Nigerian History Research Articles

Imperial Britain and the challenge of press freedom in Nigeria during the Second World War

The imperial power, Britain, was in a quandary over the extent of press freedom to allow in Nigeria, its largest black African colony, during the Second World War. This fundamental issue so emphasized by Allied propagandists as one of the freedoms for which the world was at war has not yet received scholarly attention and is investigated in this study. The colonial state so much pressurized the local press that the latter had walked a tight rope throughout the duration of the war. An anti press freedom enactment which took effect on the declaration of war had foreshadowed the muffling of freedom of expression at a critical period of Nigerian history when the press was the only viable avenue open to colonized Nigerians to ventilate war induced grievances. This historical study applies the critical evaluative methodology built on archival sources, including the newspapers in the repositories of the Nigerian National Archives, Ibadan and the University of Ibadan Library to expand the cumulative knowledge of Nigerian media history. It concludes that the Nigerian press exploited loopholes in the censorship regulations, the palpable support of the newspaper publishers for Allied victory, and the restraining influence of the Colonial Office, to articulate Nigerian grievances and evade the colonial sledge hammer. The latter situation was only reversed when the colonial state enforced full press censorship after the European phase of the war as its strategy of stemming the rising tempo of militant nationalism in wartime Nigeria. Keywords: Nigerian media history, press freedom, Second World War, British colonialism, militant nationalism

History and ideology in Chimamanda Adichie’s fiction

The colonial experience of the African and the imposition of colonial values on the African worldview are factors that indeed had provided the impetus and even motivation for much of the literary production in the continent. This essay traces specifically the issue of religious ideology/conflict from Achebe through Ngugi to Adichie. It attempts to show that in the successful execution of her goals and objectives in Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Adichie mounts the rostrum reserved for the African masters of the art. In this novel, she, in addition to other things, shows the wickedness perpetrated by overzealous African converts who often demand and expect (from their dependants) the degree of self-negation which Soyinka has identified as cultural hostility. The essay further posits that in the celebration of Nigerian history, even when ‘temporarily dislocated’, as well as our legitimate niche in the Commonwealth of Nations, as she has done in Half of a Yellow Sun, Adichie educates non-Africans and alienated Africans about the indomitable African spirit.

A Peckham Pilgrimage: Looking for Lagos & Considering ‘Community’

This piece was prompted by the requirement that I write a “Critical Travelogue” for one of my MA classes. The assignment required every member of the class to physically make a journey before critically re-imagining it in a short essay. Beyond this, there were very few restrictions on the direction and form the piece could take. Combining my interests in art, activism, memory and Nigerian history as only a project like this would allow, I travelled to an exhibition commemorating Ken Saro-Wiwa entitled Doing Nothing is Not an Option. In order to provide structure as well as interest and humour to the project, I considered details such as mode of travel, embarkation point, and route in order to structure theme and narrative. As a result, the finished piece represents not only a spontaneous consideration of city space, diaspora, and gentrification but also an interaction (or a ‘brief encounter’) between the careful planning and inevitable spontaneity that are essential to both academia and travel, thus creating a dialogue between the disciplines.

The narrative of the woman caught in adultery (JN 7:53-8:1-11) re-read in the Nigerian context

This article draws on the spirit and letters of the Vienna Declaration and its Program of Action that emanated from the World Conference on Human Rights held in 1993. It delineates the fact that Women’s rights are essential aspects of the fundamental human rights of every individual. With the synchronic study of the receivers as our methodology, we expose the narrative of the unnamed adulteress woman in John 7:53-8:1-11, in order to seek a theological grounding for women’s human rights in the context of Nigeria, where Boko Haram’s dehumanization of the Chibok girls and other women is rife, and explore the Nigerian history of women activists. We exegetically expose the storyline of the text of John and contrast the ideas with the horrific incidence of women’s degradation in Nigeria. The findings reveal abiding lessons adjudged relevant for a sustainable pro-life Christology and theology of the rescue and liberation of women from militant jihadists in north-eastern Nigeria. For Jesus, women are divinely blessed with equal rights with men.

