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An inspiring editorial analysis and interpretation of aspects of Nigerian history, culture, and politics, from mankind’s archaeological past to ethnographic present, this book contextualises cultural history as instrument of sustainable development in postcolonial Nigeria. Nigeria’s rich cultural history defines its physical environment, cultural diversities, early industrial technology and even its various challenges of development. Yet, little is achieved in engaging cultural history as cultural experience for the country’s development. The gains of cultural history as a mirror of the past and inspiration for development is ignored. This difficulty in harnessing the potential for development in Nigeria found in the country’s cultural history leaves us vulnerable to repeating past mistakes. The book is accessible, and aimed at giving the readers a unique and expansive understanding of history, cultural knowledge, and their applications in Nigerian postcolonial development agendas. This makes the book essential for scholars of anthropology, archaeology, history, linguistics, sociology, political science, and geography, as well as policy makers.
The Jihadist ideology has destroyed the world from East to West. They have tried to implement Shariah Law. People use and abuse religion in order to create fear and anxiety within the victim. Counter Terrorism experts, as well as governmental departments, are fighting on many frontlines. There already exists Islamist ideology that challenges the writ of the governmental authority and other issues that have damaged the democratic values of the state like the right-wing terrorism and ethno-nationalist fundamentalism, such as in Spain and Italy. We are stuck between two world orders, Islamic and democratic world order. Both these powers have now been fighting each other for nearly half a century, from colonialism to political Islamic era till the 21st century when the world became a global village. Terrorists are using new technologies in relations to lure vulnerable people and the western youths are their easy target to recruit. We must apply the right tools to eliminate such ideology that corrupted millions of minds.
This volume presents an integrated collection of constructive essays by eminent Catholic scholars addressing the new challenges and opportunities facing religious believers under shifting conditions of secularity and "post-secularity." Using an innovative "keywords" approach, At the Limits of the Secular is an interdisciplinary effort to think through the implications of secular consciousness for the role of religion in public affairs. The book responds in some ways to Charles Taylor's magnum opus, A Secular Age, although it also stands on its own. It features an original essay by David Tracy -- the most prominent American Catholic theologian writing today -- and groundbreaking contributions by influential younger theologians such as Peter Casarella, William Cavanaugh, and Vincent Miller. CONTRIBUTORS William A. Barbieri Jr. Peter Casarella William T. Cavanaugh Michele Dillon Mary Doak Anthony J. Godzieba Slavica Jakelic J. Paul Martin Vincent J. Miller Philip J. Rossi Robert J. Schreiter David Tracy
This book explores the rise and impact of violent non-state actors in contemporary Africa and the implications for the sovereignty and security of African states. Each chapter tackles a unique angle on violent organizations on the continent with the view of highlighting the conditions that lead to the rise and radicalization of these groups. The chapters further examine the ways in which governments have responded to the challenge and the national, regional and international strategies that they have adopted as a result. Chapter contributors to this volume examine the emergence of Islamist terrorists in Nigeria, Mali and Libya; rebels in DR Congo, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Rwanda; and warlords and pirates in Somalia, Uganda and Sierra Leone.
This issue of Matatu offers cutting-edge studies of contemporary Nigerian literature, a selection of short fiction and poetry, and a range of essays on various themes of political, artistic, socio-linguistic, and sociological interest. Contributions on theatre focus on the fool as dramatic character and on the feminist theatre of exclusion (Tracie Uto-Ezeajugh). Several essays examine the poetry of Hope Eghagha and the Delta writer Tanure Ojaide. Studies of the prose fiction of Chinua Achebe, Tayo Olafioye, Uwem Akpan, and Chimamanda Adichie are complemented by a searching exposé of the exploitation of Ayi Kwei Armah on the part of the metropolitan publishing world and by a recent interview...
For most of its history, Nigeria has witnessed sporadic episodes of insecurity; a phenomenon traditionally manifested in political, electoral, religious and ethnic violence, and, more recently, terrorism. This book investigates the core issues that have led to, and shaped the development and sustenance of, organised political violence in Nigeria. Focusing on elite political culture and State governance, it examines important elements of the socio-political environment, including zero-sum politics, identity politics, and the politicisation of social cleavages. As such, it represents an invaluable resource on the issue of organised political violence too often glossed over in research on insecurity in Nigeria. Scholars in security studies and national security policy analysts will find this text enlightening.
Given the consistent challenge of Islamist acute violence, particularly in Nigeria, this monograph attempts to respond to the question: How can Jesus's followers pattern response to violence after Jesus's model demonstrated in his triumph over death, evil, sin, and violence through staurocentric pathways? And how can Jesus's followers in Nigeria adopt the same staurocentric model in order to not only overcome acute violence within the country but also to extend hands, heads, hearts, and homes of staurocentric forgiveness, hospitality, and other practices toward Muslims? In this study, I posit that peacebuilding contextual theology be grounded on the mystery of the cross (σταυρός-staur...
In Myth, Ritual, and Visible Expressions of Ọbàtálá and Olókun in Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Oluwafunminiyi Wasiu Raheem and Ayowole S. Elugbaju explore Ọbàtálá's (the Yorùbá deity of creation) and Olókun’s (the preeminent owner of the ocean) existence in myth, history, and religion through various facets of pan-human worship, belief, and everyday ritual practices. Raheem and Elugbaju explore Yorùbá history, culture, and religion to provide an extensive analysis of core themes in Ọbàtálá’s and Olókun’s stories. They argue for a more complex reading of Ọbàtálá beyond the often sustained and single narrative of struggle and defeat as well as a more nuanced reading of Olókun as a holy well beyond its popular exemplification of a female deity of wealth, childbirth, and preeminent owner of the world’s ocean. Drawing from oral accounts, chants, folk songs, praise poems, and verses from the Ifá corpus, the authors provide new insights into the worlds of both deities hitherto missing in the literature.
The focus of this book is the normativity of global ethic. Over the years, different cultures and civilizations have been brought closer than never before by globalization. This trend has both its negative and positive dimensions. Overall, the main problem of this present trend of societal organization and human interaction called globalization is a moral issue, namely, the question: how should we treat one another? Okeja's global ethic seeks to answer this question. It underscores that we should treat one another in our current age of globalization in accordance with the Golden Rule principle. The suggestion of this ethic is therefore that we should not treat others the way we would not wan...
Public deliberation, highly valued by many African societies, becomes the cornerstone of a new system of African political philosophy in this brilliant, highly original study. In Deliberative Agency, philosopher Uchenna Okeja offers a way to construct a new political center by building it around the ubiquitous African practice of public deliberation, a widely accepted means to resolve legal matters, reconcile feuding groups, and reestablish harmony. In cities, hometown associations and voluntary organizations carry out the task of fostering deliberation among African groups for different reasons. In some instances, the deliberation aims to settle disputes. In others, the aim is to decide the best action to take to address unfortunate incidents such as death. Through a measured, comparative analysis, Deliberative Agency argues that the best way to reimagine and harness the idea of public deliberation, based on current experiences in Africa, is to see it as performance of agency. Building a new political center around the practice places agency at the core of a new political life in Africa.