Traditional African Societies Research Articles

The role of Christianity in gender issues and development in Nigeria

Gender issues permeate all socio-cultural institutions. They condition how people of different genders see themselves, act and relate with each other in any giving situation and time. In Nigeria, the issue of gender is one that affects all facets of human life. It affects personality traits, gender role behaviour, social status, acquisition of property, inheritance, occupation and responsibility in the family, and society. Since most traditional African societies are patriarchal, of which Nigeria is one, it is assumed that the women are subjugated and relegated to the background. This situation has created tension and unhealthy relationship between males and females in Nigerian societies because of the seeming undue advantage the men have over the women. It has also hampered harnessing of women potentials in Nigeria’s developmental process and progress. Christianity as a religion in Nigeria is a dominant force in the lives of men and women. Since its emergence in Nigeria, many people have embraced the religion and its teaching thus changing most of the cultural values of the people. Against this backdrop, this work explored conflicts and challenges associated with gender issues and how Christianity has used some faith-based organisations to address the issue, so as to promote holistic development policy and practices in Nigeria. The methodology used in this article is the phenomenological method of research. It was used so as to provide an objective report on the findings of this research. Contribution: This article advocates for a committed contemporary approach, especially from the Church towards ameliorating the gender disparity in Nigeria and within the Church. Although the context is Nigeria, Christian belief of Jesus Christ as the liberator of humanity emphasised could be applied to other contexts too.

Women as Agents of Peace and Social Development in the South-Eastern Nigeria

Contemporary gender discourse on African socio-cultural and religious issues in the past decades tend to give more accolades to the masculine rather than the feminine genders. Consequently, the male is viewed from the positive, objective, strong, intellective, dominant and determined perspective while the female is regarded as weak, passive, emotional, intuitive, childish, dependent and evil. These negative perceptions of most African male as regards to women has led to the present day women struggles for equal rights and opportunities in the educational, political, social, cultural, economic and even religious spheres. How true is the perceptions of most African male as regards to women? Are there no roles played by women in the traditional African society which distinguishes them as strong, objective and intellective? How have women contributed to the initiation of peace and peace building in the traditional African society especially in the South-Eastern Nigeria? This is the thrust of this paper. The paper examines the role of women as agents of peace and social development in the African traditional society with reference to the South-Eastern Nigeria. Having employed the descriptive analysis, the paper argued that before, during and after the colonial era, women have been agents of peace and social development in the African traditional society particularly in South-Eastern Nigeria. This is achieved through a female association known as Omurinya / Umuada. The paper strongly recommends that rather than marginalize, discriminate or oppress women based on their gender, there should be equal treatment of both men and women in all spheres of human endeavour. Key Words : Women, Peace, Patriarchy, Gender, Omurinya / Umuada DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/69-05 Publication date: November 30 th 2020

The emergence of locally adaptive institutions: Insights from traditional social structures of East African pastoralists

Humans inhabit the widest range of ecological and social niches of any mammal. Yet each ecological and social environment presents a set of challenges that we must solve in order to successfully inhabit it. We are able to do so by building institutions that can flexibly respond to changing circumstances. Institutions that solve adaptive challenges necessary for human sociality, such as how to resolve conflicts, find mates, and extract and distribute resources, are termed locally adaptive institutions. The design of locally adaptive institutions promotes coordination and cooperation among unrelated individuals, reflecting the constraints of the particular ecological and social challenges to which they are responsive. Institutions generally are enabled by a suite of social and psychological mechanisms, including norm compliance, self-interested design, selective imitation, and cultural group selection among others. The development of locally adaptive institutions are likely to be especially shaped by self-interested design in which agents are sensitive to the payoffs from various norms and choose to enforce and follow those which they anticipate to be most beneficial to themselves. Exogenous shocks, including the advent of material and cultural technologies, population pressures, or even group conflict can contribute to the modification of existing social institutions and the development of new social structures. Using several case examples from traditional east African pastoralist societies, I illustrate how ecological and social pressures shape the development of social norms that underlie locally adaptive social institutions and facilitate continued cooperation in the face of change at scales ranging from local to global.

