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Women in Islam explores the complexities of gender relations in Muslim communities in the Horn of Africa and beyond, engaging critically with the social, political and cultural challenges associated with the intersection of Islam and gender. With an eclectic selection of essays, academic papers, opinion pieces and personal narratives punctuated with poetry and art, the journal seeks to spark creative and forward-looking discussions on how to effectively improve the status of women in Muslim societies. Women in Islam is published annually by SIHA, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa. Issue One of Women in Islam includes investigations of social issues, profiles of inspiring women, book and film reviews, and opinion pieces. The theme of the dossier, 'Unveiling Hijab', includes a selection of in-depth articles on the hijab and the practice of veiling. Highlights include an introduction to the life and work of Amina Wadud, a discussion of masculinity and fatherhood in a Muslim context, and reflections on what it means to be a 'moderate' Muslim today.
The birth of a new nation is an exciting time. Mick Bond spent the years 1962-73 as a District Officer and a District Commissioner, actively participating in the demise of the colonial regime and then as a civil servant in independent Zambia. This detailed account of his life and work includes the daily routine of a colonial officer, his personal experiences of the 1964 Lumpa conflict and his involvement in the elections of 1962, 1964, and 1968.
Ask the Stars
(2014)
In Ask the Stars, Titus Mutuiria remembers how at the age of ten he seemed to lead a normal life of sibling rivalry with Njorua, Antonnina and Sarah until some events from their past threaten to rewrite his life. Njorua and Antonnina learn that Mutumia Mutana, the mother they have always known is not their biological mother while Titus learns that Muthuri Mukaru is not the biological father of himself and Sarah. What follows is a gripping story of jealousy, fear, loyalty, friendship and love as the siblings grow and confront an array of challenges as the family forge solutions to the troubles that beset them. The story of young love between Titus and Joan and the actions of a lurking rapist in the village bring added dimensions to the story, showing that things are not always what they seem. Eventually, the teenagers and their parents must nurture a love that strengthens their family and that also brings sanity to the village.
Was Nyakeera my Father
(2014)
Eavesdropping on his parents, James Kirika, a fifteen-year-old teenager, hears a conversation that suggests that he is not the biological son of the man he calls 'Father'. This realisation sends him into a tortured search for the man who brought him into this world. Things get complicated when the chief source of information, his old and hallucinating grandmother, gives him a fuzzy lead. Does he ever find out the truth?
Fifty Years of Kiswahili in Kenya is a collection of articles that were presented at an international Kiswahili conference organized by the National Kiswahili Association (CHAKITA) Kenya in 2013, which was held at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). A few articles are however from a similar conference held in 2012 at Kenyatta University. The book exemplifies the importance of the Kiswahili language in various sectors of society. Therefore, within this book you will find articles that focus on the teaching of the Kiswahili language; Kiswahili as a tool for national economic development; the contribution of Kiswahili to national cohesion and integration; Kiswahili research in language and literature; Kiswahili and portrayal of women; children's literature in Kiswahili; and how Sheng affects Kiswahili. In short, the articles herein are a testimony of how Kiswahili has developed in the last fifty years in Kenya. This is a very important book for Kiswahili students and teachers. It is also an invaluable text for Kiswahili enthusiasts and all those who recognize its contribution to society.
God was African
(2014)
When Kendem, a varsity instructor, returns to his native Lewoh countryside where he spent his childhood, he is seeking relief from the complexity of human civilization after attending the Fulbright Institute in the United States. Instead, he is confronted with two seething issues: how to reveal to his sick and troubled mother the situation in which he finds his elder brother, the successor of Mbe Tanju-Ngong's household, who travelled to the United States many years before and had never returned and the dispute over Fuo Beyano's funeral which is tearing the land apart, whether the deceased village chief, should be given a Christian burial or he should, according to the age-old tradition of Lewoh people, go through a ritual to enable him return and continue ruling his people.
Before the Rainbow
(2014)
Emmanuel Fru Doh, a native of Cameroon, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He taught at the University of Yaounde (E.N.S. Bambili) for almost a decade-the 90s-before leaving for the US. He then had a brief stint as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota before settling into the Department of English at Century, a College within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) System. Poet, novelist, social and literary critic, Emmanuel Fru Doh is the author of Nomads: The Memoir of a Southern Cameroonian.
