Contemporary Nigeria Research Articles

“I Collected Money, not a Bribe”: Strategic Ambiguity and the Dynamics of Corruption in Contemporary Nigeria

This article explores the language of corruption in Nigeria. It uses Eisenberg’s Strategic Ambiguity concept to examine the extent to which Nigerian legislators and those who occupy the executive arm of the government employ ambiguous languages and actions to execute and defend corrupt practices, and how this institutionalizes the culture of corruption in contemporary Nigeria. The article further explores how ambiguous light punishment, outright non-punishment, state pardon of corrupt elites and the reward of corrupt elites with sensitive government appointments engender corruption in Nigeria. The article argues that while the elites engage in diverse corrupt practices and employ ambiguous words to defend their acts, the judiciary appears to defend rather than punish them. The paper discusses the implications of these findings, concluding that the war against corruption in Nigeria may not be effective, because as those who appear to be fighting corruption are themselves corrupt, the frameworks with which corruption is fought are strategically manipulated by the elites.

Wealth and political influence in the expansion of Christian frontiers in contemporary Nigeria: the Clapham sect lesson

The business of the expansion of any religious frontier is highly demanding. It is a business that has both spiritual and physical components for its effectiveness in the society. Spiritually, it demands prayers while physically; material possessions like money and political influence become veritable tools in enhancing its effectiveness in the world. Historically, the declaration of the Christian faith as legal religion in the Roman Empire by Constantine in the fourth century played a major role in the expansion and the subsequent consolidation of the Church. Likewise, the Clapham sect of the 18th and 19th centuries played a significant role in the expansion of the Church beyond the shores of Europe. Their role shows that money and political influence are good vehicles for expanding the gospel of Christ in every part of the world. This work is aimed at a espousing the role of the Clapham sect in the expansion of Christianity in the 19th century. The aim is to use it as a guide on the best way for Christians to use their wealth and influence towards the expansion of Christianity in contemporary Nigeria. Hence, the work will apply historical method in its evaluation and interpretation.

Human trafficking: a variant of the historic slave trade in contemporary Nigeria

Human trafficking is as old as human existence and civilisation. It dates back to the time of old kingdoms where captivities of conquered empires were taking from into slavery and compelled to serve kings and princes of foreign kingdoms. This practice later changed to the sales of recalcitrant or sickly captives to other powerful kings that needed the services of slaves either as palace guards, farm workers, stewards, or in some cases as objects of sacrifice to appease the gods during a festival. Unfortunately, the ascendancy of this practice in contemporary times has now become a bane of challenge to the government, stakeholders and even security operatives as several youths (particularly teen girls) are been recruited as sex workers overseas, or used as ‘baby producers’ in what is popularly described as a ‘baby factory’ in Nigeria. This paper therefore examines some recent issues on kidnapping as well as factors responsible for this criminal act in Nigeria. Sequel to findings, this paper made some recommendations.Keywords: Human trafficking, Human right, Sex workers, Slave trade, Smuggling of people

Gendered sexual uses of alcohol and associated risks: a qualitative study of Nigerian University students.

BackgroundAlcohol misuse among young people is a global phenomenon. In many countries, young people engage in heavy drinking and this exacerbates risky sexual behaviour. In Nigeria, alcohol held multiple roles in the traditional era but was mainly consumed by adult males for pleasure. Adult females and young people were culturally constrained from drinking in most communities. In contemporary Nigeria, young people’s drinking is increasing, and many engage in sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol.MethodsThis study draws on the traditional gender and social sexual scripts to explore the factors that motivate young people to use alcohol for sexual purposes. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 to 23-year old male and female undergraduate students from a Nigerian university. Thematic analysis was conducted with the aid of NVivo 10 software.ResultsMen drink to become confident to initiate sexual relationships, stimulate sexual urges, prolong erection, increase sexual satisfaction and become more aggressive during sexual intercourse. Women also drink to be bold in initiating sexual relationships, for sexual arousal and to increase satisfaction. Relatedly, not every brand of alcohol is used for sexual purposes. For example, while men use ‘herbal’ alcoholic beverages and a mixture of locally-produced gin and marijuana, women use champagne and other flavoured alcoholic beverages. The results also revealed that young people use alcohol or salt in a bid to prevent conception after sexual intercourse.ConclusionsAdherence to the traditional gender (masculinity) and social sexual scripts amongst men and the enactment of what appears to be a new form of femininity script amongst women contribute to a culturally specific understanding of the motivations to use alcohol for sexual purposes. Evidence-based strategies should be employed to distribute information about the consequences of sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol.

