JOURNAL OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

Educational roots and socio-political twists of the Anglophone Problem in Cameroon’s nation-building process, 1961-2018

Nixon Kahjum Takor — 2023-06-30

In November 2016 when the Anglophone crisis broke out in Cameroon, one of the crucial considerations advanced by the petitioners against the state was its condescending posture towards the English-sub system of education loosely referred to as ‘Anglo-Saxon’ education. Although motivated and orientated by specific distresses of teachers’ and lawyers’ professional trade unions, the Anglophone protests since inception has maintained an effervescence of dissenting voices challenging the broader project of national unity and integration. The paper examines the role of post-independence administrative educational policies and reforms in fashioning a malcontented social narrative in the British bestowed regions of Cameroon. It argues that the long association of the people with British educational heritage created resistant cultural frontiers, which made efforts at educational harmonisation a paranoid take for assimilation. It further contends that the government choice of actions on certain educational policies, though informed by legal provisions were considered by conservative Anglophones as institutional trappings of absorption into French cultural dictates. The paper upholds that the failure to “Cameroonise” the educational system in the state project could be blamed on the dissociation between decision making on, and implementation processes of, the core values that could graft the two educational systems. The absence of this reconciliation perpetuated the public controversy on whether the educational preoccupations variously articulated by the All Anglophone Teachers’ Trade Unions harboured a hidden political identity agenda beyond the educational spectrum. The investigation makes appeal of primary and secondary data and draws conclusions based on qualitative historical analysis. The study submits that the debates on a preconceived political identity agenda associated with the educational grievances were swiftly generalised, misunderstood, misrepresented, or constructed to a conspiracy.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Wetlands in Bamenda, Cameroon: Implications for Urban and Peri-urban Wetland Policy

Dingha Chrispo Babila — 2023-06-30

Wetlands are indispensable within the human settlement agenda. Recognising their evolution is vital for critical understanding and management of existing wetlands. Yet, the spatiotemporal variation of wetlands is less comprehensively understood between urban and peri-urban areas of developing countries. The study trust on this to analyse 1) the spatiotemporal dynamics of wetland between the urban and peri-urban areas of Bamenda, and 2) its implication to urban and peri-urban wetland policy. Landsat images of the study area for 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022 were used and documentary review carried out to gain deeper understanding of urban and peri-urban wetland management policies. Images were processed using supervised classification with the help of ArcGIS 10.3 and Google Earth images. Findings reveal that, wetlands reduced from 5.31 km² (7.32%) and 6.29 km² (3.05%) in 1992 to 0.43 km² (0.59%) and 4.48 km² (2.17%) in 2022 respectively in urban and peri-urban areas. While built up area increased from 14.78 km² (20.37%) and 8.54 km² (4.14%) in 1992 to 36.89 km² (50.85%) and 16.83 km (8.15%) in 2022 for urban and peri-urban areas. This greatly triggered wetland loss coupled with urban sprawl and agricultural expansion. But, wetland management policy of the Bamenda City Council remains incomprehensive as degradation proliferates. Thus, urban and peri-urban wetland policy is not adequately regarded in Bamenda and the city is fast losing its privilege of a possible accreditation as a “Wetland City.” This calls for urgent and accelerated awareness raising and implementation of policies for sustainable urban and peri-urban wetlands management.

Exploring the Philosophy of Godfrey B. Tangwa

Mbih Jerome Tosam — 2023-06-30

In this paper, we critically examine Godfrey Banyuy Tangwa’s philosophy. We argue that Tangwa’s thought, like most thinkers, is largely influenced by his historical and cultural experiences. His philosophy can be studied under three principal and closely related axes: The first is philosophy as an instrument of social and cultural transformation. The second axe is concerned with giving voice to indigenous African values and knowledge systems. In a global academic arena dominated by Euro-American epistemological systems, Tangwa’s work seeks to decolonize indigenous African epistemologies from Western misrepresentation and to challenge the purported universal validity of Western systems of thought. The third angle is concerned with criticism as a tool for social enhancement through democracy and meritocracy. According to Tangwa, there is no such thing as a superior or inferior culture, since no culture is perfect given that human beings, the inventors of culture, are imperfect. However, all human cultures are perfectible. Genuine cultural progress will be possible only when all cultures are given voice, self-criticize their beliefs and values, and beg and borrow from each other. Tangwa’s epistemic pluralism resonates in almost all areas of his thought. This paper is merely an introduction to Tangwa’s philosophy; we do not claim to exhaust his vast and eclectic thought in a single paper.

