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Socio-Cultural Factors Determining the Acceptability and Use of Condoms in Nigerian
Socio-Cultural Factors Determining the
Acceptability and Use of Condoms in
Nigerian
A Survey of Career Opportunities for University Agricultural Extension Graduates in Anambra State
The purpose of this study was to investigate the career opportunities for University Agricultural Extension graduates In Anambra State,
Studies on Newcastle Disease Virus Isolates from Nigerian Feral Birds and their Potentials as Vaccine Strains
Ncwcastlc discasc is an acutc rapidly spreading, contagious, nervous and respiratory
disease of birds of all ages caused by the Avian Paramxyo-virus 1, the Newcastle disease
(NII) virus hclonging to thc gcnus Avulavirus in thc family, Paramyxoviridae. ND affects
all birds of all ages in all continents of the world.Chickens are among the most
susccptihlc group whilc aquatic birds arc among thc Icast susceptible. 'The reservoir status
ofNigerian wild and captive birds for the ND virus is assessed in this study.
A total of onc hundred and sixty thrcc birds were caught and sampled fiom fivc Local
Government Areas of Plateau, Benue and Kaduna States. A total of thirteen ND Viruses
strains (1'10 16, P1029, P1032, P1038, nn2, Bn7, Bn8, 13n 1 1, 522, 57.4, Jz6, Jz13, a~cKi D
were isolated from the three States. Samples collected included: cloaca1 swabs as well as
tissucs from intcmal organs of' birds sacrificed. The overall organ isolation rate was 3.1%.
The organ isolation rate was highest for rectal swabs (5.03%), followed by the intestine
with 3.7%, trachca, 2.7%, brain, 2.2%; I,ungs, 1.1% and the spleen, 0% in decreasing
order of isolation rate. The choice of sample collection could be in that order. One
hundrcd and fifly thrcc of'thc birds samplcd were catcgorizcd into ten Orders while ten
birds were unidentified. Only three of the ten Orders yielded ND viruses. Of the 30
spccies of birds sampled, only seven yielded ND Virus strains. The 13 isolates were
characterized using the Mean death time of the Minimum lethal dose (MTDIMLD);
lntracccrbral Pathogcnccity indcx (ICPI); Intravenous Pathogenecity index (IVPI); and
the Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results showed that
of thc 1 3 viruscs isolated, 12 wcre of'the lcntogenic strain while I isolate belonged to the
mesogenic strain. No velogenic strain was isolated. Cross antigenic relationships between
thc 13 ficld strains as well as with thc NIIV LaSota strain was determined using the Cross
haemagglutination Inhibition test. The ~eciprocal l ll titres ranged between 32 and 4096
while the geometric mean titres ranged between 169 and 955. The heterologous r-values
of all the strains were higher than those of the corressponding homologous values
indicating a significant level of antigcnic diversity among the field strains and between
the field and the vaccine (LaSota) strains. The 13 field virus strains as well as 5 vaccine
strains (NIIV(I,), NDV(I/O), NI>(V4), NDV(12), NDV(K)) and the I lerts challenge strain
were used for heamagglutinability assay of the virus in erythrocytes of 10 mammalian
species viz: goat, sheep, horse, cattle, man, dog, pig, mouse, rabbit and chicken. The
results showed that the entire field virus and vaccine strains as well as the velogenic
(I lerts) strain agglutinated mammalian RRCs at varying virus titer levels. The sheep,
mouse, guinca pig and human RBCs were agglutinated by most of the strains while the
dog and pig RBCs were the least agglutinated. Thermostability tests on the 13 field virus
isolates and the 5 vaccine virus strains at 56oC, revealed variable degrees of heat stability
among virus strains. Strain Bn I 1 was most thermostable when compared with other field
isolates with the time of 40minutes. For the vaccine strains, NDV (i/o) and NDV (K)
were inactivated in 20 minutes and the I,asota in 25 minutes. The velogenic strain (Iierts)
was inactivated in 40 minuties. The two established thermostable strains, ND (V4) and
NDV (12) were inactivated in YO minutes each. For the selection of a thermostable clone
from the most heat- stable field strain, (Bn I I), the virus was passed through four cycles
of heating (at 56'~) and propagation in 9-1 1 days old embryonated eggs. The 4' cycle
resulted in the production of a clone with thermostability interval of 90 minutes. The
xxi
thermostability of the clone compared favourably with those of the two standard
thermostable strains - ND(V4) and NDV(12). The field clone can therefore be formulated
into a thermostable vaccine for rural poultry after passing through quality assurance tests.
