Volume 13 Number 1 June - African Educational Research Network

Transcription

Volume 13
Number 1
June 2013
AERN 2005 Inaugural Summit @ Albany State University, Albany, Georgia USA
The African Symposium: An online journal of the African Educational Research Network
THE ENVISIONED DIALECTIC OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION AND NATION BUILDING
IN A HETEROGENEOUS SETTING: A STYLISTIC CRITICISM OF REMI RAJI’S
LOVESONG FOR MY WASTELAND
Adeyemi Adegoju
Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
This article examines Remi Raji’s alternative model of consensus building in a heterogeneous
country like Nigeria that is continually threatened by forces of disintegration. The article considers
the ‘Prologue’ to Remi Raji’s anthology, Lovesong for My Wasteland, which is presented in the form
of a dramatic poem/poetic drama as an allegory of the challenges inherent in the task of national
integration and the prospect of fruitful inter-group relations in Nigeria. It underlines the expediency
of dialectic in the characters’ engagement of grave national issues, focusing on the argumentation
thrust of the discourse as a template for productive national dialogue. Aside the logic of dialectic, the
paper examines the stylistic markers that typify the discourse of consensus building, highlighting the
characters’ discursive practices as prototype verbal signifiers that the heterogeneous entities within
the Nigerian political space could deploy for renewed patriotic spirit.
Key Words: Dialectic, inter-group relations, nation building, national integration, Nigeria
Introduction
The crisis of nationhood besetting Nigeria as a country has been a dominant issue expressed
in the works produced by not only literary writers but also by artistes of different climes and times.
With particular reference to fixing the problem of ethnic nationalism and national integration
required for national rebirth, I consider Remi Raji’s anthology titled Lovesong for My Wasteland a
literary response that dramatises this knotty issue in a most critical manner that deserves attention.
Remi Raji belongs to the third generation of Nigerian poets whose works have been markedly political
in nature given their disillusionment with the palpable setbacks being suffered by Nigeria despite her
enormous potential. This thematic preoccupation derives from a ‘nationalist imagination’ which (Egya
2007: 112) explains as ‘the use of creative writing, a product of imagination, to make important
political statements and redirect people’s thinking towards positive change […]’.
What particularly strikes me in Remi Raji’s treatment of political theme in this anthology as
embodied in the ‘Prologue’ is the artistry with which he handles the motifs of dialogue and consensus
building as ingredients for realistic inter-group relations that have eluded a pluralistic country like
Nigeria for so long. Having closely read the text, I am particularly interested in the point of conflict
among the characters in the dramatic poem/poetic drama, their archetypal roles, the peculiar setting
they inhabit but perceive differently, the sequence and patterns of argumentation they put up in
addressing the pressing national issues that form the basis for their dialoguing, and finally the
unification of hitherto dissenting voices in playing active roles in the task of building the country.
Thus, my major concern in this paper is to explore a prototype discourse of national
integration and nation building as proposed by Remi Raji, examining the dialectical processes that the
symbolic characters in the ‘Prologue’ undergo before they could reach a consensus that favours
national cohesion, reconciliation and renewed sense of patriotism to one’s country. In order to show
the rhetorical dynamics that find expression in the dialectical processes of the characters’ dialogue, I
attempt to stylistically analyse the defining schemes and tropes of the prototype result-oriented
dialogue that is most desirable in a heterogeneous country like Nigeria.
Dilemma of National Integration in Nigeria
According to (Congressional Research Service 2008) ‘Summary’ on current issues in Nigeria,
Nigeria faces serious social and economic challenges which have made its human development
indicators among the world’s lowest, as the majority of the population suffer from extreme poverty.
(Fageyinbo 2011) observes that Nigeria is faced with many social problems like fraud, embezzlement
of public funds, ethnicity and nepotism, and serious crimes such as bribery, smuggling and bunkering.
While these problems in themselves would not prove too intractable to fix, the composition of the
entity known as Nigeria and the consequent attitude and commitment of ‘Nigerians’ to addressing
1 Volume 13, No. 1, June 2013
The African Symposium (ISSN# 2326-8077)
national issues are suspect.
(Metumara 2010: 92) rightly hints at the hub of Nigeria’s development challenges, saying:
‘Nigeria is an amalgam of rival ethnic groups pitched against each other [sic] in a contest for power
and resources that have reflected in the political processes, sometimes threatening the corporate
existence of the country’. Writing on the aftermath of such a political arrangement, (Omotoso 2010:
146) argues:
Instead of being patriotic by supporting and respecting the state, they see it as an abstract
object, a European formation and therefore an evil arrangement that denied the people of
their freedom. Because of this enduring notion of the Nigerian state by the people, they have
had recourse to their various indigenous societies which to them are capable of protecting and
guaranteeing their individual rights, privileges and advancement in the Nigerian state.
(Metumara 2010: 97) then submits that ‘[t]he heterogeneous nature of the Nigerian state and
the problem it poses to nation-building is well recognised by its managers’. This has been an inherent
problem in the Nigerian polity which dates back to the pre-independence era and has continued to
threaten the corporate existence of the country even long after independence. To this end, (Salawu
and Hasan 2011: 28) observe:
About five decades after Nigeria gained independence, the Nigerian diverse social structure in
terms of her heterogeneity has not changed significantly. The diversity nature of the society
has made identification with the ‘nation’ a difficult task. Today, identification is easier at both
family and ethnic levels. A consequence of this is that many of the citizens may never develop
a proper concept of nation. This kind of ethnic group relations signifies a negative dimension
and which may mean much for the Nigerian political system.
(Ekanola 2006: 279) examines Nigeria’s socio-political and economic circumstances and
concludes that many of its problems stem from its origin as an artificial colonial construct which
lumped together a variety of separate peoples. Consequently, the relations between them have been
that of mutual distrust which (Julius-Adeoye 2011: 2) captures thus: ‘The nation’s inability to
effectively develop an integrated population even with its enormous wealth creates defensive groups
along the ethno-religious lines, in effect creating a dichotomy of ‘we’ against the ‘others’’.
(Ifeanacho and Nwagwu 2009) are of the view that Nigeria’s efforts at achieving national
integration have remained largely unrealised, considering issues of minority question, religious
conflicts, ethnic politics, resource control and the call for a sovereign national conference.
Consequently, the spirit of true nationalism needed to address the myriad problems confronting the
country has been lacking, as ethnic nationalism in Nigeria continues to work against the integration of
the different ethnic nationalities. Commenting on the nationalistic spirit required for executing the
Nigerian project, (Ekanola 2006: 291-292) writes:
[…] the integration of the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria requires a transformation of attitudes
and values. This would entail a process of social mobilisation to teach and persuade members
of different nationalities to see one another as people with whom they must rise and fall
together, and bring them to a belief that their destinies are inextricably knit together in such a
way that they either win together or lose together.
The Corpus
The study, as rightly pointed out earlier, focuses mainly on the ‘Prologue’ to the anthology
which comprises forty-five poems in all. In fact, the forty-five poems encapsulate the poet’s sense of
disillusionment occasioned by the Nigerian predicament and the ironic sense of patriotism that he
demonstrates in spite of the near hopeless situation. In the figure of a physician who is able to
diagnose the ills of society and would stop at nothing short of prescribing the antidotes for healing his
society, Remi Raji artistically enacts a dramatic poem/poetic drama in the ‘Prologue’ to raise social
consciousness about his concerns in the forty-five poems in the anthology and to sell his vision for
turning around the fortune of the country whose major problem has been that of finding a common
voice among the different ethnic groups whose sectional interests and sheer ethnic loyalty have
vitiated their nationalistic spirit.
The four characters that are engaged in the dialogue are Gong, Takie, Gambia and Asabi. It is
Gong who brings a message (a wake-up call) to the other three characters on stage. According to (Egya
2007: 115), ‘Gong sees himself […] as a singer whose song carries the ups and downs of history and
knows the consequences of yesterday’s failure’. But Takie, Gambia and Asabi do not share Gong’s
views, as a result of which they challenge him. Instead of Gong’s abandoning his vision in the face of
stiff opposition mounted by the other three characters, he exudes the spirit of tolerance, absorbing all
manner of criticisms from the other characters and reasonably engaging them in a thought-provoking
dialogue to the point of swaying them to share his dream, believe in his cause, and commit themselves
to the project of nation building. So, the structure of the dramatic poem/poetic drama revolves around
Gong’s having a dream and striving to sell it to an indifferent lot, engaging in a series of arguments
and counter-arguments on the veracity of his claims and finally reaching a consensus that is born out
of conviction and not belief.
Why Dialectics?
According to (Hoffmann 2005), the notion of ‘dialectic is formed from the Greek verb
dialegesthai whose first philosophical use has been ascribed to Zeno, a student of Parmenides. Legein
means ‘to speak’, ‘to say’ and the prefix dia- can be translated as ‘through’. Accordingly, the everyday
use of dialegesthai in Greek was ‘holding converse with’, ‘discussing a question with another’, or
‘arguing with one against something’. However, other philosophers from Plato, Immanuel Kant to
Hegel have elaborated Zeno’s pioneering thought on the notion of dialectic. For Plato, dialectic is a
method to organise, based on experience, our knowledge by structuring hierarchies within a world of
‘forms’, while Kant criticises as ‘dialectical’ all approaches that forget to ground ‘knowledge’ in
concrete experience.
Both Plato and Kant, however, would agree that dialectic belongs to what we as human beings
are doing when reflecting on the world around us, be it a world of experience or a world of pure forms.
That is, for them, ‘dialectic’ is considered from the standpoint of epistemology; the context for both is
a general theory of knowledge (epistêmê in Greek). Hegel’s concept of dialectic is different from the
views held by the earlier proponents. According to (Hoffman 2005: 8), looking for ‘what alone can be
the true method of philosophical science’, Hegel hints at ‘dialectic’ as something which belongs
inherently to the respective contents of logic. Dialectic is not restricted to what we are doing in
thinking and speaking, but it is the inner self-movement of the content of logic.
(Popper 2004) argues that dialectic in the modern sense, that is, especially in the sense in
which Hegel used the term is a theory which maintains that something – more especially, human
thought – develops in a way characterised by what is called the dialectic triad: thesis, antithesis and
synthesis. First, there is some idea or theory or movement which may be called a ‘thesis’. Such a thesis
will often produce opposition, because like most things in this world, it will probably be of limited
value and will have its weak spots. The opposing idea or movement is called the ‘antithesis’ because it
is directed against the thesis. The struggle between the thesis and the antithesis goes on until some
solution is reached. This solution which is the third step is called the ‘synthesis’. Once attained, the
synthesis in its turn may become the first step of a new dialectic triad. (Popper 2004: 4), however,
stresses that in actuality the thesis does not ‘produce’ the antithesis but ‘it is only our critical attitude
which produces the antithesis and where such an attitude is lacking – which often is the case – no
antithesis will be produced’. Popper further stresses that we have to be careful not to think that it is
the ‘struggle’ between a thesis and its antithesis which ‘produces’ a synthesis; for the struggle is one of
minds and these minds must be productive of new ideas.
Thus, dialectical reasoning refers to critical thinking about problems and evaluating
conflicting viewpoints. It is best applied in resolving controversial issues and assessing opposing
positions. Dialectic is thus seen as an art of rational discussion in which a questioner and a respondent
reason with each other by question and answer. It contains arguments and chains of connected steps
of argumentation running through the sequence of dialogue. It is adversarial but also partly
collaborative. In the present poetic discourse, therefore, I will explore the processes of dialectical
reasoning in understanding the moving back and forth between contrary lines of reasoning in a
prototype discourse of national integration in a heterogeneous setting.
Dialectical Processes and Style Markers in Consensus Building: Remi Raji’s Blueprint
From the outset, it is instructive to note that Remi Raji must have consciously designed and
packaged the characters as prototypes of the opposing parties that see the challenges confronting
Nigeria in different lights. While Gong is the visionary, the dreamer, the prophet, the great thinker
(the philosopher), the conscience of society, and the messiah, as it were, the other three characters are
rather lethargic, as they do not seem to be bothered by the challenges in the country. In fact, the
naming pattern adopted by the poet is stylistic. The visionary is given the name Gong. What is the
import of that name in the Yoruba cultural world from where the poet comes?
The gong in traditional Yoruba society is that communicative instrument that is used by the
information aide of the traditional ruler to arouse the consciousness of the populace to social issues
demanding the collective interest of all and sundry. It is sounded loud and clear to reverberate in
every nook and cranny of the community such that no one would claim not to have heard the message
of the gong in the hands of the information aide. As an instrument of social mobilisation and
sensitisation, the gong seems to enjoy what I could call ‘communicative liberty’, as the Yoruba believe
that the gong’s ‘voice’ is never silenced nor drowned (A kì í p’ohùn m’ágogo l’é̞nu). It does not matter
the constraints, the odds, the limitations, the gong would find expression for the vital message it has
for the people.
To show the centrality of the gong to the poet’s nationalist imagination and vision in a society
in dire need of renaissance, one would not only consider it as a cultural semiotic that the poet has
stylistically invoked in this anthology to relay his message to the people but also as a persona that
serves as the poet’s voice. We have to note that in a society where things have gone awry, it takes the
gong to raise people’s awareness and sensitise them on how to arrest the situation. So, in a like
manner, it takes a Gong (the persona and singer) in a beleaguered society like Nigeria to sound a red
alert to those who are still sleeping while the house is on fire. In this sense, the literary writer, be it a
poet, a novelist or a dramatist or the artiste who cuts the figure of the conscience of the country in the
midst of palpable moral and social degeneration is that coveted Gong needed to sound the wake-up
call for transformation.
In fact, the lesson for realistic nation building that must be learnt from the interaction
between Takie, Gambia and Asabi, on the one hand, and Gong, on the other hand, is that of the
semiotic of number. It does not take a multitude to diagnose the ills of society and come up with the
necessary antidote. Just an individual is enough to see the fault-line in the structure of the entity
called a country. Just an individual is enough to raise the social consciousness of others. Just an
individual is enough to tactfully and reasonably make others see what is possibly not open to all. But
the question is: How easy would it be for that singular individual to match the dissenting voices of the
multitude that would possibly see issues differently? So, in the task of nation building, the dichotomy
of number or number differential – one social crusader with the dream and vision confronted with a
multitude of lethargic disposition – is a factor but not enough a reason for the crusader to get
defeated. All that is required is for that individual to have the resilience of the gong for realistic
national dialogue.
Therefore, within the situational context of the dramatic poem/poetic drama enacted in the
‘Prologue’ to Lovesong for My Wasteland, a miniature of the Nigerian society with her myriad sociopolitical and economic problems calling for attention, Gong cries out to the people:
People of the land, the living and the dead,
those today whose lives count for nothing
and those tomorrow who will live as if
they have no future, hear me out,
it is your history I have come to spin
in the marketplace of thought. Hear me now,
it is the smell of your history that chokes the singer
out of silence …
(Lovesong for My Wasteland, p. 3)
It is noteworthy that Gong does not see himself as a lone ranger, as he seeks to share what
bothers his mind with fellow compatriots. Such a disposition is necessary for viable nation building.
Reaching out to others either to sensitise or mobilise them for action is in the collective interest of
nation building, as we find out here that Gong does not target people of like minds. It is people who do
not see what he sees, people who do not experience what he experiences or people who share the same
experience but are indifferent that he calls on.
The choice of Gong’s audience, therefore, becomes a signifier in itself for that seemingly
uninformed or laissez-faire audience waiting to be sensitised for the task of nation building. In this
sense, the choice of the nominal element ‘people of the land […]’ as opposed to ‘fellow comrades’ is
stylistic; for it downplays sectional or class interest. In order to reawaken the people’s consciousness
to the challenges inherent in the system, Gong uses the temporal deictic elements ‘today’,
‘tomorrow’/‘future’ to emphasise that time factor must not be wished away in matters of national life.
The poet is agitated with the unfavourable turn of events in the present and possible further
degeneration in the future for which he seeks to sensitise the people and consequently mobilise them
for a change of attitude needed for national rebirth. This is the thesis of Gong’s message for the
people. This social commitment thrust on the part of the poet is what (Egya 2007: 111) refers to as
‘Raji’s political theme […] to raise his society’s consciousness to the collapse of national psyche and to
redirect their attention toward a better tomorrow for which they have to work’.
In a tactical manner that is the hallmark of the dreamer who wishes to sell his or her dream to
those who cannot possibly see beyond the present time, Gong uses the persuasive imperative
structure: ‘hear me out’ to get the attention of his audience. It is by hearing and not by shunning him
that they will get to know what the problems of the land are and then understand the visionary’s
perception of how to get round those problems. ‘Hearing’ as a verb of inert perception and cognition
then becomes a requisite signifier for holding and sustaining national discourse among opposing
parties.
The spatial deictic element which serves as the centre stage or the forum for resolving national
issues: ‘in the marketplace of thought’ is noteworthy. The imagery of the market in the traditional
society is being invoked by the poet to make a statement about the kind of atmosphere needed for
realistic national dialogue. At the market place, both the seller and buyer may have different positions
on the value of the products, goods or services and how much should be spent on them. However, in
the process of haggling, they shift grounds and eventually arrive at a compromise that may favourable
to both parties. The marketplace imagery thus becomes a semiotic for that unconstrained level playing
ground for stakeholders in a national project to operate for realistic solutions to national problems. It
suggests that desirable setting, not a war front nor a battle field that stakeholders sometimes resort to
in order to settle their differences. In fact, the use of the post-modifier ‘of thought’ to qualify the
setting is compelling, as ‘thought’ is suggestive of a rational means of resolving issues as opposed to
whipping up primordial sentiments or taking rash actions or decisions that would not help matters.
Furthermore, the poet’s use of the temporal deictic element ‘now’ in ‘Hear me now […]’ shows the
sense of urgency with which the issues should be raised and discussed, as delay may be dangerous.
In the spirit of a social crusader, the poet, using Gong as his mouthpiece, lays bare the burden
of his heart on the predicament of the land:
I cannot deny my promise not to tell,
but I cannot run away from the lashes of history.
It bids me speak now so that our past shall not
overtake our future.
History becomes a constant signifier in the discourse of nation building that can be ignored
only at a country’s own peril. Hence, the poet’s use of the visual imagery of the ‘lashes of history’ from
which he cannot run away conjures up before the reader the historical antecedents in the country’s
annals which have inflicted open wounds not necessarily on the poet’s body but particularly on his
heart. When someone suffers lashes on the body, he/she feels the pains from the bruises suffered. In a
like manner, the poet’s suffering from the ‘lashes of history’ suggests that the history of the country
causes the poet anguish and must have probably bruised his heart, as a result of which he needs
healing for himself, his compatriots and the land at large through national reconstruction.
Although it is often said that humans never or very rarely learn from history, the poet does not
wish that this would be his lot and that of his fellow compatriots. Hence, in the paradoxical statement:
‘It bids me speak now so that our past shall not / overtake our future’, the poet once again invokes the
temporal deictic elements ‘past’ and ‘future’, exploring the symbiosis of the two frames in such a
logical sense that implies that what was done in the past (although confined to the dustbin of history)
has the propensity of tampering with the future. For the repugnant reminiscences of history embodied
in the olfactory imagery of ‘smell’ expressed in the nominal structure ‘the smell of your history’ and
the visual imagery of ‘lashes’ expressed in the nominal structure ‘the lashes of history’ have a way of
telling on the near or distant imagined future. So, the poet’s exhortation here sounds like an aphorism
that reminds humans of the timelessness of their actions and inactions. For a Nigerian literary writer,
Tayo Olafioye, even paradoxically titles his chronicle of the African/Nigerian experience in a piece
entitled Tomorrow Left Us Yesterday (Olafioye 2004).
As is characteristic of dialectic, Gong has an opposing party that is composed of Takie, Asabi
and Gambia who doubt the sincerity of his claims so far and then put him to test, coming up with their
own respective antithesis. And they take turns to charge at him as follows:
Takie: Hey who goes there? Who goes on disturbing the moment?
Gambia: […] Who begs of you your hungry smelling biography
in a season fit only for business and leisure?
Asabi: What do you have to tell us, […]?
Has your roof started leaking all over […]?
Not in this dry season?
It is pertinent to note that instead of sharing Gong’s views right away, the other characters
question the rationale behind his action and claims. The series of interrogative sentences they deploy
in the process suggests their inability to comprehend even in their wildest imaginations why an
individual would attempt to intercept what is popularly known in the Nigerian parlance as ‘business as
usual’. This is a cliché that Nigerians have creatively coined to trivialise the social hiccups that are
symptomatic of the failings in the Nigerian system.
In the present discourse, therefore, Takie, Gambia and Asabi seem to have resigned to fate,
giving up on the Nigerian project and taking the socio-political realities as being normal and,
therefore, not calling for any redress. Therefore, the use of the nominal elements ‘the moment’, ‘[…] a
season fit only for business and leisure’ and ‘the peace’ serves to capture the people’s perception of the
state of the country, which to them does not warrant any cause for alarm. Simply put, these temporal
markers are metaphors for that delusive ‘comfort zone’ the people seem to have settled for or the state
of passive acceptance of the Nigerian condition. Would the poet as the conscience of society go to
sleep in such a strange world or close his eyes to the raging peace that the people stoically seem to
bear? It is then left to Gong to make them see reason by engaging them in rational dialoguing.
These characters’ assessment of the spatial and temporal settings they inhabit with Gong but
which they perceive differently underlines the essence of dialectic, as the ensuing discourse is largely
adversarial. If Gong claims that it is the ‘smell of your history that chokes the singer / out of silence
[…]’ and yet Takie, Asabi and Gambia instead of being ‘choked’ feel comfortable in the illusory ‘season
of business and leisure’ and ‘peace’, then the inherent contradictions in that society that are played out
in the antonymous linguistic elements need to thrashed out. The scenario echoes the proverbial
account that what the dog sees and barks at ferociously is that which the sheep in turn sees and gazes
at stupidly.
To compound the task of the social crusader, the opposing characters do not consider the
plight a communal one, as they keep on using the second person singular pronominal forms ‘you’ and
‘your’ to downplay the collective interest in Gong’s crusade. It is in fact noteworthy that Asabi thinks
that all that could call for Gong’s reaching out to others is on the condition that ‘your roof has started
leaking all over […]’, with the possessive adjective ‘your’ suggesting that it must be a personal
experience that compels Gong’s perceived disturbance of public ‘peace’. Thus, the imagery of the
leaking rooftop not even during the rains but in an awkward ‘dry season’ suggests the weird condition
which must have made Gong’s account a personal experience that may not necessarily be shared by
the outsider.
However, the social crusader seeks to provide answers to the questions posed by the opposing
characters to underline the question-answer sequence of dialectic discourse. In order to convince
them, he resorts to educating them, making them realise that what they perceive as a personal
experience is indeed a communal one. There is then the transmutation of the distancing person deictic
element ‘your’ to an affective person deictic element ‘your’ that is rhetorically merged with ‘my’ to give
a sense of the resultant collective ‘our’; for ‘your’ + ‘my’ in a moment of shared perception become
‘our’. Therefore, Gong comes up with a rebuttal:
No, not by any stretch of your absent imagination!
What has leaked is far more than my rooftop,
and your rooftops […]
Your history, my history, the past which stinks
and threatens the present.
It is your lack of worry that worries me.
The future […]
Although the same possessives ‘my’ and ‘your’ are still used above as to the sense of history
the persona emphasises, the personal has given way to the collective. So, there is a shared sense of
collectivity that finds expression in the common history that all the characters have. But the question
that arises is: How cognizant of this situation are the other three characters? As would be expected in
a discourse situation with divergent opinions and perceptions, the one who claims to see or know what
others have not seen or known is usually treated contemptuously. Therefore, the propaganda strategy
of name-calling is evoked in the discourse, as the other characters call Gong all manner of names
ranging from ‘Mr Philosopher’, ‘hungry historian’, ‘Prophet’, to ‘Professor’. These social semiotic
resources are the usual verbal stereotypes deployed to ridicule the sense of grandeur or nobility that
almost always characterises the visionary’s vision and goals. All of the nominal elements give the
impression that the visionary seeks to know more than the ordinary people, consequent upon which
he/she does not deserve to be engaged in any meaningful dialogue.
As if that is not enough, Asabi takes Gong’s personality assessment to the level of psychiatry:
Asabi: Are you sure this one is real? The other day I met someone
who looked very much like him, he was busy arguing
with a statue about the palava of state creation,
the pain of inflation […]
I have said it before. I don’t trust the man.
The imagery of any man or woman that is busy arguing with a statue reminds one of the figure
of a mentally deranged individual. Should such a fellow then be welcome not to talk of being engaged
in a dialogue? With the picture of a demented being created of Gong, there appears to be no prospect
of his engaging the attention of Takie, Asabi and Gambia. Hence, in a final showdown, Takie declares:
There’s no need wasting the night
Listening to familiar monologues.
I will have none of this!
How would Gong thwart this campaign of calumny in a bid to achieve his goal of sensitising
the people to transform society? Or should he be discouraged, having been negatively labelled? As his
name symbolically suggests, he must be resilient and muster enough courage to get the attention of
the opposing characters and make them share his vision. So, he insists:
You will. You will. And you will.
Don’t forget it is your history and you will have to tell it
To yourselves and your children in a language […]
Gong’s sense of insistence in the above lines is hinged on the use and repetition of the modal
auxiliary verb ‘will’ that is combined with the subject pronominal element ‘you’. The repetition is
emphatic and reinforced in the third and last structure with the conjunction ‘and’ in ‘And you will’,
showing the climax of Gong’s recommendation to which he sees no other alternative. Also, the
repetition of the second person pronominal ‘you, the possessive ‘your’ and the reflexive form
‘yourselves’ is a rhetorical stroke to stir the characters’ sense of belonging and to forewarn them about
the possible repercussions of their actions and inactions.
At this point, the voice of the opposition, not out of forceful coercion or intimidation but out
of sheer logical reasoning, begins to sway, as Asabi wonders:
I don’t understand again. The other time you said
You have come to show us our history:
now you want us to do what?
What’s your problem?
Asabi’s charge paves way for Gong to make his blueprint for the nation building project
known to the other players in a manner that they would know the kind of attitude and ingredients
required for national reconstruction. Gong then assumes the role of a teacher in nation building
especially in a heterogeneous society such as Nigeria, advocating:
Yes, you are right. Is it possible to clap with a single hand?
What would limbs do when the brain dies a willing death?
We must sing the songs of songs together.
When the masquerade of thought comes abroad, […]
Together we shall grow, learning new ways to take
after years of meandering through self-inflicted labyrinths
of violence, ignorance, doubt, and despair,
lethargy, deception, corruption, nepotism, […]
In the first two lines of the above extract, Gong deploys rhetorical question to underline the
sense of collectivity that is required for national transformation agenda. Using the semiosis of body
chemistry where he considers the networking of the right hand with the left for efficiency and the
supply that the limbs get from the brain to function well, Gong evokes the physiology of the human
system as a prototype of the kind of synergy needed among the different entities that make up the
Nigerian polity for realistic nation building. Harping on the question of collectivity now as opposed to
individualism, there is pronominal shift from the hitherto ‘you’ ‘your’, ‘I’ and ‘my’ to ‘we’. The
deployment of the first person plural pronominal element ‘we’ as an inclusive device underlines the
sense of solidarity knitting that is coveted for true national rebirth.
Besides, the use of the modal auxiliary verb ‘must’ that goes along with the subject ‘we’ to
suggest obligation and subtle compulsion gives force to the action required to be taken and the kind of
disposition the people need to have to succeed in the process. In fact, the use of the adverb of manner
‘together’ to modify how the action should be carried out is stylistically significant. Furthermore, to
intensify the place of the adverb in achieving the set goals, the adverb is repeated and stylistically
thematised in the line ‘Together we shall grow […]’ as opposed to ‘We shall grow together […]’
whereby the attention of the audience is drawn to the focused element ‘together’ in the former
structure.
Consequent upon Gong’s engagement of Takie, Asabi and Gambia in a spree of argumentation
that is based on logical reasoning, the other characters unconsciously drop their guards, as Gambia
probes: ‘Now, we need to know, who are you?’; Asabi queries: ‘Where do you come from?’ and Takie
enquires: ‘Who are you?’ Although these characters still employ interrogative clauses, they ironically
grant Gong audience at last as opposed to their initial posture of outright rejection of him and his
crusade and labelling him in all manner of despicable figures.
At the climax of the dramatic poem/poetic drama when Gong could identify the unanimity of
purpose between him and the other characters, he attempts to sell his blueprint for building Nigeria
all over again:
If we must re-build, we must talk about the plan,
the foundation, before speaking about the colour
of the lintel and the shape of the futuristic windows.
The architecture imagery invoked and intensified by Gong is stylistically compelling; it x-rays
in totality the nation building process and the steps to be taken to achieve an enduring and worthwhile
effort. So, Gong uses the adverbial clause of condition ‘if we must re-build’ to sound a note of caution
that it is not the effort of building that matters but that there are necessary and sufficient conditions to
be satisfied for the structure to stand the test of time. Hence, Gong uses the modal auxiliary verb
‘must’ to insist on the due process for nation building and the repetition of the modal auxiliary
element twice in the poetic line emphasises the kind of attitude needed for true nation building.
Cutting the figure of a perceptive dreamer and master architect, Gong systematically outlines
the building process, proceeding from the substratum of drawing out ‘the plan’ and laying ‘the
foundation’ in the first instance. The initial performance of these tasks is reinforced with the stylistic
use the adjunct element ‘before’ in the structure ‘before speaking about […]’. All of the nominal groups
that serve as the object of the preposition ‘about’, that is, ‘the colour of the lintel’ and ‘the shape of the
futuristic windows’ are co-hyponyms of the superordinate terms mentioned earlier. As subsidiary
steps, it would be out of place to attempt having them carried out before the basic steps. In this
regard, Gong, serving as the mouthpiece of the poet, Remi Raji, cuts the figure of a teacher on national
strategic planning.
At this stage of the discourse when Gong’s thesis has been thoroughly subjected to
questioning and testing (antithesis), Takie, Asabi and Gambia accept Gong’s views (synthesis) as
Gambia and Asabi chorus in unison: ‘I agree with you […]’ before Takie emphatically lends his own
voice : ‘Oh yes… Yes, I agree with you. But it is my story’. The fact that all the characters no longer use
interrogative or negative structures but declarative and affirmative sentences suggests that their doubt
has been cleared. In fact, the use of the declarative sentence ‘I agree with you’/ Oh yes […] Yes I agree
with you […]’ is not just a performance of an assertive act but also a commissive, showing the sense of
commitment that they have towards the cause. As if Takie’s identification with the dream project, that
is, the Nigerian cause in his declaration ‘But it is my story’ is an invitation to healthy rivalry, Asabi
snaps ‘No, it is my story’, while Gambia enthusiastically declares: ‘No, yes, I mean, it is the story of my
life […]’.
The sense of patriotism and commitment exhibited by the characters to the cause of the
Nigerian project is stylistically reinforced with the use of the individualistic possessive adjective ‘my’
as opposed to the generalising possessive adjective ‘our’. If the characters had opted for the plural
possessive, individuals that make up the group could claim that the fate of the country could be left in
the hands of others for safe keep without any genuine commitment. But with the use of ‘my’, the sense
of belonging and commitment to the cause of nation building is further emphasised and intensified. In
fact, the healthy rivalry among Takie, Asabi and Gambia in playing their respective roles in the task of
nation building is brought to the fore in their jostling for the part to play, with no one ready to concede
his/her own under any guise. The competitive thrust of the discourse is stylistically conveyed with the
rebuttal ‘no’ in ‘No, it is my story’, ‘No, […] it is the story of my life’. Metaphorically speaking, ‘the
story’ that each of these stakeholders refers to encapsulates the crisis of development in Nigeria, the
attitude the players in the reconstruction bid have to imbibe and the steps to be taken to turn around
the squalid story of the country for good.
Conclusion
The invocation of the principles and processes of dialectic and the characteristic style markers
in the poetic discourse analysed thus far throws up a number of issues. The use of rhetorical strokes:
constant pronominal shift with very penetrating and fluid pragmatic effects to gauge the dialectical
processes, temporal and spatial deictic markers, turn-taking strategy with marked question and
answer sequence and minimal overlaps or interruptions is significant. Furthermore, the
preponderance of interrogative clauses in the utterances of the opposing characters is interesting.
It is noteworthy that from the beginning of the dramatic poem/poetic drama where the
characters are engaged in a conflict of values as to the lot of their country up to the point at which the
climax is reached, it is only on the basis of argument (whether logical or illogical) on the part of the
opposing characters and superior (counter) argument on the part of Gong that the discourse has been
sustained. At no point do we have any suggestion of any attempted scuffle accompanied by the
brandishing of dangerous weapons such as guns, machetes or fetish objects that are commonly
deployed in the Nigerian environment for settling political scores or even the invasion of the forum or
venue of the dialogue by restive youths or political thugs. Simply put, all that the characters have
engaged in is ‘jaw-jaw’ instead of ‘war-war’. The poet, Remi-Raji, thus seems to reiterate the potency
of dialoguing as a communicative semiotic tool required for practical national integration.
In terms of the dramaturgy deployed by the poet, the characterisation of the literary piece is
intriguing. The characters are representative of the diverse ethnic groups within the Nigerian political
space that need to engage one another in a useful dialogue for national integration. As archetypes,
they occupy the symbolic setting of a heterogeneous society like that of Nigeria where the inhabitants
would have diverse interests to protect, out of which only national interests should prevail.
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Author Information
Adeyemi ADEGOJU, PhD
Department of English
Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Institutional email: [email protected]
Private emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
Adeyemi Adegoju holds a doctoral degree in Stylistics/Conflict Rhetoric from the University of
Ibadan, Nigeria. He teaches literary stylistics in the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His research focus spans stylistic criticism, semiotics, rhetoric and African
language/cultural studies. He has published a number of articles in refereed international journals
such as Geolinguistics, Linguistik Online, Journal of Pan African Studies, The International Journal of
Language Society and Culture, African Study Monographs, The English Academy Review: Southern
African Journal of English Studies and Matatu: Journal for African Culture and Society. He has also
contributed chapters to books published by Council for the Development of Social Science Research in
Africa (CODESRIA), Dakar, Senegal; Africa World Press of Trenton, New Jersey, USA; Universal
Publishers, Boca-Raton, Florida, USA; and Nova Science Publishers, New York, USA.
ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION, OVERCONFIDENCE AND PARENTAL UNREALISTIC
EXPECTATIONS AS CORRELATES OF ACADEMIC REBELLIOUSNESS AMONG SOME
NIGERIAN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Ruth Adunola Aderanti
Taiwo Motolani Williams
Comfort Adebola Oyinloye
Ngozi Caroline Uwanna
Babcock University
Abstract
The study examined the relationship between academic procrastination, overconfidence and
parental unrealistic expectations on the academic rebelliousness of undergraduate students in Ogun
State, Nigeria. Two hundred and fifty participants were randomly selected from a tertiary
institution in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multiple regression analysis was employed to determine the joint
and relative contributions of the independent variables to the prediction of the dependent variable.
The results showed a relationship between academic procrastination, overconfidence and academic
rebelliousness of the students. The multiple correlation coefficient (R2= .082) indicating a joint
contribution of the independent variables on the dependent variable was recorded for this study.
Further verification using regression analysis of variance (ANOVA) produced F (3, 194) =5.765; P<
0.05).This study, also conclusively found that overconfidence and academic procrastination
relatively contributed to the prediction of academic rebelliousness of the undergraduate students.
Implications for adolescent counseling are discussed in the study.
Key Words: Academic Procrastination, Overconfidence, Parental Unrealistic
Expectations, Academic Rebelliousness, Undergraduates
Introduction
Rebellious behavior is common among young people. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(2000) observed that rebelliousness of the young people may be due in part to parental insecurity and
the inability to find meaning in society and life. Rebellious behavior among youths manifests in
various antisocial ways such as, robbery, lying, drug addiction, rape, hooliganism, truancy, and
cheating (Aderanti, 2011). Academic related rebelliousness, in the context of this work, refers to a
deliberate involvement in academic misconducts such as boycott of lecture, inattention in class,
unwillingness to participate in class work, assignments, and project and lack of will power. Other
attributes of academic rebelliousness include truancy (Mathye, 2004) cited in (Aderanti, 2011),
dropping out of school (Jessor and Jessor, 1997), and various forms of cheating such as examination
malpractice (Aderanti, 2007).