Communalism in African Cultures and the Naming System among the Luo of Kenya

ABSTRACT The essay has two parts. The first part outlines one cardinal aspect that runs through traditional African societies: the communal spirit. It is argued that it is this aspect of traditional African societies that sets them apart from the individualistic Western societies. The notions of ontology, ethics, and marriage are used to characterize the communal spirit. The second part, which is the core of the essay, focuses on the naming system among the Luo ethnic group of Kenya (“Joluo”). Three categories are identified in their naming system and it is maintained that all the categories reflect the prevalent communal principle and is the reason why Joluo treat names with reverence. For them a name is more than what one responds to when called out; it is a reflection that an individual is part and parcel of the community .

The place of individual rights in communal Africa

This paper has as its objectives the determination of whether traditional African societies were truly communalistic and whether individuals’ rights were subsumed under the community as so many people claimed. This research which was corroborated by other scholars and supported by the body of maxims that guided traditional African societies reveals that traditional African societies were truly communalistic but does not consume individual rights. Individual rights and values existed side by side the communal values and only gave way to communal values in cases of a conflict between the two. The paper recommends that communal values should be made the bedrock of our current democracy to quicken it and make it thrive.

The Place of Individual Rights in Communal Africa

This paper has as its objectives the determination of whether or not traditional African societies were truly communalistic and whether individuals’ rights were subsumed under the community as so many people claimed. This research which was corroborated by other scholars and supported by the body of maxims that guided traditional African societies reveals that traditional African societies were truly communalistic but does not consume the individual rights. Individual rights and values existed side by side the communal values and only gave way to communal values in cases of a conflict between the two. The paper recommends that communal values should be made the bedrock of our current democracy to quicken it and make it thrive. DOI: 10.7176/JPCR/49-01 Publication date: June 30th 2020

A Gender-Sex System that afrocentralizes the Issue of a Traditional Female identity. The Case in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero and Nuruddin Farah’s From a Crooked Rib

This paper aims at spotlighting the process of dehumanization women are victim of in many African traditional societies. From Cairo to Mogadiscio, women are all by themselves and go through the after-effects of the social and sexual brutalities they are daily subjected to. Nawal El Saadawi and Nuruddin Farah, in Woman at Point Zero and From a Crooked Rib, have brought on surface the stark stratification organized in age-old societies to the detriment of women. Thus being, the paper analyses the physical mutilation, the sexual exploitation women suffer from both in Egypt and Somalia and the whacks they take to liberate themselves from the enslaving social cages in which they are confined. Its findings contribute in showing up the mute but decisive changes that operate among the female gentry in religions-oriented countries in Africa. It underlines as well the de-phallocratization of traditional systems that stiffen women’s strong aspirations to freedom.

Child Abuse, Exploitation and the Quest for a Better Life in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come (2004) and Swallow (2010) and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (1970)

This Article brings to light the topicality of the 21st century African and African-American female novel especially in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Swallow, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. As the African traditional societies have much progressed, this work aims at showing that the African and African-American female novel has also progressed thematically speaking. It addreses new literary trends like Adoption, Rape, Incest, Child Abuse, Emigration and Identity Issues.

SKOLOMBO AND THEIR CONTINUED EXISTENCE: REVISITING LOST HUMANISM AND PARENTIFICATION IMPULSE

This paper examines the Skolombo-street children of Calabar. It also investigates the reason for their continued existence, the derivatives in form of social and economic insecurity, inequality and other monstrosities visible in their presence. It questions the oblivious role of the institutions responsible for the care of the child, and parentification impulse as well as the lost humanism which existed in high premium in traditional African society resisted and reflected by text and language. The study is anchored upon Theo Van Leeuwen’s perspective on Critical Discourse Analysis which primarily studies the way social-power abuse and inequality are enacted, reproduced, legitimized, and resisted by text and talk in the social and political context. The study is a qualitative research conducted with the eclectic research methodologies such as biography, Participant Observation and Conversation. Among other findings, this study reveals that the Cross river state government has not provided enough fair ground to fully tackle the social and economic needs of the street child, that the desired comfort has not been provided for the girl child and that they have not been able to fully integrate the Skolombo into the echelon of the privileged. Conclusively, this has created spaces for youth delinquency, thievery, moral laxity and decadence. In the light of the findings, it is recommended that the government needs to put alternative and effective measures to play with the aim to curbing the menace of Skolombo and the street child culture. There ought to be an implementation of the child right boy and girl child. Stringent punishment should be meted on parents, religious leadact in the global space in order to reduce the molestation and marginalization of the ers and guardians who subject children to unnecessary molestation. Religious leaders and parents should be sensitized about the need to integrate their children within the family, intervention should be made compulsory.

