Category: Nigeria

Nigerian rapper Falz has picked up the media glove This is America to undress the most serious problems facing his society. With This is America, the American singer Childish Gambino has assaulted in recent weeks the Olympus of the combination of culture and social networks and, at the same time, has opened unsuspected doors. As expected, the shock of This is America’s viral earthquake has been felt especially in Nigeria, the great African giant that is also the setting for the continent’s most powerful entertainment industry.

The rise of the Childish Gambino clip was spectacular. As in such phenomena, YouTube’s hit counter and advertising feedback, the media and networks echo a devastating success and, at the same time, make it more visible, increasing its impact and so on and so forth. In this case, moreover, there has not been an international media that has not dissected the video, explaining all the details of the symbolism hidden by the anti-racist criticism. In addition to the transgression of the story, This is America combined all the elements of a consumer society product, but loaded with criticism and that made the video even more succulent for the media. From there, to spreading itself around the world in the form of parodies, it has only gone one step. The clip has been imitated in an endless list that includes from the Korean version to the Jamaican or Canadian version, passing through the Spanish version, obviously, or through the female edition.

However, one of these sequels attracts attention, because of the context and depth of criticism and because it has surpassed what is expected of a parody. Falz, the Nigerian rapper who signs This is Nigeria has picked up the glove launched by Childish Gambino, has accepted the challenge and has launched a critical barrage to draw, without complexes, what does not work in the African giant.

On Friday, Folarin Falana, known artistically as Falz, released his latest work. It was a song and video that followed in the wake of This is America. In This is Nigeria, the rapper from the African country reviewed some of the fundamental challenges faced daily by the society of the continent’s most populous country, one of the most powerful economies, but also one of the most complex and delicate contexts, both socially and politically. Falz does not leave puppet with head and does not save the risk of exposing the criticisms that are on everyone’s lips that very few dare to do publicly.

‘This is Nigeria. Look how I’m living now. Look how I am living now. They are all criminals’. It is Falz’s first sentence, as he passes over the body of a man killed with machetes. In a walk similar to that of Childish Gambino, the Nigerian musician warns about drug abuse among young people, which has led the Nigerian government even to ban the import of cough suppressants that contains codeine.

He also warns of the fascination with the stars of entertainment industry and all that goes with it, the superficiality of consumer society, the obsession with brands, the fixation on buying and selling, or the adoration of the quick money conveyed by entertainment culture, represented by a proud winner of the Big Sister Naija contest (in a little evening allusion to Big Brother Nigerian). And in this social approach, it draws attention to the threat to coexistence demonstrated by the latest incidents with Fulani cattle ranchers related to land use.

The different ways in which Nigerians are manipulated also have space in the Falz theme and in the video directed by Iyobosa Rehoboth, a very young 23-year-old director known artistically as Prodigeezy. Thus, there are politicians who seek to manipulate elections, representatives of different churches, healers or swindlers who operate on the Internet. And, evidently, the rapper does not forget the matters that correspond directly to the powers. He denounces the authorities’ lack of diligence in the face of Boko Haram’s kidnapping of the Chibok girls, the lack of work and deficient services, police violence and corruption or the inability of some public representatives, in the latter case exemplified by an inspector general of the Nigerian police, Ibrahim Idris, who gave an embarrassing speech during the inauguration of a technical intelligence unit for the fight against crime. The video of his hearing, two weeks ago, became viral and was the laughing stock of networks in Nigeria for a few days.

Art, creativity, music and humour are the shields Falz has relied on to draw a stark mosaic of the problems facing his country, and he has done so, possibly, with one of the most impactful languages. It is difficult to know exactly how far This is Nigeria’s video has gone because it has quickly spread across social networks and is shared from different sources, but there may be some clues, for example through the official publication of the video, which is hosted in Falz’s official YouTube profile. In this platform has surpassed the two million views in just five days. But the Nigerian musician has uploaded to his Instagram account three fragments of the video that totaled more than 1.8 million views in the first two days. Beyond the author’s accounts, you can find on Twitter, for example, fragments of the video that have also exceeded one and a half million views.

However, the final push has come to Falz’s work from the hand of another rapper, the American Diddy, responsible for Bad Boy Entertainment, among other initiatives and considered the king of hip-hop, for his business. Diddy has published in his Instagram account two fragments of This is Nigeria that have already surpassed three million views.

This is not the first time that Falz has resorted to the strategy of satire in order to load his songs with critical content, although he has obviously not had the coverage and media climate to achieve the projection he has achieved with This is Nigeria. However, this trajectory weakens the impact of the opportunist criticisms the artist has received. Both in his musical and comic facets, he has dealt with some of the themes that he also denounces in This is Nigeria.