A number of theories have given credence to the facts above. For instance, the social learning
theory proposed that deviant behavior (rebelliousness) of adolescents is learned through models
(parents and peers). The control theory believed that adolescents without social control such as setting
of rules and codes and not receiving enough support and modeling can lead to deviant behavior
(Agnew, 2005). Fayombo (2001) agreed that the action of parents and the demands they make of their
children can have lasting effects on the behavior of their children.
Therefore, the present study seeks to find out if Parental unrealistic expectations,
overconfidence and academic procrastination can influence academic rebelliousness of
undergraduates in Nigeria.
Review of Literature
Academic Procrastination
Evidence from past research shows that various authors defined procrastination in various
forms. For instance, Lay (1986) conceived procrastination as a frequent failure at doing what ought to
be done to reach goals while Ellis and Knaus (2002) described procrastination as the desire to avoid
an activity, the promise to get it late, and the use of excuse making to justify the delay and avoid
blame. Furthermore, Furthermore, Noran (2000) considers a procrastinator as someone who knows
what he/she and planning to perform the task, but does not complete the task, or excessively delays
performing the task. Thus, working on less important obligation, rather than fulfilling the more
important obligation, or (s) he may use his or her time wastefully in some minor activities or pleasure.
Past studies revealed that procrastination is related to poor academic performance (Çakıcı, 2003;
Fritzsche, Young, and Hickson, 2003), unpunctuality, difficulty in following instructions (Lay,1986;
Rothblum, Solomon, and Murakami, 1986), low effort for success (Saddler and Buley, 1999),
inadequate motivation(Senećal, Koestner, and Vallerand, 1995). Popoola (2005) noted that the lives
of university students are characterized by frequent deadlines given by university teachers and
administrators to carry out various responsibilities such as registration for courses,completion of
course forms and submission of class assignments or term papers. O'Brien (2002), stated that selfreport by students suggested that 80-95 per cent engage in procrastination of some sort and almost 50
per cent procrastinate consistently, which leads to problems with assignments or other set tasks (Day,
Mensink, & O'Sullivan, 2000; Onwuegbuzie, 2000).
Overconfidence
Too much confidence among students can be harmful. Rouchier and Tanimura (2011)
described overconfidence as the tendency to overestimate the precision of one's information - people
tend to state (and act as if) their belief was more certain than it actually is. Thus, the performance
regarding a given task also has a huge impact: when being repeatedly successful, an individual will
become overconfident, and turn out to be less sensitive to the perception of their following success or
errors (Hilary & Menzly, 2006). Overconfident students most times credit themselves too much when
they are successful thus, becoming proud and loosing focus of their primary aims of attaining
excellence in their studies. This statement re-affirms an earlier statement made by Hilary & Menzly
(2006) who noted that, once overconfidence is installed, individuals do not care about the actual
result of their choice and do not reevaluate their confidence and consequently, this usually leads to an
increase of bad choices for the ones that were initially successful.
Perceived parental Unrealistic expectations
Parents usually have unrealistic expectations for their children. Indeed, parent child system is
related to child’s sociometric status (Barth and Parke, 1993; Putallaz and Heflin, 1990). The basic
factor in child development is the social relationships and among all social relationships, the
relationship between parents and child is very crucial one. Parents’ expectations have been shown to
be a significant predictor of student success across age groups, races, and nationalities (Seginer, 1983;
Kaplan, Liu, and Kaplan, 2001).
The aim of this study is to find out if parental unrealistic expectations, overconfidence and
academic procrastination, can promote academic rebelliousness among undergraduates. This was
achieved by posing the following questions:
Research Questions
1.
What is the relationship between the independent variables (Parental unrealistic expectations,
Overconfidence and academic procrastination) and undergraduates’ academic rebelliousness?
2. What is the combined influence of Parental unrealistic expectations, Overconfidence and
academic procrastination on undergraduates academic rebelliousness?
3. What is the relative influence of Parental unrealistic expectations, Overconfidence and
academic procrastination on undergraduates’ academic rebelliousness?
Methodology
Research Design
The design of the study is the descriptive design of expost-facto type. Ex-post facto type is a
systematic empirical inquiry in which the researcher does not have direct control on the independent
variables because their manifestations had already occurred (Kerlinger & Lee, 2000). This simply
implies that, the researcher usually has no control over the variables under study and therefore,
cannot manipulate them.
Population and sample of the study
The population of this study comprised of undergraduates attending a private tertiary
institution in Ogun State, Nigeria. It was from this population of undergraduate that, the researchers
purposively sampled two hundred and fifty participants for the purpose of this study. The sample was
drawn from three hundred level students because; it is believed that this group has spent more than
four academic semesters in the school.
Instrumentation
The instruments used for the study were:
Academic procrastination
Aitken Procrastination Inventory (API) designed by Aitken (1982) was used to measure the
tendency of students to procrastination in their academic tasks. The scale with one dimension,
consisting of 19 items, is a 5-point one. Participants indicate the extent to which they believe in
statements such as “If I had an important project to do, I’d get started on it as quickly as possible”.
The statements are rated on a 5- point Likert scales ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
Aitken (1982) reported a coefficient alpha of .82.High scores indicate that the students have a high
level of procrastination behavior.
Overconfidence Scale
Self-developed scale was used to measure the overconfidence level of the students. The scale
consists of 10 items. Examples of items on the scale include: Passing my assessments at first attempt
is not a problem and I always know what I’m doing. The items were measured on a 4 point Likert
scale ranging from Very Unsure to Very sure. A Cronbach alpha of 0.67 was obtained in order to
ascertain the suitability of the scale for the study.
Rebelliousness Scale
Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors/Rebelliousness scale was used to assess the
level of rebelliousness of the undergraduates. A Reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained for the
scale by the authors. Number of items on the scale is 3. Examples of items on the scale include: I do
the opposite of what people tell me, just to get them mad and I ignore rules that get in my way
Parental Unrealistic expectation Scale
A self-developed scale was used to measure the overconfidence level of the students. The scale
consists of 10 items. Examples of items on the scale include: “Everyone expects me to get along very
well with my school mates and being in school is my parents’ decision”. These items were measured
on a 4 point Likert scales ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. A Cronbach alpha value of
0.66 was obtained for the scale.
Data analysis
The data collected was analyzed using the Multiple Regression Analysis and Pearson product moment
correlation.
Results
Research Question One
What is the relationship between the independent variables (academic procrastination,
Overconfidence and Parental unrealistic expectations) and undergraduates’ academic rebelliousness?
Table 1
Correlation between Academic Procrastination and Academic Rebelliousness
Academic
Rebelliousness
Academic
Rebelliousness
Pearson
1
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
198
Academic
Pearson
.157(*)
Procrastination
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
.027
N
198
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Academic Procrastination
.157(*)
.027
198
1
198
Table 1 shows that there is a significant relationship between academic procrastination of the students
and their academic rebelliousness. The value obtained was 0.027.
Table 2
Correlation between Overconfidence and Academic Rebelliousness
Academic
Rebelliousness
Academic
Rebelliousness
Pearson
1
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
198
Overconfidence
Pearson
.204(**)
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
.004
N
198
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Overconfidence
.204(**)
.004
198
1
198
Table 2 shows that there is a significant relationship between overconfidence level of the students and
their academic rebelliousness. The value obtained was 0.004.
Table 3
Correlation between Parental Unrealistic Expectations and Academic Rebelliousness
Parental
Unrealistic
Academic
Expectations
Rebelliousness
Academic
Pearson
1
.088
Rebelliousness
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
.220
N
198
198
Parental
Pearson
Unrealistic
Correlation
.088
1
Expectations
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
.220
198
198
Table 3 shows that there is no significant relationship between parental unrealistic expectations of the
students and their academic rebelliousness. The value obtained was 0.220.
Research Question Two
What is the combined influence of Parental unrealistic expectations, Overconfidence and
academic procrastination on undergraduates academic rebelliousness?
Table 4
The composite effect of the Independent variables on academic rebelliousness
Model R
R Square
1
.261
.068
Significant at P <0.05
Adjusted
R Square
.054
Sig.
F
4.740
0.003
Table 4 shows the composite effect of the Independent variables on academic rebelliousness. The table
also Shows the linear combination of effects of academic procrastination, overconfidence and parental
unrealistic expectations on academic rebelliousness as significant (F =4.740; R =.261; R2 =.068; Adj.
R2 =.054; P <.05). The independent variables jointly accounted for a variation of 6.8%.
Research Question Three
What is the relative influence of Parental unrealistic expectations, Overconfidence and academic
procrastination on undergraduates’ academic rebelliousness?
Table 5
Relative effect of the three Independent variables on academic rebelliousness
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Model
1
(Constant)
Overconfidence
Academic
procrastination
Standardized
Coefficients
t
Sig.
B
.027
.208
Std. Error Beta
.169
.076
.191
.158
2.728
Std. Error
.875
.007
.144
.066
.152
2.195
.029
Parental unrealistic
.065
expectations
.074
.061
0.872
.384
The results on table 5 show the relative contributions of the independent variables to the
prediction of academic rebelliousness. The variables contribution in terms of their magnitude is
presented as follows: Overconfidence (β =
.191; t= 2.728; P=
0.007 <0.05) and academic
procrastination (β =.152; t=2.195; P=0.029 <0.05). It can thus be observed from table 5 that
overconfidence and academic procrastination each contributed to academic rebelliousness of the
students while Parental unrealistic expectations did not have a relative contribution to academic
rebelliousness.
Discussion
The goal of this study is to examine if academic procrastination, parental unrealistic
expectations and overconfidence would contribute to the academic rebelliousness of undergraduates.
The study found academic procrastination and overconfidence to be significant and potent
contributors of academic rebelliousness. Overconfidence was found to have contributed the most to
academic rebelliousness. This is in support of what was earlier stated by Pallier, Wilkinson, Danthiir,
Kleitman, Knezevic and Stankov, Roberts (2002) who viewed the overconfidence effect as a wellestablished bias in which someone's subjective confidence in their judgments is reliably greater than
their objective accuracy, especially when confidence is relatively high. Again, Plous (1993) said that
no problem in judgment and decision making is more prevalent and more potentially catastrophic
than overconfidence. A student may become too overconfident and then assume that he/ she knows
more than the content of the subject thus, becoming rebellious towards the content as wells as the
process of learning. Another potent contributor to academic rebelliousness in the present study was
academic procrastination. This is in accordance with what Ferrari (2001) found when he reported that
chronic procrastinators perform more poorly academically and rationalize their postponement of
action in their nature of doing things or carrying out a given assignment. Furthermore, Steel (2007)
revealed that at larger levels of analysis, procrastination can be linked to several organizational and
societal issues. Since rebellion can be viewed as a reaction, whatever one does, therefore will depend
on who or what you are rebelling against. For instance, if you do not like your teacher or the subject,
you may strike back or get even by turning in your assignments late or procrastinating indefinitely.
Implication for counseling
Findings from this study have great implications for counseling. This is because
procrastination is not just a simple habit. It involves complex behaviors among which are the
emotions as well as the thoughts and actions of individuals. Counselors can assist in training the
students on how best to utilize their time. This will enable them plan properly and be able to put
important things first. In order words, ordering things and events properly can assist in boosting their
abilities and consequently, lower their postponement of the very important academic assignments.
Again, overconfidence can be addressed in a number of ways. Overconfidence may be at least partially
responsible for the relatively high incidence of failures among students, since overconfident
individuals are likely to overestimate their ability to make correct decisions. If overconfident
individuals perceive less risk in their endeavors, then this cognitive bias might subsequently lead to
increased tendency for individuals to show academic rebelliousness, whereas a less overconfident
individual may not form this behavior. So helping the students understand how to develop a balance
in their self-belief and this irrational behavior may assist in reducing academic rebelliousness in them.
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Author Notes
Aderanti, Ruth Adunola (Ph.D)
Williams, Taiwo Motolani (Ph.D)
Oyinloye, Comfort Adebola (Ph.D)
Uwanna, Ngozi Caroline (MPP)
Department of Educational Foundations
Babcock University, Ogun State, Nigeria
THE ROLE OF ARABIC ORTHOGRAPHIC LITERACY IN THE PHONOLOGICAL
AWARENESS OF TUNISIAN CHILDREN
Mohamed Ammar
Mohamed Ridha Ben Maad
University of Carthage
Abstract
This article investigated the effect of Arabic orthography on the phonological awareness acquisition.
A sample of Tunisian primary school and preliterate were asked to manipulate syllables and
phonemes through segmentation, counting and deletion tasks. Results showed that manipulation of
syllables is far easier than that of phonemes. Also, the deletion of phonemes was an easier task than
phoneme segmentation and counting, in contrast to findings attendant to alphabetically written
languages such as English and Hebrew. Data were interpreted by the nature of Arabic orthography
and diglossia.
Keywords: Phonological awareness; Reading literacy; Arabic orthography; Diglossia.
Introduction
Phonological awareness refers to the ability to hear and distinguish sounds (i.e., recognizing,
adding, deleting, and moving sounds). It is crucial for learning to read in alphabetically written
languages like Arabic and French. According to Gillon (2004), phonological awareness is a reliable
predictor of more advanced reading ability, which makes it subject to substantial research not only
from linguistics but also from educational psychology. Phonological awareness is one component of a
larger phonological processing system which differs from other phonological sub-skills due its metalinguistic character as it requires conscious awareness and reflection on the structure of language.
The role of phonological awareness in the reading acquisition in alphabetic scripts originates from
systematic relationship between the letters in printed words (or graphemes) and the phoneme
sequences underlying spoken language (Byrne, Freebody, and Gates, 1992). Phonological awareness
has been empirically investigated in many alphabetically written languages such as English (e.g.,
Bradely and Bryant, 1983), French (Gillon, 2004) and Hebrew (Bentin, Hammer and Cahan, 1991;
Oren, 2001). According to Morais et al. (1987), phonological awareness is a series of organized
abilities, some of which are acquired long before learning to read, and others later. The earlier aspects
of phonetic awareness (i.e., manipulation of syllables, rhymes and alliterations) constitute a
prerequisite for learning to read. The later aspects correspond to a phonemic awareness and require a
higher level of abstraction. The latter cannot appear before the acquisition of the reading skill in an
alphabetical writing system.
Gombert (1992) considers that the cognitive activities determine two sets of phonological
behavior, epi-phonological (i.e., intuitive) and meta-phonological. The first refers to linguistic
knowledge that is more or less automatically applied spontaneously and intuitively whereas the metaphonological behavior corresponds to the conscious and thoughtful activity on the components of
speech. These two sets are more distinguished by the quality than by the degree of the processing in
use. Meta-linguistic ability could appear in the manipulation of phonemes as well as for syllables. This
conception (1992) differs in part from that of Morais et al. (1987) who confined the meta-phonological
ability to phonemic units.
With regard to the Arabic orthography, it includes 28 letters, all consonants except three long
vowels: ‫ أ‬/a:/‫ و‬/u:/ and ‫ ي‬/i:/ and short vowels are represented by diacritical dots. Most Arabic
consonants have more than one written form (e.g. /f/ = ‫ف‬،‫ـفـ‬،‫ )فـ‬depending on whether they occur in
the beginning, middle, or end of a word. This specificity brings into existence two forms of spelling:
with or without vocalisation. The vowels added through a consonantal skeleton by means of diacritical
marks produce a shallow orthography whereas vocalisation is missing, orthography is deep and the
word behaves as homograph that is semantically and phonologically ambiguous: the unvoweled word
/k-t-b/, for example, supports several alternatives as /kataba/ (he wrote), /kutiba/ (it was written),
/kutubun/ (books), etc. Voweled spelling is taught to novice readers, while unvoweled spelling
constitutes the standard form and is gradually imposed at later reading literacy stages. These
linguistic characteristics infer that phonological lexical representations developed by Arabic literate
children operate on the basis of a clear distinction between consonants and vowels. Therefore, the
position of consonants is more salient than that of vowels.
Arabic is characterized by diglossia that is the use of two language varieties: Modern Standard
Arabic that is the official language taught at schools and colloquial Arabic that is the language of
everyday communication outside official settings (Saiegh-Haddad, 2005). Diglossia gives rise to great
phonological alteration during the shift from Modern Standard Arabic to colloquial Arabic. But the
most important alteration have affected vowels and spared consonants (Abu-Rabia, 2001). For
example, words like /qalam-/ (a pencil), /kita:b-/ (a book), and /tifl-/ (a child) in Modern Standard
Arabic are pronounced respectively /qlam/, /kta:b/ and /tful/ in colloquial Arabic.
We assume that this phonological variability is determined by the morphologic structure of
Arabic. Our hypothesis is that oral processing of Arabic words is different from that of English words.
Acquisition of the meta-phonological ability in Arabic is closely determined by the consonantal part of
the linguistic system. As we hoped to examine the meta-phonological abilities with children at
different grades, we proposed tasks that could avoid as much as possible the risks of floor and ceiling
effects. This might be approachable through considering the nature of the sound to be manipulated in
light of the large number of tasks with various levels of difficulty exerted on both syllables and
phonemes.
According to Gombert (1992), we retained three tasks which could influence one’s metaphonological ability with respect to syllables and phonemes. These included deletion, counting, and
segmentation tasks. In the deletion task, the sound to be deleted was set at the beginning, in the
middle or at the end of the given utterance. The phonemic deletion was exclusively applied to the
consonants in order to get pronounceable sequences and also because of the prevalence of the
consonantal structure in Arabic.
According to Gombert (1992), the cognitive demands should be different for each task. The
order of success should proceed as follows: counting, segmentation, deletion. As suggested by
MacDonald and Cornwall (1995), success in deletion depends on the position of the sound to be
deleted within a given utterance. Syllable deletion at the beginning or at the end of the utterance
should be easier than that in the middle. They claimed that the deletion of middle-position sounds
would require greater cognitive effort since children first proceed to the analysis of the word stimulus
to locate the target syllable/phoneme and then to a synthesis in order to recompose the remaining
syllabi. Such processing operations might be highly testing on short-term memory for capacity-limited
children.
Like in other alphabetically written languages (e.g., French and Hebrew), it is expected in the
present study that Arabic does not deflect from the rule that literacy of the alphabetic system would
have strong bearing on children’s phonological awareness, and so to their reading abilities. However,
unlike the abovementioned languages, the comparatively complex nature of the Arabic morphosyntactic character and the phenomenon of diglossia are hypothesized to overburden Tunisian
children’s reading processing abilities.
Method
Subjects were 110 Tunisian children enrolled in primary education schools and kindergartens,
largely of low to middle class backgrounds. Girls and boys were evenly represented. There were 20
preliterate kindergarteners with a mean age of 5.6 years. Students of primary education were 30 in
first grade (G1), 30 in second grade (G2), and 30 in third grade (G3). Their mean ages for each group
were as follows: 6.8 years for Grade 1, 7.9 years for Grade 2, and 8.11 years fro Grade 2. Each grade
was represented by two sub-groups, with 15 informants each.
These groups were screened out of a larger sample that had participated in a collective test of
word identification written in voweled Arabic. The test was largely inspired by a test design developed
in Khomsi (1993).1 The preliminary sample was composed of 240 students, with 80 students
corresponding to each grade. They were randomly chosen among four public schools. Two criteria
were adopted for subject selection: (a) classification according to the student's global score in the
collective test, and (b) the teacher's assessment of the student's reading mastery. In the event of
disagreement between these two criteria, the subject was excluded from the sample. After the
screening procedure, a sample of informants was selected for the subsequent experimental procedure.
They were divided into two sub-groups under each grade category, except for the group of
kindergarteners. They were respectively operationalized as Good Readers, Poor Readers, and
Preliterate.2
In order to elicit data attendant to the phonemic and syllabic treatment of words in Arabic, two
sets of measures of meta-phonological abilities composed of 72 items: 46 items for the syllabic set
(Appendix 1) and 46 items for the phonemic set (Appendix 2). We suggested the voweled script
instead of the unvoweled one because it is usually used at Tunisian primary schools for learning to
read. The items were made up of two or three syllables in the syllabic condition and of one or two
syllables in the phonemic condition. Among each measure set, children was asked to manipulate 12
colloquial Arabic words, 12 Modern Standard Arabic words, and 12 pseudo-words. Manipulation of
syllables and phonemes was carried out by means of three tasks: counting, segmentation and deletion.
The tasks were administered to both preliterate and literate children in small groups that did not
exceed fifteen subjects. The instructions were given to the informants in colloquial Arabic. We used
"large sound" and "small sound" terms to refer to syllable and phoneme, respectively. In the counting
and the segmentation tasks, the utterance was pronounced and the child was asked to repeat it and to
count by his fingers the number of syllables or phonemes it involved. Then he (or she) was asked to
articulate the sounds s/he had just counted, separately and in order. In the deletion tasks, the child
was asked to say what remained when one sound was removed from the utterance.
Each subject was tested individually in a relatively quiet room at the school and the test
required between five to ten minutes for each subject. Prior to the administration of each data
elicitation task, every child had to perform three practice items. S/he was then asked to repeat the
demonstration trial. Upon completion of the trial, the test items were presented. Each correct
response was followed by confirmation. We corrected any incorrect responses and demonstrated the
correct response. Each child's score consisted of the number of correct responses.
Results
The results reported in the present study were presented across two main conditions: the syllabic
condition and the phonemic condition. As far as the syllabic condition is concerned, descriptive
statistics of the data gleaned by the aforementioned tasks suggested that the literacy level of children
did not yield substantial differential effect across the three experimental activities of segmentation,
counting, and deletion. Accordingly, Table 1 shows that the Preliterate group scored even better than
the literate children with respect to the counting activities. Similarly, results related to Grade 1
children within the Poor Readers’ group outscored their counterparts of Grades 1 and 2 within the
Good Readers group.
Equally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the variables grade (Preliterate, G1, G2, and G3),
reading status (Good/Poor Reader) and task type (counting, segmentation and deletion) showed no
significant effect for reader's grade (i.e., [F (2,267) = 1.81, P = 0.164]), contrary to the significant
effect for reading status [i.e., F (2,327) = 13.69 ; P < 0.001]. Post-hoc comparisons showed that Good
Readers obtained scores in the deletion task that were markedly higher than those of Poor Readers
1
The Khomsi Test was specifically designed to French-speaking dyslexic children. The test is
composed of two main rubrics: word identification and word reading comprehension. The present
study focused on the main part and the chief change was to opt for words in Arabic instead of French.
Mention of these terms in capitalized font accounts for their use as between-subjects variables and
not simplistic measures of judgment. Also, the term Preliterate was preferred to Kindergartners
because the latter may include subjects who might have received some instruction in alphabetic
literacy.
2
[i.e., F (1, 88) = 37.87, P < 0.001] and those of the Preliterate group [i.e., F (1, 63) = 56.56, P < 0.001].
Also, scores of the Preliterate group in the counting task were considerably higher than those of Good
Readers [i.e., F (1, 63) = 14.29, p < 0.001] and those of Poor Readers in Grade 1 [i.e., F (1, 63) = 22.55,
P < 0.001].
Table 1
Mean scores for the syllabic tasks
Good Readers
Poor Readers
Preliterate
G1
G2
G3
G1
G2
G3
Counting
12.20
13.87
15.87
15.20
12.20
11.33
16.80
Segmentation
13.60
13.60
16
14.80
13.27
11.20
15.65
Deletion
13.73
15.80
15.07
6
10
12.87
8.15
Note: G = grade.
As for the deletion task, we examined the effect of the syllable location on accuracy scores.
Data were calculated using the number of items for each syllable location, that is the frequency and
the number of subjects across each category of subjects as the maximum score. Results presented in
Figure 1 attested to the assumption that the manipulation of the medial syllable was the most difficult
task for all tested groups. Conversely, it was easier for them to delete the initial or the final syllable,
and there were no considerable differences between accuracy scores of the initial and the final
syllable, as exemplified by scores under Grades 1 and 2.
30
25
20
Initial
15
Medial
Final
10
5
0
Preliterate
G1
G2
G3
Figure 1: Distribution of accurate responses across groups in the syllabic condition
For the phonemic condition, Table 2 displays mean scores for the correct responses across the
groups of informants. Descriptive results presented in the table reveal that phonemic awareness was
most associated with the level of reading literacy regardless of the task type. The scores under the
Good Readers category were the highest and the ones collected from the Preliterate subjects were the
lowest. Findings related to the Deletion task were by far high the highest among the Good Readers
whereas the Preliterate informants scored poorly. In the same vein, the mean scores within each
group level increased as we move up in the grade scale, which further corroborates the influence of
reading literacy on the meta-phonetic manipulation.
Table 2
Mean scores for the phonemic tasks
Good Readers
Poor Readers
Preliterate
G1
G2
G3
G1
G2
G3
Counting
2.93
4.47
8.87
1.07
2.53
4.07
0.15
Segmentatio
0.80
0.47
6.60
0.13
0.40
1.20
0
9.87
10.87
14.07
2.80
5.87
9.53
4.40
n
Deletion
Note: G = grade.
Inferential statistics of the data bear out the effect patterns in the phonemic condition. In
order to examine the effect of the phoneme location on accuracy scores in the deletion task, data were
calculated using the number of items for each phoneme location, that is the frequency and the number
of subjects across each category of subjects (i.e., 45 for the Good Readers group, 45 for the Poor
Readers group, and 20 for the Preliterate group as the maximum score). ANOVA showed no
significant effect of the phoneme location [i.e., F (2, 51) = 0.10, P = 0.904]. The effect of subject's
category was significant [i.e., F (2, 51) = 42.17, P < 0.001], indicating that the Good Readers group
could delete phonemes more accurately than the Poor Readers group or the Preliterate group, and
that the latter group were the least accurate.
Discussion
The present study sought to explore the development of meta-phonological awareness of Tunisian
children through the implementation of deletion, segmentation, and counting tasks. It followed that
the subjects had better scores in the syllabic condition than in the phonemic condition. These results
are in agreement with those reported in other alphabetically written languages. The best performances
of Good Readers confirm the idea supported by many researchers (e.g. Byrne et al., 1992; Gombert,
1992) that reading failure may manifest itself through a lack of phonemic awareness. The lowest
results of the Preliterate children suggest that phonemic awareness does not develop spontaneously,
but only in the specific context of learning to read an alphabetic script at school. This phenomenon
was observed in many alphabetically written languages, such as English French (Gillon, 2004; Morais
et al., 1987), and Hebrew (Bentin et al., 1991; Oren, 2001).
In the syllabic condition, the majority of children were able to attend to this type of sounds.
Nevertheless, only the Poor Readers and the Preliterate groups were negatively affected by the
deletion tasks and they were better in the segmentation and counting tasks. The relative ease of the
segmentation and counting tasks did not seem to be linked on a high abstract and elaborate
phonological knowledge, but to intuitive behavior. In fact, Gombert (1992) has emphasized the epiphonological character of the syllabic segmentation tasks since they require only simple sound
repetition. Accordingly, scores of the Preliterate group in the counting task were far above those of
Good Readers and Poor Readers. These findings are in concordance with the observations of
Liberman Shankweiler, Fisher, and Carter (1974) with respect to English, showing that preliterate
children could succeed in some syllabic tasks.
The poor performance of literate children indicates their tendency to resort to some
representations that are closely linked to the alphabetic code. This strategy is not efficient enough to
manipulate syllables in spoken words. Furthermore, the failure of the Preliterate and the Poor
Readers groups in the syllabic deletion task was considerable. Not only their accuracy scores, but their
performances in the other tasks were far behind those of Good Readers. Comparison of the syllabic
tasks with the other tasks showed that the degree of difficulty depended not only on the sound to be
deleted (i.e. syllables or phonemes) but also on the task to be performed. Data were congruent with
Gombert's (1992) claim that the meta-phonological ability is likely to appear in the manipulation of
syllables as well as phonemes.
Success in the syllabic deletion task was relative to the position of the syllable to be deleted.
All groups had better scores when the syllable to be deleted was at the end or at the beginning than
when it was in the middle (c.f., Gillon, 2004; Kurtz, 2010). Scores on the medial syllable deletion task
were markedly lower than those of the final or the initial one. This seems to agree with Gombert's
(1992) assumption that deletion of the medial syllable is the most difficult because it requires a high
level of conscious control. It involves a greater degree of cognitive complexity since the child must first
proceed to an analysis of the spoken word stimulus in order to extract the target syllable, then to a
synthesis in order to recompose the remaining syllables. Execution of this variety of operations would
be high loading on short-term memory. It would need a well-developed capacity of control and
consciousness while manipulating the verbal stimuli.
In the phonemic condition, scores were very low and floor effects were notable among the
Poor Readers and Preliterate groups. The order of success was so as follows: deletion, counting,
segmentation. Contrary to the findings in other alphabetically written languages, phonemic
segmentation task was the most difficult. For instance, Vandervelden and Siegel (1995) have shown
that presentation of a phonemic segmentation task to English-speaking children in the first grade
results in substantially correct responses. Likewise, Bentin et al. (1991) found that success rate of
Hebrew-speaking children in the same school grade for the same kind of task was equally high.
Nevertheless, the phonemic segmentation task of the present study showed less correct responses for
Good Readers in the first grade and the highest accuracy rate was among Good Readers of the third
grade. The Arabic-speaking children experienced difficulties in accomplishing this sort of tasks. Such
difficulties stem from the constraints of diglossia as evidenced by Saiegh-Haddad (2005).
Phonological changes with which children were usually confronted had posed an additional burdening
factor in the explicit phonemic identification.
As shown above, the phonemic deletion task was the easiest for our sample of Arabic-speaking
children. If we take into account that the phonemes concerned by deletion were exclusively
consonants, our findings testify to more developed analysis abilities of the consonantal phonemes
than of vocalic ones. Arabic phonological awareness may be related to the language structure that is
principally morphological. As a rule, Arabic words are formed by mounting a word pattern of vowels
on a root that is a skeleton of consonants. The importance of consonants in the inflectional system
explains the better performances in manipulating the consonantal phonemes. Moreover, consonants
have conserved their privileged status within diglossia. Phonological variations between Modern
Standard Arabic and colloquial Arabic have affected vowels while preserving consonants. Exceptional
phonologic invariability of consonants in the two Arabic spoken languages may allow children to
develop fixed representations about the consonantal segments (see Abu-Rabia, 2001).
Gombert (1992) supported that success in the phonemic deletion tasks depended greatly on
the phoneme location. In the same vein, Ziegler and Goswami (2005) found that deletion task scores
were better for the initial or the final phoneme than for the medial one. However, our findings showed
that the phoneme location is not significant. Divergence between the performances of Arabic-speaking
and English-speaking children confirms that the representations about the consonantal segments
were not the same.
Conclusion
The study reported in this paper had the merit of replicating in part the findings on the
development of phonological awareness among children across alphabetically written languages. It
nonetheless accentuated an extent of variation with respect to the uniqueness of Arabic orthography
system and diglossia. Other research attempts involving direct comparisons between metaphonological acquisition of consonants and vowels should permit an in-depth examination of the
specific effect of the consonantal prominence in the Arabic orthography system. Also, it would be
interesting to investigate the type of reading strategies children should develop to enhance the reading
ability with respect to this linguistic constraint. Cross-cultural studies, following the research line of
Ziegler and Goswami (2005), might well contribute substantial validity to the results reported here
and across other languages.
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Appendix 1: Sample items of the syllabic tasks
Segmentation and
Deletion
counting
/ka`ba:t/
/kri:(ma)/
/kugi:na/
/(mun)ga:la/
/stiluwa:t/
/nwa:(mir)/
/jitfa:hmu/
/jit`(a:)rik/
/mtarqa/
/man(di):la/
/jizrib/
/(bar)‫؛‬a/
/manzilun/
/«aj(na)/
/jam‫؛‬i:/
/(haq)lun/
Modern Standard Arabic
/qittun/
/ja«(ti:)/
words
/masaku:/
/«as(wa)dun/
/daà:/
/(mi)`tafun/
/jarsumu/
/jar(fa)ù/
/banià/
/hi(mu)run/
/lafnu:/
/fur(ki:)/
/rihkadun/
/saqra:(bin)/
Colloquial Arabic words
Pseudo-words
/kranga/
/barni:fa/
/rizfun/
Note: Syllables to be deleted between parentheses.
/(hi)lsun/
/(bran)ku:/
/rah(wa)da/
Appendix 2: Sample items of the phonemic tasks
Segmentation and
Deletion
counting
/:am/
/fa(k)/
/hufra/
/(b)la:jis/
/jurqid/
/ma(r)qa/
/h‫؛‬im/
/(n)sa:/
/j‫؛‬u:f/
/j(d)iz/
/mra:/
/flu:(s)/
/ud/
/di:ku(n)/
/«abi:/
/(l)am/
Modern Standard Arabic
/sa:ra/
/ja(k)fi:/
words
/hal/
/(n)a:ma/
Colloquial Arabic words
Pseudo-words
/i:dun/
/qu(l)/
/min/
/ka(j)fa/
/riz/
/ra:‫؛‬u(n)/
/maku:/
/ba(l)ku:/
/wal/
/h(r)u:/
/hi:saf/
/(k)u‫؛‬/
/snu:fi/
/(f)a:bu/
/rfan/
Note: Phonemes to be deleted between parentheses.
/sma(q)/
THE INFLUENCE OF BIG FIVE PERSONALITY FACTORS ON LECTURERS –
STUDENTS’ INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
Kolawole Olanrewaju Ayodele
Babcock University
Abstract
The study investigated the influence of the Big Five Personality Factors on lecturers – students’
interpersonal relationship. Two hundred and Seventy respondents were randomly selected to
participate in the study. The data for the study were collected using two already validated
instruments, viz, (i) Interpersonal Scale (ii) The Big Five Inventory (BFI). Three hypotheses were
formulated and analysed using t-test, multiple regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA)
statistical method and tested at 0.05 level of significance. A significant difference was observed
between lecturer and students interpersonal relationship (t = 2.372, df = 268, P < 0.05). It was found
that the predictor variables accounted for 19.4% of the total variance in lecturers – students’
interpersonal relationship. Consciousness has the highest beta value (B = .-618; t = 7.007; p<.05)
significant at less than .05 alpha level; followed by Neuroticism with beta value of (B = .-495; t = .576; p<.05), followed by agreeableness (B = .805; t = -.576; p<.05), followed by openness to
experience (B = .522; t = 5.243; p<.05); and lastly by extraversion (B = .576; t = -4.069; p<.05).
Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that government should establish
educational programs where skills in interpersonal relationship and communication can be taught
so that people can be successful both at home and in the workplace as they exhibit interpersonal and
social skills, courteousness, respectful communication and networking skills.
Keywords: Interpersonal relationship, personality factors, neuroticism, extraversion,
openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness.
Introduction
It is a well known fact that no man on earth can completely stand alone without interacting
with others within his or her immediate environment in a social context. Thus, the basic
characteristics common to all human beings are interactions, interrelationship and interdependence
within the environment in which he/she lives. The nature and environment in which we live to a large
extent determines the intensiveness of our interaction and interrelationship. “The greater the
interpersonal interaction, the more a person becomes more human, better adjusted, and more
exposed to increasing number of conflicts. (Ayodele, 2010; Hammed, (2003).
Relationship quality is a key indicator of individual psychosocial adjustment. The nature of
intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship among individuals especially in our educational
institutions varied as the individual members themselves. Also, numerous other factors such as
personality, attitudes and environment factors affect the totality of one’s relationship (intra and inter)
in many ways. At one extreme, these relationships can be personal and positive. This is the case when
individual interact meaningfully, share mutual friendship and be personal and negative. This happens
when individual dislike one another, create tension and crisis for one another or try to humiliate the
personality of one another (Ayodele & Bello, 2008; Limber, 2002, Rigby, 2002).
Most conceptual models that address the provisions of friendship include separate dimension
that describe negative and positive features of the relationship (Furman, 1989 in Burk & Lausen,
2008). Negative relationship qualities encompass rivalry, betrayal, hostility, antagonism and
competition. Positive relationship qualities encompass companionship, intimacy, assistance, loyalty,
caring, warmth, closeness and trust. From psychological standpoint, effective and collaborate
relationship within an environment/organization will bring about a stimulating environment in which
love, trust, cooperation and collaboration can be built towards the betterment of every individual
therein and the success of the environment. On the other hand, such environment will be
characterised with tension, anxiety, frustration and at large an environment where individuals are
made to internalize and exhibit violence, in order, to endanger themselves and other people’s peace
and right (Ayodele, 2010).