In the 1980s, the University of Cape Town s social anthropology department was predominantly oriented by an expos style of critical scholarship. The enemy was the apartheid state, the ethical imperative was clear and a combative metaphor for doing research motivated the department. Andrew David Spiegel, known affectionately as Mugsy by his students and colleagues, has been a central, if understated, figure of this history and helped to frame the theoretical charge of a generation of students looking to counter apartheid from inside . In a series of interviews between the senior professor and one of his students Jessica Dickson Spiegel offers a unique perspective from the centre of anthropology s recent history in South Africa.
On March 8, 2007, one of Cameroon's foremost scholars died in a ghastly traffic accident barely hours after launching his most forthright and acerbic collection of poems: Disgrace: Autobiographical Narcissus. Dr. Bate Besong was a social activist, a critic, troubadour, and playwright; an avant-garde, steeped in the tradition of the absurd, who fought against the corrupt system of governance that transmuted Cameroonians into a comatose and apathetic citizenry neutered by fear engendered by the workings of an existing Gestapo. For the first time, Emmanuel Fru Doh has gone beyond an analysis of Besong's plays into giving an in-depth appraisal of his poems which have, for a long time, held back critics because of their opacity. Doh examines each of Besong's plays and collections of poems in separate sections and succeeds in setting Besong's work in perspective - mindful of their concerns and
Divining the Future of Africa : Healing the Wounds, Restoring Dignity and Fostering Development
(2014)
This book explores the relationship between Africa, the West and China. It notes that while Africa is a continent of diverse cultures, raw materials, human resource, indigenous knowledges, and above all the biggest recipient of foreign aid globally, it continues to lag behind all regions of the world in terms of socio-economic development. The book grapples with the important question on why this has been the case. It provides crucial critical insights on how Africa's situation could be reversed and the tapestry of its socio-economic problems eased. The book draws a link between culture, globalisation and socio-economic development, breaking new grounds in the discourse on development in post-colonial Africa. This is an incisive clarion call to bypass the outlandish claims and sterile discussions on the parodying of Africa by Euro-centric scholars. It is a contribution on the imperative to re-think the future of development in Africa. It makes a compelling argument by self-reliant development processes in which Africans reclaim their voice, independence and autonomy unapologetically. The book provides some grist for the mills of policy makers, institutional planners, practitioners and students of anthropology, political studies, sociology, economic history, local governance, cultural economics, and gender, development, African, heritage and international studies.
The Rising Sun and Boma
(2014)
The Rising Sun and Boma interrogate social evils such as moral decadence, corruption, and greed that are rife in the Cameroonian society. In both plays, Ipah, Paddy, Dinna, and Boma, for example, exemplify how waywardness and avarice can subvert moral integrity. At the same time, the plays problematise the intersection of tradition and modernity, articulating the tension inherent in both visions of life. Although the moral landscape of the drama appears sordid, characters like Abu Ipah and Joseph enkindle hope. Initially performed seventeen years ago, the plays are still as poignant as they are didactic and hilarious as they are refreshing. The characters are credible and compelling partly because of the felicitous language that is anchored in the local imagery.
From his first research there in 1959 until shortly before his death in 2010, Victor Le Vine was a major Cameroon scholar. What he wrote during Cameroon's first half-century of independence carries implications for the years ahead. This volume introduces and presents eight of his short writings, 1961-2007, five never previously published. They demonstrate his mastery of the intricacies and the sweep of the country's governance history, and both his own and Cameroon's importance for African Studies at large.
Searching for Bate Besong
(2014)
The future of the country in Searching for Bate Besong is compromised by irresponsible leadership, falsehoods, blind tyranny, waste, and lawlessness. Visionaries like Dockinta (a literary incarnation of Bate Besong, one of Cameroon's most fiery and revolutionary authors) who try to question or expose the status-quo are incarcerated and tortured by the brute forces of dictatorship. It however only needs the strong will and audacity, the messianic self-sacrifice and determination (which are the values Dockinta incarnates), to expose, ridicule and destroy power drunkenness. This play is sine qua non to searching for the collective memory of a community marginalized and subjugated by successive regimes of exploitation and repression. It promises the rediscovery of the dignity and destiny of an active volcano wrongfully rendered docile. The Search will liberate a people who agonized from the whips by the Germans, the hypocrisy of the British, the outright exploitation of the French and the eternal domination of La Republique du Cameroun. The search will culminate in liberating not only Cameroonians, but Africa from corruption, nepotism, tribalism, organized crime, wars and the abuse of basic human rights and freedoms.