An Assessment of the Role Performance of Field Extension Agents of the Abia And Imo Cultural Development Projects (ADPs)
This study assessed the role performance of field extension agent of the Abia and Imo Agricultural Development Projects (ADPe). The purpose was to determine the actual roles and level of performance of these roles by these agents.
ENEMIES OF THEIR OWN: FEMALE CHARACTERS IN NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT POINT ZERO AND REBEKA NJAU’S RIPPLES IN THE POOL
Feminism in Africa has occupied a very sensitive position in African literature as feminist writers have contributed to its growth through their writings. However, looking into these different feminists’ writings one can immediately come to terms with the fact that there is serious disharmony amongst the female characters in feminists’ works. In the works under study the female characters are either at constant tussle amongst themselves or are intolerable maniacs to the society. This study however,proposes to look at several issues that plague African feminism and compel us to ask the following perturbing questions: Must a female protagonist show her liberation from extreme patriarchy by ending up a prostitute and a murderer? As in the case of Selina in Rebeka Njau’s Ripples in the Pool and Firdaus in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero. Why are female characters in feminists’ works against one another? Are they actually ‘enemies’ of their own?’ The above pertinent issues in African feminists’ works agitate the mind of the researcher and therefore form the main thrust of this dissertation. However, the study has shown that most of women’s problems lie within women as we see victims victimizing victims.Feminism in Africa has occupied a very sensitive position in African literature as feminist writers have contributed to its growth through their writings. However, looking into these different feminists’ writings one can immediately come to terms with the fact that there is serious disharmony amongst the female characters in feminists’ works. In the works under study the female characters are either at constant tussle amongst themselves or are intolerable maniacs to the society. This study however,proposes to look at several issues that plague African feminism and compel us to ask the following perturbing questions: Must a female protagonist show her liberation from extreme patriarchy by ending up a prostitute and a murderer? As in the case of Selina in Rebeka Njau’s Ripples in the Pool and Firdaus in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero. Why are female characters in feminists’ works against one another? Are they actually ‘enemies’ of their own?’ The above pertinent issues in African feminists’ works agitate the mind of the researcher and therefore form the main thrust of this dissertation. However, the study has shown that most of women’s problems lie within women as we see victims victimizing victims.
NARRATING RACISM: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JOSEPH CONRAD’S HEART OF DARKNESS AND CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE’S AMERICANAH
Really, racism against the Black man has had a long history, although it ranks unarguably amongst the most unspeakable crimes in human history. The scourge has been deftly engraved on a discriminatory pyramid of ‘humanity’ raised by the West. Following this pyramid, being Black automatically marks one out for victimisation, and makes the victim ineligible to lay any claim whatsoever to the ‘human’ race; being Black qualifies one to suffer the slurs, injuries – physical, psychological, emotional, social, etc. - and indignities of racial discriminations.
Expectedly, racism has resonated with literary scholarship over the last century or even more. Right now, it can hardly be disputed that from not being given sufficient attention, racism and other race-related concerns have become, in literary scholarship, some of the dominant subjects upon which serious thought is expended; these issues have achieved paramountcy in contemporary scholarly discourse: one claim’s balance merely becomes a counterclaim’s disequilibrium. And following the very recent publication of Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah (a narrative which, in its quest to explore racism and its variegated manifestations, flies readers across three continents of the world: from Africa to Europe through America), a discerning mind can only but see that the dust racism raised has yet to completely settle; and that, consequently, the exploitative forms of oppressions willed into existence by the differing manifestations of racism are still very much here with us.
