DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERATURE

Idris Amali was born in the early 1950s into the family of Mallam Aliyu Amali in Oturkpo, Benue State of Nigeria. He attended St. Andrew Primary school as well as Wesley High school Oturkpo. He got admission into the University of Ibadan, Jos Campus in 1975. He graduated in 1979 and was the first President of the student Union in Jos. He was the Head of Department of English and Literature for two terms and four years as the Director of General studies. Amali was a two-time Dean and later was made Professor of Oral Literature

This essay examines defiance against queerphobia in African poetryinorder to explore how African poets challenge queerphobia through their works. It sets out to investigate the strategies adopted by African poets in championing inclusivity as well as opening the space for queer acceptance.

The Nigerian Netflix series Baby Farm interrogates the commodification of the female gender, exposes institutional complicity in sustaining social stigma, and represents insecurity, illuminating entrenched gendered inequalities in Nigerian society. The experiences of characters such as Adanna, Emem, and Cherry, reveals how language, religion, media, and state power intersect to police women’s bodies, moral conduct, and reproductive roles. Through the use of qualitative approach, with data gathered through repeated viewings in the absence of an official script, the research was carried out. Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) highlights how metaphors frame women’s reproductive capacity as moral value, economic labor, and social identity, while Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) demonstrates how institutional language and symbolic actions reproduce power, control, and systemic oppression. Baby Farm thus critique not only individual corruption but structural hierarchies, illustrating how words, imagery, and narrative strategies operate to maintain, negotiate, or subvert social stigma. The series underscores the role of discourse in shaping social realities, revealing that visibility, coalition, and counter-narratives remain essential tools for resisting oppression.

This study examines the representation of social class and the American Dream in Richard Wright's Native Son (1940) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah (2013). The research analyzes how both authors critique the accessibility of the American Dream for marginalized communities across different historical periods. Through comparative literary analysis, this study explores how Wright's portrayal of Bigger Thomas in Depression-era Chicago and Adichie's depiction of Ifemelu's contemporary immigrant experience reveal persistent class-based barriers to social mobility in American society.Despite being written over seventy years apart, both novels demonstrate a striking continuity in how economic inequality shapes individual destinies in America. Wright's unflinching examination of systemic racism and poverty in 1930s Chicago finds unexpected resonance in Adichie's nuanced portrayal of a Nigerian immigrant navigating contemporary American class structures. While Ifemelu's middle- class background and education afford her opportunities that remain tragically out of reach for Bigger Thomas, both characters encounter institutional barriers that challenge the fundamental promise of American meritocracy.The study reveals how each author employs different narrative strategies to expose these inequalities. Wright's naturalistic approach places Bigger within an almost deterministic cycle of poverty and violence, while Adichie's more satirical lens dissects the subtle ways class distinctions persist even within seemingly progressive spaces. Both works ultimately question whether the American Dream functions as a genuine pathway to advancement or merely as a compelling mythology that obscures deeper structural inequities.Through close textual analysis and historical contextualization, this research contributes to ongoing scholarly conversations about literature's role in documenting and critiquing social stratification. The findings suggest that while the specific manifestations of class barriers have evolved significantly between the 1940s and 2010s, the fundamental tension between American ideals of equality and the reality of economic stratification remains largely unchanged. This comparative approach illuminates how literary representations of class can both reflect and shape our understanding of social mobility across different eras of American history

This study examines the use of fear, control and uncertainty in news media coverage
of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to analyze how the use of fear, control and uncertainty in news media reflects and shape the attitudes of the society. This study provides insight into the ways in which news media outlets can shape public opinion. 1.2. SCOPE OF STUDY The scope covers the use of fear, control and uncertainty in news media coverage of the pandemic. The boundaries of this research exist within the news coverage of the pandemic within Nigeria. The spatial scope is mainly, Vanguard, Punch, Guardian and Daily newspapers. The geographical scope is the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
Theoretically, this research will be based on the Critical Discourse Analysis with close
reference to Norman Fairclough’s approach to discourse analysis. 1.3. METHODOLOGY
The research methodology chosen for this study is the qualitative approach, which
allows for a flexible standpoint of analysis. It draws primarily on the work of Norman
Fairclough to form the basis for the analytic approach to discourse analysis. The study will 2 explore how the discourse reflects media perception; fear, control strategies and
uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis is based on the extraction of various instances of fear, control and uncertainty as portrayed by news media. The research carry out a textual analysis of all data collected. This method facilitates a structured and in-depth analysis of the strategies employed in 2019 pandemic

