying helplessly on the bed trying to make sense of the world around her. she stood up and tried to figure out what had happened to her when a dark figure stepped forward and slammed the door shut behind him. horrifyingly, ngozi heard chika’s scream and rushed into the guest room. she switched on the light to confirm the victim and left without any word. it was obvious to chika that it was a planned rape. she was obviously drugged to be raped by unknown men. the man slapped one hand clxiv over her mouth and nose and the other against her head, and pushed her to the cold ground. chika started shaking uncontrollably. she couldn’t scream. all she could do was stare at the ceiling, tears dripping down her cheeks. the man tied a rough rope around her ankles and wrists, and yanked her limbs together behind her back. he then wrapped the thick rough rope around her neck stifling her breath. her breath came quickly and unevenly. ‘you are going to be here for a while, baby. my friends and i are going to savour your body. we will relish you till you drop dead. we are not going to leave you the same, baby!’ she remembered him saying as he tore her underwear, unzipped his pants and penetrated her until he ejaculated in her. the man sat on the bed, breathing heavily. chika’s head started spinning and her body had turned into jelly. the pain and dizziness made it hard to focus. suddenly, another man entered the room, grabbed chika’s wrist and pulled her back on the floor as she struggled to free herself. she screamed for help as she could hear voices outside the room. but nobody came to her rescue. ‘please, stop!’ she cried. the second man lowered his hairy chest on top of her. she tried desperately to push him off, but had no strength. drifting in and out of consciousness, chika kept crying, screaming and yelling. with his hands gripped tightly over chika’s mouth, he raped her. chika panicked and nearly convulsed when she saw the third man bending over her. his large fingers gripped her rounded breasts and pinned her tightly on the cold floor. the guy was on top of her thrusting hard and recklessly. a shudder ran down her spine. she couldn’t relieve the horror. she no longer felt like herself. clxv again a tall dark man suddenly appeared, forced her legs open and stuck his finger recklessly inside her. chika did not remember anything after that except that she couldn’t breathe. she passed out at once. **** the bitterness chika was feeling had gone beyond tears. she had heard it said often enough that the river never swallowed somebody who did not visit its shore. had she known all along, she wouldn’t have attended the party. she knew that something was wrong but couldn’t actually point to a particular thing. the sudden dizziness and the irregularity of the whole situation stunned chika into puzzled and shocked silence. heavy footsteps thudded outside the room, and there were strange voices, male and female voices suffused with an ominous sense of pressure. a female voice was screaming and the scream intensified when the guys yanked the door open. ‘here is the stupid whore who slept with your man! we caught them in the act, so they cannot deny it. chika heard a male voice announced. ‘so you slept with my man!’ ngozi’s voice thundered. adanna! you mean you had the courage to seduce my man without thinking twice. you deliberately did it to humiliate me right? you have no respect for me eeeh? after all i did for you! you have also joined this small rat here, a girl who should have concentrated on her studies to drag my man with me. okay, let’s see where all these will lead two of you!’ ngozi shouted furiously. ‘please…please aunty! it’s not what you think!’ adanna pleaded. i was drunk and high…i needed… clxvi ‘shut up little brat! ngozi shouted obviously fuming in anger. chika could hear chinedu’s voice in the living room, thundering and raging like a mad dog probably colliding with something as he tried to make his way into the room. adanna was also trying to find her way out of the room when a muscular pair of arms grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground unto the bed. he roughly grabbed her rounded full breast and started to squeeze and hurt her. chinedu forced himself into the room. the realization of what he saw weakened him. chika was almost a limp girl in need of revival. he dashed forward in anger to untie the robes. ngozi’s guys held him and threatened to beat him for proving stubborn. ngozi looked at chinedu very angry, burning with jealousy she commanded the guys: ‘do whatever you want with the girls. i don’t really give a damn!’ suddenly, one of the guys hoisted chika roughly into the air and dropped her face down in a plank position and raped her from behind. chika’s back arched and her bound hands were almost paralyzed. there was no use struggling and she could not scream because the guy stuffed a smelly sock in her mouth and covered it with duct tape. she died and resurrected in her pains. she was simply silent, eyes tightly closed. the sadistic acts of violence and the humiliation meted out on chika moved chinedu to action. at once the self-control that he had left him. he grabbed an empty wine bottle beside the bed and hit the head of the guy who was raping chika. the guy shouted holding unto his blood dripping head. another guy struck chinedu a few frontal and side blows. ngozi took the flower vase on the table clxvii and hit his head. she saw that chinedu was sprawling on the marbled floor, in a pool of his own blood. she screamed and hurriedly left the room to fetch a thick towel. when she returned, a trickle of blood was escaping from his gaped mouth and his body lay lifeless on the floor. ngozi was now standing up on the floor speechless. her mouth was wide open. her eyes stared at chinedu, as if she had seen a ghost. everything seemed meaningless. she simply shouted, ‘take him away,’ and bolted from the room crying in deep sorrow. the guys hurriedly carried chinedu’s body and left the room. the whole incident did one thing to chika; it caused her to lose consciousness. **** chika had faced serious health problems, from nerve damage in her arms to paralyzed cold hands caused by bad flow of blood. her neck was very stiff and in great pain. on a day like this, one could almost believe that god did not exist, but the soft spirit in her persuaded her to utter a prayer of distress to god. they had been left in the room for long hours without food or water. there were no shadows at all. the room was gloomy and unusually silent. the death of chinedu frightened them and left them sad and morose. adanna’s hands were also tied with thick ropes and her legs were chained to the window protector to prevent her from escaping. after sixteen long hours, the guest room door swung open and feet shuffled inside. the guys’ hideous abuse continued. they took away their clothes and raped them one after the other and left them on the floor to freeze for some days. **** clxviii days rolled into weeks and weeks into months. adanna and chika were raped again and again, sometimes six or seven times. each day, they were constantly punched and starved for long hours before they would be served with boiled eggs, locally made soya milk and mantou (chinese steamed bread). they could not describe how much pain they suffered in the hands of those guys. chika got pregnant during the three months she was under house arrest. the guys punched her until she miscarried the pregnancy. every day was pure torture and pain. they thought they were going to die, but grace kept them pushing through the difficult times. **** chika and adanna were kept for many nights as prisoners in ngozi’s duplex. they had endured brutal beatings for months before they were allowed to move out in the nights under strict monitoring. everything changed for them one cool afternoon. they were in the guest room when somebody inserted a key and opened the door. ngozi stood at the door moping at them. her face did not display any emotion. she walked in and sat at the edge of the bed. she asked them if they knew why she came. after nodding no, she asked them to listen attentively to her story. ‘i do vaguely remember when chinedu and i met. he was just a novice, a timid teenager brought from nigeria to manage his oga’s business. he was very innocent and dedicated to his master. he would have died for a crime he did not commit but i personally saved him from the hands of some drug barons who planned to implicate him with cocaine. that day, i became a god that he worshipped. he pledged to love me forever, for better, for worse! on that very day, we sealed our love with a clxix unique sexual oath that was more spiritual than physical. that was my own peculiar way of oath taking. that same day, i told him that the consequences of not keeping to his promise would be very tragic or severe depending on how he defaulted. i recalled telling him about my life and the risk i took in my business. as you are seeing me now, i’m getting closer to my grave. i sold one of my kidneys to establish the business chinedu and i were enjoying. the only kidney left in me now is having complex issues. chinedu accepted me as his girlfriend and promised to love me forever.’ ngozi stopped while battling to control herself, then took up the story again. ‘i was emotionally disturbed and completely devastated when i came back from dubai after some months of business trip there and visited chinedu only to see you fast asleep on his bed. that very day, the demon in me surfaced. i stole your international passport and threatened to hurt you. i warned chinedu to send you back to beijing but his love for you made him revolt against me. i soon mapped out a new plan of action to humiliate and hurt you. i faked my apology only to calm his nerves. i did not want him to suspect my actions. everything worked the way i planned it, but his sudden death was indeed a huge mistake. i never planned it.’ ‘chika, you’ve caused me great sorrow. your presence has altered my life. you are now under my watch. you have no say in any matter concerning your life in china. i am now fully in charge of your life. you have automatically joined the other girls in this business. you have nothing to say! my decision is final. don’t try to play smart. if you try it, you will blame yourself forever. my men will haunt you down, implicate you with drugs and hand you over to ndi eke (chinese police). you know that clxx means death sentence by hanging! be very careful, my eyes are everywhere. i am watching you!’ **** since that day ngozi exposed her secrets to chika and adanna, life in guangzhou became a living hell for them. they walked the streets of guangzhou in the night, selling sex to african men, chinese men and other foreigners who came for business. sometimes, they were forced to sleep with their fellow women just to make more money. many times chika refused to cooperate when female customers came to patronize her, especially when they demanded to sleep with many girls at the same time. in most cases, ngozi’s men would beat and gang rape her for hours as a way of punishing her for her stubbornness. chika walked the streets of guangzhou mostly at night for three months. she was expected to turn in at least twenty thousand rmb every week. for chika, there was no hope or means of escape. they were constantly watched and strictly monitored. the thought of returning to school was very far from her mind. all she wanted was to return to her mother and siblings. she desperately wanted a second chance in life to correct her mistakes. she simply wanted her freedom back. chika’s current predicament had squashed her dream of studying the chinese language. she had indeed deviated totally from the right path and had been forced to live a life she never dreamt of. apart from her anxiety over her studies, she needed someone to talk to, someone to tell her that all would be well in the end. **** life in guangzhou was, hide and seek. guangzhou, an international metropolis was populated by african immigrants, mostly nigerians and their mixedclxxi blood offspring with chinese women. many africans feared the police like plague due to their invalid papers. these africans remained in the city illegally after their visas expired, as china’s one to three visas often did not provide enough time for individuals to conduct their business. in solidarity, nigerians coined the word, ndi eke (police) to signal the presence of chinese police to their african brothers who had no legal papers whenever they came to raid spotty areas populated by africans. many africans went into hiding in the day as a result of strict immigration enforcement by chinese authorities. nigerians, especially igbo people roamed the streets of guangzhou hustling to make ends meet. many of them came to china because of the economic pressures at home and the depreciation of the nigerian currency. drawn to china’s economic boom, these nigerians flocked guangzhou to explore and make quick money. in many cases, china’s loose orientation to inferior and cheap products gave them the opportunity of making money while acting as middlemen between chinese factories and other businessmen in africa. the frequent and increased police raids had contributed to a toxic atmosphere. foreigners, mostly africans were often stopped by the police or foreign affairs bureau to present their international passports. africans were disillusioned and disappointed as harsher penalties were introduced for illegal workers and overdue visas holders. fear and tension increased as every street had several police stations and security checkpoints to effectively monitor foreigners. some nigerians came to guangzhou for short periods to buy goods which they shipped back to africa. some of them settled in the city and had business or clxxii restaurants. many africans found themselves in the city after being scammed with promises of factory jobs. many of those duped were girls and women who as a result often go into prostitution to survive. these african prostitutes catered for the sexual demands of african and chinese communities. at least fifty percent of their clients were chinese men curious about sexual experiences with african women. such was the predicament that confronted adanna when she arrived guangzhou. **** as chika and adanna walked down madam louis restaurant, they saw a crowd of african people in front of the restaurant. their hearts missed a bit. in panic, chika’s eyes roved far and near searching for signals. she knew that her road to freedom was near. having been tortured for a long time, freedom became valuable to her. the freedom to rule her life once again, the freedom to be herself, the freedom to be free! chika had stayed away from the noisy crowd as she watched nonso and a nigerian guy fighting. that night, the weather was chilly and unusually cold to cause shivering. ‘you are brothers! you shouldn’t fight in a foreign land! adanna said to the guys. she gently pulled the dark guy’s shirt to liberate nonso who was already gasping for breath. ‘leave me alone you ashawo!’ his face bereft of the usual smile found on his face. the nigerian guy was one of their regular customers who could not do without sex every night. a scuffle followed with the guy trying to push adanna down. he slapped adanna with some force clxxiii and pushed her to the ground. adanna darted forward and held the guy’s shirt screaming. ‘you shouldn’t treat her like that,’ chika shouted. ‘what crime did she commit? she wanted you to stop the fight, which was her only crime! you are shameless and very unreasonable! wait until you alert ndi eke (policemen), then you will see what you’ve done to yourself and others. stupid boy! you are useless and senseless! ‘it’s all right ada. let’s enter inside,’ chika said holding her right hand. **** some minutes after the fight, chika tucked away as she contemplated a new plan to escape her present condition. she was evidently very embarrassed and ashamed of doing this work. the job took its toll on her that it was beginning to affect her psychologically. in many cases, she had been a popular target for muggings while leaving brothels. she always felt nervous carrying large sums of money after a long night of sex with different customers. she would feel horrible after doing the work. most of her clients were between thirty and fifty-five. chika’s clients were not simply affluent, but very wealthy, and cocaine was very popular among them. they could stay for hours demanding for sex which often turned aggressive. chika needed no one to tell her that in this situation, she would find it difficult to survive if she was not rescued. she was still in deep thought when she heard, ‘ndi eke! ndi eke! ndi eke!’ everyone ran helter-skelter. nonso and the other girls hurriedly locked the main door of the restaurant. they switched off the lights and sound clxxiv systems motioning everyone to remain silent. chika knew that the moment had come, the moment of liberation and revolution. she silently gazed at adanna to figure out her reasoning. adanna’s eyes were sunken and her body gripped with fear. ‘surrender now or perish!’ a voice sounded. chika buried her face in her hand as the voice kept repeating the same statement. everyone in the room kept silent. chika remembered the stillbirth of her ambition, the agony of her life as a prostitute and let out a frightening scream. ‘please, don’t kill us. don’t let me die here! i surrender totally. don’t shoot us please! i beg you, don’t shoot us! i want to go home! i really do…’ immediately, chika darted to the door and flung it open. she was only seventeen at the time when she vowed to liberate herself. she had indeed suppressed her fear and grabbed her freedom with her bare hands. at once, chinese men in uniform pounced on them and clamped handcuffs around their wrists. they were very vicious and unsympathetic. that cold night, peace returned to chika’s heart as the policemen whisked them off to a police station and later to the detention centre. her long dreamt journey home had begun. her nights of endless traumatic sex had finally ended. life assumed a new phase, and a new chapter was opened for her. the horrors in guangzhou brothels, the constant rape in ngozi’s apartment, and the humiliation of working as a prostitute plagued her conscience. there had been so many times in the past when she had longed for this to happen, so many wishes of escape that kept her traumatized and disillusioned. and now it felt like a new path to freedom. christiana, one of the girls had flung clxxv herself on the ground with perfect dramatic display and begun to cry. she did not believe that this had happened. the policemen stood behind, watching them with stony piercing eyes. ‘stop screaming you blackie! hey you girls this side! guys this side’, the policeman said. ‘take off your chains, earrings, rings, shoes … and hand over your phones.’ the policeman took their phones and switched them off. the girls were led to the ladies’ cell under the watchful eyes of female wardens. nonso and the other guys were forcefully dragged to another cell after displaying some acts of resistance and violence. **** adanna hardly said a word since she entered the cell. she only stared and pulled her braided hair with her right fingers. the cell was small, with patches of brown dirt on the wall. in the cell many girls were already there, no white foreigner; only black africans. most of them were nigerians. they were apparently tired of telling their stories. now new girls had arrived, they said little and starred at the ceiling in silence that radiated deeper reflection. the cell had two chambers, the indoor chamber where detainees sleep and an open roofed outdoor chamber where they could walk and exercise during the day. there were limited chances for inmates to escape from the cell, except when summoned by the wardens or interrogators. visits from family or friends were prohibited, only lawyers could visit if the detainee was not in the investigation stage. in the tiny room called the indoor chamber, there were two surveillance cameras mounted on both sides of clxxvi the room to monitor the inmates. hygiene conditions were terrible. thirty girls were packed in the tiny room with limited air space. the toilet stunk. the whole room was always saturated with smelly odour of unwashed bodies. the wardens never cared about the inmates’ health conditions. they were there only to prevent them from violence. the cell harboured inmates that committed serious or minor offenses such as theft, fraud, illegal or expired visas, drugs, rape, murder and others. chika hated mosquitoes. she could not endure the itching sensation that would leave her skin with black round bumps. she continuously jammed her palms to whisk away the mosquitoes. this very act irritated and infuriated older inmates who were begging sleep to claim their bodies. ‘who brought this small pikin here? why are you disturbing us? please stop that nonsense and give us the peace we need.’ a fat dark complexioned inmate shouted. ‘sorry, the mosquitoes were feasting on me so.…’ ‘so what? we don’t give reasons here! you must handle your problems without disturbing other inmates’ peace. we all have challenges too! so don’t be selfish! the lady said. chika had suppressed the sudden urge to engage her in a battle of words because she feared the inmate would attack her as a dog would attack an intruder. ‘take it easy on her! she is just a young girl! don’t be too hard. please learn to accommodate people,’ beatrice, another inmate cautioned the fat one. ‘come here young girl! come closer and please don’t mind her. she is always like that, very saucy.’ beatrice said. clxxvii chika got up and moved to beatrice who adjusted to accommodate her. ‘you are too young to be here little girl! what really happened to you? what brought you to this place?’ beatrice asked looking worried and concerned. ‘ma, it’s a long story. i’m grateful to god that i’m still alive today. the story of my life is pathetic, but my friend’s story is bizarre and very humiliating.’ chika said. ‘who is your friend?’ beatrice asked. ‘adanna.’ chika said pointing at adanna. beatrice beckoned on adanna to come with her fingers. adanna obeyed without hesitation, without protest. ‘she is also young. what happened? were you trafficked?’ beatrice asked. ‘no! i was not, my friend was trafficked. i came to study at beijing and ended up in this prison. i have indeed betrayed my family. i am so ashamed of myself. i can’t boast of anything now. i am a huge disgrace.’ chika buried her face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘chinedu has ruined my life. men are wicked, cunning and very secretive. they will love one woman; marry another while wooing an unsuspecting young girl on the street. ma, my life is shattered. i am finished. my body is filthy and wickedly ravaged by men who constantly worshipped at my temple and poured their sexual offerings. i am indeed a victim of twisted fate! i’m a victim of misfortune and disgrace.’ chika shrugged. ‘haba! please don’t talk like that at all. you are still very young and beautiful. your experiences are nothing compared to most of us here. so don’t crucify clxxviii yourself. just relax and be positive in life. things will definitely turn around for you. beatrice said. ‘ma, you will not understand. i am a student turned prostitute. i just turned seventeen but my story is horrible. i didn’t have much sexual experience when i was forced into prostitution. i had horrible experiences that were very pathetic and scary. i didn’t know that my life would be spared after experiencing all those traumas. every night, i went to brothels and had no idea what i would encounter behind the doors. i was always scared because i dreaded being gang raped by both men and women who used objects on me. i can’t forget my struggle with stds, the chlamydia that nearly drove me mad through constant itching and burning sensation. my clients were mainly married men or those in relationships who were starved of sex as they claimed. in the morning, i would feel horrible after my night outing.’ chika sighed. ‘in fact, there are many stories to tell about my mental health issues, constant rape, brutality and my drug addiction. my encounter with a cocaine-friendly client was the most frightening episode of my life as a prostitute. my client took 15 grams of cocaine within a few hours. he forced me to do so and i overdosed. suddenly my heart stopped beating regularly. i was sweating profusely. i wanted to escape but he locked the door and raped me until i passed out. he waited for me to recover after some hours. when the owner of the brothel knocked to inform him that his payment had expired, he just opened the door and paid for more hours. that day, i visited hell. it was horrible! my story is really horrible and pathetic. it can be a good fictional piece.’ chika said sobbing. ‘was your friend also in the same predicament?’ beatrice asked . clxxix ‘my own is even worse ma.’ adanna cut in. ‘i’m still young and i’m already sick of sexual abuses. it happened in my house, outside my house and in a foreign land. as a child, my own father sexually assaulted me. this was a common occurrence i rarely discussed. my father molested and raped me that i suffered a panic attack and was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. i was a little child when i noticed my dad’s attitude towards me. he would insult my mother for not being able to conceive after giving birth to me. he also transferred his anger on me. he would beat me and tell me how wicked and horrible i was for sealing my mum’s womb thus preventing other children from being born. my father would tie me up on a chair, beat me up and fiddle with my tiny breasts. i remember that time, i was just a mere child. i was too young to understand. my father would pull at my small breasts…i was not developed at all…it indeed hurt me. i would scream, but my mum was nowhere to save me.’ adanna broke down crying quietly. she was trying hard to keep her anguish under control and chika was doing her best to comfort her. beatrice’s heart sunk when she heard this, ada’s cry melted her heart and erupted in her an emotional feeling that triggered past painful experiences. adanna continued. ‘the first time my dad abused me, i was too young and scared. i remember crying in the toilet. it hurt so much when i peed. my father would sneak into the house whenever i come back from school. he would rape me two or three times before my mother would return from the market. he raped me those times, anally and vaginally. i passed out severally. he gave me pain killers to alleviate the pains. he lied to my mother several clxxx times that i was hurt or knocked down by a car, truck or motorcyclist just to cover up his deeds. he made me go naked in the house in my mother’s absence. he would unzip his pants and would keep me on top of him.’ humm! adanna sighed. ‘he forced me …and would stroke me down there. in fact, his threats, tortures and abuses affected me psychological. i was always afraid and absent-minded in the class. i became so withdrawn, unusually calm and silent all the time. he threatened to kill me and my mum if ever i report him to anybody or tell what he did to me. he most times threatened me with his gun or kitchen knives. he instilled more fear in me when he made a small deep cut on my wrist with razor threatening to end my life. when my mother asked, he covered it up with a brilliant lie. sometimes, he would buy me sweets and biscuits to lure and make me happy. i would have no choice, but to accept. my father loved sex like food and alcoholic drinks. in the night, he would fight my mother, beating and raping her severally. in fact, i never had a peaceful childhood. my mother who was a trader loved my father so much that she never wanted to divorce him. so she stayed in that abusive marriage enduring all the ill treatments. the last straw that broke the camel’s back was the day i almost died, that day the doctor revealed that i was pregnant. i thought i was going to die and i confessed to my poor mother that my father was responsible for the pregnancy. that was the last time i saw and heard my mother’s voice. i fainted in the hospital and i was later told that my mum drank rat poison and died. the shame and humiliation were too much for her to bear. my father was handed over to the police by my mother’s family who sent him to clxxxi prison. till today, i have never heard from him. i don’t really know if he is alive or dead.’ adanna said sobbing. ‘in fact, this childhood incest paved way for adult rape. it continued even when my mother’s friend took me to her house at asaba, delta state. her husband and the boys who were serving him took turns to molest me for years. day and night, they sexually abused me every day, any time; in the kitchen, room, toilet, veranda, bathroom…. everywhere! i was an already cooked meal for them. they ate me like gluttons and were never satisfied. just like the deer panted for water, that was exactly how they desired me.’ ada sighed, looking so sad. ‘i was indeed helpless because of their physical threats and torture. i was afraid of being thrown away. i was indeed afraid of my life. i dreaded everything, everywhere! after my junior secondary school examination, i ran away because i could not cope with their abuse again. i got pregnant several times and was forced to abort it. the last abortion nearly killed me, so i had to leave the house. then i was already psychologically stressed. i never cared about anything anymore. i was ready to drink life to the last. i was ready to face life or die outside while struggling. adanna said staring into the space, her face unusually expressionless. ‘for days i slept in different uncompleted buildings at asaba. i was raped severally there, and was further toughened by those experiences. my heart hardened! later, i approached a woman who hawked on the streets, we reached an agreement and i stayed with her each day selling oranges and kpekere (plantain chips) by the roadside. we worked hard, often standing in the heat for hours and i indeed enjoyed her companionship. my happiness dried up when the woman was killed by truck clxxxii carrying cement. my world shattered again. i became disillusioned. as a lonely teenager without direction, i got a job in a salon. one of customers, a beautiful fair lanky and sophisticated jovial young lady i called auntie white was very passionate and concerned about me. she used to give me gifts of clothes, money, perfumes….in fact, she cared so much about me. hummm!’ ada paused and then continued again. ‘she told me that she was a business woman. she offered to take me to china to work as a salesgirl or marketer for her friend who had a factory that manufacture female wears. i was indeed happy and i readily accepted. i was indeed excited by this utopia vision of a luxurious life abroad. my madam in the salon did not want me to go, but i was adamant because of her attitude to me. she was a wicked woman who would nag from morning to night. in fact, people came to patronize because of me! in the airport auntie gave me an international passport that had my picture on it, but with a different name. i became confused. she told me that the name, ‘shelly mbah’ was given to me to match her friend’s surname. that she lied that i was her sister. so, i agreed and boarded the airplane with her. i trusted her because she was nice to me. after twenty-one hours’ journey, from nigeria to dubai to beijing and finally to guangzhou through southern china airways, we went to a house where i was taken to a room in a beautiful duplex and told to rest. the next morning auntie white told me that there was a problem with the factory that i was supposed to work for, they did not need me again. that was how i came to live in auntie ngozi’s house. auntie white was with me and some other girls until auntie ngozi returned from her trip. she told us to clxxxiii assist madam louis until she could get a better job for us.’ ada paused again looking so tired. ‘so, what happened?’ beatrice asked. ‘we obeyed! madam louis was ruthless and very money conscious. nothing came between her and money. so she never cared about us, but about his customers at the restaurant. men used us as playing objects. they molested us under her vey watch. she forced us to give her customers sexual pleasures and collected money on our behalf. in fact, the rest of the story is very bizarre. madam louis told me that she gave auntie white the money she paid for my travelling expenses, that i owed her a lot of money for the travel to china and that i must pay her back by working for her. every day men would come into the small rooms in the underground restaurant, sometimes five, six or ten men to satisfy themselves. the only escape i found in that condition was in my hardened mind. my eyes would stare at the ceiling without any peculiar thought. i would be blank, totally blank! my spirit would leave my body floating around the space until they had their way. days, weeks, months and years passed. it never stopped until the night we were rounded up by the police. there was a time i escaped and they brought me back to madam louis. indeed, they had a strong network. their people are virtually everywhere, she told me and she was right. many plans of escape, but none worked. i was so disillusioned that i resigned to fate. it dawned on me that i had been trafficked, and that they had taken advantage of my poor background and my sincere desire to explore new opportunities.’ ada sighed again looking sorrowful. ‘i am tired now! i have seen enough! i have been molested enough! i need to return to my people alive at least to see my father’s uncle who wanted to adopt me clxxxiv after what my father did. he was a good man. i need to tell him my story to end the horrible chapter and begin a new one. i am young but i have many untold stories to tell. thanks to my friend, chika whose wits and courage saved us. if not, the slavery would have continued.… god knows when…. adanna said almost calm now. her emotion had given way after pouring out her experience. **** clxxxv chapter twenty-two life is a wave of unknown destination it was a sunday morning, and the warden called, agitated and strained, though with a look of pity on her face. ‘look at these small girls, very young and naive!’ she said pointing at chika and adanna. ‘come here! come out to the outdoor chamber and meet your lawyer. we know your story. we have investigated your cases. you shouldn’t be here at all. we have a lawyer and human rights activist that would help deport you to your country without delay. your stories are quite pathetic. you have experienced enough! you need to leave this country soon. for your information, your travel expenses had been covered by a religious centre called scoan. for years now, their representatives had been consistently donating money to support those inmates who had been charged and acquitted to return to their countries without much difficulty. they have been so helpful to many foreigners here.’ the warden said. ‘i don’t know that africans could offer help like this to people. african leaders are constant borrowers! they borrow from china, america, and britain…many countries in fact. african people especially nigerians are so much neglected in many ways here. no help from their government in many aspects. this is the complaint we keep receiving here. but this religious organization has been consistent and dedicated. in fact, they need to be recognized and appreciated.’ the human activist emphasized. adanna and chika had never heard about scoan before. they were showed the picture of a dark clxxxvi complexioned handsome gentleman who was said to be the founder of the religious centre. the activist gave them each a sticker, polo, a pair of jean trousers, a book called the mirror and a small sealed bottle containing water. on the bottle was written – morning water renews you! morning water anointed by christ to heal, bless and save! the girls and other acquitted deportees received the items with thanks as they prepared to start their journey to nigeria. their hearts were indeed joyful. they knew that a new chapter had been opened in their lives after the activist who was a partner of the religious centre said some words of consolation hinged on the love of christ and his saving power to the deportees. after they left that sunday afternoon to the airport, they yearned earnestly to visit the centre that showed them great love without demanding for anything. they boarded the airplane full of joy, peace and gratitude. **** the airplane descended in the morning of the next day. the long journey was very smooth and safe. the airplane moved for a while on the runway and finally halted near an aircraft that had arrived some hours before. on the area of the airport, a group of dark complexioned men dressed in the same uniform waited to remove the cargo from the airplane. altogether, there were thirty-four passengers who were deported from china, ten females and twenty-four males. most of the deportees frowned because they thought that the timing of their arrival was wrong and very inconsiderate. they preferred it to be night so that they could hide their faces in the darkness. in panic, most of the clxxxvii deportees hid their faces in shame as they alighted from the plane. ‘ah, she is so young! it’s a pity,’ a stewardess said pointing at adanna, her beautiful face clouded with pity and great concern. ‘this way please!’ another stewardess said motioning to some guys who stood blocking the way. perhaps very upset that they were caught and deported. the young men obeyed, without delay and moved forward to the gangway. **** at the cabin door, adanna had seen a group of people standing on the ground, some distance away. she was afraid that the police had been sent to arrest them for disgracing the country abroad. fear gripped her as she stepped onto the gangway. she felt she was beginning a journey of punishments and perpetual suffering. some television and radio reporters were all over the place videoing, taking photographs and asking unanswered questions. chika and adanna wobbled as they followed the other deportees down the stairs to enter an airport bus heading to the arrival section of the murtala mohammed international airport which looked quite old and stuffy. anxiety, sadness, anger and disillusionment were written on the faces of the deportees as they alighted from the airport bus. ‘come this way, please,’ ada heard a female voice say. the woman was wearing a dark blue uniform. chika and adanna fixed their gaze to the floor of the murtala mohammed international arrival hall as they walked past immigration officers. clxxxviii ‘what a shame! what a pity! nawaooh for these small small girls of today oooo! everyone wants money money money! i wonder what they are going to do with money at their age!’ a female officer shouted. ‘nawaoooooo! nigerian girls and money! tufiakwa! look at them! just look at them! what is this madness about girls and luxurious lifestyle? don’t they fear death, foreigners, ritual killers and diseases? don’t they have conscience? above all, don’t they fear god? this is becoming too much! all hands must be on deck! parents have really failed, individuals have disappointed their creator, god and the society indeed has fallen apart. the center therefore cannot hold as the great literary giant, chinua achebe pointed out in the title of his well acclaimed novel, things fall apart.’ ‘you and novel sef! you can’t engage in any discussion without mentioning the novels you read! abeg i don do lol…’ another fair complexioned female officer said laughing broadly. three young women and two men took charge as they escorted all the deportees to the car park to board a bus. a white man was among the five people that came to take them away. they were wearing the same polo which was written scoan. ‘welcome, good children of god,’ the white man greeted the deportees. ‘we received report from one of our partners in china of your willingness to visit the synagogue church of all nations (scoan). we received your words of gratitude with the mind of god.we therefore thank god for touching our hearts to bless people’s lives. all glory to him alone. now, since it’s your desire to visit our centre, we will take you to ikotu were the church is located. the clxxxix church is open to everyone any time. jesus christ loves you more than anybody. so don’t feel that your world has crumbled. he can give you a new life in abundance. the synagogue church of all nations is there to help you grow physically, emotionally and spiritually. our teachings of god’s word will help to transform and change your lives. we do not just teach the word of god; we empower people to become better citizens of their country. if we have good citizens, the world we live in, will become a better world. that’s why our motto reads: changing lives, changing nations and changing the world. therefore, do not grieve over your past experiences. these experiences are not meant to destroy you, but to make you stronger. in fact, they happened to draw you closer to god. so as we board the bus, may we all be in a sober mood of prayer asking god for forgiveness of all our misdeeds, asking him to take all of us and give us more of him.’ the white evangelist urged. for a moment adanna glared at him very sober, tears dropping from her eyes. then she shielded her face and darted towards the bus. a neat air conditioned bus was already waiting for them. on the bus was also written scoan (synagogue church of all nations). **** struck by the silence that overwhelmed the bus, chika glanced at the busy streets of lagos, nothing had indeed changed. her thoughts turned to her mother and then her siblings. what were their conditions? were they searching for her? did they miss her? did anything happen to mama? were her brothers concentrating on their studies cxc without giving mama headaches? these questions occupied her mind on their way to the church. the church residence was at ikotu-egbe, lagos, lagos state. the ancient architectural structure and design of the church resembled the layered massive archival buildings seen in the children bible story book that chika enjoyed as a child. it also had striking similarities with the buildings displayed in the movie, the passion of christ. the street that led to the church was a very busy one. it was a good site for religious tourism. groups of tourists were seen busy taking pictures and they looked relaxed and very excited. thousands of white, black, chocolate and whiteyellow foreigners from different continents flocked the church to attend the church’s weekly services. it was indeed a peaceful and welcoming religious village to behold. the church had different huge buildings and workers who function in different departments. the workers were from different continents. the environment was quite unique, well-kept and very classic. it indeed looked like the beautiful streets in china. cctv cameras were seen everywhere. it was a mini obodo oyibo village (a foreign village) in nigeria. in fact, it reminded chika of the cameras mounted on every nook and cranny of beijing. the workers were very organized, cheerful but very strict. the bus halted in front of the huge architectural building. suddenly, a cameraman wearing a polo written emmanuel tv crew started covering the deportees’ movement as they were alighting. the cameraman was deeply engrossed in capturing their faces while greeting, emmanuel! the deportees were told to respond emmanuel too as they sat down in a hall way leading cxci to the main church auditorium. many of the deportees shied away so that their faces would not appear on emmanuel tv, the scoan television station. it was indeed a very long and tedious journey. an evangelist spoke cheerfully to the deportees welcoming them on behalf of the leader and founder of the church, prophet t.b joshua. the evangelist looked very graceful, smart, humble and beautiful. the swift and uncommon grace with which she spoke and carried herself was so alluring that all the deportees glued their eyes to her. she gave them so much hope in her short message before they were taken to the dining hall for lunch. the dining hall was very unique, classic and very uncommon in nigeria. different kinds of continental dishes and non-alcoholic beverages were displayed on the counter for the deportees to make their choices. the deportees filed up cheerfully and each waited for his or her turn just to be served by the cooks and waitresses who greeted ‘good morning’ while it was evidently afternoon. ‘it’s afternoon and not morning auntie,’ chika said to one of the cooks. ‘i know my dear. this is the way we greet here. it is a common greeting here. we believe that joy comes in the morning. so we greet morning to welcome the joy of the holy spirit in our lives.’ the cooked explained. ‘ok ma. good morning ma!’ chika greeted. ‘good morning, emmanuel, god is with us!’ the woman replied. **** the scoan hotel rooms were classic and well equipped. chika did not believe that she was in nigeria. the peaceful nature of the atmosphere was glorious, quite cxcii unlike the lagos she knew. one after another the workers walked to the hotel doors of the deportees reminding them of the counselling and prayer section with prophet t.b joshua. chika desperately wanted to see the man of god who was a well-known philanthropist. she had been in nigeria but never knew that such a man existed. she was surprised that one man could pull such a crowd because of his divine gifts, love for god and humanity. it had been almost four days they visited and had not been able to see the man of god because of his busy schedules. when the workers came to announce the prayer and counselling section with him, chika knew that the appointed time had come; a time of cleansing and salvation. at once, chika prayed for mercy to locate her through the saving power of christ. **** chika looked from one person to another as they waited patiently for the man of god to arrive. ‘people are indeed suffering! what a wicked and painful world!’ chika said when she saw a crowd of sick people waiting patiently for the man of god to pray for them. she envisaged herself in their situations and became very grateful to god for being healthy. more people trooped into the church the moment they got the signal that the prophet was around. the prophet walked silently into the church with an air of gentility that displayed his calm nature. he looked at the deportees and smiled raising his right hand. ‘you are welcome my friends! nigeria is our country. god will help us to make it better. we have all failed in different ways, but things will be okay when we cxciii fully trust god and do our part as good citizens. therefore, i salute you my friends for the determination to change your lives. all hands must be on deck as we work in the right path of righteousness. we must by god’s grace strive for righteousness for the good of the society. i also encourage you to shun evil and do good. we have human nature that’s why we need god’s supernatural grace to live daily. therefore, in everything you do, let love lead! love for god, love for neighbours and love for your country. my friends don’t be disillusioned, you will rise again. the struggles and pains you experienced are not to impair you but to draw you closer to god. we will see what we can do to help you stand on your feet again. you are because i am and i am because you are. let the love of god continue to lead our hearts as we live and serve humanity. god bless you all.’ the prophet said. chika kept her eyes glued on the prophet’s face full of great hope and dreams for the future. the previous day they were interviewed by the emmanuel tv crews, the deportees narrated their misfortunes and bizarre experiences. most of them also expressed their wish to further their education, learn skills, venture into business or become evangelists. chika was still in deep thought when the man of god pointed at her and said, ‘you are too young! you are supposed to be in school by now! what happened? do you wish to go back to school?’ ‘yes sir! i really desire it now! i have disappointed my mother! i went to china to study but i derailed sir. i was forced to become a prostitute, sir! i don’t know what to do now! i don’t know how to return to my mum and siblings. she will disown me! at my tender age, i have experienced hell and i’m so ashamed of myself.’ chika said tears streaming down her cheeks. cxciv ‘where is your mum?’ the man of god asked. she lives in awka, anambra state, sir!’ ‘give us her details. we will invite her here. we will give you full scholarship to study the course of your choice in the university. don’t cry little one, god is in control.’ the man of god said. ‘thank you, sir, thank you, sir! god bless you, sir! chika said leaping in great joy. the prophet then turned to adanna and asked, ‘do you also wish to go back to school?’ ‘no sir, my traumatic experiences affected my education. i stopped after my juniour secondary school examination. i can’t really cope with the classroom again, sir. i prefer skilled work like sewing clothes, sir.’ ‘okay, we will sponsor you to achieve your dream. meanwhile, you need more of the word of god to refresh and renew you! all of you here must have some weeks of mentoring in god’s words to prepare you for the future. just like i said, we will equip you physically and spiritually before we release you into the society again. for those of you interested in business, we will sponsor you all. our partners are also ready to help in different ways. the funds will be given to you once you are ready to leave. our partners in the city where you intend establishing your business will monitor and give us feedback. we are interested in helping people become better citizens for the good of the country. i pray that god will perfect all that concern you! emmanuel!’ the prophet greeted and quietly left. **** cxcv chapter twenty-three change comes suddenly the belief that life could harbour sour-bitter-sweet flavoured experiences had been a white truth. chika’s childhood had been memorable and fun. her experiences few months ago had altered the good old memories she treasured so much. apart from her childhood which was spent in strict innocence and happy moments, she had watched her mother suffer to train her and her siblings after the death of her father. her recent experience had left her shattered and worthless. but her hope had been rekindled by the words of prophet t.b joshua who had promised to sponsor her education. chika knew that misfortune and disobedience had dogged her with horrific blows that made her ashamed of the person she had become. she thought about her mother, mrs ugah. the story of mrs. uchenna ugah was a common knowledge in umuogbu, awka. she was a teacher and a well-known disciplinarian. she rose to the level of a principal before she retired from service. in many schools mrs ugah taught, she was known with one statement-do the right thing at the right time and at the proper place! chika’s mother was well respected and feared by both teachers and students. she never supported evil, gossip, laziness or dehumanization of any kind. she was a very strict woman, but a kind mother who dedicated herself to helping humanity. she loved education and would frown when children hawk in the streets during school hours. she was very famous in the streets of eke awka for training the children of ebonyi people who could not sponsor their children’s education. with her cxcvi little income, she had proved her love for children by enrolling them in schools. chika’s mother was a mother for all. she never tolerated indecent dressing or wayward behaviours amongst teenagers. she would scold and reprimand any person she caught derailing from the right path. this particular act gained her the name mama general. some wild girls on the streets of umuogbu village, awka never liked her and the unpleasant truth that gave them nightmares. mrs ugah hated seeing young boys and girls walk the streets holding hands romantically. she would scold them often, ‘stop that, you children! boys and girls cannot be very intimate friends. this kind of friendship is capable of brewing up problems in the future. your body chemistry might make you to react and do the unthinkable.’ mrs ugah would scold without mincing words. her hatred for teenagers who drank alcohol was much. for her, it was a taboo to see that happen when many families could not afford to eat twice a day. in fact, anything bad irritated her and made her angry and so emotional. chika could still remember the incident that happened in their house long time ago. her mother hated seeing boys around her. so that fateful day, obinna who was a brother to ogechi, chika’s friend came looking for his sister. mrs. ugah got irritated and chased him away with a cane. ‘chika, chika, chika! please don’t bring disgrace to me ooo! i didn’t disgrace my parents, so you will not disgrace me.’ mrs ugah shouted. that day, chika received the beatings of her life. her mother became very inquisitive to know what they had been doing in her absence. her curiosity hurt chika cxcvii emotionally because she felt that her mother did not trust her. ‘did he touch you?’ chika’s mother asked? ‘no mama! what’s this naw? why are you asking such a question? don’t you trust me again?’ chika asked sobbing. mrs ugah grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. she pinched her lips with her right fingers to caution her. ‘you have grown to talk back at me in this manner eeeh! i fed you with my two breasts and nurtured you to this level. so never ever talk back at me like that again! if you try it eeh, i will show you pepper. i mean it ooo. don’t try me at all.’ chika had been bitter ever since that incident happened. since then, she acted as if boys were her bitter enemies. in fact, growing up under mrs.ugah was very difficult and at the same time pleasurable. she used to monitor chika’s breasts to ascertain her innocence. she would warn her not to play with boys or sit close to them if she wouldn’t want to become pregnant. chika’s mother would also tell her not to allow them touch her because that would also lead to pregnancy. chika was never allowed to wear tight skimpy wears and trousers. mrs ugah believed that those clothes would make her attractive to boys. she bought oversized gowns and long loose skirts for chika to protect her from the devouring eyes of men. but one thing was very clear, chika never lacked anything. mrs ugah gave her all she could afford. **** chika sat on the bed in the hotel room and stared at the busy streets of ikotu through the window. her room was on the fourth floor where the deportees were cxcviii accommodated. she wondered what her mother’s reaction would be when her past experiences would be made known to her. she had often imagined the shock she would experience. all the time she was away in china, her mother thought she was busy reading. now, chika imagined the nightmares her mother must have gone through since they had not talked for several months. the uncertainty of her whereabouts and the long silence must have been a painful torture that would take away sleep from her eyes. chika sighed faintly and stood up. her shoulders sagged as she tried to envisage the huge problem ahead of her mother’s arrival. the man of god had already invited her mother to visit scoan. chika learnt that her mother was told that her daughter had been found after long months of being under captivity. she was also informed that her mother would arrive in two days’ time. chika had envied adanna for not having anybody that would be troubled, disgraced or ashamed of her past. she knew that her mother would be so surprised to hear her bizarre experiences within a short period of time. chika remembered her numerous encounters with her mother, and feared that she would find it difficult to forgive her. she remembered the occasions when her mother would scold her for taking the second position in the class. she would often decline buying things for her because of that. it continued until her position changed. when she eventually took the first position, her mother became happier. she felt a pang of pain as she recalled what she suffered as a prostitute. she would be ashamed to let people know what she had passed through in guangzhou, but her mother would be the problem. she cxcix never spared anybody and would often use people’s mistakes to warn others or give examples. chika became depressed since her mother’s invitation was announced to her. during their seminar and prayer sections at scoan, her prayer points had been for god to touch the heart of her mother to forgive her. she would pray, ‘oh god, take all of my mother and give my mother more of you!’ that indeed was her earnest prayer of faith. she was sober and wished to remain at scoan, a family of god, so loving, caring and welcoming. the days crawled and lazily passed by. chika could not recover from the depression that had captured her mind. she would always fix her eyes on the emmanuel tv station while praying along with prophet t.b joshua. her conscience would not allow her to concentrate on her prayers. the fear of her mother’s reaction was indeed at the centre of her meditation. the memory of her past failures and experiences haunted her, but the worship songs by the scoan choir had lifted her spirit. there was something about the words and lyrics that had stirred her spirit. chika would look at the ceiling and her thoughts would take flight to the past remembering the pain ngozi caused her, the humiliation she meted out to her, the constant rape she organized just to punish her and the life of prostitution she subjected her to. many times, she had cursed ngozi and vowed to retaliate if she had the opportunity to do so. but since she came to scoan, her mind had been condemning her concerning her decisions over ngozi. the words of the prophet had sunk deep into her heart. his preaching sounded difficult but full of wisdom. he would often say, ‘leave it for god! don’t revenge! forgive those who wronged you! whether you are right or wrong, don’t take offense!’ cc as far as chika remembered, it would be difficult for an ordinary human being to forgive a person who had subjected her to pain, constant torture and humiliation. jokes aside, something was beginning to happen to her conscience as the hatred and planned revenge gradually started vanishing from her heart. her heart became less heavy that she could feel inner cool breeze transporting her mind to purer thoughts. **** cci chapter twenty-four there’s hope in life mrs ugah had assured herself that she would not be biased in judging her daughter. she had used her elderly and motherly eyes not only to observe her physical appearance – the fact that she wore no make-up or jewellery – but to also penetrate her sober heart which now had a peculiar demeanour. the summary of what she saw convinced her that her daughter had passed through a lot and was ashamed of herself. as soon as chika stepped into man of god’s office, she fell down on her knees and cried like a baby. ‘mother, please forgive me! i have failed! i have failed you. i have failed god! i have even failed myself! mummy, please forgive me! i am so ashamed of myself! i know you are angry, but please temper your anger with mercy.’ tears dripping down mrs ugah’s cheeks, she got up and pulled her daughter to her chest without uttering a word. silence indeed stood in between their private thoughts. both mother and daughter were about the same height, above average for women. chika was slimmer and darker in complexion. her mother was slightly bigger without being overweight. mrs ugah gently pressed her daughter’s head on her chest while sobbing continuously. ‘i have listened to your story through the documentation made by emmanuel tv crew. i am indeed deeply pained that you’ve suffered a lot within a few months of leaving my home. i have also failed dear. i shouldn’t have left you to travel at a tender age without giving you the freedom to live an independent life. i drove your life like a vehicle and made decisions for you. i never ccii trusted your ability for once. i was always scolding and making demands that impinged on your rights. i didn’t allow you to grow up. i am so sorry my angel. i have failed you and my late husband. in fact, i have failed as a mother because i didn’t allow you to mix up. i suspected you all the time and neglected the basic truth i would have told you about the opposite sex. i guess my wrong advice pushed you into the hands of that guy that exposed you to the complexities of your bizarre experiences.’ chika was very surprised to hear her mother’s confession. she held her tightly as her emotions paved way to more tears. she was happy that her prayer worked. her mother’s confession was indeed a proof that god answers prayers. god indeed gave more of himself to her mother. ‘thank you, man of god for your good deeds! i have been an ardent listener of your messages and prayers. god used you to change my life. your messages kept me while i was brooding about my daughter’s silence for months. i didn’t run from god, i ran to him just like you advised and i had peace. may god bless you, sir! may he give you the strength to continue in your good work in jesus’ name!’ ‘thank you, ma!’ the man of god said motioning them to sit down. ‘now you all have been saved, endeavour to make the word of god a standard for your life! don’t run from god, rather run to him. always watch and prayer because a break in faith is a break with god. pray as if everything depends on god and work as if everything depends on you.’ the man of god advised. cciii ‘thank you, sir! more grace sir! more blessings sir! mrs ugah and her daughter chorused while bowing in appreciation. ‘no no no no! don’t bow down to me! i’m not god! men should only fear and bow to god! i am only a mere servant; a tool in his hands. all glory and praises must be reserved only to him. prophet joshua said feeling quite uneasy about what they did. he continued, ‘the emmanuel tv partners and i have decided to give your daughter a scholarship to further her education in any university of her choice here in nigeria. she had already indicated her interest in studying law. we will sponsor her to buy jamb form and afterward take care of her education.’ as the man of god was still addressing mrs ugah and her daughter, the workers ushered in adanna who was very surprised to see a replica of chika. at once, she knew that they were related. ‘i talk as i’m led by the holy spirit, madam. you may consider this queer, but i want you to be a mother to this young girl. i will support you to any length. she has suffered greatly and she needs a good and strong willed mother like you to overcome her challenges. she also came from awka, anambra state. you need to take her to her parents’ people to inform them that she is in your custody. as you obey this passionate call, god will perfect all that concern you.’ the man of said while giving them two brown envelops. the two envelops were quite very heavy. five hundred thousand naira was written on the envelop that had chika’s name. the other envelop which had adanna’s name was written one million naira. mrs ugah who could not contain her joy stood up and started singing in igbo cciv dialect. words were not enough to express her appreciation as she knelt down thanking god, thanking the man of god, obviously confused where here gratitude should go. ‘this little girl has indicated interest in skilled work. she precisely wants to learn how to sew clothes. please, we want you to send her to a good fashion designer who will give her a good training. the money is for her dream business. may god bless you as you hearken to the call of helping humanity. thanks for honouring my invitation.’ the man of god said as mrs ugah and the girls got up to leave the office. **** ccv chapter twenty-five you may nevr know…. tell me the person for whom life is constantly peaceful and i will take off my cap for him or her. this became my usual adage after fate dealt me a deadly blow. ngozi thought that she would always remain on top without remembering the adage: everyday is for the thief, one day is for the owner. she never believed that karma existed when she was committing all those crimes against humanity. the devil that possessed her took away her human conscience and made her more vicious and unforgiving. indeed, ngozi was a pain in the neck! we were in the house when somebody led her into our compound that fateful afternoon. i nearly fainted. she looked skinny and unkempt. i nearly sent her away in anger, but the words of prophet j.b joshua made me change my mind. we invited her into our sitting room where we sat in perfect silence staring at her, fascinated by the hardness of her eyes which maintained a steady gaze. mama sat patiently listening to her story without any comment. ngozi talked at length blaming her mother for misleading her. she confessed that she was arrested by the police shortly after adanna and i were deported. ngozi narrated that chinedu’s corpse was discovered in a huge freezer in one of her client’s apartment. the house was abandoned because of his corpse. the police suspected that something was wrong and raided the house. that was when they discovered chinedu’s body in the freezer. ngozi was later released with the help of a lawyer who claimed that she had no hand in the death since the corpse ccvi was not found in her custody. that was how she was released and deported without a dime. ngozi knelt down crying and apologizing for her evil deeds. she told mama that her life was almost ending since the only remaining kidney could not serve her for a long time. ngozi confessed that she was also a victim. she narrated how a fake foreign agency promised her work abroad claiming that they would give her a job. during that period, body parts black market business was booming. the agency processed her travel papers and paid for her tickets. on arriving china, they forced her to sell one of her kidneys for $ 120,000. that was how she joined the group in the business and other illegal business. my mum was indeed moved and got emotionally involved. we had no option. we all burst into tears and forgave her. my mother had pity on her and decided to lend a helping hand to her. with our consent she rented a room for ngozi and gave her hundred thousand naira to set up her a business. that was how it had been until ngozi decided to blackmail adanna. when ngozi came shading tears, i knew that she had not changed. the devil in her surfaced when she asked adanna to lend her the money meant for her sewing training. adanna refused and hell was let loose. since that day, she had vowed to make her life uncomfortable claiming that her action made her kill chinedu. according to her, the intimate relationship adanna had with chinedu that night in her house was a huge slight on her. ***** ccvii since we came back from scoan i vowed to make mama proud. mama on her part never reminded us of what we passed through. i was indeed determined to make her proud. i also wanted to regain the confidence i lost. the opportunity came when my jamb result was released and i scored 300. the waec result i used in applying for scholarship abroad was also good, so my hope of gaining admission into the university and course of my choice was not dashed. my mother was indeed happy and made telephone calls informing the man of god about my academic success. i dreamed about nothing else except the day i would get into the university of nigeria, nsukka to study law. i had previously gone to the university campus to confirm the requirements and wait till the new students would be invited to come for admission and clearance. indeed, my dream of defending the girl-child had come true. my experiences had birthed this dream and my course of study would be a good platform to achieving that. adanna also was learning very fast. she could cut and sew many styles. mama and i never patronized other fashion designers. we became her fashion models and attracted many customers who patronized her. we were in her madam’s shop the day you came requesting adanna to sew clothes for your mother. that very day emeka, i knew your thoughts. i read you like abcd….you constantly brought clothes to adanna so that you would have the opportunity of wooing her. adanna made efforts to tell you about her life but you insisted that her story never mattered. all you wanted was her love, pretty face, curvy hips and her soft sweet voice. these were the things you mentioned that attracted you to her. ccviii **** emeka stood rooted to the ground, he could not utter a word. he was indeed speechless. chika was sure now that emeka, even in his confused state was blaming himself for being so harsh on adanna. emeka sighed, ‘where is adanna?’ ‘upstairs.’ chika replied. ‘okay, i need to see her at once’, emeka said and began to walk up the stairs muttering to himself. chika followed him immediately praying for god to intervene. emeka entered the huge building and found adanna in a small room close to the living room. he touched her shoulders. she turned to see who it was. emeka was standing right behind her. she threw herself at him and allowed her emotions to escape. exhausted, she expressed her wishes to break off the engagement and discontinue the ceremony. emeka’s jaws dropped and his lips parted in surprise. ‘but i have not said so my love! i love you deeply. i sincerely do. please, don’t do this to me sweetie. chika told me everything! despite that, my love for you is endless!’ emeka said almost sobbing. ‘emeka, i have made up my mind. there is no going back. what happened today took away my power, my strength and my love, but i finally have them back now! it is not safe for me to marry now. i don’t want marriage to be an escape route to my past. i need to see the world from a different angle! i need to work and fend for myself. now i have a lot more confidence in myself. my new career has made me realize that i have a lot of untapped skills that would take me to many places. i need to maximize this opportunity. i have been with my madam for some months, but now i’m getting where i don’t need ccix to work for anybody. i still love you, but marriage has to wait. the future will tell. i know the future will definitely tell. i have grown to know that people are often reminded of their past by the person they deeply love. this hurts deeply and sticks forever. my father hurt my mother several times until her death. you hurt me with your words. i don’t want to repeat my mother’s mistakes. i simply need time.’ chika said as she gently pulled her body away from emeka. **** the end glossary aba wallet a wallet made in aba city, nigeria ccx ada short form of the name, adanna ada-awka any female originally from awka city agbada a flowing, wide-sleeved robe wore by men amibo a gossip ashawo a prostitute akwa-nwa a compliment or pet name for a beautiful girl or lady chy short form of the name, chika ewooo exclamation indicating surprise fufu food made of cassava or corn flour haba exclamation indicating disgust hei exclamation indicating surprise igbo an ethnic group in the eastern nigeria jamb joint admission and matriculation board mama mother nawa oo exclamation indicating surprise nedu short form of the name, chinedu nne m /nne my mother/ a pet igbo name for females nwa m my child nwanne m my sister/ brother (used literally) ndi eke policemen nsala soup soup commonly eaten in the eastern region of nigeria (igbo) obodo oyibo a foreign land pilipili onomatopic word suggesting something soft tomatoe jos a compliment or pet name for a beautiful lady/girl tufiakwa exclamation indicating disgust u sabi that’s your business (u-means you) waec west african examination council 1 2 epistemology at a glance. hyginus chibuike ezebuilo 3 4 dedication in memory of my late mother mrs christiana oyodo eze (nee: nwaezeochebe) buried-23rd april, 2021. 5 acknowledgements i wish to thank a number of people for their support and contributions for the efforts involved in the writing of this book. i wish to thank posthumously in a special way my late mother, christiana oyodo eze for being a source of inspiration and encouragement in my academic pursuit. i am indebted to prof. olatunji a. oyeshile of university of ibadan who read the manuscript, made corrections and wrote the foreword. and also a doyen in philosophy, prof. c.b.nze, who read the work and made his remark. to rev. fr. prof. bonachristus umeogu, prof. ike odimegwu, asso. prof. charles nweke and fr. dr. gerald ohaeri,c.s.sp., whose academic mentorship i enjoy, i am grateful. to my colleagues in the department of philosophy, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka and spiritan school of philosophy, isienu-nsukka for making their libraries and providing a conducive atmosphere for my academic research. i am very grateful and indebted to you. to my provincial superior, fr. austin nwosu c.s.sp rev. frs kenny udumka, c.s.sp, donatus onyeke, c.s.sp., mr./mrs. d.n iloegbunam and lady agatha iwuoha on whose advise and support i ride on, i thank you. i owe a lot of gratitude to my friends in colorado: kathleen norwas, deacon price and jeanne hatcher, janet and richard tanski for their financial support. finally, i owe a lot to vitalis ogbo for painstakingly reading through the work and organizing the typesetting. dr. hyginus chibuike ezebuilo department of philosophy nnamdi azikiwe university awka. 6 table of contents chapter one: defining epistemology 1.1 introductory discourse 1.2 what is epistemology? 1.3 etymology chapter two: what is knowledge? 2.1 different senses of knowing 2.2 a priori and a posteriori knowledge 2.3 conditions of knowledge 2.3.1 belief 2.3.2 truth 2.3.3 justification chapter three: theories of truth 3.1 classical theories of truth, 3.1.1 coherence theories of truth 3.1.2 correspondence theories of truth 3.1.3 the pragmatist theory of truth 3.4 semantic theory of truth 3.5 saul kripke’s theory of truth 3.6 karl popper’s theory of truth 3.7 the redundancy theory of truth 3.8 performative theory of truth 3.9 prosentential theory of truth 3.10 from truth to knowledge chapter four: is justified true belief knowledge 4.1 the gettier problem 4.2 responses to gettier’s problem 4.2.1 no false premises response 4.2.2 reliabilist response 4.2.3 infallibilist response 4.2.4 indefeasibility condition 4.2.5 tracking condition 4.2.6 knowledge-first response chapter five: the nature of justification 5.1 internalism and externalism 5.2 causal theory and naturalized epistemology 5.3 the value problem (knowledge v belief) 5.4 virtue epistemology: a solution to the value problem 5.5 cognitive success vis a vis epistemic harms 5.6 opinion and knowledge 7 5.6.1 metaphor of the sun 5.6.2 the divided line chapter six: theories of justification 6.1 introductory discourse 6.2 deontological and non-deontological justification 6.3 deontological justification 6.4 sufficient likelihood of justification 6.5 how is belief justified? 6.5.1 evidentialism 6.5.2 reliabilism 6.6 internal vs. external 6.7 internalism 6.7.1 approaches to internalism 6.8 externalism chapter seven: the structure of justification 7.1 introductory discourse 7.2 foundationalism 7.2.1 doxastic basicality (db) 7.2.2 kinds of foundationalism 7.2.3 privilege foundationalism 7.2.4 experiential foundationalism 7.2.5 privilege vs. experiential 7.2.6 epistemic basicality (eb) 7.2.7 the j-question: eb vs. db 7.2.8 other possible answers 7.3 transfer of justification 7.4 coherentism 7.4.1 doxastic coherentism 7.4.2 reliability coherentism 7.4.3 dependence coherentism . 7.5 why foundationalism? 7.5.1 the regress argument 7.5.2 infinitism 7.6 why coherentism? 7.7 foundherentism chapter eight: sources of knowledge and justification 8.1 introductory discourse 8.2 perception 8.3 introspection 8.4 memory 8 8.5 reason 8.5.1 a priori justification 8.6 testimony chapter nine: philosophical skepticism 9.1 introductory discourse 9.2 ancient skepticism 9.3 kinds of skepticism 9.3.1 extreme/mild skepticism 9.3.2 pyrrhonism 9.3.3 cartesian skepticism 9.3.4 general skepticism 9.3.5 selective skepticism 9.4 the biv-knowledge closure argument 9.5 responses to the closure argument 9.5.1 abominable conjunction 9.6 counter biv 9.7 the biv-justification under-determination argument 9.8 responses to the underdetermination argument 9.9 the biv-knowledge defeasibility argument 9.10 responses to the defeasibility argument 9.11 the biv-epistemic possibility argument 9.12 responses to the epistemic possibility argument chapter ten: the history of epistemology: ancient and medieval philosophies 10.1 ancient philosophy 10.1.1 plato 10.1.2 aristotle 10.1.3 st. augustine 10.2 medieval philosophy 10.2.1 st. anselm of canterbury 10.2.2 st. thomas aquinas 10.2.3 john duns scotus 10.2.4 william of ockham chapter eleven: the history of epistemology: modern philosophy 11.1 the rise of modern epistemology 11.2 faith and reason 11.3 epistemology and modern science 11.4 rené descartes 11.5 john locke 11.6 george berkeley https://www.britannica.com/biography/plato https://www.britannica.com/biography/aristotle https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-augustine https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-anselm-of-canterbury https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas https://www.britannica.com/biography/blessed-john-duns-scotus https://www.britannica.com/biography/william-of-ockham https://www.britannica.com/biography/rene-descartes https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-locke https://www.britannica.com/biography/george-berkeley 9 11.7 david hume 11.7.1 kinds of perception 11.7.2 relations of ideas and matters of fact 11.7.3 cause and effect 11.7.4 substance 11.8 immanuel kant 11.8.1 a summary of kant’s epistemology 11.9 g.w.f. hegel chapter twelve: the history of epistemology: contemporary philosophy 12.1 introductory discourse 12.2 analytic epistemology 12.3 commonsense philosophy, logical positivism, and naturalized epistemology 12.4 realist epistemology 12.5 continental/phenomenological epistemology 12.5.1 edmund husserl. 12.5.2 martin heidegger 12.5.3 maurice merleau-ponty and jean-paul sartre 12.6 later analytic epistemology chapter thirteen: some school of thoughts in epistemology 13.1 empiricism 13.2 rationalism 13.3 skepticism 12.4 pragmatism 13.4.1 charles peirce 13.4.2 william james 13.5 naturalized epistemology 13.6 feminist epistemology 13.7 relativism 13.8 constructivism 13.9 idealism 13.10 bayesian epistemology 13.11 indian pramana 13.12 social epistemology 13.13 formal epistemology 13.14 metaepistemology 13.15 realism chapter fourteen: empiricism 14.1 what is empiricism? 14.2 various meanings of empiricism https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-hume https://www.britannica.com/topic/relation-logic-and-mathematics https://www.britannica.com/topic/substance-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/immanuel-kant https://www.britannica.com/biography/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-common-sense https://cdn.britannica.com/38/11138-004-6699034e/martin-heidegger.jpg https://www.britannica.com/biography/maurice-merleau-ponty 10 14.2.1 broader senses 14.2.2 stricter senses 12.2.2.1 absolute empiricism 12.2.2.2 substantive empiricism 14.2.2.3 partial empiricism 14.3 historical background to empiricism 14.3.1 ancient philosophy 14.3.2 medieval philosophy 14.3.3 modern philosophy 14.3.4 contemporary philosophy 14.4 british empiricism 14.4.1 john locke 14.4.2 george berkeley 14.4.3 david hume 14.4.4 phenomenalism 14.5 logical empiricism 14.6 criticism and evaluation chapter fifteen: rationalism 15.1 what is rationalism? 15.2 expressions of rationalism 15.3 history of rationalism 15.3.1 epistemological rationalism in ancient philosophies 15.3.2 epistemological rationalism in modern philosophies 15.3.4 descartes 15.3.5 spinoza 15.3.6 leibinz 15.4 types of rationalism 15.4.1 ethical rationalism 15.4.2 religious rationalism 15.4.2.1 expansion of religious rationalism 15.4.2.2 four waves of religious rationalism 15.5 status of rationalism 15.5.1 religious 15.5.2 ethical 15.5.3 metaphysical 15.6 challenges to epistemological rationalism 15.7 major claims of rationalism 15.8 distinguishing rationalism from empiricism https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_empiricism.html 11 foreword central to answering the fundamental questions of existence is the epistemological quest to know our world. in grappling with numerous problems of human existence such as political, social, religious and scientific issues, there is also the problem of meaning. for instance, one may ask: when all the contingent problems have been resolved or seem to have been resolved, what next? what is the meaning of all these preoccupations after all? while it cannot be said that philosophers have answered these questions to the satisfaction of all, at least they have contributed adequately to understanding the various dimensions of the problems while the search continues. in coming to terms with the problems of existence, our knowledge of the world is very crucial. it is the preoccupation of epistemology to grapple with the sources, types, theories and skepticism in the domain of knowledge. epistemology is also a traditional aspect of the philosophical enterprise. again, everyone knows something. in fact, everyone knows some facts about the world which are often taken for granted. but our knowledge of the world does not always give us the expected result due to certain assumptions which, wittingly or unwittingly, we have taken for granted in the knowledge process which behave contrary to expectation. it is on the basis of the above that epistemology as a branch of knowledge investigates into how knowledge is possible based on certain extant traditional, medieval, modern and contemporary theories of knowledge. epistemology at a glance, by rev. fr. dr. hyginus chibuike ezebuilo is one salutary and inspiring attempt to contribute to the analysis, application, problem and importance of this core branch of philosophy popularly christened epistemology. in achieving his set goals, rev. fr. dr. ezebuilo in the book looks at definition of epistemology, what is knowledge? the nature of justification, philosophical skepticism, history of epistemology, rationalism and empiricism among others. one may then ask at this juncture: what is new in rev. fr. dr. ezebuilo’s attempt? afterall, we are used to the problems which mark the regular features of books in epistemology. i want to respond to this question based on my thorough but not perfect perusal of the book that dr. ezebuilo examines the age long problems in epistemology with a view to discussing perennial problems in new ways that would impact the knowing process in novel ways that would impact the knowing process. we can discern again remarkable simplicity in his book. the book is also handy for pedagogical purpose. this implies that it will be a very accessible teaching text for students in universities and those who have the quest to have knowledge about knowledge for easy application to problems of existence from the theoretical and political perspectives. i want to note unequivocally that the central ideas of this book are well discussed with appropriate methodologies. one should commend the author for doing a good work. i 12 recommend the book to all, especially those interested in probing into epistemology as a crucial aspect of philosophy and those who are saddled with the task of grappling with the problem of existence through the framework of knowledge. olatunji a. oyeshile, ph.d, professor of philosophy, university of ibadan, nigeria and visiting researcher/lecturer institute of philosophy, university of leiden, the netherlands (2019). 13 introduction the subject matter of epistemology (theory of knowledge) is human knowledge; its nature, origin, scope and justification. it probes into the meaning and nature of human knowledge. it reflects on issues such as truth and justification which constitute for some scholars, the criteria qualifying any belief to count as knowledge. it also examines and attempts to set out the possibility of knowledge and foundations of certainty of knowledge. epistemology is closely related to employs data received from metaphysics in its study of human knowledge. questions concerning the nature and scope of human knowledge have constituted an integral part of the discourses of almost all philosophers, right form the classical greek period. in the dialogues of plato (especially theaetetus, meno and the republic) and the writings of aristotle, critical epistemological questions were broached. the later advent of philosophical scepticism brought many more epistemological concerns (especially the possibility of human knowledge) into the philosophical enterprise. these concerns continued to attract the attention of the medieval philosophers, notably the scholastics. modern philosophers from the time of descartes till the contemporary period have without exception struggled with questions about human knowledge. in fact, the most outstanding distinction between philosophers by the reckoning of many historians of philosophy—the empiricist versus rationalist divide—is largely on epistemological grounds arising from question of whether knowledge fundamentally arises from sense experience or from the faculty of human reason. generally, schools of thought within the field of theory of knowledge include empiricism, rationalism, scepticism, feminist epistemology, naturalized epistemology, constructivism, relativism, epistemic idealism, epistemic realism, metaepistemology and so on. specifically, epistemology is concerned with propositional knowledge (as against other forms of knowledge like knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge of how things are done). propositional knowledge deals primarily with facts properly framed as logical statements. these statements can be analytic (solely on the basis of the principle of non-contradiction) or synthetic (based on observation of the givens of experience). in epistemology, distinction is made between a priori and a posteriori knowledge. while the former is known independently of experience, the latter is apprehended by experience. 14 additionally, concepts such as belief, truth and justification feature prominently in the epistemological discourse. fundamentally, belief refers to the attitude held by one concerning that which one consider true. belief has been described in many ways by different philosophers either as mental states, personal dispositions or interpretative schemes informing one’s actions. on its part, truth primarily implies the characteristic of matching up with fact or reality. there are many theories of truth, some of which include the correspondence, coherence, sentential, pragmatic and prosential theories of truth among others. justification has to do with the rationale behind one’s holding on to a reasonable belief. sources of justification as held by theorists of knowledge include reason, experience and testimony of authority. epistemologists are divided on the issue of the conditions of justification. those who hold these conditions to be outside the mental and or psychological states of the subject are called externalists and their posit ion is referred to as epistemic externalism. on the other hand, those who hold that these conditions lie within the mental and or psychological states of the subject are called internalists and their position is referred to as epistemic internalism. on the nature of knowledge, there is the question of whether or not justified true belief qualifies to be referred to as knowledge and if it not, the next problem would be to determine which one has more value. this is the root of the gettier problem. on the nature and conditions for justification of beliefs, the virtue problem arises which culminates in the rise of virtue epistemology which goes beyond the knowledge facts themselves and proceeds with the evaluation of the intellectual virtues of the subjects. the regress problem arises, considering the question of the logical foundations of human knowledge. responses to this problem gave rise to different paradigms of thought— coherentism, foundationalism, infinitism and foundherentism. finally, the question arises whether or not knowledge is even possible, given the difficulty in satisfying the condition of epistemic certainty which is at the heart of the definition of knowledge itself. this gave rise to the problem of philosophic skepticism which is almost as old as philosophy itself and remains an intractable epistemological problem. arguments raised against skepticism include the polar argument and the paradigm case argument. 15 chapter one defining epistemology 1.1 introductory discourse epistemology, as a distinct field of inquiry, predates the introduction of the term into the lexicon of philosophy. john locke, for instance, described his efforts in essay concerning human understanding (1689) as an inquiry “into the original, certainty, and extent of human knowledge, together with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion, and assent.”1 rené descartes, who is often credited as the father of modern philosophy, was often preoccupied with epistemological questions in his work. almost every major historical philosopher has considered questions about what we know and how we know it. among the ancient greek philosophers, plato distinguished between inquiry regarding what we know and inquiry regarding what exists. a number of important epistemological concerns also appeared in the works of aristotle. during the subsequent hellenistic period, philosophical schools began to appear which had a greater focus on epistemological questions, often in the form of philosophical skepticism. for instance, the pyrrhonian skepticism of pyrrho and sextus empiricus held that eudaimonia (flourishing, happiness, or “the good life”) could be attained through the application of epoché (suspension of judgment) regarding all non-evident matters.2 pyrrhonism was particularly concerned with undermining the epistemological dogmas of stoicism and epicureanism. the other major school of hellenistic skepticism was academic skepticism, most notably defended by carneades and arcesilaus, which predominated in the platonic academy for almost two centuries.3 they were specialized in refutation without propagating any positive doctrine of their own. after the ancient philosophical era but before the modern philosophical era, a number of medieval philosophers also engaged with epistemological questions at length. most notable among the medievals for their contributions to epistemology were thomas aquinas, john duns scotus, and william of ockham. in the islamic epistemology islamic golden age which was booming prior to the age of enlightenment in europe. one of the most prominent and influential philosophers, theologians, jurists, logicians and mystics abu hamid al-ghazali was seeking to know what we can be certain about: what is true knowledge and not just opinion? to accomplish this goal, he would first consider what kinds of things we can know. this involves a study of epistemology, the theory of knowledge.4 1 john locke, “introduction,” an essay concerning human understanding (oxford: oxford university press, 1975). 2 paul k. moser, the oxford handbook of epistemology (oxford: oxford university press, 2002), 101. 3 ibid. 4 ibid.,102. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_locke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/an_essay_concerning_human_understanding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/an_essay_concerning_human_understanding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ancient_greek_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ancient_greek_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aristotle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hellenistic_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pyrrhonism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pyrrho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sextus_empiricus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eudaimonia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/epoch%c3%a9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dogma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stoicism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/epicureanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/academic_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carneades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/arcesilaus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/platonic_academy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/medieval_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thomas_aquinas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_duns_scotus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_duns_scotus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/william_of_ockham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/islamic_golden_age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/al-ghazali https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.223061 16 epistemology largely came to the fore in philosophy during the early modern period, which historians of philosophy traditionally divide up into a dispute between empiricists (including francis bacon, john locke, david hume, and george berkeley) and rationalists (including rené descartes, baruch spinoza, and gottfried leibniz). the debate between them has often been framed using the question of whether knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience (empiricism), or whether a significant portion of our knowledge is derived entirely from our faculty of reason (rationalism). according to some scholars, this dispute was resolved in the late 18th century by immanuel kant, whose transcendental idealism famously made room for the view that “though all our knowledge begins with experience, it by no means follows that all [knowledge] arises out of experience.”5 there are a number of different methods that contemporary scholars use when trying to understand the relationship between past epistemology and contemporary epistemology. one of the most contentious questions is this: should we assume that the problems of epistemology are perennial, and that trying to reconstruct and evaluate plato’s or hume’s or kant’s arguments is meaningful for current debates, too?.6 similarly, there is also a question of whether contemporary philosophers should aim to rationally reconstruct and evaluate historical views in epistemology, or to merely describe them.7 barry stroud claims that doing epistemology competently requires the historical study of past attempts to find philosophical understanding of the nature and scope of human knowledge.8 he argues that since inquiry may progress over time, we may not realize how different the questions that contemporary epistemologists ask, are questions asked at various different points in the history of philosophy. 1.2 what is epistemology? the term “epistemology” comes from the greek words episteme and logos. while episteme can be translated as knowledge, understanding or acquaintance, logos can be translated as account, argument or reason. each of these different translations captures some facet of the meaning of these greek terms as well as a different facet of epistemology itself. in different parts of its history, different facets of epistemology have attracted attention.9 plato’s epistemology is an attempt to understand what it is to know, and how knowledge (unlike mere true opinion) is attributed to the knower. aristotle’s epistemology delimits what we can know and how we can know. similarly, john locke’s epistemology is an attempt to understand the operations of human understanding. immanuel kant’s epistemology attempts to understand the 5 thomas sturm, “historical epistemology or history of epistemology? the case of the relation between perception and judgment,” erkenntnis 75(3), 304. 6john bengson and marc a. moffett (eds.), essays on knowledge, mind, and action (new york: oxford university press, 2011), 14-15. 7 ibid. 8see mathew benton, “epistemology personalized,” the philosophical quarterly. 67(269), (2011), 813. 9 m. steup and ram nata, “epistemology,” the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (2020), edward n. zalta (ed.). url = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/modern_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empiricism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/francis_bacon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_locke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_hume https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/george_berkeley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rationalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baruch_spinoza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gottfried_leibniz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/immanuel_kant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/transcendental_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/transcendental_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/barry_stroud https://philpapers.org/rec/benep-3 17 conditions of the possibility of human understanding, while that of russell is an attempt to understand how modern science could be justified by appeal to sensory experience. much recent work in epistemology is an attempt to understanding the justification for our knowledge claims. this is sometimes affected by interest…..in any case epistemology tries to understand our cognitive success or cognitive failure. epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. epistemologists study the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge, epistemic justification, the rationality of belief, and various related issues. epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. problems in epistemology are generally clustered around four core areas: 1. the philosophical analysis of the nature of knowledge and the conditions required for a belief to constitute knowledge, such as truth and justification. 2. potential sources of knowledge and justified belief, such as perception, reason, memory, and testimony. 3. the structure of a body of knowledge or justified belief, including whether all justified beliefs must be derived from justified foundational beliefs or whether justification requires only a coherent set of beliefs. 4. philosophical skepticism, which questions the possibility of knowledge, and related problems, such as whether skepticism poses a threat to our ordinary knowledge claims and whether it is possible to refute skeptical arguments. in all these, epistemology aims to answer questions such as “what do we know?”, “what does it mean to say that we know something?”, “what makes justified beliefs justified?”, and “how do we know that we know?” 1.3 etymology the word epistemology is derived from the ancient greek epistēmē, meaning “knowledge”, and the suffix -logia, meaning “logical discourse” (derived from the greek word logos meaning “discourse”).10 the appearance of the word in english was predated by the german term wissenschaftslehre (literally, theory of science), which was introduced by philosophers johann fichte and bernard bolzano in the late 18th century. the word “epistemology” first appeared in 1847, in a review in new york’s eclectic magazine. it was first used as a translation of the word wissenschaftslehre as it appears in a philosophical novel by german author jean paul. the title of one of the principal works of fichte is ‘wissenschaftslehre,’ which is now rendered epistemology.11 10“epistemology,” oxford english dictionary (3rd ed.) (oxford: oxford university press. 2014). 11anonymous, “jean-paul frederich richter,” the eclectic magazine of foreign literature, science and art. 12, (1847), 317. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/outline_of_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/justification_(epistemology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/belief https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ethics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/metaphysics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_analysis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/justification_(epistemology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/perception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/testimony#philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/foundationalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/coherentism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/episteme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/discourse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/johann_fichte https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bernard_bolzano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/jean_paul 18 the word "epistemology" was properly introduced into anglophone philosophical literature by scottish philosopher james frederick ferrier in 1854, who used it in his institutes of metaphysics: this section of the science is properly termed the epistemology—the doctrine or theory of knowing, just as ontology is the science of being... it answer rs the general question, ‘what is knowing and the known?’—or more shortly, ‘what is knowledge?’ it is important to note that the french term épistémologie is used with a different and far narrower meaning than the english term “epistemology”, being used by french philosophers to refer solely to philosophy of science. for instance, émile meyerson opened his identity and reality, written in 1908, with the remark that the word is becoming current as equivalent to “the philosophy of the sciences.”12 12 cf. wal suchting, “epistemology,” historical materialism, (2018), 331. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/james_frederick_ferrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy_of_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%c3%89mile_meyerson 19 chapter two what is knowledge? 2.1 different senses of knowing before we can start to explore the arguments developed by different philosophers in the search for knowledge, we first need to understand what philosophers mean by ’knowledge’. traditionally, there are three different types of knowledge: practical knowledge: knowledge that is skills-based, e.g. being able to drive or use a computer knowledge by acquaintance: knowledge that doesn’t involve facts but familiarity with someone or an objects, e.g. i know my mother, i know what an apple looks like factual knowledge: knowledge based on fact, e.g. i know that the sun rises every morning – i know it is true. philosophers are mostly interested in factual knowledge because they are trying to understand how we can achieve truth about the world. one of the first philosophers to attempt a definition of knowledge was the ancient greek philosopher, plato. one of plato’s main concerns was to distinguish knowledge from belief. he gave the example of two guides, one who knows the road to a certain destination, and the other who just uses guesswork. both guides arrive at their destination but which one is more reliable? most people would argue that the guide who has expertise is more reliable. this is why plato argues that true belief gives us knowledge of the world only by coincidence. it is never really certain and could change at any time. for example, i may believe in aliens and aliens may actually exist, but if i cannot give an adequate reason for my claim. i can’t really call it knowledge. plato argues that for a factual claim to be knowledge, it has to be a belief which is true and justified. his definition of knowledge is therefore that it is must be a justified true belief. almost every debate in epistemology is in some way related to knowledge. most generally, “knowledge” is a familiarity, awareness, or understanding of someone or something, which might include facts (propositional knowledge), skills (procedural or how-to knowledge), or objects (acquaintance knowledge). philosophers tend to draw an important distinction between three different senses of knowing something: “knowing that” (knowing the truth of propositions), “knowing how” (understanding how to perform certain actions), and “knowing by acquaintance” (directly perceiving an object, being familiar with it, or otherwise coming into contact with it). epistemology is primarily concerned with the first of these forms of knowledge, propositional knowledge. all three senses of knowing can be seen in our ordinary use of the word. in mathematics, you can know that 2 + 2 = 4, but there is also knowing how to add two numbers, and knowing a person (e.g., knowing other persons, or knowing oneself), place (e.g., one's hometown), thing (e.g., cars), or activity (e.g., addition).13 while these distinctions are not explicit in english, they are explicitly made in other languages, including french, portuguese, spanish, romanian, german and dutch (although some languages related to english have been 13 “formal representations of belief” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, retrieved october 24, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/propositional_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/procedural_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge_by_acquaintance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/propositional_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/procedural_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge_by_acquaintance https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/formal-belief/ 20 said to retain these verbs, such as scots). the theoretical interpretation and significance of these linguistic issues remains controversial. in his paper book problems of philosophy, bertrand russell brought a great deal of attention to the distinction between “knowledge by description” and “knowledge by acquaintance.”14 gilbert ryle is similarly credited with bringing more attention to the distinction between knowing how and knowing that in the concept of mind.15 in personal knowledge, michael polanyi argues for the epistemological relevance of knowledge how and knowledge that; using the example of the act of balance involved in riding a bicycle, he suggests that the theoretical knowledge of the physics involved in maintaining a state of balance cannot substitute for the practical knowledge of how to ride, and that it is important to understand how both are established and grounded.16 this position is essentially ryle’s, who argued that a failure to acknowledge the distinction between “knowledge that” and “knowledge how” leads to infinite regress.17 2.2 a priori and a posteriori knowledge one of the most important distinctions in epistemology is between what can be known a priori (independently of experience) and what can be known a posteriori (through experience). the terms originate from the analytic methods of aristotle’s organon, and may be roughly defined as follows:18  a priori knowledge is knowledge that is known independently of experience (that is, it is non-empirical, or arrived at before experience, usually by reason). it will henceforth be acquired through anything that is independent from experience.  a posteriori knowledge is knowledge that is known by experience (that is, it is empirical, or arrived at through experience). views that emphasize the importance of a priori knowledge are generally classified as rationalist. views that emphasize the importance of a posteriori knowledge are generally classified as empiricist. 2.3 conditions of knowledge the traditional definition of knowledge as handed down from plato is: justified true belief. 2.3.1 belief 14 b. russell, problem of philosophy, https://www.sparknotes.com/russell/problem-of-philosophy/ 15 gilbert ryle, the concept of mind, https://www.britannica.com/topic/concept-of-mind/ 16michael polanyi, personal knowledge., https://www.giffordlectures.org/personal-knowledge. 17 gilbert ryle, the concept of mind. 18 cf. benardete seth, the being of the beautiful (chicago: the university of chicago press, 1984),169. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scots_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bertrand_russell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/descriptive_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge_by_acquaintance#bertrand_russell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gilbert_ryle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gilbert_ryle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_concept_of_mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/michael_polanyi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/infinite_regress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/organon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_priori_and_a_posteriori https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_priori_and_a_posteriori https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rationalist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empiricist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/michael_polanyi 21 one of the core concepts in epistemology is belief. a belief is an attitude that a person holds regarding anything that he take, to be true.19 for instance, to believe that snow is white is comparable to accepting the truth of the proposition “snow is white”. beliefs can be occurrent (example, a person actively thinking “snow is white”), or they can be dispositional (example, a person who if asked about the color of snow would assert “snow is white”). while there is no universal agreement about the nature of belief, most contemporary philosophers hold the view that a disposition to express belief b qualifies as holding the belief b.20 there are various different ways that contemporary philosophers have tried to describe beliefs, including as representations of ways that the world could be, as dispositions to act as if certain things are true, as interpretive schemes for making sense of someone’s actions, or as mental states that fill a particular function.21 some have also attempted to offer significant revisions to our notion of belief, including eliminativists about belief who argue that there is no phenomenon in the natural world which corresponds to our folk psychological concept of belief; and formal epistemologists who aim to replace our bivalent notion of belief (either i have a belief or i don’t have a belief) with the more permissive, probabilistic notion of credence (there is an entire spectrum of degrees of belief, not a simple dichotomy between belief and non-belief.22 while belief plays a significant role in epistemological debates surrounding knowledge and justification, it also has many other philosophical debates in its own right. notable debates include: what is the rational way to revise one's beliefs when presented with various sorts of evidence?; is the content of our beliefs entirely determined by our mental states, or do the relevant facts have any bearing on our beliefs (example, if i believe that i am holding a glass of water, is the non-mental fact that water is h2o part of the content of that belief)?; and must it be possible for a belief to be expressible in language, or are there non-linguistic beliefs? 