The journey to communication and interpersonal relationship begins with peoples’ intra
personal relationship. When they begin to be in contact with their felt feelings, sense them in their
bodies, verbalize them in their minds and finally express them outwardly in their behaviour, they also
open doors to contacting their needs. Interpersonal relationship are created by people who are willing
to be in full contact with their feelings and needs and equally be interested in others’ feelings and
needs. The giving and receiving exchange is the building block to developing close relationship with
others (Rosenberg, 2003).
Findings of self-disclosure research (Benger, 2005) shows that disclosure increases with
increased relational intimacy. Disclosure increases with the need to reduce uncertainty in a
relationship and tends to be reciprocal, incremental, and symmetrical. Liking is related to positive
disclosure, but not to negative ones. Positive disclosure does not necessarily increase with the
intimacy of the relationship; but negative disclosure is directly related to the intimacy of the
relationship. Relationship satisfaction and disclosure have a curvilinear relationship satisfaction that
is highest with moderate levels of disclosure.
Mullum (1998) posits that close personal relationship include assuming responsibility for
one’s feelings, thoughts and actions in the relationship; being open and revealing with innermost
thought and feelings; showing understandings at various levels of communication through increased
knowledge, good listening skill on daily basis, deep and loving understanding; showing commitment
to the welfares of each other; showing caring for each other’s physical safety and psychological wellbeing; constructive use of anger, non-exploiting sexual relationship, shared activities and joint
interest but allowing each other some space to be different; spending time together as much as
possible; lack of defensiveness, that is needing to deny or distort incoming information and feeling
safe to give and receive feedbacks on each other’s comments, actions and lifestyle.
In psychology, the Big Five personality factors are the classification of a person’s personality
into the categories of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to
experience. The ‘Big Five’, as they are called are five broad factors of personality traits discoverer
through empirical research (Goldberg, 1993). The Big Five personality factors can be summarised as
follows:
Neuroticism: A tendency to easily experience unpleasant emotions such as anger, anxiety,
depression, vulnerability, hostility and impulsiveness
Extraversion: Energy, urgency and the tendency to seek stimulation and the company of
others.
Conscientiousness: A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully and aim for
achievement.
Agreeableness: A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious
and antagonistic towards others.
Openness to experience: Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual idea,
imagination and curiosity.
Hence, the ‘Big Five’ personality traits serve an integrative function - because it can represent the
various and diverse systems of personality description in a common framework.
A number of meta-analyses have confirmed the predictive value of the Big Five across a wide
range of behaviours. Saulsman and Page (2004) examined the relationship between the Big Five
personality dimensions and each of the 10 personality disorder categories in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV). Across 15 independent samples, the researchers
found that each disorder displayed a unique and predictable five-factor profile. The most prominent
and consistent personality predictors underlying the disorders were positive association with
neuroticism and negative associations with Agreeableness.
In the area of job performance, Barrick and Mount (1991) reviewed 117 studies utilizing 162
samples with 23,994 participants. They found that conscientiousness showed consistent relations with
all performance criteria for all occupational groups. Extraversion was a valid predictor for occupations
involving social interaction (e.g. management and sales). Furthermore, extraversion and openness to
experience were valid predictors of training proficiency criteria.
In specific terms, this study sort to determine the combine and relative influence of
neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, openness to experience and consciousness on lecturer –
students’ interpersonal relationship.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to determine the extent at which personality factors such as
neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, openness to experience and consciousness influence the
interpersonal relationship in our educational institutions especially the relationship between lecturers
and students.
Statement of Hypotheses
In order to achieve the purpose of this study, the following hypotheses were tested at 0.05
level of significance.
1.
There is no significant difference in the interpersonal relationship between lecturers and
students.
2. There is no significant composite contribution of the big five personality factors to the
predictions of lecturer – students’ interpersonal relationship
1. There is no significant relative contribution of the Big Five personality factors to the
prediction of lecturer - students’ interpersonal relationship.
Methodology
Research Design:
This study adopted a descriptive survey research design where questionnaire
were used to collect data from the respondents on the studied variables.
Participants: A sample of 270 participants comprises of 70 lecturers, 100 undergraduates and 100
postgraduates were selected by stratified random sampling technique from Olabisi Onabanjo
University Ago – Iwoye and Babcock University, Ilisan, (both are private and public Universities) in
Ogun State, Nigeria. The age range of the participants was between 19 and 58, while the mean age was
28.70 years with a standard deviation of 4.33.
Measures:
 Interpersonal Scale (SI): This is a 10 - items sub-scale of the sense of competence scale
(SCS) developed by Janosik et al (1987) designed to elicit data about one’s interpersonal and
intellectual competencies. The items are scored on a four – point scale ranging from Strongly
Disagree (I) to Strongly Agree (4). The reliability coefficient for the 10-items interpersonal
subscale was .79. Using the Cronbach’s alpha model, the reliability coefficient for the SCS was
calculated at 0.78 (Janosik, et al, 1987). Azeez (2008) reported a linear relationship between
the scale and emotional intelligence (R= .079). Ayodele (2010) found high correlation
between the scale and relational factors.
 The Big Five Inventory (BFI): The BFI was developed by John and Srivastava (1999). It is
a multi-items inventory of 50 items, sub-divided into 5 namely Neuroticism, Extraversion,
Openness to experience, Agreeableness and Consciousness. The items are scored on a four –
point scale ranging from Strongly Disagree (I) to Strongly Agree (4). The BFI is reported to
have overall alpha of 0.84 while the neuroticism scale = .82; extraversion = 0.86; openness to
experience = 0.82; agreeableness = 0.86 and consciousness = 0.87. BFI has been used among
African subjects and reported valid and not culturally biased (Idowu & Oledikwa, 2003).
Procedure: A set of questionnaires for assessing the variables of the study were administered on
the sample through assistance of four (4) colleagues from the institutions selected for the study. A
total of 270 questionnaires were distributed and found useable for the data analysis.
Data Analysis: CS – Pro was used for the data entry while analysis was done using SPSS 13.0. The
Cronbach’s alpha for BFI and interpersonal relationship is calculated which is 0.793, showing the
highest level of reliability of the data. The data analysis based on earlier set hypotheses involved the
use of multiple regression analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the independent t-test
statistics.
Results
The tables presented below show the difference, composite effect and the relative contribution
of the big five personality factors on the lecturers - students’ interpersonal relationship.
Table 1
T-test analysis showing difference in the interpersonal relationship between lecturers
and students.
Variable
Lecturer
Students
N
70
200
X
SD
24.75
5.13
28.19
df
T-cal
268
2.372
T-cal
1.96
6.04
P < 0.05
The table shows that there is a significant difference in the interpersonal relationship between
lecturers and students (t = 2.372, df = 1.92, P < 0.05). The calculated t - value of 2.372 is higher than
the critical table value of 1.96. Thus, the earlier null hypothesis stated was rejected.
Table 2
Analysis of the composite effect of the predictor variables on interpersonal
relationship
Source of
Sum of
variation
Squares
Regression
3276.112
Residual
15309.864
Total
18585.976
Multiple R
= .411
Multiple R2 (Adj.) = .194
Stand error estimate = 3.262
Df
5
264
269
Mean Square
F-Ratio
P
655.222
57.998
11.298
.000*
Table 2 shows the regression value for the combined effect (0.411) and the adjusted R2
(0.194). This implies that 19.4% of the variance in the lecturers - students’ interpersonal relationship
is accounted for by the personality factors. The table also shows that the f-value (11.298) is significant
at .000, a level that is less that 0.05. This shows that the personality factors have significant effect on
interpersonal relationship between the lecturers and students.
Table 3
Test of significance of Regression Coefficients
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Model
B
Standardized
Coefficients
SE
(Constant)
32.006
Neuroticism
-.342
Extraversion
-.307
Conscientiousness
-.363
Openness to experience -.288 .107
Agreeableness
-.401
.122
Beta
t-ratio
.522
.576
12.179 .000
-6.208* .000
-4.069* .011
7.007* .207
5.243* .010
- 6.085*
.000
2.698
.116
.128
.189
-.618
-.495
.803
Sig
a. Dependent variable: Interpersonal relationship
*Significant at <.05
Table 3 shows the relative contribution of each predictor variable to the variance in
interpersonal relationship between lecturers and students. Consciousness has the highest beta value
(7.007) significant at less than .05 alpha level; followed by Neuroticism with beta value of -.618,
followed by agreeableness (-.576), followed by openness to experience (5.243); and lastly by
extraversion (-4.069) also significant at 0.05. Therefore, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to
experience, conscientiousness and extraversion are potent personality factors to the prediction of
lecturers – students’ interpersonal relationship.
Discussion
The findings of the study indicated that there is a significant difference in the interpersonal
relationship between lecturers and students. Results in table 1 show that the lecturers have a mean
score of 24.75 which is significantly less than the mean score of the students (28.19). The hypothesis
was rejected. This result is in line with the findings of Skiffington (2003) that quality and healthy
interpersonal relationship have their foundation in effective interpersonal skill. Also, the findings of
Goldman (2005) lend a good credence to this study that a good relationship is a mutual filling of
needs.
The outcome of this study also indicated that the independent variables were significant
predictors of interpersonal relationship between lecturers and their students. The study further found
that conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience and extraversion are
potent personality factors to the prediction of interpersonal relationship. It is not surprising to find
conscientiousness to be the most potent predictor than other predictor variables. Results from this
study support earlier studies (Saulsman & Page, 2004; Barrick & Mount, 1991), which found the
predictive value of the Big Five across a wide range of behaviours.
Conclusion
This study set out to examine the mediating role of the Big Five personality factors in
predicting the interpersonal relationship between students and lecturers. Study results show that the
Big Five personality factors are potent factors in the prediction of human beings psychobiosocial
adjustment to life and living. It is therefore recommended that both children and adults need to learn
and re-learn the skills of interpersonal relationship and effective communication. It is also
recommended that government should establish educational programmes where skills in
interpersonal relationship and communication can be taught so that people can be successful both at
home and in the workplace as they exhibit interpersonal and social skills, courteousness, respectful
communication and networking skills.
References
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Author Notes
Kolawole Olanrewaju AYODELE
Babcock University Ilishan,
Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria
e-mail: [email protected]
THE BLACK MAN’S ORDEALS: A POST-COLONIAL READING OF KOFI ANYIDOHO’S
ANCESTRALLOGIC & CARIBBEANBLUES
Gabriel Sunday Bamgbose
Tai Solarin University of Education
Abstract
Black writing has always been engaged with the historical circumstances that condition the
consciousness of the black race. Attempts have always been made to explore the dimensions of these
historical circumstances in post-colonial studies often with focus on prose fictional and dramatic
genres, but not much effort has been made to explicate this representation of history of loss and
trauma within the purview of post-colonial orientation in modern African poetry. This paper,
therefore, is a critical post-colonial treatment of the engagement of Kofi Anyidoho’s poetic
imagination with issues of slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism in the black man’s history. This
is in an attempt to examine how Anyidoho has given voice to the silent but not silenced history of
slavery and by extension, history of colonialism and disillusionment of neo-colonial world order.
The paper adopts the counter-discursive and the autocritical paradigms of post-colonial theory,
which accounts, through the fusion of cultural and literary criticism, for processes through which
the postcolony responds to the issue of colonialism and its aftermath, and the present realities of the
neo-colonialism and its diverse implications. For the purpose of this study, Anyidoho’s
AncestralLogic & CaribbeanBlues is subjected to literary and critical analysis to examine the poet’s
chronicle of the black people’s traumatic experiences of the Middle Passage, colonial encounter, and
neo-colonial hopelessness. The text journeys through the nervous conditions of the post-colony. The
poet versifies the painful and dehumanizing history of slavery, which causes Africans to loss their
lives and identity. The grim experiences of the black slaves on the Caribbean sugarcane fields run
through the “blues”. Colonialism also does its best to exploit the people of black descent materially
and immaterially. Even when the colonial masters leave the leadership of Africa to Africans after
colonialism, the black leaders further the colonial exploitation and imperialism in new ways and
betray their fellow blacks. Irrespective of the complexity of the black man’s ordeal, the poet
expresses hope and revolutionary vision. The poems are artistic “logic” that reconciles the black
people’s past with their present in order to project the future of the black race. Modern African
poetry maintains an intricate tie between text and context because there is a strong link between
African letters and African life. Like other African writers, Anyidoho in his poetry displays social,
political and historical commitment to his black race.
Key words: Black race, Post-colonial, Slavery, Colonialism, Neo-colonialism
Introduction
The history of the black man’s race is smeared with many ordeals. The race has been a victim
of slavery, colonialism with its imperialistic and exploitative tendencies, racial segregation and color
bars, and the final blow that leaves this race in coma is the advent of neo-colonialism, which Ngugi wa
Thiong’o simplistically describes as an advanced stage of imperialism (1982:5). All these come to bear
on the black man just because he is ‘black’ and his being black accords him the status of a sub-human
exposable to dehumanization. These ordeals mark the unique experiences and realities of the black
man’s world and in fact his identity. It is within the consciousness of these ordeals that Kofi Anyidoho
weaves his poetry. Romanus Egudu (1978:2) has contended that “The artist is a member of society,
and the content and style of his [or her] work are affected by social reality.” The poetry of Anyidoho,
like other African writers, shows deep concern for the social realities that characterize the postcolony.
This suggests that the treatment of the text cannot be removed from the context that produces it. This
makes poetry in Africa highly “utilitarian” (Tanure Ojaide, 1995:4).
The purpose of this study is to investigate the post-colonial condition of Africa within the
broad context of the history of the black race as treated by Anyidoho in his collection of poetry,
AncestralLogic & CaribbeanBlues (1993). The text is considered relevant for this study because it
artistically spins the web of the black man’s history and experience from the past to the present. The
collection, in Anyidoho’s words, is “the forever journey into SoulTime…It is the quest for a future alive
with the energy of recovered vision, a future released from the trauma of a cyclonic past and from the
myopia of a stampeded present” (xii).
It is observed that this collection has not attracted much critical attention as others authored
by Anyidoho despite the fact that the poet’s “quest for recovered vision” (xii) boldly confronts the
cause of the black world’s (especially Africa) predicament by tracing its “history of pain and of endless
fragmentation” (xi). Oyeniyi Okunoye in “Pan-Africanism and Globalized Black Identity in the Poetry
of Kofi Anyidoho and Kwadwo Opokwu-Agyemang” (2009) examines how Anyidoho’s artistic vision
“advocates the linking up of various segments of the black world as a necessary act of collective
definition of Africans peoples in their various locations [which] cannot be divorced from their
histories” (77). To him, the poet attempts to reconstruct the identity of the black race, which is an
effort targeted at imaginatively linking up the “various black diasporic communities with the
homeland” (65). Reading the collection from the perspective of Pan-Africanist consciousness,
Okunoye claims that it presents the poet’s “dream of an integrated global African community” (73).
However, this paper critically explores issues of slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism in
the text in order to revisit and rethink the violent and traumatic realities that mark the black identity.
This study analyses the black man’s ordeals as represented in the text within the framework of postcolonial theory. Post-colonial literary theory deals the writings of the margin, paying attention to how
literary and cultural elements are manipulated in order to subvert the hegemonic structures of
colonialism and neo-colonialism. This accounts for the suitability of the theory since it addresses the
post-colonial condition of the black/African world, which forms the preoccupation of the poet.
Okunoye (2008) makes a strong case for the exploration of the possibilities of post-colonial theorizing
in the reading of modern African poetry. As opposed to other genres of African literature – prose
fiction and drama – “much of African poetry remains un-theorised in basic postcolonial terms”
(Okunoye, 76). This makes this study significant as it contributes to the body of discourse exploring
the possibilities of the adoption of post-colonial theory to the study of modern African poetry.
Okunoye maps out the pattern of post-colonial criticism of modern African poetry by identifying four
major orientations of its post-colonial essence:
It considers as postcolonial works that dramatise the corrupting influence of the colonial
engagement on the African; works that project a conscious resistance to the colonial presence
by subverting imperialist distortions in the perception of Africa and Africans and works that
excavate pre-contact indigenous literary practices in order to assert cultural identity,
accounting in the process, for the prevalence of specific forms of postcolonial consciousness
within particular poetic traditions in Africa (77).
The notion that the counter-discursive or the writing back paradigm is “probably the most
applicable to the creative vision underlying the production” (77) of much of African poetry holds sway
in Okunoye’s study, even though he acknowledges this as the first stage in the appraisal of postcolonial orientation in modern African poetry. However, this study engages the counter-discursive
and autocritical paradigms of post-colonialism in the explication of the artistic vision of Anyidoho in
his collection, AncestralLogic & CaribbeanBlues.
This study adopts the tool of literary and critical analysis in order to examine the “counterdiscursive strategies” (Helen Tiffin, 1995:96) deployed in the text, which is crucial to the practice of
post-colonial discourse. It considers how the poet engages his poetic imagination in questioning the
hegemony of the West. Here, attention is paid to the “silent, but not silenced” poetics of slavery and
colonialism that the poet versifies in his quest “to speak to the history” which brings “dis/order to
national and communal milieu” (Georgia Axiotou, 2008: ix) of the Negro. Moreover, this study does
what Kehinde (6) calls a post-colonial “autocritique” of the “neo-colonial stage of imperialism” (Ngugi,
1982:5) in the black/African world order as treated in the text. At this point, the discussion of the
poetry shifts its focus to the neo/post-colonial ordeals.
Post-Colonial Theory
Post-colonial theory is a body of discourse that responds to colonialism and its aftermath in
the Empire. It is a form of race and ethnicity-bound discourse, which counters the ‘centre’ in order to
give the ‘margin’ its own true voice and identity in the imperial order of things. In the words of
Okunoye (2008:79), “The fusion of cultural and literary criticism is most evident in postcolonial
discourse.” It is a body of thinking that interrogates Western hegemony through the examination of
literary and cultural productions. ‘Identity’, which is defined by race and ethnicity, is central to postcolonial discourse. Donald Hall loosely defines the term ‘race’ as a form of cultural identity based on
physiological attributes. It “indicate[s] practically any group of people who self-identify separately
from others” (2001:264). Race, Hall submits, refers to the “ways that physiological characteristics
(such as skin tone) are combined with distinctions in social history (such as region of original
habitation) to distinguish and identify groups of people” (2001:265-266). The term ‘ethnicity’, on the
other hand, refers to the form of cultural identity often based on non-physiological attributes such as
nation of origin, “religious affiliation and/or shared customs or language” (Hall, 2001:266).
The definition of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ as forms of cultural identity suggests the major
engagement of post-colonial theory as a medium of “challenging oppression based on cultural
identity” by focusing “directly on national and regional legacies of imperialism and colonialism” in
order to “enrich our understanding of the diverse experiences and rich heritages of all groups and
peoples’’ (Hall, 2001:266). Post-colonial theory is an amorphous and heterogeneous field of enquiry,
which focuses on “colonial and neo-colonial oppression, on resistance to colonialism, on the
respective identities of colonizer and colonized, on the patterns of interaction between those
identities, on postcolonial migration to the metropolis, on the ensuing hybridity of culture and so on”
(Hans Bertens, 2001:202).
Post-colonial theory develops out of colonial and neo-colonial experiences in the worlds that
have witnessed oppression in its old state and are still going through its hurdles in its new form.
Hence, Raman Selden, Peter Widdowson and Peter Brooker (2005:219) simply describe postcolonialism as a form of discourse that “seek[s] to undermine the imperialist subject.”
Post-colonial theory, in its foremost dimension, is a response to Western hegemony and an
attempt to subvert the notion of Western superiority over the so-called ‘third world’ inferiority. Mary
Klages (2006:147) states that the field of post-colonialism:
examines the effect that colonialism has had on the development of literature and literary
studies - on the novels, poems, and ‘English’ departments within the context of the history
and politics of regions under the influence, but outside the geographical boundaries of
England and Britain.
The development of post-colonial studies started with the development of colonialism. The
analysis “of the cultural dimension of colonialism/imperialism,” Selden and Widdowson (1993:188)
claim, “is as old as the struggle against it.” In Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin’s
(1995:1) perspective:
Post-colonial literatures are as a result of this interaction between imperial culture and the
complex of indigenous cultural practices. As a consequence, post-colonial theory has existed for a long
time before the particular name was used to describe it. Once colonized people had cause to reflect on
and express the tension which ensued them from these problematic and contest, but eventually
vibrant and powerful mixture of imperial language and local experience, post-colonial theory came
into being.
Post-colonial discourse has always been a reaction to imperialism even before its conscious
formulation as a theoretical field of study. It is an ontological and epistemological body of principles
set to question the notion of Western domination and the ‘being’ of the ‘centre’ (the dominating) and
the ‘margin’ (the dominated). Hence, post-colonial theory is a “counter-hegemonic discourse’’ in
which “the empire writes back to the centre’’, in the words of Rusdie Salman, (qtd in Ashcroft,
Griffiths & Tiffin, 1989:ix), to dismantle the Western notion of superiority and assert their identity.
Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin (1989), submit that post-colonial theory deals with issues as:
migration, slavery, suppression, resistance, representation, difference, race, gender, place,
and responses to the influential master discourses of imperial Europe such as history,
philosophy and linguistics, and the fundamental experiences of speaking and writing b which
all these come into being. None of these is ‘essentially’ post-colonial, but together they form
the complex fabric of the field (2).
This suggests that the basic thrust of post-colonial theory is the “literary and cultural
decolonization’’ of the Empire, which is a process that involves “a radical dismantling of the European
codes and a post-colonial subversion and appropriation of the dominant European discourses’’
(Ashcroft, Griffiths & Tiffin, 1989:195). The theoretical arguments in post-colonial theory, Selden,
Widdowson and Brooker note, are influenced by theories of ideology, Derrida’s deconstruction
method, Bakhtin’s dialogics, Lacanian psychoanalysis, Lyotard’s postmodern critique and Foucault’s
theories of power and knowledge.
Post-colonial theory questions Western dominance of knowledge and power. It seeks to
reread and rewrite the European historical and fictional record for the purpose of decolonizing the
Empire. According to Tiffin (1995:95-96), this decolonization is a process that:
invokes an ongoing dialectic between hegemonic centrist system and peripheral subversion of
them; between European or British discourses and their post colonial dismantling…. Post–
colonial literature/cultures are thus constituted in counter–discursive rather than
homologous practices, and the other ‘fields’…of counter-discursive strategies of the dominant
discourse.
Post-colonial theory queries the assumption of universalism through which the West
maintains its hegemony, and it maintains the ‘alterity’ or otherness of the margin through ‘hybridity’,
which Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin (1989:78) consider as “the source of literary and cultural
redefinition.” These are the underlying principles of post-colonial discourse.
In the present dispensation in post-colonial discourse, there is a shift from “the history of
colonialism to the analysis of the postcolonial world order” (Kehinde, 6). Citing Ania Loomba
(1998:256), Kehinde notes that post-colonialism, in its autocritical sense, has shifted “towards
expansion of neo-colonial imbalances in the contemporary world order” (6). In the words of Oyegoke
(2006:289), neo-colonialism is a form of “new hegemony”. Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1986:4) maintains
that imperialism has continued to “control the economy, politics, and cultures” of the margin even
after colonialism. After the decentring of the ‘old centre’, a new centre originates within the ‘old
margin’ and furthers the exploitation and imperialism of the ‘old centre’. It should be noted that this
new centre is in communion with the old centre, and this makes the oppressive burden heavier on the
‘new margin’. Post-colonial critics deconstruct and subvert this new order of imperialism in their
writing.
From the foregoing, it is obvious that post-colonial discourse is a product of connected history
of slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism that shapes the being and existence of the subaltern.
According to Ayo Kehinde, the term ‘post-colonial’:
has at least two meanings inherent in it as reflected in the essays (in Postcolonial Lamp). In
the first instance, it connotes the time or literature after colonialism. Secondly, it connotes the
tug-of-war between the memories of the colonial past and the utopian dream of the
postcolonial future that is held in the uneasy present of postcolonialism (2008:6).
Post-colonial discourse explores issues of decolonization or the political and cultural
independence of a people formerly subjected to colonial rule, on the one hand, and the socio-political
realities/experiences of these people under the leadership of their own people after the colonial era,
on the other hand. Post-colonialism possesses a bi-partite nature. First, it is an intellectual movement
that attempts to correct the stereotypical assumptions foisted on the colonized by their colonial
masters during the era of colonization; second, it is a reflection of the realities that independence
brought about in the Empire.
A Post-Colonial Critique of Kofi Anyidoho’s Ancestrallogic & Caribbeanblues
Kofi Anyidoho is a Ghanaian poet. He has taught at Western University and Cornell
University; he now teaches at the University of Ghana, Legon. His poetic imagination is influenced by
the oral Ewe poetry. In AncestralLogic & CaribbeanBlues (1993), Anyidoho embarks on an odyssey
through the history of the black race from the past to the present. The collection presents the logic of
black man’s ordeals through the web of history. The poet chronicles the wandering of the blacks
“through history and memory, seeking lost landmarks, often proceeding with an intuitive logic
marked by a geography of scars and by the inescapable living wound under a patchwork of scars”
(Anyidoho, xiii. Emphasis is added). Since the poems give expression to the traumatic experiences
that characterize the life the black people, the ‘blues’: spoke of some sadness, pain, or
deprivation…The melancholy tone of the lyrics, however, is not only world-weary but also world-wise.
The blues expound the hard-won wisdom of bitter life experience. They frequently create their special
mood through down-to-earth, even gritty, imagery drawn from everyday life (X. J. Kennedy & Dana
Gioia, 2007:549).
“The Taino in 1992” (3-5), recalls the “turbulent memory of the Taino”, a Caribbean “Lost Land” (3).
The ugly history of slavery and the inhumane activities of Christopher Colomb, who they say
‘discovered’ the land, are captured here:
So they wiped them out
Drowned their screams
Burned their nerves and bones
And scattered their ashes
Across the intimidating splendor
Of this young history of lies (3).
This point in time in history is described as the “StormTime”, when “Hurricanes”, the symbol
of violence brought by Colomb sweeps the natives of Taino “through the infinity of centuries / forever
lost to trauma and to amnesia” (5). The violence of slavery wipes off the natives of the land.
Christopher Colomb is violence-personified; hence the repetition of his name and its contrast with the
images of “Hurricane”, “Sea of Blood” and “Oceans of Blood”.
In “San Pedro de Macoris” (6-7), the gory picture of the experience of the “Haitian
immigrants” in the “Canefields”/ “the sugarfields” is captured in grim images, which match the
dehumanizing experience of slavery. The poet presents the sad history of the Haitians as they “shuttle
through life” in “infinite sadness” on plantations “In the uncertain Dance of Zombi,” where they
“poured out” their lives “Upon the sugarfields.” The poet, in a tone that carries the gravity of intense
sorrow, says that “the Haitian Batey / Is a Living Wound / In the throat of the Sugarmill.” The
dehumanizing experience, the poet notes in “Republica Dominicana” (8-11):
…undresses your skin
peels your veins
and dilutes your blood.
dispossessed of your ancestory
your BlackNess
Dissolve into vague regions
of the indios myth (8).
The Negroes lost their ancestral heritage, their identity and are displaced. That is why they
“are mislabeled Indios” (Anyidoho, xiii). The history of the black race is:
Full of discrepances and disjointed limbs.
pitiless and venomous
image
of history’s distortures
of our furious race (11).
The message and the form of the lines match aptly to reflect the black race’s dismemberment.
The images of “Death & Life” (cast in a parallelistic mode) “in the still center of RagingStorms”,
“nightmares”, “mask of agony” and a “Tarantula” crawling “in the dark” into the persona’s “daydream”
build up to create an eerie effect on the reader. All these are devices meant to show the magnitude of
the history of slavery and the Middle Passage with its attendant “Atlantic’s turbulent waves” and its
adverse effect on the black man’s psyche.
“Earthchild” shifts its perspective mainly to the memory of colonialism and how it erodes the
traditions of the black man (Africans specifically): “Termites came and ate away our voice / ate away
our rainbow’s gown of flames / soiled memories with wild banquets of blood” (19). The poet captures
the “soul” of the Negroes’ “song” in order to depict the essence of African and Caribbean spirit. The
repetition of the “cross rhythms of Jazz”, the “polyrhythmic miles of Jazz" “the rumbling weight of
drums”, and the “wails of saxophones” foreground the essence of “song” and “voice” in the ancestral
heritage of the black. This heritage, as a result of colonization is lost but it is found again. The poem’s
tone is that of mixed feelings of fear and hope. There is the fear that the ancestral heritage may be lost
“again to pampered dreams of mythmakers… [and] to imperial dreams of history’s pawnbrokers” (21).
Yet, the alternated refrains are imbued with hope:
And still we stand among the cannonades
We smell of mist and powdered memories…
And those who took away our voice
Are now surprised
They couldn’t take away our song (23).
The poem is a mockery of colonialism and its attendant ordeals.
The other parts of the collection shift in perspective from the general experience of the black
race’s history to the African colonial and neo-colonial experiences. “Children of the Land” (32-41)
captures the African landscapes - the Northern, Southern, West, Central and East African landscapes and their peculiar features. “Redeemers” (82-83) relates the activities of the colonizers aided by the
white missionaries, who condemn African cultures and religion and “persuade us all / against our very
selves.” This is done to uphold the Western hegemony and relegate the “other” to the marginal
position:
They came with a Bouquet of CobWebs
Sang obscene songs
Over our sacred images of Self and Gods
Their huge nostrils still clogged
With dust and steamy breath.
In their hands a kind offer of Holy Death (83).
They offer their religion and culture to kill Africans’, “but our human flesh suck to our bones /
and noble passions still move us on / even among our many blunders” (83). There is the hope that
Africans have not lost of all their “self” to colonialism. In “Santriofi”, the poet pays attention to the
neo-colonial violence:
But once too often we’ve held
our doubts and found unspeakable
terror in silence and patience
when marvelous blockheads
took up megaphones and broke
eardrums with philosophical obscurities
and baboons in mufti and native sandals
made menacing speeches from platform (71).
The natives, who take over leadership after the colonial era, betray their fellow countrymen
and turn politics to a game of exploitation and power abuse. They are fortified with propaganda. They
are “halfwits & gifted inventors / of designers deaths in man-made seasons of drought” (74). Soon
disappointment and disillusionment set in. This menace of neo-colonial imperialism informs the
revolutionary vision of the poet. In “Bayonets”, the poet contends that “Rivulets of venom shall water
our fields / Restoring this soil to ancestral Fertile Time” (77).
Kofi Anyidoho’s poems, as it has been noted by Jawa Apronti (1979:41), are those “of the
speaking voice…he reveals a tendency to the elegiac…the theme of death and destruction is pervasive;
the mood is predominantly gloomy, the tone somber.” The stylistics of the poems is characterized by
constant and unusual use of capitalization and unusual fusion of lexical items. His experimental use of
language, which is manifested in his mixture codes and his engagement of historical allusions, gives
his poetry its uniqueness.
Conclusion
This critical analysis is done in order to weigh how committed and utilitarian the poet’s work
is. It is a logical and analytical endeavour that attempts to justify the poet’s artistic vision of recovery
in his “journey…into our past in order to come to terms with our future” (xi). From the analysis, it is
crystal clear that slavery and colonialism have not lost their grip from the black man’s neck; they
simply continue their stifling and strangling duties since the slave and colonial masters have not given
up their preoccupations. They have only, borrowing the words of D. H. Lawrence, changed guards,
with the white imperialists being replaced by the black imperialists. This makes the black man’s
ordeals a very complicated one. Perhaps, the complexity of Anyidoho’ subject in this collection
informs the complexity of his style. His use of unusual compounding and capitalization of words is an
intellectual attempt to subvert the linguistic code of the centre for the purpose of maintaining a radical
difference. His use of the metaphor of Santrofi Amona, the dilemma bird of Akan mythology (61), as a
cultural code that represents the important role of the artist in the society, also attests to the fact that
the poet strives to redeem the image of Africans and reassure their identity. The poet gracefully
maintains a striking balance between the complexity of his subject and style. The weaving of
Anyidoho’s poetry shows that there is no clear cut distinction between text and context in black
writing. The poems connect African letters with black socio-economic, political and historical
consciousness. Thus, it is a form of poetry bent, borrowing the words of Chinua Achebe (1975:62), to
bear the burden of African experiences and realities from the past to the present.
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Author Information
Bamgbose, Gabriel Sunday
Department of English, College of Humanities
Tai Solarin University of Education
P.M.B 2118, Ijagun, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria
Tel: +2348038615161
Email: [email protected]
CORRUPTION, CONFLICT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICAN STATES
Oluwaseun Bamidele
Faith Academy
Abstract
The African system has witnessed dramatic changes in the recent past. Questions relating to how
and when ordinary citizens can stand against oppression, injustice and abuse without resorting to
violence challenge all of us to rethink our understanding of African peace and conflict. The African
states have been paying increased attention to corruption and how to control it. For one thing,
African institutions, governments, donors, aids workers and professionals all realize that corruption
has very high costs for society particularly in African states emerging from conflict. Not only can
corruption keep African states in cycles of violence by funding armed groups and criminal networks,
it can also prevent the development of effective institutions of governance. When money and
resources available to government are diverted by corrupt African officials to their own private
accounts and businesses instead of being channeled to benefit African citizens, the clock turns back
on social and economic development. This, in turn, can create further instability. In these ways,
corruption, conflict and sustainable development are linked. But, corruption exists everywhere in
some forms and pervasive in some African societies. Rooting it out is more difficult than it would
seem. The paper examines the relationship among corruption, conflict and sustainable development
and different measures put in place to address corruption in African states in order to prevent
instability and promote sustainability.
Keywords: Africa, Corruption, Conflict, Governance, Sustainable Development
INTRODUCTION
Corruption is a major challenge to sustainable development in Africa. The erosion of human
rights and respect for constitutional authority hinders programs put in place to alleviate conflict and
increase human security. While the impact of corruption is particularly tragic in the case of the
poorest people in African countries, fighting corruption is a regional concern because corruption is
found in both rich and poor African countries, albeit in different forms and magnitude. It is evident
that corruption has also contributed to African state failure. It has contributed to instability and the
eruption of civil wars over resources in a number of African countries. Experiences from many African
countries are undergoing or have emerged from conflict show that corruption is a dominant factor in
driving fragile countries to state failure. Corruption can lead to, and sustain, violent conflict, in the
context of patrimonial regimes that are degenerating under local or regional shocks and pressures for
market reform. Le Billon (2003) argues that corruption is part of the social and political fabric of
society, and thus, ‘conflict may be engendered more by changes in the pattern of corruption than by
the existence of corruption itself’ for example, by appeasing belligerents in order to buy peace. This
leads to forms of competitive corruption between different factions, which can result in prolonged
violence Le Billon (2003).
It is therefore not surprising that in the post-civil war era and in the wake of globalization and
regional, security blocs among others have increased pressure on African countries to contain
corruption, to avoid the further erosion of public institutions and the exacerbation of conflict which
could obstruct sustainable development and have spillover effects on other African neighboring
countries.
Corruption is principally a governance issue, a challenge to African democratic functioning. It
is a failure of both institutions and the larger framework of social, judicial, political and economic
checks and balances needed to govern effectively. When these formal and informal institutional
systems are severely weakened by corrupt practices, it becomes harder to implement and enforce laws
and policies that ensure accountability and transparency. Thus, according to the UNDP AntiCorruption Practice Note, corruption undermines the rule of law and leads to the violation of human
rights by fostering an anti-democratic environment characterized by uncertainty, unpredictability,
declining moral values and disrespect for constitutional institutions and authority, UNDP (2004).
For almost two decades now, African Union and other regional organizations have undertaken
to improve governance and combat corruption as a core requirement to achieve the goals of African
development that it is working for. In poor and developing African countries around the continent,.
