Journal of Language Studies and Arts (JOLSA) is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering critical dialogue in the fields of language, linguistics, literature, and the arts. The journal provides a dynamic platform for academics, researchers, educators, and practitioners to share cutting-edge research findings, theoretical insights, and innovative practices that illuminate the intersections between language, culture, and creative expression.
Literature as a Mirror of Society: A Study of Social Realism in African Literature
Literature, as a vibrant social institution, acts as a mirror that reflects the social, economic, and political realities of its time. This study examines the role of social realism in African literature, analyzing how selected African writers use their works to critique, document, and proffer solutions to societal issues. Through a sociological approach, this paper investigates the transition from the celebration of African cultural heritage to the interrogation of post-independence disillusionment, corruption, and the suffering of the masses. The study analyzes the thematic preoccupations of selected authors—including Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Festus Iyayi, and Niyi Osundare—to highlight how literature serves as an intervention in a turbulent African milieu. It argues that African social realism is a didactic tool designed for social reformation, national reconstruction, and the emancipation of the marginalized.
Realism, Mirror, Society, Post-independence, Disillusionment,
Sylvanus Onyeachulam; Igboanugo, Ugochukwu Eric
Politics and Leadership Challenges in Helon Habila’s Waiting For An Angel
Literature mirrors the society that produced it. It is about man and the happenings around him as well as his inner conflicts. The writer draws his material from his observations and experiences. This paper entitled “Politics and Leadership Challenges in Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel”, aims at exploring the sufferings, pains, disappointments, deprivations, corruption, tyranny, and oppression that characterizes the society in the novel as a result of leadership patterns, which is the outcomes of politics of calumny by the ruling class. The leadership class is somehow estranged from the people because of the despotic nature of military leadership in most African countries. The novel also portrays the disillusionment of the people, the apathy of the rulers, and the attendant consequences of the dejection, poverty, and miserable conditions of the people. The novelist also exposes the political activism, which unfortunately claims many lives. The data for this research was mainly from primary and secondary sources, while journals, books, and internet sources formed the secondary sources. The theoretical framework is Marxism. The novelist exposes the issues that undermine the lives and well-being of the masses and advocates honesty and good governance.
Oppression, Corruption, Tyranny, Poverty, Sufferings, Survival, Good Governance
Sylvanus Onyeachulam; Ebele Peace Okpala
Transformational Leadership, Welfare Packages, and Employee Performance: The Moderating Role of Compensation in Nigerian Public Universities (2015-2025)
This study examined the moderating role of compensation on the relationship between transformational leadership, welfare packages, and employee performance in Nigerian public universities from 2015 to 2025. The persistent decline in employee performance, evidenced by sixteen ASUU strike actions and over 700 lost academic days during the study period, necessitated this research. The broad objective was to examine the moderating role of compensation on the relationship between transformational leadership, welfare packages, and employee performance. Two theories guided the study: Transformational Leadership Theory (Burns, 1978; Bass, 1985) and Expectancy Theory (Vroom, 1964). A quantitative research methodology was adopted using a cross-sectional survey design. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 300 academic and senior non-academic staff selected from six federal universities using multi-stage sampling. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations, were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that transformational leadership was perceived positively by 83.3 percent of respondents, yet 66.7 percent reported inadequate welfare packages, including health insurance, housing allowance, and study leave. Compensation systems were perceived as unfair, with 50 percent reporting that promotion arrears were not paid promptly and 50 percent stating their compensation was unfair compared to other federal universities. Despite these challenges, employee performance remained high, with 100 percent completing duties on time and mentoring junior colleagues, and 83.3 percent publishing research regularly. The study concluded that compensation did not currently function as a significant moderator because performance remained high regardless of compensation inadequacies, suggesting that professional commitment rather than material incentives sustained performance. The study recommended that the Federal Government should mandate payment of promotion arrears within three months, the National Universities Commission should enforce a minimum welfare package benchmark, and a bi-annual leadership-welfare-compensation audit should be institutionalised across all federal universities.