In fact, one of the compliments that Falz has received from This is Nigeria is that his proposal has brought commitment to a cultural industry of enormous dimensions but focused exclusively on entertainment. Both the powerful and productive Nollywood and the tremendous Nigerian musical machinery or its more recent television production potential is fundamentally geared towards generating revenues. Some are concerned that this cultural environment also strives to generate values and have therefore applauded Folarin Falana’s bet.

Another of the side effects of the video’s success has been that it has encouraged a fresh debate on social networks through the title of the song turned into a label: #ThisIsNigeria. As can be predicted, in this discussion you will find everything from disqualifications for considering that the video tarnishes the image of the country or that Falz himself is an opportunist to the most disproportionate praise. However, there are also calmer criticisms of the video and, above all, a space has been created for a debate in relation to the country’s problems, in which most of the most influential users of social networks in Nigeria have participated.

Some, while considering it to be a historical fact, wondered whether the satirical tone and symbolic criticism would really be understood. In any case, This is Nigeria has shown a way for cultural activism, it has been a small conquest for ingenious critique and it has opened a new space for discussion.

Adichie’s Purple hibiscus is a novel based in post-colonial Nigeria where we are introduced to 15-year old Kambili who shares her narrative on the toxic family environment in which her father, an abusive catholic man oppresses and imposes his beliefs on his family. In the following essay, I will be discussing the key theme of defiance in Purple Hibiscus. To achieve this I will carefully explore Kambili’s experience +with open obedience in terms of the manner in which the characters in the story express their own resistance to systems and beliefs imposed by authoritative figures.

Kambili did not have resilient figures. None of the women in her life had a voice or were able to express themselves. Their home environment was profoundly silent which limited their chances of aggravating Papa Eugene and in Kambili’s case, it was often out of respect and considerable admiration. “So what do you do in this back of beyond, then? He teased. Jaja and I smiled and said nothing. “They are always so quiet,’ he said, turning to Papa. ‘So quiet’.”(Adichie, 2017: ). Her mother Beatrice was a submissive African woman who was a victim of a patriarchal society and thus she chose to remain silent and dared not to challenge her husband’s authority or any man for that matter. Because of this, Kambili silenced her voice and expression in obedience to her father’s rule and beliefs. She relied on her naivety and innocent demeanour in order to avoid the repercussions that would occur had she undermined authority and as a result she struggled with maturity and defending herself. “Mama said nothing; she was looking out of the window, as though she wanted to catch the last sight of those women. I thought about the woman lying in the dirt as we drove home. I had not seen her face, but I felt that I knew her, that I had always known her.” (Adichie, 2017: 44). Kambili related to this woman as she had witnessed her mother experiencing the similar kind of physical abuse. Mama Beatrice was portrayed as a woman who remained silent and was a spectator of her and her children’s abuse but overtime she gradually the confidence to defend herself, with this she committed the ultimate act of defiance by poisoning her abusive husband and thus causing his death. Kambili’s interactions with her Aunt Ifeoma in Nsukka as a turning point in her character where her “Nsukka began to lift the silence” (Adichie, 2017:). Two of her worlds were meeting where her collected experience with her voice being silence and one where she was encouraged to speak were coming together, naturally causing her to begin questioning authority. he direct exposure to a liberated environment a critical contributing factor to a new awakened form of thinking where Her perception of her father and life in Enugu had begun to change. It was in Nsukka where she had developed a connection with her grandfather and which she displayed as she cried at the fragments of his torn painting. To her father, this was considered as an of rebellion and for that she was punished.

Kambili’s aunt, Ifeoma was a liberated and outspoken woman whose values were the complete opposite to those of her parents. She served as Kambili’s representation of a woman who spoke up against the unjust and was able to confront and challenge her brother’s beliefs and authority. She also helped Jaja, and Kambili realise the faults in the way that their father chose to raise. Unlike Papa Eugene, Aunt Ifeoma showed respect towards both her religion and native tradition and honoured their father. Aunt Ifeoma worked as a professor at the university and was accused of encouraging students to engage in active protests. The visits to Nsukka gave Kambili and Jaja new freedom, hope, and a completely different perspective to a healthy home environment where their opinions were valued and not silenced. “Nsukka started it all; Aunty Ifeoma’s little garden next to the verandah of her flat in Nsukka began to lift the silence. Jaja’s defiance seemed to me now like Aunty Ifeoma’s experimental purple hibiscus: rare, fragrant with the undertones of freedom. […] A freedom to be, to do. ( ) Kambili witnessed that the experiences in Nsukka lead to a visible change in Jaja’s mental outlook and behaviour where he began to actively overstep his father’s set boundaries. Jaja became more outspoken and demanding, he would equally protect his mother and his sister when necessary.