The trans‐Atlantic slave trade and local political fragmentation in Africa

This article examines the possibility that the trans‐Atlantic slave trade influenced the political institutions of villages and towns in precolonial Africa. Using anthropological data, it shows that villages and towns of ethnic groups with higher slave exports were more politically fragmented during the precolonial era. Instrumental variables are used to show that the relationship is causal. It is argued that this fragmentation is important for relative economic development because it still influences political institutions today. This argument is supported by the use of more contemporary data to show that in contemporary Nigeria and Tanzania, areas with higher levels of precolonial political fragmentation have a higher incidence of bribery.

Impact of globalisation on domestic family law: multi-tiered marriage in Nigeria as a case study

ABSTRACTThe concept of globalisation is commonly discussed as an issue in international law. However, little attention is paid to its influence in domestic family law. As a result of the growing trend of globalisation, legal and cultural norms of the host culture and the foreign culture are fused, thereby, leading to cultural homogenisation or cultural hybridisation, depending on the level of accommodation of the foreign norm by the host norm. One of the areas where hybridisation or homogenisation of cultural and legal norms manifests, especially in African countries including Nigeria, is in the marriage system, particularly in the conclusion of marriage contracts. In Nigeria, one of the impacts of cultural hybridisation is the evolvement of multi-tiered marriage, where a couple combines marriages under the statute law, customary law and religious law, especially Islamic law. This paper is an exploratory study of how globalisation impacts on how and why multi-tiered marriage is contracted in contemporary Nigeria. The paper also briefly discusses how the combination of marriages as a response to globalisation affects the operation of family law rules in Nigeria as well as the rights of the parties involved, especially the women.