Restoration of ubuntu as an autocentric virtue-phronesis theory

The article argues for a comprehensive autocentric virtue-phronesis theory of ubuntu as a remedy to the theoretical flaws associated with the commonly accepted radical communitarianism-based ubuntu theory. It argues that ubuntu as a theory is highly criticised because of overemphasising the role of the community at the expense of the individual and practical reason, which are equally important in the African traditional societies. In order to accommodate these important elements, the autocentric virtue- phronesis theory is a shift from radical communitarianism to a more comprehensive African virtue theory that is rooted in (i) the reciprocal value of an individual and the community as they define the ultimate human good, (ii) virtues of character (self-regarding and other-regarding virtues), and (iii) virtues of the intellect, more specifically phronesis and its related instantiation in a phronimos.

To Cohabit or Not?: The Place of Cohabitation in the Social and Legal System in Kenya

Cohabitation is a new alternative family arrangement that has come to be accepted in this current generation. There is no universally accepted definition of cohabitation. However, it may be defined as “an emotional, physical and intellectually intimate relationship which includes a common living place and which exists without the benefit of legal, cultural and religious sanction” However, later in this paper it will be seen that cohabitation is recognized by common law since it originated there. In most of the court cases, it is referred to as the presumption of marriage. In another definition, cohabitation, also known as ‘come we stay marriage’, is “a marriage formation in which a man and a woman get together in a union that would formerly be deemed legally, culturally and religious unacceptable” . It has to be understood that African traditional society does not value cohabitation and the main reason for the definitions aforementioned. In this paper, I will discuss the place of cohabitation in Kenya and further look at the decided court cases which will make us further understand how courts have dealt with the issue of presumption of marriage. In the end I will give my stand on this issue of cohabitation.

Dismantling Cultural Stereotypes: Journey Motif in Waris Dirie’s Desert Flower

This research paper is a literary scrutiny of the use of the journey motif as formal strategy in the progressive dismantling of cultural stereotypes associated with women as represented in Waris Dirie’s Desert Flower. The study explores the significance of the journey motif and how it is appropriated as a tool in the disassembly of cultural stereotypes in traditional African societies and female identity formation specifically in the Somalia society. This study, in particular, examines the physical, psychological and emotional facets of the journey motif and how these journeys shape or define female identity in a subjugated society. This study, therefore, demonstrates how the physical movements, psychological reawakening and emotional maturation help to (re)form women’s fluid or lost identity. The study is predicated on Carl Jung’s psychoanalytic theory of literature. The research work is based on textual analysis of the setting, plot development, Characterisation and use of language as part of the methodology in the interpretation of thematic concerns in the autobiography. In this literary work, the female protagonist undertakes many rigorous journeys which greatly delineate and determine who she becomes in a male-dominated society. The journey motif is, therefore, an effective technique that helps us to examine how the female protagonist forms her identity in a male-dominated and culturally suffocating Somalia society.

Pains of the bane of infertile women in Southwest Nigeria: a qualitative approach

Context: Infertility can be painful as it affects every aspect of life and relationship. In traditional African societies children are of great socioeconomic value. The invisible grieving of women living with infertility is enormous, and exposes such women to sundry psychological burden. Aims: This study qualitatively explored the viewpoints, and the psychological burden of women living with infertility in southwest Nigeria. Settings and Design: This study adopted a qualitative approach to investigate the experience of women who were undergoing treatment for infertility at a tertiary health facility in southwest Nigeria. Methods and Material: A qualitative approach was adopted for profound exploration with a view to appraising their holistic subjective experiences of infertility. Statistical analysis: Data for analysis was obtained through verbatim transcription of interview as recorded by audio recorder and note taking. Systematic text condensation was used to analyze the data. Results: Majority of the participants who were in monogamous relationship were religious and lived with their spouses. A total of 43 significant statements were discerned and sorted into 8 themes including isolation, anxiety, shame, low self-esteem, anger cum resentment, and hopelessness. Conclusions: It would require a multi-disciplinary approach to relieve the pains, and alleviate the baneful experience of infertile couples.