This essay examined the place of music as a tool for social awareness and societal regeneration.The work adopts the Marxist theory in the qualitative analysis of 15 songs by two popular Nigerian Artists,Falz and Timaya,in a way of depicting the representation of issues in the Nigerian socio- political Scene from 2010 to 2022. The findings reveal that the songs of these artists raise awareness on societal ills like corruption, exploitation, oppression, hypocrisy, and moral decadence in order to bring about resistance and hardwork in the pursuit of social change.The work contributes to knowledge by providing specific insights into how the Artists utilize distinct musical styles and lyrical content to address social issues in Nigeria

This research work is to explore the theme of family dynamics and dysfunctional relationships, it's roles, relations in family relationships using Laura Dave's The Last Thing He Told Me and Jesmyn Ward's Salvage The Bones as case study. The purpose ofthis study is to conduct an in-depth study of the themes by analyzing the formation of family dynamics and to portray the dysfunctional relationships in these two contemporary novels. It sheds light on how individual struggles with their sence of self amidst admist challenging interpersonal dynamics and how how family dynamics and dysfunctional relationships intersect, influence one another and shape characters journeys in the context of the texts. Using Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of Id , ego and superego to examine the topic and the impact this theory has on the characters in the texts of study. It also explores factors such as poverty, neglect, separation as causes of dysfunction in the family This study considers the societal and cultural context in which the novel are set by looking into the unique perspective and techniques used by each author to address family dynamics and dysfunctional relationships. This research employs the qualitative method of research with the aim of exploring how the characters sense of self identity is influenced by the complex familial contexts they find themselves and how they respond to navigate through these challenges

Since the discovery of oil in Nigeria's Niger-Delta region, it has experiencedadiresituation marked by corruption, environmental degradation, insurgency, militancy, oil smuggling, and other unfavorable circumstances. Chimeka Garricks' Tomorrow Died Yesterday andHelonHabila's Oil on Water are two remarkable novels that delve into the topics of insurgencyandenvironmental degradation in this region. This analysis explores how these issues are depictedinthese texts. Additionally, it sheds light on how the region's youths resort to kidnappingexpatriates, engaging in oil smuggling and militancy as responses to the government's corrupt practices regarding the uneven distribution of oil revenue and the polluted environment left behind by oil companies. Furthermore, this study conducts a comparative analysis of thetwonovels, highlighting both their similarities and differences.

Women have in diverse ways contributed to the development and growth of society. Their contribution leave every community where they are belong better than it was. This study, which is anchored on women’s empowerment theories, covers three plays of Ahmed Yerima: “The Wooden Pot”, “The Sick People” and “Erelu-Kuti”. The study examines the economic, political and cultural roles of women in these plays. Each play analyses the relevance of empowered women in society in the aspect of politics, economics and culture. These women have in no small way given to society what their male counterparts have. Their contributions are as relevant and elevating as that of men who have made their habitat and those around them better

This study examines the impoliteness strategies employed by Lagos bus conductors in their interactions with their passengers while boarding and inside the bus. We will be looking at their reaction, behavior in regards to these strategies being used. For analyzing this research, we will be making use of private videos on YouTube, twitter and nairaland. This study shows that the most commonly used impoliteness strategies in conductor- passenger interaction is bald-on- record impoliteness,withholding
impoliteness, positive and negative impoliteness. This research also shows that the affective and coercive impoliteness function is mostly used. These strategies are used to frighten, intimidate and compel the passengers into doing what they want.