Esther: Biblical Model for Women Leadership Role in Contemporary Nigeria

<p><strong><em>ABSTRACT</em></strong><strong><em>: </em></strong><em>The paper examined critically the story of Esther in the Bible</em><em>,</em><em> who delivered her nation when they were being threatened with total annihilation</em><em>. </em><em>The patriotism, faith, prayer</em><em>,</em><em> and determination she combined to deliver her nation were examined. With the background story of Esther given, the paper noted that leaders of women’s groups could use Esther as a role model to rescue Nigeria from total collapse</em><em>,</em><em> especially now that the peace of the nation is being threatened by Boko Haram insurgency. To make this more challenging to the women folk, the paper appraised the positive contributions of some women in the pre</em><em>-</em><em>colonial, colonial</em><em>,</em><em> and post</em><em>-</em><em>colonial period</em><em>s</em><em>. The paper observed that women who were appointed to the key administrative and political positions at this period performed creditably. However, the paper observed that some women started off well, but veered off to corruption. It is</em><em>,</em><em> therefore</em><em>,</em><em> noted that the fact that some women did not play their roles correctly does not mean there could</em><em> </em><em>n</em><em>o</em><em>t be a change. It is against this background that the paper recommended Biblical leadership model of Esther</em><em>,</em><em> which </em><em>is a</em><em> model of determination, self</em><em>-</em><em>sacrifice, prayer, humility</em><em>,</em><em> and righteousness. Equally</em><em>,</em><em> women were encouraged to use their positions to </em><em>improve, although</em><em> the</em><em>y are</em><em> the less privileged in the society</em><em>,</em><em> and to always take advantage of any circumstance.</em></p><p><strong><em>K</em></strong><strong><em>EY</em></strong><strong><em> </em></strong><strong><em>WORD</em></strong><em>: </em><em>E</em><em>sther</em><em>,</em><em> women leadership</em><em>,</em><em> role model</em><em>,</em><em> patriotism,</em><em> </em><em>and </em><em>self</em><em>-</em><em>sacrifice.</em><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>ABTRAKSI: “</em></strong><em>Esther: Teladan dalam Alkitab untuk Peran Kepemimpinan Perempuan di Negara Nigeria Kini”. Makalah ini mengkaji secara kritis kisah Ester dalam Alkitab, yang menyelamatkan bangsanya ketika terancam dalam kehancuran total. Patriotisme, iman, doa, dan tekad yang Esther lakukan untuk membebaskan bangsanya itu dikaji dalam penelitian ini. Dengan latar belakang cerita Ester, makalah ini mencatat bahwa pemimpin kelompok perempuan bisa menggunakan Esther sebagai model atau teladan untuk menyelamatkan Nigeria dari kehancuran total, terutama sekarang ini karena perdamaian bangsa sedang terancam oleh pemberontakan Boko Haram. Untuk menjadikan hal ini lebih menantang bagi kaum perempuan, makalah ini menilai kontribusi positif dari beberapa wanita pada zaman pra-kolonial, zaman kolonial, dan zaman pasca-kolonial. Makalah ini mengamati bahwa wanita yang ditunjuk untuk menempati posisi administrasi dan politik penting pada periode ini dapat dipercaya. Namun, makalah ini juga mengamati bahwa beberapa wanita memulainya dengan baik, tetapi kemudian melakukan penyimpangan dalam korupsi. Oleh karena itu, perlu dicatat bahwa fakta beberapa wanita tidak memainkan peran mereka dengan benar tidak pula berarti bahwa perubahan tidak mungkin. Dengan latar belakang ini, makalah merekomendasikan model kepemimpinan Esther dalam Alkitab, yang merupakan teladan dalam keteguhan, pengorbanan diri, doa, kerendahan hati, dan kebenaran. Semua perempuan didorong untuk sama-sama menggunakan posisi mereka agar lebih baik, meskipun mereka adalah orang yang kurang beruntung dalam masyarakat, dan untuk selalu mengambil keuntungan dari setiap keadaan.</em></p><p><strong><em>KATA KUNCI</em></strong><em>: Esther, kepemimpinan wanita, teladan, patriotisme, dan pengorbanan diri.</em></p><p><img src="/public/site/images/wirta/07.adesanya_.ng_.ok_.jpg" alt="" /></p><p><strong><em>About the Author:</em></strong> <strong>Dr. Adesanya Ibiyinka Olusola</strong> is a Lecturer at the Department of Religious Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. For academic interests, the author is able to be contacted via mobile phone at: +2348133946799 or e-mail at: <a href="mailto:olusolaibiyinka@yahoo.com">olusolaibiyinka@yahoo.com</a></p><p><strong><em>How to cite this article?</em></strong> Olusola, Adesanya Ibiyinka. (2016). “Esther: Biblical Model for Women Leadership Role in Contemporary Nigeria” in <em>MIMBAR PENDIDIKAN</em><em>: </em><em>Jurnal Indonesia untuk Kajian Pendidikan</em>, Vol.1(1) Maret, pp.77-86. Bandung, Indonesia: UPI Press. <strong></strong></p><p><em><strong><em>Chronicle of the article:</em></strong> </em>Accepted (February 11, 2016); Revised (February 21, 2016); and Published (March 11, 2016).<em><br /></em></p>