Already, in Decolonising Methodologies, Linda Smith has observed that research in the academia is “a site of struggle between the interests and ways of knowing of the West and the interests and ways of resisting of the Other” (2). Thus, looked at from a certain point of view, academic research in contemporary times can be described as nothing short of “fierce” encounters between the West and the Other, between the Orient and the Occident.
However, this research is not merely what Walter Rodney graphically identifies in How Europe Underdeveloped Africa as “a work about European oppressors and African victims” (xii); it is also not a documentation of guilts or accusations; rather, it is a careful examination of evidence as made manifest in selected literary texts. It highlights issues of racism as represented in the literary works of varying racial and cultural perspectives, but more pointedly in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah. Throughout, it considers both the obvious and subtle ways through which racism has continued to indiscernibly define and prefigure nearly all facets of Euro-America’s engagements with the Black man, and particularly, how racism shields the narrative voice in Heart of Darkness from relating a fair account of being of the natives in the text. As the work progresses, one witnesses a clear evidence to assert that stereotypical beliefs about the Black man still holds sway in the West of today; and that there seems to be deliberate effort at ensuring that these stereotypes unquestionably aspire to - and achieve - the status of truth and social acceptability. Anchored on the stipulations of post-colonial literary theory, this work therefore provides textual evidence with which to challenge the often unstated assumptions – both lay and academic – that racism is either being overhyped these days or has been completely eradicated.
Aside from arguing that Joseph Conrad’s narrative tells vigilant readers more about the West than it actually does about Africa, it questions the “neutrality” of the narrative voice in Heart of Darkness. And, consequently, calls for interpretive restructuring in the minds of the readers of the text.
As a reality check of some sort on racism, the work targets primarily at furthering ongoing debates on the discourse on racism; and this is borne out of a conviction that discussions on the subject ought not be a one-off task that is signed on and off at irregular intervals. Thus, this work is aimed at shedding new light on the complex and increasingly imperceptible ways of manifestation of racism as represented in these primary texts; in the end, though, it morphs into a rallying “cry” for all to, more than ever before, re-ignite interest in racism as a contemporary challenge which ought to relate conspicuously with Africa’s contemporary scholarship priorities.
Really, racism against the Black man has had a long history, although it ranks unarguably amongst the most unspeakable crimes in human history. The scourge has been deftly engraved on a discriminatory pyramid of ‘humanity’ raised by the West. Following this pyramid, being Black automatically marks one out for victimisation, and makes the victim ineligible to lay any claim whatsoever to the ‘human’ race; being Black qualifies one to suffer the slurs, injuries – physical, psychological, emotional, social, etc. - and indignities of racial discriminations.
Expectedly, racism has resonated with literary scholarship over the last century or even more. Right now, it can hardly be disputed that from not being given sufficient attention, racism and other race-related concerns have become, in literary scholarship, some of the dominant subjects upon which serious thought is expended; these issues have achieved paramountcy in contemporary scholarly discourse: one claim’s balance merely becomes a counterclaim’s disequilibrium. And following the very recent publication of Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah (a narrative which, in its quest to explore racism and its variegated manifestations, flies readers across three continents of the world: from Africa to Europe through America), a discerning mind can only but see that the dust racism raised has yet to completely settle; and that, consequently, the exploitative forms of oppressions willed into existence by the differing manifestations of racism are still very much here with us.
Already, in Decolonising Methodologies, Linda Smith has observed that research in the academia is “a site of struggle between the interests and ways of knowing of the West and the interests and ways of resisting of the Other” (2). Thus, looked at from a certain point of view, academic research in contemporary times can be described as nothing short of “fierce” encounters between the West and the Other, between the Orient and the Occident.