2.3.2 truth truth is the property or state of being in accordance with facts or reality.23 on most views, truth is the correspondence of language or thought to a mind-independent world. this is called the correspondence theory of truth. among philosophers who think that it is possible to analyze the conditions necessary for knowledge, virtually all of them accept that truth is such a condition. there is much less agreement about the extent to which a knower must know why something is true in order to know. on such views, something being known implies that it is true. however, this should not be confused for the more contentious view that one must know that one knows in order to know. 19edmund l. gettier, “is justified true belief knowledge?” analysis, vol. 23, (1963), 121–123. 20 ibid. 21“the analysis of knowledge,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, retrieved october 27, 2021. 22 ibid. 23 rene descartes, the philosophical writings of rene descartes vol. i. (cambridge university press, 1985), 171. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/proposition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eliminativism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/folk_psychology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/formal_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/correspondence_theory_of_truth http://www.ditext.com/gettier/gettier.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/analysis_(journal) https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-analysis/ 22 epistemologists disagree about whether belief is the only truth-bearer. other common suggestions for things that can bear the property of being true include propositions, sentences, thoughts, utterances, and judgments. plato argues that belief is the most commonly invoked truth-bearer. many of the debates regarding truth are at the crossroads of epistemology and logic. some contemporary debates regarding truth include: how do we define truth? is it even possible to give an informative definition of truth? what things are truth-bearers and are therefore capable of being true or false? are truth and falsity bivalent, or are there other truth values? what are the criteria of truth that allow us to identify it and to distinguish it from falsity? what role does truth play in constituting knowledge? and is truth absolute, or is it merely relative to one’s perspective? 2.3.3 justification as the term “justification” is used in epistemology, a belief is justified if one has good reason for holding it. loosely speaking, justification is the reason for which someone holds a rationally admissible belief, on the assumption that it is a good reason for holding it. sources of justification might include perceptual experience (the evidence of the senses), reason, and authoritative testimony, among others. importantly however, a belief being justified does not guarantee that the belief is true, since a person could be justified in forming beliefs based on very convincing evidence that was nonetheless deceiving. in plato’s theaetetus, socrates considers a number of theories as to what knowledge is, first excluding merely true belief as an adequate account. for example, an ill person with no medical training, but with a generally optimistic attitude, might believe that he will recover from his illness quickly. nevertheless, even if this belief turned out to be true, the patient would not have known that he would get well since his belief lacked justification. the last account that plato considers is that knowledge is true belief with an account24 that explains or defines it in some way. according to edmund gettier, the view that plato is describing here is that knowledge is justified true belief. the truth of this view would entail that in order to know that a given proposition is true, one must not only believe the relevant true proposition, but must also have a good reason for doing so.25 one implication of this would be that no one would gain knowledge just by believing something that happened to be true.26 24 ibid. 25edmund l. gettier, “is justified true belief knowledge?” 26 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/truth-bearer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/propositions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sentence_(mathematical_logic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thought https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/utterance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/judgment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/principle_of_bivalence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/criteria_of_truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/absolute_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge_relativity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/perception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/testimony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theaetetus_(dialogue) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/socrates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/edmund_gettier http://www.ditext.com/gettier/gettier.html 23 chapter three theories of truth in this chapter, i shall briefly sketch three classical and other major kinds of theories of truth which have been proposed, and attempt to indicate how they relate to each other. 3.1 coherence theories of truth coherence theories take truth to consist in relations of coherence among a set of beliefs. simply put, coherence theory of truth holds that truth consists in coherence; the test of the truth of all statements derives from their relations with other statements. the test for truth consists of relations among beliefs themselves. our search for knowledge thus requires a consistence readjustment of beliefs, the aim of which is to achieve coherence. for instance, if in a certain village inter-family marriage is not permitted, then it is not plausible to believe that a is the husband of b when it has been established that a and b are siblings. also, such statements as “twice two is half of eight” or “what is known cannot be unknown” are true in virtue of the meanings of the words that express them. it is because the meanings of the words are internally related as they are (i.e. coherence) that these statements are true. according to the coherence theory of justification, also known as coherentism, a belief is justified, or justifiably held, only if it coheres with a set of beliefs already known to be true and justified. however, there is a refutation on this theory, which posits that, to insist that a judgment is true because of its coherence and consistency with a reality that is accepted as true, could lead to a dangerous circularity. an example is, when there are false statements, each claiming to be true for reasons of coherence. in this way, the theory does not distinguish between a coherent or consistent truth and a consistent error. 3.2 correspondence theories of truth correspondence theories take the truth of a proposition to consist, not in its relation to other propositions, but in its relation to the world, its correspondence to reality or to the facts. during their “logical atomist” periods, both russell and wittgenstein offered definitions of truth as the correspondence of a proposition to facts. the question however is, how do we tell whether or not a sentence corresponds to the fact? to tackle the problem carnap argues that statements reporting immediate perceptual experience are incorrigible, that is to say, we can directly verify that they correspond to the facts. for instance, the statement that, it is raining, can only be true if it can be verified that it is actually raining. if this is done, then one can say that the statement corresponds to the fact, and as such, the statement is true. in other words, the correspondence theory of truth states that the truth or falsity of a statement is determined only by how it relates to the world and whether it accurately describes (i.e., corresponds with) that world. there is a loophole in this theory. as we have seen above, the theory compares ideas with reality. but, can ideas be compared with reality? since we know only our own experience, how can we get outside our ideas to get to reality as it is in itself? 24 3.3 the pragmatist theory of truth the pragmatist theory developed in the works of peirce, dewey, and james has affinities with both coherence and correspondence theories, allowing that the truth of a belief derives from its correspondence with reality, but stressing also that it is manifested by the belief’s survival of test by experience, and its coherence with other beliefs. only a truth of this kind is workable. according to the pragmatic maxim, the meaning of a concept is to be given by reference to the practical or experimental consequences of its application. as james puts it,27 there can be no difference that makes no difference. hence, the pragmatic approach to truth is to ask what difference it makes whether a belief is true. for instance, would it make any difference to believe that god exists? would the application of such a belief work out for the good of the society? if the answer is yes, then the statement that god exists is true, otherwise it is false. the problem associated with this theory is that it has some relativist tendencies. 3.4 semantic theory of truth aristotle has observed that “to say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, or of what is not that it is not, is true.”28 in proposing his semantic theory of truth, tarski aims to explicate the sense of “true” which the above dictum captures. truth, in tarski’s account, is defined in terms of the semantic relation of satisfaction, a relation between open sentences (e.g. x is greater than y) and non-linguistic objects (e.g. the numbers 6 and 5). 3.5 saul kripke’s theory of truth the truth theory recently proposed by kripke (1975) is a variant of tarski’s account, modified essentially to cope in a more sophisticated way with semantic paradoxes. his theory builds on valued interpretation of language. for instance, he avers that sentences many be neither true nor false (n) as well as true (t) or false (f).29 it is a formal theory of truth, believed to be alternative to tarski’s ‘orthodox’ theory, based on truth-value gaps. the theory is proposed as a fairly plausible model for natural language and as one which allows rigorous definitions to be given for various intuitive concepts, such as semantic paradoxes. a semantic paradox is a seemingly contradictory or absurd statement that expresses a possible truth; it can also mean a selfcontradictory and false proposition. the liar paradox is one of the simplest yet most famous example of paradoxes out there. the statement “this statement is a lie” or “this statement is false” is a paradox because if that statement is indeed a lie, then it would be saying a truth. 3.6 karl popper’s theory of truth popper’s account of truth and his theory of verisimilitude or nearness to the truth is also based upon tarski’s theory, which popper regards as supplying a more precise version of traditional 27 tarski, alfred. “the semantic conception of truth and the foundations of semantics.” in philosophy and phenomenological research, 4, 1944. 28 ibid. 29 kripke, saul. outline of a theory of truth. journal of philosophy, 72(1), 1975,690-716. 25 correspondence theories. popper is one of the most prominent philosophers of science. but his falsificationist proposal differs from the verifiability criterion in some important ways.30 first, popper does not hold that non-scientific claims are meaningless. instead, he argues that such a unfalsifiable claims can often serve important roles in both scientific and philosophical contexts, even if we are incapable of asserting their truth or falsity. second, while popper is a realist who holds that scientific theories aim at the truth, he does not think that empirical evidence can ever provide us grounds for believing that a theory is either true or likely to be true.31 in this sense, popper is a fallibilist who holds that while the particular unfalsified theory we have adopted might be true, we could never know this to be the case. for this same reason, popper holds that it is impossible to provide justification for one’s belief that a particular scientific theory is true. finally, where others see science progressing by confirming the truth of various particular claims, popper describes science as progressing on an evolutionary model, with observations selecting against unfit theories by falsifying them. in philosophy, verisimilitude (or truthlikeness) is the notion that some propositions are closer to being true than other propositions. the problem of verisimilitude is the problem of articulating what it takes for one false theory to be closer to the truth than another false theory.32 this problem was central to the philosophy of karl popper, largely because popper was among the first to affirm that truth is the aim of scientific inquiry while acknowledging that most of the greatest scientific theories in the history of science are, strictly speaking, false.33 if this long string of purportedly false theories is to constitute progress with respect to the goal of truth, then it must be at least possible for one false theory to be closer to the truth than others. 3.7 the redundancy theory of truth the redundancy theory of truth, offered by ramsey (1927) claims that “true” is redundant, for to say that it is true that p is equivalent to saying that p. evidently, this account has some affinities with aristotle’s dictum, and consequently with some aspects of tarski’s theory. according to this theory, asserting that a statement is true is completely equivalent to asserting the statement itself. for example, asserting the sentence “snow is white is true” is the same as asserting the sentence “snow is white.” frege expressed the idea this way: it is worthy of notice that the sentence “i smell the scent of violets” has the same content as the sentence “it is true that i smell the scent of violets.” so it seems, then, that nothing 30h.c. ezebuilo, “popper’s piecemeal engineering and social reform in africa.” unpublished thesis submitted to nnamdi azikiwe university awka, 2017. 31 ibid. 32 “truthlikeness,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. retrieved october 22, 2022. 33 pavel tichy. on poper’s definitions of verisimilitude. the british journal for the philosophy of science. (oxford university press, 1974), 25(2):155-160. 26 is added to the thought by my ascribing to it the property of truth.34 when we assert a proposition explicitly, such as when we say “i smell the scent of violets,” then saying “it is true that i smell the scent of violets” would be redundant; it would add nothing because the two have the same meaning. in other words, the two are necessarily equivalent. 3.8 performative theory of truth peter strawson formulated a performative theory of truth in the 1950s. like ramsey, strawson believed that there is no separate problem of truth apart from determining the semantic contents (or facts of the world) which gives the words and sentences of language the meanings that they have.35 the performative theory of truth argues that ascribing truth to a proposition is not really characterizing the proposition itself, nor is it saying something redundant. rather, it is telling us something about the speaker’s intentions. through the speaker’s praising, accepting, conceding, agreeing with, or endorsing of the proposition, he or she is guaranteeing our adoption (our belief in) the proposition. instead of saying, “it is true snow is white,” one could substitute, “i embrace the claim that snow is white.” the key idea is that saying of some proposition, p, that it is true is to say in a disguised fashion, “i commend p to you,” or “i endorse p,” or something of the sort. in this case, you are performing the action of giving your listener license or guarantee to belief the proposition (and to act upon the belief). 3.9 prosentential theory of truth the prosentential theory of truth suggests that the grammatical predicate “is true” does not function semantically or logically as predicate. all uses of “is true” are pro-sentential uses. when someone asserts “it is true that it is raining,” the person is asking the hearer to consider the sentence “it is raining” and is saying that “that, is true” where the remark “that, is true” is taken holistically as a prosentence, in analogy to a pronoun. a pronoun such as “she” is a substitute for the name of the person being referred to. similarly, “that is true” is a substitute for the proposition being considered. likewise, for the expression “it is true.” according to the prosentential theory, all uses of “true” can be reduced to uses either of “that is true” or “it is true” or variants of these with other tenses.36 3.10 from truth to knowledge for generations, discussions of truth have been bedeviled by the question, “how could a proposition be true unless we know it to be true?” aristotle’s famous worry was that contingent propositions about the future, such as “there will be a sea battle tomorrow,” couldn’t be true now, for fear that this would deny free will to the sailors involved. advocates of the correspondence theory and the semantic theory have argued that a proposition need not be 34 bradley, raymond and norman swartz. possible world: an introduction to logic and its philosophy. london: hacket publishing company, 1979. 35 ibid. 36 davidson, donald. inquiries into truth and interpretation. oxford: oxford university press, 1984. 27 known in order to be true. truth, they say, arises out of a relationship between a proposition and the way the world is. no one need know that that relationship holds, nor – for that matter – need there even be any conscious or language-using creature for that relationship to obtain. in short, truth is an objective feature of a proposition, not a subjective one. for a true proposition to be known, it must (at least) be a justified belief. 28 chapter four is justified true belief knowledge 4.1 the gettier problem edmund gettier’s famous 1963 paper, “is justified true belief knowledge?”, popularized the claim that the definition of knowledge as justified true belief had been widely accepted throughout the history of philosophy.37 the extent to which this is true is highly contentious, since plato himself disavowed the “justified true belief” view at the end of the theaetetus.38 regardless of the accuracy of the claim, gettier’s paper produced major widespread discussion which completely reoriented epistemology in the second half of the 20th century, with a newfound focus on trying to provide an airtight definition of knowledge by adjusting or replacing the “justified true belief” view. if someone (s) knows some fact (p), several conditions must obtain. a proposition that s does not even believe cannot be a fact that s knows. therefore, knowledge requires belief. false propositions cannot be facts, and so cannot be known. therefore, knowledge requires truth. finally, s’s being correct in believing that p, might merely be a luck or matter of fact. for instance, if you believe that your mother who is in a different location from you, is sick, and you have no reason for believing this except on the ground that the thought keep flashing in your mind. if it turns out that you are right, and your mother is truly ill, your being right about this is merely accidental. it is a matter of chance or luck (bad luck, in this case).39 therefore, knowledge requires a third component, one that excludes the aforementioned chance. this third condition is called justification. now, if we take these three conditions of knowledge to be not merely necessary but also sufficient, the, then: s knows that p if and only if p is true and s justifiably believes that p. according to this account, the three conditions, namely truth, belief, and justification, are individually necessary and collectively sufficient for knowledge of facts.40 recall that the justification condition is introduced to ensure that s’s belief is not true merely because of luck. but what must justification be, if it can ensure that? it may be thought that s’s belief that p is true not merely because of luck when it is reasonable or rational, from s’s own point of view, to take p to be true. or, it may be thought that s’s belief is true not merely because of luck if that belief has a high objective probability of truth, i.e. if it is formed or sustained by 37 d.m. armstrong, belief, truth, and knowledge (cambridge: cambridge university press), 152. 38 alvin goldman, “reliabilism: what is justified belief?”. in pappas, g.s. (ed.). justification and knowledge (dordrecht, holland: reidel, 1979), 11. 39 for an argument that true belief alone suffices for knowledge, see c. sartwell, “why knowledge is merely true belief”, the journal of philosophy, 89(4), (1992), 167–168. 40 m. steup, an introduction to contemporary epistemology (upper saddle river, nj: prentice hall, 1996), 112. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/edmund_gettier 29 reliable cognitive processes of faculties. but on the contrary, if justification is understood in either of three ways, it cannot ensure against luck. this was precisely what edmund gettier demonstrated in showing that there are cases of jtb that are not cases of knowledge. it follows, therefore, that jtb is not sufficient for knowledge. cases like that, known as gettier’s cases arise because neither the possession of adequate evidence, nor origination in reliable faculties, nor the conjunction of these conditions, is sufficient for ensuring that a belief is not true merely because of luck. goldman presents a well known case: henry drives through a rural area in which what appear to be barns are mere barn façades (imagery), with the exception of just one. from the road he is driving on, these barns look exactly like real barns. but henry happens to be looking at only one barn, and that is the only real barn there. looking at this barn, he believes that there is a barn over there. now, henry’s belief is true, and his visual experience makes it reasonable for him to hold that belief. furthermore, his belief originates in a reliable cognitive process, namely normal vision of ordinary, recognizable objects in good lighting. notwithstanding all these, henry’s belief is true in this case merely because of luck. if he had noticed one of the barn-facades instead, his belief may have been false. there is, therefore, broad agreement among epistemologists that henry’s belief does not qualify for knowledge.41 if jtb is, thus, not sufficient for knowledge, what further condition must be added to it? this is known as the gettier problem. some philosophers attempt to solve the gettier problem by adding a fourth condition to the three conditions mentioned above, while others attempt to solve it by either replacing or refining the three justification conditions, and refining it depends, of course, on how we understand the justification condition itself. some philosophers reject the gettier problem altogether. they reject the aspiration to understand knowledge by trying to add something else to jtb. some of these philosophers try to explain knowledge in terms of virtue. they say that to know a fact is for the truth of one’s belief to manifest epistemic virtue.42 some of them also try to explain knowledge by identifying it as a genus of many familiar species. they say that knowledge is the most general factive mental state operator.43 still other such philosophers try to explain knowledge by explaining its distinctive role in some other activity. accordingly, to know a fact is for that fact to be a reason for which one can do or think something.44 in the view of others, to know a fact is to be entitled to assert that fact.45 still, 41 a.i. goldman, “discrimination and perceptual knowledge”, the journal of philosophy, 73(20), (1976), 773–791. 42 l.t. zagzebski, virtues of the mind: an inquiry into the nature of virtue and the ethical foundations of knowledge (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1996), 11;l.t. zagzebski, “reflective knowledge in the best circles”, the journal of philosophy, 94(8), (1997), 411. 43 t. williamson, knowledge and its limits (oxford: oxford university press, 2002), 11. 44 j. hyman, “how knowledge works”, the philosophical quarterly, 49(197), (1999), 433. 45 t. williamson, knowledge and its limits, 12. 30 according to others, to know a fact is to a trustworthy informant concerning whether than fact obtains. finally, there are those who think that the question “what is it to know a fact?” is misconceived. for them, the verb “to know” does not do the work of denoting anything, but does a different kind of work altogether, for instance, the work of assuring one’s listeners concerning some fact or other, or the work of indicating to one’s audience that a particular person is a trustworthy informant concerning some matter.46 to summarize, edmund gettier called into question the common conception of knowledge as justified true belief. in just two and a half pages, gettier argued that there are situations in which one’s belief may be justified and true, yet fail to count as knowledge. that is, gettier contended that while justified belief in a true proposition is necessary for that proposition to be known, it is not sufficient. according to gettier, there are certain circumstances in which one does not have knowledge, even when all of the above conditions are met. gettier proposed two thought experiments, which have become known as gettier cases, as counterexamples to the classical account of knowledge.47 one of the cases involves two men, smith and jones, who are awaiting the results of their applications for the same job. each man has ten coins in his pocket. smith has excellent reasons to believe that jones will get the job (the head of the company told him); and furthermore, smith knows that jones has ten coins in his pocket (he recently counted them). from this smith infers: “the man who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket.” however, smith is unaware that he also has ten coins in his own pocket. furthermore, it turns out that smith, not jones, is going to get the job. while smith has strong evidence to believe that jones will get the job, he is wrong. smith therefore has a justified true belief that the man who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket; however, according to gettier, smith does not know that the man who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket, because smith’s belief is “...true by virtue of the number of coins in jones’s pocket, while smith does not know how many coins are in smith’s pocket, and bases his belief... on a count of the coins in jones’s pocket, whom he falsely believes to be the man who will get the job.”48   these cases fail to be knowledge because the subject’s belief is justified, but only happens to be true by virtue of luck. in other words, he made the correct choice (believing that the man who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket) for the wrong reasons. gettier then goes on to offer a second similar case, providing the means by which the specifics of his examples can be generalized into a broader problem for defining knowledge in terms of justified true belief. 46 e. craig, knowledge and the state of nature,66. 47 alvin goldman, “reliabilism: what is justified belief?”, 11. 48“certainty,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. retrieved 28 october, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thought_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/counterexample https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/certainty/ 31 4.2 responses to gettier’s problem there have been various notable responses to the gettier problem. typically, they have involved substantial attempts to provide a new definition of knowledge that is not susceptible to gettierstyle objections, either by providing an additional fourth condition that justified true beliefs must meet to constitute knowledge, or proposing a completely new set of necessary and sufficient conditions for knowledge. while there have been far too many published responses for all of them to be mentioned, some of the most notable responses are discussed below. 4.2.1 no false premises response one of the earliest suggested replies to gettier, and perhaps the most intuitive ways to respond to the gettier problem, is the “no false premises” response, sometimes also called the “no false lemmas” response. most notably, this reply was defended by david malet armstrong in his 1973 book, belief, truth, and knowledge.49 the basic form of the response is to assert that the person who holds the justified true belief (for instance, smith in gettier’s first case) made the mistake of inferring a true belief (e.g. the person who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket) from a false belief (e.g. jones will get the job). proponents of this response therefore propose that we add a fourth necessary and sufficient condition for knowledge, namely, the justified true belief must not have been inferred from a false belief. this reply to the gettier problem is simple, direct, and appears to isolate what goes wrong in forming the relevant beliefs in gettier cases. however, the general consensus is that it fails.50 this is because while the original formulation by gettier includes a person who infers a true belief from a false belief, there are many alternate formulations in which this is not the case. take, for instance, a case where an observer sees what appears to be a dog walking through a park and forms the belief: “there is a dog in the park”. in fact, it turns out that the observer is not looking at a dog at all, but rather a very lifelike robotic facsimile of a dog. however, unknown to the observer, there is in fact a dog in the park, albeit one standing behind the robotic facsimile of a dog. since the belief “there is a dog in the park” does not involve a faulty inference, but is instead formed as the result of misleading perceptual information, there is no inference made from a false premise. it therefore seems that while the observer does in fact have a true belief that her perceptual experience provides justification for holding, she does not actually know that there is a dog in the park. instead, she just seems to have formed a lucky justified true belief.51 4.2.2 reliabilist response reliabilism has been a significant line of response to the gettier problem among philosophers, originating with work by alvin goldman in the 1960s. according to reliabilism, a belief is 49bimal krishna matilal, perception: an essay on classical indian theories of knowledge (oxford: india, 2002). the gettier problem is dealt with in chapter 4, knowledge as a mental episode. the thread continues in the next chapter knowing that one knows. 50 alvin goldman, “reliabilism: what is justified belief?” 51 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/necessity_and_sufficiency#simultaneous_necessity_and_sufficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/necessity_and_sufficiency#simultaneous_necessity_and_sufficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_malet_armstrong https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alvin_goldman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bimal_krishna_matilal 32 justified (or otherwise supported in such a way as to count towards knowledge) only if it is produced by processes that typically yield a sufficiently high ratio of true to false beliefs. in other words, this theory states that a true belief counts as knowledge only if it is produced by a reliable belief-forming process. examples of reliable processes include standard perceptual processes, remembering, good reasoning, and introspection.52 one commonly discussed challenge for reliabilism is the case of henry and the barn façades.53 in this thought experiment, a man, henry, is driving along and sees a number of buildings that resemble barns. based on his perception of one of these, he concludes that he is looking at a barn. while he is indeed looking at a barn, it turns out that all of the other barn-like buildings he saw were façades. according to the challenge, henry does not know that he has seen a barn, despite his belief being true, and despite his belief having been formed on the basis of a reliable process (i.e. his vision), since he only acquired his reliably formed true belief by accident.54 in other words, since he could have just as easily been looking at a barn façade and formed a false belief, the reliability of perception in general does not mean that his belief was not merely formed luckily, and this luck seems to preclude him from knowledge. 4.2.3 infallibilist response one less common response to the gettier problem is defended by richard kirkham, who has argued that the only definition of knowledge that could ever be immune to all counterexamples is the infallibilist definition.55 to qualify as an item of knowledge, goes the theory, a belief must not only be true and justified, the justification of the belief must necessitate its truth. in other words, the justification for the belief must be infallible. while infallibilism is indeed an internally coherent response to the gettier problem, it is incompatible with our everyday knowledge ascriptions. for instance, as the cartesian skeptic will point out, all of my perceptual experiences are compatible with a skeptical scenario in which i am completely deceived about the existence of the external world, in which case most (if not all) of my beliefs would be false.56 the typical conclusion to draw from this is that it is possible to doubt most (if not all) of my everyday beliefs, meaning that if i am indeed justified in holding those beliefs, that justification is not infallible. for the justification to be infallible, my reasons for holding my everyday beliefs would need to completely exclude the possibility that those beliefs were false. consequently, if a belief must be infallibly justified in order to constitute knowledge, then it must be the case that we are mistaken in most (if not all) instances in which we claim to have knowledge in everyday situations.57 while it is indeed possible to bite the bullet and accept this conclusion, most philosophers find it implausible to suggest that we 52robert nozick, philosophical explanations (harvard university press, 1981), 172. 53 alvin goldman, “reliabilism: what is justified belief?” 54d.m. armstrong, belief, truth and knowledge (cambridge university press, 1973). 55 simon blackburn, think: a compelling introduction to philosophy (oxford university press), 43. 56 cf. jennifer nagel, “knowledge as a mental state”, oxford studies in epistemology volume 4, (oxford: oxford university press, 2013), 274, 57 anthony brueckner, “williamson on the primeness of knowing”. analysis. 62(275), (2002),197. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/richard_kirkham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/infallibilism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cartesian_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cartesian_skepticism https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674664791 https://archive.org/details/belieftruthknowl0000arms https://archive.org/details/thinkcompellingi00bla_kzi 33 know nothing or almost nothing, and therefore reject the infallibilist response as collapsing into radical skepticism.58 4.2.4 indefeasibility condition another possible candidate for the fourth condition of knowledge is indefeasibility. defeasibility theory maintains that there should be no overriding or defeating truths for the reasons that justify one’s belief. for example, suppose that person s believes he saw tom steal a book from the library and uses this to justify the claim that tom stole a book from the library. a possible defeater or overriding proposition for such a claim could be a true proposition like, “tom’s identical twin sam is currently in the same town as tom.” when no defeaters of one’s justification exist, a subject would be epistemologically justified. in a similar vein, the indian philosopher b.k. matilal drew on the navyanyāya fallibilist tradition to respond to the gettier problem. nyaya theory distinguishes between know p and know that one knows p—these are different events, with different causal conditions. the second level is a sort of implicit inference that usually follows immediately the episode of knowing p (knowledge simpliciter). the gettier case is examined by referring to a view of gangesha upadhyaya (late 12th century), who takes any true belief to be knowledge; thus a true belief acquired through a wrong route may just be regarded as knowledge simpliciter on this view. the question of justification arises only at the second level, when one considers the knowledge-hood of the acquired belief. initially, there is lack of uncertainty, so it becomes a true belief. but at the very next moment, when the hearer is about to embark upon the venture of knowing whether he knows p, doubts may arise. “if, in some gettier-like cases, i am wrong in my inference about the knowledge-hood of the given occurrent belief (for the evidence may be pseudo-evidence), then i am mistaken about the truth of my belief—and this is in accordance with nyaya fallibilism: not all knowledge-claims can be sustained.”59 4.2.5 tracking condition robert nozick has offered a definition of knowledge according to which s knows that p if and only if:  p is true;  s believes that p;  if p were false, s would not believe that p;  if p were true, s would believe that p.60 nozick argues that the third of these conditions serves to address cases of the sort described by gettier. he further claims this condition addresses a case of the sort described by d.m. 58 cf. jennifer nagel, “knowledge as a mental state”, 293. 59 hilary kornblith, knowledge and its place in nature (oxford: oxford university press, 2002). 60robert nozick, philosophical explanations, 177. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bimal_krishna_matilal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/navya-ny%c4%81ya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/navya-ny%c4%81ya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fallibilist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gangesha_upadhyaya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/robert_nozick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/d.m._armstrong https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674664791 34 armstrong:61 a father believes his daughter is innocent of committing a particular crime, both because of faith in his baby girl and (now) because he has seen presented in the courtroom a conclusive demonstration of his daughter's innocence. his belief via the method of the courtroom satisfies the four subjunctive conditions, but his faith-based belief does not. if his daughter were guilty, he would still believe her innocence, on the basis of faith in his daughter; this would violate the third condition. the british philosopher simon blackburn has criticized this formulation by suggesting that we do not want to accept as knowledge beliefs which, while they track the truth (as nozick’s account requires), are not held for appropriate reasons. he says that “we do not want to award the title of knowing something to someone who is only meeting the conditions through a defect, flaw, or failure, compared with someone else who is not meeting the conditions.”62 in addition to this, externalist accounts of knowledge, such as nozick’s, are often forced to reject closure in cases where it is intuitively valid. an account similar to nozick’s has also been offered by fred dretske, although his view focuses more on relevant alternatives that might have obtained if things had turned out differently. views of both the nozick variety and the dretske variety have faced serious problems suggested by saul kripke.63 4.2.6 knowledge-first response timothy williamson has advanced a theory of knowledge according to which knowledge is not justified true belief plus some extra conditions, but primary. in his book knowledge and its limits, williamson argues that the concept of knowledge cannot be broken down into a set of other concepts through analysis—instead, it is sui generis. thus, according to williamson, justification, truth, and belief are necessary but not sufficient for knowledge. williamson is also known for being one of the only philosophers who take knowledge to be a mental state;64 most epistemologists assert that belief (as opposed to knowledge) is a mental state. as such, williamson's claim has been seen to be highly counterintuitive. today there is still little consensus about whether any set of conditions succeeds in providing a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for knowledge, and many contemporary epistemologists have come to the conclusion that no such exception-free definition is possible.65 however, even if justification fails as a condition for knowledge as some philosophers claim, the question of whether or not a person has good reasons for holding a particular belief in a particular set of circumstances remains a topic of interest to contemporary epistemology and is unavoidably linked to questions about rationality. 61 duncan pritchard, john turri, stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. retrieved 28 october, 2021. 62 duncan pritchard, “recent work on epistemic value,” american philosophical quarterly, 44 (2), (2007), 85–110. 63 cf. alvin goldman, “reliabilism: what is justified belief?” 64 cf. jonathan l. kvanvig, the value of knowledge and the pursuit of understanding (cambridge university press, 2003). 65 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/d.m._armstrong https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/simon_blackburn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fred_dretske https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/saul_kripke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/timothy_williamson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge_and_its_limits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge_and_its_limits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sui_generis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/necessary_and_sufficient https://books.google.com/books?id=iltiejvbeloc 35 chapter five the nature of justification 5.1 internalism and externalism a central debate about the nature of justification is a debate between epistemological externalists on the one hand and epistemological internalists on the other. while epistemic externalism first arose in attempts to overcome the gettier problem, it has flourished in the time since as an alternative way of conceiving of epistemic justification. the initial development of epistemic externalism is often attributed to alvin goldman, although numerous other philosophers have worked on the topic in the time since.66 externalists hold that factors deemed external meaning outside of the psychological states of those who gain knowledge, can be conditions of justification. for example, an externalist response to the gettier problem is to say that for a justified true belief to count as knowledge, there must be a link or dependency between the belief and the state of the external world. usually, this is understood to be a causal link. such causation, to the extent that it is outside the mind, would count as an external, knowledge-yielding condition. internalists, on the other hand, assert that all knowledge-yielding conditions are within the psychological states of those who gain knowledge. though unfamiliar with the internalist/externalist debate himself, many point to rené descartes as an early example of the internalist path to justification. he wrote that because the only method by which we perceive the external world is through our senses, and that, because the senses are not infallible, we should not consider our concept of knowledge infallible. the only way to find anything that could be described as "indubitably true", he advocates, would be to see things “clearly and distinctly.”67 he argued that if there is an omnipotent, good being who made the world, then it's reasonable to believe that people are made with the ability to know. however, this does not mean that man’s ability to know is perfect. god gave man the ability to know but not with omniscience. descartes said that man must use his capacities for knowledge correctly and carefully through methodological doubt.68 the dictum “cogito ergo sum” (i think, therefore i am) is also commonly associated with descartes' theory. in his own methodological doubt—doubting everything he previously knew so he could start from a blank slate—the first thing that he could not logically bring himself to doubt was his own existence: “i do not exist” would be a contradiction in terms. the act of saying that one does not exist assumes that someone must be making the statement in the first place. descartes could doubt his senses, his body, and the world around him—but he could not deny his own existence, because he was able to doubt and must exist to manifest that doubt. even if some “evil genius” were deceiving him, he would have to exist to be deceived. this one 66 ibid. 67 alan h. goldman, “appearing as irreducible in perception.” philosophy and phenomenological research, 37(2), 147. 68richard l. kirkham, mind, 93 (372), (1984), 503. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alvin_goldman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alan_h._goldman 36 sure point provided him with what he called his archimedean point, in order to further develop his foundation for knowledge. simply put, descartes’ epistemological justification depended on his indubitable belief in his own existence and his clear and distinct knowledge of god.69 5.2 causal theory and naturalized epistemology in an earlier paper that predates his development of reliabilism, alvin goldman writes in his “causal theory of knowing” that knowledge requires a causal link between the truth of a proposition and the belief in that proposition.70 a similar view has also been defended by hilary kornblith in knowledge and its place in nature, although his view is meant to capture an empirical scientific conception of knowledge, not an analysis of the everyday concept “knowledge.”71 kornblith, in turn, takes himself to be elaborating on the naturalized epistemology framework first suggested by w.v.o. quine. 5.3 the value problem (knowledge v belief) we generally assume that knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief. if so, what is the explanation? a formulation of the value problem in epistemology first occurs in plato’s meno. socrates points out to meno that a man who knew the way to larissa could lead others there correctly. but so, too, could a man who had true beliefs about how to get there, even if he had not gone there or had any knowledge of larissa. socrates says that it seems that both knowledge and true opinion can guide action. meno then wonders why knowledge is valued more than true belief and why knowledge and true belief are different. socrates responds that knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief because it is tethered or justified. justification, or working out the reason for a true belief, locks down true belief.72 the problem is to identify what (if anything) makes knowledge more valuable than mere true belief, or that makes knowledge more valuable than a mere minimal conjunction of its components, such as justification, safety, sensitivity, statistical likelihood, and anti-gettier conditions, on a particular analysis of knowledge that conceives of knowledge as divided into components (to which knowledge-first epistemological theories, which posit knowledge as fundamental, are notable exceptions).73 the value problem re-emerged in the philosophical literature on epistemology in the twenty-first century following the rise of virtue epistemology in the 1980s, partly because of the obvious link to the concept of value in ethics.74 5.4 virtue epistemology: a solution to the value problem 69“epistemic contextualism,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. retrieved 20 october 2021. 70 alvin i. goldman & e.j. olsson, e.j. “reliabilism and the value of knowledge.” in haddock, a., millar, a. & pritchard, d. (eds.). epistemic value (oxford university press, 2009), 24. 71 ibid. 72 jonathan kvanvig, the value of knowledge and the pursuit of understanding (cambridge; new york: cambridge university press, 2003), 5. 73 ibid. 74 see laurence bonjour, the structure of empirical knowledge, (cambridge, ma: harvard university press, 1985). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alvin_goldman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/causal_theory_of_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/causal_chain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hilary_kornblith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hilary_kornblith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/naturalized_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/naturalized_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/w.v.o._quine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/virtue_epistemology https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/contextualism-epistemology/ 37 in contemporary philosophy, epistemologists have defended virtue epistemology as a solution to the value problem. they argue that epistemology should also evaluate the “properties” of people as epistemic agents (i.e. intellectual virtues), rather than merely the properties of propositions and propositional mental attitudes. the value problem has been presented as an argument against epistemic reliabilism. zagzebski, for instance, analogizes the value of knowledge to the value of espresso produced by an espresso maker: “the liquid in this cup is not improved by the fact that it comes from a reliable espresso maker. if the espresso tastes good, it makes no difference if it comes from an unreliable machine.”75 for zagzebski, the value of knowledge deflates to the value of mere true belief. she assumes that reliability in itself has no value or disvalue, but goldman and olsson disagree. they point out that zagzebski’s conclusion rests on the assumption of veritism: all that matters is the acquisition of true belief.76 to the contrary, they argue that a reliable process for acquiring a true belief adds value to the mere true belief by making it more likely that future beliefs of a similar kind will be true. by analogy, having a reliable espresso maker that produced a good cup of espresso would be more valuable than having an unreliable one that luckily produced a good cup because the reliable one would more likely produce good future cups compared to the unreliable one. the value problem is important to assessing the adequacy of theories of knowledge that conceive of knowledge as consisting of true belief and other components. according to kvanvig, an adequate account of knowledge should resist counterexamples and allow an explanation of the value of knowledge over mere true belief. should a theory of knowledge fail to do so, it would prove inadequate.77 one of the more influential responses to the problem is that knowledge is not particularly valuable and is not what ought to be the main focus of epistemology. instead, epistemologists ought to focus on other mental states, such as understanding.78 advocates of virtue epistemology have argued that the value of knowledge comes from an internal relationship between the knower and the mental state of believing.79 5.5 cognitive success vis a vis epistemic harms the question, therefore, arises, what makes it the case that something counts as a form of cognitive success? for instance, why think that knowing the school vice chancellor is a cognitive success, rather than any other cognitive state? not ever cognitive state enjoys cognitive success. knowing, understanding, mastering, etc, are all cognitive successes. but confidence in a 75“the analytic/synthetic distinction,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, retrieved october 29, 2021. 76 cf. g. russell, truth in virtue of meaning: a defence of the analytic/synthetic distinction (oxford: oxford university press, 2008). 77 jonathan l. kvanvig, the value of knowledge and the pursuit of understanding. 78 edward n. zalta (ed.). “foundational theories of epistemic justification,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. accessed october, 29, 2021. 79 jonathan l. kvanvig, the value of knowledge and the pursuit of understanding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reliabilism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/jonathan_kvanvig https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/analytic-synthetic https://books.google.com/books?id=iltiejvbeloc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/edward_n._zalta https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justep-foundational/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stanford_encyclopedia_of_philosophy https://books.google.com/books?id=iltiejvbeloc 38 proposition, for instance, is not a cognitive success in and of itself. inasmuch as an agent can hold confidence in the right circumstances and for the right reasons (in which case, it is partly constitutive of an agent’s cognitive success), it is also possible that then agent can hold confidence in the wrong circumstance and for the wrong reasons. one can even be confident that what is not, is. what makes the difference? the idea of cognitive success can be explained in three ways, namely contractualism, consequentialism, or constitutivism. the contractualists say that a particular cognitive state counts as a kind of success because counting it as such severs certain widely held practical interest. for instance, we describe a person as ‘knowing’ something as a way of showing that his testimony with respect to that thing is to be trusted.80 the consequentialist says that a particular cognitive state counts as a success because it tends to constitute or to promote some important benefit. according to some consequentialists, the benefit in question is that of having true beliefs and lacking false beliefs.81 according to others, it is the benefit of having a comprehensive understanding of reality. for others still, it is a benefit that i not narrowly epistemic, like living a good life. lastly, the constitutivists would say that a particular cognitive state counts as a success if it is the constitutive aim of some feature of our lives to achieve that aim.82 for instance, the constitutivist might say that knowledge is a kind of cognitive success by virtue of being the constitutive aim of all human activity. the above three answers will depict three different kinds of cognitive success. each of the answer is correct for a particular kind of success. consider, for example, the difference between the kind of success involved in having a state that is fitting (like holding a belief knowledgeable), and the kind of success involved in having a state that is valuable (like holding a belief the holding of which is beneficial). an example of the former would be: the capital of nigeria is abuja, while that of the later would be: god exists. perhaps the constitutivist can explain the former kind of success better than the consequentialist can, but the consequentialist can explain the latter kind of success better than the constitutivist can. of course, if and when the demands of these different kinds of success conflict, the agent will face the question of how to proceed. much recent work in epistemology has attempted to dress the question.83 now, these different ways of understanding cognitive success each gives rise to a different understanding of the diverse ways in which cognitive success can be obstructed, and so a different understanding of the ways in which an agent may be harmed by such obstructions. obstructing an agent’s cognitive success constitutes an epistemic harm. in a situation in which 80 e. craig, knowledge and the state of nature : an essay in conceptual synthesis (oxford: clarendon press, 1990), 64-65. 81 l. bonjour, the structure of empirical knowledge (cambridge, ma: harvard university press, 1985). r. audi, the structure of justification, (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1993). 82 c. korsgaard, self-constitution: agency, identity, and integrity (oxford: oxford university press, 2009), 7. 83 m. mccormick, believing against the evidence: agency and the ethics of belief, new york: routledge, 2015), and s. rinard, “no exception for belief,” philosophy and phenomenological research, 94(1) (2017a), 121. 39 false testimony would be an epistemic harm, dishonest testimony would be an epistemic wrong. insinuation, inattention, and false indoctrination can all constitute epistemic harms as each of them can obstruct, and sometimes wrongly obstruct an agent’s cognitive success. for example, one can mislead you into drawing false conclusions, even if what one says is true. for instance, when i say, “the victims were killed by a herdsman,” even if what i say is literally true, it can mislead the hearer into thinking that the killer’s being a herdsman is a relevant explanation to his crime. similarly, one can harm you by getting you to think poorly of your own capacity to understand a subject by refusing to pay attention to what you think or say. also, one can harm you by indoctrinating you in a view so strong that you lose the ability to consider alternative views. the epistemic harms we just mentioned occur frequently in the course of daily life, and they are typically constituted by some particular acts that we perform, such as lending greater credence to the word of a man over that of a woman, or using rhetorical devices to insinuate things that one does not know to be true. recent work in feminist epistemology has helped us to gain an appreciation of how widespread this phenomenon is.84 sometimes the harm might even be built into our practice of epistemic appraisal perhaps even a tendency that is somehow constitutive of that very practice. suppose, for instance, that it is constitutive of our practice of epistemic appraisal to count someone as knowing a fact or being knowledgeable only if he possesses a doctorate degree from a recognized academic institution. whatever may be said in favour of our practice’s having such a feature, one of its effects is clear: those individuals who are most excellently knowledgeable with regard to certain facts will find that the deliverance of their unique cognitive sensitivities is not counted as knowledge. and so, these same individuals will not be granted the same authority or credibility as the doctorate degree holders, even when these latter are less knowledgeable and less cognitively sensitive to the range of facts in question. 5.6 opinion and knowledge in all senses of knowledge and opinion, a belief justifiably known to be true in knowledge while a belief not known to be true is opinion. in this case, all knowledge is true but not all opinions are true. every proposition known to be true (knowledge) is believed to be true; but not every proposition believed to be true (opinion) is known to be true. each of a person’s beliefs, whether knowledge or opinion, is the end result of a particular thought process, with a conclusive act – judgment that something is the case. platonic epistemology holds that knowledge of ideas is innate, so that learning is the development of ideas buried deep in the soul, often under the midwife-like guidance of an interrogator. in several dialogues by plato, the character socrates presents the view that each soul 84 see m. fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing (oxford: oxford university press, 2007); k. dotson, “conceptualizing epistemic oppression”, social epistemology, 28(2), (2014), 115. 40 existed before birth with the form of the good and a perfect knowledge of ideas. thus, when an idea is “learned” it is actually just “recalled.”85 plato wished to know the difference between knowledge and opinion. his idea is that something needs to be added to opinion to get knowledge. that something else is “truth,” “justification,” “reliability,” etc. plato, thus, drew a sharp distinction between knowledge, which is certain, and mere true opinion, which is not certain. according to him, opinions derive from the shifting world of sensation; knowledge derives from the world of timeless forms or essences. in the republic, these concepts were illustrated using the metaphor of the sun, the analogy of the divided line, and the allegory of the cave. 5.6.1 metaphor of the sun in the republic (507b-509c) plato’s socrates uses the sun as a metaphor for the source of “intellectual illumination,” which he held to be the form of the good. it starts with the eye, which socrates says is unusual among the sense organs in that it needs a medium, namely light, in order to operate. the strongest and best source of light is the sun; with it, we can discern objects clearly. analogously for intelligible objects, the form of the good, is necessary in order to understand any particular thing. thus, if we attempt to understand why things are as they are, and what general categories can be used to understand various particulars around us, without reference to any forms (universals) we will fail completely. by contrast, the domain where truth and reality shine resplendent is none other than plato’s world of forms – illustrated by the highest of the forms, that of the good. it is only here that knowledge (and not opinion) consists. 5.6.2 the divided line in plato’s republic, book vi, the divided line has two parts that represent the intelligible world and the smaller visible world. each of those two parts is divided, the segments within the intelligible world represent higher and lower forms and the segments within the visible world represent ordinary visible objects and their shadows, reflections, and other representations. the line segments are unequal and their lengths represent their comparative clearness and obscurity and their comparative reality and truth, as well as whether we have knowledge or instead mere opinion of the object 85 41 chapter six theories of justification 6.1 introductory discourse what precisely is involved in knowing a fact? whatever it is, it is widely recognized that some of our cognitive successes fall short of knowledge. an agent may, for example, conduct himself in a way that is intellectually infallible, and yet still end up believing a false proposition. you have every reason to believe that your birthday is december 1: it says so on your birth certificate and all of your medical records, and everyone in your family insists that it is december 1. nevertheless, if all of this evidence is the result of a time-keeping mistake made at the time of our birth, your belief about your birthday is false, despite being well justified. debates concerning the nature of justification can be understood as debates concerning the nature of such non-knowledge-guaranteeing cognitive successes as the one given above. 6.2 deontological and non-deontological justification how is the term ‘justification’ used in ordinary language? here is an example: i asked you a question (say, how much does our father have in his account), and you told me a lie (say, i don’t know – whereas you know). were you justified in lying? demola thinks you were, because my question was an inappropriate one, the answer to which was none of my business. what might demola mean when he thinks that you were justified in responding with a lie? she means that you were under no obligation to refrain from lying. due to the inappropriateness of my question, it was not your duty to tell the truth. this understanding of justification is commonly labeled deontological justification. 6.3 deontological justification s is justified in doing x if and only if s is not obliged to refrain from doing x. more appropriately: s is justified in believing that p if and only s is not obliged to refrain from believing that p. the key term here is obligation or duty. what kind of obligations are relevant when we wish to ask whether or not a belief (rather than an action) is justified or unjustified? the answer is this: when we evaluate an action, we are interested in assessing the action from either a moral or a prudential point of view, whereas when it comes to beliefs, we are interested in the pursuit of truth, or of understanding, or of knowledge. philosophers differ in their response about what we must do in the pursuit of such distinctively epistemic aim. according to one answer, the one favoured by evidentialists, we ought to believe 42 in accordance with our evidence86 for this answer to be helpful, we need an account of what “evidence” consists in, and what it mean to believe in accordance with it. the deontological understanding of the concept of justification is common to the way philosophers such as descartes, locke, moore and chisholm have thought about justification. recently, however, two main objections have been raised against conceiving of justification deontologically. first, it has been argued that deontological justification presupposes that we can have a sufficiently high degree of control over our beliefs. this objection claims that beliefs are akin not to actions but to things. the idea is that beliefs simply arise in or happen to us. therefore, it is not suitable for deontological evaluation.87 to this objection, some advocates of deontological justification have replied that lack of control over our beliefs is no obstacle to thinking of justification as a deontological status.88 other advocates of deontological justification argue that we enjoy no less control over our beliefs than we do over our intentional actions.89 the other objection to deontological justification purports that deontological justification cannot suffice for an agent to have a justified belief. this claim is typically supported by describing cases involving either a benighted, culturally isolated society or subjects who are cognitively deficient. such cases involve subjects whose cognitive limitations make it the case that they are under no obligation to refrain from believing as they do, but whose limitations nevertheless render them incapable of forming justifiable beliefs.90 it is evident from the ongoing that those who reject deontological justification think of justification not deontologically, but rather as a property that a belief has when it is, in some sense, sufficiently likely to be true. alston writes: “i agree that ‘justification’ is the wrong word for a non-deontological concept, but we seem to be stuck with it in contemporary theory of knowledge.”91 hence, we may call this sufficient likelihood of justification. let us define it as follows: 6.4 sufficient likelihood of justification s is justified in believing that p if and only if s believes that p in a way that makes it sufficiently likely that her belief is true. if we wish to pin down exactly what the likelihood at issue amounts to, we will have to deal with a variety of issues. indeed, a belief can be very likely to be true in a way that is completely 86 t. kelly, “the rationality of belief and some other propositional attitudes”, philosophical studies, 110(2), (2002), 163. 87 m. chrisman, “ought to believe”:, journal of philosophy, 105(7), (2008), 348. 88 r. feldman, “epistemic obligations”, philosophical perspectives, 2 (1988), 235. 89 m. steup, “believing intentionally”, synthese, 194(8), (2017), 2673; s. rinard, susanna,, 2019b, “equal treatment for belief”, philosophical studies, 176(7) (2019b), 1923–1950. 90 for a response to this objection, see m. steup, “a defense of internalism”, in the theory of knowledge: classical and contemporary readings, louis p. pojman (ed.), (belmont, ca: wadsworth, 1999), pp. 373–384. 91 w.p. alston, “varieties of privileged access”, american philosophical quarterly, 8(3), (1989), 7ff. 43 irrelevant to the beliefs being, or not being, an instance of knowledge. in that case, it would not be sufficiently likely to be true in a way that is relevant to any question of justification. for example, suppose you believe that buhari will win the election (p). suppose also that our belief originates solely in wishful thinking. finally, suppose that buhari’s winning the election is objectively probable because it is a fact that over 80% of the electorates will vote in his favour. it follows that your belief that p is likely to be true. as such, it is very likely that your belief is true. however, since your belief is the result of wishful thinking, it would not be justified nor be an instance of knowledge. what we need is likelihood of truth that arises not by virtue of what the subject beliefs, but rather by the virtue of the way in which the subject holds, or comes to hold, the belief. but then we must find, in a systematic and principled way, a way of specifying the relevant ways of holding, or coming to hold, a belief. this endeavor raises what has been called the “the generality problem.”92 for now, let us just focus on the main point. those who prefer “sufficient likelihood justification” to deontological justification would say that sufficient likelihood of truth and deontological justification can diverge: it is possible for a belief to be deontologically justified without being sufficiently likely to be true. this is just what cases involving benighted cultures or cognitively deficient subjects are designed to show. 6.5 how is belief justified? what makes a belief that p justified, when it is? whether a belief is justified or unjustified, there is something that makes it so. let us call the things that make a belief justified or unjustified jfactors. but which features of a belief are j-factors? 6.5.1 evidentialism according to “evidentialists,” it is the believer’s possession of evidence for p. what is it, though, to possess evidence for p? some evidentialists would say it is to be in an experience that presents p as being true. according to this view, if the tea in your cup tastes sweet to you, then you have evidence that the tea is sweet. if you feel a troubling pain in your head, you have evidence that you have a headache. if you have a memory of having a cup of tea for breakfast, then you have evidence about what you had for breakfast. and when you clearly see or intuit that a proposition (say, if hyginus has more than four cars, then hyginus has more than three cars) is true, then you have evidence for that proposition. on this view, evidence consists in perception, introspection, memory and intuition, and to possess evidence is to have such experiences. therefore, according to this experientialist version of evidentialism, what makes you justified in believing that p is your having an experience that 92 see r. feldman, epistemology (upper saddle river, nj: prentice hall, 2003), 19. 44 represents p as being true.93 other versions of evidentialism might identify other factors as your evidence, but would still insist that those factors are the j-factors. 6.5.2 reliabilism evidentialism is often contrasted with reliabilism, which is the view that a belief is justified if it results from a reliable source, where a source is reliable if it results from already established true beliefs. reliabilists can also grant that the experiences mentioned in our previous discussion can be important to the justification of beliefs. however, they deny that justification is essentially a matter of having suitable experiences. instead, they say that those experiences matter to the justification of beliefs not merely by virtue of being evidence in support of those beliefs, but more fundamentally, by virtue of being part of the reliable source of those beliefs. different versions of reliabilism have been defended. some philosophers claim that what justifies a belief is that it is produced by a process that is reliable.94 others claim that what justifies a belief is that it is responsive to grounds that reliably co-vary with the truth of that belief. still others claim that what justifies a belief is that it is formed by the virtuous exercise of a capacity, and so on. to understand our discussion of evidentialism and reliabilism better, we shall look briefly into internalism and eternalism. 6.6 internal vs. external 6.7 internalism consider a science fiction scenario concerning a human brain that is removed from its skull, kept alive in a vat of nutrient fluid, and electrochemically stimulated to have precisely the same total series of experiences that you have had. let us call such a brain biv. a bib would believe everything that you believe, and would (it is often thought) be justified in believing those things to precisely the same extent that you are justified in believing them. thus, justification is determined solely by those internal factors that you and your fictitious brain share. this view is what has come to be called internalism about justification.95 6.7.1 approaches to internalism there is no unanimity on how to understand the notion of internality among those who think that justification is internal, that is, what it is about the factors that you share with your biv that makes those factors relevant to justification. we can distinguish between two approaches. according to the first, justification is internal because we enjoy a special kind of access to jfactor: they are always recognizable on reflection. hence, assuming certain further premises (which will be mentioned momentarily), justification itself is always recognizable on 93 r. feldman, epistemology, 21. 94 a. i. goldman, epistemology and cognition (cambridge, ma: harvard university press, 1986), ix. 95 l. bonjour, the structure of empirical knowledge 45 reflection.96 let us call this approach accessibility internalism. according to the second approach, justification is internal because j-factors are always mental states.97 let us call this mentalist internalism. 6.8 externalism on the other hand, externalism is simply the denial of internalism. externalists say that what we want from justification is the kind of likelihood of truth needed for knowledge, and the internal conditions that you share with your biv do not generate such likelihood of truth. hence, justification involves external conditions. evidentialism is typically associated with internalism and reliabilsm with externalism. let u see why. evidentialism says at least two things:98 e1: what makes one justified in believing p is nothing over and above the evidence that one possesses. e2: what evidence one possesses is fixed by one’s mental states. by virtue of e2, evidentialism is an instance of mentalist internalism. whether it is also an instance of accessibility internalism is a more complicated issue. the conjunction of e1 and e2 by itself implies nothing about the accessibility of justification. but mentalist internalists who endorse the first principle below will also be committed to accessibility internalism, and evidentialists who also endorse the second principle below will be committed to the accessibility of justification. 6.8.1 luminosity: one’s own mind is cognitively luminous whenever one:99  is in a particular mental state  can always recognize on reflection what mental states one is in  can always recognize on reflection what evidence one possesses. 6.8.2 necessity: the principle that determines what is evidence for what are a priori recognizable. relying on a priori insight, one can therefore always recognize on reflection whether, or the extent, to which a particular body of evidence is evidence for p. although e1 and e2 by themselves do not imply access internalism, their conjunction with luminosity and necessity may imply access internalism. 96 r.m. chisholm, theory of knowledge, (3rd ed.), (englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall, 1989), 17. 97 r. feldman, 2001b, “skeptical problems, contextualist solutions”, philosophical studies, 103(1), (2001b), 61. 98m. steup and e. sosa (eds.), contemporary debates in epistemology (malden, ma: blackwell, 2005), 78. 99 steup and sosa………………………… t. williamson, knowledge and its limits, (oxford: oxford university press, 2002), ch.4. he rejects the claim that mental states are luminous. 46 now, let us consider why reliabilsm is an externalist theory. reliabilsm says that the justification of one’s belief is a function of the reliability of one’s belief sources such as memorial, perceptual and introspective states and processes. even if the operations of the sources are mental states, their reliability is not itself a mental state. therefore, reliabilists reject mentalist internalism. moreover, insofar as the reliability of one’s belief sources is not itself recognizable by means of reflection, how could reflection enable us to recognize when such justification obtains? reliabists who think there is no good answer to this question also reject access internalism.100 100 for works on the internalism-externalism issues, see s.c. goldberg, “what is the subject-matter of the theory of epistemic justification?”, in epistemic evaluation: purposeful epistemology, david k. henderson and john greco (eds.), (oxford: oxford university press, 2015), 204–205., among others. 47 chapter seven the structure of justification 7.1 introductory discourse epistemologists believe that there is no isolated knowledge. knowing something requires knowing other things. anyone who knows anything knows other things, for our knowledge forms a body – and that body has a structure. but what is this structure? epistemologists generally tend to regard the structure of our knowledge as deriving from that of our justification. this conclusion can only become clearer as we examine some epistemological accounts of justification. 7.2 foundationalism according to this theory, our justified beliefs are structured like a building: they are divided into a foundation and a superstructure, the later resting upon the former. beliefs belonging to the foundation are nonbasic and receive justification from the justified beliefs in the foundation. before we evaluate this foundationalist account of justification, let us first try to spell it out more precisely. what is it for a justified belief to be basic? according to one account, what makes a justified belief basic is that it does not receive its justification from any other beliefs. the following definition captures this thought. 7.2.1 doxastic basicality (db) s’s justified belief that p is basic if and only if s’s belief that p is justified without owing its justification to any of ss other beliefs. let us consider what would qualify as an example of a basic belief according to this definition. suppose you notice someone’s cap and you also notice that that cap looks blue to you. so you believe: *(b) it appears to me that that cap is blue. the above (b) is an example of a justified belief. doxastic basicality tells us that (b) is basic if and only if it does not owe its justification to any other beliefs of yours. therefore, if (b) is indeed basic, there must be some item or other to which (b) owes its justification, but that item will not be another belief of yours. we call this kind of basicality “doxastic” because it makes basicality a function of how our doxastic system (our belief system) is structured. 7.2.2 kinds of foundationalism 48 let us now turn to the question of where the justification that attaches to (b) might come from, if we think of basicality, as defined by doxastic basicality. note that doxastic basicality merely tells us that (b) is justified. it does not tell us how precisely (b) is justified. so it does not answer that question. what we need in addition to it, is an account of what it is that justifies a belief such as (b). 7.2.3 privilege foundationalism according to one strand of foundationalist thought (which we call privilege foundationalism), (b) is justified because it cannot be false, doubted, or corrected by others. on such a view, (b) is justified because it carries with itself an epistemic privilege such as infallibility, indubitability and incorrigibility (cf. alston, 1989). note that (b) is a belief about how the cap appears to you. so (b) is a belief about a perceptual experience of yours. according to this strand of foundationalism, the basic beliefs of a subject are introspective beliefs about his/her own mental states, of which perceptual experiences make up one subset. other mental states about which a subject can have basic beliefs may include such things as having a headache, being tired, feeling happy, etc. beliefs about external objects cannot qualify as basic, according to this kind of foundationalism, because it is impossible for such beliefs to enjoy the kind of epistemic privileges necessary for being basic. 7.2.4 experiential foundationalism according to a different strand of foundationalism (which we call experiential foundationalism), (b) is justified by some further mental state of yours, but not by a further belief of yours. indeed, (b) is justified by the very perceptual experience that (b) itself is about, namely the cap’s looking blue to you. let (e) represent that experience. according to this alternative view, (b) and (e) are distinct mental states. the idea is that what justifies (b) is (e). since (e) is an experience, not a belief of yours, (b) can, according to doxastic basicality, still be basic. 7.2.5 privilege vs. experiential privilege foundationalism is generally thought to restrict basic beliefs so that beliefs about contingent, mid-independent facts cannot be basic, since beliefs about such facts are generally thought to lack the privilege that attends our introspective beliefs about our own present mental states, or our beliefs a priori necessities. experiential foundationalism is not restrictive in the same way. suppose instead of (b), you belief (h): (h) that cap is blue. unlike b, (h) is about the cap itself, and not the way the cap appears to you. such a belief is not one about which we are infallible or otherwise epistemicall privileged. privilege foundationalism would, therefore, classify (h) as nonbasic. however, it is quite plausible to think that e justifies not only (b) but (h) as well. if (e) indeed is what justifies (h), and (h) does not receive any 49 additional justification from further beliefs of yours, the (h) qualifies, according to doxastic basicality, as basic. experiential foundationalism, thus, combines two crucial ideas: (i) when a justified belief is basic, its justification is not owed to any other belief; (ii) what in fact justifies basic beliefs are experiences. under normal circumstances, perceptual beliefs such as (h) are not based on any further beliefs about one’s own perceptual experience. it is not clear, therefore, how privilege foundationalism can account for the justification of ordinary perceptual beliefs like (h).101 experiential foundationalism, on the other hand, has no difficulty explaining how ordinary perceptual beliefs are justified. according to this theory, they are justified by the perceptual experiences that give rise to them. this could be the reason why more preference has been given to experiential foundationalism by some philosophers. so far, we have articulated one conception of basicality, namely doxastic basicality. below is an alternative conception. 7.2.6 epistemic basicality (eb) s’s justified belief that p is basic if and only if s’s justification for believing that p does not depend on any justification s possesses for believing a further proposition, q.102 from this, it is clear that epistemic basicality makes it more difficult for a belief to be basic that doxastic basicality does. to throw more light, we turn to the main question (let us call it the jquestion) that advocates of experiential foundationalism. 7.2.7 the j-question: eb vs. db why are perceptual experiences a source of justification? one way of answering the j-question is as follows: perceptual experiences are a source of justification only when, and only because, we have justification for taking them to be reliable.103 note that your having justification for believing that p does not entail that you actually believe p. thus, your having justification for attributing reliability to your perceptual experiences does not entail that you actually believe them to be reliable. what then might give us justification for thinking that our perceptual experiences are reliable? that is a complicated issue. for the purpose of this book, let us consider the following answer: 101 see r.a. fumerton, metaepistemology and skepticism (lanham, md: rowman & littlefield, 1995), for an effort to clarify this 102 cf. m. huemer, skepticism and the veil of perception (lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers, 2001), 3334. 103 see s. cohen, “basic knowledge and the problem of easy knowledge”, philosophy and phenomenological research, 65(2), (2002), 309–329, for an article advocating compromise positions 50 we remember that they have served us well in the past. we are supposing, then, that justification for attributing reliability to your perceptual experiences consists of memories of perceptual success. on this view, a perceptual experience (e) justifies a perceptual belief only when, and only because, you have suitable track-record memories that give you justification for considering (e) reliable. of course this raises the question why those memories give you justification, but there are many different approaches to this question, as we will see more fully. if the above view is correct, then it is clear how doxastic basicality and epistemic basicality differ. your having justification for (h) depends on your having justification for believing something else in addition to (h), namely that your visual experiences are reliable. as a result, (h) is not basic in the sense defined by epistemic basicality. however, (h) might still be basic in the sense defined b doxastic basicality. if you are justified in believing (h) and your justification is owed solely to (e) and (say, m), neither of which includes any beliefs, then your belief is doxastical, though not epistemically, basic 7.2.8 other possible answers we have considered one possibility of answering the j-question, and considered how epistemic basicality and doxastic basicality differ, if that answer is correct. but there are other possible answers to the j-question. another answer is that perceptual experiences are a source of justification when, and because, they are of types that reliably produce true belief. another answer is that perceptual experiences are a source of justification when, and because, they are of types that reliably indicate the truth of their content. yet another answer is that perceptual experiences are a source of justification when, and because, they have a certain phenomenology, namely that of presenting their content as true. it follows from this internalist answer that your perceptual experiences are a source of justification for you even if they are systematically unreliable concerning the truth of their content. 7.3 transfer of justification finally, let us briefly consider how justification is supposed to be transferred from basic to nonbasic beliefs. there are two options: the justificatory relation between basic and non-basic beliefs could be deductive or non-deductive. if we take the relation to be deductive, each of one’s nonbasic beliefs would have to be such that it can be deduced from one’s basic belief. but if we consider a random selection of typical beliefs we hold, it is difficult to see from which basic belief they could be deduced. foundationalists, therefore, typically conceive of the link between the foundation and the superstructure in non-deductive terms. they would say that, for a given set of basic beliefs, b, to justify a nonbaasic belief, b*, it is not necessary that b entails b*. instead, it is sufficient that, the inference from b to b* is a rational one – however such rationality is to be understood. 51 7.4 coherentism foundationalism says that knowledge and justification are structured like a building, consisting of a superstructure that rests upon a foundation. according to coherentism, this simile gets things wrong. knowledge and justification are structured like a web where the strength of any given area depends on the strength of the surrounding areas. coherentists, then, deny that there are any basic beliefs. as we have already seen, there are two different ways of conceiving of basicality. consequently, there are two corresponding ways of constructing coherentism: as the denial of doxastic basicality or as the denial of epistemic basicality. let us first consider coherentism as the denial of doxastic basicality. 7.4.1 doxastic coherentism every justified belief receives its justification from other beliefs in its epistemic neighborhood. let us apply this thought to the cap example we considered above. suppose again you notice someone’s cap and believe: (h) that hat is blue. let us suppose that (h) is justified. according to coherentism, (h) receives its justification from other beliefs in the epistemic vicinity of (h). they constitute your evidence or your reason for taking (h) to be true. which beliefs might make up this set of neighborhood beliefs? we will consider two approaches to answering this question. the first is known as inference to the best explanation. such inferences generate what is called explanatory coherence.104 according to this approach, we must suppose that you form a belief about the way the cap appears to you in your perceptual experiences, and a second belief to the effect that your perceptual experience, the cap’s looking blue to you, is best explained by the hypothesis that (h) is true. hence, the relevant set of beliefs is the following: (1) i am having a visual experience (e): the cap looks blue to me. (2) my having (e) is best explained by assuming that (h) is true. there are of course alternative explanations of why you have (e). perhaps you are hallucinating that the cap is blue. perhaps an evil demon makes that cap look blue to you when in fact it is red. perhaps you are the sort of person to whom caps always look blue. an explanatory coherentist would say that, compared with these, the cap’s actual blueness is a superior explanation. that is why you are justified in believing (h). note that an explanatory coherentist can also explain the lack of justification. suppose that you remember that you just took a hallucinatory drug that makes things blue to you. that would prevent you from being justified in believing (h). the explanatory coherentist can account for this by pointing out that, in the case under consideration, the truth of (h) would not be the best explanation of why you are having experience (e). rather, 104 g. harman, change in view: principles of reasoning (cambridge, ma: mit press, 1986), 2. 52 your having taking the hallucinatory drug would explain your have (e) at least as the hypothesis (h) would explain it. that is why, according to the explanatory coherentist, you are not justified in believing (h). one challenge for explanatory coherentist is to explain what makes one explanation better than another. let us use the evil demon hypothesis to illustrate this challenge. what we need is an explanation of why you are having (e). according to the evil demon hypothesis, you are having (e) because the evil demon is causing you to have it, in order to trick you. the explanatory coherentist would say that, if the bulk of our beliefs about the mind-independent world are justified, then this “evil demon” hypothesis is a bad explanation of why you are having (e). but why is it bad? what we need to answer in this question is a general and principled account of what makes one explanation better than another. suppose we appeal to the fact that you are not justified in believing in the existence of evil demons. the general idea would be this: if there are two competing explanations, e1 and e2, and e1 consists of or includes a proposition that you are not justified in believing whereas e2 does not, then e2 is better than e1. the problem with this idea is that it puts the cart before the horse. explanatory coherentism is supposed to help us understand what it is for beliefs to be justified. it does not do that if it accounts for the difference between better and worse explanations by making use of the difference between justified and unjustified belief. if explanatory coherentism were to proceed in this way, it would be a circular, and thus uninformative, account of justification. so the challenge that explanatory coherentism must meet is to give an account, without using the concept of justification, of what makes one explanation better than another. 7.4.2 reliability coherentism: let us move on to the second way in which the coherentist approach might be carried out. recall what a subject’s justification for believing p is all about: possessing a link between the belief that p and the truth of p. suppose the subject knows that the origin of her belief that p is reliable. so she knows that beliefs coming from this source tend to be true. such knowledge would give her an excellent link between the belief and its truth. so we might say that the neighborhood beliefs which confer justification on (h) are the following:  (1) i am having a visual experience (e): the cap looks blue to me.  (3) experiences like (e) are reliable. call coherentism of this kind reliability coherentism. if you believe (1) and (3), you are in possession of a good reason for thinking that the cap is indeed blue. so you are in possession of a good reason for thinking that the belief in question, (h), is true. that’s why, according to reliability coherentism, you are justified in believing (h). like explanatory coherentism, this view faces a circularity problem. if (h) receives its justification in part because you also believe (3), then, (3) itself must be justified. but where would your justification for (3) come from? one answer would be: from your memory of perceptual success in the past. you remember that your visual experiences have had a good track https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#exh https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#exh https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#exh 53 record. they have rarely led you astray. the problem is that you cannot justifiably attribute a good track record to your perceptual faculties without using your perceptual faculties. so, if reliability coherentism is going to work, it would have to be legitimate to use a faculty for the very purpose of establishing the reliability of that faculty itself. but it is not clear that this is legitimate. thus richard fumerton says the following, in the context of employing circular reasoning for the purpose of rebutting skepticism: you cannot use perception to justify the reliability of perception! you cannot use memory to justify the reliability of memory! you cannot use induction to justify the reliability of induction! such attempts to respond to skeptic’s concerns involve blatant, indeed pathetic, circularity.105 we have seen that explanatory coherentism and reliability coherentism each face its own distinctive circularity problem. since both are versions of doxastic coherentism, they both face a further difficulty: do people, under normal circumstances, really form beliefs like (1), (2), and (3)? it would seem they do not. it could be objected, therefore, that these two versions of coherentism make excessive intellectual demands of ordinary subjects who are unlikely to have the background beliefs that, according to these versions of coherentism, are needed for justification. this objection could be avoided by stripping coherentism of its doxastic element. the result would be the following version of coherentism, which results from the rejection of epistemic basicality (the epistemic conception of basicality). 7.4.3 dependence coherentism: whenever one is justified in believing a proposition p1, one’s justification for believing p1 depends on justification one has for believing some further propositions, p1, p2, … pn. an explanatory coherentist might say that, for you to be justified in believing (h), it is not necessary that you actually believe (1) and (2). however, it is necessary that you have justification for believing (1) and (2). it is your having justification for (1) and (2) that gives you justification for believing (h). a reliability coherentist might make an analogous point. he might say that, to be justified in believing (h), you need not believe anything about the reliability of the origin of your belief. you must, however, have justification for believing that the origin of your belief is reliable; that is, you must have justification for (1) and (3). both versions of dependence coherentism, then, rest on the supposition that it is possible to have justification for a proposition without actually believing that proposition. dependence coherentism is a significant departure from the way coherentism has typically been construed by its advocates. according to the typical construal of coherentism, a belief is 105 r.a. fumerton, metaepistemology and skepticism, 177. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#exh https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#ex1 https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#ex1 https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#ex3 54 justified, only if the subject has certain further beliefs that constitute reasons for the given belief. dependence coherentism rejects this. according to it, justification need not come in the form of beliefs. it can come in the form of introspective and memorial experience, so long as such experience gives a subject justification for beliefs about either reliability or explanatory coherence. in fact, dependence coherentism allows for the possibility that a belief is justified, not by receiving any of its justification from other beliefs, but solely by suitable perceptual experiences and memory experience.106 next, let us examine some of the reasons provided in the debate over foundationalism and coherentism. 7.5 why foundationalism? 7.5.1 the regress argument the regress problem (also known as agrippa’s trilemma) is the problem of providing a complete logical foundation for human knowledge. the traditional way of supporting a rational argument is to appeal to other rational arguments, typically using chains of reason and rules of logic. a classic example that goes back to aristotle is deducing that socrates is mortal. we have a logical rule that says all humans are mortal and an assertion that socrates is human and we deduce that socrates is mortal. in this example how do we know that socrates is human? presumably we apply other rules such as: all born from human females are human. which then leaves open the question how do we know that all born from humans are human? this is the regress problem: how can we eventually terminate a logical argument with some statements that do not require further justification but can still be considered rational and justified? as john pollock stated: ...to justify a belief one must appeal to a further justified belief. this means that one of two things can be the case. either there are some beliefs that we can be justified for holding, without being able to justify them on the basis of any other belief, or else for each justified belief there is an infinite regress of (potential) justification [the nebula theory]. on this theory there is no rock bottom of justification. justification just meanders in and out through our network of beliefs, stopping nowhere.107 the apparent impossibility of completing an infinite chain of reasoning is thought by some to support skepticism. it is also the impetus for descartes’ famous dictum: i think, therefore i am. 106 cf. s. haack, evidence and inquiry: towards reconstruction in epistemology (oxford: blackwell, 1993), 21. 107 cf. peter klein, “skepticism,” in zalta, edward n. (ed.), the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (2015). retrieved 30 october, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/regress_argument https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/agrippa%27s_trilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/i_think,_therefore_i_am https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/skepticism/ 55 descartes was looking for some logical statement that could be true without appeal to other statements. now, the main argument for foundationalism is called the regress argument. it is an argument from elimination. with regard to every justified belief, b1, the question arises where does the justification of b1 comes from. if b1 is not basic, it would have to come from another belief, b2. but b2 can justify b1 only if b2 is justified itself. if b2 is basic, the justificatory chain would end with b2. but if b2 is not basic, we need a further belief, b3. if b3 is not basic, we need a fourth belief, and so forth. unless the ensuing regress terminates in a basic belief, we get two possibilities: the regress will either return back to b1 or continue ad infinitum. according to the regress argument, both of these possibilities are unacceptable. therefore, if there are justified beliefs, there must be basic beliefs. steup noted that this argument suffers from various weaknesses.108 first, we may wonder whether the alternatives to foundationalism are really unacceptable. in the recent literature on this subject, we actually find an elaborate defense of the position that infinitism is the correct solution to the regress problem. nor should circularity be dismissed too quickly. the issue is not whether a simple argument of the form p therefore p can justify the belief that p. of course it cannot. rather, the issue is ultimately whether, in the attempt to show that trust in our faculties is reasonable, we may make use of the input our faculties deliver. whether such circularity is as unacceptable as a p-therefore-p inference is an open question.109 moreover, the avoidance of circularity does not come cheap. experiential foundationalists claim that perception is a source of justification. hence they need to answer the j-question: why is perception a source of justification? as we saw above, if we wish to answer this question without committing ourselves to the kind of circularity dependence coherentism involves, we must choose between externalism and an appeal to brute necessity. the second weakness of the regress argument is that its conclusion merely says this: if there are justified beliefs, there must be justified beliefs that do not receive their justification from other beliefs. its conclusion does not say that, if there are justified beliefs, there must be beliefs whose justification is independent of any justification for further beliefs. so the regress argument, if it were sound, would merely show that there must be doxastic basicality. dependence coherentism, however, allows for doxastic basicality. so the regress argument merely defends experiential foundationalism against doxastic coherentism. it does not tell us why we should prefer experiential foundationalism to dependence coherentism. experiential foundationalism can be supported by citing cases like the blue cap example. such examples make it plausible to assume that perceptual experiences are a source of justification. but they do not arbitrate between dependence coherentism and experiential foundationalism, 108 m. steup and ram nata, “epistemology.” 109 ibid. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#jquestion 56 since both of those views appeal to perceptual experiences to explain why perceptual beliefs are justified. lastly, foundationalism can be supported by advancing objections to coherentism. one prominent objection is that coherentism somehow fails to ensure that a justified belief system is in contact with reality. this objection derives its force from the fact that fiction can be perfectly coherent. why think, therefore, that the coherence of a belief system is a reason for thinking that the beliefs in that system tend to be true? coherentists could respond to this objection by saying that, if a belief system contains beliefs such as “many of my beliefs have their origin in perceptual experiences” and “my perceptual experiences are reliable”, it is reasonable for the subject to think that his belief system brings her into contact with external reality. this looks like an effective response to the no-contact-with-reality objection. moreover, it is not easy to see why foundationalism itself should be better positioned than coherentism when contact with reality is the issue. what is meant by “ensuring” contact with reality? if foundationalists expect a logical guarantee of such contact, basic beliefs must be infallible. that would make contact with reality a rather expensive commodity. given its price, foundationalists might want to lower their expectations. according to an alternative construal, we expect merely the likelihood of contact with reality. but if coherentists account for the epistemic value of perception in any way, then they can meet that expectation as well as foundationalists can. since coherentism can be construed in different ways, it is unlikely that there is one single objection that succeeds in refuting all possible versions of coherentism. doxastic coherentism, however, seems particularly vulnerable to criticism coming from the foundationalist camp. we have already considered one of these: it would seem that doxastic coherentism makes excessive intellectual demands on believers. when dealing with the mundane tasks of everyday life, we do not normally bother to form beliefs about the explanatory coherence of our beliefs or the reliability of our belief sources. according to a second objection, doxastic coherentism fails by being insensitive to the epistemic relevance of perceptual experiences. foundationalists could argue as follows. suppose you are observing a chameleon that rapidly changes its colors. a moment ago it was blue, now it is purple. you still believe it is blue. your belief is now unjustified because you believe the chameleon is blue even though it looks purple to you. then the chameleon changes its color back to blue. now your belief that the chameleon is blue is justified again because the chameleon once again looks blue to you. the point would be that what is responsible for the changing justificatory status of your belief is solely the way the chameleon looks to you. since doxastic coherentism does not attribute epistemic relevance to perceptual experiences by themselves, it cannot explain why your belief is first justified, then unjustified, and eventually justified again. doxastic coherentism might reply that, when the chameleon changes its color to purple, you form the belief that the chameleon looks purple to you. because of this belief, you will not be justified in still believing that the chameleon is blue. therefore, doxastic coherentism can explain 57 after all why your belief (the chameleon is blue) is unjustified after the chameleon changed its color to purple. the problem with this reply is that foundationalists are free to describe the example in whatever way they want (as long as it remains conceivable).110 and obviously, they would want to describe it by stipulating that you do not form any beliefs about how the chameleon appears to you. in response to that, doxastic coherentists could say that your failing to form beliefs about how the chameleon appears to you is inconceivable. that claim, however, does not recommend itself as a plausible one. 7.5.2 infinitism an alternative resolution to the regress problem is known as infinitism. infinitists take the infinite series to be merely potential, in the sense that an individual may have indefinitely many reasons available to them, without having consciously thought through all of these reasons when the need arises. this position is motivated in part by the desire to avoid what is seen as the arbitrariness and circularity of its chief competitors, foundationalism and coherentism. the most prominent defense of infinitism has been given by peter klein.111 7.6 why coherentism? coherentism is typically defended by attacking foundationalism as a viable alternative. to argue against privilege foundationalism, coherentists pick an epistemic privilege they think is essential to foundationalism, and then argue that either no beliefs, or too few beliefs, enjoy such a privilege. against experiential foundationalism, different objections have been advanced. one line of criticism is that perceptual experiences do not have propositional content. therefore, the relation between a perceptual belief and the perceptual experience that gives rise to it can only be causal. but it is not clear that this is correct. when you see the cap and it looks blue to you, does your visual experience—its looking blue to you—not have the propositional content that the cap is blue? if it does, then why not allow that your perceptual experience can play a justificatory role? another line of thought is that, if perceptual experiences have propositional content, they cannot stop the justificatory regress because they would then be in need of justification themselves. that, however, is a strange thought. in our actual epistemic practice, we never demand of others to justify the way things appear to them in their perceptual experiences. indeed, such a demand would seem absurd. suppose i ask you: “why do you think that the cap is blue?” you answer: “because it looks blue to me”. there are sensible further questions i might ask at that point. for instance, i might ask: “why do you think its looking blue to you gives you a reason for believing it is blue?” or i might ask: “could you not be mistaken in believing it looks blue to you?” but now suppose i ask you: “why do you suppose the perceptual experience in which the cap looks blue to you is justified?” in response to that question, you should accuse me of misusing the 110 ibid. 111 peter d. klein and john turri, “infinitism in epistemology,” internet encyclopedia of philosophy. retrieved 30 october, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/infinitism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/peter_d._klein https://www.iep.utm.edu/inf-epis/ 58 word “justification”. i might as well ask you what it is that justifies your headache when you have one, or what justifies the itch in your nose when you have one. the latter questions, you should reply, would be as absurd as my request for stating a justifying reason for your perceptual experience. 112 experiential foundationalism, then, is not easily dislodged. on what grounds could coherentists object to it? to raise problems for experiential foundationalism, coherentists could press the jquestion: why are perceptual experiences a source of justification? if foundationalists answer the j-question appealing to evidence that warrants the attribution of reliability to perceptual experiences, experiential foundationalism morphs into dependence coherentism. to avoid this outcome, foundationalists would have to give an alternative answer. one way of doing this would be to adopt the epistemic conception of basicality, and view it as a matter of necessity that perception is a source of justification. it remains to be seen whether such a view is sustainable. 