Ayokunle Olumuyiwa Omobowale

University of Ibadan · Department of Sociology

Name is a social construct that gives identity to people in society. The name ‘Biafra’ has an interpretation and social context that is embedded with meanings among the Igbo of South-East, Nigeria. The name ‘Biafra’ expresses idea, social interpretation and value among Igbo people in their social interaction. This study explains the historical ante...

The objective of this chapter is to unravel the impact of globalisation on social policy/social protection drawing from the case study of Nigeria.

The discipline of sociology digs out the empirical reality of societies based on affirmed epistemological frameworks. Sociological theory, methodology and research in Nigeria are deeply encapsulated in dominant Western-oriented epistemes and objectivity designs aimed at value-free assumptions, yet they are non-universally applicable to ascertaining...

Corruption is a major social problem in Nigeria. Corruption is unarguably a major drawback on the nation’s development efforts and cuts across the various segments of the Nigerian society. It is the (mis)use of public office and/or position for private or personal gain

The chapter discusses the use of Biafran symbolic objects in present-day protest, paying particular attention to the use of the Biafran flag, Nigerian civil war technology relics, and the statue of Colonel Ojukwu in the Biafran mass movement.

Social enterprises are organizations created with the aim of applying entrepreneurial skills and innovations to solving social problems. They are managed by individuals who combine pragmatic and result-oriented methods of a business entrepreneur with the goals of a social reformer. Such enterprises combine resources in innovative ways to create soc...

Warfare prayer is a common ritual practice among Yoruba Pentecostal adherents in southwestern Nigeria. It entails visualization of a supposed enemy or battle and the utilization of warfare prayers, songs, and Bible verses to supposedly neutralize opposing forces. In fact, scholars have established that the continued growth of Pentecostalism and the...

This chapter presents and discusses the social science basis of public policy. It briefly presents the history, epistemological thoughts (theories) and science of public policy, disciplinary paradigms and influences on public policy and cross-disciplinary dimensions in social science-oriented public policy.

The Chaplaincy of the Nigerian Army is a religious institution that renders spiritual, moral, and psychological support services to military personnel in their service to the nation. It has three units with different religious identity: Catholic, Protestant, and Islamic Affairs. Since the commencement of the Army, services of the clergy for the sol...

This chapter begins by examining the debates around policy paradigms in the study of the changing context of public policy making and policy change. It recognizes that policy ideas are embedded in policy paradigms and that these paradigms form the basis for framing, articulating and implementing public policy. It examines such concepts as pluralism...

The transition to democratic system of government in Nigeria has witnessed an increase in the emergence of ethnic movement groups. Such ethnic movement groups are the pro-Biafra groups in reaction to perceived socio-political and economic exclusion of the Igbo and reflect the extent of development the people benefit in Nigeria. This study examined...

Informal Islamic education is grounded in Muslim normative value. It was introduced to the people of Lagos in the precolonial period. However, this form of education was dispensed and accessed at that period secretly by the underclass and the oppressed in the society. It became widely accepted after Islam was granted official approval by Oba Adele...

Identity capital entails the use of identity as an asset in achieving a set goal. It demonstrates a wider in-group identity spurred by social resource mobilization, identity cohesion, and social development. This article queries why identity is used as a capital to advance Biafra activism in Southeast Nigeria. Identity capital theorizes the adoptio...

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its persistence are global phenomena, that greatly impact human life and existence. In Nigeria, the incidence and prevalence of the COVID-19 has attracted various interpretations and actions across cultures and spaces. While many people accept the reality of the deadly virus, many others still live in the...

The focus of existing studies on land grabbing in Nigeria has been on acquisition by foreign investors for their socio-economic gain, usually supported by the national government. However, narratives on land grabbing by government through the Land Use Decree and the consequent resistance deployed by the indigenous landowners are scarce. The Accumul...

The Reconstruction of the Throwaway Society in Lagos Nigeria establishes that the culture of e-waste reuse and and the denunciation of the existence of waste on account of values attached to waste electronics queries the assumption in pure-scientific research that we now live in a Throwaway Society.

The secularization of the sacred and the sanctification of the secular are two ongoing processes in contemporary urban areas in Nigeria. Although, profanity and sacredness are two distinct ‘realities’ in every religious arena, observations reveal some convergences of the duo in urban market settings. This is a departure from Durkheim’s distinction...