African works with a range of institutions to make anti-corruption one of its imperatives in improving
the governance of African countries, and the lives of African citizens, especially the poor. African
Union was one of the institutions in the 1990s to develop programmes to address and curb corruption,
as part of its mandate to reduce conflict, meet the economic, social, and political developmental goals
and promote sustainable economic and political development. Since then, anti-corruption has been a
rapidly growing area of African Union assistance, making African a provider of anti-corruption
technical cooperation within its governance portfolio. The advent of the United Nations Convention
Against Corruption on 14 December, 2005, brought new challenges and opportunities to the fight
against corruption in African countries. It is increasingly being realized that success in meeting
sustainable development and peace in Africa will depend on both the “quality” of democratic
governance and the generation and management of financial resources.
Given African Union’s previous work and its widespread presence at the regional level,
member states are increasingly approaching African Union country offices for technical assistance in
establishing and strengthening national anti-corruption institutions, developing strategies and laws to
prevent corruption, and designing and implementing appropriate interventions. It is within this
context that this primer explores the theoretical relationship between corruption, conflict and the
various aspects of development including economic growth, governance, human development, and
environment and sustainable development. The primer also concludes with its technical assistance to
effectively implement anti-corruption interventions to reduce corruption, conflict and promote
sustainable development.
CORRUPTION AND AFRICAN SITUATION
Corruption does not necessarily contribute to armed conflicts in African states; however, it
can lead to and sustain violent conflict, in the context of patrimonial regimes that are degenerating
under local or international shocks and pressures for reform. Corruption could fuel war when, in the
absence of a legitimate political regime, certain social groups are favoured in the allocation of
resources, thus fuelling grievances among marginalized groups. For example, the conflicts in Liberia
and Sierra Leone provide evidence for the linkages between the criminalization of politics and
economic accumulation.
Corruption in Africa can exists at many different levels. And, some would argue that a
definition for African corruption is impossible because it is a concept that is culturally determined and
varies from one African society to another. For example, gift-giving to officials may be expected in one
country and prohibited by law in another. For the purpose of this paper, corruption involves the
misuse of power by those who hold it-people who, in their official position, exploit the power with
which they are entrusted by seeking private gain.
The private gain obtained by corrupt public African officials, who have been entrusted with
guiding and implementing public policy and service, is at the expense of both the common good and of
those who don’t “cheat the system.” In this sense, corruption is widely viewed as an immoral practice
and is increasingly condemned around the continent. Even those compelled to participate in corrupt
African systems in order to survive are frequently fed up with the role that corruption may play in
their daily lives. Corruption in Africa creates a system whereby money and connection determines
who has access to public services and who receives favorable treatment. Kofi Annah, former Secretary
General of the United Nation, put the cost of corruption succinctly in his Foreword to the 2004 United
Nations Convention Against Corruption. Calling corruption an “insidious plague that has a wide
range of corrosive effects on societies.” he added that it diverts funds intended for development,
undermines the ability of governments to provide basic services, feeds inequalities and injustice and
discourage foreign aid investment.”
As African states struggle to maintain stability in the face of a growing insurgency from the
ethnic and religious terrorism, one of the biggest factors that will determine its success is whether its
citizens believe that supporting the government will improve their lives more than ignoring or
opposing it. Corruption in Africa lies at the heart of this calculation because it prevents money and
services from being delivered to the African population and, in many cases, corrupt African officials
actually take money from the people in the form of bribe. Corruption also promotes impunity and fuel
anger over injustice by enabling powerful and predatory leaders to buy their way out of accountability
for crimes they have committed. If the African government is seen by a majority of African people as
taking more from corruption than it gives in the form of justice and scrutiny, then it will lose popular
support in favor of tribal or religious leaders who can deliver both better.
The problem of corruption in Africa has many causes. Over the past few years since the
colonial government established a new democratic order in the continent, a tremendous amount of
money and new resources have become available in the form of foreign donor assistance, new
business contracts and increased trade (of both legal and illegal products). The African governments
have not developed administrative or judicial institutions to manage these resources transparently,
which in turn creates large opportunities for elites to enrich themselves at the expense of their
countries. Many of the largest contracts for construction, transportation, supply of fuel and control of
natural resources have been awarded to a handful of powerful African families through noncompetitive processes. The African police and court systems are also part of the problem because they
are often corrupt themselves or at least have no power to punish powerful figures who have stolen
from the State.
Fixing corruption in Africa will be long and difficult task. But it must start at the top, by
removing senior African officials that are responsible for the largest corrupt abuse. At the same time,
more transparent budgeting and contracting may empower African citizens to understand better
where the financial resources provided for their benefit are actually going and therefore to hold
African leaders accountable for how they are actually used.
There are many indicators with which to assess or measure African corruption. One of them is
the affluent living habit of the public African officials compared to their declared income. Corruption
occurs when public an African official expects to be induced to perform an act which that public
official is ordinarily required to do by law.
Corruption in Africa slows down development. One of the most widely discussed
consequences of corruption is the distortion of African government expenditure. This often results in
public money being wasted on white elephant projects, rather than people-oriented programmes such
as health and education. As a result, more opportunities are presented for corrupt use or diversion of
funds. Raising the ethical standards of governance can lead to many benefits especially for the
economic, political and social development of a country. Fighting corruption and promoting good
governance in Africa is therefore crucial to developing an environment that facilitates the social,
political and economic development of the African people.
However, while there are often general statements made about the effect of African corruption
on conflict and development, there is not an explicit recognition that corruption is more than just
wealth misappropriation or abuse of power. Corruption in Africa impoverishes countries and deprives
their citizens of good governance. It destabilizes economic systems. When organized crime and other
illegal activities flourish, basic public functions are eroded and the quality of life of the people is
reduced. Bribery, for example, is universally regarded as a crime but it also reflects socio-economic
problems that require broad-based preventive measures, and the involvement of the African society at
large.
Another implication of Africa measures against corruption is making African government
work better by improving the economy. Finally, redesigning political and regulatory African structures
will reduce corruption and other anti-system players that encourage corrupt practices.
These practices have particular repercussions in African countries emerging from conflict because
monies or financial resources that are needed for development of, for example, roads, utilities,
education, health care and transportation, are diverted by greed and desire to survive and get ahead in
a broken system.
Corruption in Africa reaches many levels and aspects of governance and spans a range in its
scale. Corruption that involves the public interacting directly with low or mid-level bureaucrats who
implement policies is known as “petty corruption”. A health inspector taking money from a restaurant
owner to give a passing inspection is an example of petty corruption. “Grand corruption”, in contrast,
involves high-ranking public African officials or politicians who influence policies and rules. They can
influence policy to give African businesses unfettered access to natural resources, or help pass laws or
regulations that are willing to pay. In unstable African countries, another form of grand corruption
occurs when African politicians buy votes of voters in order to get elected and, once in office, engage in
corrupt practices to cement their rule. And, even in stable African democracies, it is not uncommon
for legislators to use their positions of power to reward their financial supporters with favor, the
awarding of contracts, or the drafting of new laws. Poor regulation over “the flow of private money
into election campaigns and political party coffers” is the “number one governance challenge around
the world,” notes Watchdog Group Global Integrity (2008).
ASPECT OF CORRUPTION IN AFRICAN STATES
There are many terms that are used in discussing African corruption. Bribery, fraud,
embezzlement, nepotism and favoritism are some commonly used terms. Bribery an offering of value
for some action in return, is one example of corruption. Other terms associated with African
corruption include fraud (using a trust position to deceive for profit), embezzlement (the theft of
government resources by those in authority) and nepotism (favoritism shown to friends of relatives by
those in power).While corruption can include all of these terms, it is not just financial gain; there can
also be political and legal gain that often include exclusive access to African decision makers and
African political and legal authorities. Favoritism is practised widely in African states but when there
is no exchange of money, it is not legally considered bribery. A favor is simply expected in return at
some later stage. It may be favor granted in return for political support or an appointment to a
position. Such preferential treatments given to friends, relatives or business partners are very
common and some argue that such practices undermine the concept of fair play.
WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION
Corruption is very widespread in African states and because of its diverse forms, it is
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to measure. Nathanial Heller (2009) compares measuring
corruption to “trying to measure a black hole. You can’t measure it because you can’t see it,” he adds.
Transparency International (2010) therefore, does not measure corruption, but rather assesses its
opposite. That is, it examines the anti-corruption and good governance institutions, mechanisms and
practices that are in place. On this basis, the African countries it identified in 2010 as not having these
elements and, thus, being at “serious risk of high-level of corruption” included in the ranking- Somalia
(the most corrupt), Sudan, Chad, Burundi, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. (Botswana is ranked as the
“least corrupt” African nation.)
And, there are other corruption indices that are commonly referenced and provided a regional
picture. Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) that
ranks the countries of the African states according to “the degree to which corruption is perceived to
exist among public African officials and politicians.” It measures how corruption affects African
people where they live, such as how much they might have paid in bribes over a given period, for
example. The latest CPI in 2011 draws on 13 different polls and surveys 10 independent institutions.
African countries with the lowest scores- or the perceived highest levels of corruption- included
Botswana (6.1); Mauritius (5.1); Rwanda (5.0); Namibia (4.4); South Africa (4.1); Ghana (3.9);
……Sudan (1.6); Somalia (1.0) ( See the appendix below, page17)
Transparency International (2011) notes that “Fragile, unstable African states that are scarred
by war and ongoing conflict linger at the bottom of the index……. Demonstrate[ing] that African
countries which are perceived to have the highest levels of public-sector corruption are also those
plagued by long standing conflicts, which have torn apart their governance infrastructure.” Indeed,
some of the top African states on the list of the fund for Peace’s Failed State’s Index are the same as
those on the CPI, such as Botswana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria etc.
Among others, these African states show sharp economic declines, little government, legitimacy and a
deterioration of public services and arbitrary applications of the rule of law.
In many of these cases, system corruption exists that is where corruption in Africa has become
a key part of the economic, social, or political order and where the major African institutions of
government are captured by corrupt individuals or groups. It’s interesting to ponder whether
corruption like this exists because the state has failed, or whether corruption among African elites has
led to state failure. Whichever is the case, the link between corruption, conflict and failed states is a
strong one.
CHALLENGES FACED BY ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCIES IN AFRICAN STATES
In an environment of disorder like Africa, it is very difficult to put into practice even the
simplest changes. Many of the policy prescriptions for rooting out corruption and establishing good
governance in Africa states are merely ideals for many African states that are in the throes of conflict,
or emerging from it. These fragile states, some of them nascent or struggling democracies, may face
many hurdles in attaining anything close by a sustainable development. Even if there is not outright
violence being committed by economic or political gladiators, there may be vast number of refugees,
little (if any) government infrastructure, limited access to basic services and scarce resources with
which to build.
Many of these African states depend heavily on foreign assistance until they can get basic
security in place, or the institutions of governance up and running. In that sense, post-conflict
reconstruction has been a “growth industry” for the African community, which finds itself with the
complex task of trying to help rebuild failed states. And, the process can take years. Anti-corruption
forces was conceived in the context of post-conflict recovery efforts to promote reconstruction, but the
terms has now taken on broader meaning to include, among others, proving humanitarian relief,
protecting human rights, ensuring security, establishing non-violent modes of resolving conflicts,
fostering reconciliation, repatriating refugees, and aiding in economic reconstruction. International
actors, bilateral donors international and local civil society organizations and private security agencies
may all be involved in these processes.
There are many reasons why it is difficult to bring about a sustainable development in a
region or continent that has been ravaged by conflict. While corruption is not the only benchmark
related to fragility of a state, many of those involved in anti-corruption work are increasingly
recognizing that corruption can be a major factor in preventing sustainable development from
emerging. Why? it may not only keep conflict cycles going by enriching the political gladiators,
godfathers or individuals who are responsible for the conflict in the first place, but it can also prevent
economic and social stability because corruption networks (by benefitting some at the expense of
others) strengthen inequalities and divisions in society. “In conflict where nepotism or patronage
networks exclude vast swaths of the population from decision-making and access to resources, then
corruption lies at the heart of society’s problems,” argue (Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church & Kirby
Reiling, 2009). “Corrupt networks themselves can reinforce the very divisions along lines of ethnicity,
religion or class which feed the conflict cycle. If corruption is not addressed, the chances of that
durable solution in the form of lasting positive peace remain slim.”
Nigeria offers a concrete example. “In many of the key public ministries that should be
playing a lead role in the country’s reconstruction, “notes (Robert Looney, 2008), “rudimentary
system of accountability, internal control and the rule of law are lacking. Not surprisingly, public
service declined, Nigerian citizens grew more disillusioned, and many wondered how foreign aid was
really being used.
As those involved in strengthening fragile African states work at the challenging task of
building good governance and anti-corruption forces by promoting participation, accountability,
transparency, rule of law, and other such important components of what we believe contribute to a
stable and just society. It’s clear that no quick and simple solution exist. For example, independent
media and access to information in African states can foster transparency, accountability, and
informed participation. However, free press could contribute to polarizing the weary and dissatisfied
public when those who have ethnic, political, or social bias control and use privatized media outlets.
And, a sudden increase in public distrust of those who are governing what’s more, in a country that
has suffered through years of instability or conflict, citizens who are leaders and are representatives of
the African population may be all guilty of participation in corrupt acts or worse.
STRUCTURES FOR PREVENTING CORRUPTION IN AFRICA
“Good governance” principles can make it more difficult for corruption to take root in African
states. Of many requirements of good governance, some key components are participation,
accountability, transparency and rule of law. It is the combination of the principles that can help stem
corruption and build a stable African society. And, in a system where rule of law prevails, citizens have
an equal standing under the law regardless of their political affiliation, social status, economic power
or ethnic background. Public participation greatly helps mitigate conflict because there are legitimate
public forums and mechanisms for peaceful debate. Public participation in politics (through elections,
political parties and civil society organizations) can provide a check on the African governments and
keep political African authorities accountable. Such accountability is enhanced by the rule of law,
which encompasses the processes, norms and structures that hold the population and African public
officials legally responsible for their actions and impose sanctions if they violate the law.
GOOD GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
More open and representative governing systems that allow for a high level of civic
participation typically have more vibrant civil society organizations that can publicly reveal the abuses
of corrupt officials and put their political futures at risk. African civil society describes groups of
civilians that work voluntarily and the organizations that are thus formed to advance their own or
theirs’ well-being. It can include civic, educational, trade, labor, charitable, media, religious,
recreational, cultural and advocacy groups. A strong African civil society can protect individuals and
groups against intrusive government and influence government behavior, protecting the marginalized
and furthering the interest of the governed.
Elections provide an important method of public participation in governance and give
legitimacy to a government chosen by the people. Free and fair elections also have the effect of holding
leaders accountable because, if they misuse their office, they can be voted out of it by citizens during
the next election cycle. Given a choice, citizens are not likely to vote candidates into office who are
running on anti-corruption platforms.
Public accountability remains one of the most important mechanisms to control African
corruption. Can African officials (elected or otherwise) be exposed to public scrutiny and criticism for
not meeting standards and for wrongdoing? Or, perhaps more importantly, can they lose their jobs or
be put in jail? Rose-Ackerman (1999) notes that “limits on the power of politicians and political
institutions combined with independent monitoring and enforcement can be potent anti-corruption
strategies.
Transparency governance exists when African citizens have a very clear idea of what their
government is doing and how they are spending tax dollars. With transparency, decisions made by the
African government are known and the implementations of the decisions abide by rules and
regulations that are freely available and understandable to those who are affected by the decisions and
even the public. Such openness does matter, not only to lessening corruption but also to instilling
legitimacy and making a society less vulnerable to destabilization. A critical contributor to such
transparency and accountability is an independent media. An independent African media, free from
African government control and interference, provides public access to information, can investigate
acts of corruption and reports on the actions of government, thus helping to ensure greater
transparency and accountability in Africa states.
RULE OF LAW
Rule of law can be seen as a constitutional doctrine which emphasizes the supremacy of law
over all subjects and the people in the society. Most African policymakers would agree that having
“rule of law” tradition is one of the most effective ways to keep corruption in Africa in check. A African
state can operate under many different forms of governance, from autocracy to democracy and remain
stable and free of internal violence, but having widespread respect for rule of law in place ensures that
all persons and institutions, public and private, including the state itself, are accountable to laws that
are publicly announced, equally enforced and independently adjudicated and consistent with
international human rights norms and standards. While no African country is immune from
corruption, it tends to be more common in African societies where there is not a strong commitment
to the rule of law.
In a system where the rule of law has broken down, there is little transparency in government
operations and public officials have a lot of discretion in the way that they carry out their duties. It is
more likely that government funds in Africa will be used for personal benefit, that services will be
disrupted and that African citizens will have few avenues of recourse to lodge complaints or receive
justice. In such circumstances, African citizens may revolt (violently or non-violently) or perhaps
protest in other ways, like evading paying taxes- believing that there in no point in doing so when they
expect the money to go into the pockets of corrupt African officials and not to the services that they
use (like roads, hospitals or schools). Tax evasion remains a big problem in countries like Nigeria
where economic uncertainty after the fall of the fuel subsidy led to poverty, corruption, new waves of
crime and a growing distrust of authorities. Tax evasion is also prevalent where there is no rule of law
because too often tax collection is either not enforced impartially or equitably. And, in some African
societies, instead of paying taxes (a legitimate contribution to the support government services),
African citizens will save their money for bribes since that may be a more effective means of ensuring
they receive service.
PROFESSIONALIZING THE CIVIL SERVICE
Because African civil servants like tax auditors, customs officials and police officers are poorly
paid in some African countries, they may be particularly prone to taking bribes. Sometimes, the extra
income from a bribe can mean the difference between being able to feed one’s family or not. Engaging
in bribery, in other words, may be a survival strategy. In these cases, improving wages, working
conditions and merit-based promotions may eliminate the need to engage in corruption, not to
mention attracting more qualified personnel. While the African institution has long called for civil
service reform in African countries, it often remains hard to implement in practice because the
capacity for recruitment, training and reform of public administration is just not there. At the same
time, the African government may not have the resources to pay African civil servants sufficient
salaries and wages that would help eliminate their financial dependence on bribery. The concept of
civil service is a very indispensable instrument through which the policies and programs of the
government are implemented and executed in Africa. It transforms the policies and programs of the
African government into service for the Africans.
LEGAL REFORMS
To name just a few that a African state can implement to reduce corruption in Africa, these
include: passing freedom of information laws in African states, which enhances African citizen access
to information and the transparency of African government operations; requiring public officials to
declare their assets and incomes; open and transparent budgets of government income and
expenditures; and ensuring that there are competitive, open bidding processes for obtaining
government contracts. These reforms take time to implement in budding African democracies and can
reflect how well the traits of good governance in Africa are put into practice.
SEPARATION OF POWERS
The principle of separation of power emphasizes that the powers of government should be
divided among the three separate body or organs of government such that the legislature is concern
with the law making, the executive with the administrative and implementation of the law why the
judiciary should be concerned with the interpretation of the law and punishment of the offenders.
Ensuring that any one branch of African government does not exert too much power and that the
branches can check the power of the others helps to keep corruption in check. A dominant executive
branch, for example, can operate with impunity if there is not strong oversight by a legislative body.
Judiciaries too need independence from the other branches. Judicial independence is a key element of
rule of law efforts everywhere because judges and prosecutors must be able to decide cases impartially
and be free from political influence.
THE BENEFITS OF CORRUPTION
Despite the many problems caused by corruption in Africa, some scholars in Africa argue that
keeping corrupt systems in place may be necessary to guarantee stability in the short term. Corruption
may be a way of life in many African societies, or may be necessary for survival when the systems,
institutions, and processes that should protect the safety and well-being of citizens are weak or
completely lacking. In addition, corruption in Africa states can be perceived as beneficial to a society
where patronage networks ensure that some benefits are channeled down to the poorer members of
the community. There are also some who argue that “grand” corruption in Africa is not always
negative. They argue that it can help contribute to internal stability by creating or sustaining
patronage networks and as an incentive for opposition movements to participate in the political and
economic system. But such a system also helps sow the seed of discontent among the vast majority
who do not benefit from such networks of patronage and corruption.
“Taking apart corruption networks can do more harm than good because they are part of the
system”, says (Smith, 2009), who adds that rooting out corrupt individuals Africa states often needs to
be done very carefully and over time. Sometimes, if this is done too abruptly when other institutions of
governance in Africa aren’t yet in place, more violence can result. “Reformers need to ask what is
likely to happen if they decide to upset established corrupt relationships or those based on
intimidation and fear”, adds (Rose-Ackerman, 2010) at a forum on corruption at Tuft University,
“Unless care is taken, a sharp break with a corrupt status quo can breed instability and violence as
those who benefited from the corrupt system struggle to maintain their position”. In Nigeria, attempts
to halt corruption associated with the production and trade of opium controlled by economic and
political gladiators led to increased violence.
In order to secure at least some measure of sustainability, African anti-corruption institutions
often find themselves in the unenviable position of having to work with or make deals with those
perpetrating conflict, such as African economic gladiators or corrupt African officials who make deals
with those conflict entrepreneurs who profit from sustaining conflict and unstable conditions. In other
words, curtailing and preventing violence by helping maintain some system of governance, even if
broken and dysfunctional, may take priority over accountability and rule of law.
For example, economic and political gladiators and often the military commanders under
them often prefer to see a conflict continue. The conflict may give them access to valuable state
financial resources and building corruption networks around these “spoils” keeps them in power. Such
networks are often closely associated with other illicit but lucrative trades. However, sometimes peace
agreements cannot be reached and peace sustained without including the bad gladiators and giving in
to their terms. When a conflict comes to an end, economic and political gladiators are not very
included to give up their money. And, trying to get rid of them may result in failed peace agreements
and a rise in violence that inevitably results in civilian suffering and atrocities.
For these reasons, there may be an attempt to buy off potential African peace spoilers. What
that means in practice is that power sharing arrangements are given to the parties in conflict or they
may be offered plum positions in a new government. Although this practice has been important for
ending conflicts and creating a more secure environment for the African populace in the short term,
many are less optimistic about the long term impacts. When potential African spoilers have control of
state financial resources, it can increase corruption and make it that much harder to establish
functioning governments in African region. The mix of electoral politics and power sharing
arrangements in a peace accord can often lead to weak African institutions and undermine
accountability as each faction asserts control over its own territorial or institutional turf, which leads
to different sets of rules and authorities. Individuals in these positions may reward their own political
parties and support networks rather than distribute the financial resources of the state in an impartial
manner. From a moral standpoint, African citizens too may wonder where the justice is in a system in
which those who have perpetrated a conflict are awarded with top positions. Thus, African
governmental figures and institutions have less credibility in the eyes of the populace, which makes
governing harder and less effective.
After 2007 Amnesty agreement in Nigeria (Niger-Delta), the “main former militant leaders
were all made to occupy official political positions in the government granting them unfettered access
to political and economic resources”. The result of such an arrangement, according to a report by the
(International Crises Group, 2006) years later was that “state resources were siphoned off to fund
elections campaign and private accounts. Between 60 and 80 per cent of crude oil revenues were
estimated to be embezzled, a quarter of the national budget was not properly accounted for and
millions of dollars were misappropriated in the army and state run companies. Institutions of
governance still remain very weak in the country despite democratic elections and fighting still rages
in the south-south part of the country.
Scholars in the field are more than aware of the trade-offs between short-term stability and
long-term peace in Africa. And, tolerating corruption may factor into this mix. “The relationship
between corruption, conflict and sustainable development is characterized by a recurring tension
between accepting forms of corruption in the short term to attain greater stability and the need to
counter it in the longer term in order to lay the foundations for legitimate political institutions and
sustainable economic and political development.
THE PROS AND CONS OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT
The first priority in stabilizing a post-conflict African state is usually to meet a range of
immediate needs like food supply, security and health care. Providing these welfare services is
absolutely critical and is an essential role that the African states can provide. African governments to
create the secure environment needed to get supplies to suffering African populations. As a flood of
foreign money and aid comes into the region that is in desperate economic condition, there can also
be a rapid rise in corruption as African citizens scramble for scarce resources and those with power
and connections look for ways to turn a profit. Who does this money go to and is it wisely spent?
Provincial leaders, notes Debra Liang-Fenton, often work with international nongovernmental
organizations to dictate priorities based on how they personally benefit but it is not always clear that
this support is meeting the real needs of the people in that society.
Some African groups may also get lucrative contracts when others don’t. This is what is
happening in Nigeria, Liberia and other African states, says Raymond (2008), who adds that this
practice is increasing inequalities in that African society. “When African politicians influence aid
delivery based on politically or economically corrupt premises, rather than on a competence and need
basis, corruption in Africa states will result in reluctant donors, under-performing or inadequate
infrastructure and services, higher costs and sometimes delays and the entrenchment of inequalities”,
noted Philippe (2010). For all of these reasons, monitoring how foreign aid is spent in Africa states is
critical and is becoming a much higher priority of the African anti-corruption institutions such as
through programs like the International Aid Transparency Initiative. This initiative is supported by a
number of governments and multinational institutions and its main aim is to make aid more effective
in fighting poverty through improving transparency over aid flows.
Development assistance often tends to be high in emergency situations and then to diminish
substantially when donors move on to the next crisis. But, making a dent in problems like corruption
takes a long time and lot of sustained investment in institutions, legal structures and civil service
reform. Outsiders can choose to ignore the corruption that exists (facing certain negative
consequences down the road), deal with it directly (perhaps by putting punitive or preventive
measures in place) or work with the host society to change customs and expectations. African
populations, however, may have very different ideas about combating corruption than do regional
anti-corruption organizations. One-size-fits-all approaches rarely work and neither “good governance”
nor anti-corruption campaigns are likely to be successful if they are not locally driven or do not take
local realities and cultures into account.
HOW THE CITIZENS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
There are all kinds of institutions and laws that can be put in place to combat corruption in
African states but some of the most effective programs happen at very small scales. Citizens’
campaigns at all levels can, in fact, are one of the most effective ways to fight corruption in Africa
states. “No progress can be made until African citizens are involved, “asserts (Shaazka Beyerle, 2010)
with the international center on nonviolent conflict. “To date, there has been an institutional approach
to fighting corruption in Africa states but there has been a shift in thinking that this alone cannot
make a dent. It is important but not enough. Civic organizations, neighborhood groups and
community networks all have to become involved”, (Smith, 2009) added.
Examples of this include the Social Economic Right Action Center! (“Enough” campaign in
Nigeria) which emerged to “increase citizen participation, promote good governance, fight corruption
and improve social justice. For the many years, the annual “Social Economic Right Action Center”
report disseminates the results of civic monitoring of Nigerian legislative activity. “In Ghana, Civil
Society Organization has grown into a network of 80 citizens watchdog groups covering every
province, the share expertise on filing criminal reports of corruption and getting information to the
media about corrupt officials”. In 1999, over a six-week period in Nigeria, the “Social Economic Right
Action Center” mobilized approximately citizens in synchronized mass actions to pressurize the
Nigerian government to take specific measures to combat systemic corruption, including launching
judicial investigations.
Initiatives that give African journalists and citizens more access to African government
information is particularly important to ensure transparency. A grassroots effort in Nigeria has been
behind the passage and support of the Right to Information Act. The legislation, passed in 2011,
requires Nigerian public officials to provide information to Nigerian citizens in a timely manner and
certain government records are now computerized and proactively published. This legislation enables
all Nigerian citizens to obtain details of any public funded scheme, project or institution. To date, the
act is being effectively used by hundreds and thousands of Nigerian citizens and has resulted in a
number of indictments of officials.
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, Africans must be able to trust their governing institutions and governing
institutions should provide the security and services that people need. When corruption is rampant,
there can be no trust and security and services also suffer. Corruption tends to be endemic and most
detrimental in African states that are transitioning from one form of governance to another or fragile
from violent conflict. And, trying to root it out too abruptly may lead to more violence and instability.
Then again, if corruption is allowed to fester in those African societies, strong and effective
governance can be difficult to establish and social and economic development will be hindered. With
respect to the implications of corruption on sustainable development and peace, African scholars
wrestle with making difficult choices on when and where to tolerate corruption. As African countries
in transition struggle with stability, the ties among corruption, conflict and sustainable development
and peace have come into focus. Growing understanding of fragile African states and these ties have
led to some new ideas and approaches on how outsiders can or should help. These approaches span
from helping to establish good governance to incorporating the power of civic involvement into their
work. However, application of these ideas and approaches continue to be challenging in many ways as
there are complex conflicts and fragile African states
Certainly, peace scholars foreign and domestic; individuals, organizations and governments
have very important roles to play in addressing corruption and establishing good governance in order
to prevent conflict and strengthen African regional security. This study will contribute to deeper
understanding of issues presented here as well as encourages innovation and involvement in African
states.
References
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Church, C. (2007). Thought piece: Peace building and corruption: How may theycollide? The nexus:
Corruption, conflict & peace building colloquium. Boston: The Fletcher School, Tuft
University.
Daniel, J. S. (2009). The paradoxes of popular participation in corruption in Nigeria. Corruption,
global security and world order. World Peace Foundation and American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, Cambridge, MA.
Fishman, R., & Edward M. (2008) Economic gangsters: Corruption, violence and the poverty of
nations. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
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Global Corruption Report, (2010, February), Retrieved February 8, 2010 from
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0921295.html.
International Crisis Group. (2006). Escaping the conflict trap: Promotion good governance in
Congo. Brussels: International Crisis Group.
Le Billon, P. (2008).Corrupting peace? Peace building and post-conflict corruption. International
Peacekeeping, 15, No. 3.
Robert I. R. (2008).Reconstruction and peace building under extreme adversity: The problem of
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Routlege.
Rose-Ackerman, S. (1999). Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
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Boston, MA, Retrieved on January 7, 2010 from
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Smith, D. J. (2007). A culture of corruption: Everyday deception and popular discontent in Nigeria.
Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press
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Transparency International.(2010).
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Author Notes
Oluwaseun Bamidele
Department of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Faith Academy, Canaanland Ota, Nigeria
Email: [email protected]
APPENDIX I: CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2011
THE PERCEIVED LEVELS OF PUBLIC-SECTOR CORRUPTION IN 183 COUNTRIES/TERRITORIES AROUND THE WORLD
RANK
1
2
2
4
5
6
7
8
8
10
11
12
13
14
14
16
16
16
19
19
21
22
22
24
25
25
25
28
29
COUNTRY/
TERRITORY
New Zealand
Denmark
Finland
Sweden
Singapore
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
Switzerland
Canada
Luxembourg
Hong Kong
Iceland
Germany
Japan
Austria
Barbados
United Kingdom
Belgium
Ireland
Bahamas
Chile
Qatar
United States
France
Saint Lucia
Uruguay
United
Arab
Emirates
Estonia
SCORE
9.5
9.4
9.4
9.3
9.2
9.0
8.9
8.8
8.8
8.7
8.5
8.4
8.3
8.0
8.0
7.8
7.8
7.8
7.5
7.5
7.3
7.2
7.2
7.1
7.0
7.0
7.0
6.8
6.4
30
31
32
32
32
35
36
36
38
39
39
41
41
43
44
44
46
46
46
49
50
50
50
50
54
54
56
57
57
57
60
61
61
61
64
Cyprus
Spain
Botswana*
Portugal
Taiwan
Slovenia
Israel
Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines
Bhutan
Malta
Puerto Rico
Cape Verde*
Poland
Korea (South)
Brunei
Dominica
Bahrain
Macau
Mauritius*
Rwanda*
Costa Rica
Lithuania
Oman
Seychelles
Hungary
Kuwait
Jordan
Czech Republic
Namibia*
Saudi Arabia
Malaysia
Cuba
Latvia
Turkey
Georgia
6.3
6.2
6.1
6.1
6.1
5.9
5.8
5.8
5.7
5.6
5.6
5.5
5.5
5.4
5.2
5.2
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.0
4.8
4.8
4.8
4.8
4.6
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.4
4.4
4.3
4.2
4.2
4.2
4.1
64
66
66
66
69
69
69
69
73
73
75
75
77
77
77
80
80
80
80
80
80
86
86
86
86
86
91
91
91
91
95
95
95
95
South Africa*
Croatia
Montenegro
Slovakia
Ghana*
Italy
FYR Macedonia
Samoa
Brazil
Tunisia*
China
Romania
Gambia*
Lesotho*
Vanuatu
Colombia
El Salvador
Greece
Morocco*
Peru
Thailand
Bulgaria
Jamaica
Panama
Serbia
Sri Lanka
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Liberia*
Trinidad and
Tobago
Zambia*
Albania
India
Kiribati
Swaziland*
4.1
4.0
4.0
4.0
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.8
3.8
3.6
3.6
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.4
3.4
3.4
3.4
3.4
3.4
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.2
3.2
3.2
3.2
3.1
3.1
3.1
3.1
95
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
112
112
112
112
112
112
118
118
120
120
120
120
120
120
120
120
120
129
129
129
129
129
134
134
Tonga
Argentina
Benin*
Burkina Faso*
Djibouti*
Gabon*
Indonesia
Madagascar*
Malawi*
Mexico
Sao Tome and
Principe
Suriname
Tanzania*
Algeria*
Egypt*
Kosovo
Moldova
Senegal*
Vietnam
Bolivia
Mali*
Bangladesh
Ecuador
Ethiopia*
Guatemala
Iran
Kazakhstan
Mongolia
Mozambique*
Solomon Islands
Armenia
Dominican Rep.
Honduras
Philippines
Syria
Cameroon*
Eritrea*
3.1
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.8
2.8
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.5
2.5
134
134
134
134
134
134
134
143
143
143
143
143
143
143
143
143
152
152
154
154
154
154
154
154
154
154
154
154
164
164
164
164
168
168
168
Guyana
Lebanon
Maldives
Nicaragua
Niger*
Pakistan
Sierra Leone*
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Comoros
Mauritania*
Nigeria*
Russia
Timor-Leste
Togo*
Uganda*
Tajikistan
Ukraine
Central African
Republic*
Congo Rep*
Côte dÍvoire*
Guinea-Bissau*
Kenya*
Laos
Nepal
Papua New
Guinea
Paraguay
Zimbabwe*
Cambodia
Guinea*
Kyrgyzstan
Yemen
Angola*
Chad*
Democratic
Republic of the
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.3
2.3
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.0
2.0
2.0
Congo *
168
172
172
172
175
175
177
177
177
180
180
182
182
Libya*
Burundi*
Equatorial
Guinea*
Venezuela
Haiti
Iraq
Sudan*
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Afghanistan
Myanmar
Korea (North)
Somalia*
2.0
1.9
1.9
1.9
1.8
1.8
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.5
1.5
1.0
1.0
Source: Transparency International
Annual Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI) 2011
*African Countries
SCORE:
9 - 10 VERY CLEAN
8 - 8.9
7 - 7.9
6 - 6.9
5 - 5.9
4 - 4.9
3 - 3.9
2 - 2.9
1 - 1.9
0 - 0.9
HIGHLY CORRUPT
REVISITING THE DEBATE ON INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS FROM ILORIN TEXTILE CLUSTER1
Olukayode Abiodun Faleye
Joseph Ayo
Babalola University
Abstract
The underdeveloped nature of traditional institutions such as, indigenous textile industries in Ilorin
is stimulating the craving for western technological transfer even without a thorough analysis of the
existing scenario. Consequently, very little has been done to examine the nature, pattern and the
potential of the indigenous textile industry. Data set were obtained through personal interviews and
review of relevant literature on indigenous textile industry. Using qualitative and descriptive
method of data analysis, this study has demonstrated that the modernization of the Ilorin textile
industry was unsuccessful due to unfavourable government policies, low capital investment,
corruption and the disdain for existing culture of textile technology.
Keywords: Aso-Ofi, Culture, Development, Indigenous-Textile, Technology.
Introduction
Ilorin is the capital and administrative centre of Kwara state, Nigeria (Figure i). Its
geographical coordinates are 8° 30' 0" North, 4° 33' 0" East. According to the 2010 World Gazetteer
estimate, Ilorin Population stands at 1,084,681 people. This work covers the dynamics of indigenous
textile industry in Ilorin overtime. While stressing the cultural factor in technological development, it
proved that technology grows and becomes sustainable, when it is integrated culturally. Examining
the cultural factor in technological development, Ade-Ajayi (2004:160) argue that ‘you can borrow
some technology; you can begin by imitating some aspects of other people’s technology, you can even
try to transfer technology, but technology cannot develop- it cannot grow – outside the context of
culture’. This suggests that technology can only be absorbed and grow if planted within a pre-existing
culture. It is, therefore, necessary to ascertain the development of the indigenous textile industry over
time. The focus on Ilorin is due to the fact that the city is a significant centre of indigenous textile
manufacturing in Nigeria, popularly known as Aso-Ofi. It will be interesting to know how the
indigenous textile industry has managed to survive, despite the various challenges bedeviling the
industry since the precolonial period.
