Critical developmental thinking started as a speculative debate of difference(s) and otherness, metamorphosing through the obstacles of the ideologies of ‘primitive’ mentality, ‘barbaric’ cultures, and ‘uncivilized’ civilizations to its current state. However, it should be stressed that in the process of giving form to the practice of developmental thinking in Africa, philosophers, and cultural studies scholars, especially, have frequently engaged in contentious debates and defensive discourses around the place and pivotal role of culture in development (most especially the role of ethnophilosophic materials). Many perceived this style of thinking as a way of still clinging to the inferior phase of developmental project, instead of ‘moving on’ to modernity with its alluring offers. Sticking with ‘tradition’ or the ‘ethnophilosophic materials’ and all related sorts, such as norms, values, indigenous languages, etc., are therefore pronounced as harmful to development. This work is a departure from the foregoing submission that considers ‘ethnophilosophic’ materials as harmful; our focus is on the place of histori-cultural ingredients in the pursuit of ‘development from below and with people’. This, we submitted, should be of interest to scholars that genuinely seek to rejig African developmental thought pattern, which should be a blend of historical lessons and the much needed cultural changes.

An abortion is a procedure to end pregnancy, either by surgery or Medicine. The procedure is expected to be done by a licensed health care professional. Abortion is however illegal in Nigeria as there are legislations which prohibit abortion except in cases where the carriage of the pregnancy to term is detrimental to the health and life of the mother. Statistics has shown that 1,000 out of 100,000 maternal deaths stem from the estimated 1,000,000 abortions done in the country annually. Unfortunately, the law on abortion in Nigeria fails to recognize the actual state of happenings, this has in a way given room for illegal abortion and high maternal mortality rate in Nigeria. The main focus of this paper is to explore abortion practices and it’s regulation in Nigeria, how the laws on abortion in Nigeria affects healthcare and maternal mortality rates and whether or not the present abortion laws are still relevant to the milieu of the average Nigerian woman. This paper relies on existing literature for data and this literature suggests that the present abortion laws are heavily influenced by religion and faux morality rather than empirical evidence to the effects of abortions in the society. This paper investigates both influences and recommends a different approach to abortion legislation and calls for a reformation of the laws on abortion in Nigeria. It concludes that abortions should be made legal in the first trimester of pregnancy when it is safe for the mother.

Marriage is a sacred and noble institution among the Yoruba people of South Western Nigeria. A notable practice during their traditional marriage ceremonies culture is the “Ekun Iyawo” (crying of the new bride) and that of her family before the bride is married off to the groom’s family. The “Ekun Iyawo” is meant for bride on the eve of the wedding ceremony. This cry is an emotionally inspired cry which has nothing to do with hypocrisy. With the performance of “Ekun Iyawo”, a bride is escorted by family and friends to the doorstep of her husband’s home, her new home. However, there has been noticeable change in this practice in Yorubaland, recently. Brides no longer cry and the whole concept of “Ekun Iyawo” is gradually fading away. Using extensive fieldwork in Ekiti state, this study identified that lack of family bond and westernization/’civilization’ through education, religion and new way of doing things are the major factors responsible for non-crying attitude of today’s brides. While its desirability is important, its continuity seems impossible due to the emergence of new generation of parents and mode of parenting.

Cultural Festivals all over the world are recognized as identity signatures of the people to which the festivals belong. As an intangible aspect of the people’s cultural heritage, cultural festivals depict the norms, belief systems, myths, legends, and traditions of the people. As such, to grasp a people’s worldview and humanistic visions, a study of such people’s cultural festivals is imperative. The Olua cultural festival of the Osi-Ekiti community in Ido-Osi Local government area of Ekiti State provides rich repertory of the cultural heritage of Ekiti people, and their humanistic visions in particular. This study explored the humanistic visions of the Ekiti people through the prism of the primordial Olua cultural festivals of Osi-Ekiti people. The study was achieved through a combination of interviews and participant observation research tools of qualitative method. Findings included comments by devotees and participants that Olua festival promotes unity, progress and cohesion among the people and their neighbours, provides spiritual harmony between the living and the dead thereby guaranteeing healing, breakthrough, spiritual protection and fulfillment for the adherents. A promotion and preservation of Olua festival and its likes across the state through grants by corporate bodies and government’s support are recommended to promote unity, progress and development in the state.

The Nigerian Civil War was a conflict of great proportion that rocked the foundation of Nigeria between 1967-1970, with attendant horrors and hardships. Extant literatures on this particular incidence have failed to capture the issues in totality and some in recent times have resorted to peddling rumor and historical revisionism depending on the side of the divide they represent. This paper is interested in establishing the motive behind the Biafran Army invasion of the Midwest and how reversal of the initiative led to a chain of unanticipated consequences which collapsed both the initiative as well as the Republic itself in the final analysis. The paper relied on the use of oral historical sources and secondary sources such as books and journals; and is guided by Grand Strategy theory. Premised on the findings, the paper recognizes that the invasion was a necessary strategy and tactics by the Biafran military to open up its intended passage to Lagos in order to seize the Federal capital of Nigeria, but the ensuing operation was bogged down by accusations and counter-accusations of sabotage, mist-steps, reversal in the objective and demoralization of both the Biafran Army and civil populace. The paper concludes that in the face of renewed discussions on the civil war, there is a compelling need to beam the searchlight on intricate aspects of the civil war for informed analysis and knowledge.

Social Media is a dynamic form of communication platform that gives rapid feedback to messages posted/sent to targeted receivers. However, as much as there seems to be a fairly remarkable acceptance of females in politics, there is still an assumption that responses gotten on their social media platforms particularly are biased and unbalanced compared with that of their male counterpart. This work (a short field communication) evaluates the perception of messages received by or posted on the social media platforms of female politicians by the Nigerian citizens, based on responses and reactions to the social media updates and posts of these female politicians, using Facebook, as a case study. With the use of content analysis, the accounts of four selected female presidential candidates were purposively selected and analysed using Pew Institute data). The results revealed the suspected imbalance but noted an increase the citizens’ awareness of the effects of gender prejudice. It however avers that this could change with time because of the noticeable people’s sensitivity to effects of the imbalance. The study concludes that the dynamic nature of the social media goes a long way in influencing the sensitivity to the female gender.

This paper examines secessionism as a problem of Nation and State building in Nigeria. It chronicles the warning historical lessons inherent in the 15th century Esan secession from Benin among others. Since the end of Nigerian civil war in 1970, the study finds that the threat of secession has continued to haunt the country. Political highhandedness and economic marginalisation in modern Nigeria have fueled secessionist tendencies beyond the pre-1967 level. More so, the frustrations and grievances of disgruntled Nigerians against the State are being expressed in militancy, terrorism, and other acts of criminalities that erode peace and unity. In the circumstance, nationalism has become the opportunity cost of maladministration and corruption in Nigeria. Therefore, the study juxtaposes the causations of revolution and secession in history with current happenings in Nigeria. And it concludes that there is a strong re-birth of injustice and oppression; which makes the threat of disintegration plaguing Nigeria very real. Consequently, the paper demonstrated the utility of historical knowledge as a political compass for guiding leadership in Nigeria to eschew past mistakes that bred secession.

Yoruba women have always played a unique role in the reconciliation and peace process in the extended family in traditional society as a whole, and that this puts them in a strong position to encourage dialogue between disputing parties. However, much work still needs to be done in regard of the role of women as peacemakers in traditional family settings in Africa. This study appraises the Iyawo Ile traditional institution in Yoruba as the transmitters of peace values through the use of diplomatic measures such as secrecy, negotiation and respect for the elders.