In Chains for My Country is an account of the struggle of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), a nonviolent liberation movement, to wrestle British Southern Cameroons from the colonial claws of la République du Cameroun. It is an epic and thrilling account of the life of British Southern Cameroons, which passed from colonial rule to foreign domination through annexation and attempted assimilation into neighbouring la République du Cameroun. Under British trusteeship, British Southern Cameroons graduated to self-government in 1954 with all hopes of independence. Instead, the Trust Territory was doomed to subservience in a contested union with la République du Cameroun. Failure to implement United Nations Resolution 1608 of April 1961 to establish the envisioned federation of two states equal in status facilitated la République du Cameroun's annexation and colonial occupation of a defenseless United Nations Trust as Britain withdrew all its personnel and forces. The territory has been reduced to two provinces of la République du Cameroun under the rule of proconsuls backed by an imperial occupation force with an agenda of nipping in the bud any resistance.
This prolific collection of essays, with contributions from scholars from across several disciplines, on the practice and implications of naming 'Nomenclatural Poetization and Globalization' explores diverse concerns in onomastics, such as cultural and ethnic implications as well as individual identity formation processes in the age of Globalization and extends these to a variety of contemporary theories of appreciation and internationalization.
What does it mean to be marginal? For residents of Cape Town?s Langa Township, being considered marginal is subject to a host of social, physical and sometimes materialistic qualifications ? not least of which is owning a mobile phone. Through various presentations of unique aspects of township life revealed through ethnographic snapshots, this book reveals the complex realities of marginalization experienced by some residents in Langa Township, located in Cape Town, South Africa. Mobile phones have been embraced and accommodated by both local South Africans and African immigrant residents living and working in Langa. Among other things, the technology has become a way of challenging (real and imagined) marginalities within the township in particular and South Africa in general. The book provides empirical data on the role of technology in regards to migration and notions of belonging; specifically the ways that technology has mitigated distance for residents, provided opportunities for development, facilitated the negotiation of various marginalities, and offered new ways of belonging for Langa residents.
Africa's dynamic security environment is characterized by great diversity - from conventional challenges such as insurgencies, resource and identity conflicts, and post-conflict stabilization to growing threats from piracy, narcotics trafficking, violent extremism, and organized crime taking root in urban slums, among others. This precarious environment jeopardizes security at the societal, community and individual levels. In a globalized and interconnected world, millions of people worldwide are affected by some form of human insecurity. Infectious and parasitic diseases annually kill millions. Internally displaced persons number millions, including 5 million in Sudan alone. In Zambia 1 million people in a population of 11 million are reported to be HIV-positive, a situation much worse in other countries. Potable water crisis looms almost everywhere. In this book Tatah Mentan points out the need to shift the focus away from a state-centric and military-strategic emphasis on security to an interdisciplinary and people-centric approach that embraces notions like global citizenship, empowerment and participation. The primary elements of economic, food, health, environment, personal, community and political security all comprise the broader understanding of human security in an intricately interconnected world.
This book is an ethnographic study of a group of migrants in Cape Town from Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It seeks to understand how migrants overcome structural exclusion by forming and maintaining convivial relationships through the Bay Community Church and how this is facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The book argues that ICTs are implicated in the negotiation of conviviality. ICTs allow for a negotiation of intimacy and distance; although their functions may facilitate more contact than is desired or further distance those already separated physically. This book interrogates the strict division between 'insiders' and 'outsiders' and highlights that migrants are able to sustain multiple networks and relationships, linking their home and host countries. Despite increasingly strict border control and animosity from host communities, migrants are able to overcome imposed identities such as 'outsider'. They do so by using ICTs such as cell phones and Facebook to emphasise their Christian identity, which is one of the main factors for inclusion in church-based networks. Membership with a mixed denominational church such as the Bay further challenges the notion that migrants stick to themselves. Inclusive communities such as the Bay and everyday desires for conviviality evoke the need to reconsider policies too narrowly articulated around the dichotomisation of 'foreigners' and 'nationals', 'home' and 'away', 'us' and 'them'.