Nigerian highlife music: a survey of the sociopolitical events from 1950-2005

Highlife is a popular music genre that crept into Nigeria in the nineteenth century and has since attained permanent recognition among Nigerian music types. Some scholars have carried out research on Nigerian popular music and highlife in particular, focusing on its evolution and classification. This notwithstanding, the number of researches carried out in highlife is still insignificant in comparison to other areas of music, even though its place in Nigerian history is incontestable given its social, political and economic significance during the struggle for independence and the period of the Nigerian civil war. Although highlife music is still performed in Nigeria today, several socio-political events have influenced its practice. The main objective of this article, therefore, is to discuss highlife, highlighting some events that unfolded in the socio-political space between 1950 and 2005, with a view to bringing to the fore, effects of such on highlife music and musicians during the period under study. In eliciting information, the writer consulted some existing literature on highlife music, listened to albums of progenitors of the genre such as Rex Lawson, Victor Uwaifo, Sir Warrior, Nico Mbarga and others. Findings reveal that socio-political factors, the emergence of new musical styles such as Afrobeat, Juju, Fuji and Hip-hop left a long-lasting imprint on the minds of highlife music enthusiasts, thereby influencing their taste and crave for highlife, and posing a threat to its already established prominence. This article recommends that more studies in the area of popular music (especially highlife) should be undertaken by researchers, and more highlife chairs should be created in departments of music across Nigerian universities. Keywords: Nigerian highlife music

Perception of and Attitude Toward Mass Media Reportage of the 2012 Flood in Rural Nigeria

Despite reportage of the impending flood by the mass media, the 2012 flood was the most devastating in the history of Nigeria as it adversely affected 33 out of 36 states in the country. Therefore, this study examines people’s perception of and attitude toward mass media reportage of the 2012 flood. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 households in rural communities in Delta and Anambra states while data analyses were by descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. More than 75% of the respondents received information about the flood from either radio or television, and there were significant spatial variations in perceptions of flood reportage. Furthermore, the regression results showed that generally, mass media reportage of the flood was not too effective in influencing people’s attitude. Subsequently, recommendations were made on how to ensure that populations affected by floods have access to comprehensive, easily accessible, and effective information.

Acknowledging the 2015 Anthony Leeds Prize in Urban Anthropology

Acknowledging the 2015 Anthony Leeds Prize in Urban Anthropology KRISTIN PETERSON University of California I am exceptionally pleased and deeply honored to accept the Anthony Leeds Prize from the Society of Urban, National, and Transnational/ Global Anthropology. SUNTA has long honored essential work in the study of urbanscapes, political economy, poverty, global capital, and transnationalism. For Speculative Markets: Drug Circuits and Derivative Life in Nigeria (Duke University Press, 2014) to be recognized among such stellar ethnographies is a real privilege. Former Leeds Prize awarded books have been recognized for new ana- lytical insights, creative modes of representation, and imaginative con- ceptual terrains. Inspired by much of these works and others, Speculative Markets attempts to ethnographically capture the impetus of pharmaceu- tical capital across Nigerian and transcontinental markets. Grounding the ethnography in Lagos, Nigeria, I focus on drug distribution systems to theorize a market that has been shaped by multiple forces since the 1960s: the Nigerian Civil War, changes in US monetary policy, the turn to speculative capital in the pharmaceutical industry, structural adjust- ment programs administered in African countries, and the immense transformation of urban topologies in Africa’s largest city. What started as a robust, highly profitable pharmaceutical market in the 1970s, ulti- mately crashed in the 1990s and transformed into one that is now home to only a few drug classes of low quality, including a substantial number of fake (intentionally falsified) drugs. The book attempts to account for these dramatic transformations that occurred in a relatively short period of time. Capturing the multiple politics, market dynamics, and changing contours of the city required constructing a multi-scalar ethnography that could thoroughly link the disparate micro ethnographic sphere with a macro political economy. On the one hand, this was relatively easy to do because my interlocutors in Lagos regularly characterized their lives and businesses by indexing Nigerian history and regional market politics in Asia and the Middle East. Thus, I was pushed me to consider the market and Lagos itself as local, regional, and transnational all at once. On the other hand, it was challenging to represent in writing how multiple events happening at dis- parate times converged to give rise to a new transcontinental organiza- tion of pharmaceuticals. These dramatic changes meant that both multinational drug compa- nies and Nigerian pharmaceutical traders faced new market volatilities effecting drug distribution from Asia to West Africa. Indian and Chinese manufacturers are the largest suppliers of pharmaceuticals destined for the Lagos-based, wholesale market, Idumota, which is the main market C 2016 by the American City & Society, Vol. 28, Issue 1, pp. 6–7, ISSN 0893-0465, eISSN 1548-744X. V Anthropological Association. All rights reserved. DOI:10.1111/ciso.12076.

