ABSTRACT Ile-Ife is regarded as the cradle of Yoruba civilisation and Ooni has been considered the Arole Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yoruba race. Previous works on Ife history do not discuss or explore the burial rituals of the Ooni except for references to the installation rites of the Oonis. The article’s objectives are to trace the changes in the burial rituals of the Oonis and the role played by modernisation in the burial processes of Ooni Okunade Adele Sijuwade, Olubuse II, in 2015. The article argues that the Oba (monarch) does not die (Iku) but ‘Waaja’ (ascends to ancestral heaven). The article employed a historical approach in its analysis, utilizing both primary and secondary historical sources. The article’s findings show that despite continuous observation of traditions in the burial rites of the Ooni, modernisation continued to influence burial procedures. Thus, the article affirmed that tradition and modernity intersect in the burial process of monarchs in any given society.

ABSTRACT Since time immemorial, the communities of Igboland have been endowed with a rich plurality of deities. However, their associated narratives, manifestations, and worship centres now face drastic abandonment and potential extinction, largely due to widespread Christian adoption. This shift has compelled the decline of indigenous worship and its values, while intensifying the growth of charismatic churches that often directly confront these traditional practices. In contrast to this trend, the Obukpa community presents a surprising anomaly, where the Nnumu-Kwome deity sustains significant religious, cultural, and traditional relevance. It experiences increasing patronage among political classes and youth despite these pressures. This study interrogates the sources of this resilience, elucidating the deity’s role as a catalyst for economic enhancement and political victory in Nsukka, Enugu State. To achieve these objectives, data were collected through in-depth interviews with fifty key informants throughout 2020. The findings reveal that the Nnumu-Kwome deity is conceptualized as a generous provider of prosperity, a celestial guarantor of electoral victory, and a powerful instrument of ancestral authority utilized for both protection and the administration of swift justice

ABSTRACT Within the Nigerian socio-political space, satire has been the melting pot of socio-political criticisms. Previous related studies have interrogated satire as manifested in different genres of literature. However, there is a dearth of studies on the manifestation of satire in essay-oriented expressions, especially from a discourse-pragmatics outlook. This study, therefore, explores impoliteness strategies in Nigerian satirical discourse. With data retrieved from Pius Adesanmi’s Naija No Dey Carry Last, the study is guided by Culpeper’s taxonomy of impoliteness to analyse satirical commentaries from the text. Findings revealed that Adesanmi deploys different discursive strategies to communicate impoliteness. Four impoliteness strategies were realised through eight discursive strategies. These strategies are metaphorisation, negativisation, animated dialogue, animated biblical narrative, patronisation, insincere appellation, inappropriate identification, and deresponsibilisation. These strategies foreground impoliteness within the larger discourse of satire.

ABSTRACT What happens when the mirror meant to reflect a self instead shatters it? The Death of Vivek Oji (2021) is a haunting exploration of queer lived experiences by the Nigerian writer, Akwaeke Emezi. The novel traces the life and death of Vivek Oji, a queer individual entrapped within Africa’s heteropatriarchal postcolonial structures, whose pursuit of authenticity through his trans-femme self, Nnemdi, eventually leads to his death. This paper examines Nigeria’s systemic repression of queer existence by investigating how the Lacanian Symbolic order fails its queer subjects. By fusing this with the Indigenous Igbo epistemologies, it underscores how Emezi’s narrative reconceptualises familial, religious, and colonial systems function as instruments of erasure rather than recognition. Therefore, the primary intervention of this analysis is to illustrate how Emezi’s novel recalibrates both psychoanalytic and postcolonial categories, by generating a theoretical space for queer identity beyond symbolic erasure.

ABSTRACT Festivals are important, especially those focused on women empowerment and environmental sustainability. It is, therefore, tragic to witness the fast disappearance of traditional festivals in many parts of the world, especially in Africa. In southeastern Nigeria, Igbo communities are presently facing lots of ecological challenges from oil pollution to erosion and soil depletion in ways that displace inhabitants and leave the soil agriculturally unyielding. Yet, indigenous festivals that celebrate the earth and empower women for environmental sustainability are fast diminishing. Studies on indigenous festivals reveal a tremendous shift from the traditional culture to the contemporary art festivals of the postcolonial experience and Eurocentric exhibitions. This paper is an ethnographic engagement of ecofeminist belonging in Egba-ala festival narrative of Nsukka Igbo, Nigeria. Focusing on women and environmental sustainability, this paper interrogates indigenous traditional festivals as an attempt towards eco-gender decolonization. From in-depth interviews and participant observation, my study reveals ecofeminist relationship as a paradoxical belonging in Egba-ala festival narrative of Opi and Lejja communities of the northern Igboland known as the Nsukka Igbo.