Cameroon's Predicaments
(2014)
This book deals with a variety of socio-cultural, economic and political problems facing Cameroon and the rest of Africa, with particular reference to unemployment, corruption, poverty, criminality, violence, insecurity, and moral decadence. It presents a critical analysis of government policies from the colonial era to the present time; arguing that most of these policies have been stalled by an uncommitted leadership. The regime in Cameroon has drifted away from basic managerial and democratic principles in in favour of the ethnicisation of politics, sterile consumption, clientelism and patronage. The book contends that corruption has become the main instrument of governance whereby the political and economic elites control the wealth of the nation at the expense of a majority who wallow in abject poverty and misery. Faced with the difficult economic and political situation, most youth and the intelligentsia have adopted ?official and ?unofficial? means to circumvent all immigration rules to travel to affluent Western countries, the consequences notwithstanding. Brain drain is often the outcome. Further, it examines issues of social exclusion, political representation and marginalization with special focus on the predicament of Anglophone Cameroonians as a socio-cultural community. The inclusion of examples and case studies based on empirical and secondary data from Africa is intended to foreground the importance of comparison, and attract the interest of both academic and non-academic readership.
Faith conversion experiences are first of all personal before being universal. While biblical history records relatively few conversion encounters as dramatic and as explosive as Saint Paul's on the road to Damascus, it is not rare for individuals in the throes of a religious conversion to fall prey to intensely agonizing confusion. That is what happened to Martin Jumbam when he marched for peace in his country alongside the charismatic and irrepressible Emeritus Archbishop of Douala in Cameroon, Christian Cardinal Tumi. He joined the prelate as a secular journalist but went back home more than ever conscious of his state as a fallen Christian, the first step in his journey of faith. Since then, all his writing, be it secular or religious, now bears the fruits of that encounter, characterized by intense empathy for the human person. This book recounts the myriad ways Jumbam's encounters with Christian Cardinal Tumi have activated, nourished and inspired his faith.
This book is about home. With Malawi as its focus, it seeks to understand ideas about home as expressed through poetry written by Malawians in English. Although African Literatures are studied those of Malawi have not received agreeable attention. This book surveys poetry by five Malawian writers - Felix Mnthali, Frank Chipasula, Jack Mapanje, Lupenga Mphande, and Steve Chimombo. The discussion negotiates scribed experience of exile, engendered by Dr. Banda's regime, and shows that the selected poets effectively converse with a sense of home, reflecting on its transformations in their work. Interrogating the strict definitions of home, the argument highlights that far from home-less exiles in fact clarify the sense of what 'home' is. The manoeuvre is one of thinking towards an unboundaried 'home'. This book will be of value not only to readers interested in the cultures of Africa but to all those with an interest in worldwide literary phenomena, and ideas therein of home and exile.
How does one think about the form of the State in its management of conflicting ethnic groups in positive light in Africa in the present and in the future? Ethnic reality in Africa continues to be the principal determining factor of individual and collective existence, constituting an obstacle to the normal operation of its States, which often fail or collapse. In the global era, the re-organisation of power and of thought in plural societies leads to socio-political and geopolitical stabilisation. The author here argues for the implementation of 'deliberative democracy' or 'governance under the tree' as a synthesis of liberal and republican democracy based on the 'win-win' principle, different from majoritarian democracy where the 'winner takes all'. The theory of the multinational state thus proposes a constitutional, political and conceptual innovation in the plural societies of the 21st century: it entails restructuring the imagination to allow a global shift in African political thought, its needs, desires, quests, expectations and hopes.
Touring Girls
(2014)
Touring Girls tells the story of Jacob Mbuy a young Cameroonian whose primary objective in life is having affairs with as many women as possible. He is obsessed with abusing young girls as well as instilling hopeless hope in adult women. His demise comes when he changes his world from the Christian to the Moslem world where he confronts a new type of women who behave strangely and cannot dance to his tunes. Protected by Islamic traditions and strict government laws, Jacob lands into a hell of unprecedented problems.
Reading through the Charcoal Industry in Ethiopia : Production, Marketing, Consumption and Impact
(2014)
Studies in many African countries show that charcoal making is among the primary drivers of deforestation and subsequent land degradation. In the case of Ethiopia, charcoal is produced from state-owned (public) forests and woodlands. There is little regulatory intervention from the government side. Moreover, production is more traditional and the producers have little idea that charcoal can be produced efficiently with modern technologies. Although charcoal meets significant portion of urban households' energy needs in the country, and also support the livelihood of tens of thousands of rural households, it hardly attracted the attention of policy makers and development agents. A good majority of urban population who use charcoal on regular basis doesn't seem to know how charcoal is made, from where it comes, and its adverse environmental impacts. In cognizant of the potential environmental impact of charcoal production and marketing in the country, FSS commissioned this study with the objective to understand the environmental, social and economic implications of charcoal production, marketing and consumption in Ethiopia with aim to generate/increase awareness among the general public and incite a policy debate among concerned key stakeholders.
