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This paper adopts interpretive and descriptive approaches in the study of derogatory Esan proverbs targeted against women in the Esan indigenous society of Nigeria. The aim is to reveal whether the content of such anti-women local proverbs in Esan are valid or anachronistic in the light of the indigenous knowledge that proverbs are ideally known to convey, and judging by cultural and modern realities. Esan people are a tribe in Edo State of Nigeria and the three researchers of this paper are native speakers of the language. We harvested Esan proverbs through our public interactions with elders, and young and old adults in both rural and urban Esan communities. Our study reveals, amongst others, that the contents of derogatory Esan proverbs with women as subjects are not valid statements, but are products of centuries of enduring patriarchal systems insensitive to cultural and modern realities evidencing the numerous virtues and accomplishments of Esan women. The paper finally affirms that the anti-women local proverbs are part of the traditional structure that has fought the success of the thoroughbred modern agitations for female empowerment and the quest for gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meaning of any sentence depends on many factors which include the situation and context. This is however the purview of pragmatics that was hitherto a subset of semantics until recently. With the introduction of pragmatics, utterances are no longer randomly made, because, it could be misunderstood, as they have more meanings than they appear to have on the surface. The proscribed indigenous people of Biafra have been one of the major concerns of the ruling class in Nigeria. Both the Nigerian president and some state governors have ceaselessly given the arm forces orders to clamp down on the members of the IPOB, wherever they are found. This research applies John Langshaw Austin's speech act theory, Grice's Maxims, Samuel Ichiye Hakawata's Snarl (angry) and Purr (gentle / kind) in its analysis. This paper analyses one of the speeches of the Nigerian President on the proscribed IPOB using the pragmatic features such as: componential analysis-analyzing the components of the sentence, the pronominal. This study applies qualitative method in the analysis of the pragmatic features in the President Buhari's speech on IPOB. This paper discovers that the statement of the president was characterised with more of angry words than snarl words. It therefore recommends that leaders of fragile democratic countries like Nigeria should apply more of the snarl words than purr, fuming and irritating words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence and power of language in education in Nigeria from the pre-colonial to colonial and post-colonial times. This is with regards to the effect of language on gender issues within the country. Nigeria, a country on the west coast of Africa is multi-ethnic with over 150 (one hundred and fifty) ethnic groups with their different indigenous languages and cultures. As a colony of the British, the Christian missionaries who first introduced western form of education in Nigeria used the British English language as a medium of communication and subsequently with the establishment of colonial administration in the country, English language was made the official language of the country. This paper contains a critical analysis of the use of English Language in the country and its implications on communication in social and economic interactions of individuals within the various communities across the country. It argues that the proliferation of the English language was through education of which the male gender benefitted more than their female counterparts due to the patriarchal dominance in the country. The data for the study was collated from random interviews and other written sources. The research discovered that the knowledge and ability to speak fluently and write the English language had a direct influence on the socio-political and economic status of individuals within the country. The women who benefitted from this were comparatively fewer than the men due to some prevailing conditions of what could be called in the present the subjugation of women the society. Critical discourse analysis is adopted for this study. It argues that English language dependency by Nigerians shows that forms of the colonial experience is still evident, and these were all initiated during the past interactions with west through the transatlantic slave trade and colonial rule. This is because discourse as a social construct is created and perpetuated by the persons who have the language power and means of communication. The Nigerian family being of a conservative orientation derives its power directly from the father who is the patriarch of the family as obtained in the traditional set up of communities and the Nigerian society in general. This has grave effect on the opposite gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, Chimeka Garricks published his debut novel, Tomorrow Died Yesterday. Years after its publication, the novel has received little scholarly attention. However, it is a highly significant novel on Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region. Its portrayal of the region has both aesthetics and topicality. This paper examines the depiction of otherness in Chimeka Garricks's novel. It argues that the nature of resource politics, as represented in the novel, triggers and perpetuates otherness in the Niger Delta. It also posits that otherness can be both a product and producer of violence and forms of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual risk behaviours are prominent among Africans viz-a-viz Nigerians. As a result, several studies have focused on the knowledge, attitude and practices of the phenomenon in very few and secluded areas in Nigeria involving key actors such as commercial drivers, hoteliers, students of tertiary institutions, and female bar attendants. Also, previous