Cross Sectional Attitudes of Public Sculpture Matrix in Southwestern Nigeria

Public outdoor sculpture practice in the Southwestern Nigeria entails different types of attitudes. These attitudes are discernable from the stage of commissioning of work, its conceptualization to the display and uses in the public sphere generated diverse fundamental, constant technical issues. Some are explicitly alluring while others are absurd, fleeting and injurious to the practice. However, whatever attitude advanced in the public outdoor sculpture practice, it has not been discussed cross sectionally. The inadequate scholarship attention on the attitudinal issues in outdoor sculpture certainly created art historical gap apt to make the study of contemporary Nigeria art incoherent. Apparently, attitudinal studies certainly involve psychological measurement - a type of instrument that does not required descriptive survey. For this reason, the study was based on qualitative methods. The study categorised various attitudes in outdoor sculpture practice in the studied area into pre-unveiling, unveiling and post unveiling stages and critically examined them. Some attitudes in the practice of the art were observed to be stimulant for advancement; invariably others are clearly incongruous to the spirit of typical Yoruba societal value orientation in orderliness, therefore degrading and detrimental to the development of the outdoor sculpture in the public sphere. Keywords: Art patron; cross sectional attitude; outdoor sculpture; post-unveiling; pre-unveiling; public art; Southwestern Nigeria; unveiling.

Contemporary Nigeria Church Music: A Search for True Identity and Cultural Relevance

Contemporary Nigeria Church Music: A Search for True Identity and Cultural Relevance

Yoruba Indigenous Medical Knowledge: A Study of the Nature, Dynamisms, and Resilience of Yoruba Medicine

The Yoruba people, whose major homeland is southwestern Nigeria, are one of the major ethnic groups in Africa. They have a long history of highly sophisticated sociocultural and political systems. Like other ethnic groups in Africa, the Yoruba have an impressive system of indigenous medicine. The Yoruba indigenous forms of medical practices are still in existence up until today in spite of the influence of colonization, westernization, and modernization. The Yoruba medicine has its distinct nature, forms, and methods, and it has been very resilient to the imposed western medical system since the colonial period. Against this background, this paper examines the nature, forms, and methods of the traditional Yoruba medicine. The paper discovers that the traditional Yoruba medicine is typified by the use of herbs, roots, concoction, verbal incantations, and so on. It is also found out that among the Yoruba, health and religion are intertwined and therefore, the efficacy of Yoruba medicine is dependent on the approval of the Yoruba gods and goddesses (Orisha). In other words, important aspects of Yoruba medicine are belief system and spirituality. The paper concludes that, in spite of the great influence of modern western medicine, the Yoruba indigenous medicine is very resilient and it continues to play a vital role in the health management system among the Yoruba in contemporary Nigeria.

On Rescuing Modernity: Religion, Power, and Gender Violence in Contemporary Nigeria

On Rescuing Modernity: Religion, Power, and Gender Violence in Contemporary Nigeria

Fighting for God or Fighting in God’s Name! The Politics of Religious Violence in Contemporary Nigeria

After a brief theoretical discussion of the relationship between religion and violence, Dr Adogame analyzes the history and politics of religious violence in contemporary Nigeria through the prism of boundary making and negotiation; religious expansion and competition. The articles demonstrates that religion and politics are often manipulated by individuals and religious groups in ways that sustain religious strife, violence and ethnic bigotry, thus hampering meaningful inter-faith dialogue and coexistence.

Terrorism and Counter - Terrorism in Contemporary Nigeria : Understanding the Emerging Trends