The impact of international migration, both South-South as well as South-North, on the economic, social and political life of the people in Eastern and Southern Africa [was] not well documented and studied,- and 'the evidence-base for policy on migration and development [was] very weak.' With this in mind, OSSREA's invitation to conduct a study on international migration in Africa had the following objectives: To analyze the nature and type of South-South migration, focusing on issues, such as brain gain and/or brain drain, remittance flows, technical know-how transfers, violations of the right of African migrants and gender dimensions of migration; To investigate the dynamics of migration from Eastern and Southern Africa to the Arab Gulf States as well as to developed countries, focusing on the skills of migrants, brain gain and/or drain, remittance flows, technical know-how transfers, violations of the rights of African migrants and gender dimension of migrants; and to assess the successes, impediments and challenges of African international migrants from Eastern and Southern Africa and to formulate policy recommendations to maximize the gains and minimize the costs associated with international migration in Africa.
The Namibian Constitution entrenches fundamental rights and freedoms, and provides for their vertical and horizontal application in any criminal process. However, since Independence in 1990, Namibia has developed its own criminal jurisprudence. Criminal procedure and law are taking new shape. Namibian courts have pronounced on criminal issues, and legislation has been passed to keep up with the demands, aspirations, spirit, and vision of the Namibian Constitution and its people. CLEVER MAPAURE, NDJODI NDEUNYEMA, PILISANO MASAKE, FESTUS WEYULU and LOIDE SHAPARARA have written an invaluable book that deals with these developments. It explains the rights of individuals, the duties of law enforcement officers, and the procedures of the courts in criminal cases. The Law of Pre-Trial Criminal Procedure in Namibia introduces readers to the fundamental principles and values underlying Namibian criminal law, through a systematic examination of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977) as amended, which was originally passed by the legislature of South Africa, and still regulates criminal procedure in Namibia, the amendments to it since 1990, and relevant Namibian Case Law. The book captures and discusses the law relating to the pre-trial criminal process in Namibia in detail, from the roles of the prosecutor and the police, search, seizure and forfeiture, interrogation, notices and summons, arrest, court appearance, bail, criminal charges, disclosure, diminished capacity, right to assistance, to pleas and plea-bargaining.
Ruminations of Ipome
(2014)
Breadth taking in range of subject explored and profound in depth of emotions evoked, this collection of poems chronicles different shades of emotions resulting from personal loss and love, as well as celebrates and critiques issues of culture, nature, place, people, ethics, and politics. The language is luminous and honed by refreshing and suggestive imagery.
Elizabeth Stirredge's spiritual autobiography is a treasury of spiritual wisdom which paints all that which is needed to be a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and how God in His might works, transforms, and supports an ordinary soul to lead the life of extraordinary faithfulness. The text highlights Stirredge's intimate conviction as well as that of early Quakers. This translation is a welcomed venture because this is a central piece, deserving of much more attention than that which has been accorded to it until now.
African Cultures, Memory and Space is an impeccable volume that powerfully grapples with a gamut of cultural heritage issues, challenges and problems from a vista of inter- and multi-disciplinary approach. The book, which is designed as a foundational text to the study of culture in ever-changing environments, makes an important argument that the dynamism of culture in highly globalised societies such as that of Zimbabwe can be studied from any perspective, but most importantly through careful examination of cultural elements such as memory, oral history and space, among others. While the book makes special reference to Zimbabwe, it profoundly and audaciously dissect and cut across different geographical and cultural spaces through its penetrating interrogation and scrutiny of different issues commonplace in many African contexts and even beyond. The book, written by scholars from different backgrounds and orientations, should appeal to scholars, researchers and students from various disciplines which include but not limited to Cultural Heritage Studies, Policy Studies, Social-Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, Development Studies and African Studies.
Tiger in an African palace collects eight essays about kinship and belonging that Richard Fardon wrote to complement his monographs on West Africa. The essays extend those book-length descriptions by pursuing their wider implications for theory in social anthropology: exploring the relationship between comparison and historical reconstruction, and questioning the fit between personal, ethnic and cosmopolitan identities in contemporary West African nations. In an Introduction written specially for this Langaa collection, Richard Fardon retraces the career-long development of his preoccupation with concepts of identification and transformation, and their relevance to understanding West African societies comparatively and historically.