studies on the phenomenon in Nigeria have only been conducted empirically but with little emphasis on sociological theorising. Hence, there is a wide gap in knowledge on the dimension of understanding the phenomenon, the unit of analysis, and the study's location. This paper x-rays the knowledge, attitude and practices of sexual risk behaviours among female wait staff in Southwest Nigeria nodal communities using five sociological theories; Systems theory, Symbolic Interactionist Theory, Social Learning Theory, Exchange Theory and Social Action Theory. They were adopted, applied, and synthesized to provide a sociological explanation of the causes, practices, effects and approaches to understanding the peculiarity and dynamics of Sexual risk behaviours among female wait staff in the Ore nodal community in South West, Nigeria in tandem with current social realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inadequate access to potable water continues to be a serious problem in villages in Nigeria. Due to cultural and religious perceptions with regard to gender roles in rural water management, the marginalisation of women from rural water management (RWM) has continued to hamper rural development, reinforcing subjective perceptions of the social construction of gender roles in water management. This study proceeded using a purposive sampling technique with 30 In-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions comprising of eight males and eight females in each of the three study sites. The study draws from a gender-based participatory paradigm that conceptualised gender roles and women's participation as representing partnership and ownership. Findings from this study revealed that rural women are solely responsible for the sustenance of their family's potable water provision. Further findings show that perceptions about gender roles in RWM and the time women spend in water provision make their inclusion in RWM impossible. Therefore, the gender power differential which re-emphasises the culturally perceived role of women in water management could be partly responsible for prolonging water challenges faced by rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incessant occurrences of oil spills, oil tank and barge explosions in the Niger Delta often result in environmental pollution that adversely affects farmlands, waterways and hamper economic activities in the region. In worse scenarios, these explosions sometimes result in losing human lives. This study examines the implications of oil spills on the environment and the lives of women and their families. It unveils the challenges women encounter from the oil-related activities, which were supposed to be the people's source of income generation and sustenance. To this end, related literature is reviewed, interviews conducted, and references are drawn from the ghastly Jesse experience and premiere of the Nollywood film, Oloibiri (Graham, C. 2016) to ascertain the root of agitations in the Niger Delta region. Ecofeminism constitutes the theoretical framework for this study. This study concludes that the people of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, especially women, are victims of the natural resource (oil), which has gradually become a source of poverty and death. It recommends, amongst others, that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) collaborates with the federal government in building cottage industries to provide employment for the youths and give grants to women to support their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Law makers on the legislative houses in Nigeria are elected by a party members and the electorate. The members of legislative chambers are constituted through competitive periodic elections to represent different interests recognised by the electorate. Interest desiring representation has included gender, environment, economic, religion, political party, ethnic, and many more. While there are diverse interests requiring representation, the issue of gender representation forms the basic interest of the study. The reason is due to the observed predominance of males over females in gender representation in elective governmental positions while the constitution allows for equal opportunity in democracy. The study appraised the role of political parties in gender representation on the Nigerian legislative chambers and gender preference by the electorate for political parties' performance in legislative elections was analysed. The study adopted a qualitative research design in which data were sourced from secondary sources. The study revealed that political parties do not have any reservation for gender in the presentation of candidates for election. The study noted that that the choice of voter is beyond gender. The study concludes that gender issues in elections may be one of the many factors influencing voter's decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a variety of individual differences that English language teaching (ELT) professionals cannot afford to ignore. This essay is based on a premise that teaching and learning English in Nigeria's multilingual background of 526 languages (Ethnologue, 2018) present an extraordinary context of multiculturalism and individual differences in the language classroom. ELT professionals in such a context require significant expertise in the application of inclusive practices. The essay identified gaps in the praxis and policy dimensions of Nigerian ELT practice relating to individual differences and suggested a research focus on these two areas. It concluded that teachers should adopt clear, empirically tested methodologies to cater for the different students in the class, create good relationships in the classroom to develop learner self-confidence, integrate activities and tasks that clearly appeal to different learning styles and personalities, personalize learning as much as possible, create learner autonomy, and pay attention to cultural variations among L2 learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]