Violence in Nigeria: Nature and Extent

The Nigerian history is dotted with stories of violence, and many share the notion that the Nigerian people are resilient to have continued to remain in one country despite the violence menace that has been threatening the corporate existence of the country and her people. Going by the annals of records, different nature of violence ranging from ethno-religious conflicts to indigenes-settlers conflicts, Niger Delta resource-based conflict to Boko Haram violence menace, and communal mayhem over land dispute to farmers/cattle-rearers conflicts, as well as gender, school-based violence and electoral cum political violence among others, have at various extent affected the progress and peaceful co-existence of the good people of Nigeria. Worst of all the violence in recent time, is the Boko Haram suicide bombing campaign in the north-eastern part of the country. In her attempt to present a clear picture of things in this regards, this paper sets to examine the nature and extent of violence in Nigeria.

Ethnic minorities and the land question in Nigeria

One of the most neglected aspects of the national question discourse in Nigeria is on the role of land as a site and source of conflicts, especially given the increasing demand for its redistribution and reform in the periods before and after the implementation of the structural adjustment programme. This study discusses land as a crucial aspect of the national question discourse in Nigeria. It examines the question of how colonialism – through its policies and programmes as well as the administrative structures and political systems put in place by the colonial state – introduced new complications and dimensions to the land question, mainly through the creation and development of contradictions in colonial and postcolonial Nigeria. Drawing on data generated from focus group discussions and oral interviews carried out across the locations with pronounced incidences of land-based conflicts in the six states across South-Western Nigeria, it examines the impact of economic considerations in the ethnically motivated conflicts in Nigeria over land from 1999 to 2015. It establishes the contradictions and injustices characterising the articulation of the citizenship question vis-à-vis various ethnic majorities and minorities as well as historically dominant minorities, especially indigenes and settlers in Nigerian history and politics; and how these generate violent ethnic protests, struggles and other divisive consequences. Tapping into ethnicity, migration and other issues underlying intergroup polarisation, it discusses the conflicts between Hausa–Fulani pastoralists and indigenous Yoruba farmers in South-Western Nigeria as an illustration of the contradictions underpinning citizenship and the prevailing frameworks of land ownership in Africa.

(Re)Fashioning Biafra: Identity, Authorship, and the Politics of Dress in <em>Half of a Yellow Sun</em> and Other Narratives of the Nigeria-Biafra War

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s second novel, Half of a Yellow (2006), is one in a long line of works by Nigerian authors to portray the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967-1970). While Adichie has stated that she wanted to make modern Nigeria aware of its history by writing the novel, the writer has also revealed that she drew from past literary portrayals to construct her narrative. In order to untangle the complex construction of Half of a Yellow Sun, this article explores the way the novel negotiates the literary legacy of Biafra through material fashion, which I argue elucidates this complex intertextuality. Furthermore, I contend that the novel draws attention to and critiques the way that understanding of Biafra has been dominated by novels written by male authors, and weaves threads of material fashion in order to offer a new way of negotiating Nigerian history.