This study raises awareness to the emergence of a new genre in world literature?hybridized literature. It rejects the assumption according to which literatures written in less commonly taught languages should be subsumed into one universally accessible global idiom. Instead, Vakunta challenges literary scholars and readers of literature to regard untranslatability as the key to cross-cultural engagement. The book?s multiple approaches and innumerable sources generate complex interdisciplinary connections and provide an excellent introduction to a complex literary phenomenon alien to literati resident outside the officially bilingual multicultural and multilingual Republic of Cameroon.
Day and Night in Limbo
(2014)
With humour, insight and irony, Lonkog recounts the joys and contradictions of daily life in a Northern Cameroon village. Living in Carrefour Poli in Northern Cameroon was never easy. How far will one have to go for drinking water during the dry season? Will there be money for kerosene to fill the lamp tank? For batteries for the torch? For a bowl of corn to make 'fufu' for the family? Will there be a night encounter with the poison of a snake or scorpion? The man of Carrefour Poli imagines when he last had a bottle of beer and when he will next have another. Children sit in class staring at the teacher, while their work suffers. People sit under trees for shade only to cut them down for firewood. Ministers run up and down, working very hard and sweating, but little changes. Day and night people turn around on the same spot. It takes a long time to build a nation. Everything is in limbo.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Third World governments prescribed and imposed a certain kind of journalism variously called 'objective' journalism or 'development journalism'. They understood this as journalism restricted to reporting 'facts' as dished out by their propagandists and did not tolerate the questioning of government policy. By 'development journalism', they meant the mere reporting of government efforts to provide services, amenities and infrastructures and the singing of praises anytime a bridge was inaugurated, irrespective of whether it was well-built or whether the contract to build was awarded according to the norms of transparency and probity. This one-sided journalism was prevalent especially in state-owned media and media practitioners in the few private news publications that existed who did not toe the line were subjected to constant harassment and incarceration. However, with the coming of well-trained journalism graduates into the scene in the 1970s and the advent of global liberalization in the late 1980s and 1990s, daring journalists like Sam-Nuvala Fonkem thought it was time to take the bull by the horn and start taking a more critical look at government pronouncements, matching policy statements with real action in the field; in short, moving from 'objective' journalism to interpretative and investigative journalism. This collection of Sam-Nuvala Fonkem's writings is a sampling of the fruit of that new spirit to dare where angels hitherto feared to tread, to hold public officials to account and to expose the falsehood cached behind the political masquerade of the ruling class.
Kids: Africa in Childhood Poetry powerfully conveys the wishful thinking, imaginations, experiences and critical reflections of children as they grow up. The volume grapples with a wide range of topics, sensations, encounters, emotions, imaginations and vistas commonplace in the psyche of many children across different geographical and cultural spaces. While the audacity of Mawere's poetry finds its basis in the poet's profound ability to uncover a multi-layered journey of childhood to adulthood, its merit lies in the character building, psychological, axiological and pedagogical lessons it imparts in today's youths: it teaches the youths the values of moral rectitude, critical observation and thinking, and careful questioning and reflection. This is a collection for all parents, teachers and the youths of between ages 5-18 who cherish a world ruled by peace and unconditional love of all by all.
The Clash of the Titans and Other Short Stories is a sundry, marvellous collection of short stories that reflect and capture diverse life experiences. Mabeza and Mawere offer with great dexterousness a snapshot, richness, and practical potentialities of childhood to adulthood experiences in shaping, inspiring and influencing moral rectitude, industriousness and determination. This is an incisive and invigorating exposé steeped in candour and earnestness. For aficionados of creative writing, cognoscenti, students and instructors of English Literature, this is a collection to enjoy and cherish.
Kpewi Durorp is the third attempt at bringing Durorp into the public domain, and is a more detailed introduction to the language. It contains sixteen chapters which address important elements of grammar, with some including mini bilingual dictionaries, with words organised not alphabetically but thematically, with the singular aim of facilitating learning and easy acquisition of the language. Durorp is an interesting and linguistically distinct semi-Bantu or Bantoid language spoken by a minority group of people known as Bororp or people of the Kororp ethnic group. A part of this ethnic group inhabits the Southwestern part of Cameroon while the other occupies the Southeastern tip of Nigeria. A minority group, Kororp has continued to suffer not only cultural and socio-economic shrinkage but also linguistic marginalisation characterised by an obvious erosion of some key elements of the language. Like any other language, however, Durorp has borrowings from languages such as Efik, Ejagham, and even English. There is a Durorp-English Dictionary to facilitate the development of Durorp vocabulary (Langaa, 2013).