Cultural products, such as Aso-Ofi reflect a living culture based on indigenous knowledge.
Indeed, Aso-Ofi derives from culture, physical and spiritual features that characterize an African
society. Cloth weaving such as Aso-Ofi manufacturing was a technology evolved by the people in
response to the demands of their environment. For centuries, weavers, spinners and dyers produced
on subsistence and commercial scale. The cloth serves as a protective material in the human body and
has been made to describe vividly, the history and culture of a person than any other source of history
(Olaoye, 1989). Woven cloth represents a key traditional activity among the Ilorin people. Cotton
fabrics such as ewu-etu, sanyan, petuje, kijipa, and adire represented a stage in the history and
culture of textile technology of the people. The social values of people have always been influenced by
their clothing (Asakitikpi, 2007; Oyetola, 2004). Traditional ceremonies such as marriage, burial and
child naming are usually marked with ceremonial clothes in many Nigerian communities. In Ilorin,
the indigenous textile industry is responsible for the provision of traditional costumes used in
marriage ceremonies such as Aso-Ofi cloth-forms. In addition, the social values in vogue are usually
reflected in the patterns, designs and styles of the cloth. Diakhate (2010), argues that indigenous
textile is like a human DNA, as DNA holds human mutations; indigenous textile symbolizes the
cultural drift and historical movement of their community. This is true of the Aso-Ofi textile produced
in Ilorin. According to Senghor (1977:330), ‘there is no art without active assimilation from outside
contribution, but above all there is no such thing as an original genius that is not rooted in the native
This article is based on Faleye, O.A. (2011). “Origin and Development of Indigenous Textile Industry
in Ilorin, 1960-1999”. An unpublished Master of Arts Thesis, Institute of African Studies, University of
Ibadan, Nigeria.
1
culture’. Thus, technology can only be absorbed and grow if planted within a pre-existing culture.
Primary data were collected through personal interviews with textile artisans - Mr. Saka Sadu
(Ojaya-Ilorin), Alhaji Oba Olanrewaju (Okelele-Ilorin), Mrs Ramat Kekere (Ojaya-Ilorin), Mr. Lamidi
Mohammed (Ojatuntun-Ilorin) and Mrs Sikirat Abeni (Surulere-Ilorin) between July 2009 and May
2011 (Figure ii). What is interesting in this study is the way it scrutinizes the dialogue between the past
and the present and emphasizes the engaging approach of modernity. This work takes the broad
spectrum of Ilorin Aso-Ofi cluster as an extended canvas, its central themes concern the development
of these inherited industrial traditions and the manner of their survival and transmission in the
present.
Figure i
A Map of Kwara State showing the location of Ilorin
Source: Personal Collection
Figure ii
A Map of Ilorin showing traditional textile locations
Conceptual framework
The Aso-Ofi industry in Ilorin is yet to devise an internationally competitive mass and
automated production system. An explanation of historical trends and the potential of the industry is
analysed based on the linear-stage of the growth model. The linear stage model explains the process of
development as a series of successive stages of industrial growth. In practice, it suggests that savings,
investment, and foreign aid were compulsory to initiate the transition from traditional to modern
industry. Indeed, the Harrod-Domar model (AK-model) is a typical example of the linear stage model.
This model assumes that in order to grow, new investments representing net additions to the capital
stock are necessary (Harrod, 1939; Domar, 1946). Thus, if $1000.00 of capital is always necessary to
produce a $1.00 stream of GNP then, any net additions to the capital stock in the form of new
investment will bring about corresponding increases in the flow of national output (GNP) that is,
where savings (S) is some proportion, s, of national income (Y) such that we have S=sY whereas, Net
Investment (I) is defined as the change in the capital stock, k, and can be represented by ∆k such that
I=∆k. Thus, the net savings (S) equals net Investment (I), therefore, S=I.
The Ilorin indigenous textile industry has been marginalized through unfavourable
government policies over time. The informalization of the industry by the Colonial Government
disconnected the sector from state’s support and funding. The policy of divide and rule of the British
colonialists proscribed the precolonial Weavers’ Guild System (Byfield, 2002; Meagher, 2008). The
attendant lack of a trade union among the textile artisans relegated the sector to a subsistence level.
Consequently, the poor governmental policies opened the industry to unhealthy competition from
foreign textile firms. The massive importation of textile in the colonial and post-colonial periods
choked the existing market for traditional textile which led to capital flight and low savings, thereby
eroding the pre-condition for the industrial revolution in the sector.
The domestication of technology model is used to analyse the sector’s experience with
technological transfer from technologically advanced countries. The domestication of technology
involves four stages that is, appropriation, objectivity, incorporation and conversion (Silverstone and
Hirsch, 1992; Silverstone and Haddon, 1996). In this perspective, appropriation is the acquisition of
the technologies while objectivity emphasizes the functionality of the transferred technology in a new
cultural setting. Incorporation is the process of assimilating the new technology. The stage of
conversion entails the final incorporation of the new technology into a native culture. Using Ilorin
indigenous textile industry as a case study, this work argues that the transferred technologies have
only managed to fulfil the first two stages of appropriation and objectivity. For instance, an attempt to
introduce automated looms to the sector in the colonial era involves the acquisition of machineries
and technology transfer (Browne, 1983). The post-colonial period witnessed the enforcement of
governmental policies aimed at replacing the indigenous textile sector with Western styled textile
mills. Though, these transferred technologies initially showed some promises but later withered
because they were not planted in the existing culture of textile technology. Thus, the most important
stages of incorporation and conversion remains a failure due to poor cultural adaptation of the
transferred technologies. No wonder, by the end of the twentieth century, the experimentation with
technology transfer has culminated into a regret inform of technological failure and liquidation of
almost all existing western styled textile mills in Nigeria.
Mapping Ilorin Textile Industry since the Pre-colonial Era
Indigenous textile manufacturing techniques are traditions in their own right. According to
the artisans, the skills and the raw materials involved in Aso-Ofi making are locally sought and
handed over from generation to generation. A precise date for the earliest presence and use of the
horizontal and vertical looms in Ilorin is unknown. According to Gilfoy (1987:15), ‘Archaeological
textiles, dating from the eleventh to the fifteenth century, have been found in several locations across
the Sahara measuring about 14-25cm wide’. Thus, the cotton textiles were probably woven on a loom
with shafts and treadles such as still used in Ilorin. The availability of similar looms across the Sahara,
depict a common origin and diffusion. Therefore, considering the strategic location of Ilorin as an
entrepot in the Trans-Saharan Trade, the loom might have evolved in Ilorin from an ancient prototype
related to the Berber’s ground loom.
In the pre-colonial period, the decline of the old Oyo Empire and its eventual collapse in the
19th century diverted the transnational trade routes from old Oyo to Ilorin which necessitated the
emergence of Ilorin as an entrepot, diverse skilled people such as textile artisans relocated from
neighbouring towns and villages to Ilorin. Ilorin had by the first half of the 19th century developed a
surplus producing-textile economy. Textile industries, specifically, traditional weaving, had emerged.
(Banwo, 1998). In this period, indigenous textile manufacture in Ilorin was superior to the textiles
manufactured in the western world. The Niger-expedition of 1841 uncovered the robust indigenous
textile industry based in Ilorin area. According to Marion (1974:354), ‘giving evidence before the 1842
committee on the west coast of Africa, referring to the traditional textile industry in the Ilorin area,
Macgregor Laird said that “the native of the interior would not look at our cottons, preferring their
own stronger goods’”. The stylish designs of these cloths attest to the high level of techniques and
innovation involved in the production process. Its method of production varied because assorted
materials, local tools and efficient labour were utilized. In Ilorin, indigenous textile fulfils multiple
functions: practical, artistic, communicative, economic, political, and philosophical. The indigenous
textiles are reflections of a living culture. Ilorin indigenous textile industry is transitional in scope
despite being based on traditional forms and knowledge.
Ilorin came under British administration in 1897 through colonial conquest and the
traditional political institution of the emirate was integrated into the colonial government through the
system of indirect rule. The main economic aim of the British colonial administration was to develop
the existing cotton cultivation however, local and British textile industries competed in late 19th and
early 20th centuries. The colonial administration promoted the cultivation of new species of cotton for
export but, cotton prices in the domestic market remained higher than the export market could
support due to high local demand (Candotti, 2009; Byfield, 2002). The colonial government instituted
a policy of textile importation and cotton exportation thereby, discouraging industrialization of the
sector. However, the economic and cultural importance of the textile sector signaled high local
demand supported the survival of Aso-Ofi textile industry in Ilorin during the colonial period. Thus,
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there was a preference for local textile thereby
stimulating local demand for cotton (O’Hear, 1987).
Pre-colonial Ilorin textile industries were organized in a guild system. Weavers work under
master weavers of the same lineage. The weavers’ guild is saddled with the responsibility of regulating
markets forces such as price, production standards, labour and capital. In this purview, the weavers’
guild was the intermediary between the textile artisans and the state. The pre-colonial weaving guilds
constituted formal structures of economic authority, and weaving involved formal sector firms, taxed,
recognized and protected by the state (Meagher, 2008:7). This industry of cultural importance was
informalized in 1897 by the colonial conquest of Ilorin. The colonial government shifted political and
economic authority away from the weavers’ guild thereby marginalizing the industry (Byfield, 2002).
Also, in the colonial period, the British Colonial Government encouraged the importation of
inexpensive textile materials from British firms. These cloth-forms were characterized by plain
colours with smooth texture. The indigenous textile industry reacted by creating new cloth-forms
based on the imported materials. The light weighted, plain coloured and soft textured imported
textiles were redesigned by the artisans leading to the expansion of the existing Kijipa-Adire textile
cluster – dyers created more elaborate patterns of stitch-resist adire alabere and the hand-painted
starch-resist adire-eleko.
During the late 1940s effort to introduce automated loom to the Aso-Ofi industry in Ilorin
failed because the automated looms were too expensive and economically inefficient relative to the
traditional loom. Browne (1983:36) asserts ‘It appeared obvious to the western-eye that narrowness
must mean inefficiency but the relevance of an automated loom which makes no improvement in
artistic quality, technical efficiency, productivity or cost must, therefore, be highly questionable’. Thus,
the transferred technology failed because it did not grow within the context of the pre-existing culture.
Ilorin indigenous textile industry experienced an expansion in the post-colonial period, as a result of
import restrictions on textiles. The importation restriction of the late 1970s, coupled with the
economic crisis of the 1980s, made imported textiles less affordable thereby leading to hyper demand
for the products of the Ofi textile industry in Ilorin. According to the artisans, Ilorin indigenous textile
industry resolved these challenges by adopting new modes of transport, marketing strategies,
technical innovations and new sources of raw materials. The policy of export cropping led to cotton
scarcity and inflation, forcing the industry to embrace imported yarn and dyes. The use of imported
yarns introduced new colours and textures which stimulated design.
In the 1990s, the Ilorin textile industry revealed a considerable degree of modernization.
According to the textile artisans, this includes the technical modifications of the loom to accommodate
new materials and designs, and the use of industrially produced yarns imported through supply
networks extending as far as China. Thus, despite constraints, Ilorin textile industry has shown
initiative, adaptability and promise. Thus, this complex features necessitated its survival and
development into the twenty-first century. In the Aso-Ofi industry, one can discern certain unifying
characteristics which are continually being produced through the dynamic cloth design-innovations.
The weaving of rows of small holes across the strips of Aso-Ofi is called eleya (Plate i). This cloth form
is made by using weft threads, inserted by hand to bind together groups of warps (Clarke, 1996). A
process by which the threads are run across one face of the cloth to the next row of holes is called
njawu (Plate ii).
The influence of western technology on design innovation is evident in the face of structural
change in design techniques as illustrated by the new cloth form tagged ofi-net (Plate i). According to
the weavers, ofi-net represents a new cultural form borrowed from the western dry-lace technology of
the 1990’s but incorporated into the traditional system in the first decade of the 21st century, even
with a better quality. Innovations in the textile sector provides potential income for the artisans and
serves an avenue to encode culture and demonstrate the historical movement of indigenous
knowledge in Ilorin.
Production Technology and Market Trends
Up to the first-half of the twentieth century, the process of indigenous textile manufacturing
in Ilorin involved ginning, fluffing, and spinning, which required a significant level of human labour.
However, from the second half of the twentieth century, Ilorin textile artisans introduced the use of
the machine spun yarns in their traditional weaving. An integral part of the production technology
involves the starching and rewinding of the machine spun- yarns to toughen the threads. According to
the textile artisans, the process of preparing the starch-solution involved, mixing industrial starch
with water to produce a solution of low concentration. The yarns will then be soaked in the solution
and dried. After starching, the threads will be subjected to rewinding; this process is called owu dida.
The name of the winding device is called ajo (Plate iii). This device revolves freely when the threads
are pulled from the hank by the use of a spindle. Prior to the twenty-first century, igowu, a device
made of a short stick of about 32cm in length was used manually for winding. However, since the
year-2001, the artisans have taken to the use of an automated machine winder called masin (Plate iv).
The spooled yarn is thereafter converted into warps for weaving. Today, ajo is made of metal in
contrast to wooden planks used in the 1980s.
The horizontal loom is composed of a treadle, shuttle, pulley, harness, beam, sleight and a
beater. This loom is often installed outside a building (Plate v). The loom mechanism involves a cord
linked to a treadle controlled by the weaver’s foot. The warp is held taut by a stone (Plate vi) while
weaving advances as the boat shuttle passes through the warp and the Apasa (Plate vii) manoeuvred
to make patterns. A landmark innovation in the industry is the emergence of a new hand-patterning
horizontal loom technology designed to perform the functions of both horizontal and vertical looms
(Plate viii). The vertical loom has a rectangular frame installed indoor (Plate ix). It shared some
features with the horizontal loom however; its weaving process differs, as it has no treadle. The sword
tagged Okahia is used to administer pattern during the weaving process (Plate x). The cloth woven on
a vertical loom has an average width of about 16.5 inches.
The hand patterning horizontal loom shares the same features with the normal horizontal
loom but with a bigger structure. The cloth woven on the horizontal loom is about 4.5 inches wide,
while the new hand-patterning horizontal loom produces cloth forms between 4.5 and 22 inches wide.
According to the artisans, the technological improvement signaled by the emergence of the hand
patterning horizontal loom is often difficult to achieve due to inadequate capital. The indigenous
textile industry has been neglected by the Government and the lack of trade unionism in the cluster
has further isolated the industry.
Today, the Ilorin Aso-Ofi trading network transcends local boundary. This is due to high
demand for its ceremonial and prestigious cloth-forms used in traditional marriages, naming and
burial ceremonies both locally and in the Diaspora (Plate xi). These cloth forms are vital elements of
cultural identity, sown and worn by generation to generation. In Ilorin indigenous textile industry,
production is often based on demand. The artisans often propose new designs to the customers based
on the existing samples of his work that is, the album of old designs. While the customer may often
propose new designs from samples collected elsewhere. Hence, in Ilorin Ofi textile industry, the
impetus for innovation was provided by both the textile artisans and the customers, who strive to
update their wardrobes with new design innovations superior to the style in vogue.
Conclusion
Globalization poses a major threat to the Ilorin textile industry. The informalization of the
industry in the colonial period and the removal of trade restrictions causes an unrestrained
importation of all kinds of foreign textile. The consequence is diminished market for locally
manufactured textile. Inconsistency in government policies coupled with administrative lapses often
hinders restrictive import measures (Slotterback, 2007). In the post-colonial period, ignorance and
corruption among government official impeded sustainable development in the indigenous textile
industry. For instance, in 2002, the Nigerian government banned importation of textiles. The inability
of the government to enforce the restrictive measures due to widespread corruption among Custom
and Immigration officials led to the lifting of the embargo by 2010 (Ekpo, 2010). Consequently, the
attendant influx of foreign made textile choked the existing market for the Ilorin indigenous textile
products.
The neglect of the agricultural sector by the government is a major problem facing the Aso-Ofi
indigenous textile industry in Ilorin. Over-reliance on the petroleum sector, as the sole source of
revenue has been problematic for the Nigerian State since the oil-boom of the 1970s. Today, the AsoOfi industry relied heavily on imported threads, fluctuation in the foreign exchange market often lead
to constant inflation in the sector. Thus, there is the need to invest in homegrown cotton and agrochemical production in order to significantly improve the productivity of the Ilorin textile industry.
Attempts made by the Nigerian Government to mechanize the textile sector through technology
transfer from technologically advanced countries have failed. For instance, by the end of the twentieth
century, virtually all Western type textile factories in the country have folded up (Okpugie, 2011).
While the closure of these modern factories can be attributed to the lack of ineffective restrictive
import measures which led to a bottleneck in the cost of production, the phenomenon showcased the
inability of the country to domesticate the transferred textile technologies which led to low production
levels and high recurrent expenditure. Hence, the need for an intercourse between traditional and
modern textile technologies in order to domestic the borrowed technology and ensure sustainable
development. Implementing the foregoing requires an extensive capital investment in the sector government intervention in the form of financial aids and policy reform is imperative.
Indigenous textile produced in Ilorin have maintained their cultural status in the face of
unhealthy competition from imported fabrics. The indigenous industry has continued to survive due
to the cultural importance of the sector. Aso-Ofi asserts cultural identity and continues to make an
aesthetic statement. The weaving of Aso-Ofi remains a living, evolving tradition, depicting the cultural
history of the Yoruba people. This study shows that the modernization of Ilorin indigenous textile
industry was unsuccessful, because it ignored the input of the existing culture of textile technology. It
was discovered that the lack of capital investment is undermining innovations in the sector because
the industry is disconnected from state’s support. Based on the foregoing, it can be inferred that for
development to be sustained in the sector, the present approach of technology transfer should be
modified to take cognizance of pre-existing culture of textile production in Ilorin. Thus, government
policies should be structured to enforce restrictive import measures and establish enduring export
incentives. This work has been able to establish the fact that Ilorin textile industry is transitional in
scope, despite being based on traditional knowledge. In this purview, unless the indigenous industries
are empowered, Africa will remain technologically and economically retarded.
Plates
Plate i :Ofi-net (eleya design)
Plate ii: njawu
Plate iii: Ajo
Source: Personal Collection Source: Personal Collection
Plate iv: masin
Plate v: A horizontal loom
Plate vi: Warp stone
Source: Personal Collection Source: Personal Collection Source: Personal Collection
Plate vii: Apasa (patterning stick)
Plate viii: Hand-patterning Horizontal loom
Plate ix: A vertical loom
Plate x: Okahia
Plate xi: Aso-Ofi costume
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Author Information
Olukayode Abiodun FALEYE
Department of History & International Studies,
Joseph Ayo Babalola University
Ikeji-Arakeji,
Osun State, Nigeria
[email protected], [email protected]
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS IN AFRICA:
A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA
Dorcas Oluremi Fareo
Abstract
There is now a serious public outcry concerning the crisis in Nigerian education. National
Conferences, Seminars and Workshops have bemoaned the multifaceted cause of this “falling
standards” of education. There has been frantic search for solutions to the poor standard of
teaching schools in the country. Some stakeholders have continued to blame teachers for the
appalling performance of students in examinations. Across some states of the federation, where
education summits were organized, experts strongly recommended re-training programs for both
public and private school teachers. It is in recognition of this, that the Federal Government has
directed the National Teachers Institute (NTI) to re-train teachers in Nigeria. In this era of
globalization, it is imperative that teachers are adequately prepared to function effectively in a
challenging global environment. The challenges of globalization demands teachers who are
competent, effective, and dynamic in their orientation. This paper examined the concepts of
teachers’ education; establishment of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN); models of
continuing professional development; The National Teachers Institute (NTI) and retraining of
teachers under the Millennium Development Goals Projects (MDGs). The study concluded that
continuous professional development of teachers would definitely bring a positive change into
Nigerian educational system that would produce good, well seasoned and great leaders of
tomorrow.
Keywords: Professional development of teachers, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN);
Millennium Development Goals Project (MDGs) initial training; Nigerian educational system.
Introduction
A teacher is one certified to engage in interactions with learners for the purpose of effecting a
change in their behaviours. On the other hand, a teacher assumes different capacities such as
educator, instructor, tutor, lecturer and professor. Teachers’ at all levels of the educational system are
very important in the overall development of any nation. According to Anho (2011), teachers’
education is the process which nurtures prospective teachers and updates qualified teachers’
knowledge and skills in the form of continuous professional development. Teachers’ education
revolves around the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the
knowledge, attitude, behavior and skills required in the performance of effective duties in the
classrooms, and in other social gatherings including churches. Teachers’ education is often divided
into three stages namely:
(a) Initial teacher training;
(b) The induction process involving the training and supports of the trainees during the first
few years of teaching or the first year in a particular school; and
(c) Teacher development or continuing performing development and intensive process for
practicing teachers.
According to Anho (2011), the above processes and stages of professional development of
teachers constitute the concept of “teacher education”. The Nigerian educational system is in a state of
confusion and disarray as a result of inconsistencies, non-implementation of education policies,
corruption perpetrated by the stakeholders. There is now a serious outcry by all and sundry to reexamine and appraise the Nigerian educational system in line with current trend. The Federal
Ministry of Education is currently at the forefront of efforts at reforming the education system.
The Concept of Professional Development for Teachers’
Professional development in a broad sense refers to the development of a person in his or her
professional role. More specifically, “teacher development is the professional growth a teacher
achieves as a result of gaining increased experience and examining his or her teaching
systematically”(Glatthom,1995). Professional development includes formal experience (such as
attending workshops and professional meetings, mentoring, etc.) and informal experiences (such as
reading professional publications, watching television documentaries related to academic discipline,
etc.)(Ganser, 2000).
A teacher is conceived of as a reflective practitioner, someone who enters the profession with
a certain knowledge base, and who will acquire new knowledge and experience based on the prior
knowledge (Cochran-Smith &Lytle, 2001). In so doing, the role of professional development is to aid
teachers in building new pedagogical theories and practices and to help them develop their expertise
in the field (Dodds, 2001).
Teachers’ professional development has two main phases: initial preparation and continuing
professional development. Initial teacher training most often takes the form of full-time residential
pre-service programmes in teachers’ colleges or universities. Initial training may also be available to
serving unqualified teachers through distance education, ‘out-of-school’ programmes during vacations
or on release from schools for extended periods of time. The professional components of initial
teacher training programmes can be either consecutive or concurrent with academic subject.
Continuing professional development of teachers comes from various sources and agencies,
and in various forms: orientating teachers to curriculum or examination changes, upgrading
qualification levels, donor-funded projects, professional teachers’ associations in developing subject
teaching (e.g. Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria ‘STAN’), or sometimes teachers’ unions, school
based improvement initiatives, or individual teachers working to improve their qualifications, career
prospects or teaching skills. Continuing professional development may be regarded as all forms of ‘in
service’, ‘continuing education’, ‘on- the –job-training’, ‘workshop’, ‘post-qualification courses’ etc.
whether formal or informal, structured or unstructured, teacher-initiated or system-initiated,
accredited or not (Mohammed,2006).
Establishment of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN)
The establishment of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) in 1993 was a big
boost to the status of societies which expect a great deal from their educational systems. New goals are
being continuously set e.g. gender party by 2005, universal basic education by 2015; life long learning;
life skills education; HIV/AIDS education; competency in the use of ICT. As key agents in these
changes, teachers face high expectations, new roles and demands. They need new skills. knowledge
and new roles which they can get through Continuous Professional Development Programmes
(CPDP).
One of the key elements of teacher quality is the provision of adequate opportunities for
personal growth and professional development. Indeed, the continuing professional development of
teachers ought to be an issue of central concern to all those who care about the quality of tuition in
schools. Research on teacher education has consistently stressed the need to regularly provide
opportunities for teachers to improve their knowledge of the subject matter they teach and the
teaching skills they learned in the pre-service courses they attended. This is based on the recognition
of the fact that we live in a rapidly changing world, such that whatever knowledge and skills teachers
acquired in their pre-service training becomes stale very fast as new challenges and realities emerge in
the socio-economic and political environments (Mohammed, 2006).
Research has indicated some identifiable stages in the process of becoming a teacher. For
example, there is the five stage model of a novice, advanced beginner, competent performer, proficient
performer, and expert teacher. It is obvious that the journey from being a novice teacher to becoming
an expert will be facilitated, quickened and made less stressful by planned continuing professional
development programs (Robinson and Latchem, 2003). There is shifting global paradigm in the
concept of teaching. The emphasis is on students-as-learners in the classroom as learning places,
where learning requires the active participation of the learners, taps into individual and social
processes, assume students to be constructors (as well as recipients) of knowledge, and ultimately
views teachers as curriculum-makers (Grimmet and Neufeld, 1994).
These pedagogical changes, demand new roles for the teachers on the field. It is continuing
professional development programmes that can take the new skills to the teacher. Opportunities for
continuing professional development must be created to re-skill the potential teacher, re-motivate the
interested teacher, retrain the dedicated teacher and retain the practicing teachers teaching in the
country (Jegede, 2004).. According to Akuezuilo and Akudolu (2006), teaching in the country was the
fulfillment of an important criteria required for teaching to get the status of a profession. The TRCN
since its establishment has been working relentlessly to uphold the teaching profession in the country.
Some prominent actions of the TRCN are:
(a) Launching of campaign for the registration of teachers;
(b) Initiating awareness and organizing continuous training and professional development
programmes for teachers;
(c) Holding regular and consultations with stakeholder and programmed partner.
Teachers are responding favorably to the activities of the TRCN. For instance, as at early
2005, more than five hundred thousand teachers have been registered. The council has organized
many continuous training and development activities to enhance the instructional skills of teachers.
As noted by the TRCN (2006:2), the themes for this past Continuous Professional Development
Programs (CPDP) are:
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Mathematics and Sciences.
Technology and Creative Arts
Teaching in English Language
Learner-Friendly Strategies
The Management of Large Classes
Gender and Child Rights Protection
Eradication of Examination Malpractices
HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management
Drug Abuse and Cultism
Professionalization of Teaching
The aim of these CPDP is to enhance teachers’ professional competencies. Akuezuilo and
Akudolu (2006) findings also revealed that the TRCN has made the Mandatory Continuous
Professional Education (MCPE) part of the requirements for the renewal of teachers’ practicing
licenses. The aim of the TRCN is to avail every teacher the opportunity for continuous development so
as to remain relevant as a professional in the present information age. One mark of the information
age is that developments in information technology occur at breath taking speed which results in the
inundation of knowledge. The consequence is that new knowledge is continuously making existing
knowledge obsolete. The implication is that the knowledge acquired in schools is no longer enough for
any professional who wants to be useful and effective in his or her profession. This underscores the
need for the MCPE to make all teachers still relevant to the profession.
Models of Continuing Professional Development
Various models for teachers’ professional development have emerged. According to
Mohammed (2006), research has indicated two most commonly used models in Nigeria: the
workshop model and the school-based teacher professional support model. The workshop model
entails drawing participants out of their schools to a venue where they are exposed by experts to a core
of information and skills. The workshop may be short or long-term. The nature of skills and processes
to be acquired also vary. This is the most common form of Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) model in Nigeria. The school-based teacher professional support and mentoring model is an
alternative strategy for in-service training of teachers. Here, pupils, teachers, supervisors and
facilitators are involved collaboratively in carrying out a series of classroom/school-based activities
that will help the teacher to improve. The teacher gets professional support from facilitators and
supervisors who serve as mentors. Activities may include direct classroom support by the facilitators
and supervisors; staff meetings within the school and involving head-teachers and the participating
teachers; demonstration lessons by teacher-educators or mentors; visits to the school by mentors (if
external).
Erant (1994) suggests that any framework for promoting and facilitating professional learning
should take into account the following:
 an appropriate combination of learning settings (on-the-job, near the job, home,
library, course etc.);
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time for study, consultation and reflection;
the availability of suitable learning resources;
people who are prepared (i.e. both willing and able) to give appropriate support); and
the learner’s own capacity to learn and to take advantage of the opportunities
available.
The National Teachers’ Institute
The National Teachers’’ Institute was mandated by Act No 7 of 1978 to organize programs for
upgrading and updating practicing teachers at all levels, a task, which it has been engaged in since its
establishment.
In Nigeria, unlike other countries, the re-training of teachers has not received the desired
attention from Local, State and Federal Government. There has not been any systematic attention to
update regularly the knowledge and skills of teachers in the light of the changes in curriculum and the
wider society. This neglect has in turn affected the quality of teaching in schools. It is in recognition of
this that the Federal Government has under the Millennium Development Goals Project, directed the
institute to retrain teachers in Nigeria.
The National Teachers’ Institute is fully committed to capacity building for primary and
secondary school teachers as demonstrated by the range of retraining programs. Apart from the
upgrading courses that the institute has been implementing for many years (TCII, NCE and PTTP),
the institute introduced proficiency Diploma Courses in Early Childhood Education, Guidance and
Counseling, School Supervision and Inspection, and the Postgraduate Diploma in Education.
Indeed, the institute believes that an effective implementation of the Universal Basic Education
Curriculum must begin with strengthening the capacity of existing teaching force through in-service
training and re-training that will:
 disseminate innovative practical skills that will enhance the teachers’ effectiveness and
thereby enhance the quality of learning;
 update the teachers’ knowledge of subject matter;
 contribute to the development of positive attitudes and self-concept by the teachers; and
 enable teachers to make pupils perceive learning as an interesting pleasant activity that
promotes self-understanding, inquiry and critical thinking.
In 2002, the institute drew a five-year master plan on the professional development of teachers
(2002-2006). The components of the plan are:
 training workshops on teaching the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Primary
Science and Social Studies;
 training workshops on improvisation and utilization of instructional materials;
 training workshops on school based assessment;
 training workshops on improvisation and utilization of instructional materials; and
 distribution of multimedia learning packages (audio, video, print) on innovative
teaching methods that provide on-the-job professional support for teachers,
disseminate information on preventive education especially malaria, tuberculosis and
HIV/AIDS (Mohammed, 2006).
Retraining of Teachers under the Millennium Development Goals Project (MDGs)
One continuing professional development project that has posed the greatest challenge to the
institute is the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) project. In terms of scope, funding, impact
and logistics, it surpasses all previous CPD interventions by the Institute. It provided the institute an
opportunity to use the accumulated expertise on a bigger national scale. The MDGs are a set of eight
time-bound goals agreed to in 2000 at the General Assembly of United Nations in New York, where
Nigeria was one of those countries that signed the declaration that set the target date of 2015. The
goals range from poverty reduction, primary education, gender issues, child and maternal health,
HIV/AIDs, malaria, environmental water and sanitation, debt, trade and aids. All the eight MDGs are
interrelated and education is a cross-cutting issue without which the goals would not be attained
(Mohammed, 2006).
To this end, the President of Nigeria directed that all gains from the Debt Relief grant from
the Paris Club should be invested in MDGs related projects. The NTI was then mandated to
implement a capacity of building programme for primary school teachers under the MDGs project for
2006. Almost all the primary school teachers had been trained through the MDGs between 2006,
2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The Federal Government of Nigeria introduced 9-year Basic Educational
Curricula for Primaries 1-6 and Junior Secondary School (JSS 1-3).
The National Teachers’’ Institute in collaboration with the Teacher Education in Sub-Sahara
Africa (TESSA) programme, at the Open University, U.K. have provided support for the institute by
integrating some sessions of the TESSA modules into the manuals for the retraining of primary and
secondary school teachers in Nigeria. The objectives of the programme are to:
 disseminate practical skills that will enhance the teacher effectiveness and promote
greater mastery of the subject matter by pupils;
 update the teachers knowledge of subject matter;
 contribute to the development of positive self-concept and attribute towards the
teaching profession; and
 enable teachers to make pupils to perceive learning as an interesting and pleasant
activity that promotes the development of self-understanding, inquiry and critical
thinking skills.
The training focused on the innovative techniques of teaching the four core subjects of English
Language, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies including School-Based Assessment and
Improvisation of Instructional Materials. The training programmes have been well monitored by
various agencies such as National University Commission (NUC), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT),
National Assembly, Federal Inspectorate and Non-Government Organizations, the press and the
public. Evaluation checklists and daily exit cards were administered on the participants to elicit
feedback (Mohammed, 2006).
Challenges of Professional Development for Teachers in Nigeria
 Attitudinal problems: Despite the activities embarked upon by the Local, State and
Federal Government of Nigeria to expose teachers to frequent training and retraining, there are sizeable number of teachers who are resistant to change due to
their negative attitudes to introduce new innovations and techniques to teach their
students, which could lead to students failure.
 The weak correlation between school enrolments and the number of teachers
employed in each school is the most obvious indicator of poor deployment. Variations
in pupil – teacher ratio between schools are typically very large in Nigeria, they range
from 50 to 70 pupils to one teacher (Fakoya, 2009).
 Teachers’ inability to teach with Information and Communications Technology (ICT):
Nigerian teachers are yet to be developed professionally of ICT skills, competencies
and capabilities which are required for the effective implementation of ICT education.
With this problem, Nigeria as a country cannot join the global competition of the
information super highway.
 Teachers rarely enjoy the same work environment as other professions. The
government schools are with poor furniture for students and teachers, dilapidated
staff rooms and classrooms; and these could inhibit teaching-learning process.
 Nigerian teachers do not receive good salaries as other professionals do. As a result,
commitment to the growth of the profession is affected.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Continuous professional development of teachers would definitely bring a positive change
into Nigerian educational system, that would produce good, well seasoned and great leaders of
tomorrow.
 Teacher training institutions should be strengthened to adequately respond to
teachers’ needs and demands.
 Opportunities for continuing professional development of teachers should be created
and exploited to the maximum.
 More effort to be geared towards developing a positive professional attitude among
teachers. Such attitude includes having high regards for the profession, upholding the
teachers’ code of conduct, desisting from any action that can tarnish the image of the
profession.
 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) should be effectively utilized by
teachers to facilitate learning and teaching. The development of ICT literacy is so
important that the European Commission (2003:19) affirmed that “it was the first
step in professional development”. Teachers should be well grounded in the use of
ICT so that they would be able to effectively, confidently and competently use ICT to
achieve instructional goals.
 The state and federal government should give upward review of teachers’
remuneration package that would motivate them to give their best to students.
Adequate incentives and promotions should be given to teachers when due.
 Work environment should be suitable and convenient for teachers and this could be
done by providing beautiful offices, good and comfortable chairs and tables, and also
equip with adequate facilities by the agencies of education, stakeholders of education
and the school authority.
References
Anho, R.O. (2001). The role of education administrators in Nigeria secondary schools. African
Journal of Education and Technology, Vol. 1 (1) pp. 39-44.
Akuezullo, E. & Akudolu, L.R. (2006). The dividends, challenges and ways forward in the
professionalization of teaching in Nigeria. Lead Paper Presented at the National ICT Skills
Acquisition, Summits and Campaigns, TRCN Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
Cochran-Smith, M. Lytle, S. L. (2001). Beyond certainty taking an inquiry stance on practice. In
Lieberman, A. Miller, L.(Ed). Teachers caught in the action: professional development that
matters. New York. Teachers College Press.
Dodds, M. (2001). Continuing professional development nurturing the expert within. In Soler, J.,
Craft, A., & Burges, H. (Eds.). Teachers’ development: exploring our own practice. London,
Paul Chapman Publishing and The Open University.
Erant, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. London, Routledge-Palmer.
Fakoya, F.O. (2009). Report on teaching profession and factors inhibiting teaching profession in
Nigeria. A TEE 403 Reports, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Ganser, T. (2000). An ambitious vision of professional development for teachers. NASSP Bulletin,
84(618), 6-12.
Glatthom, A. (1995). “Teachers development.” In Anderson, L. (Ed). International encyclopedia of
teaching and teacher education (second edition). London: Pergamon Press.
Grimmet, P. P. & Neufeld, J. (1994). The struggle for authenticity in a changing educational context in
Grimmet, P.P. & Neufeld, J. Teacher development and the struggle for authencity:
Professional growth and restructuring in the content of change. New York: Teachers’ College
Press.