7.7 foundherentism an intermediate position, known as foundherentism, is advanced by susan haack. foundherentism is meant to unify foundationalism and coherentism. haack explains the view by using a crossword puzzle as an analogy. whereas, for example, infinitists regard the regress of reasons as taking the form of a single line that continues indefinitely, haack has argued that chains of properly justified beliefs look more like a crossword puzzle, with various different lines mutually supporting each other.113 thus, haack’s view leaves room for both chains of beliefs that are vertical (terminating in foundational beliefs) and chains that are horizontal (deriving their justification from coherence with beliefs that are also members of foundationalist chains of belief). 112 ibid. 113 nigel warburton, thinking from a to z, 44. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#jquestion https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#jquestion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/foundherentism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/susan_haack 59 chapter eight sources of knowledge and justification 8.1 introductory discourse beliefs arise in people for a wide variety of causes. among them are psychological factors such as desires, emotional needs, prejudice, and biases of various kinds. obviously, when beliefs originate in sources like these, they do not qualify as knowledge even if true. for true beliefs to count as knowledge, it is necessary that they originate in sources we have good reason to consider reliable. these are perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony. let us briefly consider each of these. 8.2 perception our perceptual faculties include at least our five senses: sight, touch, hearing, smelling, and tasting. we must distinguish between an experience that can be classified as perceiving that p (for example, seeing that there is tea in the cup and tasting that it is sweet), which entails that p is true, and a perceptual experience in which it seems to us as though p, but where p might be false. let us refer to this latter kind of experience as perceptual seemings. the reason for making this distinction lies in the fact that perceptual experience is fallible. the world is not always as it appears to us in our perceptual experiences. we need, therefore, a way of referring to perceptual experiences in which p seems to be the case that allows for the possibility of p being false. that is the role assigned to perceptual seemings. so some perceptual seemings that p are cases of perceiving that p, others are not. when it looks to you as though there is a cup of tea on the table and in fact there is, the two states coincide. if, however, you hallucinate that there is a cup on the table, you have a perceptual seeming that p without perceiving that p. one family of epistemological issues about perception arises when we concern ourselves with the psychological nature of the perceptual processes through which we acquire knowledge of external objects. according to direct realism, we can acquire such knowledge because we can directly perceive such objects. for example, when you see a tomato on the table, what you perceive is the tomato itself. according to indirect realism, we acquire knowledge of external objects by virtue of perceiving something else, namely appearances or sense-data. an indirect realist would say that, when you see and thus know that there is a tomato on the table, what you really see is not the tomato itself but a tomato-like sense-datum or some such entity. direct and indirect realists hold different views about the structure of perceptual knowledge. indirect realists would say that we acquire perceptual knowledge of external objects by virtue of perceiving sense data that represent external objects. sense data enjoy a special status: we know directly what they are like. hence, indirect realists think that, when perceptual knowledge is foundational, it is knowledge of sense data and other mental states. knowledge of external objects is indirect: derived from our knowledge of sense data. the basic idea is that we have indirect knowledge of the external world because we can have foundational knowledge of our 60 own mind. direct realists, in contrast, say that perceptual experiences can give you direct, foundational knowledge of external objects. we take our perceptual faculties to be reliable. but how can we know that they are reliable? for externalists, this might not be much of a challenge. if the use of reliable faculties is sufficient for knowledge, and if by using reliable faculties we acquire the belief that our faculties are reliable, then we come to know that our faculties are reliable. but even externalists might wonder how they can, via argument, show that our perceptual faculties are reliable. the problem is this: it would seem the only way of acquiring knowledge about the reliability of our perceptual faculties is through memory, through remembering whether they served us well in the past. but should i trust my memory, and should i think that the episodes of perceptual success that i seem to recall were in fact episodes of perceptual success? if i am entitled to answer these questions with “yes”, then i need to have, to begin with, reason to view my memory and my perceptual experiences as reliable. it would seem, therefore, that there is no non-circular way of arguing for the reliability of one’s perceptual faculties.114 8.3 introspection introspection is the capacity to inspect the present contents of one’s own mind. through introspection, one knows what mental states one is currently in: whether one is thirsty, tired, excited, or depressed. compared with perception, introspection appears to have a special status. it is easy to see how a perceptual seeming can go wrong: what looks like a cup of tea on the table might be just be a clever hologram that is visually indistinguishable from an actual cup of tea. but can it introspectively seem to me that i have a headache when in fact i do not? it is not easy to see how it could be. thus introspection is widely thought to enjoy a special kind of immunity to error. but what does this amount to? first, it could be argued that, when it comes to introspection, there is no difference between appearance and reality; therefore, introspective seemings infallibly constitute their own success. alternatively, one could view introspection as a source of certainty. here the idea is that an introspective experience of p eliminates any possible reason for doubt as to whether p is true. finally, one could attempt to explain the specialness of introspection by examining the way we respond to first-person reports: typically, a special authority is attributed a special authority to such reports. according to this approach, introspection is incorrigible: its deliverances cannot be corrected by any other source. however, we construe the special kind of immunity to error that introspection enjoys, such immunity is not enjoyed by perception. some foundationalists have therefore thought that the foundations of our empirical knowledge can be furnished by introspection of our own perceptual experiences, rather than perception of mind-independent things around us. 114 w.p. alston, “varieties of privileged access”, 7ff. 61 is it really true, however, that, compared with perception, introspection is in some way special? critics of foundationalism have argued that introspection is not infallible. might one not confuse an unpleasant itch for a pain? might i not think that the shape before me appears circular to me when in fact it appears slightly elliptical to me? if it is indeed possible for introspection to mislead, then it is not clear in what sense introspection can constitute its own success, provide certainty, or even incorrigibility. yet it is also not easy to see either how, if one clearly and distinctly feels a throbbing headache, one could be mistaken about that. introspection, then, turns out to be a mysterious faculty. on the one hand, it does not seem to be an infallible faculty; on the other hand, it is not easy to see how error is possible in many specific cases of introspection. the definition of introspection as the capacity to know the present contents of one’s own mind leaves open the question of how similar the different exercises of this capacity may be from one another. according to some epistemologists, when we exercise this capacity with respect to our sensations, we are doing something very different from what we do when we exercise this capacity with respect to our own conscious beliefs, intentions, or other rationally evaluable states of mind: our exercises of this capacity with respect to our own conscious, rationally evaluable states of mind is, they claim, partly constitutive of our being in those very states. in support of this claim, they point out that we sometimes address questions of the form “do you believe that p?” by considering whether it is true that p, and reporting our belief concerning p not by inspecting our mind, but rather by making up our mind.115 8.4 memory memory is the capacity to retain knowledge acquired in the past. what one remembers, though, need not be a past event. it may be a present fact, such as one’s telephone number, or a future event, such as the date of the next elections. memory is, of course, fallible. not every experience as of remembering that p is an instance of correctly remembering that p. we should distinguish, therefore, between remembering that p (which entails the truth of p) and seeming to remember that p (which does not entail the truth of p). what makes memorial seemings a source of justification? is it a necessary truth that, if one has a memorial seeming that p, one has thereby prima facie justification for p? or is memory a source of justification only if, as coherentists might say, one has reason to think that one’s memory is reliable? or is memory a source of justification only if, as externalists would say, it is in fact reliable? also, how can we respond to skepticism about knowledge of the past? memorial seemings of the past do not guarantee that the past is what we take it to be. we think that we are older than twenty years, but it is very possible that we are not. this applies to our dispositions to have memorial seemings of a more distant past and items, such as apparent fossils that suggest a past going back millions of years. our seeming to remember these things does not entail, 115 r. moran, authority and estrangement: an essay on self-knowledge (princeton, nj: princeton university press, 2002), 94. 62 therefore, that it really is. why, then, should we think that memory is a source of knowledge about the past? 8.5 reason some beliefs are (thought to be) justified independently of experience. justification of that kind is said to be a priori. a standard way of defining a priori justification is as follows: 8.5.1 a priori justification s is justified a priori in believing that p if and only if s’s justification for believing that p does not depend on any experience. when they are knowledgeably held, beliefs justified in this way are instances of a priori knowledge. what exactly counts as experience? if by “experience” we mean just perceptual experiences, justification deriving from introspective or memorial experiences would count as a priori. for example, i could then know a priori that i am thirsty, or what i ate for breakfast this morning. while the term “a priori” is sometimes used in this way, the strict use of the term restricts a priori justification to justification derived solely from the use of reason. according to this usage, the word “experiences” in the definition above includes perceptual, introspective, and memorial experiences alike. on this narrower understanding, paragons of what i can know a priori are conceptual truths (such as “all bachelors are unmarried”), and truths of mathematics, geometry and logic. justification and knowledge that is not a priori is called “a posteriori” or “empirical”. for example, in the narrow sense of “a priori”, whether i am thirsty or not is something i know empirically (on the basis of introspective experiences), whereas i know a priori that 12 divided by 3 is 4. several important issues arise about a priori knowledge. first, does it exist at all? skeptics about apriority deny its existence. they do not mean to say that we have no knowledge of mathematics, geometry, logic, and conceptual truths. rather, what they claim is that all such knowledge is empirical.116 second, if a priori justification is possible, exactly what does it involve? what makes a belief such as “all bachelors are unmarried” justified? is it an unmediated grasp of the truth of this proposition? or does it consist of grasping that the proposition is necessarily true? or is it the purely intellectual state of “seeing” (with the “eye of reason”) or “intuiting” that this proposition 116 ibid. 63 is true (or necessarily true)?117 or is it, as externalists would suggest, the reliability of the cognitive process by which we come to recognize the truth of such a proposition? third, if a priori knowledge exists, what is its extent? empiricists have argued that a priori knowledge is limited to the realm of the analytic, consisting of propositions true solely by virtue of our concepts, and so do not convey any information about the world. propositions that convey genuine information about world are called synthetic. a priori knowledge of synthetic propositions, empiricists would say, is not possible. rationalists deny this. they might appeal to a proposition such as “if a ball is green all over, then it does not have black spots” as an example of a proposition that is both synthetic and yet knowable a priori.118 8.6 testimony testimony differs from the sources we considered above because it is not distinguished by having its own cognitive faculty. rather, to acquire knowledge of p through testimony is to come to know that p on the basis of someone’s saying that p. “saying that p” must be understood broadly, as including ordinary utterances in daily life, postings by bloggers on their blogs, articles by journalists, books and writings by authors, sermons from preachers, lectures from our teachers, delivery of information on television, radio, tapes, books, and other media. so, when you ask the person next to you what time it is, and she tells you, and you thereby come to know what time it is, that is an example of coming to know something on the basis of testimony. the epistemological puzzle testimony raises is this: why is testimony a source of knowledge? an externalist might say that testimony is a source of knowledge if, and because, it comes from a reliable source. but here, even more so than in the case of our faculties, internalists will not find that answer satisfactory. suppose you hear someone saying “p”. suppose, further, that person is in fact utterly reliable with regard to the question of whether p is the case or not. finally, suppose you have no clue whatever as to that person’s reliability. would it not be plausible to conclude that, since that person’s reliability is unknown to you, that person’s saying “p” does not put you in a position to know that p? but if the reliability of a testimonial source is not sufficient for making it a source of knowledge, what else is needed? thomas reid suggested that, by our very nature, we accept testimonial sources as reliable and tend to attribute credibility to them unless we encounter special contrary reasons.119 but that is merely a statement of the attitude we in fact take toward testimony. what is it that makes that attitude reasonable? it could be argued that, in one’s own personal experiences with testimonial sources, one has accumulated a long track record that can be taken as a sign of reliability. 117 j. bengson, “the intellectual given”, mind, 124(495), (2015), 707. 118 b. ichikawa, and benjamin jarvis, “thought-experiment intuitions and truth in fiction”, philosophical studies, 142(2), (2009), 221. 119derek r, brookes (ed.), thomas reids’ an inquiry into the human mind on the principles of common sense (pennsylvania: pennsylvania state university press, 1997. 64 however, when we think of the sheer breadth of the knowledge we derive from testimony, one wonders whether one’s personal experiences constitute an evidence base rich enough to justify the attribution of reliability to the totality of the testimonial sources one tends to trust.120 an alternative to the track record approach would be to declare it a necessary truth that trust in testimonial sources is at least prima facie justified. while this view has been prominently defended, it requires an explanation of what makes such trust necessarily prima facie justified. such explanations have proven to be controversial.121 120 e. fricker, “against gullibility”, in knowing from words: western and indian philosophical analysis of understanding and testimony, bimal krishna matilal and arindam chakrabarti (eds.), (dordrecht: springer netherlands, 1994), 126–127; m. fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing (oxford: oxford university press, 2002). 121 cf. j. lackey, learning from words: testimony as a source of knowledge (oxford: oxford university press, 2008), 119. 65 chapter nine philosophical skepticism 9.1 introductory discourse epistemic skepticism questions whether knowledge is possible at all. generally speaking, skeptics argue that knowledge requires certainty, and that most or all of our beliefs are fallible (meaning that our grounds for holding them always, or almost always, fall short of certainty), which would together entail that knowledge is always or almost always impossible for us. characterizing knowledge as strong or weak is dependent on a person’s viewpoint and their characterization of knowledge. much of modern epistemology is derived from attempts to better understand and address philosophical skepticism. 9.2 ancient skepticism there were at least two kinds of ancient skepticism: academic skepticism and pyrrhonism. the first, academic skepticism, arose in the academy (the school founded by plato) in the 3rd century bce and was propounded by the greek philosopher arcesilaus (c. 315–c. 240 bce), about whom cicero (106–43 bce), sextus empiricus (flourished 3rd century ce), and diogenes laërtius (flourished 3rd century ce) provide information.122 the academic skeptics, who are sometimes called “dogmatic” skeptics, argued that nothing could be known with certainty. that form of skepticism seems susceptible to the objection, raised by the stoic antipater (flourished c. 135 bce) and others, that the view is self-contradictory.123 to know that knowledge is impossible is to know something. hence, dogmatic skepticism must be false. carneades (c. 213–129 bce), also a member of the academy, developed a subtle reply to the charge. academic skepticism, he insisted, is not a theory about knowledge or the world but rather a kind of argumentative strategy. according to the strategy, the skeptic does not try to prove that he knows nothing. instead, he simply assumes that he knows nothing and defends that assumption against attack.124 the burden of proof, in other words, is on those who believe that knowledge is possible. carneades’ interpretation of academic skepticism renders it very similar to the other major kind, pyrrhonism, which takes its name from pyrrhon of elis (c. 365–275 bce). pyrrhonists, while not asserting or denying anything, attempted to show that one ought to suspend judgment and avoid making any knowledge claims at all, even the negative claim that nothing is known.125 the pyrrhonist’s strategy was to show that for every proposition supported by some evidence, there is an opposite proposition supported by evidence that is equally good. such arguments, which are designed to refute both sides of an issue, are known as “tropes.” the judgment that a tower is round when seen at a distance, for example, is contradicted by the judgment that the 122a.h. armstrong. an introduction to ancient philosophy (methuen: london university, 1965), 32-33. 123 ibid. 124 ibid. 125 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/certainty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fallibilism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/acatalepsy https://www.britannica.com/topic/academy-ancient-academy-athens-greece https://www.britannica.com/biography/arcesilaus https://www.britannica.com/biography/cicero https://www.britannica.com/biography/sextus-empiricus https://www.britannica.com/biography/diogenes-laertius https://www.britannica.com/biography/diogenes-laertius https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stoic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dogmatic https://www.britannica.com/biography/carneades https://www.britannica.com/topic/evidence-law https://www.britannica.com/topic/pyrrhonism https://www.britannica.com/biography/pyrrhon-of-elis https://www.britannica.com/topic/trope-philosophy 66 tower is square when seen up close. the judgment that providence cares for all things, which is supported by the orderliness of the heavenly bodies, is contradicted by the judgment that many good people suffer misery and many bad people enjoy happiness. the judgment that apples have many properties—shape, colour, taste, and aroma—each of which affects a sense organ, is contradicted by the equally good possibility that apples have only one property that affects each sense organ differently. what is at stake in such arguments is “the problem of the criterion” – that is, the problem of determining a justifiable standard against which to measure the worth or validity of judgments, or claims to knowledge. according to the pyrrhonists, every possible criterion is either groundless or inconclusive. thus, suppose that something is offered as a criterion. the pyrrhonist will ask what justification there is for it. if no justification is offered, then the criterion is groundless. if, on the other hand, a justification is produced, then the justification itself is either justified or it is not. if it is not justified, then again the criterion is groundless. if it is justified, then there must be some criterion that justifies it. but this is just what the dogmatist was supposed to have provided in the first place. if the pyrrhonist needed to make judgments in order to survive, he would be in trouble. in fact, however, there is a way of living that bypasses judgment. one can live quite nicely, according to sextus, by following custom and accepting things as they appear. in doing so, one does not judge the correctness of anything but merely accepts appearances for what they are.126 ancient pyrrhonism is not strictly an epistemology, since it has no theory of knowledge and is content to undermine the dogmatic epistemologies of others, especially stoicism and epicureanism. pyrrho himself was said to have had ethical motives for attacking dogmatists: being reconciled to not knowing anything, pyrrho thought, induced serenity (ataraxia).127 9.3 kinds of skepticism much of modern epistemology aims to address one or another kind of skepticism. skepticism is a challenge to our pre-philosophical conception of ourselves as cognitively successful or epistemic beings. such challenges come in many varieties. one way in which these varieties differ, concerns the different kinds of cognitive success that they target: skepticism can challenge our claims to know, or our claims to believe justifiably, or our claims to have justification for believing, or our claims to have any good reasons for belief whatsoever. but another way in which these varieties differ is in whether the skepticism in question is fully general—targeting the possibility of enjoying any instance of the relevant cognitive success—or is selective— targeting the possibility of enjoying the relevant cognitive success concerning a particular subject 126 ibid. 127 ibid. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criterion https://www.britannica.com/topic/stoicism https://www.britannica.com/topic/epicureanism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethical https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconciled 67 matter (e.g., the past, the minds of others, the world beyond our own consciousness), or concerning beliefs formed by a particular method (e.g., perception, memory, reasoning, etc.). 9.3.1 extreme/mild skepticism epistemological skepticism can be classified as either mitigated/extreme or unmitigated/mild skepticism. mitigated skepticism rejects strong or strict knowledge claims but does approve weaker ones, which can be considered virtual knowledge, but only with regard to justified beliefs. unmitigated skepticism rejects claims of both virtual and strong knowledge.128 characterizing knowledge as strong, weak, virtual or genuine can be determined differently depending on a person’s viewpoint as well as their characterization of knowledge.129 9.3.2 pyrrhonism one of the oldest forms of epistemic skepticism can be found in agrippa’s trilemma (named after the pyrrhonist philosopher agrippa the skeptic) which demonstrates that certainty cannot be achieved with regard to beliefs.130 pyrrhonism dates back to pyrrho of elis from the 4th century bce, although most of what we know about pyrrhonism today is from the surviving works of sextus empiricus.131 pyrrhonists claim that for any argument for a non-evident proposition, an equally convincing argument for a contradictory proposition can be produced. pyrrhonists do not dogmatically deny the possibility of knowledge, but instead point out that beliefs about non-evident matters cannot be substantiated. 9.3.3 cartesian skepticism the cartesian evil demon problem, first raised by rené descartes, supposes that our sensory impressions may be controlled by some external power rather than the result of ordinary veridical perception. in such a scenario, nothing we sense would actually exist, but would instead be mere illusion. as a result, we would never be able to know anything about the world, since we would be systematically deceived about everything. the conclusion often drawn from evil demon skepticism is that even if we are not completely deceived, all of the information provided by our senses is still compatible with skeptical scenarios in which we are completely deceived, and that we must therefore either be able to exclude the possibility of deception or else must deny the possibility of infallible knowledge (that is, knowledge which is completely certain) beyond our immediate sensory impressions.132 while the view that no beliefs are beyond doubt other than our immediate sensory impressions is often ascribed to descartes, he in fact thought that we can exclude the possibility that we are systematically deceived, although his reasons for 128 stathis psillos and martin curd, the routledge companion to philosophy of science (london: routledge, 2010), 133. 129 ibid. 130 cf. richard popkin, “skepticism,” in edwards, paul (ed.), encyclopedia of philosophy volume 7 (london: macmillan, 1972), 449. 131 ibid. 132 w. james, and g. gunn, pragmatism and other essays, (new york: penguin books, 2000), 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/agrippa%27s_trilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pyrrhonism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/agrippa_the_skeptic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pyrrho_of_elis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sextus_empiricus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/evil_demon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes 68 thinking this are based on a highly contentious ontological argument for the existence of a benevolent god who would not allow such deception to occur.133 9.3.4 general skepticism general skepticism is motivated by reasoning from some apparently conflicting features of the kind of cognitive success in question. for instance, a general skeptic might claim that justification requires a regress of justifiers, but then argue that this regress of justifiers cannot be contained in any finite mind—and thus, the skeptic might conclude, no finite being can be justified in believing anything. alternatively a general skeptic might claim that knowledge requires certainty, and that nobody can be certain of something unless there is nothing of which he could be even more certain—thus, the skeptic might conclude, we can know virtually nothing.134 9.3.5 selective skepticism selective skepticism, in contrast, is typically motivated by appeal to one or another skeptical hypothesis. a skeptical hypothesis is a hypothesis according to which the facts that you claim to know (whether these facts concern the past, or the mind of others, or the mind-independent world, or what have you) may, for all you can tell, be radically different from how they appear to you to be. thus, a skeptical hypothesis is a hypothesis that distinguishes between the way things appear to you, on the one hand, and the way they really are, on the other; and this distinction is deployed in such a way as to pose a challenge to your cognitive success concerning the latter. here are some examples of skeptical hypotheses:135 i. all the other humans around me are automata who simply act exactly as if they have thoughts and feelings. ii. the whole universe was created no more than 5 minutes ago, replete with fake memories and other misleading evidence concerning a distant past. iii. i am lying in my bed dreaming everything that i am aware of right now. iv. i am a mere brain-in-a-vat (a biv, for short) being electrochemically stimulated to have all these states of mind that i am now having. skeptics can make use of such hypotheses in constructing various arguments that challenge our pre-philosophical picture of ourselves as cognitively successful. consider, for instance, the biv hypothesis, and some ways in which this hypothesis can be employed in a skeptical argument. 133 ibid. 134 p. unger, ignorance: a case for scepticism (oxford: oxford university press, 1975), 100. 135 m. steup, ernest sosa (eds.), contemporary debates in epistemology (malden, ma: blackwell, 2005), 117. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ontological_argument 69 here is one way of doing so. according to the biv hypothesis, the experiences you would have as a biv and the experiences you have as a normal person are perfectly alike, indistinguishable, so to speak, “from the inside”. thus, although it appears to you as if you are a normally embodied human being, everything would appear exactly the same way to a biv. thus, the way things appear to you cannot provide you with knowledge that you are not a biv. but if the way things appear to you cannot provide you with such knowledge, then nothing can give you such knowledge, and so you cannot know that you are not a biv. of course, you already know this much: if you are a biv, then you do not have any hands. if you do not know that you are not a biv, then you do not know that you are not in a situation in which you do not have any hands. but if you do not know that you are not in a situation in which you do not have any hands, then you do not know that you are not handless. and to not know that you are not handless is simply to not know that you have hands.136 we can summarize this skeptical argument as follows: 9.4 the biv-knowledge closure argument  (c1) i don’t know that i’m not a biv.  (c2) if i don’t know that i’m not a biv, then i don’t know that i have hands.  therefore: (c3) i don’t know that i have hands. as we have just seen, (c1) and (c2) are very plausible premises. it would seem, therefore, that the argument is sound. if it is, we must conclude we don’t know we have hands. but surely that conclusion cannot be right: if it turns out that i don’t know that i have hands, that must be because of something very peculiar about my cognitive relation to the issue of whether i have hands—not because of the completely anodyne considerations mentioned in the above argument. so we are confronted with a difficult challenge: the conclusion of the above argument seems plainly false, but on what grounds can we reject it? here are some other ways of using the biv-knowledge closure argument hypothesis to generate a skeptical argument. 9.5 responses to the closure argument next, we will examine various responses to this argument. according to the first, we can see that (c2) is false if we distinguish between relevant and irrelevant alternatives. an alternative to a proposition p is any proposition that is incompatible with p. your having hands and your being a biv are alternatives: if the former is true, the latter is false, and vice versa. according to the thought that motivates the second premise of the biv argument, you know that you have hands only if you can discriminate between your actually having hands and the alternative of being a (handless) biv. but, by hypothesis, you cannot discriminate between these. that is why you don’t know that you have hands. 136ibid. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/#closure2 70 in response to such reasoning, a relevant alternatives theorist would say that your inability to discriminate between these two is not an obstacle to your knowing that you have hands, and that is because your being a biv is not a relevant alternative to your having hands. what would be a relevant alternative? this, for example: your arms ending in stumps rather than hands, or your having hooks instead of hands, or your having prosthetic hands. but these alternatives do not prevent you from knowing that you have hands—not because they are irrelevant, but rather because you can discriminate between these alternatives and your having hands. the relevant alternative theorist holds, therefore, that you do know that you have hands: you know it because you can discriminate it from relevant alternatives, like your having stumps rather than hands. thus, according to relevant alternatives theorists, you know that you have hands even though you don’t know that you are not a biv. there are two chief problems for this approach. the first is that denouncing the biv alternative as irrelevant is ad hoc unless it is supplemented with a principled account of what makes one alternative relevant and another irrelevant. the second is that premise 2 is highly plausible. to deny it is to allow that the following conjunction can be true: 9.5.1 abominable conjunction: i know that i have hands but i do not know that i am not a (handless) biv. many epistemologists would agree that this conjunction is indeed abominable because it blatantly violates the basic and extremely plausible intuition that you cannot know you have hands without knowing that you are not a biv. next, let us consider a response to this “closure argument” according to which it is not the second but the first premise that must be rejected. g. e. moore has pointed out that an argument succeeds only to the extent that its premises are more plausible than the conclusion.137 so if we encounter an argument whose conclusion we find much more implausible than the denial of the premises, then we can turn the argument on its head. according to this approach, we can respond to the biv argument as follows: 9.6 counter biv  (~c3) i know that i have hands.  (c2) if i don’t know that i’m not a biv, then i don’t know that i have hands.  therefore: (~c1) i know that i am not a biv. unless we are skeptics or opponents of closure, we would have to concede that this argument is sound. it is valid, and its premises are true. yet few philosophers would agree that counter biv amounts to a satisfying response to the biv argument. it fails to explain how one can know that one is not a biv. the observation that the premises of the biv argument are less plausible than the denial of its conclusion does not help us understand how such knowledge is possible. that is 137 g.e. moore, “proof of an external world”, proceedings of the british academy, (1959), 126. 71 why the moorean response, unsupplemented with an account of how one can know that one is not a biv, is widely thought to be an unsuccessful rebuttal of the closure argument.138 we have looked at two responses to biv-knowledge closure argument. the relevant alternatives response implausibly denies the second premise. the moorean response denies the first premise without explaining how we could possibly have the knowledge that the first premise claims we don’t have. another prominent response, contextualism, avoids both of these objections. according to the contextualist, the precise contribution that the verb “to know” makes to the truth-conditions of the sentences in which it occurs varies from one context to another: in contexts in which the biv hypothesis is under discussion, an agent counts as “knowing” a fact only if he can satisfy some extremely high (typically unachievable) epistemic feat, and this is why (1) is true. but in contexts in which the biv hypothesis is not under discussion, an agent can count as “knowing” a fact even if his epistemic position vis-à-vis that fact is much more modest, and this is why (3), taken in isolation, appears false. the contextualist literature has grown vastly over the past two decades: different contextualists have different accounts of how features of context affect the meaning of some occurrence of the verb “to know”, and each proposal has encountered specific challenges concerning the semantic mechanisms that it posits, and the extent to which it explains the whole range of facts about which epistemic claims are plausible under which conditions.139 9.7 the biv-justification under-determination argument  (u1) the way things appear to me could be equally well explained by the bivknowledge closure argument hypothesis as by my ordinary beliefs that things appear to me the way they do because i perceive mind-independent objects.  (u2) if the way things appear to me could be equally well explained by either of two hypotheses, then i am not justified in believing one of those hypotheses rather than the other.  therefore: (u3) i am not justified in believing that i perceive mind-independent objects. 9.8 responses to the underdetermination argument both the contextualist and the moorean responses, as discussed in the previous section, leave out one important detail. both say that one can know that one is not a biv (though contextualists grant this point only for the sense of “know” operational in low-standards contexts), but neither view explains how one can know such a thing. if, by hypothesis, a biv has all the same states of mind that i have—including all the same perceptual experiences—then how can i be justified in 138 ibid. 139 cf. s. cohen, “basic knowledge and the problem of easy knowledge”, 310. 72 believing that i am not a biv? and if i cannot be justified in believing that i am not a biv, then how can i know that i am not? of course, the question about how i can be justified in believing that i am not a biv is not especially hard for externalists to answer. from the point of view of an externalist, the fact that you and the biv have the very same states of mind need not be at all relevant to the issue of whether you are justified in believing that you are not a biv, since such justification is not fully determined by those mental states anyway. the philosophers who have had to do considerable work to answer the question how i can be justified in believing that i am not a biv have typically done this work in reply to underdetermination argument. what might justify your belief that you are not a biv? according to some philosophers, you are justified in believing that you are not a biv because, for instance, you know perfectly well that current technology does not enable anyone to create a biv. the proponent of the biv hypothesis might regard this answer as no better than the moorean response in the previous section: if you are allowed to appeal to (what you regard as your) knowledge of current technology to justify your belief that you are not a biv, then why can’t the moorean equally well rely on his knowledge that he has hands to justify his belief that he’s not a biv? philosophers who accept this objection, but who do not want to ground your justification for believing that you are not a biv in purely externalistic factors, may instead claim that your belief is justified by the fact that your own beliefs about the external world provide a better explanation of your sense experiences than does the biv hypothesis.140 9.9 the biv-knowledge defeasibility argument  (d1) if i know that i have hands, then i know that any evidence indicating that i don’t have hands is misleading evidence.  (d2) if i know that some evidence is misleading, then i know that i should disregard that evidence.  therefore: (d3) if i know that i have hands, then i know that i should disregard any evidence to the contrary.  (d4) i do not know that i should disregard any evidence to the contrary.  therefore: (d5) i do not know that i have hands. 9.10 responses to the defeasibility argument the most influential reply to this argument is to say that, when i acquire evidence that i don’t have hands, such evidence makes me cease to know that i have hands. on this view, when i acquire such evidence, the argument above is sound. but prior to my acquiring such evidence, 140 b. russell, the problems of philosophy (london: williams & norgate). 73 (4) is false, and so the argument above is not sound. thus, the truth of (4), and consequently the soundness of this argument, depends on whether or not i have evidence that i don’t have hands. if i do have such evidence, then the argument is sound, but of course it has no general skeptical implications: all it shows is that i cannot know some fact whenever i have evidence that the fact does not obtain.141 plausible as this reply has seemed to most philosophers, it has been effectively challenged by lasonen-aarnio (2014b).142 her argument is this: presumably, it is possible to have more than enough evidence to know some fact. but if it is possible to have more than enough evidence to know some fact, it follows that one might still know that fact even if one acquires some slight evidence against it. and yet, it would be wrong to leave one’s confidence entirely unaffected by the slight evidence that one acquires against that fact: though the evidence might be too slight to destroy one’s knowledge, it cannot be too slight to diminish one’s confidence even slightly. so long as one could continue to know a fact while rationally diminishing one’s confidence in it in response to new evidence, the most popular reply to the defeasibility argument fails. other replies to the defeasibility argument include the denial of premise (2),143 the denial of (4),144 and the claim that the context-sensitivity of “knows” means that (4) is true only relative to contexts in which the possibility of future defeaters is relevant.145 but neither of these replies has yet received widespread assent. 9.11 the biv-epistemic possibility argument  p1) it is at least possible that i am a biv.  (p2) if it is possible that i am a biv, then it is possible that i don’t have hands.  (p3) if it is possible that i don’t have hands, then i don’t know that i have hands.  therefore: (p4) i don’t know that i have hands. obviously, this list of skeptical arguments could be extended by varying either (a) the skeptical hypothesis employed, or (b) the kind of cognitive success being challenged, or (c) the epistemological principles that link the hypothesis in (a) and the challenge in (b). some of the resulting skeptical arguments are more plausible than others, and some are historically more prominent than others, but we cannot undertake a comprehensive survey here. 9.12 responses to the epistemic possibility argument the most common reply to this argument is either to deny premise (1), or to deny that we are justified in believing that premise (1) is true. most writers would deny premise (1), and would do 141 g. harman, change in view, 3. 142 m. lasonen-aarnio, “higher-order evidence and the limits of defeat”, philosophy and phenomenological research, 88(2), (2014a), 317. 143 ibid 144ibid. 145 r. neta, “s knows that p”, noûs, 36(4), (2002), 663. 74 so on whatever grounds they have for thinking that i can know that i am not a biv: knowing that something is not the case excludes that thing’s being epistemically possible for you.146 but a couple of influential writers—most notably rogers albritton and thompson clarke147 — do not claim that premise (1) is false. rather, they deny that we are justified in believing that premise (1) is true. according to these writers, what normally justifies us in believing that something or other is epistemically possible is that we can conceive of discovering that it is true. for instance, what justifies me in believing, say, that it is possible that mohammad buhari has resigned is that i can clearly conceive of discovering that he has resigned. but if i attempt to conceive of discovering that i am a biv, it is not clear that i can succeed in this attempt. i may conceive of coming upon some evidence that i am a biv—but, insofar as this evidence tells in favor of the hypothesis that i am a biv, does it not also undermine its own credibility? in such a case, is there anything at all that would count as “my evidence”? without being able to answer this question in the affirmative, it is not clear that i can conceive of anything that would amount to discovering that i am a biv. of course, from the fact that i cannot conceive of anything that would amount to discovering that i am a biv, it does not follow that i am not a biv—and so it does not even follow that it is not possible that i am a biv. but, whether or not it is possible that i am a biv, i cannot be justified in thinking that it is. and that is to say that i cannot be justified in accepting premise (1) of this argument. 146 see k. derose, “epistemic possibilities”, the philosophical review, 100(4), (1991), 581–605, for an influential account of epistemic possibility that entails this view. 147 r. albritton, “on a form of skeptical argument from possibility”, philosophical issues, (2011), 21; and t. clarke, “the legacy of skepticism”, the journal of philosophy, 69(20), (1972), 754–769. 75 chapter ten the history of epistemology: ancient and medieval philosophies 10.1 ancient philosophy the central focus of ancient greek philosophy was the problem of motion. many pre-socratic philosophers thought that no logically coherent account of motion and change could be given. although the problem was primarily a concern of metaphysics, not epistemology, it had the consequence that all major greek philosophers held that knowledge must not itself change or be changeable in any respect. that requirement motivated parmenides (flourished 5th century bce), for example, to hold that thinking is identical with “being” (i.e., all objects of thought exist and are unchanging) and that it is impossible to think of “nonbeing” or “becoming” in any way. 10.1.1 plato plato accepted the parmenidean constraint that knowledge must be unchanging. one consequence of that view, as plato pointed out in the theaetetus, is that sense experience cannot be a source of knowledge, because the objects apprehended through it are subject to change.148 to the extent that humans have knowledge, they attain it by transcending sense experience in order to discover unchanging objects through the exercise of reason. the platonic theory of knowledge thus contains two parts: first, an investigation into the nature of unchanging objects and, second, a discussion of how those objects can be known through reason. of the many literary devices plato used to illustrate his theory, the best known is the allegory of the cave, which appears in book vii of the republic. the allegory depicts people living in a cave, which represents the world of sense-experience. in the cave, people see only unreal objects, shadows, or images. through a painful intellectual process, which involves the rejection and overcoming of the familiar sensible world, they begin an ascent out of the cave into reality. that process is the analogue of the exercise of reason, which allows one to apprehend unchanging objects and thus to acquire knowledge. the upward journey, which few people are able to complete, culminates in the direct vision of the sun, which represents the source of knowledge. plato’s investigation of unchanging objects begins with the observation that every faculty of the mind apprehends a unique set of objects: hearing apprehends sounds, sight apprehends visual images, and smell apprehends odours, and so on. knowing also is a mental faculty, according to plato, and therefore there must be a unique set of objects that it apprehends. roughly speaking, those objects are the entities denoted by terms that can be used as predicates—e.g., “good,” 148 j.m. cooper & d.s. hutchinson, plato’s complete works (london: routledge, 1997). https://www.britannica.com/topic/greek-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/science/motion-mechanics https://www.britannica.com/topic/western-philosophy/ancient-greek-and-roman-philosophy#ref8566 https://www.britannica.com/topic/western-philosophy/ancient-greek-and-roman-philosophy#ref8566 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherent https://www.britannica.com/topic/change-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics https://www.britannica.com/biography/parmenides-greek-philosopher https://www.britannica.com/biography/plato https://www.britannica.com/biography/plato https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcending https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platonic https://www.britannica.com/topic/myth-of-the-cave https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allegory https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analogue https://www.britannica.com/topic/predicate-logic 76 “white,” and “triangle.”149 to say “this is a triangle,” for example, is to attribute a certain property, that of being a triangle, to a certain spatiotemporal object, such as a figure drawn in the sand. plato is here distinguishing between specific triangles that are drawn, sketched, or painted and the common property they share, that of being triangular. objects of the former kind, which he calls “particulars,” are always located somewhere in space and time—i.e., in the world of appearance. the property they share is a “form” or “idea” (though the latter term is not used in any psychological sense). unlike particulars, forms do not exist in space and time; moreover, they do not change. they are thus the objects that one apprehends when one has knowledge. reason is used to discover unchanging forms through the method of dialectic, which plato inherited from his teacher socrates. the method involves a process of question and answer designed to elicit a “real definition.” by a real definition plato means a set of necessary and sufficient conditions that exactly determine the entities to which a given concept applies. the entities to which the concept “being a brother” applies, for example, are determined by the concepts “being male” and “being a sibling”: it is both necessary and sufficient for a person to be a brother that he be male and a sibling. anyone who grasps these conditions understands precisely what being a brother is. in the republic, plato applies the dialectical method to the concept of justice. in response to a proposal by cephalus that “justice” means the same as “honesty in word and deed,” socrates points out that, under some conditions, it is just not to tell the truth or to repay debts.150 suppose one borrows a weapon from a person who later loses his sanity. if the person then demands his weapon back in order to kill someone who is innocent, it would be just to lie to him, stating that one no longer had the weapon. therefore, “justice” cannot mean the same as “honesty in word and deed.” by the technique of proposing one definition after another and subjecting each to possible counterexamples, socrates attempts to discover a definition that cannot be refuted. in doing so he apprehends the form of justice, the common feature that all just things share. plato’s search for definitions and, thereby, forms is a search for knowledge. but how should knowledge in general be defined? in the theaetetus plato argues that, at a minimum, knowledge involves true belief. no one can know what is false. people may believe that they know something that is in fact false. but in that case they do not really know; they only think they know. knowledge is more than simply true belief. suppose that someone has a dream in april that there will be an earthquake in september and, on the basis of that dream, forms the belief that there will be an earthquake in september. suppose also that in fact there is an earthquake in september. the person has a true belief about the earthquake but not knowledge of it. what the person lacks is a good reason to support that true belief. in a word, the person lacks justification. using such arguments, plato contends that knowledge is justified true belief. 149 ibid. 150 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/particular https://www.britannica.com/topic/appearance https://www.britannica.com/topic/form-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectic-logic https://www.britannica.com/biography/socrates https://www.britannica.com/topic/real-definition https://www.britannica.com/topic/concept https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-republic https://www.britannica.com/topic/justice-social-concept https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice https://www.britannica.com/topic/theaetetus-by-plato https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.britannica.com/topic/justification-philosophy 77 although there has been much disagreement about the nature of justification, the platonic definition of knowledge was widely accepted until the mid-20th century, when the american philosopher edmund l. gettier produced a startling counterexample.151 suppose that kathy knows oscar very well. kathy is walking across the mall, and oscar is walking behind her, out of sight. in front of her, kathy sees someone walking toward her who looks exactly like oscar. unbeknownst to her, however, it is oscar’s twin brother. kathy forms the belief that oscar is walking across the mall. her belief is true, because oscar is in fact walking across the mall (though she does not see him doing it). and her true belief seems to be justified, because the evidence she has for it is the same as the evidence she would have had if the person she had seen were really oscar and not oscar’s twin. in other words, if her belief that oscar is walking across the mall is justified when the person she sees is oscar, then it also must be justified when the person she sees is oscar’s twin, because in both cases the evidence—the sight of an oscarlike figure walking across the mall—is the same. nonetheless, kathy does not know that oscar is walking across the mall. according to gettier, the problem is that kathy’s belief is not causally connected to its object (oscar) in the right way. 10.1.2 aristotle in the posterior analytics, aristotle (384–322 bce) claims that each science consists of a set of first principles, which are necessarily true and knowable directly, and a set of truths, which are both logically derivable from and causally explained by the first principles.152 the demonstration of a scientific truth is accomplished by means of a series of syllogisms—a form of argument invented by aristotle—in which the premises of each syllogism in the series are justified as the conclusions of earlier syllogisms. in each syllogism, the premises not only logically necessitate the conclusion (that is., the truth of the premises makes it logically impossible for the conclusion to be false) but causally explain it as well. thus, in the syllogism: all stars are distant objects. all distant objects twinkle; therefore, all stars twinkle, the fact that stars twinkle is explained by the fact that all distant objects twinkle and the fact that stars are distant objects. the premises of the first syllogism in the series are first principles, which do not require demonstration, and the conclusion of the final syllogism is the scientific truth in question. in an enigmatic passage, aristotle claims that “actual knowledge is identical with its object.”153 by that he seems to mean something like the following. when people learn something, they “acquire” it in some sense. what they acquire must be either different from the thing they know or identical with it. if it is different, then there is a discrepancy between what they have in mind and the object of their knowledge. but such a discrepancy seems to be incompatible with the 151edmund gettier, “is justified true belief knowledge?” analysis, 23(6), 1963. 152 https://www.britannica.com/topic/posterior-analytics 153 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/evidence-law https://www.britannica.com/biography/aristotle https://www.britannica.com/topic/posterior-analytics https://www.britannica.com/biography/aristotle https://www.britannica.com/topic/proof-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/syllogism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premises https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enigmatic 78 existence of knowledge, for knowledge, which must be true and accurate, cannot deviate from its object in any way. one cannot know that blue is a colour, for example, if the object of that knowledge is something other than that blue is a colour. that idea, that knowledge is identical with its object, is dimly reflected in the modern formula for expressing one of the necessary conditions of knowledge: s knows that p only if it is true that p. to assert that knowledge and its object must be identical raises a question: in what way is knowledge “in” a person? suppose that smith knows what dogs are, that is, he knows what it is to be a dog. then, in some sense, dogs, or being a dog, must be in the mind of smith. but how can that be? aristotle derives his answer from his general theory of reality.154 according to him, all (terrestrial) substances are composed of two principles: form and matter. all dogs, for example, consist of a form—the form of being a dog—and matter, which is the stuff out of which they are made. the form of an object makes it the kind of thing it is. matter, on the other hand, is literally unintelligible. consequently, what is in the knower when he knows what dogs are is just the form of being a dog. in his sketchy account of the process of thinking in de anima (on the soul), aristotle says that the intellect, like everything else, must have two parts: something analogous to matter and something analogous to form.155 the first is the passive intellect, the second the active intellect, of which aristotle speaks tersely. “intellect in this sense is separable, impassible, unmixed, since it is in its essential nature activity. when intellect is set free from its present conditions, it appears as just what it is and nothing more: it alone is immortal and eternal, and without it nothing thinks.”156 the foregoing part of aristotle’s views about knowledge is an extension of what he says about sensation. according to him, sensation occurs when the sense organ is stimulated by the sense object, typically through some medium, such as light for vision and air for hearing. that stimulation causes a “sensible species” to be generated in the sense organ itself. the “species” is some sort of representation of the object sensed. as aristotle describes the process, the sense organ receives “the form of sensible objects without the matter, just as the wax receives the impression of the signet-ring without the iron or the gold.”157 after the death of aristotle, the next major thing in the history of epistemology was the rise of skepticism, of which we have already devoted a chapter. 10.1.3 st. augustine 154 ibid. 155 https://www.britannica.com/topic/on-the-soul-by-aristotle/ 156 ibid. 157 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/form-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/matter-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/on-the-soul-by-aristotle https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analogous https://www.britannica.com/topic/active-intellect https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-augustine 79 st. augustine of hippo (354–430) claimed that human knowledge would be impossible if god did not “illumine” the human mind and thereby allow it to see, grasp, or understand ideas.158 ideas as augustine construed them are—like plato’s—timeless, immutable, and accessible only to the mind. they are indeed in some mysterious way a part of god and seen in god. illumination, the other element of the theory, was for augustine and his many followers, at least through the 14th century, a technical notion, built upon a visual metaphor. according to that view, the human mind is like an eye that can see when and only when god, the source of light, illumines it. varying his metaphor, augustine sometimes says that the human mind “participates” in god and even, that christ illumines the mind by dwelling in it.159 it is important to emphasize that augustine’s theory of illumination concerns all knowledge, not specifically mystical or spiritual knowledge. before he articulated the theory in his mature years, soon after his conversion to christianity, augustine was concerned to refute the skepticism of the academy. in against the academicians (386) he claimed that, if nothing else, humans know disjunctive tautologies such as “either there is one world or there is not one world” and “either the world is finite or it is infinite.” humans also know many propositions that begin with the phrase “it appears to me that,” such as “it appears to me that what i perceive is made up of earth and sky, or what appears to be earth and sky.” furthermore, humans know logical (or what augustine calls “dialectical”) propositions—for example, “if there are four elements in the world, there are not five,” “if there is one sun, there are not two,” “one and the same soul cannot die and still be immortal,” and “man cannot at the same time be happy and unhappy.”160 many other refutations of skepticism occur in augustine’s later works, notably on the free choice of the will (389–395), on the trinity (399/400–416/421), and the city of god (413– 426/427). in the last, augustine proposes other examples of things about which people can be absolutely certain. again in explicit refutation of the skeptics of the academy, he argues that if a person is deceived, then it is certain that he exists. expressing the point in the first person, as rené descartes (1596–1650) did some 1,200 years later, augustine says, “if i am deceived, then i exist” (si fallor, sum).161 a variation on that line of reasoning appears in on the trinity, in which he argues that if he is deceived, he is at least certain that he is alive. augustine also points out that since he knows, he knows that he knows, and he notes that this can be reiterated an infinite number of times: if i know that i know that i am alive, then i know that i know that i know that i am alive. in 20th-century epistemic logic, that thesis was codified as the 158 https://www.britannica.com/topic/biography/saint-augustine/ 159 ibid. 160 augustine, against the academicians, denis j. kavanachi (tran.), (new york: image books, 1943), bk.1, c.20, no.43. 161 st. augustine, d civitat dei, bk.xi. https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-augustine https://www.britannica.com/topic/christianity https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/illumination-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/event/middle-ages https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphor https://www.britannica.com/biography/jesus https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/articulated https://www.britannica.com/topic/christianity https://www.britannica.com/topic/against-the-academics https://www.britannica.com/topic/against-the-academics https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-city-of-god https://www.britannica.com/biography/rene-descartes https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reiterated https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infinite https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic 80 axiom “if a knows that p, then a knows that a knows that p.” in the city of god, augustine claims that he knows that he loves: “for neither am i deceived in this, that i love, since in those things which i love i am not deceived.”162 with skepticism thus refuted, augustine simply denies that he has ever been able to doubt what he has learned through his sensations or even through the testimony of most people. one thousand years passed before skepticism recovered from augustine’s criticisms, but then it arose like the phoenix of egyptian mythology. meanwhile, augustine’s platonic epistemology dominated the middle ages until the mid-13th century, when st. albertus magnus (1200–80) and his student st. thomas aquinas (1224/25–1274) developed an alternative to augustinian illuminationism. 10.2 medieval philosophy 10.2.1 st. anselm of canterbury the phrase that st. anselm of canterbury (c. 1033–1109) used to describe his philosophy— namely, “faith seeking reason” (fides quaerens intellectum)—well characterizes medieval philosophy as a whole. all the great medieval philosophers—christian, jewish, and islamic alike—were also theologians. virtually every object of interest was related to their belief in god, and virtually every solution to every problem, including the problem of knowledge, contained god as an essential part. indeed, anselm himself equated truth and intelligibility with god. as he noted at the beginning of his proslogion (1077–78), however, there is a tension between the view that god is truth and intelligibility and the fact that humans have no perception of god. how can there be knowledge of god, he asks, when all knowledge comes through the senses and god, being immaterial, cannot be sensed? his answer is to distinguish between knowing something by being acquainted with it through sensation and knowing something through a description. knowledge by description is possible using concepts formed on the basis of sensation. thus, all knowledge of god depends upon the description that he is “the thing than which a greater cannot be conceived.”163 from that premise anselm infers, in his ontological argument for the existence of god, that humans can know that there exists a god that is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-just, all-merciful, and immaterial. eight hundred years later the british philosopher bertrand russell would develop an epistemological theory based on a similar distinction between knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description,164 though he would have vigorously denied that the distinction could be used to show that god exists. 162 ibid., bk.xiii. 163 ibid. 164 https://www.britannica.com/biography/betrand-russell/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticisms https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platonic https://www.britannica.com/event/middle-ages https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-albertus-magnus https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alternative https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-anselm-of-canterbury https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-anselm-of-canterbury https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-belief https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/proslogion https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/science/senses https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premise https://www.britannica.com/topic/ontological-argument https://www.britannica.com/topic/existence-of-god https://www.britannica.com/biography/bertrand-russell 81 10.2.2 st. thomas aquinas with the translation into latin of aristotle’s on the soul in the early 13th century, the platonic and augustinian epistemology that dominated the early middle ages was gradually displaced. following aristotle, aquinas recognized different kinds of knowledge. sensory knowledge arises from sensing particular things. because it has individual things as its object and is shared with brute animals, however, sensory knowledge is a lower form of awareness than scientific knowledge, which is characterized by generality.165 to say that scientific knowledge is characteristically general is not to diminish the importance of specificity: scientific knowledge also should be rich in detail, and god’s knowledge is the most detailed of all. the detail, however, must be essential to the kind of thing being studied and not peculiar to certain instances of it. aquinas thought that, though the highest knowledge humans can possess is knowledge of god, knowledge of physical objects is better suited to human capabilities.166 only that kind of knowledge will be considered here. aquinas’s discussion of knowledge in the summa theologiae is an elaboration on the thought of aristotle. aquinas claims that knowledge is obtained when the active intellect abstracts a concept from an image received from the senses. in one account of that process, abstraction is the act of isolating from an image of a particular object the elements that are essential to its being an object of that kind. from the image of a dog, for example, the intellect abstracts the ideas of being alive, being capable of reproduction and movement, and whatever else might be essential to being a dog. those ideas are distinguished from ideas of properties that are peculiar to particular dogs, such as the property of being owned by smith or the property of weighing 20 pounds. as stated earlier, aristotle typically spoke of the form of an object as being in the mind or intellect of the knower and the matter as being outside it. although it was necessary for aristotle to say something like that in order to escape the absurdity of holding that material objects exist in the mind exactly as they do in the physical world, there is something unsatisfying about it. physical things contain matter as an essential element, and, if their matter is no part of what is known, then it seems that human knowledge is incomplete. in order to counter that worry, aquinas revised aristotle’s theory to say that not only the form but also the “species” of an object is in the intellect.167 a species is a combination of form and something like a general idea of matter, which aquinas called “common matter.” common matter is contrasted with “individuated matter,” which is the stuff that constitutes the physical bulk of an object. 165 https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas/ 166 ibid. 167 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas https://www.britannica.com/topic/latin-language https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platonic https://www.britannica.com/biography/aristotle https://www.britannica.com/topic/summa-theologiae https://www.britannica.com/topic/active-intellect https://www.britannica.com/science/senses https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutes 82 one objection to the theory is that it seems to follow from it that the objects of human knowledge are ideas rather than things. that is, if knowing a thing consists of having its form and species in one’s intellect, then it appears that the form and species, not the thing, is what is known. it might seem, then, that aquinas’s view is a type of idealism. aquinas anticipated that kind of criticism in a number of ways. because it includes the idea of matter, the species of an object seems more like the object itself than does an immaterial aristotelian form. moreover, for aquinas science does not aim at knowing any particular object but rather at knowing what is common to all objects of a certain kind.168 in that respect, aquinas’s views are similar to those of modern scientists. for example, the particular billiard ball that smith drops from his window is of no direct concern to physics. what physicists are interested in are the laws that govern the behaviour of any falling object. as assuaging as such considerations might be, they do not blunt the main force of the objection. in order to meet it, aquinas introduced a distinction between what is known and that by which what is known is known. to specify what is known—say, an individual dog—is to specify the object of knowledge. to specify that by which what is known is known—say, the image or the species of a dog—is to specify the apparatus of knowledge. thus, the species of a thing that is known is not itself an object of knowledge, though it can become an object of knowledge by being reflected upon. 10.2.3 john duns scotus although he accepted some aspects of aristotelian abstractionism, john duns scotus (c. 1266– 1308) did not base his account of human knowledge on that alone. according to him, there are four classes of things that can be known with certainty.169 first, there are things that are knowable simpliciter, including true identity statements such as “cicero is tully” and propositions, later called analytic, such as “man is rational.” duns scotus claimed that such truths “coincide” with that which makes them true. one consequence of his view is that the negation of a simple truth is always inconsistent, even if it is not explicitly contradictory. the negation of “the whole is greater than any proper part,” for example, is not explicitly contradictory, as is “snow is white and snow is not white.” nevertheless, it is inconsistent, because there is no possible situation in which it is true. the second class consists of things that are known through experience, where “experience” is understood in an aristotelian sense that implies numerous encounters. the knowledge afforded by experience is inductive, grounded in the principle that “whatever occurs in a great many 168 ibid. 169 https://www.britannica.com/biography/blessed-john-duns-scotus/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/idealism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism https://www.britannica.com/science/physics-science https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assuaging https://www.britannica.com/biography/blessed-john-duns-scotus https://www.britannica.com/biography/blessed-john-duns-scotus https://www.britannica.com/topic/certainty-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-proposition https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic 83 instances by a cause that is not free is the natural effect of that cause.” it is important to note that duns scotus’s confidence in induction did not survive the middle ages. nicholas of autrecourt (1300–50), whose views anticipated the radical skepticism of the scottish enlightenment philosopher david hume, argued at length that no amount of observed correlation between two types of events is sufficient to establish a necessary causal connection between them and, thus, that inferences based on causal assumptions are never rationally justified. the third class consists of things that directly concern one’s own actions. humans who are awake, for example, know immediately and with certainty—and not through any inference—that they are awake. similarly, they know with certainty that they think and that they see and hear and have other sense experiences. even if a sense experience is caused by a defective sense organ, it remains true that one is directly aware of the content of the sensation. when one has the sensation of seeing a round object, for example, one is directly aware of the roundness even if the thing one is seeing is not really round. finally, the fourth class contains things that are knowable through the human senses. apparently unconcerned by the threat of skepticism, duns scotus maintained that sensation affords knowledge of the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the things that are in them. duns scotus’s most important contribution to epistemology is his distinction between “intuitive” and “abstractive” cognition.170 intuitive cognition is the immediate and indubitable awareness of the existence of a thing. it is knowledge “precisely of a present object [known] as being present and of an existent object [known] as being existent.” if a person sees socrates before him, then, according to duns scotus, he has intuitive knowledge of the proposition that socrates exists and of the proposition that socrates is the cause of that knowledge. abstractive cognition, in contrast, is knowledge about a thing that is abstracted from, or logically independent of, that thing’s actual existence or nonexistence. 10.2.4 william of ockham several parts of duns scotus’s account are vulnerable to skeptical challenges, for instance, his endorsement of the certainty of knowledge based on sensation and his claim that intuitive knowledge of an object guarantees its existence. william of ockham (c. 1285–1349?) radically revised duns scotus’s theory of intuitive knowledge. unlike duns scotus, ockham did not require the object of intuitive knowledge to exist; nor did he hold that intuitive knowledge must be caused by its object. to the question “what is the distinction between intuitive and abstractive knowledge?,” ockham answered that they are simply different.171 his answer notwithstanding, it is characteristic of intuitive knowledge, according to ockham, that it is unmediated. there is no gap between the knower and the known that might undermine certainty: “i say that the thing 170 ibid. 171a.h. armsstrong. an introduction to ancient philosophy (methuen: london university, 1965), 33. https://www.britannica.com/topic/induction-reason https://www.britannica.com/biography/nicholas-of-autrecourt https://www.britannica.com/biography/nicholas-of-autrecourt https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism https://www.britannica.com/event/scottish-enlightenment https://www.britannica.com/event/scottish-enlightenment https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-hume https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inferences https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism https://www.britannica.com/topic/intuition https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indubitable https://www.britannica.com/biography/socrates https://www.britannica.com/biography/william-of-ockham https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vulnerable https://www.britannica.com/biography/william-of-ockham 84 itself is known immediately without any medium between itself and the act by which it is seen or apprehended.”172 according to ockham, there are two kinds of intuitive knowledge: natural and supernatural.173 in cases of natural intuitive knowledge, the object exists, the knower judges that the object exists, and the object causes the knowledge. in cases of supernatural intuitive knowledge, the object does not exist, the knower judges that the object does not exist, and god is the cause of the knowledge. ockham recognized that god might cause one to think that one has intuitive knowledge of an existent object when in fact there is no such object, but this would be a case of false belief, he contends, not intuitive knowledge. unfortunately, by acknowledging that there is no way to distinguish between genuine intuitive knowledge and divine counterfeits, ockham effectively conceded the issue to the skeptics.174 later medieval philosophy followed a fairly straight path toward skepticism. john of mirecourt (flourished 14th century) was censured by the university of paris in 1347 for maintaining, among other things, that external reality cannot be known with certainty because god can cause illusions to seem real.175 a year earlier nicholas of autrecourt was condemned by pope clement vi for holding that one can have certain knowledge only of the logical principles of identity and contradiction and the immediate reports of sensation.176 as noted above, he denied that causal relations exist; he also denied the reality of substance. he credited those errors, along with many others, to aristotle, about whom he said, “in all his natural philosophy and metaphysics, aristotle had hardly reached two evidently certain conclusions, perhaps not even a single one.”177 by that time the link between skepticism and criticism of aristotle had become fairly strong. in on my ignorance and that of many others (1367), for example, the italian poet petrarch (1304–74) cited aristotle as “the most famous” of those who do not have knowledge.178 172 ibid. 173 ibid, 34. 174 ibid.51-56. 175 https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-of-mirecourt/ 176a.h. armsstrong. an introduction to ancient philosophy, op.cit. 177 ibid. 178 https://www.britannica.com/biography/petrarch/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-of-mirecourt https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-of-mirecourt https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/censured https://www.britannica.com/topic/universities-of-paris-i-xiii https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illusions https://www.britannica.com/biography/clement-vi https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics https://www.britannica.com/biography/petrarch 85 chapter eleven the history of epistemology: modern philosophy 11.1 the rise of modern epistemology for most of the middle ages there was no distinction between theology and science (scientia). science was knowledge that was deduced from self-evident principles, and theology was knowledge that received its principles from god, the source of all principles. by the 14th century, however, scientific and theological thinking began to diverge. roughly speaking, theologians began to argue that human knowledge was narrowly circumscribed. the omnipotence of god was often invoked in order to undercut the pretensions of human reason, and in place of rationalism in theology they promoted a kind of fideism (i.e., a philosophy based entirely on faith).179 the italian theologian gregory of rimini (died 1358) exemplified the development. inspired by ockham, gregory argued that, whereas science concerns what is accessible to humans through natural means, that is, through sensation and intelligence, theology deals with what is accessible only in a supernatural way.180 thus, theology is not scientific. the role of theology is to explain the meaning of the bible and the articles of faith and to deduce conclusions from them. since the credibility of the bible rests upon belief in divine revelation, theology lacks a rational foundation. furthermore, since there is neither self-evident knowledge of god nor any natural experience of him, humans can have only an abstract understanding of what he is. ockham and gregory did not intend their views to undermine theology. to the contrary, for them theology is in a sense more certain than science, because it is built upon principles that are guaranteed to be true by god, whereas the principles of science must be as fallible as their human creators. unfortunately for theology, however, the prestige of science increased in the 16th century and skyrocketed in the 17th and 18th centuries. modern thinkers preferred to reach their own conclusions by using reason and experience even if ultimately those conclusions did not have the authority of god to support them. as theologians lost confidence in reason, other thinkers, who had little or no commitment to aristotelian thought, became its champions, thus furthering the development of modern science. 11.2 faith and reason although modern philosophers as a group are usually thought to be purely secular thinkers, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. from the early 17th century until the middle of the 18th century, all the great philosophers incorporated substantial religious elements into their 179 https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy/ 180 https://www.britannica.com/biography/gregory-of-rimini/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/rationalism https://www.britannica.com/topic/fideism https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/gregory-of-rimini https://www.britannica.com/topic/bible https://www.britannica.com/topic/revelation https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prestige https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secular https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic 86 work. in his meditations (1641), for example, rené descartes offered two distinct proofs of the existence of god and asserted that no one who does not have a rationally well-founded belief in god can have knowledge in the proper sense of the term.181 benedict de spinoza (1632–77) began his ethics (1677) with a proof of god’s existence and then discussed at length its implications for understanding all reality. and george berkeley (1685–1753) explained the apparent stability of the sensible world by appealing to god’s constant thought of it. among the reasons modern philosophers are mistakenly thought to be primarily secular thinkers is that many of their epistemological principles, including some that were designed to defend religion, were later interpreted as subverting the rationality of religious belief. the views of thomas hobbes (1588–1679) might briefly be considered in that connection. in contrast to the standard view of the middle ages that propositions of faith are rational, hobbes argued that such propositions belong not to the intellect but to the will. the significance of religious propositions, in other words, lies not in what they say but in how they are used. to profess a religious proposition is not to assert a factual claim about the world, which may then be supported or refuted with reasons, but merely to give praise and honour to god and to obey the commands of lawful religious authorities. indeed, one does not even need to understand the meanings of the words in the proposition in order for this function to be fulfilled; simply mouthing them would be sufficient.182 in an essay concerning human understanding (1690), john locke further eroded the intellectual status of religious propositions by making them subordinate to reason in several respects.183 first, reason can restrict the possible content of propositions allegedly revealed by god; in particular, no proposition of faith can be a contradiction. furthermore, because no revelation can contain an idea not derived from sense experience, one should not believe st. paul when he speaks of experiencing things as “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive.” another respect in which reason takes precedence over faith is that knowledge based on immediate sense experience (what locke called “intuitive knowledge”) is always more certain than any alleged revelation. thus, people who see that someone is dead cannot have it revealed to them that that person is at that moment alive. rational proofs in mathematics and science also cannot be controverted by divine revelation. the interior angles of a rectangle equal 360°, and no alleged revelation to the contrary is credible. in short, wrote locke, “nothing that is contrary to, and inconsistent with, the clear and self-evident dictates of reason, has a right to be urged or assented to as a matter of faith.”184 181a.h. armsstrong. an introduction to ancient philosophy, op.cit. 182 ibid. 183 ibid. 184 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/meditations-on-first-philosophy-in-which-is-proved-the-existence-of-god-and-the-immortality-of-the-soul 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https://www.britannica.com/science/science 87 what space, then, does faith occupy in the mansion of human beliefs? according to locke, it shares a room with probable truths, which are propositions of which reason cannot be certain.185 there are two types of probable truth: that which concerns observable matters of fact and that which goes “beyond the discovery of our sense.”186 religious propositions can belong to either category, as can empirical and scientific propositions. thus, the propositions “caesar crossed the rubicon” and “jesus walked on water” belong to the first category, because they make claims about events that would be observable if they occurred. on the other hand, propositions like “heat is caused by the friction of imperceptibly small bodies” and “angels exist” belong to the second category, because they concern entities that by definition cannot be objects of sense experience. although it might seem that locke’s mixing of religious and scientific claims helped to secure a place for the former, in fact it did not, for locke also held that “reason must judge” whether or not something is a revelation and, more generally, that “reason must be our last judge and guide in everything.”187 although that maxim was intended to reconcile reason and revelation—indeed, locke called reason “natural revelation” and revelation “natural reason enlarged by a new set of discoveries communicated by god”188—over the course of the subsequent 200 years, reason repeatedly judged that alleged revelations had no scientific or intellectual standing. despite the strong religious elements in the thought of modern philosophers, especially those writing before the middle of the 18th century, the vast majority of contemporary epistemologists have been interested only in the purely secular aspects of their work. accordingly, those aspects will predominate in the following discussion. 11.3 epistemology and modern science the polish astronomer nicolaus copernicus (1473–1543) argued in on the revolutions of the celestial spheres (1543) that earth revolves around the sun.189 his theory was epistemologically shocking for at least two reasons. first, it directly contravened the way in which humans experienced their relation to the sun, and in doing so it made ordinary nonscientific reasoning about the world seem unreliable—indeed, like a kind of superstition. second, it contradicted the account presented in several books of the bible, most importantly the story in genesis of the structure of the cosmos, according to which earth is at the centre of 185 ibid. 186 ibid. 187https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-locke/ 188 ibid. 189 nicolaus copernicus, on the revolution of the celestial spheres (1943), https://www.environmentandsociety.org. https://www.britannica.com/science/probability https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconcile https://www.britannica.com/biography/nicolaus-copernicus https://www.britannica.com/science/copernican-system https://www.britannica.com/place/sun https://www.britannica.com/topic/genesis-british-rock-group https://www.britannica.com/place/earth 88 creation.190if copernicus were right, then the bible could no longer be treated as a reliable source of scientific knowledge. many of the discoveries of the italian astronomer galileo galilei (1564–1642) were equally unsettling.191 his telescope seemed to reveal that unaided human vision gives false, or at least seriously incomplete, information about the nature of celestial bodies. in addition, his mathematical descriptions of physical phenomena indicated that much of sense experience of these phenomena contributes nothing to knowledge of them. another counterintuitive theory of galileo was his distinction between the “primary” and the “secondary” qualities of an object. whereas primary qualities—such as figure, quantity, and motion—are genuine properties of things and are knowable by mathematics, secondary qualities—such as colour, odour, taste, and sound—exist only in human consciousness and are not part of the objects to which they are normally attributed.192 11.4 rené descartes both the rise of modern science and the rediscovery of skepticism were important influences on rené descartes. although he believed that certain knowledge was possible and that modern science would one day enable humans to become the masters of nature, he also thought that skepticism presented a legitimate challenge that needed an answer, one that only he could provide. the challenge of skepticism, as descartes saw it, is vividly described in his meditations (1641). he considered the possibility that an “evil genius” with extraordinary powers has deceived him to such an extent that all his beliefs are false. but it is not possible, descartes contended, that all his beliefs are false, for if he has false beliefs, he is thinking, and if he is thinking, then he exists. therefore, his belief that he exists cannot be false, as long as he is thinking. this line of argument is summarized in the formula cogito, ergo sum (“i think, therefore i am”).193 descartes distinguished two sources of knowledge: intuition and deduction.194 intuition is an unmediated mental “seeing,” or direct apprehension. descartes’s intuition of his own thinking guarantees that his belief that he is thinking is true. although his formula might suggest that his belief that he exists is guaranteed by deduction rather than intuition (because it contains the term therefore), in the objections and replies (1642) he stated explicitly that the certainty of this belief also is based upon intuition. 190b.p. beckwith,religion, philosophy and science: an introduction to logical positivism (new york: philosophical library, 1957). 191https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-locke/galileo-galilei/ 192 ibid. 193https://www.britannica.com/biography/ree-descartes/ 194 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/place/copernicus-lunar-crater https://www.britannica.com/topic/bible https://www.britannica.com/biography/galileo-galilei https://www.britannica.com/science/optical-telescope https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/counterintuitive https://www.britannica.com/topic/primary-quality https://www.britannica.com/science/motion-mechanics https://www.britannica.com/topic/secondary-quality https://www.britannica.com/topic/secondary-quality https://www.britannica.com/science/color https://www.britannica.com/science/odor https://www.britannica.com/science/taste-sense https://www.britannica.com/science/sound-physics https://www.britannica.com/topic/consciousness https://www.britannica.com/biography/rene-descartes https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legitimate https://www.britannica.com/topic/meditations-on-first-philosophy-in-which-is-proved-the-existence-of-god-and-the-immortality-of-the-soul https://www.britannica.com/topic/cogito-ergo-sum https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intuition https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception 89 if one could know only that one thinks and that one exists, human knowledge would be depressingly meager. accordingly, descartes attempted to broaden the limits of knowledge by proving to his own satisfaction that god exists, that the standard for knowing something is having a “clear and distinct” idea of it. that mind is more easily known than body, that the essence of matter is extension, and, finally, that most of his former beliefs are true. unfortunately for descartes, few people were convinced by these arguments. one major problem with them has come to be known as the “cartesian circle.”195 descartes’s argument to show that his knowledge extends beyond his own existence depends upon the claim that whatever he perceives “clearly and distinctly” is true. that claim in turn is supported by his proof of the existence of god, together with the assertion that god, because he is not a deceiver, would not cause descartes to be deceived in what he clearly and distinctly perceives. but because the criterion of clear and distinct perception presupposes the existence of god, descartes cannot rely upon it in order to guarantee that he has not been deceived (i.e., that he did not make a mistake) in the course of proving that god exists. therefore, he does not know that his proof is cogent. but if he does not know that, then he cannot use the criterion of clear and distinct perception to show that he knows more than that he exists. 11.5 john locke whereas rationalist philosophers such as descartes held that the ultimate source of human knowledge is reason, empiricists such as john locke argued that the source is experience (see rationalism and empiricism).196 rationalist accounts of knowledge also typically involved the claim that at least some kinds of ideas are “innate,” or present in the mind at (or even before) birth. for philosophers such as descartes and gottfried wilhelm leibniz (1646–1716), the hypothesis of innateness is required in order to explain how humans come to have ideas of certain kinds.197 such ideas include not only mathematical concepts such as numbers, which appear not to be derived from sense experience, but also, according to some thinkers, certain general metaphysical principles, such as “every event has a cause.” locke claimed that that line of argument has no force. he held that all ideas (except those that are “trifling”) can be explained in terms of experience.198 instead of attacking the doctrine of innate ideas directly, however, his strategy was to refute it by showing that it is explanatorily otiose and hence dispensable. 195https://www.britannica.com/topic/cartesian-circle/ 196https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology/ 197 h.c. ezebuilo, descartes, leibniz and spinoza: a brief survey of rationalism, amamihe: journal of applied philosophy, 18(6), (2020, 106-110. 198 h.c. ezebuilo, locke, berkeley and hume: a brief survey of empiricism, international journal of research in education, humanities and commerce, 1(2), (2020), 88. https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/science/matter https://www.britannica.com/topic/cartesian-circle https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criterion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cogent https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-locke https://www.britannica.com/topic/rationalism https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.britannica.com/topic/empiricism https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology/knowledge-and-certainty#ref247962 https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/biography/gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypothesis https://www.britannica.com/science/number-mathematics https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysical https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea 90 there are two kinds of experience, according to locke: observation of external objects— i.e., sensation—and observation of the internal operations of the mind.199 locke called the latter kind of experience, for which there is no natural word in english, “reflection.” some examples of reflection are perceiving, thinking, doubting, believing, reasoning, knowing, and willing. as locke used the term, a “simple idea” is anything that is an “immediate object of perception” (i.e., an object as it is perceived by the mind) or anything that the mind “perceives in itself” through reflection.200 simple ideas, whether they are ideas of perception or ideas of reflection, may be combined or repeated to produce “compound ideas,” as when the compound idea of an apple is produced by bringing together simple ideas of a certain colour, texture, odour, and figure. abstract ideas are created when “ideas taken from particular beings become general representatives of all of the same kind.” the “qualities” of an object are its powers to cause ideas in the mind. one consequence of that usage is that, in locke’s epistemology, words designating the sensible properties of objects are systematically ambiguous. the word red, for example, can mean either the idea of red in the mind or the quality in an object that causes that idea. locke distinguished between primary and secondary qualities, as galileo did. according to locke, primary qualities, but not secondary qualities, are represented in the mind as they exist in the object itself.201 the primary qualities of an object, in other words, resemble the ideas they cause in the mind. examples of primary qualities include “solidity, extension, figure, motion, or rest, and number.” secondary qualities are configurations or arrangements of primary qualities that cause sensible ideas such as sounds, colours, odours, and tastes.202 thus, according to locke’s view, the phenomenal redness of a fire engine is not in the fire engine itself, but its phenomenal solidity is. similarly, the phenomenal sweet odour of a rose is not in the rose itself, but its phenomenal extension is. in book iv of an essay concerning human understanding (1689), locke defined knowledge as “the perception of the connexion of and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy of any of our ideas.”203 knowledge so defined admits of three degrees, according to locke.204 the first is what he called “intuitive knowledge,” in which the mind “perceives the agreement or disagreement of two ideas immediately by themselves, without the intervention of any other.” although locke’s first examples of intuitive knowledge are analytic propositions such as “white is not black,” “a circle is not a triangle,” and “three are more than two,” later he said that “the knowledge of our own being we have by intuition.” relying on the metaphor of light as augustine and others had, locke said of this knowledge that “the mind is presently filled with 199https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-locke/ 200 h.c. ezebuilo, locke, berkeley and hume, 87-91. 201 ibid. 202 ibid. 203https://www.britannica.com/topic/essay-concerning-human-understanding/ 204 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/sensation https://www.britannica.com/topic/reflection-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compound https://www.britannica.com/topic/quality-philosophy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambiguous https://www.britannica.com/topic/quality-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/galileo-galilei https://www.britannica.com/technology/fire-engine https://www.britannica.com/technology/fire-engine https://www.britannica.com/topic/essay-concerning-human-understanding https://www.britannica.com/topic/intuition https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analytic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphor 91 the clear light of it. it is on this intuition that depends all the certainty and evidence of all our knowledge.” the second degree of knowledge obtains when “the mind perceives the agreement or disagreement of…ideas, but not immediately.” in these cases, some mediating idea makes it possible to see the connection between two other ideas. in a demonstration (or proof), for example, the connection between any premise and the conclusion is mediated by other premises and by the laws of logic. demonstrative knowledge, although certain, is not as certain as intuitive knowledge, according to locke, because it requires effort and attention to go through the steps needed to recognize the certainty of the conclusion. a third degree of knowledge, “sensitive knowledge,” is roughly the same as what duns scotus called “intuitive cognition”—namely, the perception of “the particular existence of finite beings without us.” unlike intuitive cognition, however, locke’s sensitive knowledge is not the most certain kind of knowledge it is possible to have. for him, it is less certain than intuitive or demonstrative knowledge. next in certainty to knowledge is probability,205 which locke defined as the appearance of agreement or disagreement of ideas with each other. like knowledge, probability admits of degrees, the highest of which attaches to propositions endorsed by the general consent of all people in all ages. locke may have had in mind the virtually general consent of his contemporaries in the proposition that god exists, but he also explicitly mentioned beliefs about causal relations. the next highest degree of probability belongs to propositions that hold not universally but for the most part, such as “people prefer their own private advantage to the public good.”206 this sort of proposition is typically derived from history. a still lower degree of probability attaches to claims about specific facts—for example, that a man named julius caesar lived a long time ago. problems arise when testimonies conflict, as they often do, but there is no simple rule or set of rules that determines how one ought to resolve such controversies. probability can concern not only objects of possible sense experience, as most of the foregoing examples do, but also things that are outside the sensible realm, such as angels, devils, magnetism, and molecules. 11.6 george berkeley the next great figure in the development of empiricist epistemology was george berkeley (1685–1753). in his major work, a treatise concerning the principles of human 205 ibid. 206 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/proof-logic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premise https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premises https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/science/probability https://www.britannica.com/topic/appearance https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endorsed https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation https://www.britannica.com/biography/julius-caesar-roman-ruler https://www.britannica.com/topic/angel-religion https://www.britannica.com/topic/angel-religion https://www.britannica.com/science/magnetism https://www.britannica.com/science/molecule https://www.britannica.com/biography/george-berkeley https://www.britannica.com/biography/george-berkeley https://www.britannica.com/biography/george-berkeley https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-treatise-concerning-the-principles-of-human-knowledge 92 knowledge (1710), berkeley asserted that nothing exists except ideas and spirits (minds or souls).207 he distinguished three kinds of ideas: those that come from sense experience which corresponds to locke’s simple ideas of perception; those that come from “attending to the passions and operations of the mind” which corresponds to locke’s ideas of reflection; and those that come from compounding, dividing, or otherwise representing ideas which corresponds to locke’s compound ideas. by spirit berkeley meant “one simple, undivided, active being.” the activity of spirits consists of both understanding and willing: understanding is spirit perceiving ideas, and will is spirit producing ideas. for berkeley, ostensibly physical objects like tables and chairs are really nothing more than collections of sensible ideas.208 since no idea can exist outside a mind, it follows that tables and chairs, as well all the other furniture of the physical world, exist only insofar as they are in the mind of someone—i.e., only insofar as they are perceived. for any non-thinking being, esse est percipi (“to be is to be perceived”). the clichéd question of whether a tree falling in an uninhabited forest makes a sound was inspired by berkeley’s philosophy, though he never considered it in those terms. he did, however, consider the implicit objection and gave various answers to it. he sometimes said that a table in an unperceived room would be perceived if someone were there. that conditional response, however, is inadequate. granted that the table would exist if it were perceived, does it exist when it is not perceived? berkeley’s more pertinent answer was that even when no human is perceiving a table or other such object, god is, and it is god’s thinking that keeps the otherwise unperceived object in existence.209 although that doctrine initially strikes most people as strange, berkeley claimed that he was merely describing the commonsense view of reality. to say that colours, sounds, trees, dogs, and tables are ideas is not to say that they do not really exist. it is merely to say what they really are. moreover, to say that animals and pieces of furniture are ideas is not to say that they are diaphanous, gossamer, and evanescent. opacity, density, and permanence are also ideas that partially constitute those objects. berkeley supported his main thesis with a syllogistic argument: physical things—such as trees, dogs, and houses—are things perceived by sense; things perceived by sense are ideas; therefore, physical things are ideas.210 if one objects that the second premise of the syllogism is false— people sense things, not ideas—berkeley would reply that there are no sensations without ideas and that it makes no sense to speak of some additional thing that ideas are supposed to represent or resemble. unlike locke, berkeley did not believe that there is anything “behind” or 207https://www.britannica.com/biography/george-berkeley/ 208 h.c. ezebuilo, locke, berkeley and hume, 92. 209 ibid. 210 ibid.,94-95. https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-treatise-concerning-the-principles-of-human-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/topic/soul-religion-and-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compounding https://www.britannica.com/topic/existence https://www.britannica.com/topic/esse-est-percipi-doctrine https://www.britannica.com/topic/esse-est-percipi-doctrine https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implicit https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitute 93 “underlying” ideas in a world external to the mind. indeed, berkeley claimed that no clear idea can be attached to that notion. one consequence of berkeley’s view is that locke’s distinction between primary and secondary qualities is spurious. extension, figure, motion, rest, and solidity are as much ideas as green, loud, and bitter are; there is nothing special about the former kind of idea. furthermore, matter, as philosophers conceive it, does not exist. indeed, it is contradictory, for matter is supposedly unsensed extension, figure, and motion, but since extension, figure, and motion are ideas, they must be sensed. berkeley’s doctrine that things unperceived by human beings continue to exist in the thought of god was not novel. it was part of the traditional belief of christian philosophers from augustine through aquinas and at least to descartes that god not only creates all things but also keeps them in existence by thinking of them. according to that view, if god were ever to stop thinking of a creature, it would immediately be annihilated. 11.7 david hume although berkeley rejected the lockean notions of primary and secondary qualities and matter, he retained locke’s belief in the existence of mind, substance, and causation as an unseen force or power in objects. david hume, in contrast, rejected all these notions. 