The Kenyan population is highly concentrated in urban centres, leading to increased social, economic and environmental strains, with a significant percentage of urban dwellers living in sprawling slums. Urban development is increasingly a major focus, especially in the fight against urban sustainability problems. There is little practical orientation in the academic literature for the growing gap between the rich and poor. Current literature is enormously concerned with resource use and environmental pressures, paying scant attention to the nexus between urban sustainability and empowerment of the urban poor. This book initiates debates on the segment of urban population often referred to as 'the bottom of the pyramid (BOP)', by analysing the microfinance innovation following evaluation of the impacts of access to microfinance and financial training and the implications to urban sustainability in Kenya. The main conclusion reached is that microfinance has an instrumental role to play in promoting sustainable urban development as it supports social welfare improvement and increases the livelihood of participants, business development and urban sustainability to a certain extent, thereby empowering the urban poor in contributing to poverty alleviation.
Building on Fossungu's earlier works, and essentially providing Africa with original, critical, and multi-level analyses of the trio of globalization, democracy, and national determination, this book theorizes that African states have to unite in order to have any impact in the global economy. Using the failure of the Cameroon Goodwill Association of Montreal (CGAM) as a case study, the book urges Africans to make hard choices and avoid politickerization and midnight politics in favour of fossungupalogy (that is, the science of straightforwardness, necessitating the fearless looking at truth straight in the eye). The questions of the book are many but do all boil down to whether or not Africans fear the truth and do not therefore do politics. It is amazing that Africans in the West live in societies where fierce political competitors do embrace each other after one has defeated the other; but they are incapable of looking their so-called friends in the eye and saying, for example: 'Man, I think you've totally gotten it wrong this time.' Such comportment defines politickerization or negative competition. While attempting some possible responses to the numerous queries it raises, this book basically proffers the science of Four-Eyesism as a discipline that all African schools need to institute and make a compulsory subject: if the vandalized continent would have to be awakened to its realities. This book is rich in Fossungu's dazzling capacity to invent, define and use a multitude of new terminological constructs informed by African experiences.
Population growth and the drop in the returns from the major cash crop (coffee) for small farmers are the main drivers that have influenced the farming systems and mobility of farmers in the Western Highlands of Cameroon. The main objective of the research that led to this book was to determine the interactions between farming systems and human mobility in this region of Cameroon. A comparative study was conducted through household and field surveys in three villages and conceptualized based on the systems approach. The different types of mobility were influenced by household social factors, the quest for 'high valued' farm plots and hired labour. Urban-rural migration contributed to occupation diversification and social mobility. The sustainability factor was a function of land use intensity, intensity of off-farm inputs, the household adjustment factor and mobility of the household. The sacred groves were rich in plant diversity of varied ecological and economic importance. Nitrogen mining was common at all levels of the farming system. These determinants and types of mobility claims are pertinent to the research area; the sustainability results of the farming systems reflect the reality on the ground; the nutrient flux evaluated at the crop and farm levels constitute a valuable database for future research.
Beginning from an auteur standpoint, this book interrogates extant cinematic re-presentation of African and Nigerian postcolonial realities in Nollywood. It makes a case, using Kunle Afolayan's The Figurine, for a critical space-clearing gesture around the notion of a neo-Nollywood, which transcends the formulaic cinematic re-presentation of African and Nigeriam realities to embrace a visionary and philosophic rearticualtion of the role of filmmaking, and of Nollywood, in the Nigerian imagination. The Idea of neo-Nollywood, and a visionary director, therefore stands at the core of a cinematic production process that challenges, disturbs and stimulates perceptions of current and future African identities.
Trends in Nollywood: A Study of Selected Genres is a welcome addition to the growing body of works on the Nigerian cinema. It is part film history and part film theory and criticism. The history part traces the origin of the Nigerian cinema up to the present era of video productions. The work examines in detail, the contextual issues which have helped to define emergent trends within the industry.