Transformational leadership, welfare packages, compensation, employee performance, Nigerian public universities, moderation
Obi, Chinenye Blessing; O.S.A Obikeze; Agary Nwokoye Ndubuisi
Inspirational Motivation as a Driver of Employee Performance: Evidence from Non Academic Staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, 2019-2024
This study examined inspirational motivation as a driver of employee performance among non academic staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, from 2019 to 2024. The persistent decline in employee motivation and welfare crises, evidenced by the non-capturing of over 1,000 staff members on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and prolonged salary denials resulting in evictions, family breakdowns, untreated medical conditions, and deaths of staff who could not afford basic healthcare, necessitated this research. The broad objective was to examine the relationship between inspirational motivation and employee performance among non-academic staff at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, from 2019 to 2024. Two theories guided the study: Transformational Leadership Theory (Burns, 1978; Bass, 1985) and Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). A quantitative research methodology was adopted using a cross-sectional survey design. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 300 non academic staff selected through stratified random sampling. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations, were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that inspirational motivation was perceived positively by 83.3 percent of respondents across all six inspirational motivation items. Task performance remained high, with 100 percent completing administrative duties on time, responding promptly to requests, and adhering to university policies. Contextual performance was uniformly high, with 100 percent assisting colleagues, participating in university events, maintaining positive working relationships, and serving on university committees. The study concluded that inspirational motivation from supervisors sustains employee performance even in the absence of adequate compensation and welfare provisions, suggesting that non-academic staff are driven by intrinsic motivation, professional commitment, and collegial relationships rather than extrinsic rewards. The study recommended that university management should institutionalise leadership development programmes to sustain inspirational motivation, restructure compensation systems to ensure timely payment of salaries and full IPPIS capturing of all staff, and establish a Staff Welfare and Recognition Committee to address contextual performance challenges.
Inspirational motivation, employee performance, non-academic staff, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, IPPIS, Self-Determination Theory
Unclaimed Experiences: Identity and Trauma in Helen Oyeyemi’s The Icarus Girl and Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death
Trauma, shaped by experience, alters a person's identity, especially how they perceive and position themselves in contemporary society. The interconnection between identity and trauma explains how traumatic experiences such as displacement, discrimination and violence define an individual. This paper examines how traumatic experiences shape the protagonists' identities in Helen Oyeyemi's Icarus Girl and Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death. The novels show how trauma leads to conflicting identities while opening doors for human growth through the experiences of the protagonists. The study's theoretical basis for analyzing the novels is Cathy Caruth's trauma theory. According to Caruth's idea of belatedness, trauma is experienced belatedly and its repercussions manifest long after the traumatic event as survivors make sense of initially inexplicable events. It concludes that although trauma upends a person's identity, it can also strengthen resilience, resulting in self-discovery and the creation of a fresh sense of self. The degree of this change is contingent upon how traumatic events are perceived by the individual and the community in which they take place.
Trauma, identity, Cathy Caruth, unclaimed experiences, Oyeyemi, Okoroafor
Negotiating Patriarchy and Contemporary Female Identity: A Postmodernist Interrogation of Paulina Chiziane’s The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy
This paper examines Paulina Chiziane’s The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy as a profound assertion of postmodern womanhood or female identity within the literary traditions of African feminism. Chiziane’s works have been read mostly in the light of sociological and realist frameworks. Using the postmodern feminist framework, this paper interrogates and deconstructs grand narratives that define femininity in patriarchal African societies by emphasizing the multiplicity of womanhood, and the contradictions and fluidity that characterize women’s identities in contemporary times. The paper draws from the works of postmodern theorists such as Jean-Francois, Judith Butler and Zygmunt Bauman, alongside African Feminist thinkers like Molara Ogundipe and Obioma Nnaemeka. It argues that Chiziane’s novel portrays a uniquely African form of postmodern feminism as she rejects both the universal labels of western feminist thoughts and the idealization of the African woman with the culture specific traits with which she has been defined over the years. The study concludes that the postmodern reading of the novel enacts the possibility of new womanhood, a hybridized identity, a postmodern identity.
Paulina Chiziane, Postmodernism, African feminism, Patriarchy, Polygamy, Solidarity, Nego-feminism
Power Play, Politics, and Disillusionment in Emeka Nwabueze's A Parliament of Vultures
This study examined the themes of disillusionment and politics in Emeka Nwabueze's satirical play, A Parliament of Vultures, contextualizing it within Nigeria's socio-political scene. The play's portrayal of corruption, inept leadership, and the exploitation of power mirrored the country's challenges, evoking a sense of disillusionment among citizens. Through satire, Nwabueze critiqued the Nigerian political system, highlighting the struggles of the masses and the consequences of unchecked power. This analysis explored how the play reflected Nigeria's realities, sparking reflections on governance, accountability, and the need for change. The only solution as a way out of the perennial political cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabric of Africa, especially Nigeria, will be the emergence of patriotic, selfless, honest, and diplomatic leadership that can identify and address the many challenges facing the country and its citizens. Marxist theory is the theoretical framework of this paper, which analyzed disillusionment in Nigerian politics across gender and concludes that unless corruption is dealt with and public office holders held accountable, the political decadence in Nigeria would remain a menace. The main crux of this paper is the exposition of the misnomer in politics, the fate of the nation, and the need for attitudinal change to restore sanity in the Nigerian political space.