Inondations et résilience des populations des abords sud de la vallée du Logone, XXème-début XXIème siècles

Sylvestre Fidessou — 2023-06-30

De multiples crises environnementales ont émaillé les activités socio-économiques et culturelles des peuples. Ces crises ne sont pas un phénomène nouveau ; elles ont existé des décennies, voire des siècles durant. Au rang de ces dernières, les inondations relèvent de celles qui n’épargnent aucun continent. Plusieurs facteurs sont à l’origine de ces inondations. Dans la vallée du Logone, il n’est pas un fait nouveau. Toutefois, depuis la deuxième moitié du XX^ème siècle jusqu’au début du XXI^ème siècle, elles ont été plus ou moins récurrentes dans cette partie du bassin du lac Tchad. Elles ont causé de nombreux dégâts dont de nombreux sans abris, des pertes en vies humaines et animales, mais surtout la destruction de plantations et réserves alimentaires stockées dans les greniers. Face à ces inondations qui, de plus en plus s’avèrent régulières et répétitives ces dernières décennies, la présente étude se donne de comprendre quels sont les stratégies de survie et les moyens mis en place par les populations victimes pour endiguer ces crises qui, lorsqu’elles surviennent sont sans pitié. Basée pour l’essentiel sur les données empiriques et documentaires, l’étude révèle que malgré la résurgence et la récurrence des inondations, les populations des abords sud de la vallée du Logone ont eu à adopter les déplacements internes et travaux communautaires comme stratégies locales de lutte contre les inondations. Toutefois, ces techniques sont utilisées comme méthodes complémentaires aux efforts de construction et de réaménagement des digues et des canaux d’évacuation exécutés par les pouvoirs publics.

The Curse of Beauty in Carol Ann Duffy’s “Beautiful” and Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts”

Mary Louisa Lum — 2023-06-30

The idea that women are only as valuable as their looks is a patriarchal notion that is still encouraged even in the twenty-first century though humanity valorizes progress and forward thinking. This notion sets women back as scrutiny is on a shallow exterior while inner qualities are subverted. Feminist artists like Duffy and Beyoncé have chronicled the pain of beauty in their works and have often blamed fixation on women’s looks as an attempt to denigrate their contributions to society and write them out of history. Duffy is renowned for her attempt to deconstruct patriarchy by voicing feminine issues that have hitherto been neglected. Beyoncé equally sheds light on the obsession on a woman’s looks that inevitably leads to the erosion of self-esteem, rather than on her potential as a contributing member of society. The ideas of feminist theorists like the beauty myth conceptualized by Wolf (1990) along with concepts of commodification of beauty propagated by Irigaray (1985) and Haraway (1991) will be useful in exploring the traumatic outcomes of a global society’s addiction to superficial standards of feminine beauty. While Duffy focuses on the iconic beautiful women of history, highlighting how beauty turned out to be a curse rather than a blessing, Beyoncé uses the concept of beauty pageants in her attempt to expose the cruelty of feminine objectification. Beauty as an achievement is packaged by the chauvinist beauty industrial machinery as the sum total of a woman’s aspiration which leads to low self-esteem.

A Philosophical Inquest into the Notion of Justice in Esan Culture

Felix Airoboman — 2023-06-30

This essay is a philosophical exposition and critique of the conception of justice in Esan tradition. The study begins with a brief analysis of the concept of justice to enable its general understanding and exposits how some thinkers have ruminated over Africans traditional justice system. The paper argues that in the Esan world-view, justice has both ontological and cosmological dimensions. The study explains these spheres as mechanisms that ensure social relations and community well-being. It argues that in the Esan traditional view, there is no distinction between justice and morality. Besides, the focus in the dispensation of justice is on truth and not on logical manipulations, hence, the administrators of justice rely on cross-examination procedures and sincere witnesses to ensure that judgements are based on facts. The study also argues that although there are occasional miscarriages of justice in the traditional Esan mode of adjudication, comparatively, this mode has the advantages of swiftness, minimal miscarriages, and recourse to divine justice, among others, over the modern court system. The paper argues that, since there are no prisons for offenders in Esan traditional judicial system, the people resort to penal measures such as fines, seizures, ostracism, banishment, drumming out, or death penalty as alternative methods of punishment. Furthermore, the study maintains that the frailties in the divine judicial process are the results of human infringements. Consequent upon this, the work questions the veracity of deities in ensuring justice; but concludes that, despite the perceived limitations, the Esan emphasis on truth (and her abhorrence of its distortion in the judicial process) makes it more advantageous than the modern court system. The study adopts the expository, conceptual and critical methods of philosophical inquiry.