A concern for social regeneration stands as the factor that animates Soyinka's life-long involvement in social and political activism, leading to hid incarceration for two years during the civil war, and his having to flee into exile during the period of Sani Abacha's dictatorship. Soyinka expresses this same concern for social regeneration in his writings, using difference metaphors. The focus of this work lies in the exploration of the articulations of social regeneration in the works of Wole Soyinka. The first past focuses on the dramatic works, and the argument of the author is that the metaphor adopted by Africa's foremost playwright in articulating his vision of social regeneration is that of ritual. Attention shifts in part two to Soyinka's two novels; and here, Bello goes to the roots of Yoruba metaphysics to fetch a metaphor which describes a creature with contradictory personality; which at once is committed to the regeneration of the social order while at the same time retaining a vindictive, vengeful nature.
Esiaba Irobi (1960-2010) was one of Africa's most innovative and productive younger playwrights. Deeply rooted in the indigenous performance traditions of his Igbo ethnic group, Irobi's drama, in the tradition of Wole Soyinka, is a hybrid production involving an iconoclastic reconceptualisation of the heritage he appropriates, its fascinating conflation with other performance traditions, and their projection onto the arena of contemporary Nigerian politics. This study by Isidore Diala is the first book-length examination of Irobi's work. It portrays a highly creative individual who was literally driven by the creative urge. The five chapters of this study illuminate different aspects of Irobi's oeuvre and include a vivid portrayal of Irobi the actor in his dream role of Elesin Oba, the eponymous King's Horseman in Wole Soyinka's drama. Diala highlight's Irobi's fascination for African festivals, which feature prominently in the earlier plays.He also demonstrates that although he is rooted in his Igbo culture, Irobi draws on different ethnic groups, pointing to conceptions of pan-Africanism that include the wAfrican diaspora.
King of the Jungle
(2014)
In King of the Jungle, the bouts of ethno-religious violence in Jos are fused with the heartbreaking story of two brothers who go through life unaware of each other's existence. Carefully crafted with local colour which evokes memories of pre-2001 Jos, Bizuum Yadok's first novel weaves humour, urban realism, tragedy and redemption.
So Bright a Darkness
(2014)
Okafor ran wildly through the jungle, the phantom captain and his ghoulish platoon in hot pursuit. The faster he ran the more they gained on him. The earth suddenly became marshy and slippery under his feet, impeding speed and balance. He came to an intersection where the jungle paths crossed and saw a mound of earth about four feet high. Just beyond the mound stood a giant Iroko tree. Intuitively, he knew that if he jumped over the mound and quickly climbed up the tree, the ghostly captain and his soldiers would lose him. Eons merge in interstellar whirls. Realism, science fiction and fantasy fuse to drive this drama of transition, cross civilisation and self-discovery.
Blood Lines and other Plays
(2014)
Chris Anyokwu's new creative offerings are snapshots of a the quotidian reality in the playwrights homeland, Nigeria, where polygamy and its associated evils, crass materialism and its classless followers still predominate. Even the ivory towers are not left out as petty rivalry, dirty politics and even fetishism seem to be the name of the game.
Death and the King's Grey Hair and Other Plays is a collection of three plays, 'Death and the King's Grey Hair, ' 'Truce with the Devil, ' and 'Fringe Benefits, ' which are all experimental plays from the early period of the writing career of Denja Abdullahi, who is presently renowned as a poet of populist expressions. 'Death and the King's Grey Hair' examines the use and misuse of absolute power based on an ancient Jukun myth of young kings and short reigns. 'Truce with the Devil' is a satire on the later abandonment of the creed of Marxism by its adherents, a kind of mockery of turncoat revolutionaries in the grip of practical social realities. 'Fringe Benefits', a radio play, is an expose of the happening in Nigeria's ivory towers, seen from the eyes of a participant-observer.
Orisa Ibeji
(2014)
Ahmed Yerima's play celebrates the phenomenon of twins among the Yoruba people. Orisa Ibeji is also about man's fear of death and love of life; destiny and reincarnation; and the place of the gods in human affairs. Yerima employs simple and beautiful language, dynamic characters and deft skill to navigate the labyrinth that is Orisa Ibeji.
Iredi War : A Folkscript
(2014)
Iredi War was the winner of The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2014. The playwright introduces the notion of 'folk script' with its special stamp. The use of the oral literature genre allows for the full exploitation of the creative licence which allows for the swings from the historical to the oral, the natural to the supernatural, the real to the fantastic.