FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

This study investigated UNIBEN students’ perception of the use of social media for advertising by Bolt Transportation Company in Benin City. The study was anchored on the Technological Acceptance Model and Perception Theory as its theoretical framework. It also adopted the survey research design and the questionnaire was used as instrument for generating data from respondents. A total of 300 students from the Department of Mass Communication, University of Benin were selected as sample size and studied. From the analysis of the data gathered, it was discovered that a students have a very high level of awareness of Bolt social media advertising. Findings also discovered that students have a favorable and positive perception towards Bolt adverts on social media. This is due to the fact that they find it informative and useful in choosing transportation services. Consequently, it influences their behavior by making them use Bolt often. Therefore, the study recommended that social media advertisers should come up with better strategies in crafting and developing their advertising messages in order to engage students for improved results and patronage. It also recommended that advertisers and marketers should craft simple, clear and credible messages in order to build trust, brand awareness and patronage.

This research delves into the profound stigma associated with barrenness within African society, using the novels "A Woman in Her Prime" by Asare Konadu and "Stay with Me" by Ayobami Adebayo as primary sources. It comprehensively analyzes the cultural, social, and emotional dimensions of infertility and the resulting stigma in African communities. The study begins by contextualizing the societal importance of motherhood and fertility in various African cultures, where infertility is seen as a personal and communal failing, resulting in feelings of shame and inadequacy. Through character analysis and narrative exploration in both novels, the research uncovers gender dynamics that unfairly blame women for infertility, despite it often being a shared issue. This unequal blame distribution can lead to marital and familial strains. Additionally, the study examines how barren women experience community stigmatization, intensifying their feelings of shame and isolation. The emotional toll of infertility, including sadness, frustration, anxiety, and depression, is highlighted, underscoring the need for emotional support. In conclusion, the research emphasizes the necessity of awareness and advocacy to combat infertility stigma in African societies, promoting empathy, understanding, and access to medical and emotional support as vital steps toward alleviating the suffering of affected individuals. This comparative analysis sheds light on infertility challenges and underscores the urgent need for societal change and support.

This study looks at how satire points out social issues in Niyi Osundare’s poetry collections entitled Village Voices and Songs of the Marketplace. It also illustrates how satire enhances the poet’s functional status as critic of the social, political, cultural, religious and educational facets of the Nigerian nation. The two collections were closely read and qualitatively analysed through the use of the theoretical framework of New Historicism developed by Stephen Greenblatt. The study shows that, through the employment of satire in Village Voices and Songs of the Marketplace, Osundare criticizes the political hypocrisy, educational decay and societal negligence ravaging the Nigerian nation and also uses his poetry to express hope in having a classless society that treats all human beings equally, with all the barriers of wealth, class, rank and ambition displaced for the good of humanity