In recent years, terrorism has become one of the most dangerous threats to world order. It is so pervasive that no country on earth can claim immunity from its violent acts of bombing, shooting, armed robbery, kidnapping, hostage-taking and bank-robbery. The contemporary Nigeria society is engulfed by terrible acts of terrorism. The discourse of the argument put forward in this paper is that contemporary terrorism in Nigeria is a latent function of prolonged failure of the Nigerian State to deliver purposeful good governance, as a result, terrorists of various groups and camps unleash havoc on the Nigerian populace. This paper therefore provides an overview of the historical and cultural environment that has allowed the terrorist group(s) to flourish in Nigeria. It examines the strategy that the government has adopted and the challenges it faces to restore peace. While the paper recognizes that there are both religious and ethnic variables that influence these terrorist acts, official corruption and state neglect of the masses stands out as the most persuasive, compelling primary explanation for terrorism in Nigeria. The paper recommends that since modern terrorism has increasingly become sophisticated due to improved information and communication technology in terms of internet services and electronic banking techniques, there is urgent need to train and retrain our security personnel in these areas of socio-economic endeavours. It also proffers recommendations for enhancing the existing instruments and frameworks in the security services that would foster interagency cooperation in combating terrorism in Nigeria.

Youths and Capacity Building : Creating an Enabling Environment

Youth unemployment has been a decimal issue in Nigeria and has provoked a lot of researches.It is not an overstatement to say that the rate of youth unemployment in the contemporary Nigeria has grown in geometrical progression in the recent years. Therefore, this paper examined relevant issues buffeting youth employment. It identified the areas of gap and offered recommendations. The paper also suggested various ways unemployed youths could engage themselves in profitable ventures. Government as identified in this paper should play a vital role in creating enabling environment to ensure that the youths who are in private business, are not unduly harassed by thugs hired by Government in the name of revenue generation. It is also the position of the paper that “tax holiday” should be granted to youths who are engaged in micro businesses for a reasonable period of time.

Framing Protest and Insurgency: Boko Haram and MASSOB in Nigeria

Why do some protest movements erupt into rebellion, whereas others protest peacefully under similar circumstances? Addressing this question, this paper investigates the cases of Boko Haram (rebellion) and MASSOB (non-violent protest) in contemporary Nigeria. Conventional explanations of rebellion focusing on opportunity, inequality, and repression cannot explain why these movements have pursued different protest strategies. This paper tries to explain this puzzle by investigating the signifying work and meaning construction of both movements drawing on the framing approach from social movement studies. The framing analysis shows that the different protest behavior largely results from the differing cultural context of both movements, from the agency of the framers, and from successful frame alignment, which results in frame resonance and, thereby, the successful mobilization for collective action.

Radical Theatre in Contemporary Nigeria: A Review of the Contributions of Saint Gbilekaa

The practice of radical theatre in the world generally has taken different dimensions in other to achieve different results by different scholars. In Nigeria and most countries of the world, radical theatre is gradually been metamorphosed into community theatre or theatre for development. This paper is a review of the contributions of one of the leading scholars on radical theatre in contemporary Nigeria-Saint Gbilekaa. Fundamentally, the paper reviews Saint Gbilekaa’s book, Radical Theatre in Nigeria where so many issues on theory and criticism in the study of drama and theatre are raised. The paper concludes that, given the nature of our society, if the theatre is to be used as a weapon of collective struggle and human mobilization and liberation, it must encourage the people to protest and resist all oppressive structures in the society. If this is done, our leaders will be on their toes in delivering the desired quality of leadership needed by the people.

‘What a man can do, a woman can do better’: gendered alcohol consumption and (de)construction of social identity among young Nigerians

BackgroundThe misuse of alcohol and other drugs among young people, especially students, is a growing global phenomenon. In traditional Nigerian society, different locally-produced alcoholic beverages served complex roles but were mainly consumed among adult males for pleasure. Though adult females in some communities consumed alcohol, the practice of drinking was culturally controlled. In contemporary Nigeria, available quantitative studies reveal changing patterns of alcohol use amongst youth but fail to unravel the social variables that motivate alcohol use among this group.MethodsQualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with 31 (22 males and 9 females, aged 19–23 years) undergraduate students attending a university located in a metropolitan city in Anambra State, south-eastern Nigeria. Data were collected and analysed to generate themes with the aid of Nvivo 10 software.ResultsThere appears to be a resilient socio-cultural belief in which men see alcohol as ‘good for males’ while the females in contrast believe that alcohol does not discriminate according to gender and should be drunk by both males and females. Findings also point to the ways in which male-gendered drinking behaviours, such as heavy or fast drinking are employed by women to develop social capital.ConclusionsThese results do suggest how gendered constructions of alcohol consumption create risks for both men and women, how they negotiate and ameliorate those risks, and how women challenge gender roles through their use of alcohol. Some focus on formulating evidence-based policies and comprehensively evaluated campaigns are needed to disseminate information about the risks and potential consequences of heavy alcohol consumption in order to promote safer alcohol use by young people.