11.7.1 kinds of perception hume recognized two kinds of perception: “impressions” and “ideas.”211 impressions are perceptions that the mind experiences with the “most force and violence,” and ideas are the “faint images” of impressions. hume considered this distinction so obvious that he demurred from explaining it at any length; as he indicated in a summary explication in a treatise of human nature (1739–40), impressions are felt, and ideas are thought. nevertheless, he conceded that sometimes sleep, fever, or madness can produce ideas that approximate to the force of impressions, and some impressions can approach the weakness of ideas. but such occasions are rare. the distinction between impressions and ideas is problematic in a way that hume did not notice. the impression (experience) of anger, for example, has an unmistakable quality and intensity. but the idea of anger is not the same as a “weaker” experience of anger. thinking of anger no more guarantees being angry than thinking of happiness guarantees being happy. so there seems to be a difference between the impression of anger and the idea of anger that hume’s theory does not capture. 211 h.c. ezebuilo, locke, berkeley and hume, 96. https://www.britannica.com/science/matter https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/annihilated https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-hume https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/topic/impression https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-treatise-of-human-nature https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-treatise-of-human-nature https://www.britannica.com/topic/quality-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea 94 all perceptions, whether impressions or ideas, can be either simple or complex.212 whereas simple perceptions are not subject to further separation or distinction, complex perceptions are. to return to an example mentioned above, the perception of an apple is complex, insofar as it consists of a combination of simple perceptions of a certain shape, colour, texture, and aroma. it is noteworthy that, according to hume, for every simple impression there is a simple idea that corresponds to it and differs from it only in force and vivacity, and vice versa. thus, corresponding to the impression of red is the idea of red. this correlation does not hold true in general for complex perceptions. although there is a correspondence between the complex impression of an apple and the complex idea of an apple, there is no impression that corresponds to the idea of pegasus or to the idea of a unicorn; these complex ideas do not have a correlate in reality. similarly, there is no complex idea corresponding to the complex impression of, say, an extensive vista of the city of rome. because the formation of every simple idea is always preceded by the experience of a corresponding simple impression, and because the experience of every simple impression is always followed by the formation of a corresponding simple idea, it follows, according to hume, that simple impressions are the causes of their corresponding simple ideas.213 there are two kinds of impressions: those of sensation and those of reflection. regarding the former, hume was of the opinion that sensation “arises in the soul originally from unknown causes.” impressions of reflection arise from a complicated series of mental operations. first, one experiences impressions of heat or cold, thirst or hunger, pleasure or pain; second, one forms corresponding ideas of heat or cold, thirst or hunger, pleasure or pain; and third, one’s reflection on these ideas produces impressions of “desire and aversion, hope and fear.” because the faculty of imagination can divide and assemble disparate ideas at will, some explanation is needed for the fact that people tend to think in regular and predictable patterns. hume said that the production of thoughts in the mind is guided by three principles:214 resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect. thus, people who think of one idea are likely to think of another idea that resembles it; their thought is likely to run from red to pink to white or from dog to wolf to coyote. concerning contiguity, people are inclined to think of things that are next to each other in space and time. finally, and most importantly, people tend to create associations between ideas of things that are causally related. the ideas of fire and smoke, parent and child, and disease and death are connected in the mind for that reason. 212https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-hume/ 213 ibid. 214 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/simple-idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/complex-idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/topic/reflection-philosophy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aversion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disparate https://www.britannica.com/topic/explanation https://www.britannica.com/science/space-physics-and-metaphysics https://www.britannica.com/science/time 95 hume used the principle of resemblance for another purpose: to explain the nature of general ideas. he held that there are no abstract ideas, and he affirmed that all ideas are particular. some of them, however, function as general ideas—i.e., ideas that represent many objects of a certain kind—because they incline the mind to think of other ideas that they resemble. 11.7.2 relations of ideas and matters of fact according to hume, the mind is capable of apprehending two kinds of proposition or truth: those expressing “relations of ideas” and those expressing “matters of fact.”215 the former can be intuited—i.e., seen directly—or deduced from other propositions. that a is identical with a, that b resembles c, and that d is larger than e are examples of propositions that are intuited. the negations of true propositions expressing relations of ideas are contradictory. because the propositions of arithmetic and algebra are exclusively about relations of ideas, according to hume, those disciplines are more certain than others. in the treatise, hume said that geometry is not quite as certain as arithmetic and algebra, because its original principles derive from sensation, and about sensation there can never be absolute certainty. he revised his views later, however, and, in an enquiry concerning human understanding (1748), he put geometry on an equal footing with the other mathematical sciences.216 unlike propositions about relations of ideas, propositions about matters of fact are known only through experience. by far the most important of such propositions are those that express or presuppose causal relations—e.g., “fire causes heat” and “a moving billiard ball communicates its motion to any stationary ball it strikes.” but how is it possible to know through experience that one kind of object or event causes another? what kind of experience would justify such a claim? 11.7.3 cause and effect hume observed that the idea of causation contains three components: contiguity (i.e., near proximity) of time and place, temporal priority of the cause, and a more mysterious component, which he called “necessary connection.”217 in other words, when one says that x is a cause of y, one means that instances of x and instances of y are always near each other in time and space, that instances of x occur before instances of y, and that there is some connection between x’s and y’s that makes it necessary that an instance of y occurs if an instance of x does. 215https://www.britannica.com/topic/relation-logic-and-mathematics/ 216 d. hume, enquiry concerning human understanding and concerning the principles of morals (oxford: clarendon press, 1975). 217 h.c. ezebuilo, locke, berkeley and hume, 99. https://www.britannica.com/topic/relation-logic-and-mathematics https://www.britannica.com/science/arithmetic https://www.britannica.com/science/algebra https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciplines https://www.britannica.com/science/geometry https://www.britannica.com/topic/an-enquiry-concerning-human-understanding https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation 96 it is easy to explain the origin in experience of the first two components of the idea of causation. in past experience, all events consisting of a moving billiard ball striking a stationary one were quickly followed by events consisting of the movement of the formerly stationary ball. in addition, the first sort of event always preceded the second and never the reverse. but whence the third component of the idea of causation, whereby one thinks that the striking of the stationary ball somehow necessitates that it will move? that necessity has never been seen or otherwise directly observed in past experience, as have the contiguity and temporal order of the striking and moving of billiard balls. it is important to note that were it not for the idea of necessary connection, there would be no reason to believe that a currently observed cause will produce an unseen effect in the future or that a currently observed effect was produced by an unseen cause in the past, for the mere fact that past instances of the cause and the effect were contiguous and temporally ordered in a certain way does not logically imply that present and future instances will display the same relations. such an inference could be justified only if one assumed a principle such as “instances, of which we have had no experience, must resemble those, of which we have had experience, and that the course of nature continues always uniformly the same.” the problem with that principle is that it stands in need of justification, and the only possible justification is questionbegging. that is, one could argue that present and future experience will resemble past experience, because in the past, present and future experience resembled past experience. but that argument clearly assumes what it sets out to prove. hume offered a “skeptical solution” of the problem of the origin of the idea of necessary connection. according to him, it arises from the feeling of “determination” that is created in the mind when it experiences the first member of a pair of events that it is long accustomed to experiencing together.218 when the mind observes the moving billiard ball striking the stationary one, it is moved by force of habit and custom to form an idea of the movement of the stationary ball—i.e., to believe that the stationary ball will move. the feeling of being “carried along” in this process is the impression from which the idea of necessary connection is derived. hume’s solution is “skeptical” in the sense that, though it accounts for the origins of the idea of necessary connection, it does not make the causal inferences any more rational than they were before. the solution explains why we are psychologically compelled to form beliefs about future effects and past causes, but it does not justify those beliefs logically. it remains true that our only evidence for these beliefs is our past experience of contiguity and temporal precedence. “all inferences from experience, therefore, are effects of custom, not of reasoning.” thus it is that custom, not reason, is the great guide of life. 218 ibid. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contiguous https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inference https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inferences https://www.britannica.com/topic/evidence-law https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precedence 97 11.7.4 substance from the time of plato, one of the most basic notions in philosophy has been “substance”—that whose existence does not depend upon anything else. for locke, the substance of an object is the hidden “substratum” in which the object’s properties inhere and on which they depend for their existence. one of the reasons for hume’s importance in the history of philosophy is that he rejected that notion. in keeping with his strict empiricism, he held that the idea of substance, if it answers to anything genuine, must arise from experience.219 but what kind of experience can that be? by its proponents’ own definition, substance is that which underlies an object’s properties, including its sensible properties; it is therefore in principle unobservable. hume concluded, “we have therefore no idea of substance, distinct from that of a collection of particular qualities, nor have we any other meaning when we either talk or reason concerning it.”220 furthermore, the things that earlier philosophers had assumed were substances are in fact “nothing but a collection of simple ideas, that are united by the imagination, and have a particular name assigned to them.” gold, to take hume’s example, is nothing but the collection of the ideas of yellow, malleable, fusible, and so on. even the mind, or the “self,” is only a “heap or collection of different perceptions united together by certain relations and supposed, though falsely, to be endowed with a perfect simplicity or identity.”221 that conclusion had important consequences for the problem of personal identity, to which locke had devoted considerable attention, for if there is nothing to the mind but a collection of perceptions, then there is no self that perdures as the subject of those perceptions. therefore, it does not make sense to speak of the subject of certain perceptions yesterday as the same self, or the same person, as the subject of certain perceptions today or in the future. there is no self or person there. 11.8 immanuel kant idealism is often defined as the view that everything that exists is mental. in other words, everything is either a mind or dependent for its existence on a mind. immanuel kant was not strictly an idealist according to that definition. his doctrine of “transcendental idealism” held that all theoretical (i.e., scientific) knowledge is a mixture of what is given in sense experience and what is contributed by the mind. the contributions of the mind are necessary conditions for having any sense experience at all. they include the spatial and temporal “forms” in which physical objects appear, as well as various extremely general features that together give the experience an intelligible structure. those features are imposed when the mind, in the act of forming a judgment about experience, brings the content of experience under one of the “pure 219https://www.britannica.com/topic/substance-philosophy/ 220 ibid. 221 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/substance-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/plato https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/empiricism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malleable https://www.britannica.com/topic/personal-identity https://www.britannica.com/biography/immanuel-kant https://www.britannica.com/topic/idealism https://www.britannica.com/topic/transcendental-idealism 98 concepts of the understanding.222 those concepts are unity, plurality, and totality; reality, negation, and limitation; inherence and subsistence, causality and dependence, and community (or reciprocity); and possibility, existence, and necessity. among the more noteworthy of the mind’s contributions to experience is causality, which hume asserted has no real existence. his idealism notwithstanding, kant also believed that there exists a world independent of the mind and completely unknowable by it.223 that world consists of “things-in-themselves” (noumena), which do not exist in space and time and do not enter into causal relations. because of his commitment to realism (minimal though it may have been), kant was disturbed by berkeley’s uncompromising idealism, which amounted to a denial of the existence of the external world. kant found that doctrine incredible and rejected “the absurd conclusion that there can be appearance without anything that appears.”224 because kant’s theory attributes to the mind many aspects of reality that earlier theories assumed are given in or derived from experience, it can be thought of as inverting the traditional relation in epistemology between the mind and the world. according to kant, knowledge results not when the mind accommodates itself to the world but rather when the world conforms to the requirements of human sensibility and rationality. kant compared his reorientation of epistemology to the copernican revolution in astronomy, which placed the sun rather than earth at the centre of the universe. according to kant, the propositions that express human knowledge can be divided into three kinds:225 (1) analytic a priori propositions, such as “all bachelors are unmarried” and “all squares have four sides,” (2) synthetic a posteriori propositions, such as “the cat is on the mat” and “it is raining,” and (3) what he called “synthetic a priori” propositions, such as “every event has a cause.” although in the last kind of proposition the meaning of the predicate term is not contained in the meaning of the subject term, it is nevertheless possible to know the proposition independently of experience, because it expresses a condition imposed by the forms of sensibility. nothing can be an object of experience unless it is experienced as having causes and effects. kant stated that the main purpose of his doctrine of transcendental idealism was to show how such synthetic a priori propositions are possible. since human beings can experience the world only as a system that is bounded by space and time and completely determined by causal laws, it follows that they can have no theoretical (i.e., scientific) knowledge of anything that is inconsistent with such a realm or that by definition 222 i. kant, critique of pure reason (new york: anchor books, 1966). 223 ibid. 224 ibid. 225 ibid. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community https://www.britannica.com/topic/thing-in-itself https://www.britannica.com/topic/noumenon https://www.britannica.com/science/space-physics-and-metaphysics https://www.britannica.com/topic/realism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/appearance https://www.britannica.com/science/copernican-system https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomy https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-synthetic-distinction https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-priori-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-posteriori-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/topic/synthetic-a-priori-proposition https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predicate https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synthetic 99 exists independently of it—including god, human freedom, and the immortality of the soul. nevertheless, belief in those ideas is justified, according to kant, because each is a necessary condition of our conceiving of ourselves as moral agents. 11.8.1 a summary of kant’s epistemology immanuel kant (1724-1804) sought to bridge, to synthesize, the rationalist and empiricist traditions in epistemology. he did so in response to the skepticism of david hume, whom he said had “awaken him from his dogmatic slumbers.” kant agreed with the empiricists that concepts without perceptions are empty. concepts/ideas alone cannot constitute knowledge. innate ideas do not constitute knowledge. there must be experience(s) for there to be knowledge. however, kant also agreed with the rationalists that perceptions without concepts are blind. merely having experiences/perceptions also does not constitute knowledge. there must be some way in which the mind organizes/structures experience for there to be knowledge. kant also held that it is true that all knowledge begins with experience. without experience no knowledge takes place. experience is the initiator of the process of attaining knowledge. here he once again agrees with the empiricist affirmation of the necessity of experience in knowing. however, kant also held that, it is not true that all knowledge arises from experience. experience is not the sole source of knowledge. there must be “categories” by which experience is structured/understood for there to be knowledge. here he agrees with the rationalists. kant affirmed that the mind is active in the knowing process. the mind makes an active contribution to “the-world-as-it-is-known.” the world-as-it-is-known” (what kant would call the phenomenal realm) conforms to the mind in the knowledge process, rather than the mind conforming to a world that has its own mind-independent structure/organization. thus, knowledge has a profoundly subjective dimension (i.e. the mind) as well as an objective dimension (i.e. the world-as-it-is-in-itself; what kant would call the noumenal realm). the mind contains “categories of understanding.” these categories are the ways in which the active mind forms or structures experience. for kant, there were twelve of such categories, one of which was the category of causation/cause-and-effect. the active mind relates and understands experiences in terms of some event-experiences being causes, with other eventexperiences being their effects. furthermore, kant affirmed synthetic a-priori truths. these are truths that are universal and necessary, as a-priori truths are truths that are universal and necessary. unlike universal and necessary truths that are analytically true (i.e. true in accordance with the meaning of concepts, but telling us nothing about the way the world is), kant affirmed that some universal and necessary truths are synthetic – they tell us about the way the known world is. they are constitutive of the-world-as-it-is-known. meanwhile, the basis of scientific knowledge is the fact that “every event has a cause.” hume demonstrated that we cannot claim to know/justify this on the basis of empiricist assumptions. https://www.britannica.com/topic/immortality https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral 100 he held that “cause” is not a thing/fact out there in the world. thus we can have no idea or knowledge of causal connections in reality.226 causal attributions are merely a kind of mental habit. now, kant held that the statement “every event has a cause” is a universally and necessarily true statement – something that we do know. it is not a mere mental habit. but the truth of the statement is grounded in the ‘cause-category” within the mind that actively structures, universally and necessarily, all our experience of the world. kant assumed that every human being, as a rational being, possesses and utilizes the same categories of understanding. as reason is the same in all rational beings, so in principle the proper exercise of reason will lead any and all persons to knowledge claims that are objectively and universally valid. it follows that we do not know reality as it might be “in itself” – apart from how our minds structure experience of “mind-independent reality.” we do not know noumena. we only know reality in terms of how our active minds structure/organize/form our experiences of mindindependent reality. we only know phenomena. 11.9 g.w.f. hegel the positive views of the german idealist philosopher georg wilhelm friedrich hegel (1770– 1831) are notoriously difficult, and his epistemology is not susceptible of adequate summary within the scope of this book. some of his criticisms of earlier epistemological views should be mentioned, however, since they helped to bring the modern era in philosophy to a close. in his phenomenology of spirit (1807),227 hegel criticized traditional empiricist epistemology for assuming that at least some of the sensory content of experience is simply “given” to the mind and apprehended directly as it is, without the mediation of concepts. according to hegel, there is no such thing as direct apprehension, or unmediated knowledge. although kant also held that empirical knowledge necessarily involves concepts (as well as the mentally contributed forms of space and time), he nevertheless attributed too large a role to the given, according to hegel. another mistake of earlier epistemological theories—both empiricist and rationalist—is the assumption that knowledge entails a kind of “correspondence” between belief and reality. the search for such a correspondence is logically absurd, hegel argued, since every such search must end with some belief about whether the correspondence holds, in which case one has not advanced beyond belief.228 in other words, it is impossible to compare beliefs with reality, because the experience of reality is always mediated by beliefs. one cannot step outside belief altogether. for hegel, the kantian distinction between the phenomena of experience and the unknowable thing-in-itself is an instance of that absurdity. 226 h.c. ezebuilo, “locke, berkeley and hume: a brief survey of empiricism,” international journal of research in education, humanities and commerce 1(2), (2020). 227https://www.britannica.com/biography/george-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/ 228 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/biography/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel https://www.britannica.com/biography/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticisms https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apprehension https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical https://www.britannica.com/topic/correspondence-theory-of-truth https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief 101 chapter twelve the history of epistemology: contemporary philosophy 12.1 introductory discourse contemporary philosophy began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. much of what sets it off from modern philosophy is its explicit criticism of the modern tradition and sometimes its apparent indifference to it. there are two basic strains of contemporary philosophy: continental philosophy, which is the philosophical style of western european philosophers, and analytic philosophy (also called anglo-american philosophy), which includes the work of many european philosophers who immigrated to britain, the united states, and australia shortly before world war ii. 12.2 analytic epistemology analytic philosophy, the prevailing form of philosophy in the anglo-american world since the beginning of the 20th century, has its origins in symbolic logic (or formal logic) on the one hand and in british empiricism on the other. some of its most important contributions have been made in areas other than epistemology, though its epistemological contributions also have been of the first order. its main characteristics have been the avoidance of system building and a commitment to detailed, piecemeal analyses of specific issues. within that tradition there have been two main approaches: a formal style deriving from logic and an informal style emphasizing ordinary language. ludwig wittgenstein (1889–1951) can be situated in both groups—his early work, including the tractatus logico-philosophicus (1921), belonging to the former tradition and his later work, including the posthumously published philosophical investigations (1953) and on certainty (1969), to the latter. perhaps the most distinctive feature of analytic philosophy is its emphasis on the role that language plays in the creation and resolution of philosophical problems. those problems, it is said, arise through misunderstandings of the forms and uses of everyday language. wittgenstein said in that connection, “philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of the intelligence by means of language.”229 the adoption at the beginning of the 20th century of the idea that philosophical problems are in some important sense linguistic (or conceptual), a hallmark of the analytic approach, has been called the “linguistic turn.” 12.3 commonsense philosophy, logical positivism, and naturalized epistemology three of the most-notable schools of thought in analytic philosophy are commonsense philosophy, logical positivism, and naturalized epistemology. commonsense philosophy is the 229 cf. j. omoregbe, epistemology: a systematic and historical study (lagos: joja press, 2005,), 19-20. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism https://www.britannica.com/topic/continental-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/continental-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/event/world-war-ii https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/formal-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/empiricism https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/ordinary-language-analysis https://www.britannica.com/biography/ludwig-wittgenstein https://www.britannica.com/topic/language https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-common-sense https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-positivism 102 name given to the epistemological views of moore, who attempted to defend what he called the “commonsense” view of the world against both skepticism and idealism. that view, according to moore, comprises a number of propositions—such as the propositions that earth exists, that it is very old, and that other persons now exist on it—that virtually everybody knows with certainty to be true. any philosophical theory that runs counter to the commonsense view, therefore, can be rejected out of hand as mistaken and skepticism and idealism fail under this category. thus, wittgenstein rejected skepticism and idealism, though for very different reasons. for him, those positions are based on simplistic misunderstandings of epistemic concepts, misunderstandings that arise from a failure to recognize the rich variety of ways in which epistemic terms (including words such as belief, knowledge, certainty, justification, and doubt) are used in everyday situations. in on certainty, wittgenstein contrasted the concepts of certainty and knowledge, arguing that certainty is not a “surer” form of knowledge but the necessary backdrop against which the “language games” of knowing, doubting, and inquiring take place. as that which “stands fast for all of us,” certitude is ultimately a kind of action: “action lies at the bottom of the language game.”230 the doctrines associated with logical positivism (also called logical empiricism) was developed originally in the 1920s and 1930s by a group of philosophers and scientists known as the vienna circle. logical positivism became one of the dominant schools of philosophy in england with the publication of language, truth, and logic by a.j. ayer (1910–89). among the most influential theses put forward by the logical positivists was the claim that in order for a proposition with empirical content—i.e., one that purports to say something about the world—to be meaningful, or cognitively significant, it must be possible, at least in principle, to verify the proposition through experience.231 because many of the utterances of traditional philosophy (especially metaphysical utterances, such as “god exists”) are not empirically verifiable even in principle, they are, according to the logical positivists, literally nonsense. in their view, the only legitimate function of philosophy is conceptual analysis—i.e., the logical clarification of concepts, especially those associated with natural science (e.g., probability and causality). in his 1950 essay “two dogmas of empiricism,” quine launched an attack upon the traditional distinction between analytic statements, which were said to be true by virtue of the meanings of the terms they contain, and synthetic statements, which were supposed to be true or false by virtue of certain facts about the world.232 he argued powerfully that the difference is one of degree rather than kind. in his later work, word and object (1960), quine developed a doctrine known as naturalized epistemology.233 according to that view, epistemology has no normative function. that is, it does not tell people what they ought to believe, instead, it only legitimate role is to describe the way knowledge, especially scientific knowledge, is actually obtained. in 230 l. wittgenstein, on certainty, denis paul and g.e.m. anscombe (trans.), (london: basil blackwell, 1969), 51. 231 cf. j. omoregbe, epistemology, 19. 232 https://www.britannica.com/topic/two-dogmas-of-empiricism/ 233 w.v.o. quine, word and object, 1960, https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/word-and-objects/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/g-e-moore https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism https://www.britannica.com/topic/idealism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprises https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-positivism https://www.britannica.com/topic/vienna-circle https://www.britannica.com/topic/vienna-circle https://www.britannica.com/biography/a-j-ayer https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legitimate https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceptual https://www.britannica.com/science/probability https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation https://www.britannica.com/topic/two-dogmas-of-empiricism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synthetic https://www.britannica.com/biography/willard-van-orman-quine https://www.britannica.com/topic/naturalized-epistemology 103 effect, its function is to describe how present science arrives at the beliefs accepted by the scientific community. the epistemological interests of analytic philosophers in the first half of the 20th century were largely focused on the relationship between knowledge and perception. the major figures in that period were russell, moore, h.h. price (1899–1984), c.d. broad (1887–1971), ayer, and h. paul grice (1913–88). although their views differed considerably, they were all advocates of a general doctrine known as sense-data theory. the technical term sense-data is sometimes explained by means of examples. if one is hallucinating and sees pink rats, one is having a certain visual sensation of rats of a certain colour, though there are no real rats present. the sensation is what is called a “sense-datum.” the image one sees with one’s eyes closed after looking fixedly at a bright light (an afterimage) is another example. even in cases of normal vision. however, one can be said to be apprehending sense-data. for instance, when one looks at a round penny from a certain angle, the penny will seem to have an elliptical shape. in such a case, there is an elliptical sense-datum in one’s visual field, though the penny itself continues to be round. the last example was held by broad, price, and moore to be particularly important, for it seems to make a strong case for holding that one always perceives sense-data, whether one’s perception is normal or abnormal. in each of those examples, according to defenders of sense-data theory, there is something of which one is “directly” aware, meaning that one’s awareness of it is immediate and does not depend on any inference or judgment. a sense-datum is thus frequently defined as an object of direct perception. according to broad, price, and ayer, sense-data differ from physical objects in that they always have the properties they appear to have; that is, they cannot appear to have properties they do not really have. the problem for the philosopher who accepts sense-data is how, on the basis of such private sensations, one can be justified in believing that there are physical objects that exist independently of one’s perceptions. russell in particular tried to show that knowledge of the external world could be logically constructed out of sense-data.234 sense-data theory was criticized by proponents of the so-called theory of appearing, who claimed that the arguments for the existence of sense-data are invalid. from the very fact that a penny looks elliptical from a certain perspective, it does not follow that there must exist a separate entity, distinct from the penny itself, that has the property of being elliptical. to assume that it does is simply to misunderstand how common perceptual situations are described. the theory of appearing was in turn rejected by many philosophers, who held that it failed to provide an adequate account of the epistemological status of illusions and other visual anomalies. the aim of those thinkers was to give a coherent account of how knowledge is possible given the 234 b. russell, our knowledge of the external world, (1914), https://www.routledge.com. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analytic https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/biography/h-h-price https://www.britannica.com/topic/sense-data https://www.britannica.com/science/vision-physiology https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inference https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illusions https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anomalies https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherent 104 existence of sense-data and the possibility of perceptual error. the two main types of theories they developed are realism and phenomenalism. 12.4 realist epistemology realism is both an epistemological and a metaphysical doctrine. in its epistemological aspect, realism claims that at least some of the objects apprehended through perception are “public” rather than “private.” in its metaphysical aspect, realism holds that at least some objects of perception exist independently of the mind. it is especially the second of those principles that distinguishes realists from phenomenalists. realists believe that an intuitive, commonsense distinction can be made between two classes of entities perceived by human beings. one class, typically called “mental,” consists of things like headaches, thoughts, pains, and desires. the other class, typically called “physical,” consists of things such as tables, rocks, planets, human beings, animals and certain physical phenomena such as rainbows, lightning, and shadows. according to realist epistemology, mental entities are private in the sense that each of them is apprehensible by one person only. although more than one person can have a headache or feel pain, for example, no two people can have the very same headache or feel the very same pain. in contrast, physical objects are public: more than one person can see or touch the same chair. realists also believe that whereas physical objects are mind-independent, mental objects are not. to say that an object is mind-independent is just to say that its existence does not depend on its being perceived or experienced by anyone. thus, whether or not a particular table is being seen or touched by someone has no effect upon its existence. even if no one is perceiving it, it still exists (other things being equal). but this is not true of the mental. according to realists, if no one is having a headache, then it does not make sense to say that a headache exists. a headache is thus mind-dependent in a way in which tables, rocks, and shadows are not. traditional realist theories of knowledge thus begin by assuming the public-private distinction, and most realists also assume that one does not have to prove the existence of mental phenomena. each person is directly aware of such things, and there is no special “problem” about their existence. however, that is not true of physical phenomena. as the existence of visual aberrations, illusions, and other anomalies shows, one cannot be sure that in any perceptual situation one is apprehending physical objects. all that people can be sure of is that they are aware of something, an appearance of some sort—say, of a bent stick in water and whether that appearance corresponds to anything actually existing in the external world is an open question. https://www.britannica.com/topic/phenomenalism https://www.britannica.com/topic/realism-philosophy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysical https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/topic/intuition https://www.britannica.com/topic/existence https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aberrations 105 in his work foundations of empirical knowledge, ayer called the difficulty “the egocentric predicament.”235 when a person looks at what he thinks is a physical object, such as a chair, what he is directly apprehending is a sense-datum, a certain visual appearance, such an appearance seems to be private to that person; it seems to be something mental and not publicly accessible. what, then, justifies the individual’s belief in the existence of supposedly external objects—that is, physical entities that are public and exist independently of the mind? this however led the realists to develop two main responses to the challenge: direct (or “naive”) realism and representative realism, also called the “causal theory.” in contrast to traditional realism, direct realism holds that physical objects themselves are perceived “directly.” that is, what one immediately perceives is the physical object itself (or a part of it). thus, there is no problem about inferring the existence of such objects from the contents of one’s perception. some direct realists, such as moore and his followers, continued to accept the existence of sense-data. unlike traditional realists, they held that, rather than mental entities, sense-data might be physical parts of the surface of the perceived object itself. other direct realists, rejected sense-data theory altogether, claiming that the surfaces of physical objects are normally directly observed. thompson clarke (1928–2012) went beyond moore in arguing that normally the entire physical object, rather than only its surface, is perceived directly.236 all such views have trouble explaining perceptual problems or anomalies. indeed, it was because of such difficulties that moore, in his last published paper, “visual sense-data” (1957), abandoned direct realism. he held that because the elliptical sense-datum one perceives when one looks at a round coin cannot be identical with the coin’s circular surface, for one cannot be seeing the coin directly.237 hence, one cannot have direct knowledge of physical objects. additionally, the theory of representative realism is in essence an old view; its best-known exponent in modern philosophy was locke. it is also sometimes called “the scientific theory” because it seems to be supported by findings in optics and physics. like most forms of realism, representative realism holds that the direct objects of perception are sense-data (or their equivalents). what it adds is a scientifically grounded causal account of the origin of sense-data in the stimulation of sense organs and the operation of the central nervous system. thus, the theory would explain visual sense-data as follows. light is reflected from an opaque surface, traverses an intervening space, and, if certain standard conditions are met, strikes the retina, where it activates a series of nerve cells, including the rods and cones, the bipolar cells, and the ganglion cells of the optic nerve, eventually resulting in an event in the brain consisting of the experience of a visual sense-datum, that is, “seeing.”238 235 a.j. ayer, the foundations of empirical knowledge, (1940), https://philpapers.org. 236 https://www.britannica.com/biography/thmpson-clarke/ 237 g.e. moore, “visual sense-data,” (1958), https://www,britannica.com/topic/visual-sense-data/ 238 https://www.britannica.com/science/light/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-foundations-of-empirical-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.britannica.com/topic/direct-realism https://www.britannica.com/topic/direct-realism https://www.britannica.com/biography/g-e-moore https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/science/optics https://www.britannica.com/science/physics-science https://www.britannica.com/science/human-nervous-system https://www.britannica.com/science/light https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opaque https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traverses https://www.britannica.com/science/retina https://www.britannica.com/science/rod-retinal-cell https://www.britannica.com/science/cone-retinal-cell https://www.britannica.com/science/optic-nerve 106 given an appropriate normal causal connection between the original external object and the sense-datum, representative realists assert that the sense-datum will accurately represent the object as it really is. visual illusion is explained in various ways but usually as the result of some anomaly in the causal chain that gives rise to distortions and other types of aberrant visual phenomena. representative realism is thus a theory of indirect perception, because it holds that human observers are directly aware of sense-data and only indirectly aware of the physical objects that cause those data in the brain. the difficulty with representative realism is that since people cannot compare the sense-datum that is directly perceived with the original object, they can never be sure that the former gives an accurate representation of the latter, and, therefore, they cannot know whether the real world corresponds to their perceptions. they are still confined within the circle of appearance after all. it thus seems that neither version of realism satisfactorily solves the problem with which it began. 12.5 continental/phenomenological epistemology in epistemology, continental philosophers during the first quarter of the 20th century were preoccupied with the problem of overcoming the apparent gap between the knower and the known. in light of the difficulties faced by realist theories of perception, some philosophers, so-called phenomenalists, proposed a completely different way of analyzing the relationship between perception and knowledge. in particular, they rejected the distinction between independently existing physical objects and mind-dependent sense-data. they claimed that the very notion of independent existence is nonsense—because human beings have no evidence for it—or what is meant by “independent existence” must be understood in such a way as not to go beyond the sort of perceptual evidence human beings do or could have for the existence of such things.239 in effect, phenomenalists challenged the cogency of the intuitive ideas that the ordinary person supposedly has about independent existence. all variants of phenomenalism are strongly “verificationist.” that is, they wish to maintain their claims that the purported external world must be capable of verification, or confirmation. their commitment entails that no such claim can assert the existence of, or otherwise make reference to, anything that is beyond the realm of possible perceptual experience. therefore, phenomenalists have tried to analyze in wholly perceptual terms what it means to say that a particular object—say, a tomato—exists.240 any such analysis, they claim, must begin by 239 https://www.britannica.com/topic/phenomenology/ 240 ibid. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illusion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anomaly https://www.britannica.com/topic/reality https://www.britannica.com/topic/appearance https://www.britannica.com/topic/dualism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/dualism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/topic/evidence-law https://www.britannica.com/topic/external-world 107 deciding what sort of an object a tomato is. in their view, a tomato is first of all something that has certain perceptible properties, including a certain size, weight, colour, and shape. if one were to abstract the set of all such properties from the object, nothing would be left over—there would be no presumed lockean “substratum” that supports those properties and that itself is unperceived. hence, there is no evidence in favour of such an unperceivable feature, and no reference to it is needed in explaining what a tomato or any other so-called physical object is. to talk about any existent object is to talk about a collection of perceivable features localized in a particular portion of space-time. accordingly, to say that a tomato exists is to describe either a collection of properties that an observer is actually perceiving or a collection that such an observer would perceive under certain specified conditions. to say, for instance, that a tomato exists in the next room is to say that if one went into that room, one would see a familiar reddish shape, one would obtain a certain taste if one bit into it, and one would feel something soft and smooth if one touched it. thus, to speak about the tomato’s existing unperceived in the next room does not entail that it is unperceivable. in principle, everything that exists is perceivable. therefore, the notion of existing independently of perception has been misunderstood or mischaracterized by both philosophers and non-philosophers.241 once it is understood that objects are merely sets of properties and that such properties are in principle always perceivable, the notion that there is some sort of unbridgeable gap between people’s perceptions and the objects they perceive is seen to be just a mistake. in the phenomenalist view, perceptual error is explained in terms of coherence and predictability.242 to say with truth that one is perceiving a tomato means that one’s present set of perceptual experiences and an unspecified set of future experiences will “cohere” in certain ways. that is, if the object being looked at is a tomato, then one can expect that if one touches, tastes, and smells it, one will experience a recognizable grouping of sensations. if the object in the visual field is hallucinatory, then there will be a lack of coherence between what one touches, tastes, and smells. one might, for example, see a red shape but will not be able to touch or taste anything. the theory is generalized to include what others would touch, see, and hear as well, so that what the realists call “public” will also be defined in terms of the coherence of perceptions. a socalled physical object is public if the perceptions of many persons cohere or agree; otherwise, it is not. that explains why a headache is not a public object. in similar fashion, a socalled physical object will be said to have an independent existence if expectations of future perceptual experiences are borne out. if tomorrow, or the day after, one has perceptual experiences similar to those one had today, then one can say that the object being perceived has an independent existence. the phenomenalist thus attempts, without positing the existence of 241 ibid. 242 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/science/space-time https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherence https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/coherentism https://www.britannica.com/science/senses https://www.britannica.com/topic/physical-object 108 anything that transcends possible experience, to account for all the facts that the realist wishes to explain. criticisms of phenomenalism have tended to be technical. generally speaking, realists have objected to it on the ground that it is counterintuitive to think of physical objects such as tomatoes as being sets of actual or possible perceptual experiences. realists argue that one does have such experiences, or under certain circumstances would have them, because there is an object out there that exists independently and is their source. phenomenalism, contention implies that if no perceivers existed, then the world would contain no objects, and that is surely inconsistent both with what ordinary persons believe and with the known scientific fact that all sorts of objects existed in the universe long before there were any perceivers. but supporters deny that phenomenalism carries such an implication, and the debate about its merits remains unresolved. 12.5.1 edmund husserl the german philosopher edmund husserl (1859–1938) thought that the standard epistemological theories of his day lacked insight because they did not focus on the objects of knowledge as they are actually experienced by human beings. to emphasize that reorientation of thinking, he adopted the slogan, “to the things themselves.” philosophers needed to recover a sense of what is given in experience itself, and that could be accomplished only through a careful description of experiential phenomena. thus, husserl called his philosophy “phenomenology,”243 which was to begin as a purely descriptive science and only later to ascend to a theoretical, or “transcendental,” one. according to husserl, the philosophies of descartes and kant presupposed a gap between the aspiring knower and what is known, one that made claims to knowledge of the external world dubious and in need of justification. those presuppositions violated husserl’s belief that philosophy, as the most fundamental science, should be free of presuppositions. thus, he held that it is illegitimate to assume that there is a problem about our knowledge of the external world prior to conducting a completely presuppositionless investigation of the matter.244 the device that husserl used to remove such presuppositions was the epochē (greek: “withholding” or “suspension”), originally a principle of ancient greek skepticism but in husserl’s philosophy a technique of “bracketing,” or removing from consideration, not only all traditional philosophical theories but also all commonsensical beliefs so that pure phenomenological description can proceed.245 243 cf. https://www.britannica.com/topic/phenomenology/ 244 cited in j. omoregbe, epistemology: a systematic and historical study (lagos: joja press, 2005,), 52-54. 245 ibid. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcends https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticisms https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/counterintuitive https://www.britannica.com/topic/experience-philosophy-and-psychology https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implication https://www.britannica.com/biography/edmund-husserl https://www.britannica.com/topic/phenomenology https://www.britannica.com/topic/cartesianism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illegitimate https://www.britannica.com/topic/epoche https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism 109 the epochē was just one of a series of the so-called transcendental reductions that husserl proposed in order to ensure that he was not presupposing anything. one of those reductions supposedly gave one access to “the transcendental ego,” or “pure consciousness.”246 although one might expect phenomenology then to describe the experience or contents of this ego, husserl instead aimed at “eidetic reduction”—that is, the discovery of the essences of various sorts of ideas, such as redness, surface, or relation.247 all of those moves were part of husserl’s project of discovering a perfect methodology for philosophy, one that would ensure absolute certainty. husserl’s transcendental ego seemed very much like the cartesian mind that thinks of a world but has neither direct access to nor certainty of it. accordingly, husserl attempted to overcome the apparent gap between the ego and the world—the very thing he had set out to destroy or to bypass in earlier works, because the transcendental ego seems to be the only genuinely existent consciousness, husserl was also was faced with the task of overcoming the problem of solipsism. 12.5.2 martin heidegger many of husserl’s followers, including his most famous student, martin heidegger (1889–1976), recognized that something had gone radically wrong with the original direction of phenomenology. according to heidegger’s diagnosis, the root of the problem was husserl’s assumption that there is an “archimedean point” of human knowledge. for him, there is no such ego detached from the world and filled with ideas or representations. according to heidegger in one of his writing being and time (1927), heidegger returned to the original formulation of the phenomenological project as a return to the things themselves. thus, in heidegger’s approach, all transcendental reductions are abandoned. what he claimed to discover is that human beings are inherently world-bound.248 the world does not need to be derived; it is presupposed by human experience. in their pre-reflective experience, humans inhabit a sociocultural environment in which the primordial kind of cognition is practical and communal, not theoretical or individual (“egoistic”).249 human beings interact with the things of their everyday world (lebenswelt) as a workman interacts with his tools; they hardly ever approach the world as a philosopher or scientist would. the theoretical knowledge of a philosopher is a derivative and specialized form of cognition, and the major mistake of epistemology from descartes to kant to husserl was to treat philosophical knowledge as a paradigm of all knowledge. 246 ibid. 247 ibid. 248 m. heidegger, being and time, joan stambaugh (trans.). (new york: blackwell, 1996), 311. 249 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/phenomenological-reduction https://www.britannica.com/topic/transcendental-ego https://www.britannica.com/topic/eidetic-reduction https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methodology https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consciousness https://www.britannica.com/topic/solipsism https://cdn.britannica.com/38/11138-004-6699034e/martin-heidegger.jpg https://www.britannica.com/biography/martin-heidegger-german-philosopher https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diagnosis https://www.britannica.com/topic/ego-philosophy-and-psychology https://www.britannica.com/topic/being-and-time https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/primordial https://www.britannica.com/topic/life-world https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paradigm 110 notwithstanding heidegger’s insistence that a human being is something that inhabits a world, he marked out human reality as ontologically special. he called that reality dasein—the being, apart from all others, which is “present” to the world.250 thus, as in husserl’s phenomenology, a cognitive being takes pride of place in heidegger’s philosophy. 12.5.3 maurice merleau-ponty and jean-paul sartre. in france the principal representative of phenomenology in the mid twentieth century was maurice merleau-ponty(1908-1961).251 merleau-ponty rejected husserl’s bracketing of the world, arguing that human experience of the world is primary, a view he encapsulated in the phrase “the primacy of perception.”252 he furthermore held that dualistic analyses of knowledge, best exemplified by traditional cartesian mind-body dualism, are inadequate. in fact, in his view, no conceptualization of the world can be complete, because human cognitive experience requires a body and the body a position in space, human experience is necessarily perspectival and thus incomplete.253 although, humans experience a material being as a multidimensional object, part of the object always exceeds their cognitive grasp just because of their limited perspective. the epistemological views of jean-paul sartre (1905–80) are similar in some respects to those of merleau-ponty. both philosophers rejected husserl’s transcendental reductions and both thought of human reality as “being-in-the-world,” but sartre’s views have cartesian elements that were anathema to merleau-ponty. sartre distinguished between two basic kinds of being.254 being-in-itself (en soi) is the inert and determinate world of non-human existence. over and against it is being-for-itself (pour soi), which is the pure consciousness that defines human reality. later continental philosophers attacked the entire philosophical tradition from descartes to the twentieth century for its explicit or implicit dualisms. being/non-being, mind/body, knower/known, ego/world, being-in-itself/being-for-itself are all variations of a pattern of thinking that the philosophers of the last third of the twentieth century tried to undermine. the structuralist michel foucault (1926–84), for example, wrote extensive historical studies in an attempt to demonstrate that all concepts are historically conditioned and that many of the most important ones serve the political function of controlling people rather than any purely cognitive purpose.255 jacques derrida (1930–2004) claimed that all dualisms are value-laden and 250 ibid. 251https://www.britannica.com/biography/maurice-merleau-ponty/ 252 m. merleau-ponty, phenomenology of perception, donald landes (trans.), (london: routledge, 1965), 298. 253 ibid. 254https://www.britannica.com/biography/jean-paul-sartre/ 255 michael foucault, (1969), the archaeology of knowledge, a.m. sheridan smith (trans.), london and new york: routledge, 2002), 117-118. https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-being https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive https://www.britannica.com/biography/maurice-merleau-ponty https://www.britannica.com/biography/maurice-merleau-ponty https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encapsulated https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind-body-dualism https://www.britannica.com/biography/jean-paul-sartre https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anathema https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implicit https://www.britannica.com/topic/dualism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/michel-foucault https://www.britannica.com/topic/historicism https://www.britannica.com/biography/jacques-derrida 111 indefensible.256 his technique of deconstruction aimed to show that every philosophical dichotomy is incoherent because whatever can be said about one term of the dichotomy can also be said of the other. dissatisfaction with the cartesian philosophical tradition can also be found in the thought of the american pragmatist, john dewey (1859–1952). he directly challenged the idea that knowledge is primarily theoretical.257 experience, he argued, consists of an interaction between living beings and their environment. knowledge is not a fixed apprehension of something but a process of acting and being acted upon. richard rorty (1931–2007) did much to reconcile continental and analytic philosophy. he argued that dewey, heidegger, and ludwig wittgenstein were the three greatest philosophers of the 20th century specifically because of their attacks on the epistemological tradition of modern philosophy.258 12.6 later analytic epistemology beginning in the last quarter of the twentieth century, important contributions to epistemology were made by researchers in neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, and computer science. those investigations produced insights into the nature of vision, the formation of mental representations of the external world, and the storage and retrieval of information in memory, among many other processes.259 in effect, the new approaches, revived theories of indirect perception that emphasized the subjective experience of the observer. indeed, many such theories made use of concepts—such as “qualia” and “felt sensation”—that were essentially equivalent to the notion of sense-data.260 some of the new approaches also seemed to lend support to skeptical conclusions of the sort that early sense-data theorists had attempted to overcome. the neurologist richard gregory (1923– 2010), for example, argued in 1993 that: no theory of direct perception, such as that proposed by gibson, could be supported, given the indirectness imposed by the many physiological steps or stages of visual and other sensory perception.…for these and other reasons we may safely abandon direct accounts of perception in favor 256 https:www.britannica.com/biography/jaques-derrida/ 257 https:www.britannica.com/biography/john-dewey/ 258 https:www.britannica.com/biography/richard-rorty/ 259 f. barone,logical empericism: historical and contemporary perspectives (pittsburgh: university of pittsburgh press, 2003), 57. 260 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/deconstruction https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dichotomy https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-dewey https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/biography/richard-rorty https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconcile https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analytic https://www.britannica.com/biography/ludwig-wittgenstein https://www.britannica.com/science/psychology https://www.britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence https://www.britannica.com/science/computer-science https://www.britannica.com/science/computer-science https://www.britannica.com/science/memory-psychology https://www.britannica.com/topic/sense-data https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism 112 of indirectly related and never certain…hypotheses of reality.261 similarly, the work of vilayanur ramachandran, a neurologist, (born 1951), showed that the stimulation of certain areas of the brain in normal people produces sensations comparable to those felt in so-called “phantom limb” phenomena (the experience by an amputee of pains or other sensations that seem to be located in a missing limb). the conclusion that ramachandran drew from his work is a modern variation of descartes’s “evil genius” hypothesis: that we can never be certain that the sensations we experience accurately reflect an external reality.262 on the basis of such experimental findings, many philosophers adopted forms of radical skepticism. benson mates (1919–2009), for example, declared: ultimately the only basis i can have for a claim to know that there exists something other than my own perceptions is the nature of those very perceptions, but they could be just as they are even if there did not exist anything else. ergo, i have no basis for the knowledge-claim in question.263 mates concluded, that human beings cannot make any justifiable assertions about anything other than their own sense experiences. philosophers have responded to such challenges in a variety of ways. avrum stroll (1921–2013), for example, argued that the views of skeptics such as mates, as well those of many other modern proponents of indirect perception, rest on a conceptual mistake: the failure to distinguish between scientific and philosophical accounts of the connection between sense experience and objects in the external world.264 in the case of vision, the scientific account (or, as he called it, the “causal story”) describes the familiar sequence of events that occurs according to well-known optical and physical laws. citing that account, proponents of indirect perception point out that every event in such a causal sequence results in some modification of the input it receives from the preceding event. thus, the light energy that strikes the retina is converted to electrochemical energy by the rods and cones, among other nerve cells, and the electrical impulses transmitted along the nervous pathways leading to the brain are reorganized in important ways at every synapse.265 from the fact that the input to every event in the sequence undergoes some modification, it follows that the end result of the process, the visual representation of the external object, must differ considerably from the elements of the original input, including the object 261 ibid. 262 ibid.,58. 263 https://www.britannica.com/biography/benson-mates/ 264 f. barone,logical empericism, 63. 265 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism https://www.britannica.com/biography/benson-mates https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceptual 113 itself. from that observation, theorists of indirect perception who are inclined toward skepticism conclude that one cannot be certain that the sensation one experiences in seeing a particular object represents the object as it really is.266 but the last inference is unwarranted, according to stroll avrum. what the argument shows is only that the visual representation of the object and the object itself are different (a fact that hardly needs pointing out). it does not show that one cannot be certain whether the representation is accurate.267 indeed, a strong argument can be made to show that human perceptual experiences cannot all be inaccurate, or “modified,” in this way, for if they were, then it would be impossible to compare any given perception with its object in order to determine whether the sensation represented the object accurately, but in that case it also would be impossible to verify the claim that all our perceptions are inaccurate. hence, the claim that all our perceptions are inaccurate is scientifically un-testable. according to stroll, that is a decisive objection against the skeptical position. the implications of such developments in the cognitive sciences are clearly important for epistemology. the experimental evidence adduced for indirect perception has raised philosophical discussion of the nature of human perception to a new level. it is clear that a serious debate has begun, and at this point it is impossible to predict its outcome. 266 ibid. 267 ibid, 64-65. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inference https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implications https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive 114 chapter thirteen some school of thoughts in epistemology 13.1 empiricism in philosophy, empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience.268 empiricism emphasizes the role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas, rather than innate ideas or traditions.269however, empiricists may argue that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sense experiences.270 historically, empiricism was associated with the “blank slate” concept (tabula rasa), according to which the human mind is blank at birth and develops its thoughts only through experience. empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. it is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation. empiricism, often used by natural scientists, says that knowledge is acquired from experience and that knowledge is tentative and probabilistic, subject to continued revision and falsification.271 empirical research, including experiments and validated measurement tools, guides the scientific method. 13.2 rationalism rationalism is the view that regards reason as the main source and test of knowledge. holding that reality itself has an inherently logical structure, the rationalist asserts that a class of truths exists and that the intellect can grasp directly. according to the rationalists, there are certain rational principles—especially in logic and mathematics, including in ethics and metaphysics, there are so fundamental that to deny them is to fall into contradiction. the rationalists’ confidence in reason and proof tends, therefore, to detract from their respect for other ways of knowing. rationalism is any view appealing to intellectual and deductive reason (as opposed to sensory experience or any religious teachings) as the source of knowledge or justification. thus, it holds that some propositions are knowable either through intuition or through being deduced through valid arguments from intuited propositions. depending on the strength of the belief, this can result in a range of positions from the moderate view that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge, to the radical position that reason is the only path to knowledge. 13.3 skepticism 268 h.c. ezebuilo, “locke, berkeley and hume: a brief survey of empiricism,” international journal of research in education, humanities and commerce 1(2), (2020), 84. 269 ibid. 270 ibid. 271 cf. h.c. ezebuilo and i.n. okechukwu, “a hermeneutic consideration of karl popper’s falsification theory,” nnamdi azikiwe journal of philosophy, 12(2), (2021). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empirical_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empirical_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/innate_idea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/traditions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy_of_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_priori_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_priori_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/intuition_(knowledge) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/revelation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/falsifiability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology https://www.britannica.com/topic/reality https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/science/mathematics https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics 115 skepticism is a position that questions the possibility of human knowledge, either in particular domains or on a general level. skepticism does not refer to any one specific school of philosophy, but is rather a thread that runs through many epistemological debates. ancient greek skepticism began during the hellenistic period in philosophy, which featured both pyrrhonism (notably defended by pyrrho and sextus empiricus) and academic skepticism (notably defended by arcesilaus and carneades). among ancient indian philosophers, skepticism was notably defended by the ajñana school and in the buddhist madhyamika tradition. in modern philosophy, rené descartes' famous inquiry into mind and body began as an exercise in skepticism, in which he started by trying to doubt all purported cases of knowledge in order to search for something that was known with absolute certainty. 12.4 pragmatism pragmatism is an empiricist epistemology formulated by charles sanders peirce, william james, and john dewey, which understands truth as that which is practically applicable in the world. pragmatists often treat truth as the final outcome of ideal scientific inquiry, meaning that something cannot be true unless it is potentially observable. peirce formulates the maxim: “consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object.”272 this suggests that we are to analyse ideas and objects in the world for their practical value. this is in contrast to any correspondence theory of truth that holds that what is true is what corresponds to an external reality. william james suggests that through a pragmatist epistemology, theories “become instruments, not answers to enigmas in which we can rest.”273 in the late 19th and early 20th century, several forms of pragmatic philosophy arose. the ideas of pragmatism, in its various forms, developed mainly from discussions between charles sanders peirce and william james as already noted. james popularized the term “pragmatism,” giving peirce full credit for its patrimony, but peirce later demurred from the tangents that the movement was taking, and redubbed what he regarded as the original idea with the name of “pragmaticism.” along with its pragmatic theory of truth, this perspective integrates the basic insights of empirical (experience-based) and rational (concept-based) thinking. 13.4.1 charles peirce charles peirce (1839–1914) was highly influential in laying the groundwork for today’s empirical scientific method. although peirce severely criticized many elements of descartes’ peculiar brand of rationalism, he did not reject rationalism outright. indeed, he concurred with the main ideas of rationalism, most importantly the idea that rational concepts can be meaningful and the idea that rational concepts necessarily go beyond the data given by empirical observation. in later years he even emphasized the concept-driven side of the then ongoing 272 w. james, and g. gunn, pragmatism and other essays, 32-33. 273 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism#ancient_greek_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism#ancient_greek_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hellenistic_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pyrrhonism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pyrrho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sextus_empiricus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/academic_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/academic_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/arcesilaus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carneades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aj%c3%b1ana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/madhyamika https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/certainty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pragmatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/charles_sanders_peirce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/william_james https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/william_james https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_dewey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/correspondence_theory_of_truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pragmatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/charles_sanders_peirce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/charles_sanders_peirce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/william_james https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pragmatic_theory_of_truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rationalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method 116 debate between strict empiricism and strict rationalism, in part to counterbalance the excesses to which some of his cohorts had taken pragmatism under the “data-driven” strict-empiricist view. among peirce’s major contributions was to place inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning in a complementary rather than competitive mode, the latter of which had been the primary trend among the educated since david hume wrote a century before. to this, peirce added the concept of abductive reasoning. the combined three forms of reasoning serve as a primary conceptual foundation for the empirically based scientific method today. peirce’s approach presupposes that (1) the objects of knowledge are real things, (2) the characters (properties) of real things do not depend on our perceptions of them, and (3) everyone who has sufficient experience of real things will agree on the truth about them. according to peirce’s doctrine of fallibilism, the conclusions of science are always tentative. the rationality of the scientific method does not depend on the certainty of its conclusions, but on its self-corrective character: by continued application of the method, science can detect and correct its own mistakes, and thus eventually lead to the discovery of truth.274 in his harvard “lectures on pragmatism” (1903), peirce enumerated what he called the “three cotary propositions of pragmatism” (cotis, whetstone), saying that they “put the edge on the maxim of pragmatism.” first among these, he listed the peripatetic-thomist observation mentioned above, but he further observed that this link between sensory perception and intellectual conception is a two-way street. that is, it can be taken to say that whatever we find in the intellect is also incipiently in the senses. hence, if theories are theory-laden then so are the senses, and perception itself can be seen as a species of abductive inference, its difference being that it is beyond control and hence beyond critique—in a word, incorrigible. this in no way conflicts with the fallibility and revisability of scientific concepts, since it is only the immediate percept in its unique individuality or “thisness”—what the scholastics called its haecceity—that stands beyond control and correction. scientific concepts, on the other hand, are general in nature, and transient sensations do in another sense find correction within them. this notion of perception as abduction has received periodic revivals in artificial intelligence and cognitive science research, most recently for instance with the work of irvin rock on indirect perception.275 13.4.2 william james around the beginning of the 20th century, william james (1842–1910) coined the term “radical empiricism” to describe an offshoot of his form of pragmatism, which he argued could be dealt with separately from his pragmatism—though in fact the two concepts are intertwined in james’s published lectures. james maintained that the empirically observed “directly apprehended universe needs…no extraneous trans-empirical connective support,”276 by which he meant to rule out the perception that there can be any value added by seeking supernatural explanations 274 “empiricism,” macmillan encyclopedia of philosophy,551. 275 irvin rock, indirect perception (cambridge, massachusetts, 1997), 77-78. 276 william james, the meaning of truth (1911), https://www.communicationcache.com. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inductive_reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/deductive_reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/abductive_reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fallibilism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pragmatic_maxim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/abductive_reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scholastics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/haecceity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/artificial_intelligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/irvin_rock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/indirect_perception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/indirect_perception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/radical_empiricism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/radical_empiricism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/value_added https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/supernatural 117 for natural phenomena. james’ “radical empiricism” is thus not radical in the context of the term empiricism, but is instead fairly consistent with the modern use of the term empirical. john dewey (1859–1952) modified james’ pragmatism to form a theory known as instrumentalism. the role of sense experience in dewey’s theory is crucial, in that he saw experience as unified totality of things through which everything else is interrelated. dewey’s basic thought, in accordance with empiricism, was that reality is determined by past experience. therefore, humans adapt their past experiences of things to perform experiments upon and test the pragmatic values of such experience. the value of such experience is measured experientially and scientifically, and the results of such tests generate ideas that serve as instruments for future experimentation, in physical sciences as in ethics.277 thus, ideas in dewey’s system retain their empiricist flavour in that they are only known a posteriori. contemporary versions of pragmatism have been most notably developed by richard rorty and hilary putnam. rorty proposed that values were historically contingent and dependent upon their utility within a given historical period.278 contemporary philosophers working in pragmatism are called neopragmatists, and also include nicholas rescher, robert brandom, susan haack, and cornel west. 13.5 naturalized epistemology in certain respects an intellectual descendant of pragmatism, naturalized epistemology considers the evolutionary role of knowledge for agents living and evolving in the world.279 it deemphasizes the questions around justification and truth, and instead asks, empirically, how reliable beliefs are formed and the role that evolution played in the development of such processes. it suggests a more empirical approach to the subject as a whole, leaving behind philosophical definitions and consistency arguments, and instead using psychological methods to study and understand how knowledge is actually formed and is used in the natural world. as such, it does not attempt to answer the analytic questions of traditional epistemology, but rather replace them with new empirical ones.280 naturalized epistemology was first proposed in “epistemology naturalized”, a seminal paper by w.v.o. quine.281 a less radical view has been defended by hilary kornblith in knowledge and its place in nature, in which he seeks to turn epistemology towards empirical investigation without completely abandoning traditional epistemic concepts. 13.6 feminist epistemology 277eric thomas weber, “what experimentalism means in ethics,” the journal of speculative philosophy, no. 25 (2011), 99. 278 r. rorty, consequences of pragmatism (minneapolis: university of minnesota press, 1982). 279kim jaegwon, “what is naturalized epistemology?” philosophical perspectives, 2, (1988), 405. 280 ibid. 281 wilard v.o. quine, “epistemology naturalized.” in e. sosa & j. kim (eds.). epistemology: an anthology (malden, ma: blackwell publishing, 2004), 292. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/phenomena https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empirical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_dewey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/instrumentalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/methodological_pragmatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/richard_rorty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/richard_rorty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hilary_putnam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/neopragmatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nicholas_rescher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/robert_brandom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/robert_brandom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/susan_haack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cornel_west https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/naturalized_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/w.v.o._quine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hilary_kornblith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/blackwell_publishing 118 feminist epistemology is a subfield of epistemology which applies feminist theory to epistemological questions. it began to emerge as a distinct subfield in the 20th century. prominent feminist epistemologists include miranda fricker (who developed the concept of epistemic injustice), donna haraway (who first proposed the concept of situated knowledge), sandra harding, and elizabeth anderson.282 harding proposes that feminist epistemology can be broken into three distinct categories: feminist empiricism, standpoint epistemology, and postmodern epistemology.283 feminist epistemology has also played a significant role in the development of many debates in social epistemology. 13.7 relativism epistemic relativism is the view that what is true, rational, or justified for one person need not be true, rational, or justified for another person. epistemic relativists therefore assert that while there are relative facts about truth, rationality, justification, and so on, there is no perspectiveindependent fact of the matter.284[78] note that this is distinct from epistemic contextualism, which holds that the meaning of epistemic terms vary across contexts (e.g. “i know” might mean something different in everyday contexts and skeptical contexts). in contrast, epistemic relativism holds that the relevant facts vary, not just linguistic meaning. relativism about truth may also be a form of ontological relativism, insofar as relativists about truth hold that facts about what exists vary based on perspective. 13.8 constructivism constructivism is a view in philosophy according to which all knowledge is a compilation of human-made constructions, not the neutral discovery of an objective truth. whereas objectivism is concerned with the object of our knowledge, constructivism emphasizes how we construct knowledge.285 constructivism proposes new definitions for knowledge and truth, which emphasize intersubjectivity rather than objectivity, and viability rather than truth. the constructivist point of view is in many ways comparable to certain forms of pragmatism. 13.9 idealism idealism is a broad term referring to both an ontological view about the world being in some sense mind-dependent and a corresponding epistemological view that everything we know can be reduced to mental phenomena. first and foremost, idealism is a metaphysical doctrine. as an epistemological doctrine, idealism shares a great deal with both empiricism and rationalism. some of the most famous empiricists have been classified as idealists (particularly berkeley), and yet the subjectivism inherent to idealism also resembles that of descartes in many respects. many idealists believe that knowledge is primarily (at least in some areas) acquired by a 282“feminist epistemology,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. retrieved october 31, 2021. 283 ibid. 284 285 alan hájek and hanti lin, “a tale of two epistemologies?” res philosophica, 94 (2), (2017), 207. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feminist_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feminist_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/miranda_fricker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/epistemic_injustice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/donna_haraway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/situated_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/situated_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sandra_harding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/elizabeth_s._anderson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/epistemology#cite_note-boghossian-82 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/contextualism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ontological https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_constructivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ontological https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/metaphysical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/george_berkeley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/subjectivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-epistemology/ https://philpapers.org/rec/hjeato 119 priori processes, or that it is innate—for example, in the form of concepts not derived from experience. the relevant theoretical concepts may purportedly be part of the structure of the human mind (as in kant’s theory of transcendental idealism), or they may be said to exist independently of the mind (as in plato's theory of forms). some of the most famous forms of idealism include transcendental idealism (developed by immanuel kant), subjective idealism (developed by george berkeley), and absolute idealism (developed by georg wilhelm friedrich hegel and friedrich schelling). 13.10 bayesian epistemology bayesian epistemology is a formal approach to various topics in epistemology that has its roots in thomas bayes’ work in the field of probability theory. one advantage of its formal method in contrast to traditional epistemology is that its concepts and theorems can be defined with a high degree of precision. it is based on the idea that beliefs can be interpreted as subjective probabilities. as such, they are subject to the laws of probability theory, which act as the norms of rationality. these norms can be divided into static constraints, governing the rationality of beliefs at any moment, and dynamic constraints, governing how rational agents should change their beliefs upon receiving new evidence.286 the most characteristic bayesian expression of these principles is found in the form of dutch books, which illustrate irrationality in agents through a series of bets that lead to a loss for the agent no matter which of the probabilistic events occurs. bayesians have applied these fundamental principles to various epistemological topics but bayesianism does not cover all topics of traditional epistemology.287 13.11 indian pramana indian schools of philosophy, such as the hindu nyaya and carvaka schools, and the jain and buddhist philosophical schools, developed an epistemological tradition independently of the western philosophical tradition called pramana. pramana can be translated as instrument of knowledge and refers to various means or sources of knowledge that indian philosophers held to be reliable. each school of indian philosophy had their own theories about which pramanas were valid means to knowledge and which were unreliable (and why).288 a vedic text, taittirīya āraṇyaka (c. 9th–6th centuries bce), lists four means of attaining correct knowledge: smṛti (tradition or scripture), pratyakṣa (perception), aitihya (communication by one who is expert, or tradition), and anumāna (reasoning or inference).289 in the indian traditions, the most widely discussed pramanas are: pratyakṣa (perception), anumāṇa (inference), upamāṇa (comparison and 286 stephan hartmann and jan sprenger, “bayesian epistemology.” the routledge companion to epistemology (london: routledge, 2010), 609. 287 ibid. 288b.k. matilal, perception: an essay on classical indian theories of knowledge” (oxford university press, 1986), xiv. 289 ibid. see also jose i. cabezón, “truth in buddhist theology,” in r. jackson and j. makransky, (eds.), buddhist theology, critical reflections by contemporary buddhist scholars (london: curzon, 2000), 139. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/innatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/immanuel_kant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/transcendental_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theory_of_forms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/transcendental_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/immanuel_kant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/subjective_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/george_berkeley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/absolute_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/absolute_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/georg_wilhelm_friedrich_hegel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/friedrich_wilhelm_joseph_schelling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bayesian_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thomas_bayes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/subjective_probability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/subjective_probability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/probability_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rationality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dutch_book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/indian_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hindu_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nyaya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carvaka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/jain_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/buddhist_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vedas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/taittiriya_aranyaka https://philpapers.org/rec/bovsio 120 analogy), arthāpatti (postulation, derivation from circumstances), anupalabdi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof) and śabda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts). while the nyaya school (beginning with the nyāya sūtras of gotama, between 6th-century bce and 2nd-century bc290) were a proponent of realism and supported four pramanas (perception, inference, comparison/analogy and testimony), the buddhist epistemologists (dignaga and dharmakirti) generally accepted only perception and inference. the carvaka school of materialists only accepted the pramana of perception, and hence were among the first empiricists in the indian traditions.291 another school, the ajñana, included notable proponents of philosophical skepticism. the theory of knowledge of the buddha in the early buddhist texts has been interpreted as a form of pragmatism as well as a form of correspondence theory.292 likewise, the buddhist philosopher dharmakirti has been interpreted both as holding a form of pragmatism or correspondence theory for his view that what is true is what has effective power (arthakriya).293 the buddhist madhyamika school’s theory of emptiness (shunyata) meanwhile has been interpreted as a form of philosophical skepticism.294 the main contribution to epistemology by the jains has been their theory of “many sided-ness” or multi-perspectivism (anekantavada), which says that since the world is multifaceted, any single viewpoint is limited (naya – a partial standpoint).295 this has been interpreted as a kind of pluralism or perspectivism. according to jain epistemology, none of the pramanas gives absolute or perfect knowledge since they are each limited points of view. 13.12 social epistemology social epistemology deals with questions about knowledge in contexts where our knowledge attributions cannot be explained by simply examining individuals in isolation from one another, meaning that the scope of our knowledge attributions must be widened to include broader social contexts. it also explores the ways in which interpersonal beliefs can be justified in social contexts. the most common topics discussed in contemporary social epistemology are testimony, which deals with the conditions under which a belief “x is true” which resulted from being told “x is true” constitutes knowledge; peer disagreement, which deals with when and how i should revise my beliefs in light of other people holding beliefs that contradict mine; and group epistemology, which deals with what it means to attribute knowledge to groups rather than individuals, and when group knowledge attributions are appropriate. 13.13 formal epistemology 290 ibid. 291 ibid. 292d. long, jainism: an introduction, 125. 293 ibid. 294 ibid. 295 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ny%c4%81ya_s%c5%abtras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dignaga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dharmakirti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carvaka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/materialists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empiricists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aj%c3%b1ana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/buddhist_philosophy#epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dharmakirti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/madhyamika https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shunyata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_skepticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/anekantavada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/perspectivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/jain_epistemology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/testimony 121 formal epistemology uses formal tools and methods from decision theory, logic, probability theory and computability theory to model and reason about issues of epistemological interest.[102] work in this area spans several academic fields, including philosophy, computer science, economics, and statistics. the focus of formal epistemology has tended to differ somewhat from that of traditional epistemology, with topics like uncertainty, induction, and belief revision garnering more attention than the analysis of knowledge, skepticism, and issues with justification. 13.14 metaepistemology metaepistemology is the metaphilosophical study of the methods, aims, and subject matter of epistemology.[103] in general, metaepistemology aims to better understand our first-order epistemological inquiry. some goals of metaepistemology are identifying inaccurate assumptions made in epistemological debates and determining whether the questions asked in mainline epistemology are the right epistemological questions to be asking. 13.15 realism epistemological realism is a philosophical position holding that what can be known about an object exists independently of one’s mind.296 it is opposed to epistemological idealism. reality as a school of thought believes that it is possible to obtain knowledge about mind-independent reality. it is the viewpoint which accords to things which are known or perceived as existence or nature which is independent of whether anyone is thinking about or perceiving them. while there are certainly significant similarities linking the variety of positions commonly described as realist, there are also important differences which obstruct any straightforward general characterization of realism. 296 john haldane, crispin wright (eds.), reality, representation, and projection, (oxford: oxford university press, 1993), 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/decision_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/probability_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/probability_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/computability_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/epistemology#cite_note-sep_formal-106 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/computer_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/computer_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/metaphilosophical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/epistemology#cite_note-107 122 chapter fourteen empiricism 14.1 what is empiricism? empiricism is the view that all concepts originate in experience, that all concepts are about or applicable to things that can be experienced, or that all rationally acceptable beliefs or propositions are justifiable or knowable only through experience. this broad definition accords with the derivation of the term empiricism from the ancient greek word empeiria, “experience.” concepts are said to be “a posteriori” (latin: “from the latter”) if they can be applied only on the basis of experience, and they are called “a priori” (“from the former”) if they can be applied independently of experience. beliefs or propositions are said to be a posteriori if they are knowable only on the basis of experience and a priori if they are knowable independently of experience. thus, according to the second and third definitions of empiricism above, empiricism is the view that all concepts, or all rationally acceptable beliefs or propositions, are a posteriori rather than a priori. the first two definitions of empiricism typically involve an implicit theory of meaning, according to which words are meaningful only insofar as they convey concepts. some empiricists have held that all concepts are either mental “copies” of items that are directly experienced or complex combinations of concepts that are themselves copies of items that are directly experienced. this view is closely linked to the notion that the conditions of application of a concept must always be specified in experiential terms. the third definition of empiricism is a theory of knowledge, or theory of justification. it views beliefs, or at least some vital classes of belief—e.g., the belief that this object is red—as depending ultimately and necessarily on experience for their justification. an equivalent way of stating this thesis is to say that all human knowledge is derived from experience. empiricism regarding concepts and empiricism regarding knowledge do not strictly imply each other. many empiricists have admitted that there are a priori propositions but have denied that there are a priori concepts. it is rare, however, to find a philosopher who accepts a priori concepts but denies a priori propositions. stressing experience, empiricism often opposes the claims of authority, intuition, imaginative conjecture, and abstract, theoretical, or systematic reasoning as sources of reliable belief. its most fundamental antithesis is with the latter—i.e., with rationalism, also called intellectualism or apriorism. a rationalist theory of concepts asserts that some concepts are a priori and that these concepts are innate, or part of the original structure or constitution of the mind. a rationalist theory of knowledge, on the other hand, holds that some rationally acceptable https://www.britannica.com/topic/definition https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implicit https://www.britannica.com/topic/meaning https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-priori-knowledge https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intuition https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antithesis https://www.britannica.com/topic/rationalism https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind 123 propositions—perhaps including “everything must have a sufficient reason for its existence” (the principle of sufficient reason)—are a priori. a priori propositions, according to rationalists, can arise from intellectual intuition, from the direct apprehension of self-evident truths, or from purely deductive reasoning. empiricism is a view in the theory of knowledge which focuses on the role of experience, especially experience based on perceptual observations by the senses, in the generation of knowledge. certain forms exempt disciplines such as mathematics and logic from these requirements. there are many variants of empiricism, including british empiricism, logical empiricism, phenomenalism, and some versions of common sense philosophy. most forms of empiricism give epistemologically privileged status to sensory impressions or sense data, although this plays out very differently in different cases. some of the most famous historical empiricists include john locke, david hume, george berkeley, francis bacon, john stuart mill, rudolf carnap, and bertrand russell. in philosophy, empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience.297 empiricism emphasizes the role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas, rather than innate ideas or traditions.298however, empiricists may argue that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sense experiences.299 historically, empiricism was associated with the “blank slate” concept (tabula rasa), according to which the human mind is blank at birth and develops its thoughts only through experience. empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. it is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation. empiricism, often used by natural scientists, says that knowledge is based on experience and that knowledge is tentative and probabilistic, subject to continued revision and falsification.300 empirical research, including experiments and validated measurement tools, guides the scientific method. 297 h.c. ezebuilo, “locke, berkeley and hume: a brief survey of empiricism,” international journal of research in education, humanities and commerce 1(2), (2020), 84. 298 ibid. 299 ibid. 300 cf. h.c. ezebuilo and i.n. okechukwu, “a hermeneutic consideration of karl popper’s falsification theory,” nnamdi azikiwe journal of philosophy, 12(2), (2021). https://www.britannica.com/topic/principle-of-sufficient-reason https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/topic/deduction-reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empiricism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/perception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sense https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mathematics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/british_empiricism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empiricism#logical_empiricism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empiricism#logical_empiricism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/phenomenalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scottish_common_sense_realism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sense_data https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_locke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_hume https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/george_berkeley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/francis_bacon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_stuart_mill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_stuart_mill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rudolf_carnap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bertrand_russell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empirical_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empirical_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/innate_idea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/traditions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy_of_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_priori_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_priori_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/intuition_(knowledge) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/revelation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/falsifiability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method 124 14.2 various meanings of empiricism 14.2.1 broader senses in both everyday attitudes and philosophical theories, the experiences referred to by empiricists are principally those arising from the stimulation of the sense organs—i.e., from visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory sensation. (in addition to these five kinds of sensation, some empiricists also recognize kinesthetic sensation, or the sensation of movement.) most philosophical empiricists, however, have maintained that sensation is not the only provider of experience, admitting as empirical the awareness of mental states in introspection or reflection (such as the awareness that one is in pain or that one is frightened); such mental states are then often described metaphorically as being present to an “inner sense.” it is a controversial question whether still further types of experience, such as moral, aesthetic, or religious experience, ought to be acknowledged as empirical. a crucial consideration is that, as the scope of “experience” is broadened, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish a domain of genuinely a priori propositions. if, for example, one were to take the mathematician’s intuition of relationships between numbers as a kind of experience, one would be hard-pressed to identify any kind of knowledge that is not ultimately empirical. even when empiricists agree on what should count as experience, however, they may still disagree fundamentally about how experience itself should be understood. some empiricists, for example, conceive of sensation in such a way that what one is aware of in sensation is always a mind-dependent entity (sometimes referred to as a “sense datum”). others embrace some version of “direct realism,” according to which one can directly perceive or be aware of physical objects or physical properties. thus there may be radical theoretical differences even among empiricists who are committed to the notion that all concepts are constructed out of elements given in sensation. two other viewpoints related to but not the same as empiricism are the pragmatism of the american philosopher and psychologist william james, an aspect of which was what he called radical empiricism, and logical positivism, sometimes also called logical empiricism. although these philosophies are empirical in some sense, each has a distinctive focus that warrants its treatment as a separate movement. pragmatism stresses the involvement of ideas in practical experience and action, whereas logical positivism is more concerned with the justification of scientific knowledge. when describing an everyday attitude, the word empiricism sometimes conveys an unfavourable implication of ignorance of or indifference to relevant theory. thus, to call a doctor an “empiric” has been to call him a quack—a usage traceable to a sect of medical men who were opposed to the elaborate medical—and in some views metaphysical—theories inherited from the https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tactile https://www.britannica.com/science/human-sensory-reception https://www.britannica.com/science/human-sensory-reception/kinesthetic-motion-sense#ref64837 https://www.britannica.com/topic/sense-data https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aesthetic https://www.britannica.com/topic/pragmatism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/william-james https://www.britannica.com/topic/radical-empiricism https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-positivism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pragmatism https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-science https://www.britannica.com/topic/implication 125 greek physician galen of pergamum (129–c. 216 ce). the medical empiricists opposed to galen preferred to rely on treatments of observed clinical effectiveness, without inquiring into the mechanisms sought by therapeutic theory. but empiricism, detached from this medical association, may also be used, more favourably, to describe a hard-headed refusal to be swayed by anything but the facts that the thinker has observed for himself, a blunt resistance to received opinion or precarious chains of abstract reasoning. 