The West African political economy has been shaped by the policies, decisions and actions of dominant European imperialist countries since about over 500 years. Starting with imperial merchant capitalism along the West African coast in the 16th Century and French gradual acquisition of Senegal as a colony as from 1677, West Africa has remained unde...

The paper contributes to theoretical understandings of the Role of Verstehen (subjective Understanding of reality) paying especial attention to the role of the actor(s) under examination in the definition of a/any situation.

Social research remains pivotal for human progress and development. In the earlier stages of empiricism, social research followed the natural sciences approach of theoretical universalism and empirical objectivity. Yet, human beings create meanings of their actions within the context of space and time. Thus, we argue herein that universalism and ob...

Transportation is a strategic factor in human and social development. While there are many types of transportation, road transportation is the most used in Nigeria and many other African countries. This makes road transportation very central to social and economic functionalities of Nigeria as a nation and people. For goods and services to flow sea...

Abstract Purpose The index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was reported on 27 February 2020. Subsequently, the exponential increase in cases has brought about the partial and total lockdown of cities, the closure of all schools and the shutdown of government offices in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 and its subsequent drastic curtail...

Abstract: This paper provides a contextual discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent reality of taken-for-granted nuances using the epistemology of everyday sociology. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global disease that has virtually affected all facets of life. Nigerian government has moved swiftly to curb the pandemic through conta...

Warfare Pentecostalism entails a brand of the Pentecostal movement, which views the world in terms of evil machinations of enemies whom every individual must battle spiritually. Warfare Pentecostalism is associated with symbolic demonstrations of offensive and defensive mechanisms against the “enemy” through prayers. The warfare Pentecostal movemen...

The paper examined racial politics and identity contests in Northern Nigeria. The paper specifically traced the trajectory of racial politics and examined the dynamics of identity construction and contests in Northern Nigeria. An essentially qualitative method of data collection comprising primary data generated through in-depth interviews and seco...

Informal markets provide employment for a large spectrum of Nigerians. These markets provide access to livelihood for those willing to work within the market environment and operate within its rules. A major normative value, which also spells out the ethics in the informal market space, is solidarity-in-completion. Indeed, traders are in competitio...

This chapter discusses the contributions of economic crises, disasters, medical migration —especially for maternal and child care, in particular among the privileged— and climate change to migration in Africa, within the context of embedded values of immigration for economic advantage for self, family, and friends. Embedded local constructions of t...

English has gained a dominant competitive edge globally. It is arguably the global lingua franca and, more than ever before, has assumed the status of the global language of scholarship. Failing to publish in English can result in a scholar’s academic invisibility often referred to as “perishing” (Kilonzo & Magak, 2013; Bajerski, 2011; Beigel, 2009...

The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria describes children as the heritage of the society because children occupy a special place in societal survival and continuity. Children are esteemed and appreciated. Thus, the embedded culture propagates the essentiality of children, the need for proper socialisation and internalisation to make a responsible being...

Throughout its more than a century history, Nigeria has had a checkered story of ethnicity, divisions, violence, and mutual suspicions. Nigeria’s experience with colonialism engendered a Western-oriented activism and metamorphosis of civil society, which have affected governance in diverse ways. Existing civil society is nonetheless affected by con...

The Lecture presents the strategic place of context and relativity in the understanding of actions that universalism may not appositely capture. It further contextually discusses some local realities on the Phenomenology of Governance, the Context of the Secondhand and the Relations of Intellectualism in Nigeria Citation: Omobowale, Ayokunle Olumuy...

Protests are an essential element of democratisation process and a significant factor in the social struggle and commitment to a cause. Protests are staged in different forms, either, with placards or songs to portray socio-political grievance. This study explains the symbolism of Biafra protest songs in South-Eastern Nigeria. Protest songs are sym...

While development is one of the most popular concepts in Africa and across the world, what development really means may not be as well known as is thought. This is why one of the most abused concepts and issues in scholarship, policy and practice is development; partly because everyone thinks they are a development expert. This challenge becomes ev...

Democratization process in Southwestern Nigeria presents a unique case of politicking involving transport unions in patronage politics in the electoral process. With members drawn predominantly from the lower class, transport unions are strategic partners to politicians and political patrons who utilize commercial drivers as foot-soldiers during el...