New Dimensions to Pastoralists–Farmers Conflicts and Sustainable Agricultural Development in Agadama and Uwheru Communities, Niger Delta

ABSTRACTThe Niger Delta in Nigeria is known for conflicts linked with control of oil related natural resources but not with the pastoralists and farmers. Agadama is a coastal agrarian community in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Pastoralists are usually associated with their traditional arid environments in Northern Nigeria. But their recent presence in southern humid environments brought new dimensions to the conflicts with their farming neighbors. The pastoralists–farmers conflicts have a long history in Nigeria, as they are often linked to competition for natural resources like pasture and water. This article is an ethnographic study, which employs qualitative methods of data collection such as participant observation and in-depth and key informant interviews while using Victor Turner’s theory of social drama and symbolic interactionism as a theoretical framework. Data analysis was done using thick descriptions of observed phenomenon. It reveals that the recent invasion by pastoralists into the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria has altered the peaceful milieu of the agrarian community, thereby leading to a gradual collapse of Agadama’s subsistence base and impeding the growth of sustainable agricultural development in the community. New dimensions to the pastoralists–farmers conflicts in the Niger Delta include the rape of female farmers and shooting anyone found spraying chemicals on grasses/weeds that serve as pastures for cattle. It concludes that the government intervention has been reactionary.

Representation of History in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun (2006

This study deals with the conflict of Nigerian Biafran War 6 July, 1960-15 January, 1967 as represented in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun (2006). The study attempts to address the following four questions: first, what are the causes-effects of Biafran/Civil war? Second, why Nigerians have been suffering during the wartime? Third, how does the representation of Nigerian history enable understanding of the post-colonial issues? And final, what is the role of conflict in Nigerian history? In order to understand this conflict, the study addresses the detailed analysis of war conflict, ethnic conflict, class conflict, military conflict and eco-political conflict. The post-colonial approach becomes one of the ways of engaging the theoretical understanding of the novel Half of a Yellow Sun. In sum up, the novel is located with the issues of marginality, history and conflict, which interrogates through post-colonial theoretical formations and the six-phase structure of war novels.

Was the Nigerian 2015 presidential election a victory for Boko Haram or for democracy?

The ousting of Dr Goodluck Jonathan marked the first time in Nigerian history that a member of the opposition unseated an incumbent in fair and peaceful elections. The smooth transition of power, uncharacteristic of Nigeria, was hailed by the international community as a victory. However, did Muhammadu Buhari win because Jonathan lost or did Jonathan lose because Buhari won? This article argues that Jonathan's growing unpopularity gave Buhari the win, and that Boko Haram played a major role in the president's sinking support. The 2015 presidential election was thus a win for both democracy and Boko Haram.

Isolation and screening of endophytic fungi from three plants used in traditional medicine in Nigeria for antimicrobial activity

Background: Endophytes represent a promising source of biologically active metabolites for pharmaceutical and agricultural applications. Objective: This study was aimed to investigate the endophytic fungi diversity and the antimicrobial potential of three popular medicinal plants (Alstonia boonei‐Ahun, Enantia chlorantha‐Awopa and Kigelia africana‐Pandoro) that have ethnobotanical history in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The stem barks were used for isolation of endophytic fungi and fermented, and the cell free fermentation broths were subjected to antimicrobial screening against six human pathogens; Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Candida albicans by using standard agar well diffusion method. Results: A total of ten endophytic fungi were isolated from the stem bark of the plants. Seven of these fungi were identified,which include; Aspergillus niger, Macrophomina spp., Trichoderma spp. and four different Penicillium species, while three of the isolated endophytes remained unknown. Furthermore, nine of the isolated endophytes showed potential antimicrobial activity against at least one of the six tested pathogens. Conclusion: This study shows that endophytic fungi inhabiting the inner tissue of medicinal plants studied may be the source of the curative properties of the plants. Key words: Agar well diffusion, antimicrobial activity, endophytes, medicinal plant