However, this research is not merely what Walter Rodney graphically identifies in How Europe Underdeveloped Africa as “a work about European oppressors and African victims” (xii); it is also not a documentation of guilts or accusations; rather, it is a careful examination of evidence as made manifest in selected literary texts. It highlights issues of racism as represented in the literary works of varying racial and cultural perspectives, but more pointedly in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah. Throughout, it considers both the obvious and subtle ways through which racism has continued to indiscernibly define and prefigure nearly all facets of Euro-America’s engagements with the Black man, and particularly, how racism shields the narrative voice in Heart of Darkness from relating a fair account of being of the natives in the text. As the work progresses, one witnesses a clear evidence to assert that stereotypical beliefs about the Black man still holds sway in the West of today; and that there seems to be deliberate effort at ensuring that these stereotypes unquestionably aspire to - and achieve - the status of truth and social acceptability. Anchored on the stipulations of post-colonial literary theory, this work therefore provides textual evidence with which to challenge the often unstated assumptions – both lay and academic – that racism is either being overhyped these days or has been completely eradicated.
Aside from arguing that Joseph Conrad’s narrative tells vigilant readers more about the West than it actually does about Africa, it questions the “neutrality” of the narrative voice in Heart of Darkness. And, consequently, calls for interpretive restructuring in the minds of the readers of the text.
As a reality check of some sort on racism, the work targets primarily at furthering ongoing debates on the discourse on racism; and this is borne out of a conviction that discussions on the subject ought not be a one-off task that is signed on and off at irregular intervals. Thus, this work is aimed at shedding new light on the complex and increasingly imperceptible ways of manifestation of racism as represented in these primary texts; in the end, though, it morphs into a rallying “cry” for all to, more than ever before, re-ignite interest in racism as a contemporary challenge which ought to relate conspicuously with Africa’s contemporary scholarship priorities.
THE USE OF ICT IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ORAL ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA EDUCATION ZONE
This research work set out to examine the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of oral English in secondary schools in Nsukka Education zone. The specific objectives of the study are: to determine the available ICT facilities for the teaching and learning of oral English in secondary schools in Nsukka Education zone; to determine the ICT skills possessed by oral English teachers and students; to find out the level of the use of ICT facilities by oral English teachers and students; to find out the benefits of ICT in the teaching and learning of oral English and to find out the obstacles to the effective use of ICT facilities in the teaching and learning of oral English. Relevant literature was reviewed. The population of the study was four hundred and fifty-two SSII students and twelve English language teachers randomly sampled from twelve secondary schools. Data was collected through questionnaire. Simple percentage was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that only a few ICT facilities are available in the secondary schools in Nsukka Education Zone. The subjects of the study agree that the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of oral English is beneficial. But, most of the oral English teachers and students do not use them because they do not posses ICT skills. It was generally discovered that effective use of ICT in the teaching and oral English in Nsukka Education zone was hampered by lack of knowledge of ICT, non-availability of computers for the class size, constant electric power failure, lack of trained personnel to handle ICT instructional materials, absence of language laboratories, non-possession of personal computer and access to internet facilities. Recommendations made include that the school administration should encourage government, individuals and NGOs to provide and/or donate ICT facilities to schools. The ICT facilities if provided and/or donated should be used during classroom interactions as the teachers and students should be adequately trained at cheaper or no cost for the proper utilization of the ICT facilities. This research work set out to examine the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of oral English in secondary schools in Nsukka Education zone. The specific objectives of the study are: to determine the available ICT facilities for the teaching and learning of oral English in secondary schools in Nsukka Education zone; to determine the ICT skills possessed by oral English teachers and students; to find out the level of the use of ICT facilities by oral English teachers and students; to find out the benefits of ICT in the teaching and learning of oral English and to find out the obstacles to the effective use of ICT facilities in the teaching and learning of oral English. Relevant literature was reviewed. The population of the study was four hundred and fifty-two SSII students and twelve English language teachers randomly sampled from twelve secondary schools. Data was collected through questionnaire. Simple percentage was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that only a few ICT facilities are available in the secondary schools in Nsukka Education Zone. The subjects of the study agree that the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of oral English is beneficial. But, most of the oral English teachers and students do not use them because they do not posses ICT skills. It was generally discovered that effective use of ICT in the teaching and oral English in Nsukka Education zone was hampered by lack of knowledge of ICT, non-availability of computers for the class size, constant electric power failure, lack of trained personnel to handle ICT instructional materials, absence of language laboratories, non-possession of personal computer and access to internet facilities. Recommendations made include that the school administration should encourage government, individuals and NGOs to provide and/or donate ICT facilities to schools. The ICT facilities if provided and/or donated should be used during classroom interactions as the teachers and students should be adequately trained at cheaper or no cost for the proper utilization of the ICT facilities.