Niger Delta View on Morality and the Biblical Concept of Holiness: Implication for Societal Development

John Ottuh — 2023-06-30

The concepts of morality and holiness from the perspectives of African and biblical thoughts have been explored by scholars, especially those in humanities. However, studying the concept of morality and holiness from the perspectives of Niger Delta cultural and Christian/biblical understandings have not received much academic attention (discourse). Therefore, this paper examines Niger Delta traditional view on morality and the biblical concept of holiness. Using new critical method in African Biblical Criticism (the evaluative paradigm), it argues for the translation of good cultural and Christian (biblical) values into societal development. It shows how the traditionalist and Christian understandings of morality and holiness relate and translate into societal development in Niger Delta. By so doing, this paper contributes to the debate on religion, morality and society.

The Influence of Fulfulde on English Language: A Focus on Pronunciation

Hans Mbonwuh Fonka — 2023-06-30

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of Fulfulde English language pronunciation. It is set on the premise that speakers of Fulfulde, irrespective of their educational background, pronounce words differently because their first language, Fulfulde, interferes with their English speech. The target population for this study is the Fulfulde speakers of Zhoa in Fungom Subdivision (Menchum Division). The researchers used a reading test as a data collecting instrument through which consonants, consonant clusters, vowels (selected monophthongs and diphthongs) and stress pattern were tested. The theory used is Selinker’s Interlanguage theory which explains the intermediate grammar of second language learners in a continuum in the course of learning a second language. This intermediate grammar comprises pronunciation errors that are influenced by features of the learner’s first language. Findings reveal that Fulfulde speakers face many difficulties in pronouncing English words because features of their first language inhibit their performance in English pronunciation. The findings also reveal that specific features like consonant clusters, closing diphthongs and stress patterns constitute most of the pronunciation challenges faced by the respondents. Conscious of this challenge, many create innovations or do some approximations in pronunciation which make their English different.

Land Conflict Prevention and Resolution Mechanisms in Precolonial Bamenda Grassfields of Cameroon: Actors, Institutions, Approaches and Methods

Emmanuel Yenkong Sobseh — 2023-06-30

The paper examines traditional mechanisms of land conflict prevention and resolution which were widely accepted and preferred before the advent of colonial rule in the Bamenda Grassfields of Cameroon. These mechanisms were open, inclusive and instrumental in engaging the entire community in the decision-making process, restoring peace, reinforcing social justice and maintaining harmony in the society. This study highlights the role played by different actors and institutions in preventing and solving land conflicts, and argues that the principles, approaches and methods applied in resolving land conflicts in these communities were very successful. Most of the actors such as fons, councilors, elders, family heads, and heads of age-groups and secret society used coercive and ritual institutions to maintain law and order, mend broken and damaged relationships, and ensured the full integration of parties into their societies. The paper further treats the lexicon for land conflict prevention such as dialogue, diplomacy, consultation, apology and friendly disposition, and pays particular attention to the methods of land conflict resolution such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration, adjudication and reconciliation. The study made use of primary and secondary sources and concludes that, the principles of land conflict prevention and resolution in the Bamenda Grassfields were anchored on the confidence of the parties, verification of truth, attainment of impartiality, enhancement of transparency, reconciliation and the display of fairness and social justice as well as adherence to forgiveness and tolerance.

Occupational Safety of Municipal Solid Waste Workers in Lagos

Felix Oludare Ajiola — 2023-06-30

This paper, focusing on Oshodi and Victoria Island, examines the occupational safety of municipal solid waste workers in contemporary Lagos. Urban sweepers and highway managers mostly officials of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) have been highly vulnerable to diverse occupational hazards. The Lagos metropolis with a population of over 21 million generates 0.95kg/person/day cumulating between 12,000 to 14,000 metric tons of solid waste per day. This requires huge and well-coordinated manpower to keep the metropolis clean. However, municipal solid waste is produced as a result of economic activities and consumption. This includes non-hazardous wastes from households, commercial establishments, institutions, markets, and industries. Extant literature is silent on the occupational safety problems faced by municipal waste management workers in Lagos. This paper fills the important gap. The survey was carried out on two hundred (200) workers in the waste industry in Lagos. The respondents were interviewed through a well-structured questionnaire harvested from two working groups.100 workers were selected from LAWMA-highway managers and 100 from Street Sweepers under Private waste Operators, and Private Sector Participants(PSPs) operatives. These were evenly distributed between Victoria Island representing Lagos Island and Oshodi representing the Lagos Mainland area highlighting the variations in exposure of the waste workers to occupational hazards and disease occurrences during both dry and wet seasons. The paper concludes that there is an urgent need for government to provide a qualitative health insurance scheme and put formidable legislation in place protecting the health and safety of waste workers in the country.