ABSTRACT This study assesses the impact of both formal (government-led) and informal (traditional) peace structures on social cohesion in the Gidda Ayana cluster of the East Wallaga Zone, Ethiopia, a region experiencing ongoing ethnic and political tensions. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research combined qualitative data from interviews with community leaders and residents and focus group discussions with quantitative surveys to evaluate community perceptions. The mapping exercise identified key structures, including formal government institutions and traditional systems such as Jaarusummaa and Shimglina. The assessment of their impact reveals a complex picture: traditional structures are highly respected for their cultural legitimacy and effectiveness in localized conflict resolution, but their influence is diminishing among younger generations due to modern governance and resource constraints. Conversely, while formal structures are better resourced, they often suffer from a lack of community trust due to perceived political bias and a reliance on top-down, often militarized, interventions. The study recommends developing hybrid peace building models that integrate the strengths of both traditional and formal mechanisms, investing in capacity-building for local structures, and actively working to depoliticize ethnic identities to foster more inclusive and effective social cohesion.

ABSTRACT Indigenous knowledge systems are increasingly attracting the attention of scholars worldwide. However, indigenous peoples’ conceptions of peace have never received the attention they deserve in scholarship and policy. This neglect has undermined the recognition of indigenous knowledge systems and hindered the development of inclusive, culturally grounded approaches to peacebuilding. This study aimed to explore the Oromo indigenous conception of peace (Nagaa) within the Gadaa system as a step toward bridging this knowledge gap. Ethnographic, descriptive, and comparative analytical research designs, along with a qualitative research approach, were used in the study, and data were collected through key informant interviews, field observations, and literature review. The study reveals that the Oromo conceive of peace as a holistic concept that encompasses personal integrity, social justice, harmony with the environment, and spiritual wholeness. Peace, according to the Oromo, is being in the right relationship with oneself, with others, with nature, and with Waaqa (God) rather than merely the absence of physical or structural violence. This conception of peace aligns with established theories of peace and conflict in many ways, though it also transcends these theories in certain respects. The study recommends promoting the Gadaa system as a living African peace framework and advocating for its international recognition and adoption in peacebuilding, education, and scholarship.

ABSTRACT This study examines the discursive patterns of youth activism in virtual tweets on #EndSARS protest. The study relies on Van Leeuwen’s Representation of Social Actors’ approach to Critical Discourse Analysis. Eleven tweets of #EndSARS protesters constitute data for the study. Findings show that tweets of virtual #EndSARS protesters are marked by five specific recurring contextual issues: government’s negligence, insecurity, human rights violation, extrajudicial killing and police brutality which are discursively instantiated by reference, inference, shared situation, pronoun, sarcasm, irony, symbolism and metaphor. Five linguistic acts feature in the texts: blaming, condemning, exposing, justifying and predicting and are realized through discourse strategies of activation, identification, exclusion, passivation, genericisation, association, assimilation, specification, dissociation, overdetermination, backgrounding and collectivisation. Nigerian youths are presented as victims and as a resolute cohesive social group; politicians/government as suppressors and murderers; Nigerian police as exploiters and a disreputable unit; and Nigerian army as terrorists and a brutal military unit.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the Ogbonu Oracle of Ezebri, a mermaid spirit believed to reside in the Forcados River in Nigeria’s Western Niger Delta. Discovered in the 1960s by Chief Aravwarhien Oruopade, the oracle functions through a mortal priest (Karowei), who serves as its spiritual husband and mouthpiece. Renowned for its trial-by-ordeal system, Ogbonu adjudicated complex disputes involving witchcraft, land conflicts, adultery, and moral transgressions. Its annual festival and consultation rituals attracted pilgrims from across ethnic lines, stimulating economic activity, intercommunal relations, and cultural exchange. However, the oracle’s influence has significantly declined due to the spread of Christianity and modernisation. While it remains a potent symbol of indigenous justice and spiritual authority, contemporary challenges – including youth disengagement, moral controversies, and institutional erosion – threaten its continuity. Drawing on oral interviews and secondary sources, this research documents the oracle’s socio-political, judicial, and economic roles, and proposes strategies for its preservation as intangible cultural heritage. The Ogbonu Oracle stands as one of Nigeria’s few surviving trial-by-ordeal systems, offering critical insights into African traditional religion and its resilience amid transformation.

ABSTRACT Children worldwide have the legitimate right to a birth certificate, which fulfils their right to identity. This article examines the challenges faced in obtaining identity documents for children in residential care facilities in Harare, Zimbabwe. Using a qualitative approach, data were gathered from seven residential care facilities through eleven semi-structured interviews with seven directors and four residential social workers. Thematic analysis revealed three main barriers to birth registration: uncooperative parents or relatives who hinder the registration process, the non-renewal of court orders by the Department of Social Development (DSD), and the absence of resident social workers in some facilities. This study highlights the implications for improving birth registration in residential care facilities in Zimbabwe. It emphasises the need for effective mechanisms to address uncooperative parents or relatives in birth registration processes. The study calls for the timely renewal of court orders by the DSD. It further recommends the formation of an external committee to monitor the birth registration process. Recognising the critical role of social workers, the study further urges the DSD to ensure that each children’s home has at least one qualified social worker to support the birth registration process.