Co-administration of Na-EDTA and Diminazene Aceturate (DA) to Mice Infected with DA-resistant Trypanosoma brucei
Co-administration of Na-EDTA and Diminazene Aceturate
(DA) to Mice Infected with DA-resistant Trypanosoma brucei
i THE TRAGIC AND THE SUPERNATURAL IN ELECHI AMADI’S THE GREAT PONDS AND THE CONCUBINE.
The tragic and the supernatural are key issues in African literature. The sense of the tragic is embedded in the belief that man is not happy by nature. The concept of the supernatural and the tragic have been explored by writers and critics of African literature from different perspectives. This study however looks at the tragic as a mode of experience. The influence of fatalism on the characters in the selected texts suggests that man is helpless before external powers that determine his destiny. The actions and inactions of the characters bring them to the fulfillment of their destinies. Amadi in the selected texts presents the supernatural as a force that regulates the activities of men within his fictional world. The researcher’s examination of concepts such as the quest myth, fatalism and determinism brings to the fore the relationship between the tragic and the supernatural.
The tragic and the supernatural are key issues in African literature. The sense of the tragic is embedded in the belief that man is not happy by nature. The concept of the supernatural and the tragic have been explored by writers and critics of African literature from different perspectives. This study however looks at the tragic as a mode of experience. The influence of fatalism on the characters in the selected texts suggests that man is helpless before external powers that determine his destiny. The actions and inactions of the characters bring them to the fulfillment of their destinies. Amadi in the selected texts presents the supernatural as a force that regulates the activities of men within his fictional world. The researcher’s examination of concepts such as the quest myth, fatalism and determinism brings to the fore the relationship between the tragic and the supernatural.
HOMOSEXUALITY IN JUDE DIBIA’S WALKING WITH SHADOWS AND WOLE SOYINKA’S THE INTERPRETERS
The theme of homosexuality though still in its infant stage in African literature is one worthy of serious academic attention and exploration as it has become quite topical in recent times the world over. Over the years, there have been several portrayals of gayness in African works and that is what this research investigated in Jude Dibia‘s Walking with Shadows and Wole Soyinka‘s The Interpreters. Until recently, African authors have always represented gayness in the negative light and unsympathetically. It has however been discovered that currently a few African works have portrayed it positively and even sympathetically as could be seen in Jude Dibia‘s Walking with Shadows. The two main portrayals of gayness in African literature are sympathetic/positive portrayal and unsympathetic/negative portrayal which the two Nigeria works under study Jude Dibia‘s Walking with Shadows and Wole Soyinka‘s The Interpreters represent respectively. The duo portray homosexuality in two opposite directions; sympathetically and unsympathetically respectively. Both authors made extensive use of literary devices in portraying homosexuality in their individual novels. This research work looked at the following as it discussed the subject of homosexuality in the selected texts: how gayness emerge in the selected works, what goes on in the minds of some of the characters especially the gay and of course the attitude of the other characters towards the gay. This research work did a psychoanalytical study of some characters in the texts in order to understand the thoughts of the key players in the individual texts and their attitudes toward gayness.The theme of homosexuality though still in its infant stage in African literature is one worthy of serious academic attention and exploration as it has become quite topical in recent times the world over. Over the years, there have been several portrayals of gayness in African works and that is what this research investigated in Jude Dibia‘s Walking with Shadows and Wole Soyinka‘s The Interpreters. Until recently, African authors have always represented gayness in the negative light and unsympathetically. It has however been discovered that currently a few African works have portrayed it positively and even sympathetically as could be seen in Jude Dibia‘s Walking with Shadows. The two main portrayals of gayness in African literature are sympathetic/positive portrayal and unsympathetic/negative portrayal which the two Nigeria works under study Jude Dibia‘s Walking with Shadows and Wole Soyinka‘s The Interpreters represent respectively. The duo portray homosexuality in two opposite directions; sympathetically and unsympathetically respectively. Both authors made extensive use of literary devices in portraying homosexuality in their individual novels. This research work looked at the following as it discussed the subject of homosexuality in the selected texts: how gayness emerge in the selected works, what goes on in the minds of some of the characters especially the gay and of course the attitude of the other characters towards the gay. This research work did a psychoanalytical study of some characters in the texts in order to understand the thoughts of the key players in the individual texts and their attitudes toward gayness.
