DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERATURE

Poetics refers to the artistic principles and creative techniques that govern the composition of poetry, including the use of form, rhythm, imagery, tone, and language to convey meaning and emotion. The poetics of African humanhood, therefore, describes the artistic and philosophical expression through which African poets celebrate the dignity, identity, and spiritual wholeness of African people, while resisting cultural erasure and colonial domination.This study exa ines The Poetics of Celebrating African Humanhood using Maya Angelou and Ifi Amadiume’s Poetry, arguing that both poets employ poetic form, imagery, and rhythm to affirm the dignity and identity of African and Black people against colonial and patriarchal oppression. The study is limited to the analysis of selected poems — Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman, Still I Rise, Weekend Glory, and Our Grandmothers; and Amadiume’s Nok Lady in Terracotta, Mistress of My Own Being, We Have Even Lost Our Tongues, Be Brothers, "Bloody masculinity" and Creation. Using a qualitative research method, the poems are analyzed through close textual and thematic reading to uncover how poetic language expresses African-centered values. The study adopts Afrocentric Theory and the Ubuntu philosophy as its theoretical framework to foreground African perspectives and communal identity.Findings reveal that the technical elements of voice, rhythm, and repetition serve as vehicles for psychological and emotional restoration. In Angelou’s Still I Rise, the repetitive refrain “I rise” transforms trauma into an act of healing and self-assertion. Similarly, Amadiume’s Creation employs cyclical imagery such as “seed took root again” to symbolize renewal and resilience. Both poets use affirmative, rhythmic voices to democratize dignity and restore faith in African self-worth. The study concludes that the poetics of celebrating African humanhood in their works is defined by a shared aesthetic of resistance, empowerment, and spiritual wholeness—transforming poetry into a lasting testimony of African strength and identity

This study examined the challenges of women’s oppression in African societies, especially Nigeria. Through the use of Flora Nwapa's Efuru and Lola Shoneyin's The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, the study explored how women struggle within patriarchal societies and how cultural beliefs, gender roles, and traditional expectations affect women’s lives and marriages in Africa. The study adopted qualitative research subjecting relevant instances of women oppression, discrimination, and resistance in both texts to textual analysis using feminist theory. The study revealed that both Nwapa and Shoneyin expose the deep-rooted patriarchal structures that silence women and normalize gender inequality through marriage, motherhood, and societal expectations.

This study explores the theme of slavery and the quest for freedom in Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing. It analyses how both authors use narrative tecniques and characterisation to portray the struggles and resilience of enslaved Africans and their descendants. The research shows that freedom, in both novels,goes beyond physical liberation to include emo tional and psychological emancipation.

This study examines the enduring impact of colonialism on Nigerian identity, with particular attention to its influence on education, language, and culture. Using postcolonial theory, it critically analyzes Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, comparing how the protagonists’ experiences reflect broader struggles within
postcolonial society. The research reveals that both characters, in their pursuit of education and opportunities abroad, encounter alienation, cultural dislocation, and identity conflict. Their experiences highlight how colonial legacies continue to shape self-perception and belonging. The study highlights the enduring nature of identity conflicts shaped by colonial history and shows how literature reflects these ongoing struggles in Nigerian society.

This study explores how structural, orientational, and ontological metaphors shape the expression of love, emotion, identity, and social experience in fifteen songs by Nigerian Afrobeat artist Davido. Using Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (1980), the analysis shows that structural metaphors map emotions onto familiar experiences, orientational metaphors spatialize relationships, and ontological metaphors materialize feelings as physical entities. These metaphor types reveal Davido’s negotiation of love, power, vulnerability, and success within Nigerian culture. The study concludes that Davido’s metaphors perform both cognitive and cultural functions, allowing listeners to conceptualize complex emotions through embodied, culturally resonant imagery and advancing understanding of metaphor in African popular music.

This study examines the enduring impact of colonialism on Nigerian identity, with particular attention to its influence on education, language, and culture. Using postcolonial theory, it critically analyzes Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, comparing how the protagonists’ experiences reflect broader struggles within
postcolonial society. The research reveals that both characters, in their pursuit of education and opportunities abroad, encounter alienation, cultural dislocation, and identity conflict. Their experiences highlight how colonial legacies continue to shape self-perception and belonging. The study highlights the enduring nature of identity conflicts shaped by colonial history and shows how literature reflects these ongoing struggles in Nigerian society.

This study examines the multifaceted nature of polygamy and its socio-psychological implications as portrayed in Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives and Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with Me. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Nigerian society, both novels dismantle the traditional facade of the polygamous household to reveal a complex web of competition, domestic politics, and the profound struggle for female agency.

Shoneyin utilizes a satirical lens to expose the toxic rivalries and secrets inherent in Baba Segi’s household, highlighting how the structure of polygamy often forces women into deceptive survival strategies. In contrast, Adebayo offers a more somber exploration of how the pressure for male progeny and the introduction of a second wife can destabilize a modern marriage, leading to tragic emotional and physical consequences. By employing a comparative analysis, this research explores themes of infertility, patriarchal dominance, and the subversion of traditional gender roles. Ultimately, the study argues that while polygamy is often framed as a cultural or religious stabilizer, the narratives of Shoneyin and Adebayo reveal it to be a catalyst for systemic trauma, yet also a space where women negotiate power and identity in unexpected ways.

This study examines the Impoliteness strategies employed by Netizens during online discourse in Nigeria.
Drawing on Jonathan Culpeper's Framework, the research identifies the frequently used Impoliteness strategies in online interactions. This study is based on screenshotting Impolite comments in regards to the post of president Muhammadu Buhari's death. By applying Culpeper's Impoliteness strategies to the data, the results of this study were obtained. The findings reveals that commenters commonly employ mock/ sarcasm Impoliteness, negative Impoliteness and bald on record Impoliteness. Furthermore, the study examines the functional roles of impoliteness, focusing on its affective, coercive, and entertaining functions. These functions highlight how impoliteness is used to express emotions, assert power, or provoke amusement at the expense of others.

This paper examines the representations of women predicament and protest in Julie Okoh's In Our Own Voices and Irene Isoken Salami's More Than Dancing. This research work adopts the feminism theory to potray how the play represents women. Julie Okoh in In Our Own Voices and Irene Isoken Salami in More Than Dancing present violence against women and cultural prejudice against women and articulate protest as response against women predicament through mass mobilization, women empowerment, and defiance.

Ola Rotimi's Ovonramwen Nogbaisi and Ahmed Yarima's The Trials of Oba Ovonramwen focus on fear and how its engineer tragic outcomes. This research explores themes like fear, colonialism and resistance in these plays. Using tenets of affect theory, it portrays how fear as an emotion can lead to negative impact. It investigate how the emotion of fear shape the tragic events in both historical plays, and the non-fictional personality; Ovonramwen Nogbaisi. This essay highlights the consequences of fear, how it led to war between the British colonialists and the Benin warriors and eventually the exile of Oba Ovonramwen. Its employs qualitative research methods which focus on non-numerical data to have a full understanding of experiences, opinions and behaviours. This research concluded that fear is not a passive emotion but an active emotion.