Disillusionment, Parliamentarians, Power Play, Politics, Corruption
Mariagorathy Amaka Uhunmwunwa; Ngozi Vin-Agbata2
Pius Chigbo (11-11): The Unsung Moralist in Igbo Musical Culture
This study examines Pius Chigbo, popularly known as 11-11, as a musician whose compositions contributed to shaping Igbo social life during his time. It argues that 11-11 deserves posthumous scholarly recognition for his artistic and socio-cultural impact. The study focuses on a single work, Ogologo Long John, using qualitative textual analysis complemented by oral interviews conducted with close associates and relatives of the musician. Findings reveal that despite his limited formal education and relatively brief musical career, 11-11 employed music as a medium for promoting values like social responsibility, cultural identity, and moral accountability. The analysis shows that Ogologo Long John extends beyond entertainment and functions as a critical commentary on human behavior and moral consequences. The study concludes that 11-11’s contributions have been under-recognized and suggests that, had his career not been cut short, his influence on Igbo culture might have been more extensive. It therefore recommends that his works be included in scholarly discourse on Igbo indigenous musicians and moralism.
Pius Chigbo (11-11), Ogologo Long John, Moralist, Igbo musicians.
Alvan-Ikoku Nwamara; Dieudonne Kodichukwu Ezeanyim
POWER DYNAMICS IN CHIMEKA GARRICKS’ TOMORROW DIED YESTERDAY AND AYỌ̀BÁMI ADÉBÁYỌ̀ ’S A SPELL OF GOOD THINGS
Power is a complex yet significant concept in contemporary life. Its nuanced deployment is imperative to governance and human relations. Chimeka Garricks' Tomorrow Died Yesterday (2010) and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ 's A Spell of Good Things (2023) are interrogated against the backdrop of power and exclusion. The study investigates the representations of power and exclusion in the selected novels, examines the historical, political, and socioeconomic contexts that explain these portrayals, and explores the relationship between fictional representations and the lived experiences of government failure and systemic marginalisation in Nigeria since independence. The study employs a qualitative textual-analytical approach, grounding its reading in Gayatri Spivak's 'Subaltern theory' and complementing it with Frantz Fanon's postcolonial critique of domination, psychological alienation, and structural violence. The study finds that power and exclusion in both texts are dynamic, interrelated, and mutually reinforcing. The study argues that Garricks uses Tomorrow Died Yesterday to spotlight militarised governance, environmental injustice, ethnic marginalisation, and repressed dissent in the Niger Delta, revealing exclusion as an outcome of economic interests and political authority. In A Spell of Good Things, Adébáyọ̀ projects exclusion as an embodied, everyday experience defined by poverty, political manipulation, institutional failure, gendered hierarchies, and knowledge control within family and social spaces. The study concludes that in both novels, subaltern voices are silenced through repression, systemic neglect, and narrative erasure. Thus, these novels serve as counter-narratives that reassert human dignity, reclaim marginalised agency, and highlight governance failures in post-independence Nigeria.
power, power dynamics, subaltern, militarised governance, political manipulation
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE STUDIES AND ARTS, VOLUME 4 NO 2, 2026
The Child’s Voice as Witness: Diasporic Trauma and Memory in We Need New Names
This paper examines the representation of migration and diasporic identity in NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names, focusing on how the child protagonist, Darling, embodies the fractured experience of displacement from Zimbabwe to the United States. Through close textual analysis, the study explores how the novel negotiates themes of cultural dislocation, memory, nostalgia, and the struggle for belonging in a foreign space. Drawing on diaspora theory and postcolonial frameworks, the paper argues that Darling’s narrative voice highlights the liminal state between home and host culture, revealing the tensions, negotiations and psychological ruptures inherent in the immigrant journey. The novel illustrates how migration disrupts identity formation, particularly for young migrants who must navigate conflicting cultural expectations. The work concludes that We Need New Names portrays the diaspora as both opportunity and loss, forming a nuanced discourse on the complexities of transnational mobility in contemporary African fiction.
Child’s voice, Witness, Diasporic trauma, We Need New Names
Cultural Heritage Preservation through Proverbs and Oral Traditions among the Urhobo People of Delta State, Nigeria
The preservation of cultural heritage through oral traditions and proverbs constitutes a critical dimension of intangible cultural heritage management in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates the role of proverbs and oral traditions in the preservation of cultural heritage among the Urhobo people of Delta State, Nigeria. Employing a qualitative research design anchored in ethnographic fieldwork, the study engaged sixty (60) purposively selected participants comprising community elders, traditional rulers, herbalists, market women, and schoolteachers across four Urhobo communities: Warri, Ughelli, Sapele, and Abraka. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation, and were thematically analysed using an interpretive framework informed by Cultural Memory Theory and the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). Findings reveal that Urhobo proverbs and oral narratives function as multidimensional repositories of moral instruction, social governance, conflict resolution, environmental wisdom, gender identity, and historical memory. The study further identifies eight principal threats to oral heritage transmission, including Western cultural assimilation (88.3%), youth disengagement (85.0%), and the absence of institutional documentation frameworks (76.7%). The study concludes that the systematic integration of proverbs and oral traditions into educational curricula, digital archiving platforms, and community cultural festivals is imperative for sustainable heritage preservation. These findings have significant policy implications for cultural heritage management across multilingual and multi-ethnic African societies.