Jegede, O. J. (2004). Teacher education at a crossroad-being a Keynote Address delivered at the 2nd
National Teachers’ Summit on Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Professional
Development organized by the NTI Kaduna 20th – 22nd April 2004.
Muhammed, A. H. (2006). Creating opportunities for continuing professional development of
teachers: The National Teachers Institute (NTI) experience Lead Paper Presented at the 1st
National Conference of the Faculty of Education, University of Abuja held from 17th – 21st
October, 2006 Abuja.
Robinson, B. & Latchem, C. (2003). Teacher education through open and distance learning. London:
COL/Routledge – Falmer.
TRCN (2006) Synopsis of the national technology in education programme for teachers. Abuja,
Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria – TRCN.
Author Information
Dorcas Oluremi FAREO Ph.D.
Department of Educational Foundations and Counseling,
Faculty of Education
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
[email protected]
EPISTEMOLOGICAL VIRTUES IN YORUBA ORAL MEDIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR
CULTURE OF PEACE IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICA
Ademola Kazeem Fayemi
Lagos State University
Abstract
Is it oral media, print media, electronic media or social media that is most suitable for engendering
the culture of peace in contemporary Africa? What genealogy of peace is media capable of
achieving: the victor’s peace, the institutional peace, the constitutional peace, the civil peace or a
combination of all? This paper addresses these questions with the intent of controverting oral media,
which has been taken to be an oddity, especially in this digital age of Information Communication
Technology. Using the Yoruba as an example, this paper analyses the essential components of oral
media and argues the thesis that the popular assumption that media is fortified with mechanisms of
ensuring sustainable peace is myopic without a further elucidation of two basic points. One is the
kind of peace media (of any type) is capable of dispensing. Second is an exposition of the
unavoidable outlets through which media (especially print, electronic and social) have unduly
created tensions, injustice and opprobrium. Though currently viewed as an outcast, this paper
makes a case for oral media as a cogent means of complementing the popular media in a dedicated
effort toward building a culture of civil peace, especially in Africa. The conditions for this possibility
are discussed with an exposition of the epistemological virtues embellished in Yoruba oral media.
Epistemological virtues such as ‘speaking well’, ‘hearing well’, ‘investigating well’, ‘mobilizing well’
and ‘scepticism’ are identified as instrumental values of oral media for promoting the culture of civil
peace. Whether in intracultural, intercultural or other communication forms, epistemological
virtues of oral media facilitate group and national cohesion. A reinvigoration of these essential
epistemic virtues of oral media in contemporary African media practice is therefore defended in
relation to pragmatic institutionalism of essentials of culture of civil peace.
Keywords: epistemological virtues, oral media, peace, Africa
Introduction
Today, it is less contentious that media is in-built with the capacity of playing significant roles
in dissemination of information that shapes public perception and awareness of socio-political trends
and events that influence and determine societal equilibrium. What is in dispute is the extent to which
such lofty capacity of the media is being manifested in the African world. A puzzling mind may
perhaps ask: On whose side is the media? Is the media in Africa instrumental to the triumph of peace
over social upheaval or just indifferent? What are the factors undermining the media in the promotion
of culture of peace in Africa? What sort of media is most capable of engendering a culture of peace?
What type of peace can media best practices occasion? The intent of this paper is to explore a
neglected aspect of media, Yoruba oral media, with the view to showing that there are still some
relevant epistemological virtues in it, which if reinvigorated and adapted in new media practices, can
greatly help in the quest for making media a pivot for institutionalizing culture of peace in
contemporary Africa.
A culture of peace entails a continuous process of positive sense of security that cannot be
achieved through the absence of threats and violence alone, but with an expectation to actively ensure
and promote the pre-conditions in which various strata of a societal life can safely understand and
amicably iron out differences and disagreements. As a holistic process, a culture of peace cannot but
be mutually inclusive of social security, economic security, educational security, infrastructural
security, media security and cultural security. Tunde Babawale (2012: 256) is right in conceiving
cultural security as efforts to protect what is left of cultural identity through the safeguard of our
tangible and intangible art, cultural resources and endowments. Our security as a people lies among
other things in the value we place on some of the inherent ideas that define our cultural life.
Pertinent ideas for meaningful social existence in African traditional past are preserved in oral
traditions. As a culture dominated more by oral tradition, the media in African past revolved around
the people’s mouths and other verbal outlets. Given the bias against oral tradition, expectedly, it is
implicit that oral media will encounter much more prejudice and rejection. The bias against tradition
as Barry Hallen eloquently observes is epistemological having to do with its questionable reliability as
a source of and justification for knowledge. In his words, “What was said to be distinctive about
African oral traditions was the relatively uncritical manner in which they were inherited from the past,
preserved in the present, and passed on to future generations” (Hallen, 2004: 300). So regarded, oral
traditions are conceived as absolute narration of what Africans believed and how they behaved which
have no intellectual cogency. Sharing in this grotesque is oral media, which many see today as a relic
and antiquated form of communication in ancient societies with no control over the quality of
information put out.
This paper is an attempt to challenge the above presumptions as false by exposing the
broadcasting epistemic standards in Yoruba oral media. The paper represents a renewed commitment
to further explore the salient philosophical import of oral tradition, which has been debased of
scholarly interests in contemporary African scholarship. It underscores the epistemological
significance of oral media (which is a subset of the genre of oral tradition) in the task of identifying
elements of culture that intersect with the quest for sustainable peace in contemporary African world.
Let us begin on a conceptual note by succinctly clarifying key terms that will enhance the
understanding of the paper’s thesis – peace, epistemological virtue and oral media.
Clarification of concepts
To know the meaning of peace provides a clearer understanding of what must be done, and
what must be avoided, if it is to be achieved. There are different conceptions of peace as the word
‘peace’ is used constantly by both individuals and socio-political groups alike with different albeit
contradictory interpretations. Exploring conceptually its meaning as well as its typologies would
inform awareness of what the objectives of multiple interventions engendered in the contemporary
efforts toward institutionalizing a culture of peace demand. St. Augustine (1972: xix, 13) gave a classic
definition of peace as, “tranquillitas Ordinis”, meaning “the tranquility of order.” By this it is meant
the presence of calm, absence of violence or crime all in obeisance to the law. Re-echoing this
classical conception of peace, Quincy Wright (1964: 174) notes that peace is represented by a
community in which law and order prevail, both internally and externally.
But peace must not be understood negatively as the mere absence of order and rule of law.
This is only a symptomatic effect of peace. Its positive connotation is more fundamental. The
“tranquility of order” existing among individuals or social groups is the result of injustice, of giving to
everyone his due and to the nations (in case of international peace) their due. Respect for others’
rights becomes a basic condition for a peaceful co-existence. Consequently, peace rightly understood
implies justice or equity among individuals as well as nations (Okolo, 1985: 288).
Different types of peace can be delineated: the victor’s peace, the institutional peace, the
constitutional peace, and the civil peace. The victor’s peace has evolved from the age-old argument
that a peace that rests on a military victory, and upon the hegemony or domination of that victor is
more likely to survive. The institutional peace rests upon attempts to anchor states within a normative
and legal context in which states multilateral agree how to behave and how to enforce or determine
their behaviour. The constitutional peace rests upon the Kantian argument that peace rests upon
democracy, trade, and a set of cosmopolitan values that stem from the notion that individuals are ends
in themselves, rather than means to an end. The civil peace is derived from the phenomena of direct
action, of citizen advocacy and mobilization, in the attainment of basic human rights and values
(Raymond, 2005: 1).
While these categorizations are not entirely exclusive of one another, the basic type of peace
most stimulating of culture of peace building is civil peace. The establishment of an enduring peace in
society requires the evolution of a culture of peace. We share Adebola Ekanola’s (2010: 1) conception
of culture of peace, which is understood as a framework of values, attitudes, social institutions and
social structures that promotes and predisposes people to peaceful co‐existence and non‐violent
resolution of conflicts.
Having said this, let us now clarify what the phrase ‘epistemological virtue’ connotes.
Epistemic virtues are usually characterized, quite naturally, as cognitive abilities that supervene on
internal, physical features of the agents whose abilities they are. Epistemological virtue holds the
thesis that virtues are skills; thinking of virtues as skills yields a viable virtue epistemology in which
moral knowledge is a species of a general kind of knowledge that is not philosophically suspect. But
not all skills are virtues: the skill of being a cobbler is not one we would wish to design a virtue
(though there is an excellence to be obtained in making shoes). The skills in which we are interested
are those that lead to true beliefs, those skills that are the intellectual virtues - open-mindedness,
impartiality, skepticism, listening-well, speaking-well, etc. are fit to be considered as intellectual
virtues.
There is a fundamental connection between epistemology and virtue as skill of a sort.
Epistemology is the study of justification per se, and if we are pursuing the question of the general
conditions under which a belief is justified, then we should be looking toward the nature of skills
themselves, and leaving behind the question of accesses and accounts. A single belief may be justified
in a number of ways (some accessible and accountable, others not), but what confers the justification
upon a belief is that it issues from the practicing of a skill (Bloomfield, 2000: 23).
We now turn to oral media. There is often a certain degree of conceptual misapprehension
surrounding what constitutes oral media arising from the use of 'traditional' as a suffix to oral and
‘traditional’ as a qualifier to communication. Is oral media traditional communication or is traditional
communication essentially oral media? This confusion is further reinforced by the popular mutually
antagonistic contrast being made between traditional systems and modern systems of
communication. Traditional media are body languages, verbal and other non-verbal languages used in
pristine societies for millennia for a variety of purposes. Unlike oral media that is strictly vocal based
(expressed in the various folk songs, drama, festivals, town criers, stories, and among others),
traditional media is inclusive of not only verbal communication but also non-oral communication
through body language, signs, and objects as embedded in the cultural values and tradition of any
given people.
Explaining traditional media, MacBride (1981:3, 47) notes that “starting with the simplest
vocal and gestural signals rooted in their physical structure, human beings developed a whole range of
non-verbal means for conveying messages.” These include the representation of an object with an
abstract idea...facial expression, gesture, mime, music and dance; drum messages, signal fires,
paintings, sculptures, drawings and other forms of graphic symbols, including the pictogram, followed
by the ideogram among others. The messages and ideas transmitted by means of itinerant dance and
mime groups, puppet shows, traditional wears, the artifacts, art works, paintings, cultural architecture
that reflects in the palaces, shrines, and towns and villages serve not only to entertain but to influence
attitudes and behaviour’ (Oso, 2011: 9).
Traditional media are in various forms of communication (idiophones, membranophones,
aerophone, symbolography, signals, signs, objectifies, colour schemes, music, extra-mundane
communication, symbolic displays) and are geared toward achieving different communication goals
and objectives. Thus they can be any of the following: directives, news, advertising, public relations,
entertainment, and education among others.
In Search of Viable Media in Africa
Today in Africa, when reference is made to the media what quickly strikes a chord in peoples’
thinking is the various means of mass communication considered as a whole, be it television, radio,
magazines, newspapers, including the social outlets of digital media such as twitter, facebook,
BlackBerry messenger amongst others. Hardly can mention be made of oral media, which are
indigenous means of communication in Africa. As Wilson Dea (1987: 88) rightly observes, although
the traditional media may be old and different, in their principles, from the new systems introduced
from abroad, they remain what essentially sustain the information needs of the rural which represent
over 70% of the national populations of most Third World states. This observation is quite apt to
demonstrate oral media as enduring, sustaining, and inevitable in the modern world as they represent
the culture and tradition of the people. Indeed, oral media were highly effective in the dissemination
of information among the traditional peoples of Africa. They are culturally based and natural with the
tradition and customs of the people. Oral media serve the functions of spreading news as well as
information, educating the general public on the demands and tenets of culture and hard work, selling
goods by advertising for their owners, entertaining people in their natural habitat, and providing
opportunities for leadership on issues of the moment (Orewere, 1991: 58). The newsman in oral media
appointed by society operates on a part-time basis as he has other professional trades by which he
earns a living. He could be a farmer, or a fisherman or a carpenter. But he is a trained professional
who has been schooled in the principles and practices of the system. Oral media are simple, natural
and less expensive. Because they are derived from the culture and way of life of the people, they are
enduring and effective. They are transmitted in the language and culture that are traditional to the
people. Oral media are service-oriented and not geared towards profit making.
The focus on indigenous media has dwindled significantly since the advent of mass media. No
doubt, there are some basic challenges confronting the viability of oral media today, which need be
mentioned. One explanation for this is because oral (traditional) media is largely an interpersonal and
interactive model which allows for a personal relationship between the communicator and the
audience; it hardly sufficed the communication needs of the urban areas that are heterogeneous and
mass in social structure. A lot of African languages are going into extinction because of the adoption of
the language of colonial masters as official language. Given that oral media are expressed in the
people’s indigenous language, the erosion of indigenous languages has untold effect on the popularity
of oral media today.
In view of the language of oral media, people of another culture may not necessarily
understand the message within a particular oral media, because it is culturally situated and
conditioned. The erosion of the cultural technology in preference for new technologies constitutes
threats to oral media. The domineering nature and indeed the ubiquitous nature of the mass media
and the new media threaten the indigenous communication system in Africa. There is also the lack of
a standard technical vocabulary in the description, analysis and conceptualization of the
media/channels and processes of the traditional communication system. Besides, the inability of oral
media in establishing simultaneity of contact with large numbers of people at a distance from the
source and widely separated from each other necessitated the need for a mass mediated as well as an
impersonal system.
With the advent of science and technology came industrialization and a ‘massification’ of the
communication audience and methods in Africa. This followed from the application of a technology
geared to mass production and wide dissemination. Radio, television, cinema, newspapers, and books
are some of the mass media that have been heralded by science and technology. Mass media involve
technical instruments that offer not only the possibility of communication via a mechanical device,
making for impersonal relationship between the communicator and his audience, but also
communicate from a single source to a large (mass) number of persons (Uyo, 1987: 4). With mass
media came journalism and the hunt for news. News remains the “central ingredient” of the media. Its
special position comes from the fact that:
..... it is one of the few original contributions by the mass media to the range of cultural forms
of expression. It is also the core activity according to which a large part of the journalistic (and
thus media) occupation defines itself .... Media institutions can barely exist without news....
(McQuail, 2010, p.376)
Journalism in Africa has its attendant problems. Serious journalism is being relegated to the
background as the consumerization of news and economic pressure on media organizations become
the order of the day. In this context, what is of interest to the public influences news making judgment
more than what is of public interest. In some newspapers, we read more of column and opinion
articles than news stories; views overshadow news (Oso, 2012: 55).
More fundamental is the problem of press freedom, occasioned by the government ownership
structure of many of the media outfits at some points in African history. This has not even feared
better with the private ownership of mass media outfits. In this regard, it is assumed that once the
press is weaned from the apron string of the state or government ownership and control, it will be
independent and autonomous, and as such, be able to serve the common will. Ideally, the media is
supposed to be superior to the three tiers of government (executive, legislature and judiciary), and
should watch their activities and make them accountable to the society. But the reality in many parts
of Africa is that press freedom has been compromised through ownership, organizational connection,
alliance or affiliation with the various factions of the ruling class (Oso, 2012: 62). Though in paper,
there is ethics of journalism, but in practice it is almost vacuous to argue that professionalism and
adherence to code of ethics will attenuate the influence and power of ownership and capital in the
news production process in Africa (Oso, 2012: 63).
Given the high role of mass media amongst the centrifugal forces “at the heart of social and
political power” (Blumler, 1990, p. 113), people who are interested and involved in the struggle for
power, hidden persuaders and other advocates, and interest-claimants see the mass media as a
strategic resource. As such, the mass media have not been able to give full, adequate and
comprehensive expression to the diverse voices in many African societies. In spite of the expectations
of liberal democracy (that channels of public communication be opened and inclusive enough to
accommodate the full range of voices available in the polity), which is purportedly in practice in many
African states, the reality is that a large segment of the populace, mainly the poor and powerless social
groups, women and young people are largely invisible and muted in the media (Oso, 2012: 70).
The connection between the state of affair pictured above and the presence of social tensions
and disorder in Africa should not be too difficult to glean. Conflicts (psychological, structural and
violent) are naturally inherent in the structure of ownership and control, the commercial imperatives
underpinning media production and the willy-nilly structure of political discourse dominated by the
elite on the one hand, and the in egalitarian social order which denies the majority the required
resources to fully participate in the political and social process on the other hand. There is no doubt
that there is a link between access to the public sphere provided by the mass media and the balancing
(or harmonization) of views when there are dissenting opinions on matters of public concern. Those
who lack economic power in accessing mass media invariably are denied the opportunity of having
their views heard in glory of the powerful social class who have all it takes to fix the terms and limits of
social discourse.
In situations where peoples’ consciousness have been unjustly influenced by the received and
manipulated symbols disseminated through the means of public communication, the other party
whose sides of the story have been suppressed will definitely find another revolting outlet for
expression. Much as the process of meaning-making is elite-sensitive and dominated, peace will
continue to be illusory. If the public sphere is restricted to the popular masses that lack the power and
resources to actively participate and articulate their interest-based perspectives and meanings in
system, the outcome of voicing largely the interests of dominant social groups in the society will
always be consequential. But is this also the case in oral media? It is important to note here that under
oral media, ownership of the means (media/channels) of communication lies with the society. The
village/clan head only acts as a trustee and head of the gatekeeping process. The mode of control
(ownership) and model of traditional media is largely communal such that hardly allowed for
manipulation and media injustice.
Arguably, some may say that the time of traditional media is gone and we are now in the wake
of new media dictated by different waves that shed-off the inadequacies of print and electronic mass
media. The power of the government and other elite groups in the generation and dissemination of
information has considerably been whittled down in the current tide of social media. Social media
technologies create the possibility of a multi-voice pluralism which can enrich different voices being
heard. Thus the function of agenda-setting and framing of issues almost exclusively performed by
journalists, political public relation and image making consultants has been eroded. Through the
Internet, cellphones, IPod, blogs and social media (Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerry broadcast, Netlog,
etc.), neglected issues could be put on the public and media agenda, influence media coverage and
eventually, public policy (Oso, 2012: 74).
Social media devices open up the societal hegemony to a brave new world of unrestricted
communication with the capacity of removing the filters which encumber political communication
through the old media of newspapers, magazines, radio and television. With the new technologies of
information and communication, the ordinary citizen who was hitherto a mere spectator and passive
consumer of news has become more active as a creator and disseminator. He/she now has more
alternatives to turn to in search of information and entertainment (Oso, 2012: 75). Another important
feature of these technologies is their interactivity. This feature is made increasingly possible by
digitalization. Though there is now a sort of integration between these old media and the new media,
such transformation of old media in new media forms brings with it a whole set of new challenges and
implications for a culture of peace.
Noteworthy of these limitations are not just in their availability but importantly in the fact of
their affordability, portability and accessibility (Oso, 2012: 74). Owing to poor infrastructural
facilities, economic inequality, inadequate social and cultural capital many Nigerians are still shut out
of the cyberspace (Oso, 2012: 76). The anonymity offered by the Internet and social media can give
some people power without responsibility. Information is broadcast by Dick and Harry without
streamlining or correspondence to what happened in reality. This situation is capable of causing panic
and disengaging the network of social equilibrium. In addition, as it has happened to the 'old media',
the new media are already being invaded by the elite in their competition for attention and agendasetting. They are on these social media in “a competitive struggle to influence and control popular
perceptions of key events and issues… (Blumler, 1990, 103).
In such a situation as this, we are left wandering in search of an alternative. Where do we turn
to in search of a viable media for engendering a culture of peace in contemporary Africa? The need for
reflecting on an alternative media which in the words of Nick Fraser (1992: 123) will “operate as
parallel discursive arenas, where members of the subordinate social groups can generate and
“circulate counter discourses to formulate oppositional interpretations of their identities, interest and
need” is un-daunting. The composition of such a media will be more than what we have now; not
necessarily in terms of sophistication of gadgets, different audience, nor ownership and control of the
media. Rather, it will be essentially different in terms of the epistemology and ethics behind the entire
communication process whose objectives are not limited only to information, education,
entertainment, advocacy or advertising but also amenable to building a culture of peace in Africa. In
this specific search, I seek to make case for an extraction of some salient epistemological virtues in
oral media, which can be used as guiding philosophical principles in curbing the negative aspects of
the new integrated media in Africa.
Building a Media Culture of Peace in Africa: Lessons from the Epistemological Virtues
in Yoruba Oral Media
The media in contemporary Africa have as a crucial task the building of culture of peace in
and around the nooks and crannies of the continent. J. Curran (2005: 137) cannot but be right in
anticipating the media condition in Africa when he avers that “The media's role is never solely
confined to imparting information; it always involves arbitrating between the discursive frameworks
of rival groups. Though he failed in giving us clues as to how this can be realized, his remark is
striking. Media have considerable influence on social behaviour that can aid or mar the fabric of
peaceful socio-existence. The influence of media can be direct or indirect, immediate or delayed,
short-term or long-term, emotional or attitudinal or a combinational of all. However it goes, effects of
media content on individuals can originate in two-fold. D.F. Roberts (1971) identifies this to be
whether and how people interpret and incorporate information transmitted by the media into their
existing conceptualizations of the world. In other words, the basic link between media content and
human social behaviour is forged in the interaction between information transmitted by the media on
the one hand, and human information processing on the other. This implies that differences in
responses to mass communication may derive from variations in exposure to media or types of media
content (Orewere, 1991: 61). To therefore make media susceptible to the culture of peace, we need
address three key points.
One is the appropriate skills needed for good exposure to media; two is the media type and
content; and the third area of focus is the genealogy of peace in view. If these three conditions are
mutually reinforcing, I strongly believe that there would be media culture of peace in Africa. In
exploring the first condition, I will use the Yoruba as an example. Yoruba discourse does employ
systematic criteria for the quality evaluation of any type of information, those emanating from the
media inclusive. Being a predominantly oral culture, where the people’s mouths are the media, some
epistemic values set broadcasting standards for oral media. These epistemological virtues include
‘speaking well’, ‘hearing well’, ‘investigating well’, ‘mobilizing well’ and ‘skepticism’.
‘Speaking well’ and ‘hearing well’ are interrelated values that reinforce the need of providing
accurate information or reliable advice and being forthright about the verbal expressions as well as the
epistemological origins of that information and advice (Hallen, 2004: 301). ‘Speaking well’ envisages
that even in a difficult situation, unguarded thought and ruinous expression should be avoided in
depicting unpalatable occurrences and reportage. This perhaps account for why the Yoruba adore
proverbial communicative prowess in conflict management. Capacity to ‘speak well’ alone is not
sufficient without the ability to ‘hear well’ in order not to misunderstand the information source. The
consciousness of ‘listening well’ whether in difficult or unproblematic situation, leads more likely to
self-control and optimal communication between the source and the audience.
‘Investigating well’ is an intellectual virtue that requires not only censoring of information
source before broadcasting but also involves the agent’s ability to be open-minded and impartial in
reportage. ‘Investigating well’ before broadcasting is a vital component of oral media, which is largely
interpersonal and interactive model that involves personal relationship between the communicator
and the audience. There are internal allocations of authority and in each situation, a structure which
ensures continuity and cooperation. There is a regular, reliable and steady speed of diffusion of
information. Owing to good investigation of information source before broadcast, the response, or
feedback to an information is calculated and relevant, a product of discussed, debated and digested
reasoning, especially at meetings, conferences, sessions and small group or family unit discussion
levels (Orewere, 1991: 58). The audience in the indigenous channels of community communication is
known to each other, freely interact, orient their actions to each other, and have organic solidarity.
Organic solidarity is a function of the epistemic virtue of ‘mobilizing well’ embedded in oral
media. Much as the virtue of ‘mobilizing well’ is part of oral media content which mobilizes the people
at the grassroots level towards community development and national consciousness, it is expected
that it is a skill that should be internalized by the citizens as well for intra-cultural, intercultural and
other communication purposes leading to group and national unity. Much of the failure that attends
government mass-oriented programs is traceable to the fact that policy makers at the national level
fail to utilize this credible strength of oral media, which not only allows messages to properly get to
the grassroots, but also see to the mobilization of the people for action (Wilson, 1988: 100).
‘Skepticism’ or ‘doubting well’ is a cardinal epistemic virtue in oral media, which allows for a
non-dogmatic acceptance of information or rumor anyhow by the recipients. In African media space
today, many journalists and even the publics are ready to accept any information from sources
without bothering much about the credibility and veracity of such information. In this age of packaged
politics and politicians, spin doctoring, news management, branding and promotion of pseudo-events,
every strategy is employed to create a close assimilation between journalists and their sources. The
implication of this on social dislocation is better imagined than real. To reduce the influence of these
strategies on the news making process, journalists must maintain a high level of social distance from
sources. At no time than now is this virtuous skepticism in oral media required when virtually every
member of the global community can freely participate in the processes of news gathering,
interpretation and reportage, for good or for the ill of the society (Oso, 2012: 79).
The point in all the above explanation is that in getting right how people interpret and
incorporate information transmitted by the media (be it print, electronic or social) into their existing
conceptualizations of the world in contemporary Africa, the people themselves as well as media
practitioners need to be alert to some salient epistemological virtues in Yoruba oral media. ‘Speaking
well’, ‘hearing well’, ‘investigating well’, ‘mobilizing well’ and ‘scepticism’ are not moral values in any
conventional sense. They are rather epistemological virtues because of their instrumental value for
processing human information received by the media albeit fair sense of speaking and being heard to,
promoting the accuracy of the information and encouraging cooperative social mobilization, which are
essential in engendering a culture of peace.
Let us proceed to address the second and the third aspects of the conditions for making media
a pivot for peace in Africa as earlier mentioned. The second requirement is the media type and content
while the third condition is the type peace in view by the media. There is need for a redefined media
option and goal for the newly emerging African world. Any information (be it for entertainment, news,
education, advertising, etc.) transmitted by the media should be expectedly guided by this identified
goal. I suggest we have civic media, which would be more engaged with the people.
Civic media is a total process that involves understanding the audience and its needs,
communication planning based on selected strategies, message control, message production,
dissemination, reception and feedback that respect the people’s and societal harmony. Media should
be seen as part of the community and hence the people must be able to influence media agenda and
the issue the media cover. Civic media encourages and promotes public deliberation; it respects the
civility of human culture. It seeks to empower the citizens as actors in the public sphere rather than
spectators of debates among the elite (Oso, 2012: 78). The goal of the media should primary be the
promotion of humanity through being citizens’ focused; while the current practice of promoting and
relating more to the politicians and elite should be seen as secondary, important only in so far as that
illuminates what matters to the citizenry.
Civic media should be geared towards civil peace. Civil peace as opposed to victor’s peace is a
long term and continuous process of actively ensuring and promoting the pre-conditions in which
various strata of a societal life can safely understand and amicably iron out differences and
disagreements that are inevitable in human relations. It is not entirely about absolute freedom from
risk of violent death, injury, or coercion; it is about fortifying the institutions conducive for the
flourish of humane existence. Establishing strong indigenous public institutions is essential in the
promotion of peace. Outsiders cannot restore confidence and transform peace building institutions for
African countries without us first utilizing and exhausting domestic conflict management mechanism
and indigenous civil peace building initiatives propagated by the civil media.
Conclusion
Thus far in this paper, the roles of the media in the process of peace building have been
discussed. In each of these media, be it oral, traditional (in terms of electronic and print media) or the
new (social) media, there are undoubtedly human manipulation of information processing as well as
structural defects in each of them. Traditional oral media, though currently viewed as an outcast, this
paper still makes a case for oral media as a cogent means of complementing the popular media in a
dedicated effort toward building a culture of civil peace, especially in Africa. Media practice should be
geared more towards civic media for civil peace.
While not unmindful of the serious challenges confronting oral media which makes them
difficult, if not impossible, in synthesizing in the mainstream of traditional and new media, the paper
points out that considered exclusively alone, neither electronic media, print media nor social media
can effectively ensure a culture peace in contemporary Africa. The point is not that modern media of
communication should be discarded for indigenous oral media, but rather that the rich
epistemological virtuous potentials of African oral media should be studied and used alongside
modern media for a more effective communication across the various peoples of Africa. Oral media
have some epistemological imports worth courting with in contemporary African quest of making
media a pivot of entrenching sustainable culture of peace. Such integration views media from the
standpoint of an on-going, long-standing practice of information dissemination, entertainment and
education always capable of modification.
Epistemological virtues such as ‘speaking well’, ‘hearing well’, ‘investigating well’, ‘mobilizing
well’ and ‘scepticism’ are identified as instrumental values of oral media that can promote the culture
of civil peace in Africa. Whether in intracultural, intercultural or other communication forms,
epistemological virtues of oral media facilitate group and national cohesion. A reinvigoration of these
essential epistemic virtues of oral media in contemporary African media practice is therefore
sacrosanct. If the media and the audience embrace religiously these epistemic virtues in the
communication process, with the appropriate institutions of peace building in place, the predisposing
factors towards social unrest would have been prudently managed.
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Author Notes
FAYEMI, ADEMOLA KAZEEM (PhD)
[email protected]
+2348035395154
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY
OJO, LAGOS
LEADERSHIP CRISIS AND CORRUPTION IN THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC SECTOR: AN
ALBATROSS OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
David Imhonopi
Moses Urim Ugochukwu
Covenant University
Abstract
The public sector of every nation is critical to its national development. Through its ministries,
departments and agencies, government puts in place policies, programmes and services that help
galvanise development at all levels, engender economic progress and increase trust and connection
between the managers of the state and the people. In Nigeria, the public sector has become an
epitome of all that is corrupt, mediocre and fraudulent. Self-preservation is preferred to national
interest and the leadership crisis prevalent at all levels of decision-making has further deepened the
imbroglio. Thus, Nigeria has lost traction in its attempt to achieve national development because of
the invidious climate of “chop-I-chop” politics, ethnicity, mediocrity, partisanship, cronyism,
corrupted process of recruitment of leaders, among other factors. This study has identified the
albatross to national development in Nigeria as a spin-off of the leadership crisis and corruption
prevalent in its public sector and made valuable recommendations.
Key words: leadership crisis, corruption, public sector, Nigeria, national development
INTRODUCTION
It is an axiom that Nigeria is richly endowed by providence with human and material
resources critical for national development and advancement. However, since gaining political
independence, Nigeria has continued to meander the path befitting failed, weak and “juvenile” states.
A state that had very great prospects at independence and was touted to lead Africa out of the
backwoods of underdevelopment and economic dependency, Nigeria is still stuck in the league of very
poor, corrupt, underdeveloped, infrastructurally decaying, crisis-riven, morally bankrupt and
leadership-deficient countries of the South. Rather than become an exemplar for transformational
leadership, modern bureaucracy, national development, national integration and innovation, Nigeria
seems to be infamous for whatever is mediocre, corrupt, insanely violent and morally untoward.
Thus, one cannot but agree with the position that Nigeria is a victim of poor leadership and
convoluted systemic corruption which has become pervasive and cancerous in the country’s national
life. This view has been held strongly in literature by scholars and writers who have identified the
inexorable nexus between leadership crisis and corruption in the country as the continued reason for
Nigeria’s inglorious economic throes, political convolutions and national underdevelopment. Current
debates rest on the conclusion that Nigerian leadership suffers from extreme moral depravity and
attitudinal debauchery (Agbor, 2011; Agbor, 2012; Ezirim, 2010; Ebegbulem, 2009; Ogbunwezeh,
2007). In fact, Agbor argues that the success or failure of any society depends largely on the
mannerism of its leadership. He adds that the result of poor leadership in Nigeria is embodied as poor
governance manifested in consistent political crisis and insecurity, poverty of the extreme order
among the citizens, debilitating miasma of corruption and rising unemployment indices. Tipping
corruption as a dinosaur syndrome in Nigeria’s national life (anon, 2010), Nigeria’s nationhood has
been caught in the whirlpool of a corrupt public sector that has remained a hotbed of all that is vice,
sleazy and retrogressive. While not exclusive to Nigeria, a report considers corruption to be one of the
most chronic macroeconomic problems confronting most African countries today (ACBF, 2007). It is
seen as the root cause of the various economic and political crises that have plagued the African
region, and continues to aggravate not only the problem of underdevelopment of each country, but
also that of abject poverty of the citizenry. For example, political corruption is the cause of sit-tight
political leaders, especially in Africa, with constitutional amendments making them eligible to contest
presidential elections as long as they wish. The ability to continue to control state power enables them
to allocate national resources as they wish. This promotes wanton, suboptimal allocation of national
resources, and the ensuing macroeconomic mismanagement which result in persistent economic
cataclysm.
Although not a Nigerian phenomenon, the specter of corruption seems to haunt the nation
and has permeated the entire fabric of state. Aided by leadership crisis bedeviling the nation,
corruption has become the singular most vicious albatross to national development.
This paper seeks to investigate the inglorious roles that leadership crisis and corruption have
played and are playing in stymieing national development in Nigeria. The paper will also attempt a
historical analysis of corruption in the country, examine existing literature on the twin problems of
poor leadership and corruption in Nigeria and the impact these have on national development,
identify the causes of corruption and leadership crisis in the country and suggest ways to tame this
dinosaur or monster ala Mbama (2012).
CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
There are different viewpoints on the concepts of leadership, corruption and national
development. A few of these shall be considered here. Leadership is a vital element in the social
relationships of groups whether in government or at work. Groups need leaders and leaders need
followers. Academic and management literature on leadership has focused almost exclusively on the
individual traits, styles and behaviour that characterise leaders. Some recent research in leadership
has advanced beyond these more simplistic individual level models by calling attention to such things
as shared and rotational leadership style, "meaning -making" and "influence" and to the importance of
understanding "followers". As Urim (2009) observed, leadership in the past has been seen as an elitist
activity related to power and to hierarchy. It was considered an essentially top-down, charismatic, and
individualistic process. Leadership was seen as an inbred and congenital potential possessed by a
minority. He argues that increasingly, today, whether in business, government or in not-for-profits, it
is commonly agreed that leadership is needed at all levels of organisations if such organisations are to
ably respond to the challenges in the society or marketplace. Therefore, leadership is akin to a
dynamic process in which people come together to pursue changes and, in doing so, collectively
develop a shared vision of what the world (or some part of it) should be like, making sense of their
experience and shaping their decisions and actions. Thus as Cole (1997, p. 54) posits:
Leadership is a dynamic process at work in a group whereby one individual over a particular
period of time, and in a particular organisational context, influences the other group members
to commit themselves freely to the achievement of group tasks or goals.
In defining corruption, Amuwo (2005) and Obayelu (2007) consider it as the exploitation of
public position, resources and power for private gain. Fjeldstad & Isaksen (2008, p. 3) and Ogundiya
(2009, p. 5) define corruption as “the betrayal of public trust for individual or sectional gain.” Obayelu
went further to identify corruption as “efforts to secure wealth or power through illegal means for
private gain at public expense; or a misuse of power for private benefit.” Corruption covers a broad
spectrum of activities ranging from fraud (theft through misrepresentation), embezzlement
(misappropriation of corporate or public funds) to bribery (payments made in order to gain an
advantage or to avoid a disadvantage). From a political point of view, Aiyede (2006, p. 5) views
corruption as “the abuse or misuse of public or governmental power for illegitimate private
advantages.” His view corroborates the position of Lipset and Lenz (2000) that corruption is an effort
to secure wealth or power through illegal means for private benefit at public expense. Tanzi (1998)
adds that such abuse of public power may not necessarily be for one’s private benefit but for the
benefit of one’s party, class, tribe, or family. Although corruption is global in scope, it is more
pronounced in developing societies because of their weak institutions. It is minimal in developed
nations because of existing institutional control mechanisms which are more developed and effective.
According to Imhonopi & Urim (2010), national development is the ability of a country or
countries to improve the social welfare of the people, namely, by providing social amenities like good
education, power, housing, pipe-borne water and others. The components of national development
include economic development, socio-cultural empowerment
and development and how these
impact on human development. Without human development, which is the development of the
human capital of a nation or its citizens, national development can be thwarted or defeated. In fact,
human development is one basis for judging the effectiveness of the economic development
component of national development (Ogboru, 2007; Ranis, Stewart, & Ramirez, 2000). As they
observed, economic development expressed in GNP can increase human development by expenditure
from families, government and organizations such as NGOs. With the increase in economic growth,
families and individuals will likely increase expenditures with the increase in income. This increase
can lead to greater human development. Streeten (1982) put it better when he said that development
must be redefined as an attack on the chief evils of the world today such as malnutrition, disease,
illiteracy, slums, unemployment and inequality. In other words, development must be measured in
terms of jobs created, justice dispensed and poverty alleviated.