A New and Simple Method of Confirmatory Detection of Mating in Albino Rats (Rattus norvegicus)
A New and Simple Method of Confirmatory Detection of Mating in Albino Rats (Rattus norvegicus)
CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED POLITICAL CAMPAIGN SPEECHES OF GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA 2007-2014
Previous studies on campaign speeches in Nigeria have tended to be a description and analysis of style, innovative and persuasive strategies of politicians, and manipulation of linguistic structures to champion individual interest in presidential election campaign speeches. There is the need to investigate how texts reproduce and sustain power and unequal power relations in campaign texts and how ideological or political undertone was projected in gubernatorial campaign speeches. The study uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the role of language in creating and sustaining power relations as well as ideological structures in South-Western Nigeria. These power relations are created, enacted and legitimated by the application of certain linguistic devices. The researcher attempts to unravel hidden meanings and connotations of power in selected gubernatorial campaign speeches in South-Western zone namely: Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo and Osun states. The data for the study were purposively sampled from gubernatorial campaign speeches made in the four states during the 4th republic precisely 2007 - 2014. A total of eight speeches (two from each gubernatorial candidate of Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo and Osun state) were sampled and analyzed. The study drew from Fairclough‟s (2001) Members‟ Resources (MR), Van Dijk‟s socio-cognitive approach (2004), and principles from Halliday‟s system of mood and modality as theoretical bases. The findings show that the South-Western gubernatorial aspirants deployed language as a strategy of domination and supremacy by exploiting lexical items and strong imperatives which allow them to impose their views on others. They created, by means of their campaign texts, asymmetrical power relations of privileged „we‟ and less privileged „others‟. Another form of dominance or power abuse is mind control which is also a form of manipulation through interference with processes of understanding the formation of biased mental models and social representations. This is mainly achieved through persuasion, coercion, and information- giving strategies. Thus, the candidates employ certain declaratives to neutralize the asymmetrical power relations that exist between them and the electorate when they want to liberalise power. This, usually, had the effect of reducing the authority of the candidate. The aspirants also used discourse structures that have implications for ideology as weapons of persuasion and pleading, positive self-representation of „us‟ and negative other representation of „them‟, negotiation and personality projection. Additionally, the findings also reflect figurative expressions that are implicitly used to project different ideological positions of the aspirants. The figurative expressions predominantly used were metaphor, mainly metaphor of religion, time, journey, sports, violence and animal innovations which were used to project positive ideology of self and negative ideology of the other. There were also instances of linguistic items like idiomatic expressions, parallel structures, hyperbolic expressions and rhetorical devices used to unfold hidden ideological meanings. In the sampled data, there are some linguistic items which need to be drawn from the speakers‟ cognition, and this can be accounted for by Fairclough‟s Members‟ Resources. Based on these findings, the researcher recommends that text producers and consumers should be aware of the hidden ideologies and coercive elements in
ABSTRACT
xi
texts, and this will inspire them on how to use and accept certain discursive practices. Such empowerment is important to enable the people to determine the true interests of the speeches and for them to be more active and less gullible citizens. The study, therefore, concludes that in actual sense, the plethora of texts produced, distributed and consumed in the 2007-2014 gubernatorial electioneering campaigns in the South-Western Nigeria not only promoted asymmetrical power relations, they also produced, reproduced, legitimized and maintained social structures that sustain domination.Previous studies on campaign speeches in Nigeria have tended to be a description and analysis of style, innovative and persuasive strategies of politicians, and manipulation of linguistic structures to champion individual interest in presidential election campaign speeches. There is the need to investigate how texts reproduce and sustain power