cultural heritage preservation; Urhobo proverbs; oral traditions; intangible cultural heritage; Delta State; ethnography; cultural memory
Contrastive Analysis of the use of palatalisation in Hausa & Kanuri languages
This study investigates palatalisation in Hausa and Kanuri languages with particular attention to their phonological and morphophonological structures and functions. Drawing on Feature Geometry Theory, the study examines the typological similarities and differences in the distribution, conditioning environments, and outcomes of palatalisation between the two languages. Data were obtained from published literature and supplemented by native-speaker intuitions from the authors, who are native speakers of Hausa and Kanuri. A comparative descriptive approach was employed to analyse both automatic and non-automatic palatalisation processes. The findings reveal significant cross-linguistic variation in the nature and productivity of palatalisation. Hausa exhibits both automatic and non-automatic palatalisation, with morphologised palatalisation functioning productively across morpheme boundaries in processes such as plural formation and derivation. In contrast, Kanuri demonstrates a predominantly automatic and phonologically conditioned type of palatalisation that is largely restricted to assimilatory environments involving high front vowels and palatal glides. Unlike Hausa, Kanuri lacks extensive morphologised palatalisation and exhibits multiple palatalisation outcomes, including full palatalisation, affrication, and context-dependent consonantal alternations. The study further shows that while palatalisation is attested in both languages, the phonological segments involved, the conditioning environments, and the resulting palatal sounds differ considerably. Hausa illustrates a more advanced stage of phonologisation in which historical palatalisation has become integrated into morphological processes, whereas Kanuri retains a more conservative and primarily allophonic system.
Palatalisation, Morphophonology, Hausa, Kanuri, Automatic Palatalisation, Non Automatic Palatalisation
Umar Muhammad-Gombe; Salisu Alhaji Yusuf
Generational Differences and Language Shift in Contemporary Urban Settings: A Sociolinguistic Analysis
This paper examines the relationship between generational differences and language shift in contemporary urban environments, where rapid demographic mobility, multilingual contact, and digital communication have intensified intergenerational divergence in linguistic behaviour. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of language shift, the apparent-time construct, social network theory, and the ethnolinguistic vitality model, the study argues that the city functions as a primary engine of linguistic change because it concentrates speakers of differing ages, origins, and communicative repertoires in dense, fluid contact. The analysis surveys empirical evidence indicating that younger urban cohorts frequently lead in adopting prestige varieties, code-switching practices, and innovative features, while older cohorts often serve as custodians of heritage and minority languages. It further considers the mediating roles of attitudes, identity, education, and digital media, and reflects critically on the methodological challenges of distinguishing genuine generational change from age-grading. The paper concludes that generational stratification is not merely a by-product of urbanisation but a structural mechanism through which language maintenance, attrition, and shift are negotiated, with significant implications for language policy and minority-language preservation.
language shift, generational variation, urban sociolinguistics, code-switching, language maintenance, apparent-time, ethnolinguistic vitality
Religious Discourse: A Study of How to Maintain a Spirit-Filled Life by Rev. Dr. David Ogbueli
The study examines religious discourse through a critical analysis of a sermon titled "How to Maintain a Spirit-Filled Life," delivered by Rev. Dr. David Ogbueli. The study adopts the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It explores how linguistic choices in the sermon construct spiritual authority, reinforce doctrinal beliefs, and shape the identity of the audience. Data were collected from YouTube. The analysis focuses on the use of rhetorical strategies, biblical references, imperative structures, and evaluative language in the sermon. It investigates how the preacher engages the audience through inclusive pronouns and persuasive appeals, delegitimizes secular solutions, while simultaneously positioning himself as a spiritual authority. The study also highlights how the sermon reflects broader socio-religious contexts, particularly within contemporary Nigerian Christianity. Furthermore, the research explores how religious discourse functions as a medium for ideological transmission, emphasizing themes such as spiritual discipline, personal transformation, and divine relationship. The findings reveal that the sermon employs strategic linguistic features to legitimize its message, delegitimize secular solutions, and sustain religious ideology. Ultimately, this study contributes to the understanding of how religious discourse operates not only as a form of communication but also as a powerful mechanism for shaping belief, identity, and society at large.