The Influence of Indigenous Forms, Art, and Symbols on Sacred Spaces: A Study of Two Catholic Churches in Nigeria

This paper examines sacred spaces in Nigeria after the Second Vatican Council as a manifestation of indigenous forms, art, and symbols. The paper discusses a brief history of Nigeria's pre–colonial and colonial design, the Second Vatican Council, and the Catholic Church in Nigeria. Two post–colonial examples are used to demonstrate how cultural heritage, traditional forms, materials, art, and symbols have been integrated in Catholic Churches in Nigeria after the Second Vatican council. The first example, the Dominican Church in Ibadan, Nigeria, was constructed during the 1970s. The facility is based on the traditional West African tent form, which reinforces the nature of community in African spaces. The second example, the Society of African Missions (SMA) Church in Ibadan, Nigeria, was designed by the Design Group Nigeria in the late 1980s. It is located on the seminary campus of the SMA in Bodija, Ibadan. The building form is also based on the traditional African tent form. The building form, artwork in church interiors, vestments of Priests, decorations, icons and symbols, as well as Mass translated to the local languages of various Nigerian ethnicities are some recurring examples of how the Catholic Church has adapted to Nigeria. The two churches illustrate how influences from indigenous forms and symbols have been incorporated in sacred spaces in Nigeria.

The Prognoses of the 2011 Electoral Violence in Nigeria and the Lessons for the Future

Elections is undisputable an essential element of democracy. Election through the ballot is strongly recognized as the only credible barometer to determine power sharing and one of the most important features of democratic transition in free and fair election. However the Nigeria electoral process over the years is characterized by thuggery, intimidation, insecurity, rigging, snatching of ballot box and killing. This paper employed a secondary source of data collection in examining the Nigerian electoral violence with a closer look at the 2011 general elections which was adjudged by many observers as the most credible and fairest in Nigerian history, and ironically the election was among the bloodiest ever in the country. The studies assess the causes and gravity of the 2011 electoral violence with a view to recommending ways of curbing future recurrence DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s1p242

Representation of History in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun (2006)

This study deals with the conflict of Nigerian Biafran War 6 July, 1960-15 January, 1967 as represented in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun (2006). The study attempts to address the following four questions: first, what are the causes-effects of Biafran/Civil war? Second, why Nigerians have been suffering during the wartime? Third, how does the representation of Nigerian history enable understanding of the post-colonial issues? And final, what is the role of conflict in Nigerian history? In order to understand this conflict, the study addresses the detailed analysis of war conflict, ethnic conflict, class conflict, military conflict and eco-political conflict. The post-colonial approach becomes one of the ways of engaging the theoretical understanding of the novel Half of a Yellow Sun . In sum up, the novel is located with the issues of marginality, history and conflict, which interrogates through post-colonial theoretical formations and the six-phase structure of war novels.

Political Financing in Africa: A Comparative Study of Kenya and Nigeria: Proposal for Reform

