FACULTY OF ARTS

This study examines the impact of war on the family as reflected in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun and Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come. It explores how war and political instability destroy family ties, distort affection, and transform domestic life into a site of suffering and endurance. Both writers reveal that conflict extends beyond the battlefield, invading personal spaces and reshaping identity and human relationships. Through the Postcolonial Theory, the study interprets how historical oppression, power struggle, and the search for belonging continue to influence the African social order. It analyses the themes, characterisation, and dialogue of the two novels to show how war breeds trauma, silence, and loss within homes. The findings show that both Adichie and Atta represent the family as a mirror of the nation. In Half of a Yellow Sun, the Biafran War dismembers homes and leaves emotional ruins that reflect the nation’s tragedy. In Everything Good Will Come, dictatorship, social inequality, and moral repression recreate a form of domestic war that stifles growth and love. The research concludes that African women writers use the family setting as a platform for recording the psychological aftermath of national crises. It contributes to scholarship by revealing that the true cost of war is not only in the number of the dead but in the brokenness that lingers within the living.

This research project explores the complex relationship between old cultural ways and new Western influences in Adetutu Adeyeye’s contemporary novel, Sacrilege. While many African stories focus on how tradition was destroyed by colonialism in the past, this study looks at how these two forces tradition and modernity clash in present day Nigeria. Adeyeye does not choose one side over the other. Instead, he "interrogates" or questions both. The study argues that the novel encourages contemporary Africans to find a "hybrid" identity a middle ground that keeps the best parts of their culture while using the helpful parts of modern progress.

This study examines the role of immigration in Nigeria’s national security, with particular attention to the opportunities and challenges associated with cross-border migration. Immigration has become a major issue in contemporary international relations due to increasing globalization, economic integration, armed conflicts, and regional mobility within West Africa. Nigeria, as one of Africa’s largest economies and a strategic regional power, experiences significant inflows of migrants from neighboring countries, which has implications for its political stability, economic development, and internal security. The study explores how irregular migration, porous borders, human trafficking, smuggling, terrorism, and transnational crimes contribute to national security concerns in Nigeria. It also investigates the positive contributions of immigration, including labor supply, cultural integration, economic growth, and regional cooperation. The research adopts a qualitative approach using secondary data obtained from textbooks, journal articles, government publications, reports from international organizations, and relevant media sources. Theoretical frameworks such as the Human Security Theory and Migration Theory are employed to analyze the relationship between immigration and national security. Findings reveal that weak border management, inadequate immigration policies, corruption, and limited surveillance mechanisms have increased Nigeria’s vulnerability to insecurity, including insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and illegal arms trafficking. However, the study also finds that effective immigration management can enhance national development, regional peace, and socio-economic stability. The study concludes that immigration plays a dual role in Nigeria’s national security by serving as both a potential threat and a tool for national development when properly regulated. It therefore recommends stronger border control measures, improved intelligence sharing, modernization of immigration systems, regional collaboration among ECOWAS member states, and comprehensive policy reforms aimed at balancing national security with human rights and regional integration.

This study explores the discourse of political ideologies surrounding the Rivers State politics in Nigeria by examining the communicative functions and socio- political implications of Internet memes within the context of the Wike-Fubara political crisis in Rivers State. It adopts the discursive use of Kress and ven Leeuwen's Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) to analyze the multimodal nature of the cartoons that convey the Wike-Fubara political crisis. Overtime, memes have emerged to become a powerful multimodal tool in computer mediated discourse combining both visuals and written texts to convey political information. Through the analysis of memes, a discourse is engaged to intercept the Wike-Fubara political crisis, capturing the roles and influence memes have in contributing to public perception, and shaping the Nigerian politics. This research made the following findings: citizens use memes to mock and challenge political authority by turning serious issues into humorous visuals, godfatherism, security threats, and political tensions remains a dominant theme in Nigerian politics, and also that emergency rule is both a subject of satire and a source of anxiety. In conclusion, this study concluded that memes function as instruments of communication especially during the Wike-Fubara political crisis in Rivers State. It serves as the public voice expression frustration, hope and uncertainty.

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 how Facebook advertisements affect the attitudes, behaviors, and purchasing decisions of University of Benin undergraduates at Ekehuan Campus. With social media increasingly influencing consumer behavior, this research investigates the impact of Facebook ads on undergraduates.Using a structured questionnaire, the study examines how often undergraduates see Facebook ads, how effective these ads are, and how they influence brand awareness, customer engagement, and purchasing decisions. The study also identifies the benefits and challenges of Facebook advertising and provides practical tips for effective use. The findings of this study will help us understand how social media shapes consumer behavior, particularly among undergraduates. This research aims to provide valuable insights for individuals and organizations looking to use Facebook advertising to reach and engage with their target audience

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.