Religious discourse, spirit-filled, life, Ogbueli
Masqueraded Identities: Explicating Queer in Damilare Kuku’s “Beard Gang”
This paper examines the representation of queer consciousness and performative identity in Damilare Kuku’s short story “Beard Gang,” a story in the collection Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad. Drawing on queer theory, particularly Judith Butler’s concept of performativity, the study explores how characters construct masqueraded identities in order to conform to heteronormative expectations enforced by culture, religion, patriarchy, and social surveillance. Through qualitative textual analysis, the paper interrogates themes of secrecy, emotional fragmentation, performative masculinity, and social camouflage, revealing how queer individuals negotiate survival within an environment hostile to non-normative sexualities. The study finds that Kuku portrays queer concealment as a survival mechanism necessitated by societal intolerance and demonstrates that performative heterosexuality often produces emotional instability, fractured relationships, and psychological isolation. The paper further finds that patriarchy negatively affects both queer individuals and women who become participants in deceptive social arrangements designed to maintain public respectability. The study concludes that “Beard Gang,” is an important contribution to contemporary African queer literature because it humanizes marginalized identities while critiquing the rigid structures that suppress authenticity and emotional freedom. The paper recommends increased scholarly engagement with African queer narratives, greater literary openness toward marginalized identities, and the promotion of inclusive social conversations that encourage empathy, visibility, and human dignity.
Queer consciousness, beard, identity, masculinity, secrecy
Conflicts, Their Resolution and Social Development in Cornel Ujowundu's Nemesis
In literary parlance, conflicts exist between protagonists and antagonists when their relationship is built on mutual hatred, suspicion, distrust, opposition, and rivalry. And the resolution of such conflicts is achieved when either the protagonist or antagonist surrenders, is defeated, disappears, or dies. In this premise in Cornel Ujowundu's Nemesis, these conflicts are identified: Okoli and his native doctors, the native doctors and members of the community, Uzoma and Okoli. While some of these conflicts were positively resolved, others got a negative resolution. For instance, the conflict between Okoli and his family was resolved by Uzoma through Okoli's truthful confession against his initial act and the abandonment of the imbecile in the bush behind his house to die, which brought countless deaths to his household. The conflict between Mike and his father over the annual sacrifice to the gods as a means of survival, which does not conform to Mike's beliefs, and finally, the conflict between Okoli and the Christian religion, which exposed his past crime that led to the salvation of his entire family in the limelight. Uzoma's conversion to Christianity made these possible. On the whole, conflict acts as a challenge to human intellect, and its resolution catalyzes peace and social development, as evidently demonstrated in Nemesis.
Conflicts, Resolution, Social Development, Education, Belief
Authors’ Socio-Economic Background and the Deployment of Literary Devices in Contemporary Nigerian Novels
This study examines the influence of authors’ socio-economic background on the deployment of literary devices in contemporary Nigerian novels. The research explores how the social, economic, political, and cultural experiences of Nigerian writers shape their thematic concerns and stylistic choices in literary works. Contemporary Nigerian literature reflects various societal realities such as corruption, poverty, unemployment, migration, gender inequality, insecurity, and political instability. Nigerian authors therefore employ literary devices such as realism, satire, symbolism, irony, imagery, flashback, metaphor, code-switching, and personification to portray these realities and communicate their ideological positions. The study adopts the sociological approach to literature, which views literary works as products of society and reflections of social experiences. Through textual analysis of selected contemporary Nigerian novels by writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Helon Habila, Sefi Atta, Ben Okri, and Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, the study reveals that literary devices are not merely decorative elements but important instruments of social criticism, cultural preservation, and artistic expression. Findings from the study show that authors’ socio-economic backgrounds significantly influence their worldview, language use, characterization, narrative style, and choice of literary devices. Writers who experienced poverty, political oppression, and social instability often use realism and satire to expose societal injustice, while writers with cosmopolitan exposure and educational privilege tend to employ symbolism, fragmented narration, and transnational themes to portray identity crises and globalization. The study further establishes that literary devices enhance meaning, strengthen emotional appeal, preserve African cultural identity, and improve the artistic quality of literary works. The research concludes that contemporary Nigerian literature remains closely connected to societal realities and that literary devices serve as effective tools for documenting experiences, criticizing social problems, and advocating social transformation.
Socio-economic background, literary devices, contemporary Nigerian novels, realism, satire, symbolism, Nigerian literature
Ajami-based Orthography Innovation for English Pronunciation Teaching: A Second-Phase Pilot Study
This study investigates the effectiveness of an Arabic-based ajami script as a pedagogical tool for teaching English pronunciation to adult Hausa and Kanuri learners who are literate in Arabic through intensive learning of the holy Qur’an and other Islamic theology texts. Building on a prior pilot study, this second-phase implementation involved learners from two proficiency levels at the Centre for Research in Qur’anic Studies, Yobe State University. Using a pre- and post-instruction design, the study evaluated learners’ production of selected English consonants and vowels represented through adapted ajami orthography. Findings indicate that consonant acquisition was generally successful, particularly where stable sound-symbol correspondences were established. Vowel production was, to some extent, successful; however, it required iterative refinement of orthographic representations due to mismatches between Arabic phonological structures and English vowel complexity. The study demonstrates that ajami can significantly reduce orthographic ambiguity and support pronunciation learning, provided that systematic modifications and pedagogical scaffolding are applied. The findings contribute to discussions on orthographic innovation, cross-linguistic transfer, and literacy-based approaches to second language phonology.