The linkage between money and polities is a powerful one with implications for democracy, especially in new democracies. Political finance has been identified as a source of political corruption in several countries. Political finance laws and regulations, through which political parties and candidates for office declare their funding sources, are among the main instruments. The relationships between party financing and corruption are so significant that to ignore party funding is simply to open wide the donor for corruption. Looking into Nigerian and Kenyan political history one realizes that there is much that need to be done in this regard. This is why the financing of political life is both a necessity and a problem. The frequency with which new laws concerning campaign and party finance are enacted is testimony to the failure of many existing legal frameworks and legislations. For instance, the Electoral Acts of 2002, 2006 and 2010, the Election Campaign Financing Bill 2012, the Public Collections Act 1960 review the current status of campaign and political finance regulations in Nigeria and Kenya. The cover among other issues: the regulation, management, expenditure and accountability of election campaign funds during election and referendum campaigns. This is because hardly a month goes by without a new scandal involving political money breaking out in some in this part of the globe. Political parties constitute one of the core groups of institutions in Kenya and Nigeria’s democratic systems. The parties that emerged in Nigeria for instance, since Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, however, are characterized by undemocratic practices and exhibited gross misconducts against transparency and accountability. At their best, political parties should nurture and articulate the expression of socio-political interest and opinion. Under current Nigerian conditions, however, most political parties lack ideologies, not issue oriented, but are merely zero-issue alliances of notables who are able to control and, often enough, manipulate party structures, candidacies and even the general electoral process itself. Most parties are vehicles in the hands of few “political entrepreneurs” who invest huge amount of money and expect concurrent rewards on such investment (in the form of public works and procurement contracts, prebendal appointments of cronies to public offices and other forms of prebendal activity). The fallout has led to mass electoral/political violence and political destabilization and disempowerment of the generality of the Nigerian electors, the exclusion of alternative parties seeking to participate in electoral politics and the absence of an effective system to regulate political finance. This paper seeks to explore the concept of political finance. It will equally attempt to concisely analyze the extant legal framework regulating political finance in Kenya and Nigeria, highlight their inadequacies with a view of reforming these inadequacies for a better political finance management and best practices and proffer suggestions on the ways forward drawing freely from the instructive practices of other emerging and advanced democracies.

Terror and Insecurity: The Impact of Boko Haram Crisis on Nigeria’s External Image

The use of terror as a ratio for resolving internal fundamental differences is not uncommon in neo-colonial societies. This is not saying that flashes of same are not recogn ised in the developed environment. The prevalence of this alternative appears as old as the political history of Nigeria. This work underscores the theoretical and historical basis of rebellion in Nigeria primarily focusing on the rise, fundamental philosophy and the vision of the Boko Haramists. The central thesis of this work is that Boko Haram activities have negative effects on Nigeria’s external image and fundamentally, it exposes the nature and dynamics of Nigeria’s security problems. The work contributes in part to the literature on this issue but significantly, it situates the problems within strategic logic which amplifies the degeneration of the problems and the incessant rebellion against the Nigerian State.

New Dimensions to Pastoralists-Famers Conflicts and Sustainable Agricultural Development in the Niger-Delta: Agadama-Uwheru Community, Delta State in Perspective

The Niger Delta in Nigeria is known for conflicts linked with control of oil related natural resources, and militancy but not with the pastoralists-farmers conflicts which has recently surfaced in this region. Agadama is a coastal agrarian community in Uhweru clan, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Pastoralists are usually associated with their traditional arid environments but their recent presence in southern humid environments brought new dimensions to the age-long conflicts with their farming neighbours. The pastoralists-farmers conflicts have a long history in Nigeria as it is often linked to competition for natural resources like pasture and water. This is an ethnographic study which employed qualitative methods of data collection such as participant observation, in-depth and key informant interviews anchored on Victor Turner’s theory of social drama and Symbolic Interactionism as explanatory framework. Data analysis was done using ‘thick description’ of observed phenomenon ensuring objectives of the study were met. Study revealed that the recent invasion by pastoralists into the oil-rich Niger-Delta region of Nigeria has altered the once peaceful milieu of the agrarian community; thereby leading to a gradual collapse of Agadama subsistence base and impeding gradual growth of sustainable agricultural development in the community. New dimensions to the pastoralists-farmers conflicts in the Niger-Delta is the rape of female farmers and shooting on sighting anyone found spraying chemicals on grasses/weeds as they serves as pastures for cattle. It concludes that government intervention is often reactionary by sending police/military but recommends presumed more lasting solutions.