14.2.2 stricter senses as a more strictly defined movement, empiricism reflects certain fundamental distinctions and occurs in varying degrees. empiricism, whether concerned with concepts or knowledge, can be held with varying degrees of strength. on this basis, absolute, substantive, and partial empiricisms can be distinguished. 12.2.2.1 absolute empiricism absolute empiricists hold that there are no a priori concepts, either formal or categorial, and no a priori beliefs or propositions. absolute empiricism about the former is more common than that about the latter, however. although nearly all western philosophers admit that obvious tautologies (e.g., “all red things are red”) and definitional truisms (e.g., “all triangles have three sides”) are a priori, many of them would add that these represent a degenerate case. 12.2.2.2 substantive empiricism a more moderate form of empiricism is that of the substantive empiricists, who are unconvinced by attempts that have been made to interpret formal concepts empirically and who therefore concede that formal concepts are a priori, though they deny that status to categorial concepts and to the theoretical concepts of physics, which they hold are a posteriori. according to this view, allegedly a priori categorial and theoretical concepts are either defective, reducible to empirical concepts, or merely useful “fictions” for the prediction and organization of experience. the parallel point of view about knowledge assumes that the truth of logical and mathematical propositions is determined, as is that of definitional truisms, by the relationships between meanings that are established prior to experience. the truth often espoused by ethicists, for example, that one is truly obliged to rescue a person from drowning only if it is possible to do so, is a matter of meanings and not of facts about the world. on this view, all propositions that, in contrast to the foregoing example, are in any way substantially informative about the world are a posteriori. even if there are a priori propositions, they are formal or verbal or conceptual in nature, and their necessary truth derives simply from the meanings that attached to the words they contain. a priori knowledge is useful because it makes explicit the hidden implications of https://www.britannica.com/biography/galen https://www.britannica.com/topic/medical-association https://www.britannica.com/topic/medical-association https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/substantive https://www.britannica.com/topic/tautology https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-proposition https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceptual https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implications 126 substantive, factual assertions. but a priori propositions do not themselves express genuinely new knowledge about the world; they are factually empty. thus “all bachelors are unmarried” merely gives explicit recognition to the commitment to describe as unmarried anyone who has been described as a bachelor. substantive empiricism about knowledge regards all a priori propositions as being more-or-less concealed tautologies. if a person’s “duty” is thus defined as that which he should always do, the statement “a person should always do his duty” then becomes “a person should always do what he should always do.” deductive reasoning is conceived accordingly as a way of bringing this concealed tautological status to light. that such extrication is nearly always required means that a priori knowledge is far from trivial. for the substantive empiricist, truisms and the propositions of logic and mathematics exhaust the domain of the a priori. science, on the other hand—from the fundamental assumptions about the structure of the universe to the singular items of evidence used to confirm its theories—is regarded as a posteriori throughout. the propositions of ethics and those of metaphysics, which deals with the ultimate nature and constitution of reality (e.g., “only that which is not subject to change is real”), are either disguised tautologies or “pseudo-propositions,” that is, combinations of words that, despite their grammatical respectability, cannot be taken as true or false assertions at all. 14.2.2.3 partial empiricism the least thoroughgoing type of empiricism here distinguished, ranking third in degree, can be termed partial empiricism. according to this view, the realm of the a priori includes some concepts that are not formal and some propositions that are substantially informative about the world. the theses of the transcendental idealism of immanuel kant (1720–1804), the general scientific conservation laws, the basic principles of morality and theology, and the causal laws of nature have all been held by partial empiricists to be both “synthetic” (substantially informative) and a priori. as noted above, philosophers who embrace the kripkean notion of reference fixing would add to this class propositions such as “heat is the cause of sensations of warmth” and “aristotle was the teacher of alexander the great,” both of which derive their presumed aprioricity from the hypothetical circumstances in which their subject terms were introduced. at any rate, in all versions of partial empiricism there remain a great many straightforwardly a posteriori concepts and propositions: ordinary singular propositions about matters of fact and the concepts that figure in them are held to fall in this domain. 14.3 historical background to empiricism the english term empirical derives from the ancient greek word ἐμπειρία, empeiria, which is cognate with and translates to the latin experientia, from which the https://www.britannica.com/topic/tautology https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-priori-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/science/science https://www.britannica.com/science/cosmos-astronomy https://www.britannica.com/topic/evidence-law https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics https://www.britannica.com/topic/transcendental-idealism https://www.britannica.com/biography/immanuel-kant https://www.britannica.com/science/conservation-law https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morality https://www.britannica.com/topic/theology https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypothetical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ancient_greek 127 words experience and experiment are derived.301 a central concept in science and the scientific method is that conclusions must be empirically based on the evidence of the senses. both natural and social sciences use working hypotheses that are testable by observation and experiment. the term semi-empirical is sometimes used to describe theoretical methods that make use of basic axioms, established scientific laws, and previous experimental results in order to engage in reasoned model building and theoretical inquiry. 14.3.1 ancient philosophy so-called common sense might appear to be inarticulately empiricist; and empiricism might be usefully thought of as a critical force resisting the pretensions of a more speculative rationalist philosophy. in the ancient world the kind of rationalism that many empiricists oppose was developed by plato (c. 428–c. 328 bce), the greatest of rationalist philosophers. the ground was prepared for him by three earlier bodies of thought: the ionian cosmologies of the 6th century bce, with their distinction between sensible appearance and a reality accessible only to pure reason; the philosophy of parmenides (early 5th century bce), the important early monist, in which purely rational argument is used to prove that the world is really an unchanging unity; and pythagoreanism, which, holding that the world is really made of numbers, took mathematics to be the repository of ultimate truth. the first empiricists in western philosophy were the sophists, who rejected such rationalist speculation about the world as a whole and took humanity and society to be the proper objects of philosophical inquiry. invoking skeptical arguments to undermine the claims of pure reason, they posed a challenge that invited the reaction that comprised plato’s philosophy. plato, and to a lesser extent aristotle, were both rationalists. but aristotle’s successors in the ancient greek schools of stoicism and epicureanism advanced an explicitly empiricist account of the formation of human concepts. for the stoics the human mind is at birth a clean slate, which comes to be stocked with concepts by the sensory impingement of the material world upon it. yet they also held that there are some concepts or beliefs, the “common notions,” that are present to the minds of all humans; and these soon came to be conceived in a nonempirical way. the empiricism of the epicureans, however, was more pronounced and consistent. for them human concepts are memory images, the mental residues of previous sense experience, and knowledge is as empirical as the ideas of which it is composed. 301“definition of empiric,” www.merriam-webster.com. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/natural_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/testable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/observation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/axiom https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/rationalism https://www.britannica.com/biography/plato https://www.britannica.com/topic/ionian https://www.britannica.com/topic/appearance https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.britannica.com/biography/parmenides-greek-philosopher https://www.britannica.com/topic/pluralism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/science/pythagoreanism https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/western-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/sophist-philosophy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoking https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprised https://www.britannica.com/biography/aristotle https://www.britannica.com/topic/stoicism https://www.britannica.com/topic/epicureanism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stoics https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical 128 14.3.2 medieval philosophy most medieval philosophers after st. augustine (354–430) took an empiricist position, at least about concepts, even if they recognized much substantial but nonempirical knowledge. the standard formulation of this age was: “there is nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the senses.” thus st. thomas aquinas (1225–74) rejected innate ideas altogether. both soul and body participate in perception, and all ideas are abstracted by the intellect from what is given to the senses. human ideas of unseen things, such as angels and demons and even god, are derived by analogy from the seen. the 13th-century scientist roger bacon emphasized empirical knowledge of the natural world and anticipated the polymath renaissance philosopher of science francis bacon (1561–1626) in preferring observation to deductive reasoning as a source of knowledge. the empiricism of the 14th-century franciscan nominalist william of ockham was more systematic. all knowledge of what exists in nature, he held, comes from the senses, though there is, to be sure, “abstractive knowledge” of necessary truths; but this is merely hypothetical and does not imply the existence of anything. his more extreme followers extended his line of reasoning toward a radical empiricism, in which causation is not a rationally intelligible connection between events but merely an observed regularity in their occurrence. 14.3.3 modern philosophy in the earlier and unsystematically speculative phases of renaissance philosophy, the claims of aristotelian logic to yield substantial knowledge were attacked by several 16th-century logicians; in the same century, the role of observation was also stressed. one mildly skeptical christian thinker, pierre gassendi (1592–1655), advanced a deliberate revival of the empirical doctrines of epicurus. but the most important defender of empiricism was francis bacon, who, though he did not deny the existence of a priori knowledge, claimed that, in effect, the only knowledge that is worth having (as contributing to the relief of the human condition) is empirically based knowledge of the natural world, which should be pursued by the systematic— indeed almost mechanical—arrangement of the findings of observation and is best undertaken in the cooperative and impersonal style of modern scientific research. bacon was, in fact, the first to formulate the principles of scientific induction. a materialist and nominalist, thomas hobbes (1588–1679) combined an extreme empiricism about concepts, which he saw as the outcome of material impacts on the bodily senses, with an extreme rationalism about knowledge, of which he took geometry to be the paradigm. for him all genuine knowledge is a priori, a matter of rigorous deduction from definitions. the senses provide ideas; but all knowledge comes from “reckoning,” from deductive calculations carried out on the names that the thinker has assigned to them. yet all knowledge also concerns material https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-augustine https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas https://www.britannica.com/topic/soul-religion-and-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/science/abstraction https://www.britannica.com/topic/angel-religion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analogy https://www.britannica.com/biography/roger-bacon https://www.britannica.com/event/renaissance https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-science https://www.britannica.com/biography/francis-bacon-viscount-saint-alban https://www.britannica.com/topic/nominalism https://www.britannica.com/biography/william-of-ockham https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypothetical https://www.britannica.com/topic/radical-empiricism https://www.britannica.com/topic/radical-empiricism https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/biography/pierre-gassendi https://www.britannica.com/biography/epicurus https://www.britannica.com/biography/francis-bacon-viscount-saint-alban https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-priori-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/topic/induction-reason https://www.britannica.com/biography/thomas-hobbes https://www.britannica.com/science/geometry https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paradigm https://www.britannica.com/topic/deduction-reason 129 and sensible existences, since everything that exists is a body.302 on the other hand, many of the most important claims of hobbes’s ethics and political philosophy certainly seem to be a posteriori, insofar as they rely heavily on his experience of human beings and the ways in which they interact. the most elaborate and influential presentation of empiricism was made by john locke (1632– 1704), an early enlightenment philosopher, in the first two books of his essay concerning human understanding (1690). all knowledge, he held, comes from sensation or from reflection, by which he meant the introspective awareness of the workings of one’s own mind. locke often seemed not to separate clearly the two issues of the nature of concepts and the justification of beliefs. his book i, though titled “innate ideas,” is largely devoted to refuting innate knowledge. even so, he later admitted that much substantial knowledge—in particular, that of mathematics and morality—is a priori. he argued that infants know nothing; that if humans are said to know innately what they are capable of coming to know, then all knowledge is, trivially, innate; and that no beliefs whatever are universally accepted. locke was more consistent about the empirical character of all concepts, and he described in detail the ways in which simple ideas can be combined to form complex ideas of what has not in fact been experienced. one group of dubiously empirical concepts—those of unity, existence, and number—he took to be derived both from sensation and from reflection. but he allowed one a priori concept—that of substance—which the mind adds, seemingly from its own resources, to its conception of any regularly associated group of perceptible qualities.303 bishop george berkeley (1685–1753), a theistic idealist and opponent of materialism, applied locke’s empiricism about concepts to refute locke’s account of human knowledge of the external world. because berkeley was convinced that in sense experience one is never aware of anything but what he called “ideas” (mind-dependent qualities), he drew and embraced the inevitable conclusion that physical objects are simply collections of perceived ideas, a position that ultimately leads to phenomenalism—i.e., to the view that propositions about physical reality are reducible to propositions about actual and possible sensations. he accounted for the continuity and orderliness of the world by supposing that its reality is upheld in the perceptions of an unsleeping god. the theory of spiritual substance involved in berkeley’s position seems to be vulnerable, however, to most of the same objections as those that he posed against locke. although berkeley admitted that he did not have an idea of mind (either his own or the mind of god), he claimed that he was able to form what he called a “notion” of it. it is not clear how to reconcile the existence of such notions with a thoroughgoing empiricism about concepts. 302 h.c. ezebuilo, “locke, berkeley and hume: a brief survey of empiricism,” international journal of research in education, humanities and commerce 1(2), (2020). 303 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-locke https://www.britannica.com/event/enlightenment-european-history https://www.britannica.com/topic/essay-concerning-human-understanding https://www.britannica.com/topic/essay-concerning-human-understanding https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conception https://www.britannica.com/biography/george-berkeley https://www.britannica.com/topic/idealism https://www.britannica.com/topic/materialism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/idealism https://www.britannica.com/topic/phenomenalism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continuity https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vulnerable https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconcile 130 the scottish skeptical philosopher david hume (1711–76) fully elaborated locke’s empiricism and used it reductively to argue that there can be no more to the concepts of body, mind, and causal connection than what occurs in the experiences from which they arise. like berkeley, hume was convinced that perceptions involve no constituents that can exist independently of the perceptions themselves. unlike berkeley, he could find neither an idea nor a notion of mind or self, and as a result his radical empiricism contained an even more parsimonious view of what exists. while berkeley thought that only minds and their ideas exist, hume thought that only perceptions exist and that it is impossible to form an idea of anything that is not a perception or a complex of perceptions. for hume all necessary truth is formal or conceptual, determined by the various relations that hold between ideas. an attempt to resolve the controversy between empiricists and their opponents was made in the transcendental idealism of kant, who drew upon both hume and gottfried wilhelm leibniz (1646–1716). with the dictum that, although all knowledge begins with experience it does not all arise from experience, he established a clear distinction between the innate and the a priori. he held that there are a priori concepts, or categories—substance and cause being the most important—and also substantial or synthetic a priori truths. although not derived from experience, the latter apply to experience. a priori concepts and propositions do not relate to a reality that transcends experience; they reflect, instead, the mind’s way of organizing the amorphous mass of sense impressions that flow in upon it. lockean empiricism prevailed in 19th-century england until the rise of hegelianism in the last quarter of the century. to be sure, the scottish philosophers who followed hume but avoided his skeptical conclusions insisted that humans do have substantial a priori knowledge. but the philosophy of john stuart mill (1806–1873) is thoroughly empiricist. he held that all knowledge worth having, including mathematics, is empirical. the apparent necessity and aprioricity of mathematics, according to mill, is the result of the unique massiveness of its empirical confirmation. all real knowledge for mill is inductive and empirical, and deduction is sterile. it is not clear that mill consistently adhered to this position, however. in both his epistemology and his ethics, he sometimes seemed to recognize the need for first principles that could be known without proof.304 the philosopher of evolution herbert spencer (1820–1903) offered another explanation of the apparent necessity of some beliefs: they are the well-attested (or naturally selected) empirical beliefs inherited by living humans from their evolutionary ancestors. two important mathematicians and pioneers in the philosophy of modern physics, william kingdon clifford (1845–1879) and karl pearson (1857–1936), defended radically empiricist philosophies of science, anticipating the logical empiricism of the 20th century. 304 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-hume https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituents https://www.britannica.com/topic/radical-empiricism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parsimonious https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceptual https://www.britannica.com/topic/transcendental-idealism https://www.britannica.com/biography/immanuel-kant https://www.britannica.com/biography/gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz https://www.britannica.com/biography/gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synthetic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcends https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amorphous https://www.britannica.com/topic/hegelianism https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-stuart-mill https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/science/evolution-scientific-theory https://www.britannica.com/biography/herbert-spencer https://www.britannica.com/topic/explanation https://www.britannica.com/biography/william-kingdon-clifford https://www.britannica.com/biography/karl-pearson 131 14.3.4 contemporary philosophy one of the most influential empiricists of the 20th century was the great british philosopher and logician bertrand russell (1872–1970). early in his career russell admitted both synthetic a priori knowledge and concepts of unobservable entities. later, through discussions with his pupil ludwig wittgenstein (1889–1951), russell became convinced that the truths of logic and mathematics are analytic and that logical analysis is the essence of philosophy. in his empiricist phase, russell analyzed concepts in terms of what one is “directly acquainted” with in experience (where experience was construed broadly enough to include not only awareness of sense data but also awareness of properties construed as universals). in his neutral monist phase, he tried to show that even the concepts of formal logic are ultimately empirical, though the experience that supplies them may be introspective instead of sensory. doctrines developed by russell and wittgenstein influenced the german-american philosopher rudolf carnap (1891–1970) and the vienna circle, a discussion group in which the philosophy of logical positivism was developed. the empirical character of logical positivism is especially evident in its formulation of what came to be known as the “verification principle,” according to which a sentence is meaningful only if it is either tautologous or in principle verifiable on the basis of sense experience. later developments in epistemology served to make some empiricist ideas about knowledge and justification more attractive. one of the traditional problems faced by more radical forms of empiricism was that they seemed to provide too slender a foundation upon which to justify what humans think they know.305 if sensations can occur in the absence of physical objects, for example, and if what one knows immediately is only the character of one’s own sensations, how can one legitimately infer knowledge of anything else? hume argued that the existence of a sensation is not a reliable indicator of anything other than itself. in contrast, adherents of a contemporary school of epistemology known as “externalism” have argued that sensations (and other mental states) can play a role in justifying what humans think they know, even though the vast majority of humans are unaware of what that role is. the idea behind one form of externalism, “reliablism,” is that a belief is justified when it is produced through a reliable process, namely a process that reliably produces true beliefs. humans may be evolutionarily conditioned to respond to certain kinds of sensory stimuli with a host of generally true, and justified, beliefs about their environment. thus, within the framework of externalist epistemology, empiricism might not lead so easily to skepticism. in summary, philosophical empiricists hold no knowledge to be properly inferred or deduced unless it is derived from one’s sense-based experience. this view is commonly contrasted 305 ibid. https://www.britannica.com/biography/bertrand-russell https://www.britannica.com/biography/ludwig-wittgenstein https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/universal https://www.britannica.com/topic/neutral-monism https://www.britannica.com/topic/formal-logic https://www.britannica.com/biography/rudolf-carnap https://www.britannica.com/topic/vienna-circle https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-positivism https://www.britannica.com/topic/verifiability-principle https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism 132 with rationalism, which states that knowledge may be derived from reason independently of the senses. for example, john locke held that some knowledge (such as knowledge of god’s existence) could be arrived at through intuition and reasoning alone.306 similarly robert boyle, a prominent advocate of the experimental method, held that we have innate ideas.307 the main continental rationalists (descartes, spinoza, and leibniz) were also advocates of the empirical scientific method.308 between 600 and 200 bc, the vaisheshika school of hindu philosophy, founded by the ancient indian philosopher kanada, accepted perception and inference as the only two reliable sources of knowledge.309 the charvaka school held similar beliefs, asserting that perception is the only reliable source of knowledge while inference obtains knowledge with uncertainty. the earliest western proto-empiricists were the empiric school of ancient greek medical practitioners, founded in 330 bc.310 its members rejected the three doctrines of the dogmatic school, preferring to rely on the observation of phantasiai (i.e., phenomena, the appearances).the empiric school was closely allied with pyrrhonist school of philosophy, which made the philosophical case for their proto-empiricism. the notion of tabula rasa (clean slate or blank tablet) connotes a view of mind as an originally blank or empty recorder (locke used the words “white paper") on which experience leave mark. this deny that humans have innate ideas. the notion dates back to aristotle (c. 350 bc): “what the mind (nous) thinks must be in it in the same sense as letters are on a tablet (grammateion) which bears no actual writing (grammenon); this is just what happens in the case of the mind.”311 aristotle’s explanation of how this was possible was not strictly empiricist in a modern sense, but rather based on his theory of potentiality and actuality, and experience of sense perceptions still requires the help of the active nous. these notions contrasted with platonic notions of the human mind as an entity that pre-existed somewhere in the heavens/world of form, before being sent down to join a body on earth.312 aristotle was considered to give a more important position to sense perception than plato, and commentators in the middle ages summarized one of his positions as “nihil in intellectu nisi prius fuerit in sensu” (latin for “nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses”). this idea was later developed in ancient philosophy by the stoic school, from about 330 bc. stoic epistemology generally emphasized that the mind starts blank, but acquires knowledge as 306 luis e. loeb, from descartes to hume: continental metaphysics and the development of modern philosophy (ithaca, cornell university press, 1981), 56. 307 ibid. 308 ibid. 309 see d.p.s. bhawuk, spirituality and indian psychology, anthony marsella (ed.), (indianapolis: springer, 2011),172. 310“greek medicine: alexander the great,” www.greekmedicine.net. 311 aristotle, on the soul, 3.4.430a1 312 see plato’s phaedo and apolog. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rationalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_locke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/intuition_(knowledge) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/robert_boyle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rationalist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/spinoza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gottfried_wilhelm_leibniz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vaisheshika https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dar%c5%9bana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kanada_(philosopher) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/perception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/charvaka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empiric_school https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dogmatic_school https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/phantasiai https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pyrrhonism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tabula_rasa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/innate_ideas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aristotle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/potentiality_and_actuality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/active_intellect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/platonism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stoicism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/phaedo 133 the outside world is impressed upon it.313 the doxographer aetius summarizes this view as “when a man is born, the stoics say, he has the commanding part of his soul like a sheet of paper ready for writing upon.”314 during the middle ages (from the 5th to the 15th century bc) aristotle’s theory of tabula rasa was developed by islamic philosophers starting with al farabi (c. 872 – 951 bc), developing into an elaborate theory by avicenna (c. 980 – 1037)and demonstrated as a thought experiment by ibn tufail. for avicenna (ibn sina), for example, the tabula rasa is a pure potentiality that is actualized through education, and knowledge is attained through empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts developed through a syllogistic method of reasoning in which observations lead to propositional statements which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts315. the intellect itself develops from a material intellect, which is a potentiality that can acquire knowledge to the active intellect, the state of the human intellect in conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge.316 so the immaterial active intellect, separate from any individual person, is still essential for understanding to occur. in the 12th century ce, the andalusian muslim philosopher and novelist abu bakr ibn tufail included the theory of tabula rasa as a thought experiment in his arabic philosophical novel, hayy ibn yaqdhan in which he depicted the development of the mind of a feral child “from a tabula rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society” on a desert island, through experience alone. the latin translation of his philosophical novel, entitled philosophus autodidactus, published by edward pococke the younger in 1671, had an influence on john locke’s formulation of tabula rasa in an essay concerning human understanding.317 a similar islamic theological novel, theologus autodidactus, was written by the arab theologian and physician ibn al-nafis in the 13th century. it also dealt with the theme of empiricism through the story of a feral child on a desert island, but departed from its predecessor by depicting the development of the protagonist’s mind through contact with society rather than in isolation from society.318 during the 13th century thomas aquinas adopted the aristotelian position that the senses are essential to the mind into scholasticism; while bonaventure (1221–1274), one of aquinas’ strongest intellectual opponents, offered some of the strongest arguments in favour of the platonic idea of the mind. 313jeffrey bardzell, speculative grammar and stoic language theory in medieval allegorical narrative: from prudentius to alan of lille (new york: routledge, 2014), 18–19. 314diels-kranz, a.a. long and d.n. sedley (trans.), the hellenistic philosophers (vol. 1) (cambridge, ma: cambridge, 1987), 238. 315sajjad h. rizvi (2006), “avicenna/ibn sina (c. 980–1037),” internet encyclopedia of philosophy. 316 ibid. 317g. a. russell, the ‘arabick’ interest of the natural philosophers in seventeenth-century england (new york: brill publishers, 1994), 224. 318 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aetius_(philosopher) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/middle_ages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/islamic_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/al_farabi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/avicenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thought_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thought_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ibn_tufail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/avicenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/syllogism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/intellect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/passive_intellect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/potentiality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/active_intellect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/al-andalus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/muslim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ibn_tufail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ibn_tufail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thought_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/arabic_literature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/arabic_literature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hayy_ibn_yaqdhan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feral_child https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feral_child https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/desert_island https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/desert_island https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/latin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophical_novel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/edward_pococke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_locke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/an_essay_concerning_human_understanding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/an_essay_concerning_human_understanding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/islamic_theology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theologus_autodidactus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ibn_al-nafis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thomas_aquinas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aristotelianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scholasticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bonaventure http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/avicenna.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/internet_encyclopedia_of_philosophy 134 in the late renaissance, various writers began to question the medieval and classical understanding of knowledge acquisition in a more fundamental way. in political and historical writing niccolò machiavelli and his friend francesco guicciardini initiated a new realistic style of writing. machiavelli in particular was scornful of writers on politics who judged everything in comparison to mental ideals and demanded that people should study the effectual truth instead. their contemporary, leonardo da vinci (1452– 1519) said, “if you find from your own experience that something is a fact and it contradicts what some authority has written down, then you must abandon the authority and base your reasoning on your own findings.”319 significantly, an empirical metaphysical system was developed by the italian philosopher bernardino telesio which had an enormous impact on the development of later british philosophers such as francis bacon, who regarded telesio as “the first of the moderns.”320telesio’s influence can also be seen on the french philosophers rené descartes and pierre gassendi.321 the decidedly anti-aristotelian and anti-clerical music theorist vincenzo galilei (c.1520– 1591), father of galileo and the inventor of monody, made use of the method in successfully solving musical problems, firstly, of tuning such as the relationship of pitch to string tension and mass in stringed instruments, and to the volume of air in wind instruments; and secondly to composition, by his various suggestions to composers. the italian word he used for “experiment” was esperienza. it is known that he was the essential pedagogical influence upon the young galileo, his eldest son, arguably one of the most influential empiricists in history. vincenzo, through his tuning research, found the underlying truth at the heart of the misunderstood myth of ‘pythagoras’ hammers’ (the square of the numbers concerned yielded those musical intervals, not the actual numbers, as believed), and through this and other discoveries that demonstrated the fallibility of traditional authorities, a radically empirical attitude developed, passed on to galileo, which regarded “experience and demonstration” as the sine qua non of valid rational enquiry. 14.4 british empiricism british empiricism, a retrospective characterization, emerged during the 17th century as an approach to early modern philosophy and modern science. although integral to this overarching transition, francis bacon, in england, advanced empiricism at 1620, whereas rené descartes, in france, upheld rationalism around 1640, a distinction drawn by immanuel kant, in germany, near 1780. contributing later in the 17th century, thomas hobbes and baruch spinoza are retrospectively identified likewise as an empiricist and a rationalist, respectively. in the enlightenment during the 18th century, both george berkeley, in england, and david hume, 319camillia matuk, “seeing the body: the divergence of ancient chinese and western medical illustration,” journal of bio-communication, vol. 32(1), (2006), 1. 320 michaela boenke, “bernardino telesio,” the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy edward n. zalta (ed.), (2018), url = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/telesio/>. 321 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/renaissance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/medieval https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/classical_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/niccol%c3%b2_machiavelli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/francesco_guicciardini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/francesco_guicciardini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/leonardo_da_vinci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bernardino_telesio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/francis_bacon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pierre_gassendi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vincenzo_galilei https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/galileo_galilei https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/monody https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pythagorean_hammers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/early_modern_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/modern_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/francis_bacon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/novum_organum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/meditations_on_first_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/immanuel_kant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/critique_of_pure_reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/thomas_hobbes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baruch_spinoza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baruch_spinoza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_enlightenment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/george_berkeley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_hume https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/telesio/ 135 in scotland, became leading exponents of empiricism, a lead precedented in the late 17th century by john locke, also in england, hence the dominance of empiricism in british philosophy. 14.4.1 john locke in response to the early-to-mid-17th century continental rationalism, john locke (1632–1704) proposed in an essay concerning human understanding (1689) a very influential view wherein the only knowledge humans can have is a posteriori, that is, based upon experience. locke is famously attributed with holding the proposition that the human mind is a tabula rasa, a “blank tablet,” in locke’s words “white paper,” on which the experiences derived from sense impressions as a person’s life proceeds are written. there are two sources of our ideas: sensation and reflection. in both cases, a distinction is made between simple and complex ideas. the former are unanalysable, and are broken down into primary and secondary qualities. primary qualities are essential for the object in question to be what it is. without specific primary qualities, an object would not be what it is. for example, an apple is an apple because of the arrangement of its atomic structure. if an apple were structured differently, it would cease to be an apple. secondary qualities are the sensory information we can perceive from its primary qualities. for example, an apple can be perceived in various colours, sizes, and textures but it is still identified as an apple. therefore, its primary qualities dictate what the object essentially is, while its secondary qualities define its attributes. complex ideas combine simple ones, and dividethem into substances, modes, and relations. according to locke, our knowledge of things is a perception of ideas that are in accordance or discordance with each other, which is very different from the quest for certainty of descartes. 14.4.2 george berkeley a generation later, the irish anglican bishop, george berkeley (1685–1753), determined that locke’s view immediately opened a door that would lead to eventual atheism. in response to locke, he put forth in his treatise concerning the principles of human knowledge (1710) an important challenge to empiricism in which things only exist either as a result of their being perceived, or by virtue of the fact that they are an entity doing the perceiving. (for berkeley, god fills in for humans by doing the perceiving whenever humans are not there to do it.) in his text alciphron, berkeley maintained that any order humans may see in nature is the language or handwriting of god.322 berkeley’s approach to empiricism would later come to be called subjective idealism. 14.4.3 david hume the scottish philosopher david hume (1711–1776) responded to berkeley’s criticisms of locke, as well as other differences between early modern philosophers, and moved empiricism to a new level of skepticism. hume argued in keeping with the empiricist view that all knowledge is derived from sense experience, but he accepted that this has implications not normally acceptable to philosophers. he wrote, for example: locke divides all arguments into demonstrative and 322thornton stephen “berkeley’s theory of reality” in the journal of the limerick philosophical society, 1987, 60. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_locke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/continental_rationalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_locke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/an_essay_concerning_human_understanding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_posteriori https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tabula_rasa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/certainty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bishop_george_berkeley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/anglican https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/george_berkeley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/atheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/treatise_concerning_the_principles_of_human_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alciphron_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/subjective_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_hume https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/skepticism 136 probable. on this view, we must say that it is only probable that all men must die or that the sun will rise to-morrow, because neither of these can be demonstrated. but to conform our language more to common use, we ought to divide arguments into demonstrations, proofs, and probabilities—by ‘proofs’ meaning arguments from experience that leave no room for doubt or opposition.323 and: i believe the most general and most popular explication of this matter, is to say, that finding from experience, that there are several new productions in matter, such as the motions and variations of body, and concluding that there must somewhere be a power capable of producing them, we arrive at last by this reasoning at the idea of power and efficacy. but to be convinced that this explication is more popular than philosophical, we need but reflect on two very obvious principles. first, that reason alone can never give rise to any original idea, and secondly, that reason, as distinguished from experience, can never make us conclude, that a cause or productive quality is absolutely requisite to every beginning of existence. both these considerations have been sufficiently explained: and therefore shall not at present be any farther insisted on.324 hume divided all of human knowledge into two categories: relations of ideas and matters of fact. mathematical and logical propositions (e.g. “that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two sides”) are examples of the first, while propositions involving some contingent observation of the world (e.g. “the sun rises in the east”) are examples of the second. all of people’s ideas, in turn, are derived from their “impressions.” for hume, an impression corresponds roughly with what we call a sensation. to remember or to imagine such impressions is to have an idea. ideas are therefore the faint copies of sensations.325 hume maintained that no knowledge, even the most basic beliefs about the natural world, can be conclusively established by reason. rather, he maintained, our beliefs are more a result of accumulated habits, developed in response to accumulated sense experiences.326 among his many arguments hume also added another important slant to the debate about scientific method—that of the problem of induction. he argued that it requires inductive reasoning to arrive at the premises for the principle of inductive reasoning, and therefore the justification for 323 d. hume. “of probability,” enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of morals (oxford: clarendon press, 1975). 324 ibid., “of the idea of a necessary connexion.” 325 cf. h.c. ezebuilo, “locke, berkeley and hume, 96-99. 326 ibid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/contingent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientific_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/problem_of_induction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inductive_reasoning http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4320/4320-h/4320-h.htm http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4320/4320-h/4320-h.htm 137 inductive reasoning is a circular argument.327among hume’s conclusions regarding the problem of induction is that there is no certainty that the future will resemble the past. thus, as a simple instance posed by hume, we cannot know with certainty by inductive reasoning that the sun will continue to rise in the east, but instead come to expect it to do so because it has repeatedly done so in the past. hume concluded that such things as belief in an external world and belief in the existence of the self were not rationally justifiable. according to hume these beliefs were to be accepted nonetheless because of their profound basis in instinct and custom. his lasting legacy, however, was the doubt that his skeptical arguments cast on the legitimacy of inductive reasoning, allowing many skeptics who followed to cast similar doubt. 14.4.3 phenomenalism most of hume’s followers have disagreed with his conclusion that belief in an external world is rationally unjustifiable, contending that hume’s own principles implicitly contained the rational justification for such a belief, that is, beyond being content to let the issue rest on human instinct, custom and habit.328 according to an extreme empiricist theory known as phenomenalism, anticipated by the arguments of both hume and george berkeley, a physical object is a kind of construction out of our experiences. phenomenalism is the view that physical objects, properties, events (whatever is physical) are reducible to mental objects, properties, events. ultimately, only mental objects, properties, events, exist—hence the closely related term subjective idealism. by the phenomenalistic line of thinking, to have a visual experience of a real physical thing is to have an experience of a certain kind of group of experiences. this type of set of experiences possesses a constancy and coherence that is lacking in the set of experiences of which hallucinations, for example, are a part. as john stuart mill put it in the mid-19th century, matter is the “permanent possibility of sensation.”329 mill’s empiricism went a significant step beyond hume in still another respect: in maintaining that induction is necessary for all meaningful knowledge including mathematics. as summarized by d.w. hamlin: mill claimed that mathematical truths were merely very highly confirmed generalizations from experience; mathematical inference, generally conceived as deductive [and a priori] in nature, mill set down as founded on induction. thus, in mill's philosophy there was no real place for knowledge based on relations of ideas. in his view logical and mathematical necessity is psychological; we are merely unable to conceive any other possibilities than those that logical and mathematical propositions assert. this is 327 ibid. 328 h. morick, challenges to empiricism (indianapolis: hackett publishing, 1980), 14. 329 j.s. mill, “an examination of sir william rowan hamilton's philosophy,” in a.j. ayer and ramond winch (eds.), british empirical philosophers (new york, ny: simon and schuster, 1968), 51-52. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inductive_reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/phenomenalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/subjective_idealism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_stuart_mill 138 perhaps the most extreme version of empiricism known, but it has not found many defenders.330 mill’s empiricism thus held that knowledge of any kind is not from direct experience but an inductive inference from direct experience. the problems other philosophers have had with mill’s position center around the following issues: firstly, mill’s formulation encounters difficulty when it describes what direct experience is by differentiating only between actual and possible sensations. this misses some key discussion concerning conditions under which such “groups of permanent possibilities of sensation” might exist in the first place. berkeley put god in that gap; the phenomenalists, including mill, essentially left the question unanswered. in the end, lacking an acknowledgement of an aspect of reality that goes beyond mere possibilities of sensation, such a position leads to a version of subjective idealism. questions of how floor beams continue to support a floor while unobserved, how trees continue to grow while unobserved and untouched by human hands, etc., remain unanswered, and perhaps unanswerable in these terms.331 secondly, mill’s formulation leaves open the unsettling possibility that the “gap-filling entities are purely possibilities and not actualities at all.”332 thirdly, mill’s position, by calling mathematics merely another species of inductive inference, misapprehends mathematics. it fails to fully consider the structure and method of mathematical science, the products of which are arrived at through an internally consistent deductive set of procedures which do not, either today or at the time mill wrote, fall under the agreed meaning of induction.333 the phenomenalist phase of post-humean empiricism ended by the 1940s, for by that time it had become obvious that statements about physical things could not be translated into statements about actual and possible sense data.334 if a physical object statement is to be translatable into a sense-data statement, the former must be at least deducible from the latter. but it came to be realized that there is no finite set of statements about actual and possible sense-data from which we can deduce even a single physical-object statement. the translating or paraphrasing statement must be couched in terms of normal observers in normal conditions of observation. there is, however, no finite set of statements that are couched in purely sensory terms and can express the satisfaction of the condition of the presence of a normal observer. according to phenomenalism, to say that a normal observer is present is to make the hypothetical statement that were a doctor to inspect the observer, the observer would appear to the doctor to be normal. but, of course, the doctor himself must be a normal observer. if we are to specify this doctor's normality in sensory terms, we must make reference to a second doctor who, when inspecting the sense organs of the first doctor, would himself have to have the sense data a normal observer has when inspecting 330 “empiricism,” macmillan encyclopedia of philosophy, vol.2, (1969), 503. 331 ibid. 332 ibid. 333 ibid. 334 john bolender, “factual phenomenalism: a supervenience theory,” sorites, no. 9, 16–31. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mathematical_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/deductive_reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inductive_reasoning 139 the sense organs of a subject who is a normal observer. and if we are to specify in sensory terms that the second doctor is a normal observer, we must refer to a third doctor, and so on.335 14.5 logical empiricism logical empiricism (also logical positivism or neopositivism) was an early 20th century attempt to synthesize the essential ideas of british empiricism (example, a strong emphasis on sensory experience as the basis for knowledge) with certain insights from mathematical logic that had been developed by gottlob frege and ludwig wittgenstein. some of the key figures in this movement were otto neurath, moritz schlick and the rest of the vienna circle, along with a.j. ayer, rudolf carnap and hans reichenbach. the neopositivists subscribed to a notion of philosophy as the conceptual clarification of the methods, insights and discoveries of the sciences. they saw in the logical symbolism elaborated by frege (1848–1925) and bertrand russell (1872–1970) a powerful instrument that could rationally reconstruct all scientific discourse into an ideal, logically perfect, language that would be free of the ambiguities and deformations of natural language. this gave rise to what they saw as metaphysical pseudoproblems and other conceptual confusions. by combining frege’s thesis that all mathematical truths are logical with the early wittgenstein’s idea that all logical truths are mere linguistic tautologies, they arrived at a twofold classification of all propositions: the analytic (a priori) and the synthetic (a posteriori).336on this basis, they formulated a strong principle of demarcation between sentences that have sense and those that do not: the so-called “verification principle”. any sentence that is not purely logical, or is unverifiable, is devoid of meaning. as a result, most metaphysical, ethical, aesthetic and other traditional philosophical problems came to be considered pseudoproblems.337 in the extreme empiricism of the neopositivists, any genuinely synthetic assertion must be reducible to an ultimate assertion (or set of ultimate assertions) that expresses direct observations or perceptions. in later years, carnap and neurath abandoned this sort of phenomenalism in favor of a rational reconstruction of knowledge into the language of an objective spatio-temporal physics. that is, instead of translating sentences about physical objects into sense-data, such sentences were to be translated into so-called protocol sentences, for example, “x at location y and at time t observes such and such.”338 the central theses of logical positivism (verificationism, the analytic–synthetic distinction, reductionism, etc.) came under sharp attack by thinkers such as nelson goodman, w.v. quine, hilary putnam, karl popper, and richard rorty. by the late 1960s, it had become evident to most philosophers that the movement had 335roderick chisholm m., “the problem of empiricism,” the journal of philosophy, 45(19), (1948), 512–13. 336 peter achinstein, and stephen f. barker, the legacy of logical positivism: studies in the philosophy of science (baltimore: johns hopkins university press, 1969). 337 ibid. 338 nicholas rescher, the heritage of logical positivism (lanham: university press of america, 1985, 244. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mathematical_logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gottlob_frege https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ludwig_wittgenstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/otto_neurath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/moritz_schlick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vienna_circle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a.j._ayer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a.j._ayer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rudolf_carnap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hans_reichenbach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bertrand_russell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logical_truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logical_truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tautology_(logic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/verification_principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nelson_goodman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/w.v._quine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hilary_putnam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/karl_popper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/richard_rorty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/richard_rorty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/peter_achinstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stephen_francis_barker 140 pretty much run its course, though its influence is still significant among contemporary analytic philosophers such as michael dummett and other anti-realists. 14.6 criticism and evaluation the earliest expressions of empiricism in ancient greek philosophy were those of the sophists. in reaction to them, plato presented the rationalistic view that humans have only “opinion” about changing, perceptible, existing things in space and time; that “knowledge” can be had only of timeless, necessary truths; and that the objects of knowledge—the unchanging and imperceptible forms or universals (such as the beautiful, the just, and so on)—are the only things that are truly real. the circles and triangles of geometrical “knowledge,” in this view, are quite different in their perfect exactness from the approximately circular and triangular things present to human senses. in his dialogue the phaedo, plato expounded a theory of literally innate ideas; humans, for example, have a conception of exact equality, which, since it could not have been supplied by the senses, must have been acquired by the soul before it was embodied. aristotle agreed with plato that knowledge is of the universal but held that such universal forms should not be conceived as “separated” from the matter embodying them. this belief does not make aristotle an empiricist, though he was certainly a less extreme rationalist than plato. aristotle took the rationalist view that every science or body of knowledge must resemble “euclidean geometry” in consisting of deductions from first principles that are selfevidently and necessarily true and that, although the senses acquaint humans with the sensible forms of things, there cannot be knowledge of them unless reason is brought into play to apprehend their intelligible forms. the stoic view of “common notions,” or beliefs that are held by all humans—a potentially rationalistic element in an otherwise empirical school of thought—was expanded during the early medieval period by st. augustine, a thoroughgoing rationalist. the stoic common notions, augustine held, are truths that god has implanted in the human mind through direct illumination. although the early modern expression of empiricism in the 17th century by francis bacon heralded the scientific age, its influence was lessened by his failure to appreciate the revolutionary use of mathematics that comprised the genius of galileo’s new physics and, even more fundamentally, by his underestimation of the need for imaginative conjecture in the formation of scientific hypotheses to restrict the overwhelming number of facts that would otherwise have to be handled. in contrast to bacon’s view, the philosopher and mathematician rené descartes (1596–1650), one of the principal founders of modern thought, developed a form of rationalism that was more immediately influential. for descartes some of the ideas that are critically important for philosophy, mathematics, and physics are innate, and sense experience is at most the agency that elicits these ideas. in principle, much of human knowledge is a priori and demonstrable by pure reasoning, but in practice, because the human https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/analytic_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/analytic_philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/michael_dummett https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/anti-realism https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/plato https://www.britannica.com/topic/form-philosophy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dialogue https://www.britannica.com/topic/phaedo-by-plato https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conception https://www.britannica.com/biography/aristotle https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.britannica.com/science/euclidean-geometry https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.britannica.com/topic/stoicism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-augustine https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stoic https://www.britannica.com/biography/francis-bacon-viscount-saint-alban https://www.britannica.com/biography/francis-bacon-viscount-saint-alban https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprised https://www.britannica.com/biography/galileo-galilei https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypotheses https://www.britannica.com/biography/rene-descartes https://www.britannica.com/topic/rationalism 141 intellect is finite, it is necessary to rely on experience to confirm these propositions when rational proof is beyond reach. in england, innate ideas and knowledge were defended by edward lord herbert of cherbury (1582–1648), whose philosophy was a precursor of deism, and by a school of puritan humanists known as the cambridge platonists. the case for innate ideas, however, is hard to establish; there can be in the nature of the case little actual evidence that one can possess concepts before having had some relevant experience. in the second half of the 17th century, the empiricist views of locke were similarly controverted by leibniz,339 who examined locke’s views in minute detail arguing that ideas can be virtually innate in a less trivial sense than locke allowed. interpreting locke’s notion of reflection as reasoning rather than as introspection, leibniz supposed that locke was more of a rationalist than he really was. in contemporary philosophy, there are thinkers who, though broadly sympathetic to logical positivism, have voiced reservations about some of the doctrines often associated with traditional empiricism. one important philosopher of science, karl popper (1902–1994), rejected the inductivism that views the growth of empirical knowledge as the result of a mechanical routine of generalization based on experienced correlations. popper argued that a statement is empirical if it is falsifiable by experience,340 that is, if there are possible experiences that would show that the statement is false. given the central role that experience plays in falsification, however, popper still fell squarely within the empiricist camp. an influential american philosopher and logician, w.v.o. quine (1908–2000), was critical of the logical positivists’ frequent recourse to the concept of meaning and rejected the sharp distinction they made between analytic and synthetic truths. quine held that human concepts and beliefs are the joint outcome of experience and convention, and he denied that the role of the two factors can be as readily distinguished as empiricists assert. the theory of knowledge has been one of the central disciplines of western philosophy since the 17th century, and its most basic issue is that between empiricism and rationalism, an issue that is still being actively debated. on the one hand, the idea that science rests on substantial but nonempirical presuppositions has been put in question by the fact that in some areas it seems to get along without them: without conservation in cosmology, without causality in quantum physics. on the other hand, the traditional theory of the innate powers of the mind was reanimated by the considerations underlying the theory of language offered by the american linguist noam chomsky, who holds that the learning of 339 leibniz, “new essay concerning human understanding,” https://www.britannica.com/topic/new-essayconcerning-human-understanding/ 340 h.c. ezebuilo, “locke, berkeley and hume: a brief survey of empiricism,” international journal of research in education, humanities and commerce 1(2), (2020). https://www.britannica.com/topic/evidence-law https://www.britannica.com/biography/edward-herbert-1st-baron-herbert-of-cherbury https://www.britannica.com/biography/edward-herbert-1st-baron-herbert-of-cherbury https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precursor https://www.britannica.com/topic/deism https://www.britannica.com/topic/puritanism https://www.britannica.com/topic/humanism https://www.britannica.com/topic/cambridge-platonists https://www.britannica.com/biography/gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-positivism https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-positivism https://www.britannica.com/biography/karl-popper https://www.britannica.com/biography/willard-van-orman-quine https://www.britannica.com/topic/meaning https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analytic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synthetic https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciplines https://www.britannica.com/topic/western-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-science https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quantum https://www.britannica.com/topic/language https://www.britannica.com/biography/noam-chomsky https://www.britannica.com/topic/new 142 language is far too rapid and too universal to be attributed entirely to an empirical process of conditioning.341 the basic strength of empiricism consists in its recognition that human concepts and beliefs apply to a world outside oneself, and that it is by way of the senses that this world acts upon the individual. the question, however, of how much the mind itself contributes to the task of processing its sensory input is one that has remained unanswered. 341 stephen p. stich, between chomskian rationalism and popperian empericism. the british journal for the philosophy of science 30(4), 1979,329-347. https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea 143 chapter fifteen rationalism 15.1 what is rationalism? rationalism is the epistemological view that reason is the chief source of knowledge and the main determinant of what constitutes knowledge. more broadly, it can also refer to any view which appeals to reason as a source of knowledge or justification. rationalism is one of the two classical views in epistemology, the other being empiricism. rationalists claim that the mind, through the use of reason, can directly grasp certain truths in various domains, including logic, mathematics, ethics, and metaphysics. rationalist views can range from modest views in mathematics and logic (such as that of gottlob frege) to ambitious metaphysical systems (such as that of baruch spinoza). some of the most famous rationalists include plato, rené descartes, baruch spinoza, and gottfried leibniz. rationalism is the view that regards reason as the main source and test of knowledge. holding that reality itself has an inherently logical structure, the rationalist asserts that a class of truths exists that the intellect can grasp directly. there are, according to the rationalists, certain rational principles—especially in logic and mathematics, and even in ethics and metaphysics—that are so fundamental that to deny them is to fall into contradiction. the rationalists’ confidence in reason and proof tends, therefore, to detract from their respect for other ways of knowing. rationalism has long been the rival of empiricism, the doctrine that all knowledge comes from, and must be tested by, sense experience. as against this doctrine, rationalism holds reason to be a faculty that can lay hold of truths beyond the reach of sense perception, both in certainty and generality. in stressing the existence of a “natural light,” rationalism has also been the rival of systems claiming esoteric knowledge, whether from mystical experience, revelation, or intuition, and has been opposed to various irrationalisms that tend to stress the biological, the emotional or volitional, the unconscious, or the existential at the expense of the rational. 15.2 expressions of rationalism rationalism has somewhat different meanings in different fields, depending upon the kind of theory to which it is opposed. in the psychology of perception, for example, rationalism is in a sense opposed to the genetic psychology of the swiss scholar jean piaget (1896–1980), who, exploring the development of thought and behaviour in the infant, argued that the categories of the mind develop only through the infant’s experience in concourse with the world. similarly, rationalism is opposed to transactionalism, a point of view in psychology according to which human perceptual skills are achievements, accomplished through actions performed in response to an active environment. on this view, the experimental claim is made that perception is conditioned by probability judgments formed on the basis of earlier actions performed in similar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mathematics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ethics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/metaphysics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gottlob_frege https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baruch_spinoza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ren%c3%a9_descartes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baruch_spinoza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gottfried_leibniz https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology https://www.britannica.com/topic/reality https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/science/mathematics https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics https://www.britannica.com/topic/empiricism https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/esoteric https://www.britannica.com/topic/mysticism https://www.britannica.com/topic/intuition https://www.britannica.com/topic/irrationalism https://www.britannica.com/science/unconscious https://www.britannica.com/topic/existentialism https://www.britannica.com/science/psychology https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/biography/jean-piaget https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment 144 situations. as a corrective to these sweeping claims, the rationalist defends a nativism, which holds that certain perceptual and conceptual capacities are innate—as suggested in the case of depth perception by experiments with “the visual cliff,” which, though platformed over with firm glass, the infant perceives as hazardous—though these native capacities may at times lie dormant until the appropriate conditions for their emergence arise. in the comparative study of languages, a similar nativism was developed beginning in the 1950s by the linguistic theorist noam chomsky, who, acknowledging a debt to rené descartes (1596– 1650), explicitly accepted the rationalistic doctrine of “innate ideas.” though the thousands of languages spoken in the world differ greatly in sounds and symbols, they sufficiently resemble each other in syntax to suggest that there is “a schema of universal grammar” determined by “innate presettings” in the human mind itself. these presettings, which have their basis in the brain, set the pattern for all experience, fix the rules for the formation of meaningful sentences, and explain why languages are readily translatable into one another. it should be added that what rationalists have held about innate ideas is not that some ideas are full-fledged at birth but only that the grasp of certain connections and self-evident principles, when it comes, is due to inborn powers of insight rather than to learning by experience. common to all forms of speculative rationalism is the belief that the world is a rationally ordered whole, the parts of which are linked by logical necessity and the structure of which is therefore intelligible. thus, in metaphysics it is opposed to the view that reality is a disjointed aggregate of incoherent bits and is thus opaque to reason. in particular, it is opposed to the logical atomisms of such thinkers as david hume (1711–76) and the early ludwig wittgenstein (1889– 1951), who held that facts are so disconnected that any fact might well have been different from what it is without entailing a change in any other fact. rationalists have differed, however, with regard to the closeness and completeness with which the facts are bound together. at the lowest level, they have all believed that the law of contradiction “a and not-a cannot coexist” holds for the real world, which means that every truth is consistent with every other; at the highest level, they have held that all facts go beyond consistency to a positive coherence; that is, they are so bound up with each other that none could be different without all being different. in epistemology where its claims are clearest, rationalism holds that at least some human knowledge is gained through a priori (prior to experience), or rational, insight as distinct from sense experience, which too often provides a confused and merely tentative approach. in the debate between empiricism and rationalism, empiricists hold the simpler and more sweeping position, the humean claim that all knowledge of fact stems from perception. rationalists, on the contrary, urge that some, though not all, knowledge arises through direct apprehension by the intellect. what the intellectual faculty apprehends is objects that transcend sense experience— universals and their relations. a universal is an abstraction, a characteristic that may reappear in various instances: the number three, for example, or the triangularity that all triangles have in common, or the humanity that all human beings have in common. though these cannot be seen, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceptual https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea https://www.britannica.com/science/visual-cliff https://www.britannica.com/topic/language https://www.britannica.com/biography/noam-chomsky https://www.britannica.com/biography/rene-descartes https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea https://www.britannica.com/topic/syntax https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/topic/insight-learning https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysics https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aggregate https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opaque https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-atomism https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-atomism https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-hume https://www.britannica.com/biography/ludwig-wittgenstein https://www.britannica.com/topic/contradictories https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-priori-knowledge https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apprehension https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcend https://www.britannica.com/topic/universal https://www.britannica.com/topic/universal https://www.britannica.com/science/abstraction 145 heard, or felt, rationalists point out that humans can plainly think about them and about their relations. this kind of knowledge, which includes the whole of logic and mathematics as well as fragmentary insights in many other fields, is, in the rationalist view, the most important and certain knowledge that the mind can achieve. such a priori knowledge is both necessary (that, it cannot be conceived as otherwise) and universal, in the sense that it admits of no exceptions. in the philosophy of immanuel kant (1724–1804), epistemological rationalism finds expression in the claim that the mind imposes its own inherent categories or forms upon incipient experience. in ethics, rationalism holds the position that reason, rather than feeling, custom, or authority, is the ultimate court of appeal in judging good and bad, right and wrong. one of the most notable representatives of rational ethics is kant, who held that the way to judge an act is to check its self-consistency as apprehended by the intellect: to note, first, what it is essentially, or in principle—a lie, for example, or a theft—and then to ask if one can consistently will that the principle be made universal. is theft, then, right? the answer must be “no,” because, if theft were generally approved, people’s property would not be their own as opposed to anyone else’s, and theft would then become meaningless; the notion, if universalized, would thus destroy itself, as reason by itself is sufficient to show. in religion, rationalism commonly means that all human knowledge comes through the use of natural faculties, without the aid of supernatural revelation. “reason” is here used in a broader sense, referring to human cognitive powers generally, as opposed to supernatural grace or faith— though it is also in sharp contrast to so-called existential approaches to truth. reason, for the rationalist, thus stands opposed to many of the religions of the world, including christianity, which have held that the divine has revealed itself through inspired persons or writings and which have required, at times, that its claims be accepted as infallible, even when they do not accord with natural knowledge. religious rationalists hold, on the other hand, that if the clear insights of human reason must be set aside in favour of alleged revelation, then human thought is everywhere rendered suspect—even in the reasonings of the theologians themselves. there cannot be two ultimately different ways of warranting truth, they assert; hence rationalism argues that reason, with its standard of consistency, must be the final court of appeal. religious rationalism can reflect either a traditional piety, when endeavouring to display the alleged sweet reasonableness of religion, or an antiauthoritarian temper, when aiming to supplant religion with the “goddess of reason.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-priori-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/topic/kantianism https://www.britannica.com/biography/immanuel-kant https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inherent https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incipient https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethics https://www.britannica.com/topic/categorical-imperative https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-religion https://www.britannica.com/topic/revelation https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive https://www.britannica.com/topic/grace-religion https://www.britannica.com/topic/faith https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/existential https://www.britannica.com/topic/christianity https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleged https://www.britannica.com/topic/theology 146 15.3 history of rationalism 15.3.1 epistemological rationalism in ancient philosophies the first western philosopher to stress rationalist insight was pythagoras, a shadowy figure of the 6th century bce. noticing that, for a right triangle, a square built on its hypotenuse equals the sum of those on its sides and that the pitches of notes sounded on a lute bear a mathematical relation to the lengths of the strings, pythagoras held that these harmonies reflected the ultimate nature of reality. he summed up the implied metaphysical rationalism in the words “all is number.” it is probable that he had caught the rationalist’s vision, later seen by galileo (1564– 1642), of a world governed throughout by mathematically formulable laws. the difficulty in this view, however, is that, working with universals and their relations, which, like the multiplication table, are timeless and changeless, it assumes a static world and ignores the particular, changing things of daily life. the difficulty was met boldly by the rationalist parmenides (born c. 515 bce), who insisted that the world really is a static whole and that the realm of change and motion is an illusion, or even a self-contradiction. his disciple zeno of elea (c. 495–c. 430 bce) further argued that anything thought to be moving is confronted with a row of points infinite in number, all of which it must traverse; hence it can never reach its goal, nor indeed move at all. of course, perception tells us that we do move, but zeno, compelled to choose between perception and reason, clung to reason. the exalting of rational insight above perception was also prominent in plato (c. 427–c. 347 bce). in the meno, socrates (c. 470–399 bce) dramatized the innateness of knowledge by calling upon an illiterate slave boy and, drawing a square in the sand, proceeding to elicit from him, step by step, the proof of a theorem in geometry of which the boy could never have heard (to double the size of a square, draw a square on the diagonal). such knowledge, rationalists insist, is certain, universal, and completely unlearned. plato so greatly admired the rigorous reasoning of geometry that he is alleged to have inscribed over the door of his academy the phrase “let no one unacquainted with geometry enter here.” his famous forms are accessible only to reason, not to sense. but how are they related to sensible things? his answers differed. sometimes he viewed the forms as distilling those common properties of a class in virtue of which one identifies anything as a member of it. thus, what makes anything a triangle is it’s having three straight sides; this is its essence. at other times, plato held that the form is an ideal, a non-sensible goal to which the sensible thing approximates; the geometer’s perfect triangle “never was on sea or land,” though all actual triangles more or less embody it. he conceived the forms as more real than the sensible things that are their shadows and saw that philosophers must penetrate these invisible essences and see with their mind’s eye how they are linked together. for plato they formed an orderly system that was at once eternal, intelligible, and good. https://www.britannica.com/biography/pythagoras https://www.britannica.com/topic/harmony-philosophy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysical https://www.britannica.com/science/number-system https://www.britannica.com/biography/galileo-galilei https://www.britannica.com/biography/parmenides-greek-philosopher https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illusion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciple https://www.britannica.com/biography/zeno-of-elea https://www.britannica.com/biography/zeno-of-elea https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infinite https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.britannica.com/biography/plato https://www.britannica.com/topic/meno-by-plato https://www.britannica.com/biography/socrates https://www.britannica.com/science/geometry https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleged https://www.britannica.com/topic/form-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind 147 plato’s successor aristotle (384–322 bce) conceived of the work of reason in the same way, though he did not view the forms as independent. his chief contribution to rationalism lay in his syllogistic logic, regarded as the chief instrument of rational explanation. humans explain particular facts by bringing them under general principles. why does one think socrates will die? because he is human, and humans are mortal. why should one accept the general principle itself that all humans are mortal? in experience such principles have so far held without exception. but the mind cannot finally rest on this sort of explanation. humans never wholly understand a fact or event until they can bring it under a principle that is self-evident and necessary; they then have the clearest explanation possible. on this central thesis of rationalism, the three great greeks were in accord. nothing comparable in importance to their thought appeared in rationalistic philosophy in the next 1,800 years, though the work of st. thomas aquinas (c. 1225–74) was an impressive attempt to blend greek rationalism and christian revelation into a single harmonious system. 15.3.2 epistemological rationalism in modern philosophies the first modern rationalist was descartes, an original mathematician whose ambition was to introduce into philosophy the rigour and clearness that delighted him in mathematics. he set out to doubt everything in the hope of arriving in the end at something indubitable. this he reached in his famous cogito ergo sum, “i think, therefore i am”; for to doubt one’s own doubting would be absurd. here then was a fact of absolute certainty, rendered such by the clearness and distinctness with which it presented itself to his reason. his task was to build on this as a foundation, to deduce from it a series of other propositions, each following with the same selfevidence. he hoped thus to produce a philosophical system on which people could agree as completely as they do on the geometry of euclid. the main cause of error, he held, lay in the impulsive desire to believe before the mind is clear. the clearness and distinctness upon which he insisted was not that of perception but of conception, the clearness with which the intellect grasps an abstract idea, such as the number three or its being greater than two. his method was adopted in essentials by both benedict spinoza (1632–77) and g.w. leibniz (1646–1716), who agreed that the framework of things could be known by a priori thinking. they differed from him, however, in their starting points. what was most undeniable to spinoza was not the existence of his self but that of the universe, called by him “substance.” from the idea of substance, and with the aid of a few definitions and axioms, he derived his entire system, which he set forth in his ethics in a formal fashion patterned after euclid’s geometry. still, for both spinoza and leibniz much in nature remained stubbornly opaque. leibniz distinguished necessary truths, those of which the opposite is impossible (as in mathematics), from contingent truths, the opposite of which is possible, such as “snow is white.” but was this an ultimate distinction? at times leibniz said boldly that if only humans knew https://www.britannica.com/biography/aristotle https://www.britannica.com/topic/syllogism https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/explanation https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas https://www.britannica.com/topic/revelation https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/science/mathematics https://www.britannica.com/topic/methodic-doubt https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indubitable https://www.britannica.com/topic/cogito-ergo-sum https://www.britannica.com/science/geometry https://www.britannica.com/biography/euclid-greek-mathematician https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/topic/clarity-and-distinctness https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception https://www.britannica.com/topic/concept-formation https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/biography/benedict-de-spinoza https://www.britannica.com/biography/gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz https://www.britannica.com/biography/gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz https://www.britannica.com/topic/substance-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-by-spinoza https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opaque https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contingent 148 enough, they would see that every true proposition was necessarily true—that there are no contingent truths, that snow must be white. how, then, does reason operate and how is it possible to have knowledge that goes beyond experience? a new answer was given by immanuel kant in his critique of pure reason (1781; 1787), which, as he said, involved a copernican revolution in philosophy. the reason that logic and mathematics will remain valid for all experience is simply that their framework lies within the human mind; they are forms of arrangement imposed from within upon the raw materials of sensation. humans will always find things arranged in certain patterns because it is they who have unwittingly so arranged them. kant held, however, that these certainties were bought at a heavy price. just because a priori insights are a reflection of the mind, they cannot be trusted as a reflection of the world outside the mind. whether the rational order in which sensation is arranged—the order, for example, of time, space, and causality—represents an order holding among things-in-themselves (german dinge-an-sich) which cannot be known. kant’s rationalism was thus the counterpart of a profound skepticism. g.w.f. hegel (1770–1831), the most thoroughgoing of rationalist thinkers, attempted to break out of this skepticism. he argued that to think of an unknowable is already to bring it within the sphere of what is known and that it is meaningless to talk of a region in which logic is invalid. further, to raise the question “why?” is to presume that there is an intelligible answer to it; indeed, the faith of the philosopher must be that the real is the rational and the rational real, for this faith is implicit in the philosophical enterprise itself. as an attempt to understand and explain the world, philosophy is a process of placing something in a context that reveals it as necessary. but this necessity is not, as earlier rationalists had supposed, an all-or-nothing affair issuing in a self-evident finality. understanding is a matter of degree. what alone would wholly satisfy thought is a system that is at once all-inclusive and so ordered that its parts entail each other. hegel believed that the universe constitutes such a whole and, as an idealist, held that it is a single, absolute mind. to the degree that philosophers embody and realize this mind, their own minds will achieve both truth and reality. indeed, the advance of civilization reflects the enlarging presence and control of such a system in the human spirit. broadly similar rationalistic systems were developed in england by f.h. bradley (1846–1924) and bernard bosanquet (1848–1923) and in america by josiah royce (1855–1916). however, we shall consider the works of these major rationalists major proponents of rationalism while the roots of rationalism may go back to the eleatics and pythagoreans of ancient greece, or at least to socrates, plato, aristotle and the neo-platonists, the definitive formulation of the theory had to wait until the seventeenth century philosophers of the age of reason. https://www.britannica.com/biography/immanuel-kant https://www.britannica.com/topic/critique-of-pure-reason https://www.britannica.com/place/copernicus-lunar-crater https://www.britannica.com/topic/logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/thing-in-itself https://www.britannica.com/topic/skepticism https://www.britannica.com/biography/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implicit https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/context https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutes https://www.britannica.com/topic/idealism https://www.britannica.com/topic/absolute-idealism https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/biography/f-h-bradley https://www.britannica.com/biography/bernard-bosanquet https://www.britannica.com/biography/bernard-bosanquet https://www.britannica.com/biography/josiah-royce https://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_eleatic.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_pythagoreanism.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_socrates.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_plato.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_aristotle.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_neoplatonism.html 149 rené descartes is one of the earliest and best known proponents of rationalism. he believed that knowledge of eternal truths (e.g. mathematics and the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of the sciences) could be attained by reason alone, without the need for any sensory experience. other knowledge (such as the knowledge of physics) required experience of the world, aided by the scientific method a moderate rationalist position. for instance, his famous dictum “cogito ergo sum” (i think, therefore i am) is a conclusion reached apriori and not through an inference from experience. descartes held that some ideas (innate ideas) come from god; other ideas are derived from sensory experience; and still others are fictitious (created by the imagination). of these, the only ideas which are certainly valid, according to descartes, are those which are innate. baruch spinoza expanded upon descartes’ basic principles of rationalism. his philosophy centered on several principles, most of which relied on his notion that god is the only absolute substance (similar to descartes' conception of god), and that substance is composed of two attributes, thought and extension. he believed that all aspects of the natural world (including man) were modes of the eternal substance of god, and can therefore only be known through pure thought or reason. gottfried leibniz attempted to rectify what he saw as some of the problems that were not settled by descartes. this he did by combining descartes' work with aristotle's notion of form and his own conception of the universe as composed of monads. he believed that ideas exist in the intellect innately, but only in a virtual sense, and it is only when the mind reflects on itself that those ideas are actualized. immanuel kant started as a traditional rationalist, having studied leibniz and christian wolff (1679 1754). after studying the empiricist david hume’s works, he developed a distinctive and very influential rationalism of his own, which attempted to synthesize the traditional rationalist and empiricist traditions. descartes the advent of the age of science, mathematical sciences such as arithmetic, geometry etc., alongside the renaissance came with a new outlook of the world, which involved a paradigm shift from the previous foundations of philosophy and academic discourse in general. philosophers struggled to get rid of its footings on scholasticism and aristotelian foundation. history records the wave of thought at the beginning of this age as ‘continental rationalism’ which was pioneered by rené descartes and later propagated by baruch spinoza and gottfried leibnitz. they maintain that genuine knowledge has its foundation in thought or reason. according to them, the mind is full of rational content, inborn ideas, and innate principles. dethronement of traditional philosophy https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_spinoza.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_leibniz.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_aristotle.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_kant.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_leibniz.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_hume.html 150 rené descartes (1596-1650) often known in latin as renatus cartesius, born in the town of la haye in touraine, brittany, france, studied logic, mathematics and philosophy at the renowned jesuit college of le fleche. his major works include;discourse on method (1637), meditations on first philosophy (1641) and principles of philosophy (1644).descartes was chiefly concerned with the problem of intellectual certainty.unsatisfied by the methods of his predecessors and pressured by the urge to break away from a ‘philosophy’ having its roots in uncertainties, dogmas, and hearsays, rené descartes by means of the certitude of mathematics and influenced by the sciences of his time, sought to establish a rational foundation for his philosophy which would be so certain in an unassailable manner.he insists that “nothing solid could have been built upon such shaky foundations”342 (the foundations of past philosophies and false doctrines).impressed by the exactness of mathematics, he believed that the basis for his own philosophy would be a truth apprehended by the mind alone which would be self-evident and reliable like the mathematical theorems. he says, “i resolved one day to undertake studies within myself too and to use all the powers of my mind in choosing the paths i should follow.”343 enthronement of the cartesian methods descartes did not find the traditional aristotelian style of logic appealing and leading to indubitable. for him, aristotle’s deductive logic (syllogism) does not lead to the discovery of any new facts. rather, it draws inferences from one already existing fact to the other. against this unreliable system, descartes enthrones his own methods of intuition and deduction as the only two guaranteed ways of arriving at indubitable truth(s).for descartes, intuition is the conception which an unclouded and attentive mind gives us so readily and distinctly that we are wholly freed from doubt about that which we understand which springs from the light of reason alone. deduction on the other hand follows from what is given us in intuition and also leads us to an indubitable truth. according to descartes, deduction is that by which we understand al necessary inference of other facts that are known with certainty. the first principles are given alone by intuition while the remote conclusions are foregrounded by deduction. descartes’ methodological skepticism descartes was of the idea that before imploring the light of reason to acquire intuitive truths, he needs to exhume himself of all previously held beliefs. he points out that our firm opinions and beliefs originate from the senses and since these capacities (senses of perception) are deceptive, because the perceptions gotten through them are inconsistent, vague, illusive, and therefore cannot to be trusted. to begin with, descartes suggests that one needs to primarily investigate the foundations on which all previously held opinions depend, on account of their dubitability. this must be done cautiously for even the highly undoubtful and improbable of our beliefs could appear false. firstly, doubt has to be the starting point for his search of certainty. secondly, ‘all’previous beliefs must be subject to doubt provided they can be doubted. thirdly, that which 342rené descartes,discourse on the method, trans. john cottingham, robert stoothoff, and dugald murdoch, in the philosophical writings of descartes, vol. 1 (cambridge, england: cambridge university press, 1985), 1.9, 115. 343ibid.,1.10, 116. 151 is doubted must be considered false until proven indubitable. however, in doubting these sorts of beliefs, descartes is not asserting extreme skepticism. his position is more properly labeled as “methodological skepticism” for he uses the skeptical stance as a tool or method for testing his beliefs; hence the name, methodic doubt. cogito ergo sumdescartes’ archimedean point descartes earlier stated that in his rigorous search for a solid foundation for philosophy, he had to discard all erroneous beliefs. he then notes that if he could find just one thing, however slight, that is certain and unshakable, that would be sufficient to counter his doubts and establish a philosophy. he continued in his system of methodic doubt until a point where he recognized that he could no longer doubt the fact that he was doubting. like augustine’s theory of divine illumination, the light of reason shown upon descartes at this point revealing to him that the fact that he was doubting implied that he was thinking, and to think, implied that he exists. thus, he exclaimed cogito ergo sumi think, therefore i exist. it is the internal condition of the act of doubting which escapes doubt. hence, this implies that the metaphysical doubt of the existence of the thinking subject is rendered absurd by the awareness of the act of its doubting itself. considered to be a truth so clear, distinct, and certain to the mind, descartes established the cogito as his sure foundation on which he sets to build his entire philosophical thoughts. other deductive truths using the cogito as his standing point for philosophical reflections and meditations, descartes set out to prove how he could arrive at other indubitable truths by means of deduction. he presented the cogito as a self-evident truth arrived at by means of intuition. he further deduces the existence of god from this proposition. his argument can simply be arranged in the following manner:  i know that i exist, and that i have an idea of an infinite perfect being (god).  