African values and institutional reform for sustainable development in Africa

The way society patterned its institutions and framed its laws, is predicated on the prevalent values of the people, which is rooted in their culture, philosophies, and spirituality. The way such a society makes progress and promotes coexistence is linked to the values that they uphold. Similarly, African values are those axiological principles that form the foundation of social living and social ordering in traditional African society, which can still be relevant today. These social values of the African people are what were used to construct African inclusive institutions in the traditional setting before it was eroded by colonialism and imperialism. Thus, for Africans of today to rebuild inclusive institutions that will guarantee sustainable development across the continent, there is a need to revive and reintegrate the principles from the study of African values into the reform of contemporary African social institutions. Therefore, in this paper, the authors argue that for African institutions to deliver the good of sustainable development, they must be reformed along the lines of foundational principles of African cultural values. The paper employs the philosophical method of critical analysis in dissecting the issues within this discourse.

Resolving Conflict in African Traditional Society: An Imperative of Indigenous African System

Resolving Conflict in African Traditional Society: An Imperative of Indigenous African System

Balancing Restorative Justice and Indigenous Traditional Systems in Criminal Justice Jurisprudence

In Criminology and Criminal Justice System, the relevance of their objectives in jurisprudence has been an ongoing debate in existing literature. Criminology schools of thought oscillate from the higher values of one theorem and doctrinaire to the other. Between the deterrence, punishment, and restorative-rehabilitative divide, most literature evaluates their conclusions from the Western jurisprudential and sociological prism. Few analyses have focus on existing criminal justice systems of traditional African societies. For example, the South African Truth Commission (The Truth Commission) represents an indigenous African jurisprudential approach to criminal justice and criminologist explorations of socio-political malaise in society. The Truth Commission highlighted the tilt towards restorative-rehabilitative essence of how most Africans approach crime and injustice. This article explores the continuing jurisprudential issues from the traditional African customary law systems, using Nigeria and its film industry as a case study. The paper critically examines criminal justice and criminology systems based on their essence in the customary laws of traditional and modern society. In conclusion, this article recommends an incorporation of the customary law regimes, which tilt towards restorative justice in the scale of objectives of criminal justice.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with hypertension among adults in a rural setting: the case of Ombe, Cameroon.

IntroductionHigh blood pressure is the most common cardiovascular disorder affecting approximately one billion people globally and remains a major contributor to the global burden of non-communicable diseases and mortality. Hypertension, once rare in traditional African societies, is now a major public health problem probably because of a rise in its risk factors. In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 74.7 million individuals live with hypertension. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and identify risk factors associated with hypertension in adults aged 21 years and above in Ombe village, a rural Cameroonian setting in sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsThis study was a cross-sectional community based survey from March to September 2016 (seven months) in the village of Ombe, a rural community in the southwest region of Cameroon. Following ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Faculty of Health Science, University of Buea and administrative authorization, 243 participants (141 males and 102 females) through multi-stage sampling were randomly selected to take part in the study following consent which was voluntary and without any form of coercion. The principal research instrument was a questionnaire adapted from the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance- Instrument v2.1 which was administered to participants. The self-administered questionnaire collected socio-demographic information, data related to knowledge and practices related to hypertension, anthropometric data (weight and height from which the body mass index (BMI) was calculated). The blood pressure of study participants was measured. Data was entered using Microsoft Excel, then imported and analysed in SPSS v22.0. Frequencies and percentages were determined for categorical variables. Means and standard deviations (mean ± SD). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to investigate factors associated with high blood pressure (hypertension).ResultsThe results showed that 19.8% of the adult population had hypertension. Of the 243 respondents, 77.7% understood what is hypertension, 85% indicated that they could tell some consequences of high blood pressure (they indicated hypertension affects the heart, brain and kidneys) and 63.3% of study participants had never checked their blood pressure. Age greater than 40 years, harmful alcohol intake for more than 10 years, physical inactivity and obesity (BMI ≥ 25Kg/m2) were variables associated with hypertension on univariate analysis. Following multivariate analysis, independent risk factors for hypertension in our study were: physical inactivity (Adj. OR 2.6, 95%CI: 1.3-4.4, p = 0.021), regular alcohol consumption for more than 10 years (Adj. OR 2.9, 95%CI: 1.6-5.1, p = 0.014) and being older than 40 years of age: Adj. OR 2.5, 95%CI: 1.02-4.1, p = 0.002 in age category 41-60 years and this age related risk was even higher in persons older than 60 years of age Adj. OR 4.5, 95%CI: 2.1-6.3, p = 0.002.ConclusionThe findings of this study showed the prevalence of high blood pressure among adults in Ombe (a rural community in Cameroon) was 19.8%. Old age, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity were independent risk factors for hypertension. Despite the population demonstrating knowledge about hypertension and its possible poor consequences on health, less than half had ever gone for blood pressure checks. Interventions to improve physical activity, reduce alcohol consumption and boost health seeking (high blood pressure screening) behaviour will be beneficial as preventive measures in combatting hypertension.