Understanding development is a strategic issue in every human society. This is because central to humans is the need to develop, which is why societies over the ages have not only sought to develop, they have also attempted to understand what development is all about, how best to develop and what the outcomes of development should be. This is why s...

Understanding development is a strategic issue in every human society. This is because central to humans is the need to develop, which is why societies over the ages have not only sought to develop, they have also attempted to understand what development is all about, how best to develop and what the outcomes of development should be. This is why s...

FADAMA is a World Bank development initiative aimed at improving productivity and income of Nigerian farmers through relative science and technological inclusion as well as community and group participation. Following the success of Fadama I and II projects, the government of Nigeria adopted the Fadama III initiative (with comprehensive coverage ac...

Vulgar lyrics represent a dimension of popular music that has attracted little scholarly attention, especially in Africa. Often described as part of decadent subcultures, vulgar music represents the realm of the socially unwanted and suppressed. In Nigeria in particular, the vulgar music of St. Janet and Olamide contains aspects of what many morall...

Professor Akiwowo propounded the Asuwada Theory of Sociation in the 1980s as a contextual episteme to explain African social experience. The theory particularly attempts an indigenous postulation to social interactions among Africans in general and the Yoruba in particular. Its concepts attempt to emphasise contextual values of social beings who wo...

The music and songs of King Sunny Ade have Ethnomusicological discourses also show that e njoyed prominence both locally and propagated ideologies including those in internationally right from the 1960s. Born in popular music have been quite instrumental to 1946, Sunny Ade delved into the world of social and cultural integration (Omotola, 2009), po...

Most of the discourse on development aid in Africa has been limited to assistance from Western countries and those provided by competing capitalist and socialist blocs during the Cold war era. Japan, a nation with great economic and military capabilities; its development assistance for Africa is encapsulated in the Tokyo International Conference on...

Within the past three decades, widespread poverty has accompanied Western influenced neo-liberal policies often camouflaged as vital development initiatives (e.g. SAP and privatization programme). Still, within the same period, the continent has witnessed spontaneous emergence of numerous associational groups; created through social networking for...

Contemporary epistemological foundation of African studies (or more appropriately, the study of African issues across humanities disciplines) could be traced back to the pioneering efforts of colonial anthropologists (including missionaries and colonial “intelligence” officers). With mandates to understudy the cultures of the colonized, Anthropolog...

Africa's emergence into the geography of the known world has not been without controversies and the contradictions of crudity and underdevelopment in spite of the continent's rich history as well as its natural and human resources. The crude conceptions of black Africa (as opposed to North Africa) are appositely captured in the literature and recor...

Care for the environment has gradually become monumental responsibility among countries of the world. This goal is of utmost significance for achieving 'sustainable consumption', 'sustainable communities' 'sustainable future', and 'sustainable world'. Thus, this study presents a sociological analysis of the dimensions of environmental pollution wit...

Lately, a phenomenal dimension of peripheral scholarship, compulsorily demanding the ‘foreign’, has evolved into the practice of paid publishing in ‘foreign’ journals among Nigerian academics. These ‘foreign’ journals afford speedy publishing at a fee with little or no peer review. This study is a descriptive research which collected qualitative da...

Among the Yoruba of SouthWestern Nigeria aging represents a valued process leading to a stage in life when an individual assumes the position of an elder and is accorded reverence and awe. The aged, who are attributed to be elders, are highly valued because of the belief that they are the repository of experience, knowledge and wisdom that are germ...

This paper conducts a comparative analysis of patronage in pre-colonial and colonial Ibadan, Nigeria. Starting up first as a camp of marauders and later a military settlement after the collapse of the Oyo Empire, Ibadan thereafter emerged a military empire with sovereignty over a large spectrum of Yorubaland by the end of the 19th Century. Ibadan d...

This paper examines Agba performance and the social construction of Igede nationalism in North-Central Nigeria. The Igede is a “minority” ethnic group that was previously designated as “pagan” by British colonialists and lumped with the Idoma ethnic group in the defunct Benue province in Northern Nigeria. Over the years, however, the Igede have red...

Among the Yoruba of South-Western Nigeria aging represents a valued process leading to a stage in life when an individual assumes the position of an elder and is accorded reverence and awe. The aged, who are attributed to be elders, are highly valued because of the belief that they are the repository of experience, knowledge and wisdom that are ger...