Jaja had reached his breaking point and started to openly disobey his father “The next day was Palm Sunday, the day Jaja did not go to communion, the day Papa threw his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines.” (Adichie, 2017: 253). Eugene was a strict catholic who used faith as tool to dictate the lives of his family, thus Jaja’s rejection of this faith was a strong symbol of defiance

Kambili’s father did not honour his father, Papa-Nnukwu who was a traditionalist that practiced the sacred traditions of the Igbo tribe. Eugene Achieke did not want to be associated with his father and regarded him as a ‘Godless’ man. He rejected all forms of tradition and limited his interactions with his father together with his family. There were a number of instances where Papa expressed defiance against his father’s beliefs for instance when he instructed mama Beatrice and Kambili not to bow to the ‘Igwe’ as he was merely a chief and that it was an ungodly tradition. He did not show any compassion towards his father upon his sickness or death and refused to be part of his father’s burial. Eugene later punished his children for being in the same house as his father by washing their feet in boiling water, he claimed that “That [was] what you [did] to yourself when you walk into sin. You burn[ed] your feet.’ (Adichie, 2017: ).

Abstract:-

The Africa is faced so many conflict like social, political and ethnic. For the main causes are weak government, state collapse, inter-ethnic clashes, economic decline, and unequal distribution of resources. African writer portrait the conflict of Africa through their fiction like Chinua Achebe, Adichie Etc. Adichie describes this history with fictionalized in her novels. This paper tried to analyze conflict in Adichie’s debuted novel purple hibiscus (2003) through the lens of conflict. How Adichie described political and ethnic conflict of Nigeria through his novel’s characters. And these conflicts lead to the violence and riots. In this novel internal and external two kind of conflict describe through characters. How impact of conflict on Igbo people. What was the Main cause for the conflict?

Introduction:-

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel purple hibiscus is setting of Nigeria history during post 1990s or may be the late 1990s. The novel is deeply affected by Nigerian civil war or Biafra war during 6th July 1967 – 15th January 1970. The Biafra war effect we see in Adichie’s novel. Nigerian civil war fought between the government of Nigeria and the state of Biafra. Africa has a large diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the same way Nigeria had a population of 60 million people, and more than 250 different ethnic groups available.

This ethnic group speak 250 different languages. Main Nigerian ethnic groups are Igbo and Hausa-Fulani. The Hausa group was Muslim and had a system of government that was relatively feudal. In the other side the Igbo people was mainly Christian people and had a more democratic society. And their different cultures, this differentiation creates ethnic conflict. We know main reason of ethnic conflict is intolerance and inadequate relationship between the religions within the state or country to Nigerian civil war/Biafra war. We saw Biafra war’s effect in Adichie’s novels ‘Purple Hibiscus’.

Conflict:-

Conflict means a disagreement or clash. And how these clash main reason was ethnic differences, political instability and the impact of colonialism in Nigerian people. Nigeria colonize by Britain in 1945 and their colonial effect we saw in this novel. And character’s behavior and political situations reflected colonies language and culture.

This effect we find in the character of ‘Eugene’, who become victims of foreign cultures. He used British culture and language and neglected his own culture and mother tongue he completely accepts western culture under which he submerges his native culture. Because of the Colonization effect the northern Nigerian people were neglected by western minded Nigerian people. Because that ethnic tension growing between them. And these lead to ethnic conflict.

Eugene’s daughter and protagonist of this novel Kambali described his father as

“He hardly spoke Igbo, and although Jaja and I spoke it with Mama at home, he did not like us to speak it in public. We had to sound civilized in public, he told us; we had to speak English. Papa’s sister, Aunty Ifeoma, said once that Papa was too much of a colonial product.” (Adichie 10)

He forces his views of religions on his family and forced to followed its. If they not followed he beats them. He beats Kambili so severely, she is hospitalized in critical condition. When we talk about domestic violence, we saw some injury, stress, fear and nervousness depression are common.

We saw this characteristics in Jaja, Beatrice and Kambili. Eugene had beats Beatrice when she was ill and because of she does not want to visit father Benedict. For this small issue he beats her and she miscarries. He poured boiling water on Kambali and Jaja feet because they share a home with his heathen father. He believe they walked in sin. “For owning a painting of Papa-Nnukwu, Kambili is kicked until she is hospitalized.” (Conflict)

When Beatrice tells Kambili about her pregnancy, she mentions that she miscarried several times. Describe Beatrice loses two pregnancies at Eugene’s hands. The other miscarriages may have been caused by these beatings as well.

Religious differences was created religious conflict like in Nigeria. Christianity and Igbo cultural differences was main reason of conflict in purple hibiscus novel. Like Eugene and his father. Religious riots or conflict is not new it is around the world. Dispute between two culture and language lead to conflict. And this converted into violence and riots.

Adichie clearly portrays the conflicting repression of Kambili’s patriarchal home. Where she is ordered to follow a strict schedule. This novel express ‘Violence’ as an important theme to express condition of Nigerian situation. Adichie purposely expresses the catholic upbringing of the Kambili and her brother Jaja, as contrast to their auntie’s strong Igbo traditional customs.