A Study of Style in Adimora-Ezeigbo’s House of Symbols with comparisons to Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

This study analyses some linguistic and paralinguistic properties employed in the creation of text in Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s House of Symbols (HOS) to find out how they contribute to the meaning and overall message of the work, with some reference to certain similar elements of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (TFA). A detailed description of the language used is undertaken and the linguistic and paralinguistic associations which the styles of both writers reveal as they relate to meaning and message in the works are brought to the fore. Whereas Achebe’s work represents a typical African traditional society, it is compared to one of the more contemporary female writers from a similar geographical and cultural background to bring to the fore certain stylistic features of their respective texts. The research shows that issues raised by the two authors on the subjects of colonialism, religious conflict, reincarnation and gender issues show certain similarities, which influenced linguistic and paralinguistic properties employed in the works under review.

The Court Poet/Praise Singer in Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman and Ola Rotimi's Ovonramwen Nogbaisi: a Critical Appraisal


 
 
 Oral artists are a common sight in traditional African societies and were most prominent in old empires such as Oyo, Benin, Songhai and Mali. They also existed in the Zulu empire, northern Nigeria and among the Akan in Ghana. Their place is integral to the social and political well-being of these empires. In the Oyo empire, court poets are known as Olohun-Iyo. They are called griots in Senegal and Mali and among the Akan of Ghana, they are called Kwadwumfo. Modern Nigerian dramatists such as Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi have appropriated the image and roles of the court poet in Death and The King’s Horseman and Ovonramwen Nogbaisi respectively. This paper defines who a court poet is, his role as a maker and wordsmith, and the nature of his work and patronage. It examines the qualities he must possess and the content of his poetry. In examining the place of memory and remembering in the discharge of the poet ́s duties, the paper investigates the various mnemonic and retrieval systems used by the poet to recall past accounts and great deeds of the kings. The roles of traditional court poets will be compared with the roles played by Olohun-iyo and Uzazakpo in the selected plays. The paper will also discuss what has become of oral artists in modern African societies. How viable is the art-form in the modern world with the advent of technology? Has civilization and modernity eroded their importance in society? While affirming their traditional advisory, prophetic, warning, motivational roles and as repositories of customs and culture, this paper concludes by stating the poet employs linguistic, para- linguistic and “medicinal” strategies to recall events at a given performance.
 KEYWORDS: COURT-POET, PRAISE SINGER, TRADITIONAL AFRICAN POETRY, WOLE SOYINKA, OLA ROTIMI
 
 

When culture equals femicide: ‘affluent polygyny’ a South African dilemma

Polygyny is still prevalent in South Africa though the country is ravished by the AIDS pandemic. This article aims to highlight the effects of affluent polygyny on South African women. The findings were very much indicative of the dangers of entering into these arrangements because of socio-economic issues and the high rate of unemployment. This dependency causes women to agree to marry already married men for financial stability. Postcolonial feminist scholarship advanced by black women who were subjected recolonization as their ideas and concepts is the theoretical underpinning for this paper. This theory highlights the complexity of marginalisation of women in affluent polygyny in a previously colonised country. The article asserts that postcolonial feminist theory provides a further understanding of how women suffer at the hands of polygynists. The theory of Gender and Power is also used to understand the gendered relations of affluent polygyny in contemporary times because in African traditional societies, polygyny is perceived as a sociological issue.Key words: polygyny, postcolonial feminist theory, affluence, HIV/AIDS, gender and power