Purpose Information and communication technology (ICT) stands out as a major indicator and driver of the modern age. It catalytically advances globalization processes across professions, disciplines and agencies across international boundaries. In spite of the widespread utilization of ICT, Nigeria in particular and Africa in general lag behind in...

Developing an autonomous social science has long been a central concern of African scholarship. This implies a need to redirect the interests of scholars to issues that matter for postcolonial society and to contribute to the renewal of knowledge about African societies. The globalization of scholarly publishing has affected local-autonomous social...

In response to modernization theory, which proffered a two-dimensional explanation for world development within the modern–traditional continuum – with Western countries depicted as modern (rational) and the bulk of the developing countries as traditional and thus underdeveloped – Latin American social scientists, including Ander Gunder Frank, Paul...

The existing interaction between newspaper stands and Nigerian readers transcends market exchange. It is rather a place for engendering social consciousness among a people, desirous of being abreast of up-to-date information, but lacking requisite finance. Thus, a practice which evolved out of peoples' financial incapability has become a catalyst f...

The world is technologically advancing, but the management of resultant waste, commonly known as e-waste, is also becoming very challenging. Of major concern is the incessant flow of this waste into the developing world where they assume secondhand value in spite of the associated environmental threats. This study adopts the qualitative approach to...

The field of Information communication technology (ICT) is very young in research terms, especially in developing economies. The business aspect of ICT is developing fast, but the challenge of stifling completion has made it imperative for the micro-entrepreneur to adopt various strategies to keep afloat. Therefore this paper examines how the conce...

Due to fiscal maladministration in the public sector and consequent inefficiency of public corporations, the Nigerian government has opted for laissez faire reforms in the public sector. One of the public corporations the government has put up for sale is Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) PLC. This paper examines the privatization process of NITE...

The article presents the Yoruba ajọ system as a form of social capital in working class business finance and human development. Social capital depicts the utilization of bonds of love, friendship, trust, and kinship as productive resources. A primary factor in the formation of ajọ is the trust value, which could sustain group cohesion and survival....

The article presents the Yoruba aj system as a form of social capital in working class business finance and human development. Social capital depicts the utilization of bonds of love, friendship, trust, and kinship as productive resources. A primary factor in the formation of aj is the trust value, which could sustain group cohesion and survival. D...

In spite of the universality of clientelism, it is often seen as a peculiar aspect of Third World politics, one which inevitably stifles development. This study examines clientelistic relationships in south-western Nigeria and their possible impact on rural development, with a special focus on Ibadan. It finds that rural clients attract the attenti...

Since the incorporation of the Third World nations into the world capitalist system, the underdevelopment process seems to have commenced through the use of liberal economic principles. In spite of the obvious pauperisation of these nations, it seems as if there is no alternative even when indigenous governments are in control of affairs. This pape...

In spite of the universality of clientelism, it is often seen as a peculiar aspect of Third World politics, one which inevitably stifles development. This study examines clientelistic relationships in south-western Nigeria and their possible impact on rural development, with a special focus on Ibadan. It finds that rural clients attract the attenti...

Sports seem to be an aspect of culture which cuts across all societies. Though it may be principally directed at entertainment and/or leisure, it is embedded with meanings in cultures where it is practised. Soccer, as a sporting event has transcended numerous cultures over the years. Prior to the 1990s in Nigeria, soccer fans were aligned with loca...

Privatization and the Social Value of Water in Africa The paper assesses the current clamor and actual privatization of water in Africa. Though this is said to be done in view of wastage and declining access of people to water, this paper submits that the transformation of the social value of water to economic, is rather a continuation of capitalis...

Zanzibar is an island group (including principally Zanzibar, Pemba, and Tumbatu) in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Tanganyika (Tanzania). Its coast and ports served as major trade routes among African, Arab, Indian, and European traders in the nineteenth century. Even though Zanzibar was first populated by Africans, Asians came as later migrant...

The Maji‐Maji revolt stands out as one of the major phenomenal occurrences in the political development of colonial and postcolonial Tanzania. It started on July 31, 1905 and lasted until 1907, when the last remnants of the revolt were crushed. It was indeed a classic example of a peasants' revolt against their colonial masters' unfavorable economi...