this idea of an infinite perfect being cannot be created by a finite imperfect being  i am a finite imperfect being and therefore not the cause of this infinite perfect idea.  there necessarily exists an infinite perfect being that created this infinite perfect idea.  this infinite perfect being is god and he necessarily exists. this follows the ontological argument style of st. anselm used in proving god’s existence. though this argument has being flawed from various thinkers, descartes believes that the proof of god’s existence is also an indubitable truth deduced from the proof of his very own existencethe cogito. sources of human knowledge descartes is considered as a renowned dualist for his conception of two major substances in the human person namely: res cogitans (thinking substance) and res extensa (extending substance). where the former referred to the mind and all mental properties, the latter referred to the bodily organs which were responsible for sensory perception. he recognizes both the mind and senses as two distinct apparatuses that facilitated the acquiring of knowledge. nevertheless, being at 152 the for-front of rationalism, he denigrates knowledge gotten through the sense as unreliable and illusive. he holds the abstract truths apprehended by the mind through reason as the only reliable kind of knowledge. spinoza another continental rationalist worthy of note is benedict baruch spinoza (1632-1677) a portuguese jew. he was highly influenced by rené descartes that the method of geometry would give us true knowledge of reality. thus, he attempted writing a geometry of philosophy. his most prominent works include: principles of cartesian philosophy (1663) theologicopolitical treatise (1670), and ethics demonstrated in geometrical order which contained a total of 259 demonstrated propositions. continuing to follow euclid’s style, spinoza through his 250 axioms attempted to explain the whole of reality in a systematic arrangement of true ideas. as conclusions are demonstrated in geometry, spinoza believed that the theories of nature could also be demonstrated. he thus retorted that our rational powers could form ideas that reflect the true nature of things. for him, every clear and distinct idea or definition is “true.” in other words, every true idea gives a true picture of reality because the order and connection of ideas is the same as the order and connection of things in reality. the idea of god where descartes began his philosophy with the cogitoa clear and distinct conception of his very own existence, spinoza speculated that every rational enterprise that seeks to be free from all forms of error must first begin with the formulation of the ‘idea of god’. for him, god is prior to everything else. to know something is to know the cause and god is the first cause. all that happens to exist develop their being in god and thus, no idea can be conceived without god. according to spinoza, god is a being absolutely infinite. all elements of reality/nature only reflect some of the infinite attributes of this eternal being. reality is therefore onegod, which manifests in all individuating substances. by so doing, where descartes could be said to be a dualist, spinoza was basically a monist for he believed the whole of reality is a unity. the types of ideas spinoza theorized that an idea is nothing else outside rational sensation. notwithstanding, only the rational powers of the mind could lead man to the formulation of ideas that reflect the exact nature of objects i.e., the essences of things. for him, every clear and distinct idea is true and accurately reflects the ideal picture of reality. in other words, to know a thing is to know its essence. he further distinguished between three major types of ideas: true idea: this refers to a simple idea i.e., an idea that is clear, distinct and self-evident. for example, the idea of god. false idea: this refers to a perception clouded in confusion. it is not clear, distinct or selfevident. it is inadequate and does not affirm of a thing what is contained in its form. doubt: this arises when an idea is not clear and distinct enough for us to be able to draw any conclusion with regards its true nature or essence. the four levels of knowledge 153 a. hearsay: this refers to a kind of knowledge which is uncertain. as the name suggests, we come to acquire such knowledge by gossip or the narration of someone else even without firsthand experience. e.g. knowledge of one’s birth date. b. imagination/ mere experience: this refers to ideas that are confusing, inadequate, and lead only to falsity. we come to acquire such knowledge by means of our sense perceptions. yes, they directly affect the senses but they remain unclear and uncertain. for they do not reveal the essences of things. though these ideas from sensory things are useful for our daily life, they do not give any true knowledge. e.g. knowledge of the inevitability of death based on one’s experience of the death of others. c. reason: this kind of knowledge involves logical deduction. it is a scientific knowledge which involves common notions and adequate ideas of the properties things. here, the essence of things are inferred from others when we gather resultant effects from their direct causes. in this exercise, the mind rises above immediate and particular things and deal with abstract ideas as it does in the mathematical sciences. knowledge at this level is considered adequate and true. d. intuition: this is the highest degree of knowledge. it involves mathematical truths and first principles or axioms i.e., truths that their denial lead to a self contradiction. for spinoza, an intuitive knowledge proceeds from an adequate idea of former essence of certain attributes of god to the adequate knowledge of the essence of things. it is the only secure and reliable knowledge for it apprehends the adequate essence of thing without error. it enables us to see things in themselves and in their relations with others. by so doing, we are able to grasp the whole system of nature. leibniz gottfried wilhelm leibniz (1646-1716) is the third great continental rationalist philosopher born in leipzig, germany. four successive schools of philosophy which influenced his education were; scholasticism, materialism, cartesianism, and spinozism. he later emancipated from these schools and got involved into the ‘mathematical materialism’ of the day. this accounts for his founding of binary mathematics, and infinitesimal calculus. besides leibnitz academic interest, he was a religious man, a christian. he wrote extensively in the area of philosophy, of which his main works include the monadology, new essay in human understanding, essays in theodicy, new system of nature and the interaction of substances. leibnitz in his philosophy was occupied with the task of the search for unity and harmony of the whole of reality/universe. like galileo, he believed the universe is a harmonious system written in mathematical language by god. this led him to the realisation that basic ideas, like those found in logic and mathematics could not be derived by the senses for they are eternal truths. he is essentially a pluralist which is reflected in his metaphysical idea of monads (monadology) which says that things in nature are a composite/aggregate of simple substances. this would lead him later on to his epistemology properly. theory of monads 154 leibniz discovered that things found in nature are made up of monads. they are basic substances that make up the universe. he states that these monads can be conceived as unextended, immaterial, invisible, indivisible atom-like substances having no quantity, size or shape. each monad is unique constituting small units of basic elements with which all in the universe is made. each monad is thus self-contained and windowless i.e., they are independent without any causal relationship with another. they all mirror the universe clearly and distinctively by means of perception. monadology and human knowledge having established that monads are windowless having no causal relationship, leibniz states that one monad always dominates in every collective group of monads. in man, the dominating monad is the human mind. he believes that ideas (monads) are stored up in the mind (the dominating monad) since ideas are simply expressions of the soul i.e., a mirroring or reflection of the mind which is itself a monad. thus, ideas are in us and are always there whether we think of them or not. ideas are innate. our mind, a monad, expresses all essences as well as existences. this goes on to imply that we do not gain any knowledge from the sensory world. all that we know and need to know throughout our existence has been stored up in the mind before birth. the mind being windowless does not allow for any entering of a new knowledge. our ideas do not come from external senses but inner experience. it is thus for leibnitz, largely misleading, to conceive of the mind as a receptor of new knowledge for nothing can be taught us of which we have not already in our minds. the most which happens to us is a revitalization of latent knowledge in the mind by means of sense perceptions. degrees of knowledge on first apprehension, leibniz posits that knowledge is either clear or obscure. a clear knowledge is one able to be recognized when presented us as against the latter. clear knowledge is either distinct or confused. the former is one whose marks can be distinctly separated from another while the properties of the latter cannot be differentiated even though it is recognized. distinct knowledge is either adequate or inadequate. an adequate knowledge is that which all its marks/properties are themselves distinctly known while those of the latter are not distinctly known. adequate knowledge is either intuitive or symbolic. intuitive knowledge is a notion which the mind understands distinctly and grasps at the same time all its simple ingredients. symbolic knowledge occurs when we are unable to contemplate all elements of a complex idea but replace it with signs. for leibniz, the bulk of human knowledge is only confused or symbolic knowledge. the purest and surest of all degrees of knowledge is the intuitive knowledge but is very rare in our daily conceptions.perfect knowledge for leibnitz is both adequate and intuitive. in his words, “i have defined idea adeœquata (a perfect idea) as that which is so distinct that all its ingredients are distinct, and such is nearly the idea of a number.”344 necessity and contingency 344 g. w. leibniz, new essays on the human understanding book ii ch. xxxi,trans. alfred gideon langley (new york: the macmillan company, 1896), 278. 155 leibniz while analysing his view of innate ideas made a distinction between necessity and contingency. a necessary proposition is a proposition that states truth of reason and is analytic, as distinct from a contingent proposition which states truth of fact and is synthetic. for leibniz, truths of reason are necessary and their contradictory is impossible, while truths of fact are contingent and their contradictory is possible. where propositions of mathematics are necessary, those asserting particular existence are contingent. for leibniz, the necessary is not same as the à priori. truth of reason and truth of fact truth is said to be the correspondence of a proposition with reality, which may be either actual or possible. these propositions show two kinds of truth which are; truth of reason and truth of fact. according to leibniz, the law of contradiction is the sole ultimate premise of all truth of reason, while truth of facts, have as many ultimate premises as there are experiences— they rest on the principle of sufficient reason. this accounts for leibniz’s distinction of knowledge gained by perception, and knowledge gained by reasoning. classical examples of truths of reason are; two parallel lines never intersect each other, a circle is two semi-circles, an angle of 40 degrees is an acute angle, an axiom is self-evidently true etc. these examples reveal truths of reason which are necessary propositions that are independent of external causes for their existence. their contradictory is impossible, and they are analytic in nature. at best, they can be referred to as tautologies. examples of truths of facts are; the snow is white, socrates is a married man, marcel is teaching etc. these are not necessary propositions, but they are contingent. when we deny them, there will be no logical contradiction. thus, their contradictory is possible. they are dependent on external causes for their existence and are synthetic in nature. basic principles in leibniz’s analysis of truth the two basic principles in leibniz’s analysis of truth are; the principle of contradiction and the principle of sufficient reason. these principles are based on leibniz’s concept of innate ideas in acquiring true knowledge. the principle of contradiction (which is also called the principle of identity) states that all necessary (analytic) propositions are true, while the principle of sufficient reason states that contingent propositions may either be true or false, hence, they can only be truth if there is sufficient reason to prove them. when we make existential statements, we have to give sufficient reason to say that they are true. according to leibniz, all propositions about existence of something are contingent. this is because they state truth of fact. however, leibniz gave an exception to that of “the existence of god.” he says that the proposition on the existence of god is in itself an embodiment of truth of reason which is a necessary, thus, when it is denied; it would result to a logical contradiction because the very concept of god implies his existence. 15.4 types of rationalism 15.4.1 ethical rationalism 156 the views of kant were presented above as typical of this position. but few moralists have held to ethical rationalism in this simple and sweeping form. many have held, however, that the main rules of conduct are truths as self-evident as those of logic or mathematics. lists of such rules were drawn up by ralph cudworth (1617–88) and henry more (1614–87) among the cambridge platonists, who were noted for holding that moral principles were intrinsic to reality; later samuel clarke (1675–1729) and richard price (1723–91), defenders of “natural law” ethics, and the “common sense” moralist thomas reid (1710–96) also presented such lists. a 20th-century revision of this rationalism was offered by the intuitionists h.a. prichard (1871– 1947) and sir david ross (1877–1971) of oxford under the name of deontology (from the greek deon, “duty”), which respects duty more than consequences. ross provides a list of propositions regarding fidelity to promises, reparation for injuries, and other duties, of which he says: “in our confidence that these propositions are true there is involved the same trust in our reason that is involved in our trust in mathematics.” what is taken as self-evident, however, is not specific rules of conduct but prima facie duties—the claims that some types of action have on humans because of their nature. if a person is considering whether to repay a debt or to give the money to charity, each act has a self-evident claim on that person, and their comparative strengths must be settled by a rational intuition. the most-influential variety of 20th-century ethical rationalism was probably the ideal utilitarianism of the british moralists hastings rashdall (1858–1924) and g.e. moore (1873–1958). both were teleologists (from the greek telos, “end”) inasmuch as they held that what makes an act objectively right is its results (or end) in intrinsic goods or evils. to determine what is right, reason is required in two senses: first, the inference to the consequences is an act of inductive reasoning; second, the judgment that one consequence is intrinsically better than another is a priori and self-evident. moore thought that there is a single rule for all conduct—one should so act as to produce the greatest good—and that this is also a principle selfevident to reason. 15.4.2 religious rationalism stirrings of religious rationalism were already felt in the middle ages regarding the christian revelation. thus, the skeptical mind of peter abelard (1079–1142) raised doubts by showing in his sic et non (“yes and no”) many contradictions among beliefs handed down as revealed truths by the church fathers. aquinas, the greatest of the medieval thinkers, was a rationalist in the sense of believing that the larger part of revealed truth was intelligible to and demonstrable by reason, though he thought that a number of dogmas opaque to reason must be accepted on authority alone. 15.4.2.1 expansion of religious rationalism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethical https://www.britannica.com/biography/ralph-cudworth https://www.britannica.com/biography/henry-more https://www.britannica.com/topic/cambridge-platonists https://www.britannica.com/topic/cambridge-platonists https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intrinsic https://www.britannica.com/biography/samuel-clarke https://www.britannica.com/biography/richard-price https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethics https://www.britannica.com/biography/thomas-reid https://www.britannica.com/topic/intuitionism-philosophy-of-mathematics https://www.britannica.com/biography/h-a-prichard https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-ross https://www.britannica.com/topic/deontological-ethics https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fidelity https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intuition https://www.britannica.com/topic/utilitarianism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/biography/g-e-moore https://www.britannica.com/biography/g-e-moore https://www.britannica.com/topic/teleological-ethics https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inference https://www.britannica.com/event/middle-ages https://www.britannica.com/topic/revelation https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind https://www.britannica.com/biography/peter-abelard https://www.britannica.com/topic/yes-and-no https://www.britannica.com/topic/church-father https://www.britannica.com/biography/saint-thomas-aquinas https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dogmas https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opaque 157 religious rationalism did not come into its own, however, until the 16th and 17th centuries, when it took two chief forms: the scientific and the philosophical. galileo was a pioneer in astronomy and the founder of modern dynamics. he conceived of nature as governed throughout by laws statable with mathematical precision; the book of nature, he said, is “written in mathematical form.” this notion not only ruled out the occasional appeal to miracle; it also collided with dogmas regarding the permanent structure of the world—in particular with that which viewed the earth as the motionless centre of the universe. when galileo’s demonstration that the earth moves around the sun was confirmed by the work of sir isaac newton (1642–1727) and others, a battle was won that marked a turning point in the history of rationalism, since it provided a decisive victory in a crucial case of conflict between reason and apparently revealed truth. the rationalism of descartes, as already shown, was the outcome of philosophical doubt rather than of scientific inquiry. the self-evidence of the cogito, seen by his “natural light,” he made the ideal for all other knowledge. the uneasiness that the church soon felt in the face of such a test was not unfounded, for descartes was in effect exalting the natural light into the supreme court even in the field of religion. he argued that the guarantee against the possibility that even this natural light might be deceptive lay in the goodness of the creator. but then to prove this creator, he had to assume the prior validity of the natural light itself. logically, therefore, the last word lay with rational insight, not with any outside divine warrant (see cartesian circle). descartes was inadvertently beginning a copernican revolution in theology. before his time, the truths regarded as most certain were those accepted from revelation; afterward these truths were subject to the judgment of human reason, thus breaking the hold of authority on the european mind. 15.4.2.2 four waves of religious rationalism the rationalist attitude quickly spread, its advance forming several waves of general interest and influence. the first wave occurred in england in the form of deism. deists accepted the existence of god but spurned supernatural revelation. the earliest member of this school, lord herbert of cherbury (1583–1648), held that a just god would not reveal himself to a part of his creation only and that the true religion is thus a universal one, which achieves its knowledge of god through common reason. the deistic philosopher john toland (1670–1722), in his christianity not mysterious (1696), sought to show that “there is nothing in the gospels contrary to reason, nor above it”; any doctrine that is really above reason would be meaningless to humans. attacking revelation, the freethinking polemicist anthony collins (1676–1729) maintained that the prophecies of the hebrew bible (old testament) failed of fulfillment; and the religious controversialist thomas woolston (1670–1733) urged that the new testament miracles, as recorded, are incredible. matthew tindal (1657–1733), the most learned of the english deists, argued that the essential part of christianity is its ethics, which, being clearly apparent to natural reason, leaves revelation superfluous. thus the deists, professing for https://www.britannica.com/biography/galileo-galilei https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynamics https://www.britannica.com/topic/miracle https://www.britannica.com/biography/isaac-newton https://www.britannica.com/topic/cogito-ergo-sum https://www.britannica.com/topic/cartesian-circle https://www.britannica.com/topic/cartesian-circle https://www.britannica.com/biography/rene-descartes https://www.britannica.com/topic/deism https://www.britannica.com/topic/existence-of-god https://www.britannica.com/biography/edward-herbert-1st-baron-herbert-of-cherbury https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-toland https://www.britannica.com/topic/christianity-not-mysterious https://www.britannica.com/biography/anthony-collins https://www.britannica.com/topic/hebrew-bible https://www.britannica.com/biography/thomas-woolston https://www.britannica.com/topic/new-testament https://www.britannica.com/topic/new-testament https://www.britannica.com/biography/matthew-tindal https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy 158 the most part to be religious themselves, did much to reconcile their public to the free play of ideas in religion. the second wave of religious rationalism, less moderate in tone and consequences, was french. this wave, reflecting an engagement with the problem of natural evil, involved a decay in the natural theology of deism such that it merged eventually with the stream that led to materialistic atheism. its moving spirit was voltaire (1694–1778), who had been impressed by some of the deists during a stay in england. like them, he thought that a rational person would believe in god but not in supernatural inspiration. hardly a profound philosopher, he was a brilliant journalist, clever and humorous in argument, devastating in satire, and warm in human sympathies. in his candide and in many other writings, he poured irreverent ridicule on the christian scheme of salvation as incoherent and on the church hierarchy as cruel and oppressive. in these attitudes he had the support of denis diderot (1713–84), editor of the most widely read encyclopaedia that had appeared in europe. the rationalism of these thinkers and their followers, directed against both the religious and the political traditions of their time, did much to prepare the ground for the explosive french revolution. the next wave of religious rationalism occurred in germany under the influence of hegel, who held that a religious creed is a halfway house on the road to a mature philosophy, the product of a reason that is still under the sway of feeling and imagination. this idea was taken up and applied with learning and acuteness to the origins of christianity by david friedrich strauss (1808–74), who published in 1835, at the age of 27, a remarkable and influential three-volume work, das leben jesu (the life of jesus, critically examined, 1846). relying largely on internal inconsistencies in the synoptic gospels, strauss undertook to prove these books to be unacceptable as revelation and unsatisfactory as history. he then sought to show how an imaginative people innocent of either history or science, convinced that a messiah would appear, and deeply moved by a unique moral genius, inevitably wove myths about his birth and death, his miracles, and his divine communings. strauss’s thought as it affected religion was continued by the philosophical historian ernest renan (1823–92) and as it affected philosophy by the humanist ludwig feuerbach (1804–72) of the hegelian left. renan’s vie de jésus (1863; life of jesus) did for france what strauss’s book had done for germany, though the two differed greatly in character. whereas strauss’s work had been an intellectual exercise in destructive criticism, renan’s was an attempt to reconstruct the mind of jesus as a wholly human person—a feat of imagination, performed with a disarming admiration and even reverence for its subject and with a felicity of style that gave it a large and lasting audience. feuerbach’s wesen des christentums (1841; essence of christianity) applied the myth theory even to belief in the existence of god, holding that “man makes god in his own image.” the fourth wave occurred in victorian england, following the publication in 1859 of origin of species by charles darwin (1809–82). this book was taken as a challenge to the authority https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconcile https://www.britannica.com/topic/problem-of-evil https://www.britannica.com/topic/atheism https://www.britannica.com/biography/voltaire https://www.britannica.com/place/england https://www.britannica.com/topic/argument-logic https://www.britannica.com/topic/salvation-religion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy https://www.britannica.com/biography/denis-diderot https://www.britannica.com/place/europe https://www.britannica.com/event/french-revolution https://www.britannica.com/place/germany https://www.britannica.com/topic/hegelianism https://www.britannica.com/topic/halfway-house https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/idea https://www.britannica.com/biography/david-friedrich-strauss https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-life-of-jesus-critically-examined https://www.britannica.com/topic/synoptic-gospels https://www.britannica.com/topic/messiah-religion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myths https://www.britannica.com/biography/ernest-renan https://www.britannica.com/biography/ernest-renan https://www.britannica.com/biography/ludwig-feuerbach https://www.britannica.com/topic/life-of-jesus https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/felicity https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-essence-of-christianity https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth https://www.britannica.com/topic/belief https://www.britannica.com/topic/origin-of-species https://www.britannica.com/topic/origin-of-species https://www.britannica.com/biography/charles-darwin 159 of scripture because there was a clear inconsistency between the genesis account of creation and the biological account of humans’ slow emergence from lower forms of life. the battle raged with bitterness for several decades but died away as the theory of evolution gained more general acceptance. 15.5 status of rationalism 15.5.1 religious with increasing freedom of thought and wider acceptance of scientific views, rationalism in religion lost its novelty and much of its controversial excitement. to the contemporary mind, it is too obvious to warrant debate that reason and revelation cannot both qualify as sources of ultimate truth, for, were they to conflict, truth itself would become self-contradictory. hence theologians sought accommodation through new interpretative principles that discern different grades of authenticity within the scriptures and through new views of religious truth, existential rather than cognitive that turn from propositional dogmas to the explication of lived human existence. criticism of supernaturalism, however, was still carried on by such societies as the rationalist press association, in great britain, and the humanist association, in the united states. 15.5.2 ethical rationalism in ethics suffered its share of criticism. regarding its lists of rules—on the keeping of promises, the return of loaned goods, etc.—it was argued, for example, that if they were specific enough to be useful (as in the rule against lying or stealing), they would tend to have exceptions—which no rule laid down by reason ought to have. on the other hand, if without exceptions, they would often prove to be tautologies: the rule of justice, for example, that one should give all persons their due, would then mean only that one should give them what is justly theirs. after enduring a period of eclipse, however, during which noncognitive theories of ethics (emotive and existential) and relativism had preempted the field, rationalistic views, which agree in holding that moral standards do not depend upon the varying attitudes of persons or peoples, received renewed attention in the mid-twentieth century. prominent among these developments was the “good-reasons” approach taken by the broadly gauged scholar stephen toulmin (1922– 2009), the contemporary philosopher kurt baier, and others, which examined the contexts of various moral situations and explored the kinds of justification appropriate for each. 15.5.3 metaphysical typical of the ways of reasoning employed by rationalists were two approaches taken to the metaphysical doctrine that all things are connected by internal relations: one a logical, the https://www.britannica.com/topic/scripture https://www.britannica.com/topic/genesis-old-testament https://www.britannica.com/science/evolution-scientific-theory https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/existential https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethics https://www.britannica.com/topic/tautology https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice https://www.britannica.com/topic/emotivism https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethical-relativism https://www.britannica.com/topic/good-reasons-theory https://www.britannica.com/biography/stephen-edelston-toulmin https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contexts https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysical https://www.britannica.com/topic/internal-relation 160 other a causal argument. an internal relation is one that could not be removed without affecting the terms themselves between which the relation holds. the logical argument runs: everything is related to everything else at least by the relation “a is different from b.” but difference is itself an internal relation, since the terms could not remain the same if it were removed. hence everything is so connected with everything else that it could not be what it is unless they were what they are. the appeal to internal relations played an important part in the philosophies of hegel, f.h. bradley, and a.n. whitehead (1861–1947). the other line of argument is causal. every event, it is maintained, is connected with every other, either directly or indirectly. sir james jeans (1877–1946), an astrophysicist and popularizer of science, argued that if the law of gravitation is valid, people cannot crook their little fingers without affecting the fixed stars. here the causal relation is direct. it can also be shown that seemingly unrelated events are joined indirectly through their common connection with some remote historical event, by a chain of events leading back, for example, to columbus’s landing on the north american continent. but if this had been different, all its consequences would presumably have been different; thus, an indirect and internal relation proves to have been present. many rationalists held with spinoza that the causal relation is really a logical one—that a causal law, if precisely stated, would reveal a connection in which the character of the cause logically necessitates that of its effect; and if this is true, they maintained, the facts and events of the world must thus compose a single rational and intelligible order. in the twentieth century, such rationalism met with a new and unexpected difficulty presented by quantum mechanics. according to the indeterminacy principle, formulated in 1927 by the german physicist werner heisenberg (1901–76), it is impossible to discover with precision both the position and the velocity of a moving electron at the same time. this implies that definite causal laws for the behaviour of these particles can never be attained, but only statistical laws governing the behaviour of immense aggregates of them. causality, and with it the possibility of rational understanding, seemed to be suspended in the subatomic world. some interpreters of the new physics, however, notably max planck (1858–1947), albert einstein (1879–1955), and bertrand russell (1872–1970), sustained the hopes of the rationalists by insisting that what was excluded by the indeterminacy principle was not the fact of causality in this realm but only the precise knowledge of it. indeed, some leaders of twentieth century science took the new developments in physics as on the whole supporting rationalism. protons and electrons, they contended, though beyond the reach of the senses, can still be known, and their behaviour, at least in groups, is increasingly found to conform to mathematical law. in 1932 jeans said, with a curious echo of galileo, “the universe appears to have been designed by a pure mathematician.” 15.6 challenges to epistemological rationalism https://www.britannica.com/biography/f-h-bradley https://www.britannica.com/biography/alfred-north-whitehead https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation https://www.britannica.com/biography/james-jeans https://www.britannica.com/science/gravity-physics https://www.britannica.com/biography/christopher-columbus https://www.britannica.com/biography/benedict-de-spinoza https://www.britannica.com/science/quantum-mechanics-physics https://www.britannica.com/art/indeterminacy https://www.britannica.com/biography/werner-heisenberg https://www.britannica.com/science/electron https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aggregates https://www.britannica.com/biography/max-planck https://www.britannica.com/biography/albert-einstein https://www.britannica.com/biography/bertrand-russell https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation https://www.britannica.com/science/physics-science https://www.britannica.com/science/proton-subatomic-particle 161 at first glance, the claim of empiricism that knowledge must come from sense experience seems obvious. how else could one hope to make contact with the world around one? however, rationalism has been sharply challenged—in the ninetieth century by the empiricism of john stuart mill (1806–73) and in the twentieth by that of the logical positivists, among other movements. mill argued that all a priori certainties are illusory: why do people believe, for example, that two straight lines cannot enclose a space? is it because they see it as logically necessary? no, it is because they have experienced so long and so unbroken a row of instances of it—a new one whenever they see the corner of a table or the bordering rays of a light beam—that they have formed the habit of thinking in this way and are now unable to break it. a priori propositions, mill claimed, are merely empirical statements of very high degree of generality. this theory has now been abandoned by most empiricists themselves. its implication that such statements as “2 + 2 = 4” are only probably true and may have exceptions has proved quite unconvincing. the rationalists’ rejoinder is that one cannot, no matter how hard one tries, conceive 2 + 2 as making 5, for its equaling 4 is necessary. but a priori knowledge is also universal. neither of these two characteristics can be accounted for by sense experience. that a crow is black can be perceived, but not that it must be black or that crows will always be black; no run of perceptions, however long, could assure us of such truths. on the other hand, a priori truths can be apprehended with certainty—that if a figure, for instance, is a plane triangle within a euclidean space, its angles must and always will equal two right angles. one of the most formidable challenges to rationalism came in the twentieth century from such logical positivists as the oxford empiricist a.j. ayer (1910–89) and rudolf carnap (1891– 1970), who had been a central figure in the vienna circle, where this movement first arose. unlike mill, they accepted a priori knowledge as certain; but they laid down a new challenge— the denial of its philosophical importance. a priori propositions, they said, are (1) linguistic, (2) conventional, and (3) analytic: they are linguistic statements being primarily of how one proposes to use words. if one says for instance, that “a straight line is the shortest line between two points,” this merely reports one’s definition of “straight” and declares one’s purpose to use it only of the shortest. they are conventional given that as a definition, such statements express a convention to which there are alternatives the statement on straight may be defined in terms of the paths of light rays if one chooses. the statement is analytic in that it merely repeats in its predicate a part or the whole of the subject term and hence tells nothing new; it is not a statement about nature but about meanings only. and since rationalistic systems depend throughout upon statements of this kind, their importance is illusory. to this clear challenge some leading rationalists have replied as follows: (1) positivists have confused real with verbal definition. a verbal definition does indeed state what a word means; but a real definition states what an object is, and the thought of a straight line is the thought of an https://www.britannica.com/topic/empiricism https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-stuart-mill https://www.britannica.com/biography/john-stuart-mill https://www.britannica.com/topic/logical-positivism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implication https://www.britannica.com/topic/a-priori-knowledge https://www.britannica.com/science/euclidean-space https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/formidable https://www.britannica.com/biography/a-j-ayer https://www.britannica.com/biography/rudolf-carnap https://www.britannica.com/topic/vienna-circle https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-synthetic-distinction https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analytic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predicate https://www.britannica.com/topic/real-definition 162 object, not of words. (2) the positivists have confused conventions in thought with conventions in language. one is free to vary the language in which a proposition is expressed but not the proposition itself. start with the concept of a straight line, and there is no alternative to accepting it as the shortest. (3) some a priori statements are admittedly analytic, but many are not. in “whatever is coloured is extended,” colour and extension are two different concepts of which the first entails the second but is not identical with it in whole or part. contemporary rationalists therefore hold that the apriori has emerged victorious from the empiricists’ efforts to discredit such knowledge and the positivists’ attempts to trivialize it. 15.7 major claims of rationalism rationalism is any view appealing to intellectual and deductive reason (as opposed to sensory experience or any religious teachings) as the source of knowledge or justification. thus, it holds that some propositions are knowable by us by intuition alone, while others are knowable by being deduced through valid arguments from intuited propositions. depending on the strength of the belief, this can result in a range of positions from the moderate view that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge, to the radical position that reason is the only path to knowledge. rationalism relies on the idea that reality has a rational structure in that all aspects of it can be grasped through mathematical and logical principles, and not simply through sensory experience. rather than being a "tabula rasa" to be imprinted with sense data, the mind is structured by, and responds to, mathematical methods of reasoning. rationalists adopt at least one of three main claims: intuition/deduction: some propositions are knowable by us by intuition alone, while others are knowable by being deduced from intuited propositions. some rationalists take intuition to be infallible, claiming that whatever we intuit must be true; others allow for the possibility of false intuited propositions. some claim that only mathematics can be knowable by intuition and deduction; some that ethical truths can also be intuited; some more radical rationalists maintain that a whole range of metaphysical claims (like the existence of god, free will and the duality of mind and body) are included within the range of intuition and deduction. innate knowledge: we have knowledge of some truths as part of our innate rational nature. experiences may trigger a process by which we bring this knowledge to consciousness, but the experiences do not provide us with the knowledge itself, which has in some way been with us all along. some rationalists claim that we gained this innate knowledge in an earlier existence, some that god provided us with it at creation, and others that it is part of our nature through natural selection. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alternative 163 innate concepts: some of the concepts (as opposed to actual knowledge) we employ are part of our innate rational nature. some would argue, however, that innate concepts are entailed by innate knowledge, because a particular instance of knowledge can only be innate if the concepts that are contained in the proposition are also innate. some rationalists also claim, in addition to the claims above, that the knowledge we gain by intuition and deduction, as well as the ideas and instances of knowledge that are innate to us, are indispensable and could not have been gained through sense experience, and/or that reason is superior to experience as a source of knowledge. 15.8 distinguishing rationalism from empiricism rationalism is contrasted with empiricism, the view that the origin of all knowledge is sense experience and sensory perception. it is usually associated with the introduction of mathematical methods into philosophy during the age of reason and the enlightenment by the major rationalist figures, descartes, leibniz and spinoza. it is commonly referred to as “continental rationalism” because it was predominant in the continental schools of europe, whereas british empiricism dominated in britain. the distinction between rationalism and empiricism, however, is perhaps not as clear-cut as is sometimes suggested, and would probably not have even been recognized by the enlightenment philosophers involved. for example, the three main rationalists were all committed to the importance of empirical science, and in many respects the empiricists were closer to descartes in their methods and metaphysical theories than were leibniz and spinoza. both leibniz and spinoza asserted that, in principle, all knowledge, including scientific knowledge, could be gained through the use of reason alone, though they both observed that this was not possible in practice for human beings, except in specific areas such as mathematics. https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_empiricism.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_empiricism.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_leibniz.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_spinoza.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_british_empiricism.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_british_empiricism.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_empiricism.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_empiricism.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_descartes.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_leibniz.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_spinoza.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_leibniz.html https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_spinoza.html 164 bibliography adams, r. “where do our ideas come from? descartes vs locke”, reprinted in stitch s. 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(ed.). justification and knowledge dordrecht, holland: reidel, 1979. goldman, a.i. epistemology and cognition. cambridge, ma: harvard university press, 1986. goldman, alan h. “appearing as irreducible in perception.” philosophy and phenomenological research, 37(2). goldman, alvin i. & olsson, e.j. “reliabilism and the value of knowledge.” in haddock, a., millar, a. & pritchard, d. 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(2020), edward n. zalta (ed.). steup, m. and sosa, e. (eds.), contemporary debates in epistemology. malden, ma: blackwell, 2005. sturm, thomas. “historical epistemology or history of epistemology? the case of the relation between perception and judgment,” erkenntnis 75(3). https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674664791 169 susanna, s. rinard. “equal treatment for belief”, philosophical studies, 176(7) (2019b), 1923–1950. tarski, alfred. “the semantic conception of truth and the foundations of semantics.” in philosophy and phenomenological research, 4, 1944. williamson, t. knowledge and its limits. oxford: oxford university press, 2002. wittgenstein, l. on certainty, denis paul and g.e.m. anscombe (trans.). london: basil blackwell, 1969. zagzebski, l.t. virtues of the mind: an inquiry into the nature of virtue and the ethical foundations of knowledge cambridge: cambridge university press, 1996. zagzebski, l.t. “reflective knowledge in the best circles”, the journal of philosophy, 94(8), 1997. 170 epistemology, as a distinct field of inquiry, predates the introduction of the term into the lexicon of philosophy. john locke, for instance, described his efforts in essay concerning human understanding (1689) as an inquiry “into the original, certai... there are a number of different methods that contemporary scholars use when trying to understand the relationship between past epistemology and contemporary epistemology. one of the most contentious questions is this: should we assume that the problem... 1.2 what is epistemology? 4.2.1 no false premises response 4.2.2 reliabilist response reliabilism has been a significant line of response to the gettier problem among philosophers, originating with work by alvin goldman in the 1960s. according to reliabilism, a belief is justified (or otherwise supported in such a way as to count towar... chapter five the nature of justification 5.1 internalism and externalism 7.5 why foundationalism? sources of knowledge and justification 8.2 perception 8.3 introspection 8.4 memory 8.5 reason 8.6 testimony 9.5 responses to the closure argument 9.10 responses to the defeasibility argument 10.2.1 st. anselm of canterbury 12.2.2.1 absolute empiricism 14.5 logical empiricism the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 1 a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present by innocent-franklyn okwudilichukwu ezeonwuka b.a. (hons.) university of nigeria, nsukka 1991 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 2 copyright reserved. first published 1991 reprinted 2021 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author. isbn: 978-978-996-009-5 ezeonwuka franklyn. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 3 dedication this book is dedicated to the following: my family dad, mum, chike, pat, chinwe (your help and assistance is unquantifiable). all the people of amesi. (dead and alive) (may your endeavours bring forth peace, love and progress in the town). the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 4 preface research and work into the unrecorded history of amaeshi (amaeri) is never a show peace of an hour, but an intertwined and tangled undertaking, which calls for hardwork, intelligent analysis, objectivity, perseverance, sympathy and common sense, especially where information about the people’s past life is scanty and patchy. i am very much aware of numerous write-ups, all in an attempt to decode the amesi past, acted on a town wide almost limitless panorama. in the face of extant information, cloudy documents and some biased informants and uncooperative analysts, i faced a dilemma. the slow, tedious culling of facts from fables is of course essential towards the forming of reliable generalisations, otherwise one’s hypotheses will forever remain, guesses, though tagged the ultimate account, this work cannot perfectly claim to be the exhaustive and final summation of amesi, nevertheless a very deep step has been initiated. one cannot divorce easily the use of conceptual approach in relation to the emergence of the main body of this work. the “ultimate account” has been divided into two parts: having applied the tools of oral tradition, archival and written facts, towards digesting the various materials collected, a coherent analysis emerged finally, as part one of this piece. consequently, an opportunity is provided f or any keen observer, for a retreat to the earliest days of the town. the scenery emerging the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 5 from this cast is so clearly projected that one could easily visualise the town’s ancestors, as they mutually moved about and organised their lives. the town’s unstatic political institution, in the precolonial times was explicitly explained as a follow up. all in all, it was neither strictly placed in a hierarchical base, nor controlled by a controversial conservative minority. a long but solid immersion into organised and detailed socioreligious forces, provided for a stable intra homogeneity. economically, amesi was not bankrupt. in order to obtain a somewhat concise elaboration in this field, the people’s productive and distributive approaches, aimed towards economic advancement and livelihood, was researched thoroughly. what a beautiful revelation that resulted! the machineries of inter-group relations, tried to unravel the town’s relation and association with other peoples far and near. undoubtedly, this write-up tried to reflect the town’s flamboyant patriotism in the face of externally related aggression. however, before the light went off, the town was forcefully exposed to the violent influences of british imperialism. in the face of forced re-adjustments, left with no alternative, the town’s institutions, wobbled drunkenly, under the mercy of westernization and its allying socializing influences. hardly did the people enjoy their so-much demanded independence, before hail was let loose for thirty long months. hunger, malnutrition, ill the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 6 health, fear and death took its toll from the town’s populace. remarkably, in the face of all these, undaunted and determined to survive, amesians struggled ahead. the town unexpectedly was later exposed to the machinations of some hardened relatively alien political transformations, after the so-called reconciliation, rehabilitation arid reconstructions of the 70s. amesi professionally scaled this hundle. lastly, this ‘magnum opus’ tried to weight and tabulate the town’s progressive strides; amesians proved that they had no empty testicles. all in all, amesians, it appears, have lived up to their expectations, and it is in consideration of this that ‘the ultimate account becomes an exciting amalgam of a peoples’ history. i wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my family, the obi akalabo i of amesi, rev, dr. i. ozigbo, mr. j., o. ahazuem, for their immumerable support and guidance throughout the duration of this work. i wouldn’t of course forget the immeasurable, healthy and intellectual brilliance with which some of my comrades and colleagues spured me. i thank them abundantly. however, contrary to a somewhat preface fashion, i can never agree that all mistakes and short comings are entirely my responsibility. i believe that responsibilities in matters of this sort, is always collective, especially with regard to remedying the short comings. criticisms are very the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 7 well welcomed, only when they are constructive and in good faith. my purpose has been to try to reach interested researchers who have for long wished to explore further, the nature and condiments of amesi past, rather than merely to satisfy the standards set by others. in trying to provide this ‘missing link’, the ultimate account evolved as a vaude-ville of numerous treasured traditions of the envious past. ezeonwuka i. franklyn 1991. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 8 list of abbreviations b a. bachelor of arts contd. continued c (circa) about etc. et cetera ed/eds edition/editor, editors j.h.s.n journal of historical society of nigeria i.u.p. ibadan university press l.g.a. local government area n.a.e. national archives, enugu op. cit. (opus citoto) work already cited p., pp. page, pages on proof onitsha province reg no. registration number spp. species unpub. unpublished ltd. limited pubs, publishers a.i.u amesi improvement union caritas catholic relief agencies in europe/ america. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 9 my modus operandi the stone will bow in shame when an egg cracks palm kernel. history is best remembered by the scare it leaves in its trail, secrets are good, but often hard to keep; mortals should remember that information and knowledge are not static and can never be; we can only and ought to pass onto another that which we know, lest transition overtake us; yes, it is realistic that the rose bud opens at the cost of its life; if not so, how can humanity progress? damn the fear, for transition is for all destined. i have to forget injuries; to store them up would be hard to bear; i never encourage hate; it is consuming and weakening; hateful thinking breeds negativism and retards all positivism in me. in trying to hate back all those who plot against me, i would have little time for good constructive thoughts and actions. one can never know the importance of an old basket, until the day of sacrifice. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 10 foreword when alex haley, the celebrated author of ‘roots’ went out in search of his roots he not only succeeded in bringing to light a past that was almost eclipsed but also he gave a leaning pad to a future that would be brighter and better to all those whose roots he dug. as no tree can live and stand without roots, so no people can exist and uniquely so without a past. thus, the need for the emergence of a truly progressive, peaceful and united amesi is realised most assuredly by an objective recourse to the roots. for when we do not know what we are and how we came to be what we are, we cannot make any meaningful forge ahead. ezeonwuka in this book challenges us to look well before we take a necessary leap to the future. he very carefully goes through the rigorous and winding road of reaching a people’s beginning right from the possible imaginable past to the present. a necessary and compelling result from this journey into the roots is a clarion call to the faculties and sensibilities to grapple with the realities of this necessary move to the future. when christopher columbus set on his expedition of discovering the new world, he was not sure what he was going to see but he nonetheless, had a vision of a future very promising. if he came back after few miles, the new world could have remained an illusion, atleast not as early as it was founded. some people who are at lethargic and so have refused to work for a better tomorrow based on the past, have blamed the present state of things on the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 11 western and christian influences. they either say that the imperialist west came and destroyed all we valued at the flimsiest reason of not understanding them, or they point blunt accusing finger to the christian heralds for abolishing their had to live on. the result is a situation where neither the western views christian teaching nor authentic african cultures thrives but a confusion of all with nothing positive. they may be correct in their arguments. but suffice it to say that such blames make no impressions. the present and past big world powers had pasts that devasted them. the great babylonian power was once under assyria, so was rome by the greeks and the greeks in turn under roman powers. nothing of the conquered was left. everything peculiar to them was destroyed. but today, they all have cultures, civilisations, educations and technologies uniquely theirs a smilarge of what was, what remain, and what was gained. ours have been tampered with, no doubt, but it is ours also to build from our “ruins”. a fierce bull, when wounded retreats and charges back on its object of attack with ever greater ferocity. okwudili ezeonwuka has said it all.we must begin where he stopped. nikolas o abazie (fr.) asst. secretary bishop’s house, awka 1991 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 12 table of contents page title page i dedication iii preface iv list of abbreviations viii my modus operandi ix foreword x part one pre-colonial‘amaeshi’– up to 1900 chapter one introduction 1.1 the land and it people 2 geographical location 2 1.2 origin, migration, settlement 7 chapter two institutional developments 2.1 political institutions 14 2.2 social/cultural institutions 29 2.3 religious institutions 36 chapter three economic activities 3.1 agricultural/labour organisation 47 3.2 crafts/industry 49 3.3 trade 50 3.4 traditional medicine 53 chapter four transformation 4.1 inter-group relations 61 4.2 eclipse of the old order the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 13 part two emergence of the new ‘amesi’ – 1900. to present chapter five the colonial experience 5.1 the colonial government 80 5.2 the growth of christianity/ consequences 86 5.3 the growth of western education/ patterns of social and economic change 111 chapter six the nigeria/biafra war years 6.1 the game of death/survival 121 6.2 the aftermath 129 chapter seven centralised political institution 7.1 emergence of the ‘igwe’/the ‘ichie’ 133 7.2 traditional egalitarianism/western constitutionalism, a reconsideration 145 chapter eight the race for community development 8.1 amesi improvement union 151 8.2 the age-grade: a new dimension 155 8.3 amesi co-operative union 158 chapter nine planned institutionalised union 9.1 intra-socialcultural evolutions 161 9.2 general summary and conclusion 164 list of informants 167 reference notes 169 index 177 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 14 prologue according to professor j.c. anene; “there is no doubt that the history of an area is written clearly in its geographical features”. one of these papers geographically is a comparatively small town south of aguata local government area, southwest of igboland. today, amesi is grouped into what professor a. e. afigbo termed “awka-orlu upland area and nsukka-okigwe cuesta”,2 “the supposed epicenter from which igbo migrants settled the rest of igboland. amasi, one of towns that comprised the mbalaolie group of towns”3, “lies on latitude 50.06. east of the greenwich meridian”.4 of special importance, is the undulating road that stretches to about 27 kilometers from awka to the town. “the town is bounded on the east by akpo and achina towns, on the west by uga, on the north by nkpologwu, on the south by umuchu and uga towns respectively”.5 the relief is relatively low, being 750 feet above sea level. amasi covers an area of about 11.2 kilometers and has an average population density of between 700 and 800 people per square kilometer. being situated in the rain forest zone, it has nevertheless lost much of its primordial dense forest vegetation to derived savanna and palm bush, resulting from prolonged human activities. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 15 c h a p t e r one introduction the land and its people geographical location ccording to professor j.c. anene; “there is no doubt that the history of an area is written clearly in its geographical features”.1 amesi, the subject of this paper, geographically is a comparatively small town south of aguata local government area, south-west of igboland. today, amesi is grouped into what professor a. e. afigbo termed “awka-orlu upland area and nsukkaokigwe cuesta”,2 “the supposed epicenter from which igbo migrants settled the rest of igboland. amesi, one of towns that comprised the mbalaolie group of towns”3, “lies on latitude 50.06. east of the greenwich meridian”.4 of special importance, is the undulating road that stretches to about 27 kilometers from awka to the town. “the town is bounded on the east by akpo and achina towns, on the west by uga, on the north by nkpologwu, on the south by umuchu and uga towns respectively”.5 the relief is a the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 16 relatively low, being 750 feet above sea level. amesi covers an area of about 11.2 kilometers and has an average population density of between 700 and 800 people per square kilometer. situated in the rain forest zone, it has nevertheless lost much of its primordial dense forest vegetation to derived savanna and palm bush, resulting from prolonged and extensive human activity. one can still see scattered here and there, palm groves, orchards, and clusters of economic trees. there are no streams, rivers or natural water-supply depot in the town and this has for long led the inhabitants to depend largely on either sinking individually, deep wells or on the streams located in neighboring towns. the towns soil contains a very small degree of acid, more of humus content than clay, leading to both high decomposition rate, and average loss of water to the atmosphere, auguring well “for the provision of soil nutrients for plants which very much need nonorganic matter”.6 in her experience of annual high temperation (above 85 f)”, generally mornings, evenings and nights are cooler than noon periods. amesi like other towns in the tropical rainforest zone, has two seasons:the rainy and dry. the rainy season is brought about by the south west trade winds between the months of april and october, but this is normally interrupted by a short dry spell, known as the “august’ break’.7 by the same token, the dry season is caused by the north-east trade winds, and lasts from november till march, and this is known locally by the people as uguru (harmattan). the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 17 amesi has a mean annual rainfall of between “60 to 80 inches”.8 patches of forest could still be found in amesi, in such places as sacred groves or around the home steads. some of the economic trees found within peoples’ habitational zones include; ‘ukwa (bread fruit), ube (african pear), udara (african star-apple), ogbu (ficas spp.), nkwu (palm tree), uhie (camwood), oji (kolanut), oji (chlorophra escadesa) ‘’’.9 etc. the people amesi lies within the igbo core area’, and the people speak mainly igbo, with no disparity in dialect. agriculture has for long been the main occupation of the people. supporting the view, grey in his intelligence report on mbalaolie, to which amesi belonged, stated that, “the natives of the group earn their living chiefly by farming and trading in farm produces and to a minor extent by the rearing of livestock”.10 principal crops grown were and still are yams, cocoyam’s, cassava, maize, palm produce, vegetables and fruits. the precolonial house – type of amesi was generally rounded in shape and provided with only one door and no windows. their door types metamorphosed through the ages from log of wood to artistically made wooden doors that bear ichi (carved lines). the walls of houses were made of mud, and this was normally well scrubbed. the floor was also scrubbed with a special stone that resembles the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 18 ‘quartz and quarzites’ called okwute mmiri (water stone), which was usually obtained or picked from water courses. the people roofed their houses with atari and ayo respectively. the former was got from raffia palm, while the latter was obtained as hay, from overgrown grassland areas. wealth was measured in pre-colonial amesi by the number of titles an individual has taken, the extent of his farmland, the size of his yam barns and the number of livestock kept. such individuals were known, and honoured as ogaranya (wealthymen). however, the disabled and poor were not left to wallow in misery as they were given succor by their relatives. in as much as many people engaged in trading, others kept the different parlances of the traditional industry throbbing and thriving progressively. justice in-pre-colonial amesi was inextricably bound up with politics, religion and law. this assertion was re-enforced by j.c. anene’s observation that; “no study of the igbo is intelligible without a close appreciation of the pervasive reality of the supernatural world, and no community is complete without a shrine for the gods of the land”11. social organizations like the masquerade, secret societies and age grades, helped in the maintenance of order, form and recreational activities in the town. the basic sociopolitical unit, headed by the father (dinweulo), is the nuclear family. this included the wife/wives, children and the slaves, if he had any. the father, in as much as he holds the ofo (symbol of power and the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 19 authority), is also regarded as the representative of the dead ancestors, controlled religious, judicial and political activities of the family. the extended family followed suit, comprising man, wife/wives, brothers, children, unmarried sisters and other very close relatives. the umunna (lineage) in its structural make-up, settled disputes within its jurisdiction, such as that between couples or even the one based on land. matters beyond its arbitration were sent to the village assembly; made up of all adult males, linage heads, elders, titledmen and men of extraordinary capabilities. as “subtlety, complexity and stability characterized the manner in which all igbo communities organized their political life”,12 decisions arrived at in the various assemblies, towards the smooth running of the town’s affairs, based wholly on concensus, consultation and compromise. land which is believed to be the abode of ancestors and earth goddess (ani), was highly revered, propitiated and appeased when desecrated. seen as a common instrument and property of the living, the dead and generations unborn; it was then regarded as a moralistic symbol. for the pre-colonial amesi people, the principal object of belief is the ultimate reality, which is referred to as chi-ukwu (great spirit). the large number of ancilliary gods which lead up to this supreme being, suggests the people’s belief in the unfathomable nature of the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 20 ‘amesi, just like other igbo towns, as against the previous allegation, did not at anytime spend the past centuries in ‘great isolation’, neither were they ‘cut off’ by their allegedly impenetrable environment’. just as the forest zone did not initially hinder settlement, it clearly did not prevent amesi from wallowing and perfecting in various instruments of inter-group relations: wrestling, warfare, marriages, festivities etc. in the light of this, green observed that; ‘inter-marriage creates a network of ties by which the cells of ibo society though not unified by any central authority, nor arranged in any political hierarchy are nonetheless interlinked horizontally each with its neighbours”. amesi possesed no organized army, and its weapons of war included bows, arrows, sheated swords, spears, matchets, clubs, stones, guns etc. these weapons when in the hands of brave warriors, could be very effective at close range. 1.2 origin, migration, settlement. the history of amesi is largely un-written, and as a result much of the reconstruction would depend on oral tradition, however mindful of the fact that existing ones are both extant and patchy, and so capable of leading to a … steep and slippery road whose end would appear invisible”.14 the origin of the name ‘amesi’, and the people who bear it are both wrapped in myths and legends. a popular account traces amesi’s migration from oraeri. despite the popularity of the assertion, some caution has to be applied as the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 21 j.c. anene pointed out that among the igbo; ‘nothing very definite is known about their earlier migration”.15 to suggest a date when man started living in amesi is a difficult task, but using indirect archaeological evidence, it would appear that, “between the period 1000-500 b.c., man had already settled on the land”.16 the story of amesi’s foundation revolves around a putative father called eshi or ozoakalabo. oraeri and eshi were two children of the same father, but not of the same mother, with oraeri being the elder son”17. oraeri later married many wives and was blessed with many children, while eshi, who was famed as not only a brave hunter, but a powerful herbalist, spent most of his time in adventurous pursuits as both a hunter and herbalist. legend has it that eshi, during one of his expeditions, discovered an area with large expanse of palm trees, monkeys and medicinal herbs. having stayed few days mentally absorbing what the area had in stock, he killed some monkeys, collected enough wild fruits and herbs, and then journeyed home with the ultimate aim of getting married and migrating with his family to the new site. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 22 he later not only married, but also took the ozo title, and consequently was named akalabo. “eshi was reputed to have married “nwamgbafo’ the daughter of ‘nwaugwu’ from nri”,18 who got only an issue for him before her death. this first son allegedly was ‘amaeshi’. with his marriage to another woman later, eshi got two more sons – ‘akpo’ and ‘achina’. he then decided to embark upon his proposed migration, accompanied by oraeri and his family, although the latter dropped and settled on the way. consequently, this early migration must have got a lot to do with the present nri spot and environment. however, it is the view of anadi that ‘evo’, the putative father of oraeri people migrated from nri to the present oraeri environment with many of his relatives and aides as a result of an injunction (reference to the sacred exodus) from his father –ezenri nnamoko, who according to tradition, was the last major king that rulled nri the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 23 and all the towns under her hegemony. the probable date of this migration has been put at about 279 ad19. as amesi tradition claims that ‘oraeri’ and ‘eshi’ (eri) are brothers, it would then appear that ‘evo (father of oraeri) and eshi were sons of ezenri namoko, and that both probably left nri at the same time. after evo had settled at oraeri present environment, eshi (ri) later moved due to circumstances, in search of a more suitable place to settle, which happened to be the present location of amesi. on the ‘nri’ genealogical validity of amesi, boston had this to say: “….. referred to as the anambra group of towns. these towns are aguleri, nteje, amanuke igbariam, nri, oraeri, amaesi and nnokwa”. these towns have identical culture and traditional pattern coming from one ancestor. they are all nri towns and each like oraeri can lay claims to the bronzes of igbo_ukwu…”20 migration however, could be caused by a number of factors including war, over population, drought, fire, flood and other elemental catastrophes. according to isichei, “when population pressure becomes too great, or when towns were divided by serious disputes, a section would migrate and established a new house preserving the memory of its origin”. 21 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 24 before “eshi” died, he divided his estate amongst his sons. amesi being the eldest, as a the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 25 matter of tradition had to retain obu-eshi (their father’s compound), with the large expanse of palm trees, hence the appellation umuakalabonkwu usually added to his name. inclusive in amesi’s share was a wealth of medicinal herbs, which helped him to perfect his progress in traditional medicine. because of achina’s likeness for water and fishing, he was given the strip of land that haboured many streams, while akpo was given a very fertile land due to his farming ability. akpo and achina then broke away from obu-eshi and settled with their families in their respective lands. the name ‘amesi’, is a corruption of the original name ‘amaeshi, or ‘amaeri’ (the gate-way to the domain of eshi). with the migration over, amaeshi later got four sons – umunlobedike, amuwo, umuocha and ubaha, in order of seniority. it is significant to note that these four sons later produced issues which made up the four villages of amesi. umuocha however decided to adopt his mother’s name rather than his father’s. obinato and umuocha are so interwoven geographically, that there is no clear-cut demarcation between them. both are referred to as isioye. atonement for any defilement (ikwuala), belongs to oraeri people as of right, but in the absence of oraeri, amesi could preside. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 26 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 27 c h a p t e r two institutional developments 2.1 political institutions: he struggle for power and influence in any society or community takes place within the context of social and political structures, which involved the arrangement of persons in institutionally controlled or defined relationships. the basic political unit in precolonial amesi is the ezi’nuno (nuclear family). this normally comprised a father, his wife/wives, children, his servants and in some cases slaves. the father was and is still regarded and acknowledged with great honour as the head of the family. on his death, the first son replaced him automatically. the father of the family was an embodiment of authority and his words were respected without question. the submission of other family members to his authority with powerless resignation, conditions their future relations with those in various authority base of the town. moreover, with a spectrum of family socialization, there are other ranges of orientation which the nuclear family takes charge of. the indoctrination and moulding of the child’s character here, follows strict and programmed path, all aimed towards positively t the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 28 directing his actions to fall in line with what obtained in the community. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 29 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 30 after the nuclear family, the next social unit is the extended family. this usually comprised upwards of about four to eight families. a typical example in amesi is the egbuacho families. according to horton’s analysis, “this is founded not upon the conjugal relationship of husband and wife, but upon blood relationship of a large number of kin persons”.22 this extended family comprises wife/wives, brothers, children, unmarried sisters etc. in pre-colonial amesi, members of nuclear families were found with their families inhabiting often a relatively large compound, called (obu). however, nowadays, the eldest member occupies the obu, in the event of others stepping out far off or closeby to erect their houses, and his duty it was to show leadership before the other members, which undoubtedly goes along way towards promoting group solidarity. moreover, there is tendency towards communalism, especially if they live either in one large compound or very close to one another, although this is strongly being threatened presently both by the rising cost of living and western capitalism, with its emphasis on individualism. in amesi traditional society, political power and authority were exercised at various levels. the extended family in gailey’s view, is the “first formal division in village politics”,23 in that here the authority of the eldest male was absolute though he was by no means a dictator. expantiating further on this, olisa opined that; “the okpara’s leadership is essentially a the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 31 moral one, for he cannot take any decision alone, and cannot enforce the decision taken by his people with any form of coercion. government in all levels of social structure is thus based on concensus of the members of the group concerned”.24 decision-making at all levels of the social structure followed a democratic pattern. members were permitted dissenting opinions during deliberations, but once a decision was arrived at, it becomes binding on the whole community. the diokpara was responsible for offering sacrifice to the ancestors, and it was from this that he derived his legitimacy. “at his death, succession to the the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 32 office follows the adelphic principle, passing from the incumbent to his next brother in line, rather than from father to son”.25 the next politico-social level in amesi is the umunna (minimal lineage). this consists of a single and extended families, claiming descent from a patrilineal ancestor. this unit was and is still strictly exogamous, and members usually lived together within a chosen area. amesi today consists of seventeen minimal lineages (quarters), namely: umunlodike village (umu-umeoha, umuumebigholo, umu-ofeke and umu-ibelaka), amuwo village (umudibie, umu-aro, onunaku, umu-umeanosike and anyaji), umuocha village (umu-okpalaibekwe, umu-ojihie, umu-ogbaighe and umu-umeonaku), ubaha village (umuezemeny, umuduru, umumeoka and umugologo). sexual relationship between members was regarded with horror. the eldest son was the head of the unit, and so had charge of the unit’s sacred symbol of ofo. his custody of ofo made him the go-between of the living and the dead. it became his duty to sacrifice periodically to the ancestors of the lineage during festivals. he also represented the lineage in any meeting of the maximal lineage (village council). through the exertion of moral pressure, he maintained peace, justice and concord among members of his unit. he also listened to complaints and arbitrated in disputes between members. in complaints of a serious nature, the diokpora summoned the lineage because while the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 33 imbued with authority as the eldest male, he was conscious of the fact that his authority derived from the umunna, hence the saying umunna buike (strength derives from the lineage group). just like the nzuko ime bara (council of the extended family), the lineage possess the nzuko umunna (council of the minimal lineage), which comprised all heads of the house holds of the unit, men of ripe age, members with considerable wealth and influence, titled and of course intelligent individuals. it was sacrilegious for the council to converge for meeting in another place other than at the house of the diokpara. in the event of any case or misunderstanding between members, settlement was obtained after all sides had been heard, questions asked, and decisions finally reached through concensus. this was shown either by general acclamation or rejected by shouts of derision. blame was apportioned, while punishment followed. the umunna appears to be an intermediary between the extended family and the village. it is infact a structure of coordination and form, for maintaining the link between official decision-making (output) and public feedback (input). however, when all the powers of a specific level of government have been applied in trying to solve a particular problem, and no success was recorded the case was transferred to the next higher level which was usually more powerful and had more influence and authority to ensure peace. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 34 the village level (miximal lineage) is the zenith of political organization in traditional amesi society. the existing component maximal lineages were complementary to one another. the unit comprised all heads of the different minimal lineages, elders, titled men, men of opulence, wisdom and wealth, including chief priests of important deities in the village. the village square (ama), was taken as the rendezvous of the village assembly. cases that appeared before the village council included that of incest, murder, stealing (goat and yam), arson, poisoning, disputes between one umunna and another or cases that cannot be handled by the lineage (minimal) government. the village is made up of related kindred, and it varied is sizes, depending on the compound units that made it up. each individual village is autonomous in its affairs. this agrees with uchendu’s view that; “each village is autonomous and sovereign in most matters affecting it. what modifies this sovereignty is the ‘charter’, the myth from which the village group derives its solidarity”.26 a maximal lineage possesses ofo according to the number of minimal lineages it harbours and each holder of this insignia was the representative of his minimal lineage (umunna), in all outside relations. it does appear that amesi practiced much the same direct and representative democracy for which the western writers themselves often look back with appreciation and gratitude to the city-states of ancient greece as the focus et origo of their civilization. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 35 but it must be noted that the practice of amesi, in representatives of the people, did not however isolate other citizens, from contributing to debates during village meetings. despite its shortcomings, the political system of amesi at least ensured for her people, justice, peace and security from fear. however, any case that defied adjudication and settlement at the village level, instantly proved its seriousness, and so no time was wasted in drawing the attention of the supreme and final system to it. this based on much weird and supernatural parlance. “the services of a great herbalist accompanied with those of the chief priest of orie and ani deities, were arranged for in a sacred grove referred to as ala di uji´27 (land, bottomlessly deep). after the alleged invocation of the superhuman forces, any accused who didn’t disappear, after having trespassed through that ground, automatically proved his innocency. however in the light of present historical research, the ‘disappearance’ of some of the accused may have something to do with the atlantic slave trading connections. above the village council, stood the town council (oha na eze) this was an assembly of all males in amesi, although women were also invited depending on the subject matter under discussion. the council met sparingly, and only when important matters concerning the entire people were to be discussed, such as issues of war, peace settlement etc. usually, such an assembly is purposive, and as membership was based on the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 36 representation, the views of every one present was needed. one could then see the assembly breaking up into different caucusing groups, with each caucus having a leader who would give the entire assembly; the views of his members on the issue. under this platform, decision-making becomes a mass affair, as much as that of the individual also. in pre-colonial amesi, there existed a hierarchy of titles which successful individuals were expected to pay for and be initiated into. a rich and prosperous man who had a large family would normally be required to take a traditional title. the higher the title, the more money the recipient spent. on titles, meek has this to say; “the system of title-taking is one of the most characteristics features of ibo society … there are those who confer a political as well as social status … the taking of title was a costly and elaborate affair …”28 there were three important titles in pre-colonial amesi – the heroic, ozo and yam titles. an individual was given a heroic title when he had exhibited several acts of bravery. people famed in, and others who were able to come back with at least a human head during an external war, usually received such title like dike, ikuku ama na onya etc., hence individuals with this type of title, were respected in amesi, as their usefulness was not challenged during emergency and dangerous situations. there were also several titles reserved for successful yam farmers, as a token for their farming prowess. intending di ji were rated by the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 37 individuals who already posses such title. the yam barn of the prospective title-taker was examined to ensure he had enough standard yams. in the event of satisfying the conditions, he was then directed to perform the ceremony associated with this title. after this, the successful farmer received the title of either of the followingezeudu ji (yam professional), ezeji (reputed yam farmer). the institution of ozo title in amesi, introduced a new and important basis of social and political relationship. the ozo institution was and is still characterized by the rule of the wealthy (ogaranya), and this has gradually undermined the rule by the elders. the status of an elder consequently became enhanced by the taking of ozo title. in pre-colonial amesi, ozo titles were exceptionally conferred on men of good reputation and integrity. the holder of that title was normally known as nze, while the most senior ozo holder was called – isi nze na ozo. this conferred on the holder, a measure of esteem and respect. as a unit, ozo title holders played important roles in the government of pre-colonial amesi. towards expantiating further, isichei asserted that: “a title was a gurantee of character and success. the entrant went through protracted and arduous rituals, and his later life was surrounded by religious restrictions, which became more onerous, as he rose in the title structure”.29 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 38 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 39 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 40 however, many priviledges and obligations, made titles worth taking. it was a visible way of displaying one’s wealth, and a calculated challenge to the lazy and prodigal youths. to the title taker, it acted as a saving and a pension against old age. although the ozo title holders played very important roles in the government of precolonial amesi, they did not use their influence and wealth to the detriment of the community. their presence did not in any way militate against the running of the village councils, hence c.k. meek noted that; “an igbo village was governed by the whole body of people, the head of the families and the rich or titled or noble men, ‘forming a kind senate in the miniature republic’.30 an ozo aspirant, was required to go through many clearly-ritualistic stages, before finally being conferred with the status. available information point to a difference in stages with regards to the four different villages of the town. umulodike village, as the eldest recipient of this social institution in the town, operated such stages likeodoro mmuo, ozo – tiwaragaa, ozo-trokpu, and isa – ire, while amuwo village had – ichi, ozo-oziza, igba mmanya, odorommuo or isupu okwu and otoonu. however, if an aspirant died under the okpuruozo (ozo incubation period), his death was simply taken as an abomination, hence his funeral was done only by whistling. sequel to the many stages which an aspirant must go through before fully becoming an ozo-titled person, on the whole, it was not often the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 41 rare to find the overall estimated expenses totaling upwards of six hundred naira worth of yams, meat etc. apart from the titled societies, another group that wielded influence and power, though a latent force in amesi, was the umuada (association of freeborn daughters of amesi). they helped to ensure good behavior, and unity among the women folk of the town. the age-grade system played very important roles in pre-colonial amesi. its origin could be traced to the days when amesi fought wars with her neighbours. an age-sect in amesi, was made up of individuals who were born within an interval of three years. the age-grade system was and still is an effective instrument of local administration. it also acted as an efficient medium for community organization and development in the town. it provided a definite forum through which the oha na eze (town council), communicated with the people. in uchendu’s view: “the executive function of the village is vested in the youth through their age grade organization. besides serving as a social indicator which separates the senior from the juniors. the agegrade association is a means of allocating public duties, guarding public morality through the censorship of member’s behaviour and providing companionships and mutual assistance for members. it is to them that the police functions of the village are delegated”. 31 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 42 they exert social control through evolving the mmonwu (masquerade) and other secret societies. the mmonwu apart from entertainment, maintained peace, stability and implemented the decisions of the village councils. there were many types of masquerades, noted with the performance of different functions. achikwu, onyekulum (both were night masquerades which specialized in revealing unhealthy secrets, while moving about in the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 43 the night.) other types of masquerade included, okpa-nna ya, mgbadike, ogbuoturugo and odudu ibariba. it could then be asserted that amesi precolonial set-up exhibited detailed attributes of harmony and concensus, no sharp contest for political power, as status was ascribed rather than achieved. 2.2 socio-cultural institutions apart from political institutions, amesi also had other social and cultural organizations that assisted in the cohesion of the people. the marriage system played an important role in pre-colonial amesi society. it was more than simply a legalized sexual union between a man and a woman. intra-group marriages, served as effective band in strengthening human relations and association amongst the different families of the town. according to ottenberg; “marriages created important links between independent units”.32 as one informant pointed out; “in amesi, as in other parts of igboland, marriage was and still is regarded as something very important which everybody practiced in the town. polygamy was practiced widely as a mark of wealth and prestige, in that a man, in proving his worth paid the bride wealth of many wives, thus exhibiting his affluence and ability to look after a large household. it is not unusual to note that; “in traditional amesi society, girls were usually bethroted in their infancy, even on the very day they were born”.34 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 44 although the boy-suitor may still be young, his family took charge of affairs, by reassuring the girls’ family of their determination in marrying the girl. this they manifested and sealed up through the traditional presentation of special firewoods – okwe, ogbu, and palm wine to the girls’ parents. but a youngman who out of his own volition, wanted a girl for marriage, easily did so by presenting her a conconut. the girl was by tradition expected to show the coconut to her parents. such marriage overtures were rarely rejected. moreover a youngman of good behaviour and proven ability, who wanted to get married to a girl, but lacked the finance, could still be allowed to marry, provided he rendered an agreed amount of work to his in-laws. in normal circumstances, a man paid the sum of forty cowries (two bags of money) as bride wealth, and in addition presented three kegs of palm wine to his father-in-law as stipulated by tradition. during the ceremonies that accompanied a marriage, relations of both the bride and bride groom will be invited. it was for this reason that arinze noted thus; “the ibos have great respect for marriage, and the family. family ties are strong. marriage is not just the affair of a youngman and his fiancee, but a long process between both families”. 35 childless couples in amesi, were likened to a tree without fruit, and bareness amongst women was abhorred. sexual promiscuity such as adultery, incest, homosexualism etc., were also regarded with horror. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 45 a typical amesi traditional marriage underwent and involved a detailed investigation by the suitor about the bride’s character and family upbringing, as this went a long way towards determining the smoothness of the marriage. a particular amesi saying states that, ezi omume bum ma nwanyi (good manners make a beautiful lady). amesi tradition therefore places high premium on the good behaviour of a bride. a good wife was expected to be sociable, clean, hardworking, respectful and obedient to her husband and the elders. “previously, a new bride is expected to be a virgin, and this was insisted upon; this social requirement is no longer being insisted upon”.36 after the payment of the bride wealth, merry-making and a sum-ptous banquet follows: amesi consequently held in high esteem the word ogo (in-law), and whom soever it was used in addressing. furthermore, when a child visits his mother’s original home, he is addressed as nwadiana (child of the soil) and treated with care, as this place is not only his second home, but a usual place of refuge. he is expected to bow or genuflect while greeting them. mothers whose married daughters gave birth, often spent about four weeks with them, during which time she looked after the baby and mother. this act was known as ile omugwo. when embarking on the visit, they normally carried with them enough food stuffs, with which to prepare delicious and nutrition’s dishes for their daughters, in order to enable them recover quickly the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 46 from the strains of child birth. by the same token, the other married women in the village fetched fire-wood, water and weeded farms for the newly delivered mother. such friendly assistance was given until the latter was able and strong to cope with these chores. recreational entertainments were and still are a strong part of amesi social life. wrestling contests were periodically undertaken in amesi, under diverse circles. this not only promoted intra-town friendly relations, social homogeneity, but also encouraged the spirit of sportsmanship, recreation and tolerance amongst the people. by the same token, uchendu stated that: “wrestling is a popular igbo sports shared by all. the igbo are extremely boastful of their skill in wrestling present or past. the thrilling bouts are inter-village group wrestling competitions, where the characteristic tricks and twists of each group are demonstrated. wrestling is done to the accompaniment of music …, wrestling leads to lifelong friendship between equally matched patners”.37 interestingly, wrestling in pre-colonial amesi was practiced by both men and girls (mgba okorobia, mgba umuagbogho). however, the different sexes engaged members of their sex in wrestling matches. such contests were organized on the eighth month of each year, on a particular day, in honour of orie-amesi god. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 47 each village of amesi sent its best wrestlers who on the appointed day would assemble at the orie-amesi square. the atmosphere at the square then, resembled that of a big carnival, as people thronged to the place, to watch their star wrestlers, and to see which village would win the tournament. good wrestlers often won the hearts of many girls, and this bred several friendship and courtship alliances, which often ended in marriage. a typical wrestling match was proceeded with the announcement of the contestants by the talking drums. their villages were mentioned together with their previous exploits. as the drums beat faster, the contestants danced into the arena, each stepping and flexing his muscles in sequence with the music. in this mood, they danced around the square for a while, and with the instant change in the music’s rhythm and crescendo, they quickly went for each other. having been gingered up, fear was replaced by pride and courage, resulting in a show of class, wit and mastery. at the end of the day, winners were rewarded with praisenames and glory. according to the wrestling rule, an opponent was defeated when his back touched the ground. but this was sometimes flouted, as defeated contestants could resort to fighting out of shame. however, the elders normally intervened and stopped such a situation. dancing was an important form of recreational activity among pre-colonial amesi society. most of the dances were associated with the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 48 important religious-social events and festivals. among the important traditional dance forms are – egwu-okibi (funeral dance), egwu-oriri, egwu-abia, egwu-ntiri (diety/market dance), oziza (performed during marriage ceremonies), and egede dance. “egede oziza dances were also usually performed by adolescent girls during moonlight plays”.38 during full moon, people usually converged at the different squares, located in the various villages, and at these places, young men and girls engaged in moonlight plays. as the elders watched protectively at the goings on at the square, the girls danced, while the men wrestled. the nostalgia raised by such occasion on the minds of elders and aged, has led to the saying that – onwa tibe, ijegaguba agadi nwanyi (the old woman develops the longing to travel under the moon light). moreover, there was also the famous herbal exhibition, which promoted competitiveness, progress in the field of herbal cure and recreational base to pre-colonial amesi society. people were treated to new findings, entertained with weired, mysterious and unbelievable feats. the mmonwu (masquerade) secret society as previously mentioned was another important instrument that fostered social discipline and intra-group harmony in pre-colonical amesi. initiated members not only regard themselves as ‘brothers’, but shared their secrets together, irrespective of their different families and villages, while the uninitiated were regarded as ogbodu (the untutored). the best in masquerade entertainment the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 49 often occurred during the annual igbammonwu (the masquerade dancing competition) which was always awaited with great expectation. they constituted objects of attraction and enjoyment during festivities. amongst the many important masquerades, the activities and social functions of the achikwu and onyekulue, cannot be easily overlooked. both were night masquerades; onyekulue appeared in a female form (in relation to its social function), while achikwu, of course manly type was the more dangerous. onyekulue as mentioned earlier, broadcast openly all the bad behaviour that people partook in secretly. she always carried her mission in the night when everybody was expected to be at home. no name was too great for her to mention, and no sin’ shameful for her to expose. she descended more on talkative women, gossipers and incorrigible social misfits. “while she roared her denunciations, cold silence descended on that section of the town. when she had thrashed that section to her satisfaction, she announced her flight to another. the next moment, her voice confirmed her arrival there”. in the same form, achikwu came and went on a separate night, in a lime light of dramatic display. as it approached, all lights went out in the town, followed by a quick succession of thunder from unknown directions; blood-cuddling, nervewrecking, and heart-rending roars deafened the ears miles around. with the warning completed, the town went silent within an hour, it announced its emergence from the earth through loud songs the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 50 that struck fear into the hearts of children. with the stage set, it embarked upon its mission of social criticism. there were also the dancing masquerades (mgbadike, ojionu) and the singing masquerades of the night (achikwu, onyekulue). the night masquerades judged aright in their behaviour, can be regarded as a, “choral club whose principal objective was to entertain with music, jokes and humourous satire, one club against another as politicians do today”. 40 a lot of regulations and rules, prevent the people, girls in particular from bringing the masquerade’s honour to the dust. offences against them, were not private matters, but public issues, which attracted the attention of other masquerades from the different villages of the town, and even beyond. they collectively punished the offender. from the foregoing, it would be seen that, apart from the personal satisfaction and enhancement of social status which ceremonies, masquerades, dances etc accorded and still accord to individuals in amesi society, they provided occasions for peaceful intercourse, mutual regard, entertainment, recreation and friendly exchanges between male and female, rich and poor, young and the aged. 2.3 religious institutions the history of any pre-literate people is undoubtedly best studied through their religious beliefs and practices. consequently, pre-colonial the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 51 amesi maintained through various ways, the traditional bonds between the dead ancestors, the gods and the living. the importance of this act can more clearly be seen from the idea that “the spiritual is as much as part of reality as the material, and there is complimentary relationship between the two, more powerful than the material”.41 with this in mind, the necessity to propitiate and manipulate the powers that operate outside the sphere of human control, became a dominant feature in the life of ancient amesi. these religious beliefs, although enshrined into a very complex system, unequivocally rests on chi-ukwu (the supreme god, the creator of the universe), to whom is attributed all supreme powers, including that of life and death. this supreme force is known and referred to through many names, but there is the firm belief that a community of the dead (ancestors), and an ancilliary of gods (deities), exists alongside the community of the living, and that there is a mutual beneficial partnership between them. the core of this traditional religion is the, “polarity between chi-ukwu and ani (earth goddess), between the transcendent and the visible”.42 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 52 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 53 the ancestral cult was associated with ani – the source and judge of human morality. homicide, kidnapping, poisoning, stealing farm products, adultery and giving birth to twins or abnormal children are offences against ani. as shrines for this goddess existed in every compound in amesi, her powerful integrating nature amongst the people cannot be easily denied. although no dualism existed in this traditional religion, but the people accordingly believe that all human evils emanated through the diabolical works of ekwensu (devil). yet the peoples’ spirituality generated the practice of trying to penetrate into the being of this mysterious chi-ukwu through prayers, invocations, incantations, sacrifice, and annual celebrations, in the pleasing of the constituents of this godhead. igo-ofo, marks the invocation start of this sacrifice, whereby other sub-spirits are invited. associated with everyone’s personality, according to the religious thoughts of the people, is a genius or spiritual double, known as chi. according to llogu. “the magnamity or ignominy of (everyone’s) actions, as well as his successes and failures, are due to his chi.43 it could be understood that the particular minor deities, given place of prominence, reverence and worship in amesi, are really the ones out of many the people have chosen, for the purpose of obtaining instant solutions to their problems and needs. such gods included – “oye (orie), eke, agwu, nkwo, ezeogwugwu, isigwu, mpamoru etc. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 54 the chief deities – orie (the god that gives life), and (earth goddess of fertility), and agwu (god of healing and protector of life) were worshipped by the whole town, while others received the attention of particular villages and lineages. amesi is still famous in the art of traditional medicine, particularly the healing fame and power of her agwu is still highly regarded even today. however, one cannot help admitting the unifying aspect of this common worship and traditional religious feeling amongst the different families/villages of amesi. moreover, ancient amesi society possessed a lot of taboos, which they dreaded to go against, for fear of inviting the wrath of these gods; that of ani in particular in her capacity as goddess of morality; hence “incest, adultery, climbing of palm trees by women, willful destruction of yam tendrils, murder, poisoning, stealing (yams and goat in particular) and manslaughter etc. were abhorred”.45 a lot of taboos guided amesi society, and failure to observe them attracted severe penalties like death, banishment, fine, and sale of the defiant into slavery. robbers or burglers killed in action, twins, those who died of oedema of the testicle, distended stomach, dysentery, smallpox, leprosy and other diseases considered to be caused by wickedness were all buried in ajo ohia (evil forest). towards the perfection of the peoples’ religious institution, a lot of signs and symbolisms were evolved, for example – the omunkwu (young the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 55 palm frond), connotes the sign of danger, whenever it is seen or placed on anything. it was also placed as signs especially where traps are hidden; thus signifying danger. if placed beside a tree, with some food items, it shows nothing but a sacrifice. the elders and titled men could place it on a disputed land, while a masquerade can also place it on a place, tree or thing. in all of these cases, it reminded the public that an embargo has been placed on those particular things. the nzu (white local chalk), connotes peace and warm affection. as soon as a stranger entered into an amesi man’s house, than he was presented with nzu, and then perhaps kolanut. this meant that the visitor was welcomed. lastly, the people’s mode of worship is also shown on the ekwena-ano or ikoro (a giant wooden drum). this is still placed in the orie-amesi square. on the walls of the little house harbouring it, are many fowl feathers, while the entrance to the house is surrounded with palm fronds, which added a lot to its mystery. the drum, six feet high and four feet wide, carved from hard wood, is a traditional socio-religious emblem used for extolling gallantry and bravery, burial ceremonies of important personalities and used on the eve of important festivals. it was also beaten during emergency to summon all the four villages of amesi, hence the name – ekwena ano (four drums in one). amesi based her traditional calendar upon her religious practices, as the different seasons were marked with many different religious the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 56 festivals. the people marked the following important festivals such as igbandichie (feast of the wealthy and titled). agwu feast (marked during the fifth month), while onwaisii (sixth month) was honoured as a time of peace, and a moratorium was placed on both funerals, marriages and child birth celebrations. the seventh month (onwa isaa) was marked by the commemoration of the new yam festival, while the eighth month marked the period of sacrifice to orie and okwunehie deities, by the whole town. during the ninth month, preparations for the veneration of ani would start and end in the tenth month. “ezeogwugwu deity, is honoured in the eleventh month” 46 etc. in mrs. exeuduji’s view, “one of the most important festivals which we never failed to mark, was the new yam feast (iri ji ohuu)”47. before the planting of yam, some rituals were done, beckoning ani, including the ancestors to prevent locust, ants and scavengers from eating or destroying the planted crops. similar to that of a newly born baby, the onset of new yams was heralded with a festival. this was done in perpetuation of the dignity of labour, while appreciation went to the gods for keeping the labourer alive, to enjoy the fruit of his labour. the festival was started with the traditional sacrifice with a particular specie of yam (ji mkpisi) to ani goddess of fertility and good harvest. nobodoy was allowed to eat this sacrificial yam, but after the second sacrifice with (ji ichie) yam, the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 57 people were then free to eat new yams. on the actual feast day, the people were free to use their biggest yam tubers, fat fowls or goats, in the festival and merry-making. the pre-colonial amesi beliefs and practices, embodied in her religion, provide a good example of the discrepancy between theory and practice. below is a list of some of the deities existent in amesi, including their location. obinato village orie-amesi owned by amesi town isigwu-obinato owned by umeononakume family ubanano owned by umeononankwume family oda obinato owned by (once served amesi akpo & achina) isigwu-nwoyeike owned by nwoye ike agwu-madinka owned by agwughi dike umeohukwu family – which gave them the knowledge of bone setting. (umumeoha family) agwu-umuagwo umuagwo family (incidentally this deity has stayed for long uncared for, due to the decimation of some amesians amongst whom were the umuagwo family by akpo people). ezeogwugwu ikpe-akutekwe obenoke (from this family, we had people who were not only very powerful herbalists, but could use rope to climb to the sky. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 58 they were also victims of akpo invasion. since then, the ofeke and ezeliora families have taken charge of this deity. the above mentioned feat cannot be continued due to the seemingly impossible requirement that must be met with before success could be assured – (3) three heads of foreigners, accompanied with abstinence from alcohol for four months etc. amuwo village agwu-amesi umudibie family, (but serves the generality of amesi) agwu-adiala isigwu umudibie family ikenaejeogu -umeojirinnaka ezeashilaa family ngwo-obodo osudegwu nkwo ezenduka agwu-adiala okorongwu uziowerri dimanushionwu (umoocha villages) ojukwu akarue oda-agu (a very strong ala messenger located in front of ezeagwu’s house, near the agwu amesi forest. herbalists use it and ngwonwo deity in their warelion – secret art. nkwo-amuwo ezenduka (for ozo titleship and ichi) the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 59 umuocha village okwunehie -owned by amesi (formerly, a river was there, as we were made to understand. however, due to a childless widow’s carelessness, the stream annoyed, moved down to uga town and formed what later came to be known as obizi river). ohia-aboeze -it is without any priest now, due to the fact that it continuously killed all its propitiators. this wicked act has been turned into an adage in amesi – aboeze na egbu onye na enye ya nni. (aboese that kills him who feeds it). isigwu-umuocha ezeakabekwe family. nwudo umuojihie family isigwu ezenwosu ezenwaosu family nwaogwugwu ezenwere family udo anukwa (umuojihie people) nne-agu ezeohuaku agwu-umuokwadinihuumuokwadinihu agwu-agba umuagba agwu-nwebe umeononaku/ umuokwanawuzie/ okwaraibekwe. agwu-mgboko umuogbaghi (here, every individual who carried any ‘strong’ masquerade must first be washed in readiness for the task). nwgu ogbaegbe -umulodike (emergency and protective deity, evolved during uga-amesi hostilities. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 60 ubaha village mpamoru akamikpu, ezenizugbe, okwaralekwe (but in service of amesi). isigwu-nnagha ikeako ezekekwe ezeogwugwu umuaro-ezeanyanaso ngwonwo owned by ubaha. information supplied by – umenduka umealaukwu umechukwu umenwaliri, ezeobioha ezeabasili, akamikpu okwara okerue, ezeodimegwu okpara uzoegwu, egbuacho silvanus and ezeahurukwe abazie. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 61 c h a p t e r three economic activities 3.1 agricultural – labour organization t has previously been stated that amesi is geographically very small, with regards to her landmass. as a result of this land scarcity, amesi people were forced to evolve different approaches towards achieving and obtaining their required needs. in pre-colonial amesi, “agriculture was the matrix in which economic activity was set”, 48 and one can still argue that generally, it still “… remains as in the past the matrix in which all other and genous economic activity is set”.49 as land was and still is the principal resource, the individual’s relationship to it has been regulated by a highly developed land tenure system. before the commencement of each farming season, the land was divided according to age (the older the man, the larger his share), and the more willingness to use land. helping in the clearing of the farm land, not only reflected an individual’s willingness, but certified his claim to a portion of land. in otternberg’s views; “during the sharing exercises, certain provisions were made to account for increased age, death, illness, and the presence of new farmers”.50 i the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 62 however, no woman had direct right and authority over land as such, even if she inherited the land through a deceased brother or husband. the nearest male relative, or even her son, in the case of inheritance through her husband, has to claim control of the land. but a man could allow some of his lands to his wife, thereby giving her the chance to plant cassava, cocoyam and vegetables, among his yams in the farm. in precolonial amesi, land was jointly owned and never sold by any community. in repayment of debts, land can be pledged rather than sold. due to the scarcity of land, the people mostly practiced migrant farming, while some other people took to trading and complimented it with subsistence farming. ezeuchwgbu further opined that; “amesi farmers hired virgin lands for cultivation from such places like achina, umuchu, isiokpu, agbudu, akokwa, uga and enugu-umuonyia”. 