ajami, English pronunciation, cross-linguistic transfer, orthography
Umar Muhammad-Gombe; Clifford Irikefe Gbeyonron
A Sociolinguistic Study of Pidgin and Creole in Nigeria: Language Use and Social Identity
Language is a fundamental aspect of human society essential for building relationships, conveying information, sharing knowledge and shaping culture. There is hardly any human activity that does not happen in the arena of language. In Nigeria, language plays a crucial role in shaping social identity, mediating interaction, and reflecting ethnic, economic and sociocultural realities. This paper examines how Nigerian Pidgin and creole language function as a tool for communication and identity construction within a multilingual, multifaceted and multiethnic country like Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin developed as a contact language during trade interactions between Europeans and various Nigerian ethnic groups. Over time, it has expanded beyond its initial utilitarian function into a widely used lingua franca, especially in urban centers such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Warri. Because pidgin and creole languages are mostly spoken by poor and illiterate descendants of slaves, there has been a lot of stigmatization and disrespect for both pidgin and creole as manifested in expressions like broken English, bastard Portuguese, etc. Despite the stigmatization, Nigerian Pidgin has gained significant prestige in informal domains, media, music, and youth culture. From a sociolinguistic perspective, language choice in Nigeria is deeply tied to identity. Nigerian Pidgin allows speakers to project solidarity, informality, and cultural authenticity. For instance, its use among youths often signals modernity, street credibility, and resistance to elitist norms associated with Standard English. In contrast, Standard English is typically employed in formal settings such as education, governance, and professional communication, reflecting power and institutional authority. The paper opines that language is crucial for expression of thoughts, culture and identity and also for social engineering. History can shape language including how it is perceived and language in turn shapes culture and identity.
English Language, pidgin, creole, social identity
The Past as The Present: Social Transformations in Proverbial Expressions
The proverb is a wise saying based upon a people’s experience and is a reflection of the social values and tradition of the people. The African proverb also serves a veritable medium for the projection of a variety of social goals. Traditional proverbs were communally owned with no known authorship. Postproverbials on the other hand are modern proverbs coined from existing proverbs or created from social interaction mostly in urban areas. These proverbs subvert traditional proverbs and are meant to elicit laughter at social gatherings. Postproverbials are not ethnic based and do not also have a known ‘originator”. Most of the postproverbials are circulated in online communities. It should be emphasised that in both the traditional and modern context, the African proverb has remained relevant. The paper is inspired by the works of Aderemi Raji-Oyelade (1999, 2012) who describes postproverbials as “ultramodern alternative to the typical conventional proverb”. The focus of this paper is to examine the tenets of the postproverbials used by comedians and entertainers in urban Warri and its environs in Delta State of Nigeria. Using the functionalist theory, part of the objectives of the paper is to analyze the socio-cultural content and context of postproverbials indicating the traditional proverb, its postproverbial and the pidgin version.
Proverbs, Postproverbials, Tradition, Pidgin Proverbs, Past, Present
Staging Patriarchy: Gendered Power and Female Devaluation in Alex Roy Omoni’s Morontonu
This study interrogates the dramatic representation of patriarchal authority and female devaluation in Alex Roy-Omoni’s Morontonu through the theoretical lens of African Feminism, supplemented by insights from Radical Feminism. While African Feminism provides a culturally grounded framework for examining gender relations within indigenous social structures, Radical Feminism sharpens the critique of patriarchy as a system of institutionalized male dominance. The paper argues that the play stages patriarchy not merely as a background social condition but as an active organizing principle that regulates power, worth and identity within the polygamous household. Through dialogue, characterization and domestic conflict, male authority is normalized, while female value is measured in relation to obedience, fertility and competition for masculine validation. The study further contends that polygamy functions in the play as a dramatic site where jealousy, rivalry and betrayal are not accidental moral failings but structural consequences of gendered hierarchy. By exposing how women internalize and reproduce patriarchal logic even as they suffer under it, the play reveals the cyclical nature of female marginalization within culturally sanctioned systems. In essence, this paper demonstrates that Morontonu offers a critical theatrical interrogation of gendered power, making visible the cultural mechanisms that sustain female subordination in traditional African society.