The bureaucracy or public service, broadly defined, refers to that machinery of government
designed to execute the decisions and policies of political office holders. It is the institution that is
charged with the responsibility of formulating and implementing policies and programmes of the
government. In other words, while it is the duty of the political executive to determine and direct the
focus of policies, the state bureaucracy is the administrative machinery through which the objectives
are actualised. Political leaders make policies. The public bureaucracy implements it. If the
bureaucracy lacks the capacity to implement the policies of the political leadership, those policies,
however well intentioned, will not be executed in an effective manner (Anise, 1984, Okafor, 2005).
The bureaucracy could therefore be described as the agency through which the activities of the
government are realised. According to Chukwuebuka & Chidubem (2011), the public service consists
of the civil service, parastatals and agencies. This tripartite structure is systematically patterned to
serve as a lasting instrument through which the government drives, regulates and manages all aspects
of the society. However, the magnitude of attitudinal decay, corruption and lack of accountability in
the public service in Nigeria is terribly shocking. Thus, Rasheed succinctly remarked that “lack of
accountability, unethical behaviours and corrupt practices have become so pervasive and even
institutionalised norms of behaviours, leading to a crisis of ethics in the Nigerian public service”
(Yahaya, 2006, p. 10). He also noted that apart from outright bribery and corruption, patronage,
nepotism, embezzlement, influence peddling, use of one’s position for self-enrichment, bestowing of
favours on relations and friends, moonlighting, partiality, absenteeism, late coming to work, abuse of
public property, leaking and/or abuse of government information are also rampant.
There are two main theoretical viewpoints on the study of the public service or bureaucracy.
These are Weberian and Marxian models. The Weberian model sees public service as a large-scale,
complex, hierarchical and specialised organisation designed to attain rational objectives in the most
efficient and effective manner. The realisation of such rational goals and objectives are maximised
through the bureaucratic qualities of formalism and impersonality in the application of rules and
regulations in the operation and management the organisation. This model considers public service as
a very superior organisation mainly because of certain qualities it has such as hierarchy, division of
labour anchored on specialisation, policy of promotion and recruitment based on merit, in addition to
impersonality in the conduct of official duties, security of tenure and strict observance of rules
regulations, among others (Eme & Onwuka, 2010). While the public service in Nigeria is a complex,
hierarchical, specialised and large-scale organisation and progressive in principal, the rot within it
vitiates the positive bias that the Weberian model purports about bureaucracy.
A sharper delineation of public service in Nigeria comes from the Marxian model which sees
bureaucracy as an instrument of oppression, exploitation and marginalization in the hands of the
dominant class who control and manipulate the state and its apparatuses in the society to
consummate their economic and political domination. In this wise, the public service is an instrument
of the state reflecting the bias, interests and preferences of the ruling and dominant class. It is used by
the ruling class for primitive accumulation, hegemonic control of the state and citizens and as an
extension of the territory of the ruling class. This intention of the bureaucracy is usually concealed by
both the dominant class and the bureaucrats, as efforts are constantly made to project the bureaucracy
as a neutral and development agency working for the interest of everyone in the society. But this is
only a decoy to hide its real motives and interests. The Marxian model seems closer to what obtains in
the public sector in Nigeria. In Nigeria, the public service is parasitic, dependent on the wishes of its
masters and is an appendage and extension of the hegemonic control the ruling class exerts on the
state for the perpetuation of primitive accumulation and political domination in perpetuity.
REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE ON CORRUPTION AND LEADERSHIP CRISIS IN
NIGERIA’S PUBLIC SECTOR
This segment looks at existing literature’s compilation of leadership crisis in Nigeria’s public
sector and the infamous role of the monster of corruption that has hand-cuffed the country’s national
development.
Leadership Crisis in Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives
According to Ebegbulem (2009, p. 5), Nigeria has not had the good fortunes of being
2326-8077)
The African Symposium (ISSN#
governed well since it gained its political independence in 1960 because “good and strong leaders”
have never been in the saddle. He argues that from the first democratic experiment in 1960 to military
regimes and back to democracy as practised in the country today, Nigeria has unfortunately been
managed by leaders who are narcissistic and corrupt. They accumulate wealth at the expense of
national development without deference to the basic needs of the masses. He believes the leadership
from 1960 has criminally managed the country’s affairs and resources and throwing the people over
the precipice where they now wallow in absolute poverty, illiteracy, hunger, rising unemployment,
avoidable health crisis and insecurity.
In analyzing the plethora of leaders that have bestrode the country’s political landscape,
Ebegbulem revealed that selfish, mediocre, tribal leaders and opportunistic small money-minded
people masquerading as leaders have continued to regenerate over time. From Tafawa Balewa (19601966) to Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007), leadership crisis in the country remains the same.
Nwankwo cited in Ebegbulem (2009) ran a scholarly and apt commentary on the leadership
convolution in Nigeria. According to him, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa who ruled Nigeria from 1960-1966
lacked the capacity to chart a progressive course for national development because of lack of
consciousness of development. General J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (January-July 1966) who was brought
up under the most passive and apolitical circumstances of colonialist military institution neither
understood the meaning of politics in general nor was he able to diagnose the specialties of the
Nigerian political system whose leadership was placed on his shoulders. He was neither confused nor
misled; he was simply ignorant and naïve. General Yakubu Gowon who ruled Nigeria from 1966 to
1975 was apparently the only Head of Government anywhere in the world who had so much money
that he did not know what to do with it. The transient national affluence occasioned by the innocent
but unsolicited upsurge of mineral resources cast a spell of short-sightedness over Gowon and his
reactionary advisers. They mistook the transient flow of petroleum for a permanent future of the
Nigerian economy without conducting a critical analysis of the international market forces which
determine the cost of petroleum and its relevant place to national development.
General Murtala Muhammed’s emergence between (July 1975-February 1976) was
revolutionary as well as challenging. He brought a new sense of mission and was radical in his
approach to governance. He was cut short by the inordinate ambition of young military officers, who
could not comprehend his firebrand approach to governance. The regime was, however, short to allow
a better assessment. Although General Olusegun Obasanjo who took over after the assassination of his
boss, General Murtala Muhammed, charted a new course for democratic governance and
constitutional development, he, however, has a pathological hatred for the intellectuals and did not
see any intellectual dimension that is germane to national development. His policy actions were
frustrating the Ivory Tower as he starved the universities of funds and began the distortion of the
educational institutions through untoward policy action. Shehu Shagari’s administration (1979-2003)
also witnessed leadership crisis. His government did not strive to dismantle the existing power
structure and a social relation that has kept Nigeria prostrate. His administration was characterized
by a wild appetite for transient materialism. In trying to achieve his desired goal of maintaining strict
financial discipline and accountability, Buhari who ruled the Nigerian state from 1983 to 1985
selectively imprisoned corrupt politicians while draconian decrees were promulgated to check
leadership excesses (Imhonopi & Urim, 2011). The chink in his leadership style was the misguided
conceptualization of the primary purpose of government as a gulag for the imprisonment of civil
society activists and critics of his government.
The military president after General Buhari was General Ibrahim Babangida who turned the
country to a political laboratory, and came up with a grandiose political transition that was described
as the most expensive in Africa and at the end produced no democracy. With his intelligence and
personal charm, his visionary and innovative programmes, Babangida could have been placed in the
pantheon of revered political leaders in Nigeria and Africa, however, he was unable to meet it with
sincerity and discipline required of good and selfless leadership. He deepened the culture of rent
seeking and prebendal politics and made little effort in infrastructure development. General Sani
Abacha who ruled the country between 1993 and 1998 governed with iron fist. While the entire
country became an extension of his personal estate within a space of five years, he amassed so much
wealth than most countries in Black Africa put together. His transmutation agenda was however cut
short by divine intervention in 1998 when he died mysteriously. Leadership was thrusted on the
shoulder of General Abdusalam Abubakar. He was a cool-headed and compassionate man, though he
emptied the foreign reserves of the country in the name of democratic transition. The transition
process saw General Olusegun Obasanjo coming to power again in 1999, this time as a democratically
elected President. His effort at combating corruption was fruitless as he and officials under him were
corrupt. He sold government property to himself and his cronies below the cost price. His successor,
Alhaji Yar’Adua was an incompetent leader who lacked the qualities of a good and strong leader. The
people of Nigeria and the world are watching to see the direction of the current administration of
President Goodluck Jonathan.
The history of corruption in Nigeria
According to a report, available evidence indicates that corruption in Nigeria dates back to
1954 (ACBF, 2007). For example, the intensity of allegations of corrupt behavior in the public sector
led to the establishment of the first corruption-related commission of inquiry to probe allegations of
abuse of office levied against Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was by then the leader of government
business, and was later elected as the first premier of what was then Nigeria’s Eastern Region. He had
been accused by the Chief Whip of that region’s House of Assembly of using his position to transfer
government funds to support the African Continental Bank, in which he allegedly had substantial
personal interest. The same report mentioned that one of the most orchestrated cases of corruption
investigation was a probe of ministers and other public functionaries in the old Western Region. The
probe was instituted by the military’s sole administrator, appointed in1962 and found most of these
functionaries guilty of corrupt self-enrichment during their tenures. In accordance with the
recommendations of the probe panel, the identifiable fixed and movable assets of those found guilty
were seized and sold by the government as a means of recovering some of the losses. This was also
meant to serve as a deterrent against such practices in the future. The entrance of the military in
Nigerian political domain did nothing to assuage the propensity for corrupt behaviour.
The first attempt by the military to purge itself of its corrupt elements occurred when the
Murtala Mohammed–led military regime instituted a probe of all the military governors who served in
Yakubu Gowon’s administration. All but two were found guilty of corrupt self-enrichment. In addition
to seizure of some of their known properties, the officers also lost their military ranks. The civilian
regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, which governed from 1979 to 1983, was judged one of the most
corrupt in the country up to the time of its abrupt termination by the military coup that brought
Mohammed Buhari to power in December 1983. In fact, the alleged unprecedented level of corruption
was the main reason adduced by the military for terminating the civilian regime. The Buhari regime
tried to address the problem of corruption and attempted to promote a positive reorientation of
national values through the introduction and enforcement of draconian military decrees. The nation
was therefore couched into submission under the yoke of unpredictable and selective application of
draconian laws. The regime also eroded the fundamental rights of citizens through arbitrary arrests
without trials. The regime lost face when some of its very top members were caught committing legal
violations for which the citizenry were being harshly punished.
This provided an entry point for another coup, from which emerged the military regime of
General Ibrahim Babangida. However, as events unfolded, the spate and magnitude of corruption
under this regime made all preceding corruption in the country look like child’s play. This was
facilitated by two major factors: the long, nine-year tenure of the regime, and the huge surge in oil
revenue, including the famous oil windfall occasioned by the Iraq War in 1991. A whopping sum of
US$12.67 billion earned during the war could not be accounted for, and became the subject of a
national probe by a later regime. The probe panel’s report has yet to be made public.
A curious twist was added to the problem with the alleged “loss” of the probe panel’s records
of proceedings and recommendations. Another spectacular role of the Babangida regime was its
release of the properties seized from the indicted military governors who served in Yakubu Gowon’s
regime. The regime also restored to them their lost military ranks, in addition to tendering a national
apology to the indicted officers. This single episode sent the wrong signal to all public officials that
corruption in the public sector was a forgivable offence. After that, corruption continued to exacerbate
and became a national culture, up to the advent of another civilian regime in Nigeria in 1999. The
citizenry heaved a sigh of relief and had high hopes for a reversal of this cankerworm under the new
representative political regime. However, the situation seems to be getting worse by the day, and
corruption has remained at an alarming level.
In his well articulated and recent work, Agbor (2012) writes on the list of high-profile corrupt
practices of some Nigerian leaders in the present fourth republic. He argued that the notoriety of
Nigeria’s corruption by its elected and appointed leaders led to the country being ranked 143 out of
182 countries in Transparency International’s 2011 Corruption Perception Index. Corrupt practices
among public officials have become a national pastime. He chronicles the high-profile list of
corruption in Nigeria to include the arraignment of a one-time governor of Kogi State by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for embezzling and defrauding the state to the
tune of N4 billion. In September 2006, the EFCC had 31 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors under
investigation for corruption (BBC, 2006). A one-time female Senator from Ogun State was quizzed by
EFCC for receiving $100,000 stolen from the Ministry of Health as well as the Health Minister and
her deputy quizzed for stealing over N30 million from the Ministry’s unspent funds from the previous
year. The oil subsidy and the police pension scam are the latest manifestations of wanton corruption
traceable to attitudinal recklessness of Nigerian leadership. Uwujaren’s (2012) submission on this
national embarrassment shows clearly a state suffering from leadership crisis. So far the EFCC has
docked 20 of those who defrauded the federation through the fuel subsidy fund. Some of the cases
revealed included Ogunbambo, Theck and Fargo who swindled the federal government of over N976
million for fuel they did not supply. Taylor, Nasaman and Ali were involved in N4.4billion fraud, and
Alao was docked for N2.6 billion scam. Tukur, Ochonogo, External Oil, collectively defrauded the state
to the sum of N1.899 billion. Nadabo, Peters and Abalaka and Pacific Silver stole the sum of
N1.464billion and Watgbasoma, Ugo-Ngadi, Ebenezer, Ejidele and Ontario Oil defrauded the Federal
Government of Nigeria to the tune of N1.959 billion (Uwujaren, 2012). The management of the police
pension scheme has recently revealed a leadership that is grossly insensitive. It becomes very
appalling to hear that over N200million (two hundred million naira) would be spent to verify less than
twenty police pensioners overseas. The question is what then would be the total pension of those
retired officers when over two hundred million is spent to verify them. Some of the state officials
involved in this scam have come under prosecution by the EFCC. Esai Dangaba, Atiku Kigo, Ahmed
Inuwa Wada, John Yusufu, Veronica Ulonma, and Zani Zira are being prosecuted for defrauding the
police pension scheme in the sum of N32.8billion (Uwujaren, 2012).
According to Ike (2010), it is estimated that by 1999 past Nigerian leaders had stolen or
misused $407 billion or 225 billion pounds. This amount is equal to all western aid given to the
continent of Africa. He also mentioned that the immediate former Chairman of Nigeria Economic, and
Financial Crimes Commission disclosed that 220 billion pounds was squandered between
independence from Britain in 1960 and the return to democracy in 1999. This stolen fortune tallies
exactly with the 220 billion pounds of Western Aid given to Africa between 1960-1997. This amounted
to six times the American help given to post-war Europe under the Marshall Plan for the
Reconstruction of Europe. Ike also cited the World Bank’s list of Nigeria’s fund by depositors in four
Western countries in 1999 and submitted to the then President of Nigeria. From that list, five of the
depositors alone were responsible for much of the stolen funds in the World Bank list of 21 heavy
looters. The total of amount deposited in western banks by the heaviest 21 looters is the equivalent of
150 billion dollars. He concluded that on balance, the leaders of the first and second republics were
relatively not corrupt as evidence in the third and fourth republics has gradually shown the byzantine
kleptomania and “lootocracy” by those supposedly entrusted with the national till. Thus corruption in
Nigeria has both entangled the entire public and private sector matrix and deepened its vice-like grip
on the society.
Perception of Public Sector Corruption in Nigeria
According to a report, the perception of public sector corruption in Nigeria is grave and a
strong grudge against many public institutions runs deep in the minds of many Nigerians (ACBF,
2007). A product of a research study where Nigerians were asked to comment on their view of
corruption in the public sector, findings showed that the Nigerian police force was judged the most
corrupt national institution in Nigeria. The high ranking of the democratic institutions was also
demoralising, as this would prevent the citizenry from enjoying the dividends of transition to civilian
rule after years of protracted military rule. Further, the Ministry of Finance’s report on perceived
corruption in Nigeria—perpetrators, incidence, and severity—is equally revealing. For example, a
broad spectrum of Nigerians believed that corruption pervaded all nooks and corners of the country,
with a higher degree of severity in urban locations. A large proportion of individuals and corporate
citizens were also of the view that it was practically impossible to enjoy any public service or
patronage without one form of gratification or another. The table below accentuates these viewpoints.
Rank
Institution
1
National police
2
Political parties
3
National and state legislatures
4
Local/municipal governments
5
Federal/state executive councils
6
Traffic police and federal road safety corps
7
National electric power authority
Source: Ministry of Finance, 2003
In another study of the integrity of key national public institutions in Nigeria, the level of
integrity of institutions surveyed was abysmally low (ACBF, 2007). These institutions included the
executive, parliament, the office of the auditor-general, the police, the judiciary and electoral
commissions. The worst culprit again appeared to be the Nigerian police force, which received the
most negative ratings by all groups of concerned stakeholders: public officials, the private sector, and
households. Observers considered this negative image an upshot of the lingering legacy of protracted
military rule, during which several societal institutions were effectively neutralised, resulting in what
some concerned stakeholders referred to as a “vandalisation” of the structure and normal procedures
for purposeful public sector management. Non-state institutions, such as the private sector and civil
society groups, are too weak and therefore are unable to put the national institutions in check.
Causes of Corruption in the Public Sector in Nigeria
According to ACBF (2007), corruption in the public sector is aggravated by the paltry level of
wages accruable to its workers. Second, there is very limited opportunity for engaging in lawful
economic activities outside the public sector, which dominates the Nigerian economy. Third, some
studies (Apampa, 2003) have shown that lack of access to markets and lack of funding support to
engage in self-employment activities compel many to take up appointments in the public sector. They
believe it provides the greatest opportunity for amassing wealth, which can then be used to establish a
business or acquire income-earning assets. This objective might also be achieved through bloated
government contracts and other forms of patronage. Fourth, there is a lack of social security and the
facilities needed to guarantee decent living at old age. This is further aggravated by the absence of
well-managed pension schemes in the country. Fifth, national values condone and promote corrupt
behaviour, as those who acquire affluence and buy influence through corrupt enrichment also
command national and local respect and honours. Sixth, the structure of the Nigerian economy also
contributes to corruption in one form or another. The government derives almost 85 percent of its
revenue and 92 percent of its foreign exchange receipts from petroleum. Hence the citizenry is
hampered from holding the government accountable, because they see revenue as government money
rather than as belonging to the nation and themselves. This was not the case when government
formerly derived its revenue from farmers engaged in the production and export of agricultural cash
crops such as cocoa, cotton, palm produce, and rubber before the advent of oil. Research has also
shown that, by its nature, oil wealth promotes and helps to sustain high-level corruption in affected
countries. Finally, people believe that the government has always paid lip service to its anticorruption
crusade, hence the perceived absence of any effective deterrence against corrupt behaviour.
Consequently, an investigation into public sector operations in Nigeria as represented by
different institutions reveals a polychromatic picture of deceit, skullduggery, shenanigans, cronyism,
political corruption, economic vice, “kleptocracy” and compromise of quality and safety standards for
filthy lucre as demonstrated in the recent crashes involving Dana airline in 2012, Bellview and
Sosoliso airlines with heavy loss of lives and property of citizens before government set up panels to
review the aviation industry. Nigeria also boasts of an abundant corps of leaders who pretend to fight
corruption but use their sacred and revered positions to get soaked in corrupt practices ala Farouk
Lawan and Ndudi Elumelu. Onifade & Imhonopi (2012) argued that it is high time the country began
to look towards the east to tame the distended monster of corruption so that corrupt political and
economic managers of the common patrimony can be forced to face the full wrath of the law.
THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP CRISIS AND CORRUPTION ON NATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
The impact of leadership crisis and corruption on national development in Nigeria will require
voluminous narration and citations which the work of this nature does not permit. Therefore, a few
issues have been identified as the drawbacks that leadership crisis and corruption in the public sector
have effectuated. The impact of leadership crisis and corruption in the public sector on national
development has resulted in the following:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
Poor infrastructural development which has brought about lack of power supply with its
attendant negative consequences on industrial and economic development, substandard and
crater-filled road networks which are more of a death trap than highways, poor quality and
inadequate water supply and others;
A decrepit health sector that merely provides medical and health consultation but refers
serious health challenges to well-developed health systems in other countries thus triggering
capital flight and boosting the health sector of other countries. A pity this is, even the late
President Shehu Musa Y’aradua had no confidence in the Nigerian health system, which the
ruling class he belonged to had created. Today, many government functionaries at the
slightest health challenge scamper abroad to get the best medical treatment while leaving the
generality of citizens to the mercy of the poorly funded and sparsely equipped health sector in
the country;
Falling standards in student and teacher education as a result of poor funding of education in
the country. Nigerian graduates are becoming increasingly unemployable and may, sooner
than later, lose the competitive edge for which products of the country’s ivory towers were
known for some years ago;
A morbid and porous security situation resulting in the wanton destruction of lives and
property as currently initiated by the Boko Haram terror envoys and a cortege of criminal
sociopaths such as armed robbers, carjackers, kidnappers, ritual killers and assassins.
A failed, insensitive or clueless political leadership which is fighting hard to appease their
constituents with crumbs from the national cake while stealing large chunks for selfpreservation and perpetuation.
Grinding and growing poverty almost slipping into an absolute status for over 90% of
Nigerians who are caught in its vicious grips and are wondering how to escape their helpless
situation;
An embryonic economy that is said to experience growth spurts without development. The
spurt in the economy has not put food on many a Nigerian’s table, has failed to create jobs for
the unemployed and has failed to improve the human development indices that make for
genuine national development. The economic development in place has been plunged to the
depths by the sustained thievery of public officials aided by their foreign allies and domestic
private sector collaborators, fronts and cronies.
Unless and until something is done about the trilemma of leadership crisis, corruption and national
underdevelopment, Nigeria may continue its match onto the precipice of national disintegration.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
There is no way Nigeria can survive under the current oppressive weight of leadership crisis
riddled with corruption. Without doubt, national development will continue to remain a mirage when
lip service is paid to fighting leadership crisis and corruption in the country. As Tokunbo in Lawal &
Ariyo (2006, p. 67) observed, there is no exaggeration regarding the tragic events of corruption since
the country’s independence. All efforts to improve on the public service or bureaucracy have been
frustrated by corruption. The evil so exists in every facet of national life that one has to bribe to get
one’s child into a school; one has to pay to secure a job and even continue to pay in some cases to
retain it; one has to pay 10 percent of any contract obtained to grease the palms of government
officials; one has to dash the tax officer to avoid paying taxes; one has to pay the hospital doctor and
nurse to get proper medical attention and even some have to pay “something” to police officers to
evade arrest. This catalogue of shame can no longer continue ad infinitum. As Imhonopi & Urim
(2012) ruefully observed, over thirteen years since Nigerians embraced democracy (the largest
unbroken period ever in its history), Nigerians are yet to bid farewell to the very situations that
characterised the military era such as poverty, corruption, infrastructural decay, social menace, rising
unemployment and violation of basic human rights. This worrisome situation has encouraged largescale emigration especially among Nigerian youths to other countries perceived to offer better social
and economic conditions. This situation cannot just continue. Lest Nigeria falls prey to a repeat of the
Arab Spring, critical steps must be taken to avert the looming crisis on the horizon.
If the public sector is to become instrumental in facilitating good governance in the country,
far-reaching reforms are needed. First, recruitment, and promotion of public service officials should
be based on merit system as opposed to spoils system. This is because the enthronement of federal
character principle of recruitment and other spoils system techniques have sacrificed efficiency and
effectiveness in the Nigerian public service. Again, there is need to punish corrupt state officials
however mighty their position in the governance hierarchy. Third, there is need to strengthen the
institutions in place and place them above personal and ethnic considerations; Fourth, continued
mental reorientation is needed to build a new Nigeria. Fourth, tied to the problem of national
development is an expensive federal democracy in place which favours the elite and ruling classes.
This structure needs to be reviewed. Fifth, there is need to discuss the way forward for national
integration in Nigeria if the peace needed for national development is to be achieved. Sixth, the anticorruption crusade of the Goodluck Jonathan administration must be total in its entire ramification
with public enlightenment on the ills of Corruption and severe punishment put in place to punish
offenders. Seventh, accountability and transparency should be the articles of faith in the nation.
Eighth, scandals must be followed to the end. People that perpetuate corruption must not be allowed
to go free due to their position in the society as is witnessed in cases involving key officers of the
National Assembly. This has continued to encourage corruption. Appropriate punitive measures
should be meted to corrupt officers. The anti-corruption bodies must be given the legal latitudes they
require to operate unhindered. Ninth, assets declaration should be a must for all public officers.
Tenth, government must seriously address the issues pertaining to the salaries, wages, pensions and
gratuities of public officers. These should be paid appropriately to make citizens resist corrupt
practices. Lastly, all allegations of corrupt practices of the past should be duly investigated and
affected public officers made to face the wrath of the law, else the average Nigerian will just think the
ongoing crusade against corruption is a continuation of the rhetoric and sloganeering of the past.
Redeeming the image and destiny of Nigeria should become the concern of all stakeholders in the
Nigerian project.
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Author Notes
David Imhonopi, PhD
&
Ugochukwu Moses Urim, MSc
Department of Sociology
College of Development Studies
Covenant University,
Sango Ota, Ogun State. Nigeria
SOCIOLINGUISTIC DIMENSION TO GLOBALISATION: GRADUAL SHIFT IN YORUBA
PERSONAL NAMES AMONG YOUTHS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA
Saheed Oke Raheem
Abstract
Globalisation is a phenomenon which permeates all aspects of human endeavors. Language choice
patterns manifest this imperative. Against the above backdrop, this paper reports an empirical
study of one of the different dimensions of globalisation on language attitudes, language choice
pattern, and resultant language shift among youths in Southwestern Nigeria. Through a random
sampling of names sourced from the Facebook page of the researcher, the paper examines the
linguistic habits of youths on this popular global social medium, specifically with respect to the way
Yoruba personal names are written. The data comprises 50 Yoruba personal names from his
“friends list” on Facebook. The paper observes a gradual shift to, and preference for the English
language (Anglicized name forms) among the younger generation of Yoruba speakers in
Southwestern Nigeria. This is reflected in the Anglicization of most Yoruba personal names by
Youths on this social platform. The paper concludes that, the effect of globalisation is evident in
language choice patterns as represented in the rendition of the data for the study among the sample
population. Hence, the need for Nigerian linguists to exploit the opportunities offered by
globalisation for the development of Nigerian languages.
Keywords: Sociolinguistics, Globalisation, Language Shift, Yoruba Personal Names
Introduction
The affairs of man today are constantly changing, and fusing in an unprecedented way as a result of
convergence in the way we conduct most of our activities. Globalisation has brought up new and
unquantifiable opportunities for worldwide influence, development, and interaction across cultural,
social, economic, linguistic, and other contexts. The differences in the conduct of man’s affairs and the
distance among nations of the world have been removed by the power of technology, which is
continuously uniting people hitherto separated by these factors Okwudishu, (2003). The effects of
globalisation are noticeable and felt in all areas of human dealings. It is felt in economics, political
developments and experimentations, cultural contacts/influence, scientific transfer, technological
know-how or collaborations, language contact/use, etc. This present study explores the patterns of
language choice, attitudes to languages, language shift, and the general effects of globalisation on
language use among youths in Southwestern Nigeria.
Globalization is a concept which suggests that all activities, be it on the local, national, or
regional scene, are conducted in a manner and way that is essentially “global” and “worldwide” in
scope and outlook. It means designing/conceiving ideas or products not just for local
consumption/relevance, but also for global acceptability. Globalisation is shaping our world in
different ways and producing undeniable consequences in our interaction at the individual,
interpersonal, societal, and at the international level. Technology is transforming the spaces in which
we live and interact with one another. Our affairs all over the world are now closely interconnected
and interdependent, so much that several decades’ old barriers have been removed by developments
in communication technology. These experiences of the unification of human activities in different
areas is why many observers and commentators alike have described today’s modern world as a
“global village” where more and more people around the world can interact because of the
opportunities provided by technology. This has removed distance, collapsed borders, and other
barriers that have hitherto characterized such communications. Today, people’s linguistic exchanges
are characterized and shaped by the fact that people are getting more and more united by the day as a
result of technology. The pronounced cultural and linguistic differences of the past decades are
continuously being removed in today’s ‘global village’ of modern interaction and communication.
The English language remains the most dominant language on the internet. This, one can
argue to be as a product of two factors; first, the unassailable position of the English language among
other languages of the world in terms of spread/usage/acceptability, second, the fact that the internet
was basically developed as an English-based network. However, with the emergence, popularity and
spread of the internet, and other emerging communication technologies, the use of other languages in
different contexts around the world is rapidly expanding. This may not be unconnected to the
perceived opportunities inherent in the use of the internet by many people. This present study is an
attempt to examine how this important concept (globalisation) has impacted language use among
youths in Southwestern Nigeria, and by implication, Nigeria in general.
The paper specifically seeks to provide answers to some of the following questions; how is
globalisation influencing the patterns of language use among youths in the region in Nigeria? What
are the observable dominant features of the linguistic habits of youths in the region in the last ten
years? What are the factors influencing these features or linguistic trend? What is the attitude of
youths to Nigerian languages in recent time, particularly with the spread of the internet, the advent of
Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and other new/emerging communication media, uniting people of the
world more now than ever before in the history of man? Has the language use pattern and attitude to
languages among the youths in Southwestern Nigeria remain the same, or are there significant
changes? How are youths in this globalised and highly digitalized world responding to language
differences across borders as a result of the multilingual and multicultural nature of the world? The
paper is divided into four sections. The introductory section gives a general background and intention
of the study. The second section is about how globalisation has impacted and influenced the language
choice patterns and the language attitudes of youths in Southwestern Nigeria. The third section is the
Presentation of data and empirical evidence of the trends and the patterns of language choice and
linguistic practice among youths. The fourth and the last section is the concluding remarks on
globalisation and the trends in the linguistic behaviour of youths in the region, and the nation in
general.
Globalisation and Language Choice
Globalisation has been described in various ways by different scholars and writers. This is
because of its influence and applicability to almost all areas of human endeavors. But for the purpose
of this present study, the following descriptions of the concept would be in order. Globalization is the
increasing interaction among and integration of diverse human societies in all important dimensions
of their activities – economic, social, political, cultural, and religious (Aninat, 2001). It has also been
described a “…a process of cross-cultural interaction, exchange, and transformation (Cooppan, 2001)”
From the above and other similar definitions and descriptions of globalisation therefore, one can say
that globalisation is used in talking about the various and endless transnational influences on cultures,
economics, politics, language use, etc., illustrating and painting global patterns or trends as seen in
human relations today. Thus, any consideration of globalisation is bound to bring up a discussion of
such keyword as ‘convergence’ in politics, cultures, social outlooks, linguistic practice/use, etc. These
are all products of ‘new technologies’, and the various means of communication uniting people across
borders irrespective of the differences or length of distance of their geographical location. Hence,
globalisation is simply the unification and re-shaping of the world into a ‘global village’.
Language choice is a sociolinguistic phenomenon, which refers to the selection of a
language(s) by language users who have at their disposal/within their linguistic repertoire two or
more languages for conducting their different activities in different contexts. It is a constant feature of
multilingual interaction/communication, such as the one on Facebook, and other new/emerging
communication technologies. These kinds of communication involving people from different
nationalities and with different linguistic backgrounds are inevitably faced with this important
sociolinguistic concept – language choice. The concept of language choice is important to us because
no language choice decision is completely “natural” or “free”. The choices that we make as individual,
group, or as a society are influenced by certain factors or sociolinguistic realities/imperatives. One of
these sociolinguistic realities is the need to accommodate or be intelligible to the greatest number of
people in the communicative event.
Language choice becomes imperative in any context with multiple languages; it is the idea of
making choices from the available linguistic resources to language users in such contexts. It is the
determination of which, among the different languages available, should be the tool for interaction at
a particular point in time. Choices become important where there are options or alternatives available.
Thus, language choice is not only a concept for multilingual societies alone, but also a very important
concept in multilingual communication or interaction, such as the one on Facebook. Therefore,
choices have to be made among the various languages available to people who are though from
different linguistic backgrounds, from different locations around world, but are united by the power of
technology of this global social network platform. There is no doubt about the fact that the English
language is the language of the internet. It occupies an unassailable position among other languages of
the world. Most of the information and interaction among users all over the world are in the English
language. But with increase in the population of people having access to the internet and other
new/emerging communication technologies around the globe, other languages of the world are also
finding ways of expression and usage on the internet and these numerous communication
technologies.
For instance, our observation reveal that today among the younger generation of Yoruba
speakers in Southwestern Nigeria, one effect of globalisation is the growing trend in the way Yoruba
personal names are written on Facebook. The trend are different attempts reflecting the linguistic
habits of giving Yoruba personal names “global” outlook, to accommodate and appeal to millions of
non-Yoruba speakers on Facebook all over the world. This young generation of Yoruba speakers
assumes that non-Yoruba speakers are likely to have problems with most of these names if written in
their original Yoruba patterns. Thus, they results to Anglicizing indigenous Yoruba personal names.
As revealed in our observation and in our sampled population, the idea was brought about by the
emergence of these communication technologies, and the quest for a “common” code of
communication among users on the platform. It is a reflection of the desire of youths to appeal to a
wider audience by removing perceived barriers such as the presence of some sounds in Yoruba which
are not present in the sound system of the English language and vice versa. Our investigations reveal
that away from this context, these young men and women write their Yoruba personal names in the
real Yoruba forms.
Most Yoruba personal names have “extant meanings” and are symbolic in nature, sometimes
depicting either the profession/trade of the family of the individual, the “gods” worshiped in the
family, or the circumstance or period of birth of the individual. These names carry a lot of meanings to
an average Yoruba speaker, and a mere mention of some of them is like an introduction of the person
going by such name. This is because every Yoruba name, to a native speaker, or someone who has
learnt not only the language, but its culture, and the philosophy/beliefs of the people, will bring to
mind or paint a picture in the hearer’s mental faculty. Oduyoye (2001), in the preface to his book
“Yoruba Names: Their Structure and Their Meanings” opines:
Actually, every Yoruba name has a meaning, but the meanings of some of them are getting
lost just as many of the names are disappearing with changed social and religious
situations, which are the factors that produced the sentiments which the names were meant
to commemorate in the first place.
Let us consider the following Yoruba personal names for illustration:
Example (1). Temitope – Mine (affairs) is sufficient cause for thanks/gratitude.
Example (2). Omotayo – Child/ren are sufficient cause for joy.
Example (3). Babatunde and Yetunde/Iyabo – Father or mother comes a second time,
for male and female children respectively.
Example (4). Rotimi – Stand by me/stay with me.
The above examples reflect the social/cultural circumstances of birth of the bearer of these
names. Example (1) could be a child delivered during a lot of uncertainties or during a
troubled/turbulent period for the family, or any other similar situation. Example (2) is common
Yoruba personal name which admonishes that child/children are more valuable than wealth. It is a
popular belief among the Yorubas that a man with child/children is better off the other with a lot of
wealth without a child. It is therefore better to beget a child than to have all the wealth on earth and
not have a child to enjoy it. It is a name with a lot of philosophical interpretations reflecting the belief
of an average Yoruba man about continuity/essence of life. What is contained in Example (3) is a
reflection of the Yoruba belief in reincarnation. So when the child comes when person’s father,
mother, grandfather, or grandmother dies, the child is named “Babatunde”, “Yetunde”, “Iyabo”, for
male and female children respectively. Example (4) is another Yoruba name reflecting the
circumstance of birth of the individual with the name. It is sometimes a plea from the parents to a
child perceived to be “a spirit child, born to die and be reborn”. Thus, the name is like an appeal to the
child to stay with (the parents) thereby wiping their repeated grieve and tears.
Data for the Study/Sample Population
This study centers on some observable influences of globalisation on language use pattern,
language attitudes, and language shift among youths in Southwestern Nigeria. The data for the study
were collected from the globally popular social medium – Facebook. 50 Yoruba personal names of
friends of the researcher on Facebook were purposively selected for examination, as a way of
examining possible linguistic influence of the global nature of the social network in terms of users’
composition and general outlook. Our source of data was informed by the quest of the researcher to
give empirical evidence in support of, or debunk the claim in some quarters that there is a general
negative attitude towards Nigerian languages among youths. The rationale behind the choice of our
research instruments is that although the Facebook is a social network platform for all, most of the
users in Nigeria seem to be predominantly youths. Thus, our selection of subjects for the study was
carefully done to ensure that none of them is above 40 years of age.