and unequal power relations in campaign texts and how ideological or political undertone was projected in gubernatorial campaign speeches. The study uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the role of language in creating and sustaining power relations as well as ideological structures in South-Western Nigeria. These power relations are created, enacted and legitimated by the application of certain linguistic devices. The researcher attempts to unravel hidden meanings and connotations of power in selected gubernatorial campaign speeches in South-Western zone namely: Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo and Osun states. The data for the study were purposively sampled from gubernatorial campaign speeches made in the four states during the 4th republic precisely 2007 - 2014. A total of eight speeches (two from each gubernatorial candidate of Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo and Osun state) were sampled and analyzed. The study drew from Fairclough‟s (2001) Members‟ Resources (MR), Van Dijk‟s socio-cognitive approach (2004), and principles from Halliday‟s system of mood and modality as theoretical bases. The findings show that the South-Western gubernatorial aspirants deployed language as a strategy of domination and supremacy by exploiting lexical items and strong imperatives which allow them to impose their views on others. They created, by means of their campaign texts, asymmetrical power relations of privileged „we‟ and less privileged „others‟. Another form of dominance or power abuse is mind control which is also a form of manipulation through interference with processes of understanding the formation of biased mental models and social representations. This is mainly achieved through persuasion, coercion, and information- giving strategies. Thus, the candidates employ certain declaratives to neutralize the asymmetrical power relations that exist between them and the electorate when they want to liberalise power. This, usually, had the effect of reducing the authority of the candidate. The aspirants also used discourse structures that have implications for ideology as weapons of persuasion and pleading, positive self-representation of „us‟ and negative other representation of „them‟, negotiation and personality projection. Additionally, the findings also reflect figurative expressions that are implicitly used to project different ideological positions of the aspirants. The figurative expressions predominantly used were metaphor, mainly metaphor of religion, time, journey, sports, violence and animal innovations which were used to project positive ideology of self and negative ideology of the other. There were also instances of linguistic items like idiomatic expressions, parallel structures, hyperbolic expressions and rhetorical devices used to unfold hidden ideological meanings. In the sampled data, there are some linguistic items which need to be drawn from the speakers‟ cognition, and this can be accounted for by Fairclough‟s Members‟ Resources. Based on these findings, the researcher recommends that text producers and consumers should be aware of the hidden ideologies and coercive elements in
ABSTRACT
xi
texts, and this will inspire them on how to use and accept certain discursive practices. Such empowerment is important to enable the people to determine the true interests of the speeches and for them to be more active and less gullible citizens. The study, therefore, concludes that in actual sense, the plethora of texts produced, distributed and consumed in the 2007-2014 gubernatorial electioneering campaigns in the South-Western Nigeria not only promoted asymmetrical power relations, they also produced, reproduced, legitimized and maintained social structures that sustain domination.
Contamination of Drinking Water with Inorganic Fertilizer: Effects on Reproductive Performance
Contamination of Drinking Water with Inorganic Fertilizer:
Effects on Reproductive Performance
The Anti-Inflammatory Activities of The Leaf Chloroform Extract of Palisota hirsute (K. Schum).
Ten plant samples were screened for topical anti-inflamniaory activity. Pdi.ra/n hi~w,ule af
(Fmily: Commelinaceae) gave the highest nctlvlty. A gradient solvent extraction of the leaf
wils conducted using petroleum ether (40" - 60"). cliloroforcn and methanol respectivel~.T he
dit'fcrent fractions were tested for anti-~nflarnrnalot-y activ~ty, and the chlorofor~n estract
showed the highest effcct. It was thcn subjected to f~~rtlieanr ti-inflanimatory and analgesic
tec15. using both topical and oral routes. All doses ofthe extract ( 1 00. 200, 300 and 400 pgikg)
siyniticantly (P
Proceedings of a Regional Seminar Held by the International Foundation for Science
Proceedings of a Regional Seminar Held by the
International Foundation for Science
