Research
Silencing the Nigerian Masses through Occult Practices: A Leeway in Entrenching Corruption by the New Elites in Nigerian Democracy
The Nigerian has bedevilled with corrupt practices that, those involved in this hydra-headed monster act are often celebrated, honoured with national merit awards, rewarded with electoral victories and political appointments. This irresponsible act on the part of the governance and the governed goes to show how corrupt practices have been institutionalised and accepted by many as a norm. This has been the bane of Nigeria’s economic and technological advancement. By the country’s scenario been captured, the paper attempted to uncover the reality of occult practices as the cause of the docility of Nigerians in the manipulation of elections and the consolidation of political offices by the Nigerian elites in the present democratic era. Using the historical and library methods, the research situated belief in African supernatural, being practiced by the Nigerian elites in the various ethnic groups in Nigeria as the cause of docility among Nigerians in the face of corruption. The paper was divided into several segments with an introduction as the first and the clarification of key concepts as the second. The third segment looked at African and Nigerian democracy while the fourth presents the emergence of the new elites in Nigerian democracy from 1999 to date. The silencing of the Nigerian masses through occult practices is the focus of the fifth segment while the sixth unveiled the effect of occult practices on the masses in Nigerian democracy. The paper recommended public education on corruption and legislative enforcement achieved through sanctified and proactive judiciary for a way forward. The final word of the paper is that as long as personal gain remains the motive for political activity, Nigerian democracy and the masses will continue to suffer.
African Myths on Climate Change and Environmental Degradation and Challenges of Development in Africa
African religion is a collection of the belief systems of Africans. It is one of the oldest religions of the world practiced in both rural and urban centres in Africa. The religion is known to possess many myths which play profound roles and strongly influence the understanding of the African environment, history, geography, religious ideas, medicine, and their social organisations. This paper unearths some African myths that have led to climate change and environmental degradation. The research employed extensive library study in collecting data on African myths, especially of West African peoples, which relate to climate. The paper relied on the anthropological and comparative methods of data analysis. The article is organised into segments. The first section is the introduction while the second locates the concepts of climate change and environmental degradation. The third segment identified African myths that promote climate change and environmental degradation along with their effects on the development of Africa. The research found that, African religion, besides its principal function of helping humans to live in harmony with God, the deities and with nature, possesses a certain measure of mythological dispositions leading to practices that result in bush burning/smoke emissions, earthquakes/landslides, desertification, drought, excessive rainfall and flooding, greenhouse effect, and locust invasion among other things. These undermine the unity of the universe, leading to climate change and environmental degradation. The paper thus recommends that, Africans in pre-literate and/or modernising societies should lay aside all myths and habits that threaten life in the ecosystem. The paper concludes that as long as many Africans, particularly Nigerians, continue to hold tenaciously to these traditional beliefs, the cries of climate change and global warming as well as all efforts towards environmental preservation will be a mirage not just in Africa, but in the wh