Table 1
Presentation of Data and Empirical Evidence of a Gradual Language Shift of Facebook
S/N
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
Yoruba Personal Names
Adeneye
Abisola
Ayomide
Oyindamola
Jumoke
Adedoyin
Bidemi
Akinlabi
Babatunde
Oluwafunmilayo
Omolola
Rotimi
Morenikeji
Dare
Temitope
Adeneye
Adeigbe
Femi
Tobiloba
Damilola
Alo
Omotayo
Titilayo
Titilayo
Damilola
Babatunde
Solaja
Ayomide
Yetunde
Apalara
Temitope
Ogundele
Kehinde
Abisoye
Eniitan
Olalekan
Anglicised Forms
Hardeyneeyeh
Harbeesorlah
Haryurmidey
Hoyindarmorlah
Jumurkey
Ardeydhoyin
Bideymee
Harkinlahbee
Barbartundey
Holuwaphunmeelaryor
Hormorlourlar
Roteemee
Moreneekayjee
Dharey
Temmytorpeh
Hardeyneeyee
Hardeyheegbe
Phemmy
Tobbylorbar
Darmeelorlah
Harlor
Hormortayor
Tytylayor
Teeteelahyor
Dhameelorlar
Barbartundey
Sholarjah
Haryormeedey
Yhetundey
Harparlahrah
Temmytorpee
Hogundaylay
Keheenday
Harbeesoyee
Heneetan
Horlarlaykan
The above table shows some samples of different Anglicized forms of Yoruba personal names
on Facebook by youths from Southwestern Nigeria. They are different creative ways adopted by
youths in Southwestern Nigeria to make their Yoruba personal name “global”. This practice has been
growing in the last few years, and is more noticeable on Facebook. The data reveals that from the
sample population for the study, 72% wrote either their first or last name in this Anglicized form. This
trend, we observe is a growing phenomenon brought about by the spread of technology (i.e. the
internet and interconnectedness of people on Facebook. Thus, Anglicizing Yoruba names as seen in
the above examples are attempts to remove the linguistic barrier that non-Yoruba speakers are likely
to face in reading or coming to terms/understanding Yoruba names. Our findings from the data show
a widespread desire among the sampled population to be in the mainstream of global communication
and involvement without allowing the differences in the two language structures. Informal interaction
with some of the researcher’s friends on the underlying reasons for this trend in their linguistic
behaviour reveals that, they are attempts to remove all forms of impediments in communication
among Facebook users all over the world. It is believed that Anglicizing these names will make it more
user friendly, thereby reducing the number of people who are likely to have problem with them.
One unique feature of Yoruba personal names is the “meaning” they convey when written in
the proper Yoruba forms. Hence, Anglicizing Yoruba names take away the meaning and reduce them
to just something with which an individual is addressed. This is what we have when “Abisola” (one
born into wealth) is Anglicized and written as “Harbeesorlar” as in the case of one of the names given
in our data above. Another example is “Oluwafunmilayo”, rendered as “Holuwaphunmilaryor” in one
of the names given in our data. As in this present example and many others, the Anglicized forms of
these names are in most cases longer than the actual Yoruba forms. This is sometimes as a result of
the introduction of sounds which are not present in the Yoruba sound system or alphabet. The Yoruba
sound system has no /ph/, what we have is /f/, as in Oluwafunmilayo. But today, many people with
Yoruba names with this letter sometimes replace this letter with the closest sound to it in the English
language.
Doing this, most times remove the “extant” meaning associated with the name in question. It
is deliberate linguistic deviation strategy employed by youths to remove perceived linguistic barrier on
Facebook and other communication media, where we have users all around the world. It is however
important to point out that, the preference for these Anglicized forms is a not only seen on Facebook
and other social communication media, but also in interpersonal communication among youths. It is a
different ball game when the communication involves an older person. Youths generally would write
the actual Yoruba forms in communication involving an older individual, for instance a University
lecturer above age fifty. This is therefore indicative of the fact that language is a marker of class/age in
Nigerian context. Also, the Yoruba language unlike the English language is a tonal language, and thus,
tone is significant for meaning. A change in the placement of tone alone is enough to change the
meaning of most Yoruba words, including names. Anglicizing Yoruba names therefore remove the
tone since the language in which the names are now patterned is a stressed language with different
structure and rules.
Also, the fact that 72% of our sample population prefers to write their Yoruba personal names
in Anglicized forms and only 28% of them write their names in Yoruba forms, shows that Nigerians,
especially the youths, attach more importance to the English language than to their indigenous
languages, which are supposed to be the first carriers of their identity. It should be noted that related
studies have also reported similar finding in terms of language attitudes among Nigerian youths. This
trend becomes a thing of concern especially when talking about the number one marker of a person’s
identity in Yoruba culture – personal name. Below is a graphical representation of this gradual
linguistic shift in the writing of Yoruba personal names among youths in Southwestern Nigeria as
reflected in our sample population (See Figure 1).
Figure 1
Graphical Representation of Yoruba Personal Names among the Sample Population
100
80
60
40
72
20
28
0
Anglicised
Name Forms
Actual
Yoruba
Name Forms
Conclusion
In this paper, we have thrown some light on how globalisation is shaping and reshaping our
affairs in countless ways, including the way language used. This, we have done by examining the
sociolinguistic dimension to globalisation as reflected in the way majority of youth in Southwestern
Nigeria write their Yoruba personal names on Facebook today. It must also be pointed out that the
process of language shift is not a linear change, it is always gradual, and the change in one situation
differs from the change experienced in another language context. However, no situation can be
isolated from the entire social, cultural, and political environment that produce these changes. Our
findings reveal that this linguistic innovation is one of the effects of globalisation manifesting in the
language choice patterns and linguistic behaviors of Youths in Southwestern Nigeria. The results of
the study show that youths in this region are responding to, and are affected by globalisation in their
language use. Hence, the need for Nigerian Linguists to exploit the endless opportunities offered by
globalisation for the development of Yoruba language not only for the benefit of Nigerians but also
other users/lovers of the language increasing day after day all over the world.
References
Aninat, E. (2001). China globalization, and the IMF. A speech by the managing director of the
IMF. The foundation for globalisation cooperation’s second globalisation forum.
Retrieved January 14, 2013, from
http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2001/011401.htm.
Cooppan, V. (2001). World literature and global theory: Comparative literature for the new
millennium. Symploke, Vol. 9, Issue 1-2, pp. 15-43.
Oduyoye, M. (2001). Yoruba names: Their structure and their meanings. Ibadan: Sefer Book
Limited.
Okwudishu, A.U. (2003). Globalisation, multilingualism and the new information and
communication technologies. In Ozo-mekuri Ndimele (ed.) In the linguistic paradise:
festschrift for E. Nolue Emenanjo Aba: National Institute for Nigerian Languages.
A
Author Information
Saheed Oke Raheem
Awolowo University
Ile -Ife, Nigeria
RAHEEM, Saheed Oke teaches in the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,
Southwest Nigeria. He was a recipient of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Grant at the
University of California, Los Angeles, United States of America (U.S.A) in 2008/2009. He has
published in his areas of research interest–Sociolinguistics, Multilingualism & Multilingual Studies,
and Applied Linguistics. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
NIGERIA’S NEW WRITING AND THE SHRINKING IMAGINATIVE AFFLATUS:
SOME THEORETICAL AND CRITICAL RESPONSES
Chijioke Uwasomba
Abstract
Nigerian literature in English, in spite of its relatively newness, has established itself as a force to
reckon with within the comity of the literati world-wide It is not surprising that in the last fifteen
years or so, Nigeria has witnessed an upsurge of ‘new’ writers who have continued to tell the
Nigerian story. These new voices have added a lot to the corpus of Nigerian literature and have been
labeled by some critics as the ‘Third-Generation’ of Nigerian writing. The essay attempts a short
historical survey of the Nigerian novel which is its concern and argues that in spite of the quantum
of these creative eruptions that has been thrown up; the writings lack serious imaginative power
and symbolism. This is because for literature to be successful it must be done in a way that creates
the illusion of reality. These new writings appear to be steeped in factual realities at the expense of
imagination. A random but representative works of these new voices are used to demonstrate the
claim that these writings are more within the sub-genre of faction than serous literature. A plausible
explanation is also given for the prevalence of this kind of writing in today’s Nigerian fiction.
Keywords: Nigerian Literature, New Writers, Fiction, Faction, Imagination, Illusion.
Introduction
In the last fifteen years or so, Nigeria has witnessed an upsurge of “new” writers who have
continued to tell and retell the Nigerian story pioneered by the like of Pita Nwana, Cyprian Ekwensi,
Daniel Fagunwa, Amos Tutuola, Abubakar Iman, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and others too numerous
to mention. No doubt, these new voices have added a lot to the corpus of Nigerian literature and have
been labeled as the “Third-Generation” of Nigerian writing. This essay argues that in spite of the
quantum of creative eruptions that has been thrown up by this generation of writers, the writings lack
deep imagination and symbolism. This is because, for literature to be successful, it must be done in a
way that accords with what Coleridge calls “a suspension of disbelief”. Without being legislative in our
conceptualization of what constitutes good literature, there is every reason to assert that most of these
new writings appear to be steeped in ‘factional’ realities at the expense of imagination. We shall come
back to this presently.
Jean Paul Satre (1948) has grappled with this question and raised a lot of issues in an attempt
to explain what constitutes literature. According to Welleck and Warren (1956:213):
…imaginative literature is ‘fiction’, a lie. The reality of a work of fiction –i.e. its illusion of
reality; its effect on the reader as a convincing reading of life –is not necessarily or primarily a
reality of circumstance or detail or common place routine… Verisimilitude in detail is a means
to illusion, but often used, as in Gulliver’s Travels, as a decoy to entice the reader into some
impossible or incredible situation which has ‘truth to reality’ in some deeper than a
circumstantial sense.
The above definition accords with Nnolim’s (1988:6) view. Nnolim in his inaugural lecture defines
Literature as:
that writing which is more emotionally moving than intellectually instructive; that writing
which primarily deals with a make-believe world, whose language is highly connotative rather
than denotative, symbolic rather than literal; figurative rather than plain; and whose ultimate
aim is to produce a satisfying aesthetic effect and find anchor as a work of art
What crystallizes from the above is that literature is characterized by ‘a poetic’ quality which
ordinary language does not possess. The creation of the illusion of reality has been the preoccupation
of every literary artist since ancient times. This power of imagination and the illusion of reality to
create and re-create human experiences and human condition act as a mirror image of the society.
Ezeigbo (2008:4) also notes that what distinguishes literature from other disciplines is the use of
creativity. She defines creativity as “a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or
concepts or new associations between existing ideas or concepts”. When the gods of creativity possess
their worshippers (artists) the latter is provoked into a creative motion which imbues them in the
process with the powering of the catalytic impulse to create.
Literature is therefore an important means of understanding and interpreting aspects of
society such as “politics, religion, social conflict, class struggle and human condition” (Ezeigbo
2008:10). Literature has both the creative and re-creative powers. To paraphrase Blake, literature is
that art which rouses the faculties to act. Literature possesses all these qualities because of its nature
in which it is seen as an idea, philosophy wrapped up in a symbol with its inherent capacity to pass a
body of knowledge on to the reader.
In the course of understanding the role of the writer, the essence of literature becomes clearer.
According to Satre (1961:14) “the function of the writer is to act in such a way that nobody can be
ignorant of the world and that nobody may say that he is innocent of what it’s all about”. The writer
has an uncanny ability to invoke, to recreate events of his or her time with such arresting adroitness
that also captures the imagination of the reader who is thrilled by the manner of and inventiveness of
the writer. It is in the recognition of the above that Osofisan (2006:63-64) opines that:
… literature, at any age is essentially the mirror of the society in which the literature is produced. It is
a mirror, but not inert. In the fiction of literature therefore is always a distillation of the actual ordeals
of the citizenry of the age in question. Properly decoded, the refracted material can yield the true
identity of that age and its people, knowing truthfully in fact than the bald record of historians.
The implication is that a writer of literature is not only gripped but also grabbed by the muse
in its votaries which ultimately sends the writer to another realm with somewhat magical possibilities
and trajectories.
Older Generations of Nigerian Writers
To understand the current generation of Nigerian writers, it is necessary to briefly explain the
place of the older generations that have left a literature that is worth its name within the comity of the
literati. Nigerian literature in English began with the publication of Olauda Equiano’s The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, The African; Written by Himself
(1789). According to Ogude (1988:3), this work “seeks to alter completely the contemporary image of
the African in England and the colonies and enthrone the new African man who continued a romantic
tone of his native land with a critical admiration of European civilization”. Obiwu (2006) has argued
that Equiano’s work was a major influence on the African American Fredrick Douglass and also
“contributed greatly to the explosion of the slave narrative as a literary tradition in Europe and
America” (39).
Adesanmi and Dunton (2005, 2008) have described the emerging generation of Nigerian
writers as Third- Generation writers. This characterization to say the least is misleading and wrongheaded. A true mapping of Nigerian literature puts a lie to this characterization. Obiwu (2006) and
Adeeko (2007) have tried to sketch the movements or generations of Nigerian literature, indicating
that the latest generation is the fifth in the evolution of Nigerian writing. The first stage or generation
is associated with Equaino and Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1772-1899) and this age is seen as the age of
slavery, migration or war. The second phase or generation (1900-1947) is the age of colonization
proper. This is the generation that has been called “the Victorian Lagos” (Echeruo), “The Palm and
Lagoon School” (J. P. Clark- Bekederemo), and “The Literature of Tutelage” (Wauthier). Obiwu goes
further to name the following as belonging to this generation: Nnamdi Azikwe, Dennis Osadebay,
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Pita Nwana, Daniel Fagunwa, Aminu Kano, Abubakar Imam, Aliyu dan
Sidi, Cyprian Ekwensi, Ekong Ita, etc.
The Third-Generation is the described as the age of independence (1948-1966). This
generation is signified by Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, J. P. Clark- Bekederemo, Elechi Amadi, I. N.
C. Aniebo, Chukwuemeka Ike, Adaora Ulasi, Flora Nwapa, John Munonye, Buchi Emecheta, Eddie
Iroh, Kole Omotoso, etc.
The Fourth-Generation of Nigerian Literature (1967-1987) is characterized by Obiwu as “the
Oil Boom Generation” with Catherine Acholonu, Ben Okri, Zaynab Alkali, Festus Iyayi, Adebayo
Williams, Tanure Ojaide, Femi Osofisan, etc, as very important members.
The Fifth-Generation (1988 to the present) has witnessed many literary eruptions. Obiwu has
dubbed it a post-Biafran, post-Marxist and post-Feminist literature. The list which includes but not
limited to the following is very intimidating: Akin Adesokan, Helon Habila, Chimamanda Adichie,
Helen Oyeyemi, Chris Abani, Uzodinma Iweala, Okey Ndibe, Ike Okonta, Wale Okediran, Uzor Maxim
Uzoatu, J. O. J. Nwachukwu- Agbada, Biyi Bandele- Thomas, Akachi Ezeigbo, Jerry Agada, Sefi Attah,
Lola Shoneyin, Promise Okekwe, Bina Nengi-Ilagha, Maik Nwosu, Unoma Azuah, Jude Dibia, Sam
Omatseye, etc. Nwakanma (2008) describes the writings of this current generation of writers as
encompassing “the new attitudes, desires, values, and anxieties of the post-colonial nation” (1). The
writers are concerned with issues that are contemporaneous and topical. Our contention in this essay
is that apparently because of the way these new writers feel or are impacted by the new Nigerian
reality or that of the entire world, they write in a manner that banalises literature and reduces it to a
naturalist gamble.
The New Generation of Nigerian Writers - The Nature and Concerns
A cursory look at the literary culture of Nigeria shows that Nigerian writers have from the
beginning of Nigeria’s writing responded to issues of the moment. They could be accused of being
sociological. In fact, the charge by critics of early African writing of manifesting a preponderance of
sociological minutiae can be understood in view of the fact that African literature started as a
response to the brigandage epitomized by colonialism. In the words of Ogude, “to put it in another
way, African Literature is one sad song of painful experiences” (7).
It is because of the literary merit of the works of the Achebes, the Soyinkas and the Okris that
Nigeria’s literature is respected globally. This legacy should not be allowed to die. No doubt, the new
writers are also winning awards both locally and internationally, but a survey of the works of these
writers shows that they are more of faction than fiction. The questions that then arise are: What is
faction? How much liberty should the creative artist take with historical reality?
Faction is an artistic practice involving the melding or inter-weaving of both the product of
imagination and real-life events and situations. In a faction, there is preponderance of real characters,
factual events and in fact, real history. In Nigeria, Kole Omotoso is associated with this kind of
writing. Emenyonu (1991) writes that the first appearance of faction as a dominant feature in
contemporary Nigerian fiction can be attributed to Kole Omotoso with his publication of Just Before
Dawn in 1988. He also states that “Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Prisoners of Jebs also published in 1988 has
helped to popularize it as a growing trend among creative writers in Nigeria” (133). It is found in
Soyinka’s Isara (1989) and even in Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah (1988). Omotoso’s Just Before
Dawn is an account of the failure of Nigeria to realise itself as a country. It goes further to ascribe the
failure of Nigeria to the way the British constructed it along the North-South divide.
In Festus Iyayi’s Heroes (1986), his third novel, the writer allows more of factional realities to
dominate and determine the direction of the story which is about the Nigerian/Biafran war which took
place in 1967-1970. Iyayi’s account is based on the events of a few weeks before the end of the war. It is
the account of Osime Iyere, the political correspondent of the city’s Daily News. Osime has reported
on the war, revealing from a distance, its grim horrors. But all this while, his sympathy is with the
federal troops who appear to him as humane and set to dislodge the Biafran troops. But three specific
incidents seem to challenge his former views of the war- the killing of Ade’s (the features editor of his
paper) landlord and the Biafran soldiers who have taken refuge in his house by the Federal troops; the
merciless beating he receives from the Federal soldiers during a cultural display and the brutal and
senseless killing of his landlord, Mr. Ohiali by the Federal troops.
Writing about Helon Habila, one of the leading voices of the new Nigerian writing, Anyokwu
(2004:5) argues thus:
… Therefore, for Helon Habila and his ilk, the conventional tactics of impersonality,
indirection and suggestiveness which are the props of the fabulist or/and parabolic modes will
not suffice. Matters are not helped by the postmodernist celebration of the principles of
transgressivity, flux, fluidity, indeterminancy, instability, play, fantasy and decentred
consciousness.
Anyokwu is complaining here about Habila’s first novel, Waiting for an Angel (2003).The
novel is about a journalist, named Lomba and his grueling encounter with Nigeria’s military
dictatorship in the 1990’s. The narrator, obviously, Habila introduces Lomba and what the latter starts
to do in July 1997. Lomba is in prison and decides to keep a diary of events in his life. Through Lomba
the reader is also told of the decision of the University students to boycott lectures until Ibrahim
Babaginda and his clique hand over power to the civilians after a transition to-civil-rule progamme
that spanned seven years leading to the annulment of a presidential election result won by a business
mogul, Chief M. K. O. Abiola.
The last entry in Lomba’s diary ends with Janice, the prison Superintendent’s mistress who
has pleaded with the former to release Lomba. A week after the meeting, General Abacha is toppled
and Abdulsalami, another General opens the gates of freedom for Lomba and other political prisoners.
Again, this is a historical account. In fact, the story of Nigeria cannot be complete without an inclusion
of General Abacha’s activities as the Head of State, between 1993-1998, when he died under
mysterious circumstances. Abacha had jailed a lot of patriots including Habila, Ogaga Ifowodu and
Akin Adesokan for their alleged roles in the fight against military dictatorship in Nigeria. It is this
account that Habila brings into his novel. The killing of Dele Giwa, the crusading Editor-in-Chief of
the News Watch Magazine is also given a space in the novel.These issues are real Nigerian history but
they find accommodation in Habila’s Waiting for an Angel.
In Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, a novel that tries to refresh our memories on the
Nigerian/Biafran war of 1967-1970, too many factual realities compete with the imaginative story that
the writer is constructing. It is true that the characters are fictitious creations, but most of the events
being narrated are historical accounts of the war. Madiebo (1980), Fredrick Forsyth (1969), Elechi
Amadi (1973), Ezeigbo (1991), Amadi (1973, Nwankwo and Ifejika (1969), Ademoyega (1981),
Alumona (2011), Achebe (2012) and tons of writings and commentaries exist on the war. There is no
doubt that from the narrative texture of the novel, Adichie must have done some research in addition
to stories she must have been told about the war. The Sovereign state of Biafra was declared at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka by the then Colonel Odumegwu Emeka Ojukwu after he had been urged
to do so by both students of the University and traditional rulers. It is not surprising that Adichie uses
the University of Nigeria, Nsukka as the starting point of her narration. Many historical accounts
about the war found their way into the novel.
Even the first coup of 1966 led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu finds an important place and space
in Adichie’s novel. The same is also of the counter coup led by Northern soldiers which occasioned the
killing of Igbo officers and civilians. Colonel Madu,a character in the novel is made to say thus:
Igbo soldiers and Northern soldiers can never live in the same barracks after this. It is impossible,
impossible”, Colonel Madu said … and Gowon cannot be the head of state. They cannot impose Gowon
on us as head of state. It is not how things are done. There are others who are senior to him. (Half of
a Yellow Sun, 140).
It is important to recall that when the Sovereign state of Biafra was declared, General Gowon,
the Nigerian Head of State responded that it would take a mere “police action” to bring the rebels to
order. The “police action” turned out to be ineffective as the war lasted for three years making Biafra a
reality. The people’s resolve was very strong and unimaginable as can be seen in their song: “Biafra
win the war/Armoured car, shelling machine, fighter and bomber/ Ha enweghi ike imeri Biafra!”
(Half of a Yellow Sun, 275). The above song is followed by the Biafran Anthem:
Land of the rising sun, we love and cherish,
Beloved homeland of our brave heroes;
We must defend our lives or we shall perish.
We shall protect our hearts from all our foes;
But if the price is death for all we hold dear,
Then let us die without a shred of fear.
(Half of a Yellow Sun, 277)
Alexander Madiebo devoted quite an extensive section of his book, The Nigerian Revolution
and the Biafran War to the advent of sabotage and how it contributed to the loss of the war by the
Biafran side. Adichie also dwells so much on this as can be seen in the encounter Richard and Kainene
experienced in their movement to Kainene’s family house in Orlu. As they are on their way back, they
notice too many checkpoints. Everybody is suspected to be a saboteur. A non-Igbo like Dr. Inyang who
is by every definition a Biafran to boot is harassed by a pregnant woman who calls him a saboteur: “It
is you non-Igbo who are showing the enemy the way! Hapu m! It is you people that showed them the
way to my hometown!” (Half of a Yellow Sun, 320).
Those who did not witness the war with all its brutalities and or those who have not read some
of the accounts of the war may read this “novel” as a truly fictional work. But the evidence shows that
what Adichie has done is to novelize real facts about the war. There are many other fictional works on
the Nigerian/Biafran war especially the novels of I. N. C. Aniebo – The Anonymity of Sacrifice (1974)
and The Journey Within (1978) which dwell on the war without reducing it to another factional
activity.
The most worrisome and the most banal of the fictional works under discussion is Tanure
Ojaide’s The Activist which is an attempt at fictionalizing the crisis of the Niger Delta. The novel is not
only badly written but also a bad brew of facts and fiction. The name of Ojaide’s hero is the Activist.
After twenty-five years of his sojourn in the United States of America to which he had fled on asylum
as a youth arising from the oil conflicts that caused the brutalization of his people in the Niger Delta of
Nigeria, the Activist returns amidst taunts and ridicule from his academic colleagues as well as his
Niger Delta compatriots. As a lecturer in the Niger Delta State University he joins forces with some
groups in many activities including oil bunkering leading to his winning an election to become the
governor of the Niger Delta State. He does everything with the Egba boys to fight the Bell Oil
Company which is exploiting the people and their God-given resources.
The story is set during the period of military dictatorship in Nigeria. It is obvious from the
way the novel is written that the General being talked about is General Abacha whose criminal
activities as Nigeria’s Head of State knew no bounds. The narrator says thus about the Head of State:
… the Head of State of the military junta was himself a bunkering chieftain.He had associates
who did the job for him to enjoy the huge profits…To be a favoured general in the Nigerian
Army was to be a bunkering chief and a multimillionaire! With the Commander-in-Chief and
his officers involved in bunkering, it had become a semi-official lucrative business despite the
many decrees (The Activist, 136-137)
In his novel, the group’s activities are reported the way they were in the era in question.
According to the narrator, “the oil companies had their spies in the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUNU) and got a feedback on government policies…” (The Activist, 206). The Bell Oil
Company is obviously Shell 0il Company which Okonta and Douglas (2001) have wonderfully
characterised as vultures in their book on the Niger Delta and the destructive activities of the oil
multinationals.
The facts about Niger Delta are narrated the way they are without any attempt to transpose
them into imaginative creations. The only difference between actual realities of the region and the
novel is just the fictional characters that participate in the affairs of the novel. The novel reads like the
historical and political discourses on the region. The writer succeeded in documenting the exploitative
activities of the Oil Companies in the Niger Delta Region especially Shell and not a serious fictional
work. The plot of the novel to say at least is simplistic and juvenilely journalistic.
The Missing Link
As can be seen from the foregoing, it is obvious that there is a missing link between previous
Nigerian writers (novelists) and the current generation of Nigerian novelists. This generation of
writers appears to be copycats of history who are not able to rigorously and imaginatively transform
history with an imaginative art. A writer seriously speaking transposes the factual realities of his/her
society into an art with all the edifying qualities and possibilities. Literature is a make- believe and in
fact, ‘a truthful lie’ with all its defamiliarising antics and characteristics. For Batson (1972), in the
novel we have the spectacle of “the untrue masquerading as the true while illusion trembles in it on
the edge of delusion” (244).There is no doubt that the novel as a genre of literature offers some kinds
of experience but instead of manipulating these experiences to achieve artistic excellence, most of
Nigeria’s current novelists reproduce them in a “factional” and almost bland manner.
This type of writing may serve young readers and the uninitiated into the world of belle lettres
and those who have not had the opportunity of reading Nigerian history but it amounts to a big
disservice to literature as an engaging artistic exercise. A novelist may not be obliged to write directly
about contemporary history but if he/she must write it, it must be done in a symbolic and true artistic
manner. The distinction between the historian and the creative writer is that one describes a story that
has been, and the other a kind of story that might be. Althusser (1971) expresses it thus: “… I believe
that the peculiarity of art is to ‘make us see’; ‘make us perceive’, ‘make us feel’ something which
alludes to reality” (204). How much of Althusser’s fine postulation in the works of our current
novelists is anybody’s guess.
While the earlier generations of Nigerian writers tried as much as possible to create serious
literature using Nigerian history as the compelling raw material, the current generation appears too
bland and imaginatively low in their novelisation of Nigerian history. It is important to recall that few
novelists of the earlier generations especially Kole Omotoso and Festus Iyayi (the latter in Heroes)
had tried to “factionalise” Nigerian literature, but this was not successful. The missing link between
the older generations of Nigerian writing and the current generation is the inability of the latter to
follow the true steps of their masters.
Conclusion
In this essay we have tried to look at some of the texts of the current Nigerian novelists. The
texts were randomly selected but they are representative works of the current generation of Nigerian
novelists. These works are concerned with contemporary issues of the day. Events of various
magnitudes unfold with such rapidity and bizarreness that one cannot but marvel at the malaise that
has gripped contemporary Nigeria. The people’s psyche is assaulted everyday with unbelievable but
real stories of billions and trillions of Naira stolen or missing alongside humongous contract sums for
projects that do not have meaning in the lives of the citizens. The country is a vast killing field,
kidnappings and killings are a daily occurrence, banditries of all stripes and shapes take place against
harmless victims, the roads are abandoned by the government in spite of the weekly contracts
announcements by the government agents and such other mindless activities of government and its
agents including ill-digested and punitive neo-liberal policies imposed on Nigerians. All these have
made Nigeria a post-colonial hell-hole.
It is likely that the imagination of the current generation of writers has been heavily and
significantly assaulted and affronted by the Nigerian reality to the point that fiction has become less
effective than reality. In fact, factual realities have become more fictitious than fiction in
contemporary Nigeria with the way things are unraveling. Writers who are confronted with such a dire
situation must rise above it by sharpening their imaginative power. After all, as Walton (1973) has
explained, a writer pretends when he/she is presenting a fictional discourse by imagining and creating
a make-believe and engaging in a “game of pretence”
Novelists are not historians or ethnographers or documenters but creative artists. What they
do is to represent, portray and enact the emotions, actions and reactions of their characters in
different human situations at different times and perhaps in different social settings. This view
supports John Lye’s (2003, quoted in Coker 2012;32) opinion to the effect that:
Literature is mimetic, that is to say, represents reality, nature, and the way things are. It
portrays moral and other experiences in a compelling concrete immediately felt way in its
aesthetic devices and powers, yet allows as well for reflection, for theorizing or
reconsiderations of the experiences evoked, as we are both experiencing the word ‘evoked’ and
are separated from it.
References
Achebe, C. (2012). There was a country: A personal history of Biafra. New York: Penguin.
Adesanmi, P. & Dunton, C. (2008). Everything good is raining: Provisional notes on the Nigerian
novel of the third generation. Research in African literatures. Vol. 39, No.2 (pp vii-xii).
Ademoyega, A. (1981). Why we struck: The story of the first Nigerian coup. Ibadan: Evans Brothers.
Adichie, C. (2006). Half of a yellow sun. Lagos: Farafina.
Alumona, V. (2011). A critical rhetoric analysis of Ojukwu’s Ahiara declaration. African Identities.
Vol .9 (1) (pp 67-83).
Althusser, L. (2011). Lenin and philosophy and other essays. . Brewstar,B (Trans) London: New
Left Books.
Amadi, E. (1973). Sunset in Biafra story: A civil war diary. London: HEB.
Aniebo, I. N. C.(1974) The anonymity of sacrifice. London: HEB.
Aniebo, I.N. (1978). The journey within. London: HEB.
Bateson, F. W. (1972 ). The novel’s original sin. Essays in critical dissent. London: Longman.
Coker, O. (2012). Post-independence engagement paradigms in selected third-generation Nigerian
Novels. An unpublished PhD thesis submitted to the department of English, University of
Ibadan.
Equiano, O. (1967). The interesting narrative of the life of Olauda Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, the
African; written by himself (1789). London: Heinemann Educational Books.
Emenyonu, E. (1991). Studies on the Nigerian novel. Ibadan: HEB.
Ezeigbo, A. (1991). Fact and fiction in the literature of Nigerian civil war. Lagos: Unity Publishing
Research Company.
Ezeigbo, T. A. (2008). Artistic creativity: Literature in the service of society. Inaugural lecture series,
University of Lagos.
Forsight, F. (1969). The Biafran story. London: Penguin.
Habila, H. (2003). Waiting for an angel. London: Penguin.
Nwakanma, O. (2008). Metonymic eruptions: Igbo novelists, the narrative of the nation, and new
developments in contemporary Nigerian novel. Research in African literatures, Vol.39, No.2.
(pp.1-15).
Nnolim, C. (1988). Literature and the common welfare. Inaugural lecture series, No.8, University of
Port-Harcourt.
Ojaide, T. (2006). The activist. Lagos: Farafina.
Obiwu. (2006). The history of Nigerian literature. Farafina. (pp.37-44)
Ogude, S E. (1988). Olauda Equiano. In Ogunbiyi, Y.(Ed.). Perspectives on Nigerian literature: 1700
to the present. Vol.2, Lagos: Guardian Books Nigeria.
Okediran, W. (2009). Tenants of the house. Ibadan: Nelson publishers.
Okenimkpe, M. A. (2004). Educating adults for civic responsibility and communicative competence
through language and literary studies. Inaugural Lecture Series, University of Lagos.
Nwankwo, A. & Ifejika, S. (1969). Biafra: The making of a nation. New York: Praeger Publishers.
Okonta, I. & Douglas, O. (2001). Where vultures feast: 40 years of Shell in the Niger delta.
Benin:
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth.
Osofisan, F. (2002). Opon Ifa’s rebirth: Chaos and creativity in our literary compound. In
Ezeigbo, A. & Aribisala, K. K. (Eds.). Literature, language and national
consciousness: A festschrift in honor of Theo Vincent. Lagos: University of Lagos
Press.
Satre, J. (1978). What is literature? London: Methuen.
Uweche, R. (1971) Reflections on the Nigerian civil war: Facing the future. New York: Africana
Publishing Corporation .
Walton, K. (1973). Pictures and make-believe. The Philosophical Review. Vol.82, No.3,
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Author Notes
Chijioke Uwasomba
Ile-Ife, Nigeria
[email protected]
100 Volume 13, No. 1, June 2013
Book Review
Book Title:
ISBN:
Publisher:
Educators in exile: The role and status of refugee teachers
978-1-84929-091-3, Price £15.00, Date of publication: February 2013
The Commonwealth Secretariat, London, UK (www.commonwelath.org/publications)
Available in the USA from Stylus Publishing LLC, VA, USA.
(www.commonwealthpublications-usa.com)
Reviewer:
David Adewuyi
Managing Editor, The African Symposium
Educators in exile is the product of field research that explicitly focused on refugee teachers in
Kenya, South Africa, South Sudan and Uganda. Research that produced the book was commissioned
by the Commonwealth Secretariat in the United Kingdom “to explore issues affecting refugee teachers
in selected Commonwealth countries.” The book is a welcome introduction to the necessary debate
about refugee teachers, whose knowledge, skills and dispositions impact and shape educational
achievement of students. The book aimed at answering two research questions:
1. What are the issues affecting refugee teachers?
2. What policies are necessary to ensure the welfare of refugee teachers and to create an
enabling environment for them to teach? (p. 1).
The 73-page book has 7 chapters, each ending with cited references. Chapter 1 provides a succinct
background to the study by identifying three types of refugee teachers, the obstacles faced by refugee
teachers in host countries, and the summary of recommendations to deal with identified obstacles.
Chapter 2 reviews relevant literature in the area of teacher migration in education in emergencies. The
“lack of literature” on the subject is probably the most significant contribution of Educators in exile to
research in the academic field of “education in emergencies.” The chapter reviews documents to reveal
several patterns of teacher behavior in the literature. Categories of refugee teachers are discussed as
well as the challenges of teacher recruitment, training and certification in emergency. Chapter 3
describes the research methodology including choice of countries, selection of informants, field
research and interviews and interviewees’ expectations. Chapter 4 reveals the findings of the study.
These include the categories of teachers studied, the “push and pull” factors of refugee teachers’
migration, social and psychological factors of migration, and detailed unique findings from Kenya,
South Africa, Uganda, and South Sudan. Chapter 5 appropriately titled “From Findings to Policy and
Practice,” discusses what the government, refugee teachers, and managers of refugee teachers in home
and host countries need to do with the research findings. These are designed as recommendations
conspicuously described in boxes. Chapter 6 describes 4 interesting models and best practices in
Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya. Chapter 7, which is “Final Remarks,” looks at the wider context of
the research, drawing on the literature review.
Going back to the two research questions the researchers set out to answer, there is no doubt that
Barry Sesnan, Eric Allemano, Henry Ndugga, Said Shabani, John Kasongo, and Anne Hewling did an
excellent job to provide insightful answers to the questions. It is to the credit of the researchers that
they suggested to different stakeholders in the field of education in emergencies what they could do
with their findings both in policy and practice. The achievement of the research is also in the fact that
while the study concentrated on only 4 countries, the study findings can be applied to any country
hosting refugee teachers. Finally, the references at the end of each chapter and the appendixes at the
end of the book provide relevant research tools to other researcher(s) who might be interested in
advancing work on the important area of education in emergencies. The book is certainly a major
contribution to this emerging field of study and highly recommended.
101 Volume 13, No. 1, June 2013

Volume 13 Number 1 June - African Educational Research Network

Transcription

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