Changing Lanes: Enabling New Skills to Succeed in Nigeria

Monsuru Muritala — 2023-06-30

Scholarly studies on employability and promotion are substantial but little has been done on the effect of changes in skills demand on employment opportunities for the job seekers and graduates of the Nigerian tertiary institutions. This study, therefore, examines the changes in skills requirements in the Nigerian and global labour markets occasioned by technological advancement, climate change, globalization, and demographic changes with a view to creating awareness on the new skills necessary for job seekers beyond formal training; as a way of promoting employability and career development of Nigerian youths in the labour markets. This study uses multidisciplinary approach of data gathering and analysis. It makes use of secondary sources in addition to interviews conducted with purposively selected stakeholders in human capital development; information, communication and technology industry; teaching and non-teaching staff of selected universities- University of Ibadan, Ibadan; Adeleke University, Ede, Osun state, and Osun state University, Osogbo, Osun state. The research findings reveal the staggering skill gaps in the labour markets; the necessary skills for employability in the 21^st century digital age; the weakness and strength of career and counselling units in the selected universities.

Development of Health Education in the Context of Preventive Medicine in Western Nigeria, 1900-1945

Albert Onobhayedo — 2023-06-30

This study examines the institution and development of health education as a major component of the preventive healthcare policies of the colonial authorities in Western Nigeria from 1900 to 1945. It presents a historical perspective that reveals the foundation laid for related issues such as the teaching of hygiene in schools, health propaganda, antenatal lessons, public lectures, poster presentations and pamphleteering before the emergence of the World Health Organisation. Thus the study falls within the domain of the social history of medicine, a relatively neglected area in historical studies in Nigeria. Since it has not been a popular theme among historians, there is a dearth of literature on the subject. This accounts for the extensive reliance on primary materials obtained from the national archives, Ibadan and some oral interviews for information. Some secondary materials were also consulted. The data obtained were subjected to historical analysis. The study concludes that health education fostered a new orientation in healthcare modalities and facilitated the development of scientific medicine in colonial Western Nigeria. It underscores the need to explore other neglected themes in the medical history of the area.

Discourse of Resilience in the Anglophone Cameroon Crisis

Julius Atoh Chenwi — 2023-06-30

In the face of a traumatic event, people choose to respond in various ways. While some get stuck in the trauma, others find a means to forge ahead; working through the experience in therapy or finding other means to bounce thus making the traumatic a part of their lived experiences. The narratives of the victims of trauma in the Anglophone Cameroon Crisis show strength in the midst of adversity. One hundred and twenty (120) trauma narratives have been analyzed using convenient sampling to showcase the resilient nature of those who have been hard hit by the trauma shrouding the crisis. Data were collected using ethnographic basically semi-structured interviews, group discussions and dairy reading. The qualitative research method was used focusing on the discursive strategies of the participant in representing their resilience. Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach to Critical Discourse Analysis and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics were used to analyze the data. This article concludes that despite the damaging effects of the on-going crisis on the mental health of the participants, using Halliday’s ideational metafunction and Dijk’s ideological square; the victims are finding a way to forge ahead with their lives acknowledging the conflict situation could get worse. This work recommends that communities and individuals should shun hate speech and choose in spite of the odds to dissociate from all warring factions and build peaceful communities.

Geospatial Analysis of Land use Land Cover Change in Osogbo, Nigeria

Samuel Yakubu — 2023-06-30

Osogbo became the administrative headquarters of Osun State, Nigeria, in 1992, and since then, the city has experienced unprecedented rapid urban growth and development. This study attempted a geospatial analysis of land use land cover (LULC) change in Osogbo, Nigeria, from 1988 to 2018 to improvingto improve land use management. The methodology adopted for the study involved data acquisition and pre-processing, extraction and validation of LULC information. Atmospheric and topographic correction methods were used for pre-processing operations. Four LULC types were identified for the study which included Built-up Area, Vegetation, Water/Wetland and Bare Surface. Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to obtain the coordinates of some land use features for boundary demarcation and ground-truthing, while secondary data used included Landsat 4-5, 7 and 8 imageries, respectively. Maximum Likelihood Classification was used to classify imageries to identify the land use types. The minimum classification accuracy for all land use was 88.2%. Results showed that the built-up area increased from 29.59km2 to 63.20km2 while vegetation decreased from 102.09km2 to 39.84km2, water body decreased from 2.85km2 to 1.75km2 while the bare surface increased from 11.24km2 to 38.11km2 from 1988 to 2018. Understanding this trend will help policymakers and planners mitigate the major challenge of indiscriminate land utilisation in Osogbo. The need for urban land development planning agencies to monitor, regulate and control the pattern of development and public education on proper land use, which helps city authorities to keep abreast with the changes that may occur, suggested.