Looking at Religion in Relation to the Moral Situation in Contemporary Nigeria

Looking at Religion in Relation to the Moral Situation in Contemporary Nigeria Mustapha, Adejoro Raheem Abstract This paper attempts to look at the various immoral activities available in the Nigerian society such as cultism, armed robbery, corruption, abortion, fornication, obscene dressing, theft, violence, looting, killing, and many more. These are some of dreadful acts which have deprived Nigeria of its due development. Many of these vices are traceable to religious houses and to religious leaders. However, findings show that true religions which people claim to profess, preach moral virtues. Yet, Nigeria still lags behind in many areas including moral. This paper therefore, looked at where the problems lie and it was discovered that enough has not been done by the religious leaders in using the teaching of their respective religions to assist Nigeria reach the high level she ought to have reached. The paper finally offers some suggestions on how religion (in Nigeria) could help promote moral standard in particular and all other aspects of life as a whole. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jisc.v3n1a2

Trends in Civilian and Militia Participation in Terrorism and Insecurity in Contemporary Nigeria

Trends in Civilian and Militia Participation in Terrorism and Insecurity in Contemporary Nigeria

An Appraisal of the Role of Traditional Institution to Emergence of Public Administration in Nigeria

This paper presents an appraisal of the role of the traditional institution to emergence of public administration in Nigeria. Nigeria nation, more than anything else, the greatest obstacle to the nascent democracy and survival of public administration is the pervasive insecurity of lives and property, as evidenced by the spate of armed robbery attacks, political assassinations, power distribution coupled with the seeming helplessness of security agencies to handle criminal acts. The situation is worsened by the increasing number of unemployed Nigerians some of whom are ready recruits for criminal activities. The above statement from an editorial comment by a national daily in Nigeria indeed, epitomises the central focus of this paper; the aim of which is to appraise the nexus between new public administration in Nigeria and nascent democratic nurturing, sustenance and eventually consolidation vis-a-vis the battles with one of the major ills of Nigeria nation. Fifty-two year after Independence, and 100 year of its existence, Nigeria still battles with one of the major fall-outs of practical public administration and nascent democratic dispensation, administrative inefficiency, corruption in all facet of economy, the politics of trying to appease all sectors of the polity. This paper highlights and assesses the nature, quality and value of tradition institution to practical public Administration in Nigeria that have dominated the Nigerian federal polity which have created untold unpleasant experiences and pains at one point or the other since independence. The Benin Traditional Council is an offshoot of the Benin Central Council and the institution seems to be unknown to many people who are not close to the Benin Traditional System, and consequently, the functions of the Council in the traditional administration of Benin Kingdom remain vague to such persons. Such issues include the establishment, existence, coverage and functions of this very important institution of Benin Traditional Council are similar to the functions being performed by the Council of State in the contemporary Nigeria Public Administration. The paper painstakingly appraises many of these issues and concludes that all stakeholders in the federal polity should thread softly, be objective, rational, altruistic and magnanimous in order not to make the existence of true federalism (social, political and economic cohesive existence of the people, peace and tranquility) a fleeting illusion and a mirage. It also focused on critical analysis of the problem of power distribution, the kind of crisis it has generated and the kind of measure that can ameliorate the ugly trend.