51 this practice is still prevalent up till today. diverse systems were adopted by the people, towards enhancing detailed crop yield in amesi. the farmers took up rotational bush fallow system, landed bush fallow, mixed farming and permanent cultivation. the reason should by now be obvious why the bush fallow and permanent cultivation systems were mostly adopted. however, those farmers who succeeded in getting enough land externally, easily practiced the rotational bush fallow system. some farmers who had the capital, engaged in animal husbandry, while women generally kept a relatively small poultry. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 63 livestock (cattle, sheep, goat) in pre-colonial amesi society were not simply for domestic consumption but were also kept as capital stock. returns on this capital, took the forms of sales of milk and manure to cultivators. cattles, sheep and goats were indeed highly priced, but their function as a status-symbol, derives from society’s appreciation of their economic worth. the man who possessed a large number of cattles, was respected not for his unthinking devotion to ascribed values, but for his skill in controlling a major resource. amongst the implements used in farm work, ikeagwu (sickle) was used for weeding, while mbazu (iron rod) was deployed for harvesting yam. many crops like yam, cocoyam, cassava, maize, melon, and beans were produced. the palm tree was exploited fully for food, fuel, broom, rope, oil and wine. the household, was the basic unit of labour organization and recruitment. some times, relatives in-laws and committee of farmers could help one another. this enhanced speedy progress. internal and external hunting activities were also undertaken in the dry season. 3.2 crafts and industry amesi engaged in weaving, pottery, carving and other artistic works: these crafts were evolved to meet the practical domestic needs of the people. some of the products were sold outside amesi-at uga and igboukwu markets. according to one informant; “most amesi women learnt the art of the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 64 weaving from the uga women married into amesi, but it is a simple fact that we taught all our neighbours, the art of bag weaving”.52 teenage girl’s specialized in the making of agbarada (a special long basket). the most basic standardized industries in amesi were the arts of mat and pottery-making; both of which amesi indigenes claimed and still clam to have taught others. the raw materials needed for the pottery were got from umuomaku town, while those for mat-making were obtained from enugu-umuonyia town. these arts were highly developed in amesi. “our women made many pot forms – ite mkpukpa (for storing waste oils from palm nuts), ite ugbugba (for soup-cooking), ite akpu (for cassava fermentation), while basket types include ngiga, abo, nkata and atari”.53 some of these artistic products when surveyed, reflect an astonishing level of technical virtuosity and a delight in intricate craftsmanship. they appear naturalistic in style and humanistic in emphasis. 3.3 trade although agriculture was the premier economic activity in pre-colonial amesi, trading occupied the second place. as already mentioned, scarcity of land in the town, made those who were not interested in migrant farming to engage in trading. this has resulted in the emergence of many professional traders within the town. trade was seen as the mechanism by which the products of agriculture and manufacturing sector were the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 65 brought within reach of the consumers. in its complexity of organization, individuals, families, villages, towns, and regions were involved. as markets were the main venue for commercial exchanges, the major local markets that existed, and are still existing in amesi are-orie, afo and eke. these markets were sacrificed and ministered to. besides, an early periodic morning market, called ozuru was usually held on non market days, as a help to those who needed urgently particular food items, but could not wait for the next market day. the above mentioned markets, supplemented one another, as none was exceptionally larger or more influential. it could the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 66 well be that the establishment of the local markets was an attempt to minimize inconveniencies inherent in the centralized markets that held only once every four days. in the heydays of orie amesi market, it maintained three big routes through which amesi akpo and achina indigenes maintained their fortnight presence. these routes, classified as ama-amesi, ama-achina, and ama-akpo, though not anymore in use, still defy physical extinction. articles sold and bought at local markets included agricultural products; “….very little fish, plenty of palm wine, raw and cooked yams, clay pots,…”54 and industrial articles (hoes, mat, basket set etc). the medium of exchange was previously by barter; very much the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 67 based on use value rather than on exchange value. however, prices of articles fluctuated seasonally. both women and men engaged in trading, but women would appear to have dominated the marketing scene, hence ekejiuba opined that; .igbomen generally took no part in the actual buying and selling of goods in local market”.55 in women’s professionalism in local trading, madam egbuacho pinpointed that; “many local women traders, were known to have become very wealthy, even to the extent of financing their husbands into taking the ozo titleship”.56 local markets, also served as centres for the dissemination of news, making of new friends, and strengthening of the towns bond of unity, hence any action which caused commotion in the market imesu ahia, was abhorred by the community. the guilty were severely punished. 3.4 traditional medicine “amesi people also made their living greatly as herbalists. everybody in the town, was a herbalist, specializing in different field”.57 as has been mentioned earlier, most people became medicine men in order to off set the constraints placed on them by land scarcity. many people, especially men, reverted to being full time traditional herbalists. areas covered includepsychiatry, gynaecology, orthopaedics, pediatrics, general medicine, antidotes against poison, surgery and metaphysical aspects of medicine such as soothsaying and rain-making. women the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 68 specialized mainly in the gynaecology and pediatrics branch. agwu-amesi deity, was and is still perceived to be the main force behind these curative measures. thus people who live within and outside amesi, often bring their problems indirectly to the deity for solution through its herbalists. at times, these problems are solved through the direct invocation and appeal to agwu. apart from being consulted at home by people, most of the herbalists often travelled to other places for the purpose of administering medical cure. occasionally, some built local hospitals, where they admitted and treated their patients. consequent upon the fact that different lineages, villages and people specialized in different aspects of herbal cure, trade monopoly was discouraged, and progress enhanced amongst the inhabitants. “the town’s fame in traditional medicine had spread so much that our medicine are always eagerly sought after by many communities”.58 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 69 basket holding water has remained in the the past, an exhibit of amesi professional identity. as a result of many years of practice, these herbalists have succeeded in preparing a widelyaccepted medical concortion antidote which people now use effectively against snake, dog, insect and scorption bites and stings (ogwuojii). apart from providing relief to pain and curing diseases, most of the herbalists in amesi, have equally been materially rewarded through their practice of medicine. a little detail is infact needed at this juncture, to illustrate further – the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 70 3.5 rain-making a highly metaphysical aspect of herbalism was very popular in amesi town. all investigations, point to the town’s father (akalabo), as the originator. amuwo and ubaha villages were specialists in this field. in amuwo, ezeugokwe muotolo of umuanyaji family stood out as one of the best, including the already deceased obiakor nwele of onunuaku family. they employed diverse instruments and forces towards achieving this feat, like nkuku, snail, pot etc. however, condiments varied depending on the sort of rain one wanted to ‘make’ (thunderous, lightening sort, dew or windy type). this rain-making ability is often accompanied with the capability of the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 71 preventing or withholding rain from falling. consequently, this art can be advantageously and disadvantageously applied. economically, it can be used towards irrigating farmlands. as a lucrative venture, (in that they were often consulted and payed towards obtaining any of the above needs) the trade was also most exacting, demanding and difficult. rainmaking is easier done during the rainy season, than during the dry season, due to the scorch atmosphere. at this point, one cannot help agreeing to the originality of this art, to the town, for the palace of igwe umeononankume is located on top of the mysterious akalabo’s water stone. informants igwe umeononankume chief obidigbo ezeagwu. antidotes: this branch of medicinal herbal preparation was in the portfolio of the amuwo people. almost all herbalists in the village participated in the mixing of this concortion, as a result of many years of experience and hardwork. this widely – accepted mix-up is tagged ogwu-ojii (black medicine). such substances and materials used in making the preparation included – palm kernel oil, dried bodies of many dangerous animals and insects, herbs, millipedes (male specie), tortoise etc. this curative is effective against snake, dog, insects and scorpion bites/ stings, including protection from enemy machinations. informant – chief obidigbo ezeagwu. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 72 war amulets and fortune-telling amuwo village specialized in the above branches, really due to the location of agwu deity shrine in that place. war charms were prepared even during peace times, and stored in a big pit, situated formally behind the present anglican church site at amuwo village. these amulets were called into play, during any emergency situation. there existed four big amulets, representing the town’s four villages. some people who were experts in this branch included ezeonwurie umegesi, ikeotuonye ejebionu (chief priest of agwu oracle), umeokwuegbu ndimuta ndiukwu etc. however, some available facts proved that two veritable oracles of aggression and vengeance (the ngwo onwo and oda-agu oracles located at amuwo and ubaha villages), respectively played vital roles. besides, the town engaged in iwu agwu (the deployment of agwu against enemies). a lot of damages could be done wherever this is applied – unexpected stampede in the enemy’s market places at the peak of commercial activities, mysterious deaths and sights etc. this was carried through against akpo, ntueke and abam warriors. informant – ezeobioha ezeabasili. psychiatry and bone setting ubaha and amuwo villages are specialists in this field. various types of mental disorders can be efficiently treated by those herbalists the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 73 professionalizing in this branch. the treatment and materials needed for the treatment of any mental problem, highly depended upon the type the patient is suffering. traditional psychological cure, largely accounts for the treatment. in amesi, experts in this field include -edward ezenduka, azubogu, ezennamaka ezeananyanaso, jonathan umeora etc. moreover, the popularity of amesi is never challenged in the field of orthopaedics. cases abound, where accident victims, that, couldn’t be successfully treated in westernized hospitals, were effectively handled in the many localized orthopaedic houses in the town. these traditional doctors have gone a long way in proving the efficiency of local herbs and medication. informant – chief umechukwu umenwaliri. gynaecology in amesi, all the four villages are reputed to have traditional gynaecologists, who were versed in the use of local herbs in solving birth and perdiatric problems. they know when and how to apply each medication, all in relation to the type of problems their patient has. before the advent of the alien maternity hospitals, amesians have been having it easy and smooth in child birth and child care. it is significant to note that though the localized gynaecological method in childbirth is simply a shorter system, it has not much the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 74 meticulous application like the present existent in the many maternities. informant – mrs. ezeobinwa orieoma metaphysical this field of traditional herbal practice in amesi can be truly tagged – the adverrtisment medium. it accords a seal of recognition and exhibition, while maintaining at the same time, a mastery of the act. no particular village can claim superiority in this branch, over the others though individual herbalists may through this medium prove or maintain their progress in their knowledge of the herbs. different scenes are usually presented during akaiabo festivity. many of them tend to make the impossible, possible, the unthinkable, thinkable. the borders of impossibility are infact reduced to the barest minimum, whenever amesi herbalists are in action. professionalism in herbalism has more than anything, promoted the popularity of amesi to far and near places. infact, that is the macus symbol of amesi. informants – herbalists in amesi. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 75 c h a p t e r four 4.1 inter-group relations vailable historical information has shown that pre-colonial amesi was not an island unto itself. apart from interacting amongst them-sleves, the people also associated with other people outside their borders. just like other autonomous entitities in igboland, amesi engaged in external relations, with not only her immediate neighbours, but also those other communities that settled relatively further off. this relationship has rested on several factors, such as ancestry, social, religious, economic and military. a precise investigation of these factors will perhaps aid our understanding of amesi’s external relations. ancestral connection the myth of origin if looked at critically, would reflect greatly the existence of certain historical affinity binding amesi, oraeri, achina and akpo towns. regardless however, of how authentic this local tradition could be, it has gone a long way in normalizing the town’s relationship with themselves. even at the present moment, efforts are still being made to maintain the links. commenting on the role common traditions of origin could play towards the upkeep of intergroup relations, arinze had this to say; “wide areas were often united by … the traditions of descent a the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 76 from a common ancestor ….”59 based on this historical piece, amesi from the earliest times, associated with oraeri town, regardless of the problems of distance (with that town). supporting this tradition of origin, and the uniting part it is still playing between amesi and oraeri towns, chief umeononankume has this to say; “oraeri and eshi were two children born of the same father. eshi later married and got amaeshi, akpo and achina as children”.60 capitalising on this tradition of origin, amesi people have for long, and on continous basis, interacted in different ways with akpo, oraeri, and achina peoples. social connection inter-group marriages have constituted a big visible factor in the external relations of amesi. about this, afigbo pointed out that “village was linked to village, village-group to village-group, tribe to tribe and so on by ----matrimonial and social ties”.61 amesi people have always intermarried with the people of akpo, achina, umuchu, akokwa, arondizuogu and uga towns. marriage between amesi and other nearby towns have really unified them. relationship bwteen amesi and these other towns have been sustained through the married daughters (umuada), and their children (nwdiana). they have in times of emergency and crisis, acted as peace agents between their home town and that of their mother. today, amesi and uga maintain very cordial relationship because of marriage ties. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 77 supporting this view, pa ezenkwele asserted that, “uga people do not usually refuse their daughters to amesi men when it came to marriage. this decision was borne out of the abam invasion of amesi, which depopulated them. to help increase their number, we stopped charging them highbride price….”62 this sustained inter-group marriage between amesi and the other nearby communities has given rise to intimate and intricate personal relationship, which have bound her with several other peoples. as green has contended; “this fact of inter marriage between different and potentially hostile groups have contributed in no small degree to the survival of the ibo people”.63 marriage in precolonial amesi, engendered reciprocal visits amongst in-laws, thereby fostering mutual protective feelings and co-existence. wrestling was amongst the different forces which amesi employed towards extending her external relations. wrestling was so developed in the town in pre-colonial times, that girls even participated. wrestling contest in the town usually started with the normal preliminaries. the best wrestlers were then selected from all the four villages, and through the process of elimination, the best male and female wrestlers were chosen. on an approved date and venue, wrestling matches were then organized on town levels, specifically between the various champions from the various towns. through this sporting and recreational activities, amesi succeeded in developing closer ties with akpo, achina, umuchu the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 78 towns. as amesi wrestlers visited the above mentioned towns for competitions, so also did other people from these towns come to amesi. a general wrestling carnival normally came up every three years, which involved amesi and a majority of her neighbours. this was not only usually very well attended, but acted as a binding cement for town and town, towards unity and friendship. the masquerade secret society has for long, tightened the bond between amesi and her neighbours. quite unlike many other igbo communities, amesi had for long shared the same tradition, custom, dialect and way of life, with the akpo, achina, uga and even umuchu people. as a result, such masquerades that exist at amesi could still be found in the neighbouring towns. membership of the masquerade society in any of the above mentioned towns, infact conferred on the individual freedom of movement, whether at amesi or within the neighbouring clans, that posses similar masquerades. on this, ifemesia has noted that. “the igbo secret society (mmonwu), provided a bond of union which transcended kinship affiliations not only within the community, but also between it and others in which similar institutions obtained”.64 offences against an amesi masquerade, were taken not as private or internal matters only, but public issues also, as the attentions of other masquerades from the different villages of the town and beyond are attracted, in seeking redress on the offender. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 79 music it appears, cannot be separated from the life of amesi and her neighbours. in amesi, there existed dance groups, numerous in dance and forms. some of the dances were borrowed from towns, just as these towns borrowed from amesi also. amesi borrowed from her neighbours such dances as – kokoma, ericoo, igba-eze etc. the neighbouring towns learnt from amesi such dance forms like igba mmonwu, egedege, and oziza. it is well known that to learn a new dance from a different town, requires either associating very closely with them or inviting them to teach it, while living in the town. amesi fully associated with her neighbours in the pre-colonial times. religious relationship to pre-colonial amesi, religious issues was in all its ramifications an effective moral booster to the establishment of both internal and external relations. commenting on its role in inter-group relations, arinze stated that “wide areas were often united by religious ties, ..hence the communal worship of ani, the earth spirit”.65 amesi just like other igbo communities believed in the overlordship of chi-ukwu (almighty god), ani (earth deity), agwu (god of medicine), and a host of other deities, who of course carry out different functions in the daily life of the people. in the belief of amesi people, chi-ukwu is the supreme god that should be propitiated through other intermediaries. fortunately, amongst these minor gods and deities, each community chose or decided which she needed. this could account for the existence of the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 80 agwu deity only in amesi, and not in the other towns. sequel to this, many neighbouring people, especially herbalists, diviners and ardent religionists, visited, and still visit amesi, just to have a closer, encounter with agwu. by the same vein, many amesi indigenes frequented other neighbouring towns, just to consult also, some deities that are non existent in the town, as amesi was not self sufficient with regards to all her religious needs, anadi explained further that; “amesi in those pre-colonial days, obtained some religious services from our people …. our people never failed or refused any call from amesi towards the amelioration of any aru (abomination) … committed by anybody”.66 economic connection pre-colonial inter-group relations in amesi was sustained also by economic factors. as was previously mentioned, the primary occupation of the people at the earliest stage of their settlement, was agriculture. almost every family practiced fulltime farming. with the population of the town increased, land scarcity consequently resulted. as there was no room for agricultural (farming) expansion, most people began to engage in migrant farming. this however required the friendship, intimacy and co-operation of amesi and her larger neighbouring towns. in showcasing this, mr. ezeaku stated thus; “akpo people easily leased out their lands to amesi citizens during the farming season, as a form of economic help, in that amesi generally lacked land”.67 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 81 in enjoying this help, amesi got lands from achina, akpo, umuchu, akokwa, uga and even such other farther towns as ezira and umuomaku. during the farming season, due to the relative distance of some of these towns, amesi farmers usually migrated and camped in those towns. this move really promoted relationship between amesi farmers and those they did visit. amesi farmers cultivated such crops as yams, cocoyam’s, cassava, anyu (pumpkin), inine (amaranthus), onugbu (piper guineese). these migrant farmers being mainly males, the chief crop which they planted was and still is yam, with such varieties as adu (discorea), (bulbitera), ji abi (d. odorotissima), ona (d. dumentorum), jiocha (d. rotundata), ji anunu (d. cayenensis), ji abala etc. their basic labour force during both planting and harvesting seasons included family relatives and friends. hunting was another viable economic endeavour to which amesi retreated in her attempt at solving her food problem. to the town, hunting supplemented the meager meat supply, and was not really undertaken for the sake of making money. since amesi lacked extensive forest, her hunters hunted in towns like akokwa, uga, isuokpu, umuchu and arondizuogu. supporting this fact, madam orieoma said; “… some hunters killed by setting traps, while professionals amongst them, went to the extent of going on hunting expeditions which took them as far as ikpa umunze (umunze wilderness)”68 as a matter of fact, amesi hunters, the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 82 usually spent many days in the forest in trail and pursuit of their game. amesi also interacted effectively with her neighbours in the industrial aspects. the principal carvers, blacksmiths and cloth weavers, in those days, filtered into amesi, due to the fact that these crafts wasn’t indigenous to the people. a very notable uga carver that lived at amesi is ikemudu. smiths came from towns like awka, nkwerre, agulu, and akokwa towns. for the same reason, many amesi people moved over to neighbouring towns practicing their own art also, including traditional medicine. moreover, foreign apprentices were easily welcomed into amesi, and adequate knowledge and education imparted to them, in relation to their need and objective. a very popular pathetic local tradition amongst the people, recounts how a childless widow involuntarily caused the drying up of the only natural source of water supply in amesi. the validity of this story is infact not the main concern, but that of how the people did re-adjust towards the provision of their water need. for a very long time ad even up till now, to an extent the town have been using the streams located in the nearby towns. all these above mentioned factors have really gone a long way towards simulating and providing peace and good relationship between amesi and her neighbours. on trade rested the core of amesi precolonial external relations. the town attained more professionals in trading than in farming. perhaps, it needs to be re-emphasized that this change from the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 83 the agricultural occupation, to trading, was due to scarcity of land in amesi. the need for exchange should be seen as a secondary factor. people engaged in regional or long distance in addition to local trading. local trading was and is still dominated by women. in the regional trading, amesi traded with uga, achina, akpo, umuchu, nkpologwu and akokwa towns etc. (specifically her immediate neighbours). inhabitants of these towns usually met in border markets, mainly on bigger market days. in these markets, agricultural, industrial and house hold materials were bought and sold, including fruits and vegetables. on their usual days, these market commenced very early in the morning, and traders from neighbouring towns came as early as the first cock crow. unlike local traders who exchanged mainly subsistence commodities, relay traders who attended these markets, sold specialized products such as barrels of palm oil, bagged kernels, goats etc. as meilasoux put it, “… they did not acquire goods for their use value, but for their exchange value”.69 long distance trade was developed in amesi, out of the need to make up for the economic deficiencies of the local and regional trade. men were mainly involved in this, due to the farness of the markets. such markets include – nkwo-igboukwu, afo-ufuma, oye-ajali, afo-ogboji, eke-agbaja, and even otu nkwo onitsha market, which started later. according to one informant. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 84 “on moving from amesi, we usually passed through akpo, nkpologwu, isuofia, neni, ogidi, nkpor and finally to onitsha …, some did divert to ogboji, arondizuogu and oguta”.70 earlier, the transaction was by barter, but later cowries and iron currencies were adopted. to overcome the dangers posed by marauders, kidnappers, head-hunters etc.., traders travelled in convoys of caravans, carrying their goods and employed armed escorts and spies. they also engaged in igba ndu (bloodbond) with different influential people or communities inhabiting the trade routes. strong marriage and friendship ties were also entered into to ensure security and commercial gains. the traders purchase items like dane guns, stock and dried fish, blankets, tobacco, hot drinks, salt, while sold off articles like palm oil, kernel, yams, pots and domestic animals. slave trading was not previously known and practiced by amesi traders. none-theless, with its later introduction, “considerable labour and capital’, hindered majority of the traders from engaging in it. in davidson’s view; “slaving was the business of kings, richmen and merchants”.71 however, some amesi wealthy traders did engage to a small degree in internal slave trade. military connection many communities in igboland, as a matter of fact fought with their neighbours. these wars were caused by a variety of factors, such as petty jealously, land hunger etc. land was to the igbo, the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 85 the dominant factor of production; suffice it to say that the slightest encroachment on their land, whether community or individual land, tantamount to tampering with the livelihood of the people and as such was usually seriously resisted. afigbo expantiated on this when he said; “wars were usually waged by communities whose lives and livelihood were interlocked to an almost inextricable degree. and they went to war simply because these interlocked interest could not be sorted out to the satisfaction of all concerned by other means”.72 amesi had no organized and specially trained army; and initially the selection of youngmen for defensive purposes was on ad hoc basis. sometimes people were recruited and selected during emergency situations from one lineage, and occasionally all of them were killed thus wiping out such lineage. in order to prevent such from continuing, a system of proper selection of guards and forces through age-grades was started, some age-grades became famous for their daring and panache in war. among the noted agegrades were ada, oganikpa, agbaji, ajanku, mbakwerike, oputaoka and ogbajirigwe. different tactics and plans were applied by amesi warriors towards the achievement of victory. sometimes, they crawled stealthly in the dead of the night to the enemy’s rear, and laid in wait with the idea of springing surprise from their positions once dawn sets in, causing confusion and disorder the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 86 in the enemy ranks, which amesi exploited to its advantage. amesi engaged in two basic categories of war – ogu-okpiri and ogu-egbe. in the former, loss of life was forbidden to an extent, but in particular that of killing of women, children and burning of markets and houses. as no formal declaration of war was needed, sticks, stones and matchetes were used, although those wielding matchetes took pains to avoid striking fatal blows. in the later, which can be described as a full scale war, the oposing sides strove to burn properties, kill their enemies, and carry their skulls home as trophies. isichei remarked that; “the skull was valued as a souvenir, and as a concrete and unequivocal proof of personal valour, which brought different types of honour”.73 to pre-colonial amesi, religion-magical protection was at least as important as conventional weaponry, in the preparation of war. no war preparation was complete without the dibia (herbalist) who gave out charms, arranged supernatural protection both for individuals and for the whole town. the warriors thereafter camourflaged themselves with leaves, while tying up their waist with aji (loin cloth made out from tree bark). however, many reasons have been attributed to the cause of war between amesi and towns like akpo, umuchu, ohafia, nkpologwu, uga and achina. but it is now a historical fact that, “the major cause of most of the wars in pre-twentieth the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 87 century awka – nri zome, was the land question”.74 the geographical smallness of amesi today, relative to her neighbours can easily be seen as the long-term result of the series of land disputes and other problems between her and the neighbouring towns. amesi-akpo hostilitles many incidents culminated in akpo invasion of amesi, although both towns have been working peacefully together. it happened that a man from umuanum family if amesi, due to his wicked and evil plans, murdered an akpo indigene, who paid him a visit. he then hid the body of the deceased in a cocoyambarn. after two days, the dead man’s relative being worried due to his absence, organized a search party. with detailed investigation on their part, accompanied by the extra part played by the deceased’s dog, the body was later traced to where it was hidden. consequently, akpo became greatly agitated and enraged. in answer then to akpo’s expectation for an answer for the killing, amesi had no option than to pacify them with some of the culprit’s relatives, who are now members of ezenwobodo’s family in akpo. after this incident, peace returned between the two towns. within long however, a very serious land dispute resulted between amesi and akpo. events that finally led to this emanated originally from the incident that took place between a particular funeral ceremony then, at umuaro’s family in amesi. it happened that an akpo indigene who the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 88 also attended the funeral, frenzied with the prevailing situation involuntarily cut down umuaro family’s age-long totem banana tree. the owner shot and killed him instantly, while the other akpo people having witnessed that, all quickly fled home. within long, the news of this ugly incident filtered through akpo, leading to a planned vengeance against amesi. however, after an elapse of about seven months, the planting season came up, and as was usual then, amesi got some lands leased out to them. following the format of their plan, akpo land owners instructed these amesi farmers to harvest their crops on a particular day. during the course of doing so, ignorant of akpo’s plan, akpo warriors descended upon and massacred them, including umuagwo families of amesi who inhabited on akpo-amesi disputed borderland. one echeta-ibe of akpo was however indicted, with the invention of this plan. amesi infuriated, replied by invoking agwu (iwa-agwu) against akpo town. sequel to the aforementioned, many people died mysteriously, while a good number of akpo women turned barren. echeta-ibe having witnessed the death of many of his family members, quickly evacuated the disputed land. on consultation, and covertly assisted by amuwo village herbalists upon the payment of penalty, forgiveness and consequent amelioration of agwu, akpo’s predicament later stopped, though not without amesi’s intercession on their behalf in relation to agwu. a boundary trench was later the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 89 erected between akpo and amesi, and peace soon resulted. amesi-umuchu hostilities there was no direct hostility between amesi and umuchi, but there was between umuchu and achina. it can easily be understood that amesi, akpo and achina had a peace treaty and alliance, hence their name onu ogunato (three fighting fronts.) umuchu and achina allowed their minor differences to degenerate into war. an achina indigene it was alleged, went to ogwugwu village (umuchu), after much drinking and prolonged dialogue, the friendly overtures degenerated into an open confrontation and assault. the achina man was killed in the process, and this later led to war. achina fought against only ogwugwu village initially, but other sections of umuchu villages later, allied with ogwugwu against achina. overwhelmed by the more populous umuchu warriors, achina then sent an appeal to other members of the onu ogu nato (tripple alliance), who came to her aid. amesi once again appealed to their herbalists, who helped to defeat umuchu. umuchu before long, sued for peace, and in the settlement that followed, a man from ogwugwu village, (umuchu) was given to amesi, akpo and achina as replacement for the achina man that was previously killed. later, representatives of the triple alliance, converged at obu-akalabo (akalabo’s residence) in amesi, killed the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 90 and used the victim’s body (ogwugwuekwe) in offering for the cleansing of the land. amesi-abam hostilities an encounter, which is still very fresh in the minds of many people in amesi, was that which involved ohaofia-abam warriors or umuchukwu. amesi’s war with the ohafia warriors was accidental and not pre-planned. ohafia warriors planned an invasion of agbaja (nnewi); but to get to their destination, they had to pass through amesi. amesi’s permission, to allow these warriors to pass through her territory was obtained, and amesi people were advised to steer clear of the invasionary force’s route. unfortunately, the plan fell on the same date that one umeojiako of umuaro (ubaha village) was celebrating the second funeral ceremony of his dead mother. umejiako was then advised not to fire any gun or cannon shots on that day. this he refused to do. the ohafia warriors, who were still in amesi’s borders, felt they were being shot at, and mistook the gunshots as warning signals to nnewi people. they felt betrayed by amesi; whom they henceforth descended upon. about forty amesi people were killed, and the neighboring uga town also suffered some causalities. however, the combined forces of amesi, uga, achina and akpo, quickly rallied round, and dispatched the enemy. many were killed while some were caught alive and sold into slavery. amesi was not satisfied with this victory, but also invoked agwu against ohafia town. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 91 however peace returned with the later appeasement of agwu deity. in addition, amesi also fought briefly with ntueke and arondizuogu people who were on different occasions, purported to have sold some amesi indigenes into slavery. on each occasion, agwu was invoked against them, although they later appeased it. (ntueke did so in 1972). amesi-nkpologwu skirmish some nkpologwu people took it upon themselves to continuously deny some amesi farmers of their hard-earned yield, by conducting raids on farmlands owned by amesi. the culprits were later caught and killed as of tradition. nkpologwu however felt challenged, and the end result was the ogu okpiri (club and stick war), between amesi and nkpologwu. however this did not last long, before the british invaded amesi. the shirmish was stopped. “this took place around 1916”.75 4.2 eclipse of the old order the twentieth century dawned on amesi and most other igbo communities with a lot of drastic changes, in their political, social, cultural, religious and economic organization. the underlying factor in these changes, was the ‘whiteman’ who came with colonialism, westernization and christianity. according to isichei; “…igboland was surrounded by an inexorably rising tide of alien encroachment”.76 as a matter of fact this encroachment was done the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 92 through organized coercion, and in the face of over whelming odds, amesi and her neighbours finally succumbed to british rule. amesi’s resistance could be likened to that of uzuakoli people who were aware of the fact that they were militarily inferior and weak, compared to the aro, awka and even among stronger neighbours who had been subjugated, decided, “… just before the (british led) troops entered the town .. not to offer any resistance”.77 having conquered amesi, the british chose a chief and invested him with a warrant. this undoubtedly proved a watershed in amesi’s subsequent history. thus, the genesis of british paramountcy, the eclipse of the old order, and the subsequent superimposition of british imperial rule, marked the inception of a new era. this was a people who knew nothing, about rulers and kings, but forced now to accept undemocratically chosen rulers. many revolutionary changes in the people’s way of life took place. the machineries of colonialism – education and christianity accompanied with western architectural designs, brough a lot of changes to the traditional lives of amesi people. the same urge to excel in all areas of human endeavours was now transferred to the opportunities made available by the whiteman. education invariably came to be seen as the open sesame. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 93 p a r t t w o 1900 1991 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 94 c h a p t e r five emergence of new ‘amesi’-1900 to 1991 5.1 the colonial government the years after 1906, marked the take off of the pre-planned british forced colonization of igboland. the danger signal echoeing through to amesians from the various igbo communities located far and near, visited the corridors of the town as from 1916, though, not before detailed sacrifices and rituals have strategically been offered aimed towards a possible aversion of this alien encroachment. amesi, relatively a small town, unquestionably from all intents and purposes resisted this external aggression not for months, but for decades with such bravado and tenacity of purpose that was unmarred by disaster. the resistance was never lethal, for the people needed no prophets to forcast to them how suicidal any attempt at armed resistance would be, in the face of the destructive diversified british maximum guns. however, prof. afigbo’s researches have shown that “many groups in the onitsha, awka and orlu areas, which apparently did not resist the british physically … were infact, relying on the agency of the dibia”.78 the author was reliably made to understand that “the british armed the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 95 detachment entered into amesi during the dry season of 1917, and settled in the vicinity of agwu oracle groove”.79 their mission was to subdue amesi and environs. nevertheless, continuous rays of stiff diplomatic and armed defiance continued to emit from achina town, against these colonialists. in order to meet up with this organised opposition, they decided to move over their base to achina, in a swift move, devoid of anything compassionate, fully equipped with willful burnings, destructions intimidations of all sorts, and massacre, achina’s dauntless daftness was violently brough to submission. like uga town, many of their elders were incarcerated in the notorious aguata makeshift prison. while the smoke of resistance was clearing, the colonialists instantly checked amesi’s solidarity with the introduction of some divisive machineries, under the umbrella of ‘a total new freedom’. the cult of individualism was created and haboured amongst the people; accountability became personal, decisions came not from a general concensus anymore, but from the minority above, while status previously achieved, became ascribed. infact, amesi and her neighbours were thrown into a time of ordered anarchy. to many, in particular the aged, this new dimension was too bitter to swallow. in dormancy, they moped speechless, whishing that this rather turnout to be a nightmare than solid reality. the whiteman’s new wealth and power offered promising platforms. these attractions though facial, hilariously allured the town’s gentry. the the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 96 traditional building core was exposed to continuous institutionalized attack and weakness. order was over-taken by disorderliness, peace by troubles, security by insecurity, while the supposed verdicts and valedictions of the oracles and deities were handled by the gradual but powerful wind of aspersion and disregard. the british government official while stationed at achina, embarked upon the construction of roads that criss-crossed amesi and environs. warrant chiefs were appointed all over these areas, though against the peopl’s wish. these two above mentioned projects, appearing good-intentioned outwardly ended up as a running sore to amesi and her neighbours. after a thorough investigation, the british authority noticed that out of the seventeen minial lineages existent in the four villages of amesi, that of umu–umeoha is the eldest. following the rites and processes involved, “elder umeonanankume was summouned later, to take up the leadership of the town, as a warrant chief. this offer, he unequivocally refused”.80 having failed in this ‘legalised’ approach, the colonialists resorted to choice by appointment, backed with force. mr. umealadi (father of warrant chief ezechukwu) from onunaku quarter of amowo village, became the first amesian to assume the warrant chieftaincy position. chief okoloigwe later took over from him. warranted to rule, as the case may be, they personified the british government, in the execution of the indirect rule policy in nigeria. at the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 97 any material time, their decisions were final in the town. equiped moreover with intoxicating absolute power, one should not wonder long why their records are usually full of cultural dreadry. no one dared challenge them in anything, for that would clearly tantamount to being charged and convicted for acts classified under ‘opposition to british colonial governance’ they were the law. customary courts simultaneously replaced the traditional system of dispute settlement. amesi at no time housed any customary court but, “depending on the type of cases involved, the british district officer at awka, might entertain some court sessions in the town. such cases include that which was held between onunuaku people and amowo village, held at ezendu’s compound in amowo”.81 to many, such opportunities were rare. this goes a long way in explaining the preparation and expectation fever that grips the town whenever a white district officer is to visit. this was so for various reasons far from clear understanding and knowledge. to some, this was the much awaited opportunity to see for the first time, the ‘wonderful whiteman, who talks with the nose, while for others, it is a blessing and an attainment of political recognition by the colonialist government. large crowds of people witnessed such sessions, even under harsh weather conditions; consequently, all social-economic activities stays still for such day to pass. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 98 according to elder umenduka umealaukwu, “the warrant chief always seized such opportunities to prove his efficiency to his alien boss. compulsory contributions of food items was often undertaken from amongst amesians, under the excuse of providing for the needs of the visiting colonial officer”.82 this undoubtedly, is a daylight act of extortion and exploitation against the people. there was the okachanma court, held at orie-achina square, which amesians attended also. this court held intermittently,” entertained cases external and internal concerning amesi, akpo and achina towns, while that involving uga, ekwulobia, ezinifite, umuomaku and nkpologwu was handled at the (infamous) mbamisi court”. 83 a reflection of how customary these customary courts were and operated, would portray an institution full of euphoric and ‘high sounding nothing’. the indigenous custom was rather than protected, stamped upon. traditional patterns of dispute settlement was cast aside, while convoluted westernised esoteric mysteries, termed court procedure was adopted. in answer to the problem of language barrier the colonialists employed the services of court messengers and clerks, who acted as interpreters. two amesians – court messenger umeonaribe and court clerk edward ezeabasili, all from umulodike village, at different times, were recruited, trained and served in the okachanma courts at achina. the colonial government showed its presence in amesi with remarkable tenacity. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 99 forced unpaid labour, usually bitterly resented by the indigenous population, was often enunciated by the warrant chiefs during road constructions and for personal labour. the roads aided not only the swift movement of the west african frontier force, but the extraction easily of agricultural products from amesi area. law courts served as altars where legal and traditional lambs were mercilessly sacrificed. the people’s cultured behaviour was scaled and judged according to the stipulations of the western system of law, which needs, curves and contours they were ignorant of. it maintained a parlance where the outcome of a case depended wholly upon ones ability, wit and persuasion in argueing his way through on the one hand, or how far the individual could go in bribing the court interpreter. traditional amaeshi suffered and decayed progressively. the colonial regime however, brought some developmental projects into the town. inter-town raids, coupled with periods of insecurity vanished. harsh customs and behavioural patterns were abolished. in this atmosphere of relative peace, economic and social endeavours progressed. western education sprang up and grew continuously amidst the people’s suspicious stare at it. amesians were really suspended between two ideasthe intentions of the whiteman for introducing it, and the assured advantages if any. many then shunned the call to enroll children, while some felt much better gambling with their female issues. the gains of agriculture and other the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 100 commercial activities haboured clearer gains to the people, than this idea of ‘education’. well, to prove this, the british imperialists needed the determined services of their brotherly ‘pathfinders’ – the missionaries. this feat, they primarily embarked upon later, hiding under the façade of proselytizing christianity, all in the move towards bringing ‘light’ to amesi – the devilish cesspit of smelling darkness. 5.2 the growth of christianity the objectives of the religion – christianity in africa as a whole, have for long been and to a larger extent, still retains the attention of many historical analysts. its vigorous evangelization and preselytisation peaked with the forceful jetlike depredations of colonialism in nigeria. consequently, christian missionaries became not only mere ‘path finders’ but complete’ ‘collaborators, with the british government in imperialism. in as much as the history of christianity in igboland dates back to 1841 (with the evangelism of simon jonas – an igbo ex-slave at aboh), the first permanent mission in igbo land was however established at onitsha by the church missionary society, under the leadership of another igbo exslave, rev. christopher taylor. following the settlement of the holy ghost missionary fathers at onitsha in the year 1885, detailed energy, vigour and determined catholic missionary zeal was the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 101 added to the previous efforts of the christian missionary society’s attempts at missionizing. before long, this speedy growing cobweb of christianity engulfed almost the whole towns and settlements within onisha environs. long distant traders and travelers from amesi area easily acted as harbingers of ‘tall tales’ about this new faith by 1900. this white man’s religion was however to be introduced into adjacent communities, thereby creating a good opportunity for amesians to see and hear with their eyes and ears, what appeared to them before, a far cry in the wilderness. just as christianity came into igboland through onitsha, the heritage of amesi’s christianity could indirectly be traced to towns like aguleri, adazi, nteje etc. the story of early christianity in amesi vicinity is largely that of the catholic church. from all intents and purposes, the r.c.m right from the beginning showed clearer signs of dynamic preparadness for a competitive christian evangelization, as against the church missionary society, who were relatively tepid. before the formal introduction of roman catholicism into amesi by the ending months of 1912, the town could already boast of a handful of staunch catechumenate, amongst whom were – mr. benedict umeozulu, messrs albert umeozulu, david unije, francis egesimba, paul obidiegwu, mathew okpalanyia and juvaniel okwaraji, all of blessed memory. the beginning was not at all easy for these men, for christianity was introduced into amesi the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 102 not without the practicalisation of the belligerent indifference of the igbo people. amidst total ostracism from the traditional religious adherents, threats of the calamitous impending danger emanating from the thunderous powers of the anger-charged gods and the awesome punishments awaiting their perpetuated abominations against the land, the devotion of these early christians to the cause of the new religion was undoubtedly adamant; faithwise dogged; and actionwise, full of bravado. however, one should not forget that the visible arm of british colonisalism, as typified then in the warrant chief was present to shade them. they made use of umeozulu’s compound at various times, for meeting or prayer sessions, and once in a while, a reverend father would come from either adazi of agulueri to strengthen them. by 1915, with the gradual increase in the number of amesi christians, a small thatch roofed clay house was erected. mr. umeozulu could rightly pass for a rare gem in the early christianisation of the town, for he single handedly gave up his portion of land, (about half a kilometer from his residence) for the execution of this project. as time went on, because of the continued relatively small number of catholic christians in uga, amesi, akpo and other nearby towns, moreso to make it easier for the visiting pastors, rev. father grace suggested the errection of a bigger church house, at a site still known as ikpanwaowere, bordering amesi, uga and akokwa towns. this religious merger plan of amesi and the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 103 uga adherents, received the blessing and support of late chief ezechukwu of amesi and okpalaozigbo of oka-uga. when arrangements were fully completed, this took off as from 1916. significantly, it should be noted that this fulfilled merger plan, came when it was very much needed. unified now, these early converts enjoyed a viable populous stand, and like one zealous and charismatic family, maintained an unshakable front to the depredations of the traditional gods and their messengers. nonetheless, amesi traditional society suffered greatly from this spreading new religion. obtrusively and imperceptibly, christianity went on adding more and more adherents daily through its captivating catechism and magnetic dogmatism. in those days, it was not hard to identify a catholic in the town. usually, they wore their blessed chaplets hanging and dangling from their necks, as a depiction of their inward sanctity and piety, and a weapon to ward off devilish attacks. as time went on, more new catholic converts from achina, umuchu, enugu-umuonyia, umuomaku, nkpologwu, akokwa etc. joined amesi and uga christians. this warranted the setting up of a mat-roofed church building. at this juncture, the alien spiritual assistant saw the need towards educating the converts, thereby enabling them towards understanding the messages of the bible well. this brought forward, the need for a resident delegated catechist. before long, a catechist’s domain was erected, and mr. philip otutu, from the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 104 onitsha was sent to open classes for the converts. sunday schools and catechism sessions provided remarkable platforms for restructuring these devotees. rev. father bubendoff after taking over from fr. treich, visited the uga-amesi catholic station. on seeing the eagerness exhibited by the people there, he was impressed. to show his appreciation and unwavering support, he later fulfilled his promise of sending teachers for the take off of infant classes. inwardly convinced about the people’s understanding of the gospel, fr. bubendoff went on further to suggest the building of a permanent concrete church house. everyone welcomed this idea, and the collection of stones, wood and other building materials took off in earnest. truly, this task proved very tedious from the on start. the catechist then needed a little religious psychology to muster totally their determination and hardwork. in convincing them, a beautiful picture was painted for them, on how big their rewards would be in heaven, for helping to put up a house for god. this building which was started in the last days of 1924, was finished by early 1929. with glory to god and on earth peace to men of goodwell’, late archbishop heerey triumphantly marched, and formally opened it not only with a baptismal name – st. vincent’s catholic mission, uga – amesi, but also with a tag – “the gate of heaven”. the local christians rejoiced in their accomplished task, while the missionaries heartily counted another area for the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 105 christ. within a space of two months, a rest house for the mobile rev. father was built, and a christian cemetery was added as the final rest ground for christians from uga and amesi. thus within a very limited time, viable departments of catholicism and western education were instituted in amesi. suffice it then to emphatically state that the town became set towards witnessing an unprecedented bazaar of christiansation, under the strict regrimented life of british colonial government. initially, amesians didn’t actually understand the meaning and purpose of the school. to most of them, it was simply a waste of time and energy. subsequently, in their vacouse imagination, almost all denounced the programme as that meant for lazy men and society’s indolent loafers. the message of the missionaries and the colonial officials appeared going directly contrary to the natural tenets of the people’s agelong tradition. the rythmn of the early morning school bell was interpreted as that which demanded of all able bodied youths and children to forgo farmwork and all house hold chores and go to the school. a great number of amesi elders passed this as an abomination, hence it was nothing of amazement to find in the school then, only the children of poor converts, while the sons of wealthy and noblemen were carefully and meticulously guarded, lest they go there and end up in their life time being the towns social misfits and unproductive. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 106 nevertheless, catholicism and western education, in their unquestionable, romance with the stones’, thrived and throbbed on. in the school, emphasis was laid on the teaching of the three r’s and latin, while the catechist spent detailed time holding sessions of sunday schools where the twists and messages hidden in the bible parables were unraveled to the adults. from the inception of this school in 1912, many catechists and teachers, all of whom have the reputation of being foreigners, were recruited to assist in seeing that the manpower need is met. they include – mr. philip otutu (onitsha), richard nwakobi and mathias odife (nkwelle), anselem obiamalu (nnewi), mathew eke (ozubulu), vincent ekwedike (adondizuogu), george onuorah and josiah okoli (agbudu), julius amasiani (nteje), benjamin ilozumba (obeledu) and david okpalajesi (uga). the progress of st. vincent’s church school uga-amesi could easily be measured, when one considers the fact that by 1935, the school had grown up to standard three in strength. that same year, the parish priest – late fr. liddane, following bishop anyaogu’s earlier advice, added with the support of both uga and amesi adherents, transferred the school totally to oye-uga compound. as at this time, christianity, considering its devotees and number in the town, portrayed practical signs of a religion which never came to play the second fiddle. many new converts seemingly intoxicated by the aroma and gingering the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 107 fumes of this new faith, set out to create a base for this religion not in the outskirts but at the heart of amesi town. this idea solidified into action, by july, 1942, when a delegation was sent on behalf of amesi catholics to father liddane, with a formal request for a new church station to be sited in amesi. although this request was turned down, undaunted and unpertubed this idea went on like a smoldering fire. in any case, by 1943, catholicism appeared to be advancing faster in achina than in her neighbouring amesi town. consequently, the church found it convenient to formalize its stand in that vicinity by instituting in 1945 what became known as “achina parish”. rev. fr. oniel was hitherto appointed the first parish priest. it is important to note that as from this time, all amesi catholics, including those of oka-uka, came under the care and directives of fr. oniel. during the ending months of the second half of 1948, a very serious controversy fell out between uga and amesi members of st. vincent’s catholic church, uga-amesi. preceeding events however proved that the parish priest, fr. oniel was at the core of this problem. from the abovementioned date, for reasons best known to him, he professionally started to omit the name “amesi’ from all records pertaining st. vincent’s catholic mission. he found it more convenient to refer to the church house as uga-otikpo-uga or simply st. vincent’s otikpo. at first, amesi catholics thought that this was as a result of either ignorant the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 108 omission or a case of perennial slip of tongue on the part of the reverend father. however, as this persisted, they wisely and openly called his attention at it, but to their utter consternation and disbelief, he not only blatantly rejected the correction, but made no move to effect any visible change in the matter. uga catholic counterparts, as the case may be, selfishlyoriented, soon saw and took this as a shorter cut towards laying absolute claims to the ownership of the mission station and its properties. this marked the actual beginning of discord and land controversy between uga and amesi christians. another dimension was added to this case, when indigenes of both towns resorted to either writing whatever they wished on the sign post in front of the church house or even uprooting each others signposts. in this daylight war of inscription, amesi stood for a joint name tag, while uga members rather supported that omitting amesi. uga adherents went forward to institute legal actions against amesi. this rather than helping, worsened the situation. amesi on her own part, forwarded an emergency appeal to his grace, latter archbishop heerey, who was in charge of the vast onitsha archdiocese. he subsequently delegated the eastern nigerian catholic council to investigate this matter. later, two members of the council, hon. j.m. nwosu and p. chukwurah submitted documents in support of joint ownership of the church house and its properties by both uga and amesi. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 109 time truly proved the council’s findings and investigations as inefficacious and theoretical, in that the situation was allowed to decay the more. disappointed in the impotency of the ‘religious’, amesians eager to obtain justice in its true sense, took the matter to court. from the above evidence and records at hand presently, imperatively it does appear that rev. fr. oniel’s general behaviour in relation to this case, typified a personality manipulated by conspiracy, negativism and carefree debaunchery. to an uninfluenced analyst, the revered must be far from uprightness and truth, for allowing such little wound to develop into a running sore. unfortunately, as fate would have it, the nigerian/biafran war took the stage before the case could come up in court for hearing, and rev. oniel had to travel home. the distractions, disturbances and insecure atmosphere of the war period, undoubtedly postponed indefinitely all hopes of possible immediate settlement. during this pandamonious three years (1967-1970), and their adjoining inferno, the matter obviously decayed greatly. nevertheless, the chapters of history can never fail to recollect the dynamism of rev. fr. raphael ikenga ozigbo, uga parish priest from 1967-1971. he vehemently applied his youthful energy in attempting to restore peace in st. vincent’s uga-amesi mission station. in his unrelenting urge for progress, he in 1971, set up a social centre in st. vincent’s church premises for the training, education and preparation of catholic the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 110 girl’s for married life. by october 1973, this social centre was carried over to the premises of immaculate heart church compound, uga, during the tenureship of rev. fr. a anyi-chie as parish priest. a bold step was however taken in obtaining peace in the on-going rift between amesi and uga members of st. vincent’s mission between 1974 and 1980. rev. fr. ignatius ughonu (the parish priest), narrowly instituted a period of unsettled peace which even lasted up till 1985. this interregnum was ushered in with a holy mass of peace offering, celebrated by rev. msgr. m. obiukwu on 13th october 1974. this mass was held at the controversial mission compound. at this juncture, one would not fail to comment that lasting peace has continued to elude uga/amesi members of st. vincent’s all these years because the totality of attempts made towards settlement have been devoid of adequate tact, diplomacy, dedication and untainted will power, on the part of the arbiters. a promising light rose from the horizon by 1993, with the in-coming of the astute rt. rev. dr. a.k. obiefuna on the plat-form of the newly created awka bishopric. zeal, admantness, positivism and the spirit of god with which he enunciated his leadership mission, saw him as a real ‘daniel come to judgment’ in this st. vincent’s issue. he quickly instituted an enquiry panel under the chairmanship of his chancellor – rev. fr. solomon amatu. acting on the recommendations of the panel, bishop obiefuna the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 111 proceeded to divide the mission compound into two. this he cemented with the peace agreement which he made both uga and amesi members of st. vincent’s church to sign. this agreement empowered both parties to develop their individual portions of the mission compound. with this, came the end of a turbulent era. the pill cannot to totally written off as bitter to amesi catholicism. it does however appear that the period though disturbing facially, ended up later in mixed blessing. this incident seemingly diabolic, truly slowed down catholic evangelization in amesi during the morning hours of this dispute, and at the same time resulted positively in the full scale planning and subsequent errection of two different catholic mission centres in the two towns st. joseph’s catholic mission in amesi, and the immaculate heart catholic mission in uga. the admirable account of this missionary in-road into amesi would appear incomplete if the transformations witnessed before this autonomous mission house was built, is not traced. as has earlier on been pointed out, amesi’s dream of a separate church house dated back to 1942. never ready to take ‘no’ for an answer, the town sent delegation after delegation to rev. fr. liddane on this issue. rather than buy the spiritual directors explanations as to why the town would not be granted such as at then, amesians (both catholics and non christians), invented many interpretations as to this situation. many saw it as a clear case of favouritism against amesi the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 112 in relation to her other neighbours. this idea (whether true or not), in a day light flashlight of clasping thunder and lightening, emitted rays which infected men of thoughts, words and action. this resulted in a flame like patriotism which cut across religious demarcations in the town. amesi calling diplomacy into play, decided to exploit the existing circumstances. a balanced delegation, comprising men of rare qualities like – chief ezeanyanaso ezeudeogu, ezeibekwe okpalla, ezeonyejekwe okpalla, ezeonyejekwe nwokediugwu, chief ochiaka umeakuka etc. were selected to meet fr. liddane once again, on behalf of the town. they again failed to carry through their mission due to fr. liddane’s unyielding posture. amesi delagates instantly resorted to the lucrative ‘dance of the beautiful bride’. this they did by threatening to grant to the church missionary society missionaries, their age-long evangelization approaches to the town, if their wish is not met. to this, the reverend was answerless. he was left with no alternative than to recant. thence forth, he enumerated some conditionalities which amesi catholics would fulfil. he demanded that amesi catholic must count up to a reasonable number, so as to sustain an autonomous new church. the town’s catholic population instantly moved all out to provide for the new church. the problem of site and land for the erection of this mission house was solved through arrangement with mr. ekeka onwuharaonye (the chief priest of okwunehie deity then), not after the catholics the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 113 agreed to train one of his sons up to standard six. permission then granted, a part of the okwunehie forest was cleared in readiness for this project by both the aladinma and okikadigbo age-groups from obinato and umuocha villages. a makeshift mission house/school and structure was then erected on this site, on time before fr. liddane’s fact-finding visit. specifically, on july 14th, 1942, rev. fr. liddane with his entourage, finally visited amesi town. the mission house was practically filled with an over-whelming population of children, women and men. over-joyed and convinced erroneously though, towards believing that all present at the church were altogether new amesi catholic converts, he praised the town’s progressive growth in faith. moreover, he placed an embargo on the allowance and involvement of amesi members of st. vincent’s church uga-amesi in this new church. he even empowered mr. patrick okoye (the headmaster of st. charles catholic school (achina), and john anowai (a teacher in the same school) to ensure that this directive is implemented. fr. liddane consequently presented an uga indigene, mr. victor umeobieri, as the first station teacher of this new station. liddane’s stipulation before long, survived ideally than in reality, in that most of those banned old coverts, later meandered into this as new pioneer members of the new church included eugene egbunihie, pius okpalanwa, elias umeoduagu, jacob umechukwu and moses aletuo. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 114 in the final analysis, glowing tributes should be payed to the members of the eburunabo age groups and the old amesi christian converts of st. vincent’s uga-amesi, for the successful erection and stabilization of this new church centre for the town. while the age groups provided the labour and the much needed catechumenate population when it was needed, the old catholic converts acted as a bedrock of morale booster towards the eventual existence of what is today a separate parish station st. joseph’s catholic church. presently, amesi catholicism could boast of many indigenous priests and religious amongst whom are – rev. fr. m. ezeabasili (cool and calculated) 20th july 1962. rev. fr. pantaleon umechukwu (visionary), 1st july, 1983. rev. fr. b. umenwanne (witty, wise and sound), 12th august, 1987 rev. fr. n. abazie (innovator and charismatic), 5th august, 1989. mr. peter okpalaeke – deacon mr. victor egbuocho – deacon etc. sr. mary trinitas umeh first professed – 1972 (i.h.s.) sr. mary b.a. ezeliora first professed 1976 (d.d.l.) sr. m.m. ozigbo first professed – 1977 (i.h.s.) sr. m.c. umeozulu first professed – 1977 (d.d.l.) sr. m.b. ezeabasili first professed – 1982 (h.r.s) sr. b. onwuka first professed – 1983 (i.h.s) sr. c. ezenwuba first professed – 1984 (h.h.c.j) sr. p. ezechukwu first professed – 1985 (i.h.s.) the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 115 sr. d. ezeanuna first professed – 1985 (d.d. l.) etc. there are a host of senior seminarians, novices, postulants and junior seminarians. informants: messers philip onwuka, jacob umechukwu, jeremaial ezeanyanaso etc. the salvation army the above mentioned sect was generally the second christian group that penetrated the strong – holds of amesi those early days. however, one could notice after detailed investigation, that the salvation army christian faith was actually the first of its kind wholly established in the town, independent of any foreign assistance, in the words of one of the surviving founding members elder christopher ezeonyebuchi, “the salvation army church officially came into amesi, by june, 1940 from achina town, after many years of emigrational spiritual allegiance by some dedicated amesi converts”.84 those early salvationists included crprain okorugo, late simon nwokekwe, elias onyeka and late james uju etc. it is significant to note that this christian formation came with her own sets of policy and doctrine, which openly threatened some existing traditional beliefs and deeds. though their progress appeared outwardly minimized in comparison with the speed of catholicism in that area, baptized with daft determination even in their few number, they stabilized the dawn to the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 116 dawn creeping of their mission in the town. like soldiers, the early catechumen trugged on, undettered by the rugged terrain of proselytization, while seemingly armed with the total convinction that the town’s’ salvation was destined to come from none rather than them. harder, they prayed and worked. they later resolved to erect a permanent salvation army mission station in the town. to procure land for this project infact proved a hard nut to crack. after sometimes, bored by a long list of problems, needs, and difficulties, these foundation members, numbering about ten, finally started to entertain the fear that their dreams might never be opportuned to leave the drawing board. all moves that were made to purchase land, ended negatively. more and more, the fate of the faith became shaky. as a last alternative, they succumbed to clearing and using the dreaded ezeogwugwu forest. accordingly, “salvationists converged on an appointed day, armed with matchets, and having said some prayers, embarked on accomplishing this task, of course not without the fearful denunciations and specified repercussions voiced by some of the town’s traditional religionists”.85 two of their members (enemuo udokoro – amowo village, allonye onwukoha – ubaha village), later helped the more, by giving piece of lands which were added to the former. in the tasks of building, the church drew her manpower from amesi and achina adherents. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 117 after the completion of the structure, the mission embarked upon increasing their population in the town, through the employment of various approaches. at one time, they tried to mirror the gap between the traditional religious formula and the salvation army group, when they even resorted to inviting and allowing amesians to attend the church with their ofo emblems and ozo title anklets. to this call, many answered but before long, this boom turned to doom, when the rules of the game; in order words, these sources of hilarious inspiration and attraction were withdrawn. however, the town cannot easily forget the salvationists for infact one christian formality which they single handedly started. popularly but, notoriously, they were derided as uka akumaka’ – congregation of the hand clappers, by the people. the other christian sects and local inhabitants within and around amesi, largely measured and gauged their unseriousness in prayer and worship with their childlike clapping, drumming and dancing, infront of god’ when they suppose to adopt a turgid air of calm, meditation and ferventness. many years have passed, and what do we see? the salvationists, though presently boasting of a little above a hundred and fifty members, are still there in the town, while her worship style have totally been copied by virtually all her accusers. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 118 the church missionary society the amesi c.m.s. was not only a child of circumstance, but the total brain child of elder christopher ezeonyebuchi. it should be recalled that he was one of the founding members of the amesi salvation army mission. during the early days of christianity in the town, rudimentary knowledge in the acquisition of western education lay in the hands of officials of the different christian congregations, meant specifically for their personal converts and catechumens. as earlier on pointed out, the amesi catholic had the advantage of utilizing the school set up at st. vincent’s ugaamesi, and the later one at eke market square, while the salvation army mission had no such advantage to its reckon. consequently, it lost many of its education-hungry followers to the catholic fold, while some others like christopher ezeonyebuchi taking the bull by the horns, went all out and tried to find either a solution or an alternative, rather than succumbing to the catholics without a fight. in order to accomplish this task, he needed the help of seasoned supporters and a concrete idea and connection with another preferable faith that has got good provisions for imparting western education. in the search, he met mr. ezekwe from umuchu (ezinifite village)), who led him into a promising future in the church missionary society. before anything could be done, mr. ezekwe ultimately saw to it that elder ezeonyebuchi crosscarpeted from the salvationist mission to the the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 119 c.m.s. in so doing moreover, many amesians followed him. “it happened that at this time, the town pursued a blanket scholarship policy with regards to all amesians schooling within the premises of amesi”, according to elder ezeonyebuchi. “we subsequently swung into action under the umbrella of the c.m.s., towards seeing that we did not miss this bonus”.86 after sometime, the c.m.s. faithful continued to grow in number and strength. for certain unidentified reasons, the mission later decided to shift over all her student population into the government established country school amesi, at least run independent of any mission’s control. nevertheless, due to a litany of versatile grievances and problems under the headmastership of one mr. ezeuko from achina town, added with organized open attacks and proven ostracism meted out by the town’s catholic population against the relatively smaller c.m.s. adherents, their stay in the county-school was short lived. under the leadership of elder ezeonyebuchi, about ten amesi c.m.s. members sent for the immediate help and support of nkpologwu, uga and achina c.m.s. mission stations, towards the establishment of a permanent c.m.s. churchschool in the town. in the same way the initiative for this action evolved, the financial and land needs towards its final execution went. it was generally an ezeonyebuchi affair. (christopher and his wealthy brother). the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 120 at this stage, it is important to note that while the structures were being put up, academic and catechism classes simultaneously went on in the two make shift mud houses located in the same compound. adult and children’s education were basically handled; some of the pioneer member who worked relentlessly include – jeremiah agbagwo, samuel umeakuta, catherine umeakuta, susana ezeana etc. the contributions of mr. wilson ihemeje (from owerri) as the school’s first teacher cannot easily be overlooked. be that as it may, the c.m.s zinc-roofed church house was finally commissioned in 1975, while the congregations scanty population of thirteen on 1st take off in the town, presently could tender more than three hundred faithful on the whole. a clear evaluation of what transpired during the church’s earliest days in amesi would easily prove that the c.m.s. has come to stay, having weathered what may be referred to as detailed amesi catholic enemity, rancor and selfishness. prolonged tribulations infact has toughened the amesi c.m.s. it is a sad sequence to note that this melodrama at amesi stage was and still is a clear reflection and presentation of the unhealthy competitive spiritual colonization of igbo land. factually, the r.c.m. – c.m.s. evangelistic rivalry cum scramble, sowed some seeds of discord amongst the christianized. without mincing words, a faith handed down in an unpeaceful atmosphere of this nature, would thrive in nothing the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 121 less than gyroscopized suspiciousness and turmoil. “it is no more unity in diversity, but the clear cut dichotomized opposition and disunity noticeable in the diversity”.87 it is somewhat zany to note that christ really prayed “may they be one”, but to assume that this has been attained, one must need a large doze of salt. historical annals are never silent on the drunken drama witnessed in europe, that culminated in the emergence of splitter christian groups. this happened when africans south of the sahara stayed and lived ignorant of christ. with such preceding situation, it is very disheartening for one to notice the fearful chasm existing between the different amesi christian sects. amesians were taught to abhore any dealings with one another on account of religious differences, by some arch-conservative missionaries and catechists. this divided and dis-socialized the town. however, with the emergence of younger and wiser christians in the town presently, added to a better understanding of the philosophy of christ – love of all alike, amesians have started fraternizing, thereby stimulating the town’s progress in different fields. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 122 consequences “i came, i saw, i conquered”, veni, vini, vici. with due apologies to julius caesar, this analysis truly and summarily depicts what christianity did in amesi traditional society in particular and igboland in general. the missionaries saw themselves not only as ordinary proselytizers and evangelists, but from all ramifications as daft ‘soldiers of christ, teleguided by the ever-echoing order of destroying and over throwing all african customary inheritance. to them, lucifer and his agents have been drinking and dining with the people for long. in order then to save these souls from the devil’s manipulation, all links with the past must be severed. the ‘black air’ which amesi and her neighbors have been swimming, rolling and rollicking in for hundreds of years, must be replaced. their mission never knew caution. igbo traditional practices and cache that took time to evolve was mercilessly subjected to instant, spontaneous and systematic death blowsindeed a destructive macabre. regardless of how religious amesians were, just like any other igbo, iconoclastic and spiritually revolutionary christianity was ever determined against any dialogue. most elders took the cautionary road, while some youngmen swam and even bathed in this alien teaching disregarding prescription. frenzied and spiritually drunk, the towns religious, social, political and economic institutions were exposed to the full swings of their matchet cuts. in the face of the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 123 over whelming and confusing odds, many amesians then accepted christianity. in enunciating the christian dogma, the people were made to see the difference (if any) that existed between the chi-ukwu they worshiped and the jesus christ which the missionaries talked about. the town’s religious taboos, as natural as some of them were, was out rightly rejected and replaced by the more important ten commandments and church laws. rev. fathers and catechists, took over the functions of the traditional chief priest, with their attendant sacrifices and consultations. the catholic church was referred to as uka fada (the priest’s church). when studied intently, this localized corruption would appear ideal for according to fr. i. ozigbo, “he governed his mission like a benevolent and paternal monarch”.89 amesians were christened ‘idol worshippers’. their different many deities were degodded and written off as mere woods and clay artistic masterpieces, while replacing them with the christian signs and status. the town’s enviable and heroic ancestors were relegated, while tales about the powers and exemplary lives of uncountable alien saints occupy the peoples daily thoughts. various christian sacramentals (holy water, medallion, scapular, stickers) quickly replaced the traditional charms, amulets and medicines in the arena of protectiveness. largely unintelligible esoteric latinised séances took the stage in place of localized songs and dances. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 124 christianity having gained a very strong ground in the town, with its attendant catholic majority, the catechists and missionaries enjoyed unequalled political control amongst the people. a clear division was established between the converts and the so-called heathens, thereby setting disunity in motion. ordered amesi was then disordered. christians should have nothing to do with either the pagans or else, one stood the risk of being suspended from receiving holy communion. the town was subjected to the heat of a faith whose primary material was gathered from the vast field of palestine; industrially manufactured in europe, while cut and thailored in rome. the consequences of the in-coming of christianity into amesi were enormous. the town’s traditional theodicy was over-turned, the various valued instruments that aided cohesion and total allegiance amongst the people was systematically anathemised. in the eyes of the missionaries, nothing practically appeared good or seemingly manageable in the people’s cultural cum religious armoury, as to warrant co-option. since the advent of christianity into amesi its growth in all ramifications, has been largely perepherial. the alien theological formulae catechetically and doctrinally had found it hard to stablise because of the evangelization style and its lack of real inculturation. the people’s feelings and ways of life must be taken into account, if real progress is to be witnessed. in as much as this is so, amesians cannot forever be passive recipients. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 125 christianity in amesi should not in total be the same with christianity in turin (rome), due to the unquestionable difference in people, culture and environment, though the major substance of the faith must remain the same. infact, it is a holy “white mail” forbidding or dismissing every innovation african in essentials, under the pain of deviation from orthodoxy. according to menirad hegba, “for africans to perpetually forgo all their evolved traditions in the face of that of the alien, would place them succinctly in a ‘state of eternal juniority. suffice it then to say that is not a question of making christianity acceptable to amesians, but rather of making the town’s values acceptable to christianity. this has been a great incubus upon the advancement and emergence of christianityoriginale in amesi, and igboland in general. 5.3 the growth of western education/ patterns of social and economic change western education, could be said to be the very first strong vestige of christianity and colonization in the igbocore area. the history of scholarcistism in amesi is traceable first to the catholic church. however, all the christian sects that later operated in the town, employed the academic rudiments of reading, writing and interpreting during their missionizing task. the importance and use of sunday schools and catechism sessions towards enlightening these devotees of christ cannot be underestimated. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 126 though the art of reading and writing did not come to amesi on time, when it finally came, the people viewd it with putation suspicion and controversy. many saw it simply as falling into a vicious darkhole, though mention was constantly made of its abundant promising delicacies and advantages. examples were even cited of certain known few, from nearby towns, who have succeeded in life, after gulping some of this western knowledge. this was done to convince amesians to change their adamant posture. having been converted to christianity, the amesi adherents under the st. vincent’s catholic mission uga-amesi, were the first in the town to start off the act of reading and writing. however, some amongst them not fully convinced, wisely decided to embark upon this ‘risk’, by allowing either their daughter or any of their unfavoured sons to enroll in this programme. though classes went on, generally, early-morning school bells were interpreted as officialised invitation for training of people into professional loafers and unproductive, otherwise how can one explain the visible gains of the daily farm works as against that of this everyday school. it was normal to witness scholars cajoled in songs as guided misfits. at this stage, it is important to point out that the work of the early african missionary catechists and school teachers, none of whom came from amesi, was very dynamic. they bore the tedious brunt of convincing the people as to the future advantages of western education. in some cases, they even took the pains the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 127 of staging uninvited evening visits to different families. during such call, they took time convincing dogged elders and parents, on the destined lofty and alluring rewards of befitting white-colar jobs, obtainable through this alien academic pursuit. many of these school teachers were even poorly paid, though usually of humble beginnings, equipped with little education. from their numerous needs, pupils seldom gathered firewood, and fetched water for them. however, amesi did not stay long in the opposition. this resulted from the fact that they were advantaged to seeing practical gains attained by some nearby town’s indigenes who have gone through some rudimentary western education. moreover, some of the town’s long distant travelers and traders, witnessing how fashionable this new thought has become in places like onitsha, did not stop at only advising their relatives at home, but returned and quickly enrolled at least one of their children. many lucid thinkers at home, having viewed this idea and its expected prospects with equanimity, also gave in. right from the smoldering piece of coal, the fire finally took off, and the race for the golden fleece started. the school house located at st. vincent’s mission, uga-amesi, served the town’s needs in this direction, until the beginning of 1936, when through the application of the colonial governments’ universal free primary education policy, the county primary school amesi was the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 128 erected, on the piece of land which was mainly procured from one akamikpu (ubaha village). be that as it may, the enterprising catholic members, succeeded after weathering several difficulties in setting up st. joseph’s primary school (the present central school) at eke amesi vicinity in 1942. being a full fledged missionary school, it was placed under the care of achina parish from its inception, up till 1945, when it became autonomous. according to my informat, “to take on and shoulder such a project, demands dedicated, determined and seasoned academics. such was the qualities embeeded in the first school teacher of the school – mr. innocent uwakwe, from ndiokpalaeze town”.90 before long, some other pioneer teachers and headmasters came to his assistance, amongst whom were mr. victor umeobieri (uga, the first headmaster of the school, mr. augustine okpalla) (akpo, the second headmaster and mr. sylvester dim, the third headmaster). now that the old and the young appeared to have understood the advantages of western education, and the consequent scramble for its acquisition resulting, all policies that formerly projected its freshness and openness, were gradually dropped. the payment of school fees by the pupils started. this threw many determined pupils into embarking on various money yielding ventures, while some parents and wards had to guarantee their children’s academic pursuit, by even selling off their lands, domestic animals and the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 129 economic trees. what a sacrifice in quest of the golden fleece. after acquiring the rudimentary part of this alien education, many ambitious and determined amesians, went for the commanding height. henceforth, teachers training colleges in adazi, agulu and even onitsha contributed in no small way to the eventual production of the trained elites from the town. it should however be noted that both christianity and western education never made their fruitful inroad into amesi, without some negative effects. the traditional environment, and the normalcy of the peoples’ life pattern were the worst affected. it was in recognition of this factor, though critically, that v.c. uchendu unreservedly opined that,” “religiously, the planting of christianity (and western education) hit at the very soul of the igbo society, and invariably caused problems of varying magnitude in igbo life and culture”.91 it is abnormal infact to contest at this juncture, whether there really emanated any visible changes, rather it does appear better to reflect on the magnitude. it was tempestuously revolutionary, thereby leading to the submergence of certain existing social order and the town’s cultural nationalism. amesi witnessed, “a sudden and regrettable break with a glorious past, as a result of which things began to fall apart”.92 this above stance does not mean to say that the emergence of westernization and christianity the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 130 in the town, is devoid of all attributes of positivism. ancient amesi was not an abode of laisezfaire morality. its pre-christian guide was firmly based on religion, strict moral principles, determined code of conducts, established penalties and denunciations against malefactors, tested taboos, all summed up in the mechanism of control, classified as the people’s custom. due to the tangled and intertwined nature of custom and religion in the town, tabulated moral sanctions were mainly religious sanctions. the people’s belief in this divine moral code, and the ability of the gods to punish any deviant instantly, was never in question or isolation. this became the most powerful and effective mechanism of social control in amesi society. values like truthfulness, hospitality, kindness, love and respect for elders, built an unshaken honour, integrity and a promising longevity for one in the town. however, in contemporary amesi society, beaten left and right by westernization, the scope of morality has begun to dull down. “foreign cultures have begun to teach morality, as that which is based not on religion and its sanctions, but on that complex which suits men in their present circumstances or in the concensus of human opinion”.93 deliberately, morality is been portrayed as a pragmatically relative element or a sort of utilitarianism. the validity of morality in any social concensus is thereby highly questioned. amesi cultural peculiarity, simultaneous with the generality of the core igbo area, the fruits the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 131 and determinant of the people’s history, at the face of this present danger, proved a giant with a clay feet. a lot in the indigenous life system was extirpated, while the few that survived this inundation, before long merged with the imperialist culture, giving rise to a totally new and different arrangement. some daft amesians nevertheless, stuck to the past, while watching this drama with cynicism. probably, the colonialists, with their cultural bankruptcy wouldn’t have succeeded easily in distabilising the indigenous social and religious platforms, if not for the initial vital roles played by the missionaries with their schools and bibles, and the imperialist government with their instruments of power. law courts became perfected squares where the people’s tradition was constantly cajoled, skeletised and scattered as mere testaments of barbaric chaos emanant from untamed heathens. in their myopism, they strove to sweep clean this augean stable evidenced in the indigenous heritage. all christian coverts must first be purged of all attributes of traditional socialization. this gave rise to a handfull of converts in and around the town, who went around attacking and writing off existent organs of the traditional society as inferior and ungodly. local names and even dances were dismissed as paganic. this way, the devil theory was applied in the cruxificion of a people’s identity. nonetheless, one must note that western education was introduced, not for the total the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 132 advantage of the indigenes, than it was for the total efficiency of colonial exploitation. rather than applying their newly acquired knowledge towards defending the old, many amesi educated elites ended up becoming “a poor imitation of europeans. respect and honour previously accorded to age, wisdom and experience, was overnight transferred to them. 5.4 patterns of social and economic change economically and socially, amesi found it hard to hold onto her ways tightly. the influence and attraction of education on the youths, and the massive way they succumbed to it, dealt a deafening blow to agrarian endeavours, thereby relegating it to a mere subsistence. long distance trading subsequently degenerated, giving way to petty local trading largely in the town. the need and urge on the part of the colonialists, to exploit the important agricultural products of the igboland interior, however led to the building of new roads. to embark and fully carry through such project, forced labour was applied on the people, through the co-operation of the warrant chiefs, though this was bitterly and whole heartedly resented by the indigenes. the greatest impact of colonialism on the town, surfaced in the indigenous social catharsis. christianity and westernization after their byrial vault into the town, presented academics as ultimate, infact the “summon bonum” of this new era. the position of the educated elites thus the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 133 elevated, social inequality was magnified, and accountability became personal. decisions rather than filter from concensus, was dropped from above. kangaroo courts were set up in the name of colonial law courts, where purposeful oppositions were expertly nipped from the bud. western traditions were applied in determining the positivity of igbo ways of living. one has to really bribe his way through the court clerk, or smartly apply sheer witticism, common sense and persuasion, to win a case. western system of dressing, foods and beverages, new mannerisms and etiquette were adopted as valued symbols of social prestige. immorality was largely adopted as a necessary pattern of living, under the name of civilization. western medication as opposed to herbalism took off from utter rejection, putation and controversy, back to high wonder and admiration, when certain ailments like the dreaded leprosy appeared easy to handle. amesians followed the wind’s current in pursuance of industry, progress and livelihood in the big cities and towns in the country; and before long, zinc-roofed houses started to replace thatched ones. it would totally be wrong to assume that everything that had to do with pre-colonial amesi was annihilated. rather, it does appear that much of these new concepts co-existed with the old as the case may be. in this vein, v.c. uchendu had this to say – “igbo is a society in which the old and new co-exist, and the one modifies the other, in the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 134 order to make the co-existence possible, the church, the school, the city, the politics have all created new status”. a new social order has emerged in the town, bringing with its diversity, flaming and consuming geocentricism and divisiveness. amesians based at home feel somehow different from those abroad. nonetheless, the town must not be allowed to decay, hence the rural masses and the educated few must close the gap between them, and in so doing, have opened the way to the new synthesis. this is natural, for it is they who would make what cabral suggestively defined as a, “forced march on the road to cultural progress, on the road to a new comity consciousness, fruits of the past as well as of the present, a national unity of work and struggle”, 95 in the town. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 135 c h a p t e r six the nigeria/biafra war years the game of death/survival etailed dancing and hilarious celebration marked the country’s attainment of independence in 1960. nevertheless, that year, unknown to the generality of nigerians, the colonial time bomb was set into motion. overnight, many nigerians became drunk with only a little of the freedom wine, which was gulped without caution. this resulted in unhealthy ethnic rivalry, parochialism, provocative favouritism and unbridled profligacy amongst the people. fearing that the situation might degenerate into something terrible, some khaki boys, under the leadership of major c. nzeogwu flashed a lighting coup de’ etat, on january, 15th 1966. a strong air of uncertainty and numbness came with this coup, having been interpreted in certain circles as a clear ‘igbo coup’. major general ironsi, an igbo who took over power had to pay with his life the price of a supposed igbo domination. this coup became the final arbiter of separation and the eclipse of fraternal confidence. this incident turned the country into a basilica of confusion. unprecedented killings both in the north and the east, added more colour to the gathering clouds. hot exchanges went on between the easterns and the federal government. d the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 136 the handshake has infact passed the elbow. this culminated in the secession and declaration of the republic of biafra, as a separate entity from nigeria, on may 30th, 1967, by lt. col. odumegwu ojukwu. general gowon however vehemently opposed this, hence the cataclysmic nigerianbiafran war (1967-1970). this war was welcomed in amesi, just like in any other autonomous igbo community with dogged natural pride, backed by convincing bravado, resourcefulness and jealously-gaurded patriotism to the baby-biafra. consequently, right from the on start, many sons of the town, serving with the nigerian armed forces, swiftly changed baton and fought on the biafran side. moreover the many fresh volunteers were not left out. when the war took off, the initial vigour with which biafrans fought was unequalled. solid military battalions under the able leadership of foresighted commanders, were strategically stationed here and there, while the biafran propaganda machinery never failed to psyche all and sundry up in the need to defend the east with iron and blood. with foreign assistance, two military air bases were set up at uga and uli towns respectively. at the initial stages of the war, the biafran successes was tremendous, hence one analyst reflected that ‘soldiers fought like biafrans’. in the first months of 1968, a crack unit of biafran troops in a dazzling move, ran through the midwest, bursting at ore, in the present ondo state. at this, the enemy commanders started the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 137 entertaining some fears at the security risks posed by the continued habouring of the seat of the federalist government in lagos. however, their headache was short lived, as sabotage and divisiveness came to their rescue against the biafrans. the ore setback should never be underated. the scenario staged at ore undoubtedly placed the biafran march into that of forward never, backward ever, till the lights went off. previously, the ongoing war was told like folk tales in amesi, but from the middle of 1968, when the biafrans were helplessly beaten back from almost all sectors, the picture became clearer, disheartening and bitter. the initial enthusiansm in the town was henceforth frustrated by the frightening fear of defeat. enugu fell into the hands of federalist troops; onitsha fell, port harcourt, and then owerri. fear enveloped sleep in the eyes of the people, and the real drama of the war was witnessed live in the corridors of amesi and the surrounding towns. sequel to the proximity of amesi to the uga air base, not all the lyricism of this civil war missed the notice of the town’s people. when the enemy war planes started to appear on the town’s skies, amesians were initially caught up by their evasive acrobatic numbness. some ignorant men and women, even openly hailed them vocally as biafran’s amesi and other surrounding towns were victims of this erroneous idea. the stage was excellently set up at uga, one oye market-day, the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 138 when two federalist planes visited the town. believed to be biafran war-planes, traders in the market came all out, shouting and waving at them in welcome. it was pandemonuim galore when these planes divide in and poured in their bombs in the market. foreigners who attended the market that day, and who were lucky to have escaped with their lives (amesians inclusive), needed no further details in relation to the awesome destructive capability of bombs. this incident, like wild fire spread to the hearing of towns around. consequently, whenever any war plane was spotted in the skies, amesians never waited to confirm its identity before fleeing into the nearest available under ground buncker. once in a while, the unhealthy atmosphere of peace in the town was disturbed by the rhythmic staccato of machine guns, interspersed with anti air-craft coughing and oozing out from uga air base. anti-air craft security measures were even taught to children in the town, when the visits of these messengers of death became rampant. houses with glittering corrupted iron roofs were well disguised with coats of palm leaves to blind the notice of the enemy pilots. the african toad, so it is said, does not run in a broad daylight for nothing. this adage best explains the continued visits of biafran solders to the town, while the war theatre was boiling. army conscriptors raided the town to capture ablebodied up-to-age males for enlistment into the biafran army, now it has became clear that volunteering has became a dead issue, moreso in the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 139 the face of continued nigerian offensives. those soldiers who meandered away from the consuming inferno of the war fronts into the relatively peaceful air of the towns and villages, were also trailed after. the hunt for able-bodied youngmen for fresh enlistment, presented a funny drama in amesi and its environs. due to the fact that these conscriptors carried out their assignment day and night, these youngmen who were afraid of joining the army, operated a twin plan hiding. during the day time, they usually meandered into the bushes, while hibernating in the barns (yam or cocoyam) or climbing into the rooftop at night. however, unlucky ones were seldom caught after long period of hiding. houses that had asbestos ceiling, really harboured weights more than it could carry. in one incident, while the five biafran conscriptors were still around in the house, the roof creaked, the wood broke and the three young men staying in it, instantly found themselves hitting hard on top of their conscriptors, who mercilessly handled them. in another incident, the youngman being the only child of the mother has hid for long. duly informed about this youngman’s smart moves, these conscriptors later visited the pyramidal elephant grass roofed house with dry pepper. they poured this pepper into the little fire that they made on the floor inside this house. before long the young man was out smarted, when the surging choking peppirish smoke caught up with him. unable to hold on any longer, he hurriedly climbed down, coughing profusely. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 140 the war raged on, with the federalist running past awka to agulu. by 25th november 1968, they were stationed at adazi junction. starting from the capture of biafran strategic towns like onitsha, enugu, and port harcourt, the hardship debacle which people witnessed can never be quantified. the real blockade of biafra in air, land and sea was achieved. hunger, malnutrition, the towering refugee problem, added with the federalist genocidal approach, saw amesi and other potential biafra towns, a promising mass grave. some people even started doubting or questioning the existence of god, while others took solace and lay belief in the eventual hopeful realities of the priest’s sunday homilies. attendance to church sessions in the town, even appeared risky, while many withdrew their children from school. marriages and funeral ceremonies, coupled with moonlight plays were conducted with minimum noise. families even resorted to preparing their supper during the day time, when the reality of night raids dawned on amesians. news about amesians who had lost their lives in patriotic service to their cherished biafra, was usually swallowed with painful resignation of faith and confidence in the almighty. the continuous chatter of machine guns and the heart rending sounds of mortar shells in the near distance, became frightful lullabies of night. in this confusion, scarcity of food resulted. some people though tried to ease things up by engaging in the nefarious and dangerous ‘affia attack’ (smuggling) the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 141 amesi in all totality, showed resilience and adaptability even at the point of death. though in hardship, refugees were welcomed and accommodated, while some were quartered in the school areas. pupils resorted to taking their lessons under tree shades. amesi did not suffer the lack of drug syndrome, like some other communities in igbo land. this could be traced from the fact that as basic originators and professionals in the tradico – medicinal practice, they had no alternative than to make do with the bird at hand. towns nearby brought in their patients to the treatments of amesi herbalists, in the face of continued scarcity of foreign drugs. the self reliance which this war stimulated, also affected the agricultural circles. the people utilized all available pieces of land for planting yam, cassava cocoyam and vegetables. nevertheless, all these adjustments never prevented the indomitable kwashiokor from striking, though the casualty figure was very low. children with distended stomachs, falling cheeks, yellowish cornea, swollen feet, and general anaemia were seen in some families. much thanks and appreciation should go to the amesi relief materials committee (ichie i.a. ezeonwuka, amongst others, who worked hand in hand with the nationally based groupcaritas, (bishop a.k. obiefuna, dr. ikenga ozigbo, and the leader – fr. anthony byrne) who took it upon themselves to distribute in a fair and judicious manner the cornmeal, garrigabon, salt, stock fish, the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 142 powdered milk, canned beef and drugs that were alloted to the town. some amesians prayed to pass the kwashiokor test at the hands of the caritas officials, so as to attract or obtain some of these materials, while really not wishing or ready to suffer from the ailment. the town witnessed generally, no decadence in morality and crime control during this war, though some incidents present mere dotted spots. the culprits were later forgiven because everybody saw their acts as mere unconscious attempts to make ends meet, rather than out of real criminal rectivism. just like a spark to a keg of gunpower, the biafran offensive took off at the dawn of 27th november, 1968. according to gen. madiebo, it started with the deadly bombardment of the ugwuugoro enemy’s sector at agulu with, “one 105mm artillery gun firing 100 rounds, and two 81mm mortars that fired 150 bombs”, 97 the deadly umuahia commando brigade took up the fight, and after about six hours of heavy fighting, liberated agulu. while this incident was cooling off, biafran troops again recorded significant successes at abagana on december, 24th 1968. owerri was recaptured on 15th january, 1969, while aba was liberated in june 1969. the war dragged on like this, till biafra finally decided to throw in the towel, though gallantly on january 12th, 1970. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 143 6.2 the aftermath with the biafran imbroglio over, amesi finally heaved a sigh of relief. spontaneous celebrations, interspersed by drinking and eating moments, and masquerade displays added towards welcoming the news about the eventual stoppage of hostilities. people exchanged greetings and congulatory messages with one another, for at least surviving this war, though some how painfully without their darling biafra. lucky as the town was, it never entertained any bullet-hit or bomb-drop. many illustrious sons of the town who fought and survived the war, were heroically received, while chicken-hearted roof cats, left rooftops alone and finally appeared in public, however, some amesians due to one reason or the other never returned from the war. though they may be dead, the town can ever forget their patriotism. they are infact remembered as agents of biafran future germination. family, village and town meetings were easily fixed and had without the slightest fear of either what may happen next or the unexpected deadly visits of enemy supersonic jets. the dynamics of conviviality in the town was once more fully stimulated, as markets and schools reopened. the war came and went, not without some hard lessons on amesians. at the beginning of the war, many of the town’s indigenes, just like some other igbos, hurriedly ran back home from their various places of habitation, many without their household properties. this situation placed them the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 144 emphatically in beggary and trying condition throughout the hell-like three years period of the war. some who were opportuned to get some of their properties, ended up suffering the problem of lack of shelter, back home. they turned to professional strangers and wanderers in their own town. immediately the war ended, many amesians who possessed landed properties in various parts of the country, hopefully went to reclaim them. the luck ones got theirs unscathed, some met theirs bombed out, while other lost theirs under the hazy ‘abandoned property’ term especially in the present rivers state area. a popular adage has it that ‘a bird in hand worths more than two’ in the bush, hence those amesians who previously had even a thatch roofed mud house in the town before the war felt more at home during this grueling three years of death wish, and became even surer of a base to start off from whenever the war ended. north, south, east or west, home is home. the experiences of this war was normous. those who even stacked money in the banks, had to start life afresh with the officially granted twenty pounds. life at this stage, appeared to many igbos, a mission impossible. be that as it may, astuteness, determination mixed with natural enterprise and industry encouraged all towards the survival road. amesi recorded a glorious revolution, right from the end of the war in 1970, up to the present. an important break with the past was witnessed in the people’s life patterns, though care was taken in the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 145 tailoring elements of the indigenous tradition for the better. thatched roof mud houses gave way to western related architectural edifices, comparable to the ones obtainable in the big cities, thereby transforming the town from its typical rural stature to that of a full-fledged urban. while embarking on this, amesians stationed abroad, saw the need in visiting home at least once in a week. this is quite unlike before the war. this culminated in unequalled community progress. communal approach was applied towards solving the town’s perennial water problem. large asbestos water pipes was procured and laid along the three major triangular roads traversing the town, thereby making it easier for people to connect or tap water to their houses, using steel pipes. after due consultations and settlements with the obizi-uga water authorities, the pipeline was connected, and the town started enjoying daily water supply, though two and half years hardly elapsed before the story turned far to the opposite. today, amesians could be said to have wisely married the best alternative. some households have resorted to setting up strong cemented water reservoirs, into which rain water channeled from zinc-roofed houses pours in, during the rainy season. infrastructural advancement was not the only feature of amesi after baifra. masquerade displays and dancing groups which nearly died out during the war, was once more awakened to their fullest heights. the magnetic exicitment emanating the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 146 from all these social stratas, did not however steal the people’s mind from organizing progressive forums like youth organizations, women leagues, herbalist associations and co-operative groups. the story of amesi after the civil war can never be complete if the fatherly role played by the amesi improvement union, under the able chairmanship of chief elias egbuacho, is not recorded. the union in its benevolence, saw amesi in tears, and unhesistantly caressed and soothed her. lack of finance only limited their moves. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 147 c h a p t e r seven centralized political institutions 7.1 emergence of the ‘igwe’/ichie’: he changing dynamics of every society usually reflects its progressive advancing nature, or its distablishing approach. while amesians were still busy nursing the deep wounds of the three year civil war, hardly did they ever suspect what the year 1975 had in stock for them and their age long custom. it happened that the then military governor of the east central state (anambra/imo states) colonal atom kpera, allying to the demands of his government, detailed every autonomous igbo community to present an individual each, who would be looked upon as the traditional chief of that entity. this demand initially sounded plastic and indigestible to the peoples’ constitution. some amesians saw it as an ordinary make-believe, while those who spared time to even think about it for a while, dismissed the idea as that which has to go as it came. as months rolled by, the government’s stance on this policy proved stubborn. it even went further to draw the criteria for the selection of any such individual. it was initially hard for most igbo communities to conjecture, understandably due to the alien-nature of such a centralized status in relation to igbo traditional statusquo. centralised t the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 148 chiefdoms could only be traced to such communities like nri, onitsha and arochukwu areas in the pre-colonial era. though another order relating to that, which obtained during the colonial depredations was the warrant chief status, which received the people’s total resentment. for the towns who already had traditional rulers, as formality and officialdom would require, the government had not problem in handing over to their rulers staffs of office and recognition. however, communities like amesi, which lacked such, resorted to doing one thing or the other in other to meet up to the government’s deadline. at this juncture, it will not be anachronistic to remark that this chieftaincy race really threw igboland into the furnance of anarchy, disunity and confusion, in that almost all communities concerned harboured more than one aspirant. over-ambitions contestants applied various ammunitions in their arsenal. thugery, nairapower, personal influence and lobbying all contributed to the eventual distablisation of such communities. peace vanished with progress. while this was going on in different towns far and near, the scenery witnessed in amesi was completely different. it would nonetheless appear a simple tall story, if in recounting the incidents that finally culminated in the choosing and making of the amesi chief, all acrimony entertained is divorced in toto, so as to present an undented account. the amesi improvement union under the able chairmanship of chief l.m. ezeofor, after the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 149 series of executive meetings, finally decided to act with the final concensus of the generality of amesians. after several consultations, the people democratically decided that the would-be chief should be chosen traditionally. hence out of the four villages, obinato the eldest was chosen, with umu-umeoha as the ancestral kindred which produces the town’s father and founder-akalabo. it was however not difficult at this stage to pick the family of umeononankume ekwunihe as the eldest and first household in that kindred. yes, at this stage, almost everyone in the town found it easy to spot the one whose head the revered cap would rest. though this was so, amongst the town’s populace, pockets of the dissenting feelings lay like small kegs of gun powder. some amesians felt that the town’s chief should be one of wealthy background and resources, while others selfishly aggrieved, felt that some ‘colonial parameter’ should be adopted towards maintaining what appeared to them a reasonable continuity. these feelings, lacking merit and popularity, quickly fizzled out. it henceforth went down in the annals of amesi past that mr. emmanuel ikechukwu umeonanankume, has been nominated to rule the town. the year was 1976. while this drama was busy going on, the chief-to-be was away in aba engaging seriously in his commercial endeavors. it was not long before news filtered to him about the town’s final the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 150 decision. besides, his identity was hardly known by one-quarter of the town’s population. an official delegation was dispatched to inform and confer with him, by the a.i.u. executive members. the delegates went with exalted expectations, at least as honored albatross of this happy news. mr. emmanuel surprisingly stunned them by receiving the message coldly. he was unyielding in his refusal towards assuming such a position, though with pointed reasons. calling natural humility into play, he stated thus, “i really cannot accept this chieftaincy offer from you, neither now nor in the future, for that is above my present status. i am not the oldest, most educated or wisest person in amesi. where is the wealth and affluence to withstand such a position? besides, i am just a 30 year old bachelor”.97 the delegates were left with no option than to resort to convincing him, in order to obtain the needed positive answer. mr. emmanuel knew the importance of any final decision he would take; such would factually prove whether the town has finally got a would be ruler or not. when this thought appeared too hot to handle momentarily, and fearing a haphazard decision, he finally agreed with the messengers, to meet and collect the answer on a new date. he vacillated from one idea to another, finding it still hard to visualize himself ruling the town. knowing on the other hand, what a difficult the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 151 scene that would be entertained, to give the messengers ‘no’ as an answer, he decided to hide away on the appointed day. the day saw mr. emmanuel hiding at the house of one mr. nwagwu at ngwa in imo state. as the delegates couldn’t locate him, they dejectedly left. the game has now resorted to a hide and seek one. indeed, unknown to mr. emma, the fruits of the same seed he sowed was to be harvested and served back to him. trickishly, the chief-to be was informed through his younger brother about his urgently needed presence at home on an arranged day, to sign a document recognizing another supposed later nominee as the chief of the town, taking congnisance of the fact that he mr. emma has refused bluntly to assume that position. this plan went smoothly. mr. emmanuel, accompanied by his brother, returned home and only learnt about the plan then. left with only one option, he signed the expected government official documents, that saw him accepting the leadership of amesi town. this accomplished, amesi ancestors heaved a sigh of relief from their resting places. a day was fixed during the town’s mass return of december 1976, on which to formally present the chief to the generality of amesians. at this juncture, according to the chief, “i was praying that the people should refuse me, but god never heard my prayers”.98 amesians could hardly wait for that day, as many people still lack the identity of this new chief. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 152 finally, the day came, and in the presence of indigenes, old and young, at home and abroad, and some government delegated representatives, mr. emmanuel ikechukwu umeononankume was officially presented as the leader of amesi town. in a tingling show of honour, acceptance, faith and solidarity, the people showed their submission to his suzerainty. the signing of some important documents followed thus by volunteered representatives from the various villages of the town. – obinato to village – umechukwu umenwali amowo village – umeozulu basil umuocha village – okpalla alexander ubaha village – abazie simeon a.i.u. – l.m.e. ezeofor government – m.u. mgbodile mr. emmanuel later received his certificate of recognition and staff of office from the then governor – col. atom kpera. this piece would appear incomplete if it maintain silence on the personality and character of this new chief. without mincing words, chief e. umeononankume is a person of unquestionable integrity, massively and impressively built. he never finds it difficult to smile. removing all traces of exaggeration, he is an embodiment of honesty, sincerity, justice, unity and fair play. though typified by these jealously-guarded virtues, this does not practically canonize him a saint. young at heart and in body, he is elderly wise in the the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 153 tradition of the ancients. he never finds it hard to learn, or to put his sense of equity to work, hence his command of the people’s approval, likeness and unalloyed followership. rather than to rule, he really came to lead, to serve rather than be served. amesi is lucky to have in the personality of their first traditional ruler, christianity humbly personified. moving speedily according to the dictates of unassuming tradition, an ubiquitious search was launched for one to occupy the position of the chiefs’ better half. like terms in this case attracted each other, when a lady graduate of mathematics, was spotted in the family of one ezeoba at enugu ukwu. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 154 imbued with all attributes expected from one who should occupy the exalted position of the town’s first lady, the chief had no problem in taking her to the alter in 1979 with the support of the almighty, this union had been knotted with purposeful issues. the town’s traditional ruler although chosen cannot govern alone. consultations were made amongst the town’s elders as to possible parameter that should be employed towards choosing the needed lieutenants. the line of cultured tradition and history was chosen. consequently four people were selected from the head families of the four villages, and regarded as the town’s prime ministers (ichie akalabo), incharge of the four villages at amesi. these four ichie akalabo are: obineto village – chief umechukwu umenwairi (late) amuwo village – chief anasonye ezeonwuka umuocha village – chief ezeuko okpalaeke ubaha village – chief ezeakonobi nwoke chief ezenwegbu later replaced umechukwu. directly following the ichie akalabo in the cadre of administration is a council of ordinary chiefs. according to the number of families in the town, they were supposed to be seventeen in number. some people were also meritoriously capped chiefs an account on certain contributions they have bequeathed to the town in the recent past. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 155 the list went like this: obinato village: umu – umeoha family – none umu – umebighdo family–chief cajetan obidiegwu (late) umu – ofeke family chief mark, ezeuchegbu umu – ibelaka family – chief samuel ibeanu amuwo village: umu – dibie family – none umu – aro family – chief samuel ezemba onunuaku family – chief bernard, ezeagwu umu – umeanosike family – chief wilfred, umerika umu – anyaji family – chief aloysius, ezeunachukwu umuocha village: umu – okpalaibekwe family – chief cosmas, okpalla umu – ojihe family – chief alex., okpalauzuegbu umu – ogbaighe family – chief peter, umeakuana umu – umeonaku family – chief anthony anya ubaha village: umu – ezemenyi family – chief mathew umu – duru family – chief oliver, ezeanya umu – umeoka family – chief svlvanus, ezeibenne umugologo family – chief nathaniel ezeaso one cannot help pointing out that certain unexplained discrepancies still exist in the fulfillment of this expectation. …meritoriously, the following joined the above council: the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 156 chief e. egbuacho (ex. a.l.u. president) chief l.m. ezeofor (ex. a.i.u. president) chief c. osondu (ex. a.i.u. official) chief a. ozigbo (ex. a.i.u. official) chief d. ezeliora (ex. a.i.u. official) monday, april 20th 1982, has gone down in the tabulated history of amesi as a memorable day. the town victoriously passed an important milestone. it happened that on this date, chief e. umeononankume and his cabinet were officially crowned and capped. though the ceremony fell into the easter period, all preparations in the town, were virtually for this cornonation. trying to recreate fully the colourful scene that was withessed that day is simply as hard as one trying to recount everything that went on in the market on a busy day. before the day arrived, towns far and near, personalities big and small were all formally invited. a royal pontifical mass held at st. joseph’s catholic mission amesi, blazed the trail on april 19th. being the eve of this all important day, well articulated cultural displays transfixed the people’s attention in the chief’s palace. the day was finally ushered in with several cannon shots, by the obi akalabo, and his four ichie akalabo, in their various villages. thus the event was officially announced. visitors in their thousands, thronged the town, en route to the palace square. dr. alex. ekwueme (the then vice president of nigeria), chief jim nwobodo (the then governor) etc were the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 157 amongst the dignitaries that graced this great occasion. in line with the cultural tradition of amesi town, the four prime ministers of the town, crowned the obi akalabo i of amesi. however, the highlight of this occasion was when the oraeri traditional ruler (on account of their traditional historical affinity with amesi) j.m.c. obiako, ezenri xviii, stepped on top of the rostrum and handed the igwe, his ofothe paraphranelia of adjudication. this act was meticulously dramatized, moreso under the curtain of the symmetrical barrage of twenty-one cannon-gun shots. having successfully crowned the first traditional ruler of the town, the golden past materialized in the present. amaeshi metamorphosed into amesi with nothing lost politically. the traditional ear of collective responsibility thus gave way to that of individual captainship in administration. the igwe was later invested with the full condiments that created the aura and royal antecedence of his royal highness – the obi akalabo i of amesi. amesians in groups and families, added with the town’s well wishers greeted the igwe with numerous significant gifts. a myriad of masquerades and cultural dancing groups added fun and grandeur to this occasion. all activities relating to this coronation were rounded up in the evening with the blessing of rainfall which was successfully ‘prevented’ from posing a threat to this event. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 158 all in all, it could very well be said that amesi has never before witnessed such magnitude of celebrations that ushered in the existence of chieftaincy status in the town. in all its ramifications, the chieftaincy experiment in the town had yielded positive results, thereby passing well as a veritable culturebased democracy. it has adopted stabilized avenues of social communication and relationship towards averting stands of possible deadly schisms, in so doing, obtaining purposeful unity for the town. eleven years after, the igwe and his cabinet, thought it wise to create and institute another chieftaincy-based group the otugo group. the members include – chiefs b. obiakor, lawrance ezeliore, paulinus ezeibekwe, reuben ozigbo and bede ekwo-mmadu. their choice was meritorious and supportive at the same time. in their elevated platform, they were expected to be philanthropic as to the progressive needs of the town, material and immaterial. such status also exposes one towards actively participating in the community’s aspirations. in categorizing and re-organising amesi chieftaincy status for the better, one would rightly feel that the former five meritorious chiefs that served under the a.i.u. executive, should be made to officially stay and perform under this present otugo group. as events would have it, the otugo members were capped on 23rd of december, 1987. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 159 traditionalism vs westernization in amesi 7.2 traditional egaltarianism/ western constitutionalism – a reconsideration like any other igbo town, amesi forcedly witnessed colonialism and its attendant christianity and westernization. having been immersed into the depth of these foreign waters, what surfaced in all expositions, begs for a case study. the power play between what constitutes the original and that which is foreign and alien still rages on. all fabrics of the town’s life pattern appears to be under siege. before the coming of christianity into amesi, the people jollied in all tenets of the traditional religion. the people thought; laughed, talked, lived and died religiously, hence hanging the pivot of their life on religion. people were careful to the barest minimum not to go against the laid down principles, so as not to attract the anger of the gods. a child was cultured towards – keeping to the many taboos lying left and right. more importantly, the judicature of ani goddess was never overlooked. though the intricate services of the various deities in the town was recognized, the omniscient and unquestionable fatherhood of chukwu was never underrated. it is really an eyesore to glance at the moral condition of the town from the colonial period up to this time. one cannot help stating that the the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 160 success of christianity was the down fall of traditional religion in the town. this operation though appearing reasonable, should not have been allowed to be as catastrophic and detrimental as it has been. in as much as this does not portray one’s ingratitude to the many advantages of christianity in the town, no right thinking individual would on the other hand be a party to the dangerous trend of forcefully, stifling of a people’s treasured indigenous legacy. both religions posses what is good and negative somehow, sequel to their human dictates. a chance should have been accorded them to try out a conscious dialogue and understanding. infact, one cannot doubt that much of the atrocities and immorality presently bedeviling the town, are traceable to some iconoclastic, and fanatic christians. not up to one-quarter of amesians are currently traditional religionist, while the rest are christians, with catholics in the majority. with this picture, one would expect a small town like amesi to be a haven of unadulterated peace, order and understanding. amongst practicing christians, suspiciousness, fear, hatred, mudslinging and acrimony however thrive at their best. how can the town witness constructive progress and unity in the face of all these? people should decide to instantly do away with “churchianity” and embrace christianity. furthermore, there is a need for a healthy incarnation and enculturation of ‘christ’s body in the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 161 the locality of amesi and environs. real christianity must not destroy nature, and should be at home in every culture. as the second vatican council remarked in paragraph thirteen of its major document on the church, “every nation should come to christ bringing its gifts’99. moreover, pope paul vi during his address to catholic bishops of africa in uganda, remarked thus “… africans can and should be african in their christianity”.100 all that is contained in the town’s traditional religion should not be written off as paganistic and heathenistic. such abundant values in the indigenous religion which can enrich christianity include – sense of the sacred, emphasis in human relations, respect for elders, love for life, celebrating the joy of living and for sacred ceremonies, live and let live philosophy, altruism, hospitality and sense of community spirit. all these need to be purified, elevated and universalized, “lest we forget, all religions seek answers to the ultimate questions concerning human existence on earth”.101 the same that is decimating the traditional religion, has never spared even an atom of mercy on the towns customary profession. the town’s medico – herbal institution, previously known and acclaimed far and wide have been facing systematic british destruction, since its exposure to the machinations of the dangerous devils’ theory. today, amesi is just managing to hold on to the shadows of a glorious past. applying a blanket condemnation on a people’s heritage doesn’t appear a good approach. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 162 culture is the distinctive mark which sets off mankind from the rest of the animal kingdom. furthermore, it can be seen as, “all that one learns to do as a member of his society, including all the knowledge, common understanding and expectations that the people of a group share and that their children learn”.102 amesi indigenous socio-cultural engagements has undergone a tumultuous reorganization, starting from the colonial period. childbirth, marriage, funeral and recreational ceremonies, have taken different dimensions, in the face of alien influences. one is forced to wonder where the town is heading to, under these circumstances. take the example of a poor household that is bereaved nowadays. its lamentations and bewails would have much to do with the difficulty and hopelessness of exposing them towards entertaining, providing for the food needs and hospitality of the numerous mourners and well wishers, than for the heart-rending feeling of loss of their cherished one. it is even fashionable nowadays for the bereaved to collect loan or sell some valuables or landed properties, just to withstand this sapping ordeal. sympathizers troop in and out, weeping more than the bereaved. it is simply a ‘hell let loose’. once the last shovel of sand is placed on the tomb of the dead. a day light struggle and scramble for practically everything consumable results. this is foolishness and exploitation at their best. food items are even packaged, hidden, and smuggled away by ‘mourners’ for later consumption with their the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 163 families at home. one tried to consume in consonance with how long he cried for the individual that died, or in relation to how much money he is to hand over to the bereaved. needless relating the atrocities of the umu-ada group. this is simply madness. even if these acts has any thing to do with the indigenous custom, one feels that such a way of life which cannot constructively help anyone, if not purged, should be completely abolished. amesi is blessed with abundant educated and wise individuals. the town’s numerical smallness can be harnessed towards its full advantage and development. a lot is therefore being expected from the numerous educated and traditional elites in this direction. truthfully, education is an instrument of raising society to a higher moral level, but can amesi stubbornly say so in its own case? almost every single family in the town can boast of even more than two averagely educated individuals. if this is so then, one is bound to wonder why the town’s developmental speed is moribund. modern education should be oriented towards bolstering and underpinning the framework of the best and the most genuine element in the tradition of the town. amesi common folks are in dire need of the assistance of these people more advanced and experienced in the skills necessary for progress in the modern world and for escape from the drab world of illiteracy, ignorance, egocentrism, superstition and squalid existence into the brave new world of better living the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 164 conditions, coo-operation and a higher standard of moral and spiritual well-being. amesi is lucky at this time to have a visionary and purposeful igwe and a.i.u. executives, who constantly draw from the abundance of the past, mixes with the present, in readiness for the future. no leader can ever satisfy all her subjects, but those that hold the mantle in amesi, should never forget that it is a two-way street; respect and loyalty, on the one side, balanced by service and obligation, on the other. consequently, the legitimacy and credibility of any system of leadership are not guaranteed by such a claim to an abstract title alone; what matters above all else are the character of the purpose and the richness of the visions, to the realization of which the leadership has committed itself as a dedicated vanguard. the traditional egalitarian system of decision-making should synthesize with modern constitutionalism to produce a lively and productive whole. echoes of a fast coming evolutionary amesi constitution undoubtedly would spring lots and lots surprises. to talk about the proposed rotation of the chieftaincy in amesi (with reference to the town’s constitution waiting for adoption), is only a tip of the iceberg. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 165 c h a p t e r eight the race for community development 8.1 amesi improvement union he urge to develop amesi has been in the minds of amesians, starting from when the town started. community related exemplary works and achievements of the town’s numerous ancestors are today milestones in the people’s history, which defy the vicissitudinous night and day. nonetheless, efforts towards concretizing the town’s machinery of progress started materializing during the colonial period. as should be noticed, the advent and stabilization of christianity in igbo land, later brought in her needed addictives of church meeting and organizations, which helped to indoctrinate members all the more. this was witnessed more in the big cities and towns. it was not hard then, for the different indigenes of the various towns, residentially based in these various cities, to borrow a leaf in this direction, when they embarked upon the formation of town-based improvement union. moreover, such other reasons like, the need for companionship, social security, attraction of amenities into the home town and the t the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 166 preservance of culture and unity, all added up to pull together these urban dwellers. available information has it that amesians started settling at onitsha as from 1920. they were mainly engaged in numerous menial jobs like tailoring, carpentry, load carrying, driving etc. temporarily though, just to raise enough capital towards starting more lucrative commercial ventures. amongst them includes – marius umeh, fredrich umegesi, paulinus ezenduka, christopher odimegwu, daniel mba, peter dim, samuel okpalanyia, jeremiah ezeanyanaso, obed chibuzor etc. (all of blessed memory). the decimating influence of the 1920s, culminated in the general inoculation of the 1930s, and the resultant death saga witnessed during that period. indigenes of amesi and nearby towns resident abroad, were not left out. amesians based at onitsha, came together, and resolved to contribute a compulsory levy of £1.00 each, towards helping the families of the deceased members. mr. obed chibuzor acted as the clerk, but later samuel okpalanyia took over from him. the fund collected was even used towards helping the onitsha-based achina indigenes affected by this incident. what remained however, as the balance from the fund, was used in starting up an inaugural meeting of amesians in 1936 in mr. fredric umeh’s house. with marius umeh and obed chibuzor as chairman and secretary respectively. the association of amesi, onitsha branch, by 1943 had grown so strong as to exert the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 167 strong influence on issues at home. a group made up by representatives of the four villages of amesi was later formed, under the leadership of mr. marius umeh, with a view aimed towards the formation of a full-fledged association that would embrace amesians at home and abroad. after summoning the towns two market committee of afo and eke in 1944 successfully, what is today known as the amesi improvement union was born. it should be remarked that the processes leading to the formation of this union wasn’t as smooth as it has appeared in black and white. until the present moment, with the association under the mantle of mr. p. ezeuchegbu (chairman), and chief e. ezenwegbu (secretary), numerous sons of the town have given in their bests, in seeing that amesi marches on towards joining the comity of other progressive towns. amesi improvement union, has to its advantage, many achievements, which may be too numerous as to be contained in this piece. it successfully laid a water pipe line from obizi stream (uga) to amesi, aimed towards solving the perennial water problem affecting the town. though this project did not live long to tell its tale, plans appear to have reached advanced stages in relation to its resuscitation. christ the redeemer’s college amesi, starting from its foundation till it was handed over to the government authorities, was a bona fide achievement of a.i.u. besides, that the town is presently enjoying electricity, emanates totally from the arch-determination of the a.i.u; needless talking about the union’s mature the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 168 captainship, that led to the smooth chieftaincy selection in the town. moreover, land has been acquired for the establishment of a community hall for the town and a health center. the union also embarks upon roads maintenance usually, while imposing a useful ban on the unnecessary exploitation of existing forests in the town. this is aimed towards environmental protection, and also towards evolving a properly planned town in the near future. the a.i.u. has never relented in its efforts aimed at the town’s development and progress, hence its constant arousing of leadership awareness in the town’s youth and women. as a step further in this direction, the a.i.u women branch is no more a plan, but a reality in the town’s affairs. the a.i.u. has also set up a committee for the systematic development and preplanning of the town’s afo market square. the amesi community bank scheme which is another ambitious project which the a.i.u. has initiated, in seeing that the indigenes of the town, financially are not left out. be that as it may, one may be forced to remark that amesians should tread softly, wisely and truthfully, though dynamically in all dealings concerning this bank project, especially now that the nigerian society is bedeviled with squandermania, dog eat dog morality, and dupery. all in all, the a.i.u. starting from its humble beginnings, to this present time, is a veritable edifice even in the face of a labyrinth of odds. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 169 informant – chief b. obiako 28 june, 1991. 8.2 the age grades: a new dimension reintroducing this topic at this stage of tracing the amesi past is never an unforeseen repetition. this is infact so simply because of a dire need to gather all the scattered piece of the town’s transitional march, and shower them into limelight. amesi is currently blessed with ten age groups: egboteghi, mbakweluike, ogba jiligwe, oputaoka, aladimma, okikadigboo, ifeadigo, oganiru, ifedioranma and ojurumbuo, the above listed are not the only age-groups in the town, but the ones that are still lively. according to maraihe emenike.; “in the pre-colonial times, amesi had agegroups like ada, oganikpa, agbajji, ajanku, mbakwelike, oputaoka, and ogbajiligwe. the members of ajanku and ogbajiligwe age sects were notable famous warriors and heroes, who excelled in executing warfares”. 103 there is however lots of disparity between the activities of age groups in pre-colonial amesi, and what obtains today. almost the same maxim is still being adopted in the selection of members. both women and men are grouped according to their parity; those in each group must either be people of the same age or with maximum of three years gap. circumstances have indeed changed the work of the age groups from largely seeing to external and internal security arrangements, to the present day constructive community the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 170 development and welfarism. simply put, “they are (now) a prop to buttress the society, a fountain to replenish it with new life materially and socially, a beacon of hope and encouragement in times of need, a force to enrich it with practical and progressive ideals and a link between the old and the new (amesi) generations”.104 it is significant to remark that most of the present age groups in the town metamorphosed from what appeared like a mere family association in either a village or two. ifeadigo age group as one of the agents of convivial and socializing dynamism in the town, was inaugurated in 1948. as their name depicts, they set out in full force to attract and really prove that ‘light’ has come to amesi. apart from setting up different machineries towards stimulating unadulterated unity in the town, they came all out to promote and uphold amesi’s past heritage for the advantage of posterity. in the words of chief dennis ezeliora, “ifeadigo age group practically set various standards, which other groups copied”.105 in order to harness their activities smoothly, they set up four different but homogenous executive parlances in-charge of the four villages of the town. apart from their various achievements, available information reveal that the age group did not disappoint amesians during the tedious process of setting up the christ redeemer’s college. though amesi thrived under the caress of ifeadigo age grade, the oganiru group unquestionably towed the same line in drawing the the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 171 town along the corridors of development. running like a trickle or water by 1960, the oganiru age group was finally launched into prominence in 1962, with the formal amalgamation of their members from the different villages of umuocha and obinato. before long, the group became strong as to start granting financial loans to its members. in the words of mr. patrick ezeuchegbu, oganiru age group did not die with the civil war.instead, it was greatly reviewed, revised and revitalized after the war, when all the four villages of amesi were inculcated into its membership base, before the end of 1971. a general record of dead members was taken, and befitting funeral accorded them on town level”.106 acting in line with the needs of amesi community, oganiru age group wisely provided cassava grating and palm cracking machines in the early 1970’s. however, largely due to poor management, these two machines stayed not long to recount their stay in amesi. hence they were sold off. amongst other achievements that cannot be easily overlooked were – a vehicle gift to their member, the obi akalabo i of amesi, a three thousand naira worth of five classroom blockhouse, erected at christ the redeemer’s collage amesi, the revival of the famed egede dance, and numerous donations to the a.i.u. and the different religious institutions in the town towards the accomplishment of versatile projects. the annals of the ifedioranma age group amesi, is pregnant with achievements. infact, their the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 172 progress can in all respects qualify to that of the oganiru group. as the instructive adage requesting an ignorant blacksmith who is not versed on the ways of fashioning an iron gong to learn from the kites’ tail, by the same token, the youngest age group in amesi – (o juru mbubo), shouldn’t hesitate to copy from the older ones. having been inaugurated, they should aspire towards meeting up to the expectations of the community, while divorcing all traces of youthful exuberance, unnecessary rancor and bitterness. this is their time and turn. 8.3 amesi co-operative union co-operative ventures and organizations have for long occupied the attention of amesians since the end of the civil war, all aimed towards survival and progress. this search for individual and community advancement have led the citizens in experimenting various commercial ventures and departments. different groups of amesians have at various times, formed several commercial enterprises, companies and corporations. nevertheless, a notable advancement was made in the town, when in the dying months of 1966, specifically on december 26th, some amesians concluded concrete arrangements in relation to the formal establishment of a cooperative society in the town. the need and the idea has survived for long, but these indigenes stubbornly took the bull by the horn, and so on february 27th, 1967, amesi co-operative society the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 173 was inaugurated, in order to serve its expected purposes. co-operative societies are the most effective means by which socio-economic development is made possible in the rural areas, an avenue for distributing scarce commodities to a rural population. groups and individual co-operators raise specified capitals for individual and group projects, and this promotes social cohesion amongst the members. as a wholesale and retailing forum, the amesi co-operative society usually stocks many house need essentials, for sale to the towns folk at relatively reduced prices, in comparison with the open market rate. the initial attempts variously applied towards convincing the populace on the need and advantages inherent from such a society, all hit the rocks. the glorious founding members intensified campaigns and visible progress of the society later paid off. according to the society’s secretary, “…. at first, the foundation members were only twenty-eight, while today, the membership number is about six hundred”.107 in accordance with its establishment motive, one has to qualify exclusively as an indigene. the executive members of this society are undertaking a herculean task in seeing that the organization is strengthened. with the availability of capital and necessary education on co-operative principles and advantages, tomorrow would be brighter throughout the town, in relation to the provision of the people’s consumption needs. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 174 co-operative approaches should also be diverted to other enterprises non existent at present in the town. at this juncture, one cannot overcome the urge to comment about the ready-tobe born amesi community bank project. though a right step in the correct direction, amesians should be cautious of wolves in sheep’s skin. the quality of life of an ordinary amesian would be greatly improved, when adequate provision is made for the provision of common needs at cheap rate. the town would thence-forth wallow in development, when capitals are pulled together, and self help projects radicalize and revolutionize progress in amesi. infact, one cannot at this stage over look the indefatigable strides of the akalabo women social club, and the gradual growth of the akalabo training institute amesi. these practical facts, have gone a long way in proving the efficiency of the amesi woman in general community development. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 175 c h a p t e r nine planned institutionalized unity 9.1 intra-social/cultural evolutions istory has factually proved that any cataclysmic incident never goes without some immediate, later and remote effects, on the human and his environment. time may very well affect the development and materialization of an effect. having said that, it is a proved fact that the nigerian civil war came and went with certain seismic force. leaving on its trail, wholesome destruction of lives and properties. igboland really managed to withstand those agonizing three years. significant enough, that imbroglio, taught the igbo among other things, that home is home. needless recounting the unforgettable heart breaking northern nigeria pogrom on the igbo, the merciless bombing runs of the enemy pilots on all that moved in igbo territory, and the unbelievable day light property-robbery saga tagged ‘abandoned property issue’. all these and many more, taught amesians as a reasonable part of igboland, that much truth lies in the adage which states that the enjoyment and practice of brotherhood lay in the constant physical contacts with one another. consequently, h the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 176 upon the end of the war, amesi saw the crystal need to tabulate, modify and synthesize her unity. amesi improvement union, acting in accordance with the expectations and dictates of the people, made home – coming compulsory to every amesi indigene living anywhere, once every three years. this was planned in such a way as to suite the itinery of most indigenes, hence the december christmas holiday period was chosen. different meetings were often staged, where important issues and deliberations were looked at. moreover, the a.i.u. in trying to immortalize the fatherhood of akalabo, and in keeping alive some customary resorts of the town’s ancestors, marked the 27th day of december as the akalabo day. though an annual festival, its magic and weight is more felt internally and externally, during the town’s mass return year. as an annual festival, the unity binding all amesians is protected and assured under its umbrella. a typical akalabo day held during a returnyear period, is better witnessed than imagined. activities ranging from group meetings, traditional dances, masquerade displays, wrestling matches, soccer engagements, held during such period, always climaxed with the almighty akalabo herebal displays. the obi akalabo’s ofalla festival, though unique, can once in a while bring a minor date adjustment. all the above-mentioned festivities, are as social as they are traditional, and as unifying as they are educative. the town has a litany of dances, masquerades and traditional the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 177 performances that often blessed the mass-return period. can one talk only about the lyrical crescendo of the famous egedege music or the added cacophony of the dignifying igba-eze music? even then, what of the thrilling igba-mmonwu displays, and the gruttaral howls of the many elderly masquerades? perharps, the greatest event that has publicized akalabo festival to even beyond the boundaries of igboland, is the herbal display. the act in its entirety, tries to present amesi past and present to the world. it is not only a clearer reflection of what the town has been known with, but also a forum for medico-herbal advertisement. some of these displays which shatter the borders of impossibility include breaking of palm kernel with an egg, climbing into the sky with a rope, collecting and holding water with a basket, etc. these various avenues of intra-social communications have planted viable seeds of unity, where there was discord. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 178 9.2 summary conclusion from the study, it has been shown that amesi historically, has common origin, through eshi or eri (ozo akalabo): the migration of eshi from his original home at nri, was as a result of many factors; the most important being-land scarcity, petty quarrels etc. it was the need to solve this problem that led to the eventual settlement at amesi present environment. it is however indisputable that amesi harbours an aged artery of communication and affinity with oraeri, akpo and achina towns. moreover, constant threat of war from larger and stronger neighbours, unified amesi, akpo and achina towns, into an effective military triple alliance (onu ogunato). with settlement over, some amesi indigenes from ubaha village, due to some unidentified reasons, left the town, and settled in arondizuogu, under the name of ndi ejezie. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 179 there existed in pre-colonial amesi various instruments that promoted social cohesion, common religious beliefs and practices, and political stability. in her essential fluidity, a noted orator could influence debate, while a warrior of proven courage and wisdom would have a leading role in warfare. this exceptional accordance of status was however temporal. elders, titledmen and chief priests, manipulated the activities of the town, strictly based on omenani (tradition). the people’s religious faculty was and is continuously being dominated by the needs and directives of chi-ukwu (supreme god), of course through his messangers. in amesi, the living, the dead and the unborn, form part of a continuum. economic mobility in pre-colonial amesi, helped the people towards keeping body and soul together. labour was smoothly organized, while different farming methods were adopted towards obtaining bountiful harvest. there existed a great deal of internal healthy competition amongst the people, which on the whole put the town on the progressive path. in the field of traditional medicine, amesi’s professionalism and superiority was acclaimed far and near. scarcity of land really proved a serious endemic problem, although diversionary avenues were later stimulated – trade and industrial endeavours – to the full advantage of the indigenes. it does appear that the works of amesi women in pottery specialists were determined mostly by excellence and utility, though in execution they did not ignore proportion, the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 180 originality and beauty. limited patronage for decorative objects must have to some extent circumscribed their economic horizon. pre-colonial amesi, through various parlances, strengthened and tightened her relationship with near and far people. undefined relationships were at various times settled and solved through ordinary hostilities, and on rare cases war. nonetheless, the british invaders and imperialists, revolutionaized amesi traditional society after their advent. the democratic and egalitarian institutions of the town were replaced with the alien warrant chief autocracy, while christianity, western education and other aspects of foreign socialization, replaced the indigenous fabrics. in reality, the gains of colonialism and christianization in amesi and environs, appear checked. the town participated actively in all endeavours warranting the granting of independence to the generality of the country, hence they like other citizens, on october 1st, 1960’s eve, went haywire with celebrations. scarcely did nigerians know that this little freedom will intoxicatingly land them into a thirty-months macabre war. from the on start, amesi saw survival as an unnegotiable task, and instantly worked towards it. as traffics of time are simply troubled marches through history, the story of amesi during and after the war is from all angles thrasonical. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 181 amidst seemingly insoluble odds, the town wobbled into the ‘70s’ a determined people. the government policy of instituting centralized political institutions, a new wine in all its contents, was however consumed with meticulous caution. this drama, starring peaceful amesians in action, was generally marvelous; to the admiration and commendation of the state government and lest one forgets, to the added jealousness of the many surrounding communities. under the atmosphere of peace, the town pursued development, under the captainship of the a.i.u. the age groups, the amesi co-operative union, and even the women, were not left out in the modernization and modification. nevertheless, in introducing modernity, it should be noted that peace, cultural plenitude and traditional aesthetics were never kept in vista. names of informants/date of interview s/n names town/village date 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. igwe e. umuononankume maraihie emenike obidigbo, ezeagwu ume nduka, umueaniukwu ezeobioha, ezeabasili ezeuchegbu, ezeaku sylvanus, egbunacho mrs. j. egbuacho edward, ezenkwele umechukwu, umenwaliri ezeanyim thomas ezenduka, ekeruike o. ezeaka i.c.k. anadi mrs. b. orieoma mrs. ezenduji m. moneke john amesi (obinato) “ “ “ (amuwo) amesi amesi “ amesi (amuwo) amesi “ uga (umueze) amesi (obinato) achina (umuezeiyi umuchu, oraeri amesi (amuwo) “ “ akokwa (akwu) 29/7/86 “ 30/7/86 28/7/86 5/8/86 6/8/86 10/8/86 15/8/86 20/8/85 12/8/86 13/8/86 14/8/86 12/8/86 10/8/86 15/12/68 18/12/86 16/12/86 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 182 18. 19 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29 akamikpu okereue elebeke, ezeagwu ezenduka, edward festus o. okpalaeke patrick, ezeuchegbu dennis, ezeliora philip, onwuka jacob, umechukwu jeremiah, ezeanyanaso innocent a. ezeonwuka ben. obiakor christopher ezeonyebuchi amesi (ubaha) amesi amesi (ubaha) amesi amesi amesi “ amesi (amuwo) “ “ amesi (amuwo) amesi amesi (amuwo) 10/11/86 29/7/86 16/12/86 12/13/87 10/8/88 12/12/88 6/6/86 7/6/86 10/6/86 10/7/91 28/6/91 12/5/87 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 183 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 184 reference notes notes on chapter one 1. j.c. anene, southern nigeria in transition: 1885 1906. london cambride university press, 1966. p. 44. 2. a.e. afigbo, ropes of sand: studies in igbo history and culture (nsukka: university press, 1981), p.16 3. p.p. grey, intelligence report on mbalaolie group of towns, comprising amesi, akpo, achina, umuchu and enugu-umuonyia: awka division n.a.e., c.s.e. 1/85/6078, e.p. 12073, 13570327(1944), p.2. 4. extract from okigwe compositie, sheet 312. scale 1:125,000. federal surveys lagos. 5. reference to figure 2. 6. e.b. firman et. al. (ed), soils in relation to growth, new york, reinhold group. 1965, p. 40. 7. p.h. ady, oxford regional economic atlas: africa; london, oxford university press 1965.p.55. 8. op. cit., sheet 312. 9. b.n. okigbo, plants and food in igbo culture and civilization in 1980 ahiajoku lecture, published by ministry of information; culture, youth and sports, owerri, imo state,1980, pp. 18-34. 10. p.p grey, intelligence report on mbalaolie group of towns, m.a.e. o.p. 1269/27, on prof. 8/1/4750, 7th oct., (1975), p.4. 11. op. cit., pp. 12 – 23. 12. ibid., p. 14 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 185 13. m.m. green, tbo village affairs, london: frank cass, 1964. p. 8. 14. a.e. afigbo, traditions of igbo origin: an analysis (unpublished paper) 1979, p.2. 15. ibid, p. 12. 16. escavations at ezira that yielded bronze objects dated to 15th century and linked to nri, and escavations at igboukwu, dated to 9th century a.d. also see. c.c. ifemesia traditional human living among the igbo: an historical perspective. (enugu: f.d.p.), p. 17. 17. chief umeononankume (obi akalabo i of amesi), 65 years, interviewed at his palace on 29th july, 1986. 18. umenduka umeaniukwu, from umulodike-amesi, c. 96 years interviewed at his home on 28th july, 1986. 19. i.c.k. anadi, the kingdom they knew not: a groundwork history of umunri igbo and nri kingdoms in nigeria. dec. 1972, ochumba press enugu, pp. 21-22. 20. reference to the speech delivered by chief j.c. major azike, igwe iii of igbo-ukwu, as a welcome address to prof. thurstan shaw, on the occasion of his farewell visit to igbo ukwu, on the 11th of may, 1974. to be found in i.c.k. anadi: the kigdoms they knew not. p.93 21. e. isichei, the igbo people and the europeans: the genesis of relationship up to 1906, (london: faber and faber, 1973), p. 18. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 186 notes on chapter two 22. p.b. horton et al. 23. h.a. gailey and m.s.o. olisa, (in their respective works). quoted by l.u. ejiofo, in dynamics of igbo democracy: a behavioural analysis of igbo politics in aguinyi clan: ibadan, university, press, 1981. p. 40. 24. m.s.o. olisa, political culture and political stability. couch vol. iii, no. 2. 1971. p. 19. 25. v.c. uchendu, the igbo of south eastern nigeria, new york, holt. 1965, p. 41. 26. op. cit., p. 39. 27. ezeuchegbu ezeaku, c. 80 years. ozo title holder, ubaha. 6th august, 1980. 28. c.k. meek, law and authority in a nigerian tribe, london: oxford university press, 1973. pp. 164 – 174. 29. e. isichei, a history of the igbo people, london; macmillan press, 1976. p.22. 30. op. cit. p. 335. 31. op. cit. p. 43. 32. s. ottenberg, ibo oracles in inter-group relation – in south western journal of anthropology. vol. 14, no. 3., 1958 p. 298. 33. ezeuduji maureen, c. 96 years. lolo amuwo amesi. 18th december 1986. 34. egbuacho, c. years. lolo, amuwo-amesi. 15th august, 1986. 35. f.a. arinze, sacrifice in igbo religion: j.s. boston (ed.) ibadan university press ltd. 1970, p. 7 36. k.a. opoku, west african traditional religion, fep international private ltd., 1978 singapore p. 129. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 187 37. ibid. p. 102. 38. maureen ezeuduji, c. 96 years interview cited. 39. i.c.k. anadi, the kingdom they knew not: a groundwork history of umu-nri igbo and nri kingdoms in nigeria. dec. 1972, ochumba press ltd. enugu, p.40. 40. op. cit. p. 42. 41. c. achebe, chi in igbo cosmology in morning yet on creation day: essays, heinemann, london, 1975. pp. 93-103. 42. op. cit. p. 29. 43. i. iiogu, igbo life and thought, university publisher coy. 1985. onitsha, p. 10. 44. ezeobioha ezeabasili, c. 85 years ozo title holder, ubaha-amesi, 5th august, 1986. 45. sylvanus egbuacho, c. 85 years. ozo title holder amuwo –amesi. 10th august, 1986. 46. umenduka umeaniukwu, c. 96 years. ozo title holder. umelobedike-amesi. 28th july 1986. 47. maurren ezenduji, interview cited. notes on chapter three 48. p. hill., some characteristics of indigenous west african economic enterprise (in economic bulletin of ghana).no. 6 1962. pp. 13-14. 49. a.g. hopkins, economic history of west africa. london: longman, 1973, p. 28. 50. s. otternberg, inheritance and succession in afikpo. (in j.d.m. derrtt (ed). studies in law succession in nigeria). london, 1965.p.61. 51. ezeuchegbu ezeaku, c. 80 years, ubaha-amesi, ozo title holder, 6th august, 1986. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 188 52. orieonia ezeobinwa, c. 92 years. lolo, amuwo amesi. 15th december, 1986. 53. josephine egbuacho, c. 76 years, lolo, amuwo amesi 15th august, 1986. 54. e. isichie, the ibo and the europeans. london, 1973, p. 19 55. f.i. ekejiuba, ‘omu okwei’ the merchant queen of ossomari, j.h.s.n., vol. ii, no. 4, june 1987. p. 634. 56. josephine egbuacho, interview cited. 57. ezeobioha ezeabasili, c. 85 years. ozo title holder, ubaha-amesi 5th august, 1986. 58. obidigbo ezeagwu, c. 75 years. ichie title holder, amuwo-amesi. 30th july, 1986. notes on chapter four 59. f.a. arinze, sacrifice in igbo religion: j.s. boston (ed). ibadan university press, 1970 p. 7. 60. chief umeononankume (obi akalabo i of amesi), 65 years umulobedike-amesi. 61. e.a. afigbo, indigenous political system of the igbo, tarikh, vol. 4 no. 2,1977, p.22. 62. edward ezenkwele, c. 105 years, ozo title holder awalasi-uga. 20th august 1985. 63. m.m. green, ibo village affairs: london, frank cass and co. ltd., 1964 p.8. 64. c.c. ifemesia, the traditional human living among the igbo: an historical perspective, enugu f.d.p, 1980, pp. 80 81. 65. op. cit. p. 7. 66. i.c.k. anadi, c. 68 years. ozo title holder oraeri. 10th august 1986. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 189 67. onyemekwe ezeaku, c. 75 years. ozo title holder. udo-akpo 12th august 1986. 68. ezeobinwa orieoma, c. 92 years. lolo amuwo amesi. 15th december 1986. 69. c. meillasonx (ed)., developing indigenous trade and market in west africa. oxford press, 1971 p. 68. 70. ezeobinwa orieoma, interview cited. 71. b. davidson, the african past. hermond-sworth, 1964. london, p. 213. 72. a.e. afigbo, the age of innocence: the igbo and their neighbours in pre-colonial times, 1981. ahajioku lecture published by ministry information, culture, youths and sports, owerri, 1982. pp. 14-15. 73. e. isichei, a history of the igbo people: london, macmillan press ltd., 1976. pp. 80 – 81. 74. op. cit. p. 79. 75. chief umeononamkume, interview cited. 76. ibid. p. 111. 77. a.e. afigbo, ropes of sand: studies in igbo history and culture, lagos: university press. ltd., 1981. p. 303 notes on chapter five 78. a.e. afigbo, patterns of igbo resistance to british conquest, an unpublished memograph., p. 14. 79. oral information from – ezenchegbu ezeaku, umechukwu umenwaliri. 80. oral information from – obi akalabo i of amesi. 81. oral information from – elder umenduka umeanukwu. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 190 82. oral information from – elder umenduka umeanukwu. 83. extract from national archives, enugu in relation to mbalaolie group of towns. 84. oral information from – elder christopher ezeonyebuchi. 85. oral information from – elder christopher ezeonyebuchi 86. oral information from – elder christopher ezeonyebuchi. 87. rev. i.i. nwokenna, the emergence of the independent african churches. an article published in the insght magazine vol. 4, no. 1, p. 32. 88. culled from st. john’s gospel, chapter 17, verse 21, good news bible. 89. i.r.a. ozigbo, roman catholicism in s.e. nigeria, afp pub. p. 228. 90. oral information from – mr. onwuka. 91. v.c. uchendu, misionary problems in nigerian society, (practical antropology, vol. 2., no. 3. 1964), pp. 105-106. 92. a.e. afigbo, revolution and reaction in eastern nigeria 1900 – 1929, j.h.s.n., vol. 111, no. 3 (1966), p. 539. 93. isu marcel onyeocha, cmf., authentic african christianity, an article published in the insight magazine, vol. 4 no. 1 pp. 1214. 94. v.c. uchendu, the igbo of south eastern nigeria, p.117. 95. amilcar cabral, unity and struggle: speeches and writings, monthly review press. n.y. london 1979, p. 140. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 191 notes on chapter six 96. alex. madiebo, the nigerian revolution and the biafran war, (enugu, fourth dimension pub. 1980, p. 297. notes on chapter seven 97. oral information from – obi akalabo i of amesi. 98. extract from vatican ii document on the church. 99. oral information from – obi akalabo i of amesi 100. culled from pope paul vi address in rubaga cathedral uganda. 101. meyer weinberg and oacar e. shabbab, society and man, 1960 p. 90. 102. extract from an unpublished article, ‘man and environment’ 1986 by ezeonwuka i.f. notes on chapter eight 103. oral information from – maraihie emenike. 104. extract from the constitution of ifeadigo age grade, amesi, p.i., embro press, onitsha. 105. oral information from – chief dennis ezeliora. 106. oral information from – mr. patrick ezeuchegbu. 107. oral information from – mr. festus o. okpalaeke. the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 192 index a achina · 1, 2, 9, 12, 43, 48, 53, 62, 63, 65, 68, 70, 74, 76, 77, 78, 83, 84, 86, 91, 95, 102, 104, 105, 108, 116, 156, 168, 171, 174 adazi · 89, 90, 117, 129 agbudu · 48, 94 agriculture · 4, 47 aguleri · 10, 89 agulu · 69, 117, 129, 131 akalabo · 8, 9, 56, 77, 138, 144, 146, 147, 161, 164, 166, 167, 168, 175, 178, 180, 181 akokwa · 48, 63, 68, 69, 70, 91, 92, 171 akpo · 1, 2, 9, 12, 43, 44, 53, 59, 62, 63, 65, 68, 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 86, 91, 117, 168, 171, 174, 179 arochukwu · 137 c cassava · 4 catholicism · 89, 93, 94, 95, 99, 102, 104, 181 christianity · 79, 80, 88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 106, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 118, 121, 142, 148, 149, 150, 151, 155, 170, 181 cocoyam · 4 e enugu-umuonyia · 48, 50, 91 eshi · 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 63, 168 ezira · 68, 175 h harmattan · 3 homicide · 39 hunting · 68 i igboland · 1, 2, 29, 62, 72, 79, 82, 88, 110, 114, 121, 137, 165, 167 isiokpu · 48 isioye · 12 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 193 j justice · 5 l lineage · 6 livestock · 49 m marriage · 30, 63, 64 masquerade · 134 mbalaolie · 1, 2, 4, 174, 180 music · 66, 167 n nigerian-biafran war · 125 nkpologwu · 1, 2, 70, 71, 74, 78, 86, 92, 108 nkwo-igboukwu · 71 nsukka · 1, 2, 174 nteje · 10, 89, 94 o oguta · 71 ohaofia · 77 okachanma court · 86 okigwe · 1, 2, 174 onitsha · 71, 82, 89, 92, 94, 97, 116, 117, 126, 129, 137, 156, 177, 182 t traditional medicine · 54 u ubaha · 12, 18, 46, 56, 58, 59, 78, 105, 116, 141, 144, 168, 171, 176, 177, 178 uga · 1, 2, 45, 46, 48, 50, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 74, 78, 83, 86, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 102, 106, 108, 115, 116, 117, 125, 126, 127, 134, 157, 171, 179 umuomaku · 50, 68, 86, 92 w wrestling · 32, 64 the ultimate account: a history of amesi people from the earliest times to the present 194 section g: literary insights ‘steamed into well-done mutton’: the solar plague and discursive formation in chinua achebe’s anthills of the savannah amechi akwanya abstract chinua achebe’s anthills of the savannah is studied under a rich variety of critical approaches, which is expected for such a major literary work. some of the studies are under the umbrella of discourse analysis. this paper is located within discourse studies, but in the specific aspect of discursive formations. of the available published studies on anthills of the savannah, many explore nodes which are seen by their authors as contact points to extra-textual history or social reality or as signposts leading back to the author’s intended meanings. this paper goes to the depths of discourse following the track, or as jacques derrida would say, the traces left by the sign end on signifiers like witness and the wilting, wild sun of april, eventually permeating the entire narrative. a sign which is not a stand-alone complex of signifier and signified, but affects other signs, giving them extra dimensions of meaning, and rendering them thereby symbolic, is of necessity itself symbolic and, moreover, in this present case, sustains a vision that the narrative as one act symbolizes: the last days. the individual incidents are also affected: although they occur in narrative time, they are at the same time familiar as events of the last days, that is, apocalyptic. the study unveils the mythology of the last days, with its plagues, as the formation sustaining the whole, and accounting for the work’s intellectual structure. keywords: apocalypse, estate of world literature, discourse analysis, discursive formation, tradition introduction it is helpful in a discourse analysis of texts to ascertain the discursive formation to avoid treating texts and discourses as if they were all the same kind and obey the same identical laws. all discourses depend on their discursive formations for constitution. chinua achebe’s anthills of the savannah which is under study in this paper is an apocalyptic literary text by reason of its discursive formation based on the mythology of the end of the age or the last days. some literary works may be successfully analysed without the initial act of ascertaining their formation, but this successful analysis is really because the formative is carried as a badge by the discourse as it were. for some other discourses, the discursive formation has to be painstakingly made out. a literary work is a complex thing, but always understood to be one object. a novel is the literary work in its most complexity. a single novel can incorporate in a sustained manner discourse from mythology, religion, political life, social history, interpersonal relations, agriculture, buying and selling, love relations, struggle, community building and dismantling, and so forth. for this reason, it offers many entryways to criticism and discussion. many such entryways have been explored in dealing with anthills of the savannah, like the politics of postcolonialism (kalpaklı), women emancipation (shamim), ideological concerns (olusola), the metaphorics of anthills (opata), the poetics of care and solidarity (akwanya), the discursive value of naming (olaluwoye), and so forth. discursive formation is not an approach to the novel, just as a study of narrative structure is not really an approach, but lays bare the work’s constructional logic. the discursive formation is similarly unveiled. the discursive formation of a text is basic information needed for reliable discourse analysis of the text treated as an ‘instance of discourse’ (benveniste 219), especially where it is not explicitly stated as part of the instance of discourse, so that analysis could proceed with tacit acknowledgment of it. in this, the role of the discursive formation is even more farreaching than the understanding of the constituent structure, as literary criticism may be effective whether or not it is premised on the knowledge of structure. ascertaining the discursive formation may even help to explain the constituent structure itself. in michel foucault’s account, discursive formation identifies and positions the founding entities of narratives, and may be analysed into the ‘formation of objects, formation of the subjective positions, formation of concepts, formation of strategic choices’ (the archaeology of knowledge 130). the formation of concepts is of special importance to this paper, as it relates to statements involved in recreating ‘a perceptual process’, and ‘whose succession characterizes the architecture of a text’ (63). these statements ‘may be of the order of experimental verification, logical validation, mere repetition, acceptance justified by tradition and authority, commentary, a search for hidden meanings’, and the like (64). such are the minimal, and usually archaic, narratives from which the work exfoliates, at the same time grounding that work in tradition, and validating its search for intelligibility. this exfoliation proceeds, according to riffaterre, by means of expansions and conversions. in what habermas calls practical discourse, that is, discourse with participants taking turns equally to speak, with an object on which they attempt ‘to reach an uncoerced agreement ... on the basis of reasons that are acceptable to all’ (ciaran cronin and pablo de greiff x), the discursive formation is marked in the utterances themselves, since the utterances are typically tied to the object concerning which the participants in the discourse attempt to reach an understanding. the same is true, more or less, of political speeches, homiletic discourses, sales talks and haggling over prices, and so forth. in forms of discourse where the need to reach an understanding has no part in the constitution of discourse, nor ‘the speaker's intention to influence the addressee in some way’ (issacharoff 80), analysis will not advance much without a notion of the discursive formation. a prior determination of this constitutive element of discourse will help to ensure that the right assortment of instruments is put in place for the specific task in hand. discourse analysis can deal with a wide variety of linguistic events, including literature, provided that each text’s or discourse’s peculiarities are given due recognition and analysis proceeds in full mindfulness of these peculiarities. for example, it is not a negligible fact that one has before one a ritual text or a recording of a ritual event taking place. although language appropriated by a subject and applied to something satisfies the minimum condition for discourse, still it does not follow that an utterance is necessarily discourse, because it is spoken by a subject. in ritual, there is an utterance. language is spoken, and it is even applied to something, but all this happens without a subject appropriating the language system to himself or herself. the utterance does not contain ‘the indicator of person’ (as such (benveniste 219), but of an accredited role-player. the ritual utterance is a quotation applied whole in bringing about a specific designated effect in the ceremonial of a group. therefore, a ritual does not satisfy the minimal conditions for discourse, and if subjected to discourse analysis, the results would be of little value. a literary work like the novel may contain instances of discourse, but it is treated in this paper and may be analysed as one self-contained instance of discourse. but discourse analysis alone would not capture the complexity of the literary work in as much as it is allegorical; that is, in heidegger’s phrasing, it ‘makes public something other than itself’ (poetry, language, thought 19). what it manifests that is other than itself must be something that is in some way already known, otherwise it would be obscure, and perhaps it would not be knowable that the text was making public something other than itself. what it presents is always already (derrida 2, 90) in the minds of the people, tradition itself. this is not to confirm the prejudice that a literary work must embody the local tradition which has given birth to the author. what is at issue is in the first instance what pertains to the estate of world literature (milosz xv), without ruling out what pertains to the estate of the literature of a country in the large sense of the word – which could be africa, igbo, or nigeria. the ‘possessions’ of this universally owned estate include the literary forms – lyric, narrative, drama, and the modes, tragedy and comedy; they include myths, not in their individualised forms, like ‘the sky-bull [] in convulsive cloud humps’ of soyinka’s the interpreters (155), but in the generalized form of myth of origins, creation myth, the fall, the knowledge-seeker, and so forth. for example, notwithstanding that ‘the logic of punishment, is an undiscoverable rationality’ (ricoeur 354), the myth of crime and punishment is universal, and encountered in some form in every culture. the making public of this myth in sophocles’ antigone, herman melville’s moby dick, and chinua achebe’s a man of the people is a significant fact. these works belong together at a certain level where the name of chief nanga or ahab, thebes, nantucket, or bori, ships and whale hunting, electoral violence, or the sprinkling of sand over a dead body – the kinds of things hegel counts as the work’s ‘configuration in an external and phenomenal mode' (613) – are not issues of any importance. two other points to note: the discursive formations of literary texts are indicated, not necessarily expressed, within the text itself; they come with the linguistic signs that the poem makes art out of, and may be present in those signs ‘not as a total presence but as a trace’ (derrida 119). these are signs capable of configuration into poetry, and of configuring others by inclusion, so that ‘everything that had been presented to view, now takes on a new mode of being’ (foucault 287). these signs have ‘an ineluctable memory’ accumulated as tradition (324); hence their ‘peculiar mode of being is “literary”’ (327). of course, they also function in the everyday mode, where they analyse simply into signifier-signified (saussure 65), a dyadic structure which characterizes a language fashioned for analysis and calculation, a scientific language, therefore, and different from the symbolic one that characterises myth, ritual, and poetry. whereas the sign’s ideologeme reduces the gap between the representer and the represented, there is an asymmetrical relationship in symbolization between the signifying system and what it manifests. as julia kristeva explains, the linguistic sign came into its own in the seventeenth century, taking over the space of representation from the symbol, but retaining: the fundamental characteristic of the symbol: irreducibility of terms, that is, in the case of the sign, of the referent to the signified, of the signified to the signifier, in addition, all the 'units' of the signifying structure itself. the ideologeme of the sign is therefore, in a general way, like the ideologeme of the symbol: the sign is dualist, hierarchical, and hierarchizing. a difference between the sign and the symbol can, however, be seen vertically as well as horizontally: within its vertical function, the sign refers back to entities both of lesser scope and more concretized than those of the symbol.... the semiotic practice of the sign thus assimilates the metaphysics of the symbol and projects it onto the ‘immediately perceptible.’ the ‘immediately perceptible’ valorized in this way, is then transformed into an objectivity – the reigning law of discourse in the civilization of the sign (40). the seventeenth century marks the birth of the novel which, apparently became possible because of the appearance of the sign capable of rendering representation ‘immediately perceptible’. there was no way, however, to make universals like ‘heroism’, ‘courage’, ‘nobility’, ‘virtue’, ‘fear’, ‘treason’ (38) immediately perceptible, with the result that the ‘civilization of the sign’ did not utterly abolish that of the symbol, which in fact resumed, as michel foucault has shown, in the nineteenth century, with the re-appearance of the word freighted with memory as the poetic word itself (324). so the word occurring in a poem is freighted, without having the ability to keep any of its potential interpretations out of play. these signs make a strategic appearance in the work such that they are not mistaken: they are part of the foundation, and are not discovered by the narrative along the way. if there is a thing like a writer finding his/her voice, it is not with respect to making art. art always entails the dimension of a formative from something already known. with the discursive formation, moreover, it becomes clear that the poem is a unit, a work of art, an object with respect to which the idea of animation has a certain appropriateness. the work has organic life, and every part, down to the level of the individual word, shares organic solidarity with all the other elements. chinua achebe brought out this sense of totality in his response to an interview question about decision-making and the shaping of his stories. in his practice, apparently, art-making does not have much to do with decision-making and shaping to a desired end; according to him: when a story comes to me, it comes complete; this means the kind of person who will tell the story is part of it, the kind of language used is part of it (conversations with chinua achebe 51). achebe’s role as an artist is none other than bringing the story to birth. northrop frye explains the function of the poet in basically these terms: the poet, who writes creatively rather than deliberately, is not the father of his poem; he is at best a midwife, or, more accurately still, the womb of mother nature herself: her privates he, so to speak. the fact that revision is possible, that a poet can make changes in a poem not because he likes them better but because they are better, shows clearly that the poet has to give birth to the poem as it passes through his mind. he is responsible for delivering it in as uninjured a state as possible, and if the poem is alive, it is equally anxious to be rid of him, and screams to be cut loose from all the navel-strings and feeding-tubes of his ego (98). a deliberate writer fits his work together, one thing after another to bring it to a determined end. a creative artist has the poem to bring out ‘whole and complete’ (holên kai teleian, as aristotle phrases it in the poetics, chapter 23). he is under responsibility because what he has in his possession is, according to heidegger, a gift: most of what man works and produces may be considered as rightly acquired and he ‘deserves' to own it. but ... this 'poetic' endowment is not a 'merit' of man of which he may be proud, but a 'gift' of higher powers owed in the first instance to the devoted response of the poets (existence and being 204). 'the devoted response of the poets’ of the ages past is the reason that the higher powers ceaselessly endow their gifts to men and women who, if they are writing creatively rather than deliberately will exercise care over. the work as a whole, ‘independent and self-contained' (poetry, language, thought 24), is the outcome of this care. discovery through philology discourse studies, and its governing principles embodied in philology is commonly classified with stylistics as one of the language-based approaches to literature. but there are major differences not to overlook. with the literary work of art, undoubtedly, there is only language to deal with, but this is a language that has configured as art. stylistics studies has the basic presupposition that art is deliberately made, with the writer choosing words from the lexicon which he likes better, and linking them together with a specific goal in mind: to convey his message effectively, perhaps even to a certain kind of reader. it shares much in common with formalism, and has in fact handed down formalism – and stylistics ought to know this. here is shklovsky’s poet at work: the devices by which tolstoi enstranges his material may be boiled down to the following: he does not call a thing by its name, that is. he describes it as if it were perceived for the first time, while an incident is described as if it were happening for the first time. in addition, he foregoes the conventional names of the various parts of a thing, replacing them instead with the names of corresponding parts in other things (25). it is by suchlike operations, shklovsky argues, that an object is withdrawn ‘from the domain of life’ and transformed ‘into a fact of art’ (61); in art, accordingly, an incident is seen ‘as if it were happening for the first time’. the effect is the renewal of language, the literary devices (141), and perception and ‘our awareness’ itself (154). unlike stylistics, philology recognizes the existence of a literary language characterized by memory, and philological investigation is a mode of archaeology, resulting in the unearthing of what lies in the people’s mind. foucault states it this way: philology, as the analysis of what is said in the depths of discourse, has become the modern form of criticism. where, at the end of the eighteenth century, it was a matter of fixing the frontiers of knowledge, it will now be one of seeking to destroy syntax, to shatter tyrannical modes of speech, to turn words around in order to perceive all that is being said through them and despite them (325). in modernist literature, language has become as symbolic as before the age of the sign, and critical labour is no longer a search for meanings and decidable messages: these can no longer be ascertained with certainty. the task now is to try and ‘perceive all that is being said through [the words] and despite them’, ready to follow up every flicker of significance, and repressing or overlooking none. language as a locus of tradition, its archaeology for the contents of that tradition in a way privileges the language of the text. that is what is directly investigated, namely the language of symbols, since only such as these give access to the possibility of multiple significations. in the irruptive passage in pages 27 to 28 which the text calls ikem’s ‘heat-haze reverie’, the language is heavily symbolic, and calls attention to itself as a pure utterance, rather than a personally directed discourse. the personal, psychological appurtenance is at most an unconscious sense of what really is going on in kangan, which the man himself would not entertain at the conscious level: witness his great hymn to the sun in which the solar mythology is more traditional – in both estates, the universal and the national. it is the sun of apocalyptic thought that we see in ikem’s reverie: the sun in april is an enemy though the weatherman on television reciting mechanically the words of his foreign mentors tells you it will be fine all over the country. fine! we have been slowly steamed into well-done mutton since february and all the oafs on our public payroll tell us we are doing just fine! no, my dear countrymen. this is brigadier misfortune of the wilting 202 brigade telling you you are not fine. no my dear countrymen, you will not be fine until you can overthrow the wild sun of april. later tonight, fellow countrymen, you will hear the full text from general mouth himself—i am only a mouthpiece—you will hear the words direct from him after the national anthem shall have been played backwards. until then, beloved countrymen, roast in peace. this reverie hangs, and seems unconnected even to the hymn to the sun. given the ‘customary critical notions of unity’ that guide the reading of literary texts (culler 234), the passage is a damage to the textual system, unless its correlates are found within the narrative. the favourite language of successful coup makers is notable in ‘my dear countrymen’, and the playing of the national anthem to usher in the statement of the justification and purpose of such an action. but the key internal linkages to the narrative itself is ‘general mouth’. general sam does refer to himself as ‘general big mouth’, who may end up with his picture printed ‘on the cover of time magazine with a big mouth and a small head’ (anthills 15). this is directly linked to a ‘funeral’ – no one else’s, but sam’s (16). the interlocutor of the president on the occasion, professor okong, is rendered uneasy because of ‘the word funeral’. there is a sense of an ending, a sense of finality in the word. this sense of an ending is no doubt dissimulated in the reverie’s ‘roast in peace’, no less than in the idea of overthrowing ‘the wild sun in april’ and ‘later tonight’; and no less again that in the idea of ‘the national anthem [being] played backwards’. the references to coup-making and coup announcement are of course evocative of sam’s own accession to power. all the loaded expressions have come together in the reverie by ‘dream work’, ‘a particular form of thinking’ (freud 510), which ‘is under some kind of necessity to combine all the sources which have acted as stimuli for the dream into a single unity’ (202). not only are whole histories condensed into one narrative, but also mythologies. the ‘sun’ is a hub where many of the strands of movement in the passage converge. ‘the sun in april’ both gives the temporal parameters of the crisis of this narrative and identifies it as the source of the oppression that must be overthrown for the wellbeing of the roasting countrymen: it ‘is an enemy’. this oppression is especially hard in abazon where there is no drinking water perhaps to help alleviate the hardship because general big mouth had stopped the boreholes being dug in parched abazon for water because they had voted against his bid for a life presidency. the conflation of general mouth who will announce the new overthrow with the ruling general big mouth who has become the figure of the devastating ‘sun in april’ in part underscores that the people are not involved, and in part that the ruling military have become a law unto themselves. this devastating sun in april both calls up the solar figure of the mythic tradition, at least by personification and subject status, and is also, and paradoxically by the same personifying feature, ‘an enemy’, utterly dissimilar to the sun of tradition. life is scorched and wilting under its blaze just like the solar plague of the book of revelation (16.8). the sun in april, laying waste since february, is that plague. this plague of the last days connects to chris’s watchfulness in the opening scene of the narrative to see where these goings on ‘will all… well, end’. the little word end is the major symbol and the word with the most freight from tradition, and occurs in the first passage of sustained narration in anthills of the savannah.we read: and so it begins to seem to me that this thing probably never was a game, that the present was there from the very beginning only i was too blind or too busy to notice. but the real question which i have often asked myself is why then do i go on with it now that i can see. i don’t know. simple inertia, maybe. or perhaps sheer curiosity: to see where it will all… well, end. i am not thinking so much about him as about my colleagues, eleven intelligent, educated men who let this happen to them, who actually went out of their way to invite it, and who even at this hour have seen and learnt nothing, the cream of our society and the hope of the black race. i suppose it is for them that i am still at this silly observation post making farcical entries in the crazy log-book of this our ship of state (12). things are not what they were at the beginning – at this stage though; and having seen and learned from what he had seen, chris is prepared for the possibility that nothing really had changed, and things had been disordered from the beginning. but there is going to be an end, and it is going to be bad. this is why he is thinking of people who even at ‘this hour’ – a very important apocalyptic word – are letting this happen to them. not for their own sakes is he thinking of them, but because being ‘intelligent, educated men’, ‘the cream of our society and the hope of the black race’, they nevertheless ‘actually went out of their way to invite’ this disaster. this solicitude does not extend to ‘him’, because he is the one causing this oncoming disaster: he is ‘the wild sun of april’. in point of fact, the age that is coming to an end is his – an age in the history of kangan; not a ‘history of the reigns of the good kings’, as the awkward age would put it (87), but of the bad. this bad ruler is bound up with the age, and bound up as well with its end. apocalyptic endings are marked by the sweeping away of certain kinds of people, beginning with the driving out of ‘the prince of this world’ (john 12.31). chris who had played a major role in helping to form general sam’s government is remaining at his post not because of any hope of helping to move things forward or change the course of things. he is staying on long after it had become clear to him that governing no longer interested the president; long after all substance had given way to ceremony. he is staying on for one purpose only: 'to see where it will all… well, end’. the opening of this novel is a scene of stagnation, with the cabinet clustered around their immobile chief. the only kind of action going on is backbiting and watching for opportunity to trip up one’s neighbour, especially if contrary to the general stasis he is trying to move on. this stasis suits the president perfectly. so he would not allow so much as a resignation. he says as much to his cabinet, probably meaning it for chris who is the only member speaking out: ‘if anyone thinks he can leave the cabinet on this issue he will be making a sad mistake.' 'anyone walking out of that door will not go home but head straight into detention’ (anthills 119). sam’s own career as a leader is to all intents and purposes at an end, and with it all hope of improvement in the quality of life of the kangan people. yet the days succeed one another. chris is not deceived that this could go on indefinitely. he is staying on at his post to see where all this would end. it is a kind of final end that he has vision of. such is an apocalyptic vision. such an end is going to be a spectacle in itself, a spectacle which has already played out in ikem’s reverie, although at the conscious level he is optimistic, and working for change. with the lights available to him, his attitude is summed up in: ‘right now he [general sam] is still ok, thank god’ (46). but how does chris know that he himself would not be swept away in the apocalypse? the vision entails an apocalyptic tornado that would sweep away lives and possessions indiscriminately. but there are some not likely to escape the indiscriminate destruction, sam, for instance. chris’s interventions in the cabinet may be his way of attempting to obviate this by restarting governance again. but having failed there he now focuses on others who would probably be in the firing line, ikem osodi and himself. he confides in beatrice: i mention [the threat by the president] only to show how tricky things can become of a sudden. that’s why i have said a hundred million times to ikem: lie low for a while and this gathering tornado may rage and pass overhead carrying away roof-tops and perhaps… only perhaps… leave us battered but alive (119). in its destructive phase, the apocalypse can sweep away everything, bad and good, into ‘the winepress of god’s anger’, as in the phrasing by the book of revelation (14.19). apocalyptic literature the apocalyptic genre of narrative is situated in the bible, and may have gained expression in an unmistakable fashion for the first time perhaps there. the theology is complex, but as a literary genre, it is the unveiling of what ought to be already known, but somehow remained hidden, covered over by some sort of fraud. the unveiling takes dramatic form in the bible’s book of revelation. for the writer of the book of revelation all the ‘incredible wonders are the inner meaning or, more accurately, the inner form of everything that is happening now. man creates what he calls history as a screen to conceal the workings of the apocalypse from himself’ (the great code 136). beneath the apparent stasis of general sam’s government, much activity is in fact going on, but activity of a certain kind. there is a glimpse of it as part of the novel’s opening scene, which spills over to chapter 2: his excellency’s deep anxiety had been swiftly assuaged by his young, brilliant and aggressive director of the state research council (src). he proved once again in his excellency’s words as efficient as the cabinet was incompetent. every single action by this bright young man from the day of his appointment has given his excellency good cause for self-congratulations for major johnson ossai had been his own personal choice whom he had gone ahead to appoint in the face of strong opposition from more senior officers. and it had happened at the very tricky moment when his excellency had decided to retire all military members of his cabinet and to replace them with civilians and, to cap it all, add president to all his titles. there were unconfirmed rumours of unrest, secret trials and executions in the barracks. but his excellency rode the storm quite comfortably thanks to two key appointments he had personally made—the army chief of staff and the director of the state research council, the secret police (anthills 14). general sam has two governments in place, the official one which is called the executive council, and a hidden one the state research council, the secret police. the unveiling of this secret arm of general sam’s government is one of the big projects of anthills of the savannah; and it is tantamount to the unveiling of arbitrary rule and human rights abuses on a vast scale. we already see here ‘unconfirmed rumours of unrest, secret trials and executions in the barracks’. the brutality and recklessness are also unveiled, as in chris’s interaction with the bbc correspondent who comes to interview him over the killing of ikem: in a voice full of emotion but steady and without shrillness chris had described the official account of ikem’s death as 'patently false.' how could he be sure of that? because ikem was taken from his flat in handcuffs and so could not have wrenched a gun from his captors. so you are saying in effect that he was murdered? i am saying that there is no shred of doubt that ikem osodi was brutally murdered in cold blood by the security officers of this government. the correspondent was deported the next day (172-173). the lifting of the veil on the orgy of violence by general sam’s cohorts is enacted in chapters 13 and 14 of this narrative. in this unveiling is also the ‘judgment of the prince of this world’ (revelation 16.11). in anthills of the savannah, the judgment is of course concretized in the destruction of the evil ruler just at the point where what is to him the last enemy chris oriko is gunned down. it is a heroic moment for chris however, since he is gunned down trying to rescue a girl from rape by a drunken policeman. and whereas ikem had implied that he was not man enough to take a bullet in the chest, he more than answers ikem’s sarcasm. he had scolded the man shortly to kill him: ‘a police officer stealing a lorry-load of beer and then abducting a school girl! you are a disgrace to the force.’ the other said nothing more. he unslung his gun, cocked it, narrowed his eyes while confused voices went up all around some asking chris to run, others the policeman to put the gun away. chris stood his ground looking straight into the man’s face, daring him to shoot. and he did, point-blank into the chest presented to him (215). but there is bitter irony in this last judgment of anthills of the savannah. chris is a major force of moderation in this narrative, along with his friend ikem osodi and his fiancée beatrice okoh. but somehow the two men are counted among those to be gathered out of the kingdom for having caused offence (mt 13.41); and their accuser is none other than the fiancée, who calls the other her brother: well, you fellows, all three of you, are incredibly conceited. the story of this country, as far as you are concerned, is the story of the three of you… (66). but chris himself confirms the charge: actually you are quite right. that’s what i’ve just said myself. we tend sometimes to forget that our story is only one of twenty million stories—one tiny synoptic account (66). still the suffering of ikem and chris is distinctly tragic. in terms of the story, it is the tragedy of the three of them, or at least two, not necessarily for the twenty million. for some of the twenty million encountered at the road accident site where chris is killed, there is at most embarrassment at the turn of events: this our country na waa! i never hear the likeness before. a whole president de miss; like old woman de waka for village talk say him goat de miss! this africa na waa! (213). apocalyptic thought, however, ‘allows itself to be diffused, blended with other varieties of fiction – tragedy, for example’ (kermode 8). it is highly blended with tragedy in anthills of the savannah. given achebe’s faithfulness to what in aristotle is called ‘the requirements of the art’ (poetics chapter 25), there is always a classic aura hovering over his work, and there is no sentimentality about it. the suffering and dying of ikem and chris in the chaos unleashed by sam, in which the evil man himself also perishes, recalls the greek stage where the punishment often appears to exceed the offence, as in cadmon’s charge against dionysus (the bacchae 1346). but they are not innocent in the tragic sense, even though ‘the tragedy of innocence' is possible, like the case of iphigeneia or hippolytus (anatomy of criticism 220). they are good men in aristotle’s sense, precisely the kinds of protagonists whose sufferings evoke the tragic emotions. suffering by both the guilty and ‘good men’ alike is a feature recurrent in greek tragedy, as in the agamemnon, the bacchae, and antigone, by adhering to the requirements of the art of tragedy. in anthills of the savannah the experience is cathartic for the narrative itself, not just for the audience or those who hear what is afoot (aristotle, chapter 14). the survivors are left in a state of tranquillity in the last scenes: they have lived through the worst, and it is as if there is nothing still worse that they could fear. unlike in achebe’s other tragedies in which the future beyond the overthrowing of things may only be conjectured, the future has begun for the survivors in anthills of the savannah. there are in fact two futures separately for the survivors (the ones the story knows by name), and for kangan. the latter is a future which according to kermode ‘is traditionally held to resume the whole structure’ (6). thus in general ahmed lango taking over the reins of government in kangan, there can be no expectation of addressing the needs of the people, ‘needs of water which is free from guinea worm, of simple shelter and food' (anthills 73). double futures, however, are normal in apocalyptic sequences. in biblical apocalypse, according to frye, there is an immediate ‘future and the eternal world’ (the great code 85). the immediate future is structured more or less like the one that is swept aside, but the eternal world is one which is representable only 'by figures predictive of that part of it which has not been historically revealed’ (kermode 7). the immediate future in anthills of the savannah is the time of general ahmed lango. the vision of the eternal world is glimpsed in the group of survivors. in the final scenes, beatrice is now in her full functioning as the mystical daughter of the almighty, and his plenipotentiary. she inaugurates a new society, and apart from the founding members, the survivors themselves, the first formally initiated member is ikem and elewa’s baby daughter, who is given a boy’s name, amaechina, and with it a male child’s cultural function of perpetuating a line. however, she means the name in a symbolic sense, more than just a biological: 'it’s a beautiful name. the path of ikem.' 'that’s right. may it never close, never overgrow.' 'das right!' 'may it always shine! the shining path of ikem' (222). ‘the shining path of ikem' includes his impact and memory, his values and nature of commitment. beatrice also assigns what nationhood means, and the role of the individual in it, and does this at the same time as she deciphers what is in fact an oracular discourse from the mouth of the expiring chris: you know why i cried? chris was only just beginning to understand the lesson of that bitter joke. the bottles are up there on the wall hanging by a hair’s breadth, yet looking down pompously on the world. chris was sending us a message to beware. this world belongs to the people of the world not to any little caucus, no matter how talented…. (anthills 232) it would appear that the members of this new society are going to be the witnesses to the new value system in which people are like chris, ready to learn from experience where everyone is aware and thoughtful towards the twenty million others as co-owners and equal partners in the kangan commonwealth. indeed kermode underscores the role of witnessing in apocalyptic literature. there is need for ‘authoritative witness[es] to the last days’ (15). they witness not only by faithfully documenting the facts and experiences of the last days, they also pay the ultimate price as their supreme act of witnessing. northrop frye reminds us as follows: in revelation 11 the calamities of the last days include the martyrdom of two 'witnesses' ('witness' is the literal meaning of 'martyr') (the great code 179.) conclusion the experimental nature of chinua achebe’s anthills of the savannah probably first appears at the level of narration and characterization, with its multiple narrators and points of view, and also multiple characters where it may not be an easy judgment which takes precedence as the main one. this experimentation, as we have seen, extends also to the discursive formation, for apocalyptic thought is commonly discussed a part of religious phenomena, and does not frequently form secular literature. but literature does not recognize any limits to its venturing, where it may carry off materials or discourse structures to make art out of. this is the case with all the arts as well. on the other hand, some treat the very religious scriptures as themselves art works, and collections of art works. northrop frye’s the great code: the bible and literature, for instance, treats the bible as a collection of great poems and narratives, but even more as a source of formations and textual generators which have been drawn upon in the making of great literary works, to say nothing of sculpting, painting, and music. there are such famous works as john milton’s paradise lost, michelangelo’s moses, da vinci’s john the baptist, and george frideric handel’s messiah. a full analysis of anthills of the savannah will show that all the constituent parts of the narrative are phases of unveiling of apocalypse. and the instrument that enables explication of these individual elements and a demonstrable relationship among them based on the discursive formation not only provides adequate practical criticism of the work, but has wider implications for narratology and literature itself. analytics of discursive formations have a major contribution in narrative theory. a novel may indeed look like an ‘unmediated, uncrafted window on life’, as fowler puts it. such a vision can lead to a criticism that takes parts and constituents of a narrative as if they existed for their own sakes. but as fowler states it, ‘the “world out there” of the novel is an artifice constructed through the novelist's technique, and we must be inquisitive about the means by which this shaping takes place’ (3). it is this inquisitiveness that leads to the discovery of the novel’s discursive formation; a function that truly preserves the meaning of artistic creativity. our analysis in this paper has shown that discursive formation is the springboard and nerve centre that networks the entire story, with all its parts, into a unity, and indeed accounts for the construction and incorporation of each of the parts. by providing a minimum statement whereby objects, subjective positions, concepts, and strategic choices are formed, narrative can be seen to exfoliate from within, providing the impulse for construction and linking of incidents together to create actions that add up to a muthos, or ‘synthesis of action’ (tês sustaseôs tôn pragmatôn (aristotle 1453b[1]); that is to say, we have a story of a certain kind: the story of the knowledge seeker, the fall, the last days, which is in fact the same as the originating impulse that gave rise to the story in the first place, the discursive formation. works cited achebe, chinua. a man of the people. heinemann educational, 1966. ——. anthills of the savannah. heinemann, 1987. aeschylus. agamemnon. cambridge up, 2010. akwanya, amechi nicholas. ‘need that throbs at the heart: solidarity in chinua achebe’s anthills of the savannah’. international journal of english and literature. vol. 4(10), 2013, pp. 486-494, doi: 10.5897/ijel2013.0496 aristotle. peri poiêtikês. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgibin/ptext?lookup=aristot.+poet.+1462b ——. poetics. translated by t.s. dorsch. penguin, 1965. benveniste, emile. problems in general linguistics. u of miami p, 1971. cronin, ciaran and pablo de greiff. ‘editor’s introduction’. the inclusion of the other: studies in political theory. jürgen habermas. mit press, 1998. culler, jonathan. on deconstruction: theory and criticism after structuralism. cornell up, 1982. derrida, jacques. writing and difference. routledge classics, 2001. de saussure, ferdinand. course in general linguistics. the philosophical library, 1959. euripides, the bacchae. faenum publishing, 2015. foucault, michel. the order of things. routledge classics, 2002. freud, sigmund. the interpretation of dreams. basic books, 2010. frye, northrop. anatomy of criticism. princeton up, 1957. ——. the great code: the bible and literature. ark publications, 1983. hegel, g.w.f. aesthetics: lectures on fine art. clarendon, 1975. heidegger, martin. existence and being. regnery, 1949. ——. poetry, language, thought. harper perennial classics, 1971. issacharoff, michael. ‘emile benveniste’. the johns hopkins guide to literary theory and criticism. ed. michael groden and martin kreiswirth. the johns hopkins up, 1997, pp. 79-81. james, henry. the awkward age. project gutenberg ebook, 2003. kalpaklı, fatma. ‘postcolonialism and achebe’s anthills of the savannah’. conference of the international journal of arts & sciences, 6(1), 2013, pp. 177–180. kermode, frank. the sense of an ending: studies in the theory of fiction. oxford up, 2000. lindfors, bernth. conversations with chinua achebe. up of mississippi, 1997. melville, herman. moby-dick or, the whale. a penguin enriched ebook classic, 2009. milosz, czeslaw. a book of luminous things. harcourt, 1996. olaluwoye, layo. ‘discourse values of names in chinua achebe’s anthills of the savannah’. journal of literature, languages and linguistics, vol. 25, 2016, pp. 25-30 olusola, lawal m. ‘the interplay of language, style and ideology in achebe’s anthills of the savannah and adichie’s purple hibiscus’. international journal of english language, literature and humanities, vol. iii.1, 2015, pp. 260-283. opata, damian u. ‘the metaphor of "anthills of the savannah" in chinua achebe's anthills of the savannah’. journal of comparative literature and aesthetics. vol. xxvi, nos. 1-2: 2003. ricoeur, paul. the conflict of interpretations. northwestern up, 1974. riffaterre, michel. ‘generating lautreamont’s text.’ textual strategies. edited by josue v. harari. methuen, 1980, pp. 404-420. shamim, amna. emancipation of women as portrayed through beatrice in anthills of the savannah. contemporary discourse: a peer reviewed international journal), vol. 5, issue 1, 2014, pp. 1-8. shklovsky, victor. the theory of prose. translated by benjamin sher, dalkey archive press, 1990. sophocles. antigone. oxford up, 2003. soyinka, wole. the interpreters. africana publishing, 1972. 