Patriarchy, Identity, Conflict, Marginalization, African, Society
Poetics and Prose of Resistance: Marginalization and Agency in Jack Mapanje’s The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison and Tendai Hunchu’s the Hairdresser of Harere
This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of Jack Mapanje’s The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison and Tendai Huchu’s The Hairdresser of Harare, two influential works from East and Southern Africa that reflect critical currents in contemporary African literature. The researcher adopts postcolonial theory as theoretical anchor, using primary and secondary sources of data collection. While Mapanje’s poetry arises from the claustrophobic confines of political imprisonment under Malawi’s authoritarian regime, Huchu’s novel explores the vibrant yet morally rigid society of post-independent Zimbabwe. The study discovers how both writers use distinct literary forms—poetry and prose—to critique oppressive systems and illuminate personal and collective struggles. Despite their divergent historical and political contexts, both works exemplify the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring role of African literature as a tool for resistance. This comparative study discovers the relevance of both texts within African literary traditions to the ongoing conversations about voice, agency, and liberation in postcolonial Africa. The paper concludes that literature remains a powerful site for resistance and transformation.
Literature; Truth-Telling; Resistance; Reflection; Transformation
Cornel Onyema Ujowundu & Doris Paschal-Mbakwe
End Bad Governance Protests Utterances in Nigeria-A Pragmatic Act Analysis
This study examined language as social action in the 2024 End Bad Governance protests in Nigeria using Pragmatic Acts Theory (Mey, 2001). Adopting a qualitative approach, twenty purposively selected utterances from protest speeches on YouTube and Instagram were analysed. The study identified key pragmatic acts such as complaining, lamenting, requesting, appealing, warning, and asserting rights. These acts were realised through various practs, including experiential, emotive, directive, rhetorical, and moral-legitimising practs. The findings reveal that protest language is strategically used to express grievances, mobilise support, legitimise demands, and negotiate power within a socio-political context. The study concludes that language functions as a powerful tool for resistance and social change, and it contributes to pragmatic scholarship by demonstrating the relevance of Pragmatic Acts Theory in analysing protest discourse in Nigeria.
Pragmatic Acts, Protest Discourse, Language, Social Action, Nigeria
Nzubechukwu Shalom Nnamekwe & Martina C. Uche
Activity Type and Pragmemic Conflict in Three Selected African Plays
This study examines how conflict in African dramatic discourse is structured through context-bound pragmatic configurations. While African drama has been extensively analysed from thematic and sociopoltical perspectives, relatively limited attention has been paid to how conflict is organised as situated pragmatic action within recognisable activity types. Drawing on Mey’s Pragmatic Acts Theory, particularly the concepts of pragmeme and activity type, the study analyses selected dialogues from Ahmed Yerima’s Hard Ground, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The Black Hermit, and Akeem Ajibade’s The Thinking Head. Through qualitative textual analysis, the study identifies recurrent pragmemes that emerge within activity types such as political mobilisation, militant resistance, communal negotiation and generational contestation. The findings demonstrate that conflict is not merely a thematic construct but a contextually regulated interactional process shaped by sociocultural norms, participant roles and ideological positioning. The paper argues that activity type functions as a structuring mechanism that constrains and enables specific pragmemic realisations, thereby organising dramatic conflict as socially meaningful action. The study contributes to pragmatics and African literary studies by foregrounding activity type as a crucial analytical bridge between linguistic configuration and thematic construction in dramatic discourse.
Pragmatic Acts Theory, activity type, pragmeme, conflict, African drama, discourse
Rita Ifeyinwa Igwenagum & Ephraim A. Chukwu
Literature and Resistance: A Study of Christie Watson’s Tiny Sunbirds Faraway
The Niger-Delta region in recent times has been experiencing the politics of local resistance which has remained decisively violent, and the indigenes as a result, have been compelled to perceive the oil environment as a metaphor for death and no longer as a source of improved life. This research work explored the violent contestation around a historically construed sense of grievance, injustice, and inequality experienced through wanton exploitation and devastating impoverishment by both the government and trans-national oil companies. Using Christie Watson’s Tiny Sunbirds Faraway, this study further showcased how the degradation and exploitation of the Niger-Delta environment in the course of oil exploration by both the government and oil companies led to the present conflict which has escalated from ethnic minority protests to fully blown insurgency that has attracted worldwide attention. The transition from resistance as mere protests to militancy as represented by attacks on innocent citizens and oil companies, the effects on the female members of the indigene communities and how these women cope are also critically analyzed in the study. The duo of eco-feminism and Marxist feminism are the theoretical frameworks used in the course of this research. The study concludes by recommending that both the government and the oil companies in the region should, as a matter of policy and urgency provide employment and award contracts to the indigenes of the host communities. This way, the youths’ restiveness in the region which is mostly caused by joblessness will be nipped in the bud.
Resistance, Militancy, Protests, Degradation, Conflicts
Multimodal Humour in Nigerian Tiktok Protest Discourse During The #Endbadgovernance Movement
This study examines how Nigerian TikTok users employ multimodal resources in comment sections to construct humour within protest discourse during the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance movement. Focusing on the interaction of textual language and emojis, the research explores how humour mediates the expression of political critique, social frustration, and collective identity. Using qualitative content analysis informed by Multimodality and Relief Theory, the study analyses selected comments to reveal patterns of sarcastic Pidgin, phonetic stylisation, impersonation, exaggeration, and emoji-mediated affect. Findings show that humour in TikTok comments emerges through semiotic layering of text and emojis, allowing users to express dissatisfaction in socially and emotionally negotiable ways. The study demonstrates that TikTok comment sections are not mere reaction spaces but active sites of meaning-making where political critique, civic engagement, and national identity intersect. The findings have implications for digital activism, civic education, and the study of multimodal political communication in Nigeria.
Multimodal humour, Tiktok, Nigeria, Protest, Endbadgovernance
Excel Chimudinma Amaechi & Ephraim A. Chukwu
Conflict of Piety and Personal Desires in Nigerian Literature: A Study of Okey Ndibe’s Foreign God INC…
This study examines the glaring conflict between piety and personal desires as represented in contemporary Nigerian literature, with particular focus on Okey Ndibe’s Foreign Gods, Inc... The research explores how the author dramatizes the tension between cultural or religious devotion and the individual pursuit of personal aspirations. Using textual analysis, the study investigates the socio-cultural, religious, and economic factors that contribute to this conflict, as well as the psychological and emotional consequences experienced by characters that grapple with such dilemmas. In the text, the conflict is clearly illustrated through Ikechukwu Uzondu’s attempt to reconcile his financial desperation with his inherited reverence for ancestral piety, thereby exposing the tension between tradition, modernity, and global capitalist exploitation. The study reveals that Nigerian literature does not merely portray these conflicts as personal struggles, but as reflections of broader societal realities. Issues such as religious orthodoxy, cultural identity, economic pressures, and patriarchal structures significantly shape the choices and inner turmoil of the characters in the text. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the psychological and emotional burdens of negotiating between piety and desire often result in alienation, guilt, and tragic consequences. By interrogating these themes, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of how Nigerian literature mirrors and critiques societal norms, while also giving voice to the struggles of individuals caught between devotion to faith or culture and the longing for personal gratification.
Piety, Pious, Desire, Religion, Conflict
A Study of Loanwords in Tiv Domains of Communication
Despite the growing presence of loanwords in the Tiv language, the phenomenon remains understudied. Existing literature on Tiv linguistics has largely focused on phonology, morphology, and general grammatical structure, with little systematic attention given to lexical borrowing. This study examines loanwords in Tiv domains of communication. The study aims to identify the loanwords borrowed into the Tiv language and analyses the domains in which they are borrowed. Specifically, the study identified the loanwords that have been borrowed into Tiv communication, analyses the different domains in which the Tiv people have borrowed loanwords, examine the grammatical classes of the borrowed words in Tiv communication. The study adopts the Language Contact Theory, developed by Uriel Weinreich in 1953, which explains that language contact is a central force of linguistic change, leading to the transfer of vocabulary and other linguistic features between languages. This study is library-based research. The data are gathered primarily from secondary sources, including published and unpublished works, academic journals, and online publications on the Tiv language. Additionally, the researchers’ intuitive knowledge as a native Tiv speakers was instrumental in data collection and validation. Findings reveal that Tiv has integrated a significant number of loanwords from other languages, particularly in domains such as agriculture, food, and household tools. These borrowings are shown to be concentrated in areas where new concepts or items have been introduced through cultural contact. The study concludes that lexical borrowing is a common and natural process that enriches Tiv by providing the linguistic resources needed to name new realities. The study recommends the systematic documentation of Tiv loanwords through written records and digital archives. This will preserve the borrowed lexicon and provide a resource for linguistic research and cultural education.
Loanwords, Tiv, Domains, Communication, cultural contact, cultural education
Culture Intricacies and Igbo Worldview in George Ndubuisi’s Woes of Ikenga
Culture is seen as the totality of a people’s way of life. It showcases their customs, traditions, value, systems, norms, beliefs, world-views, superstitions and even taboos. So this paper entitled “Culture Intricacies and Igbo Worldviews in George Ndubuisi’s Woes of Ikenga” set out to explore aspects of the culture of the Igbo’s and their worldview of life. The objectives of the study seek to investigate the culture intricacies and Igbo worldview in George’s Ndubuisi Woes of Ikenga. The theoretical framework for the study is sociological criticism which maintains that literature has a relationship with society and should bring changes. Data for the study was from two main sources, primary and secondary sources. The text under study is the primary source, while library texts, journals and internet formed the secondary sources. The findings include the use of proverbs to pass on a message, the ritual of new yam festival and its meaning to the Igbo culture, and the nuances of kinship ties and spiritual belief in the Igbo society. The study portrayed the Igbo society as it was before the coming of the white men and how after they left changed and affected the Igbo view of the world.
Culture, Fate, Customs, Superstition, Supernatural, Reincarnation
Lovina I. Madu, Chinomso P. Dozie, Obianuju O. Nnedu