Eugene obsessed with power and control and wants to remain the dictator in his family. This domestic violence create a conflict in Achike family and lead to a crime, when Beatrice killed her husband Eugene.

Adichie also describe how Political instability after post colonization was a reason of conflict in Nigeria. It was a difficult time in Nigeria’s political history, the idea that there is a vacuum in power and in the references to oil shortages. The limited resources which main reason for creating conflict. Primarily Adichie trying to portray political conflict through main character of Kambili, her family and government.

Karl Marx said in his conflict theory “claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources. It holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity.” (Conflict Theory) In this theory point of view who have power they used resources, And poor is struggling for that. This inequality create conflict. Power is main dominated form in conflict.

Socially inequality create conflict between different classes in social conflict theory. According this theory rich people in power and poor people was suffering for resources. This unequal distribution among working or poor people lead to revolt. How resources create a conflict we saw in the Biafra war reason of oil.

Unequal distribution and shortage of resources build a conflict in Adichie’s novel like oil, light and water shortages produce a riots, strikes and violence in university, And fuel shortages was describe by Ifemona’s character. Ifeoma said “We have not had fuel for three months in Nsukka. I spent the night in the petrol station last week, waiting for fuel. And at the end, the fuel did not come. Some people left their cars in the station because they did not have enough fuel to drive back home. If you could see the mosquitoes that bit me that night, eh, the bumps on my skin were as big as cashew nuts.” (Adichie 39)

Politics and power always related to corruption. Corruption is easily destroy the political system. Adichie describe how political instability create a corruption in Nigeria. Like Police officer openly takes bribe “We do not talk about the huge checks we have written, for bribes to judges and policemen and prison guards.” (Adichie 140)

How people offer a bribe to Eugene for his not published his articles on against government in his newspaper. This is best describe in this quotes “It was that evening, before dinner, that the government agents came, the men in black who yanked hibiscuses off as they left, the men Jaja said had come to bribe Papa with a truckful of dollars, the men Papa asked to get out of our house.” (Adichie 97)

Ifeoma, University professor in Nsukka faced problems. Professor were not paid for nearly two months, because of that some people had migrant to America. The situation was not good for so Ifeoma is also want migrate America. Writer describe this situation as “We just called off yet another strike, even though no lecturer has been paid for the last two months. They tell us the Federal Government has no money.” Aunty Ifeoma chuckled with little humor. “Ifukwa, people are leaving the country. Phillipa left two months ago. You remember my friend Phillipa?” (Adichie 39)

Man v/s society this conflict describe between Ade Coker’s editorials and government. Ade Coker the editor of the Standard in Eugene’s paper. He is openly critical of the corrupt government with Eugene’s support. Are Coker was arrested for the newspaper had some publication that was against the Head of State. Ade Coker free by the help of Eugene. Eugene wanted to run his newspaper underground to make his staffs safe.

“One of the Head of State, or “Big Oga.” Few details about the government are given, but politics still affect the daily lives of Adichie’s characters: workers’ strikes cut off power and water, police require bribes at random checkpoints, and Ade Coker, who is based on the real-life journalist Dele Giwa, is assassinated with a letter bomb. We see everything through a young adult’s point of view, but a political one by showing the tragic personal results of the legacy of colonialism, dictatorship, and corruption.” (Colonialism)

Because of that Ade Coker becomes a political target. And he is killed by a letter bomb. Adichie used real incident and situation in her story. Ada Coker represent Dele Giwa, He was a Nigerian Journalist, editor and founder of magazine called ‘Newswatch.’ Who was also killed by ‘Mail bomb explosion’ as Adichie describe in her novel. Adichie revisiting history and fictionalizes history. She was used real history of Dele Giwa and create a political conflict and violence in this novel.

Nigerian people cannot get fresh water, light and petrol. Kambili saw a painful incident in market, where the military force was inflicting violence upon the citizens. Like Adichie describe in this novel as “Market women were shouting, and hands placed on their heads, in the way that people do to show despair or shock. A woman lay in the dirt……laughing.” (Adichie 24)

The methods of intervention in any type of violence have to be associated with understanding the very nature, causes, and dynamics of the conflict.” (Jeong 17)

Kambali is living in terror because of that she unable to create her own identity. Because of that she feel Internal conflict of man v/s self. She was always silence in novel, show was not express herself.

“Violence and intractable conflict seem certain to remain a prominent and tragic part of the human condition.” (Jeong 17)

Jaja rebelled against his father by skipping communion on Palm Sunday. It is an important religious holiday.

Conclusion:-

Conflict can arise from misunderstandings, differences, poor communication, personality clashes, resource control, religious or land disputes. Eugene is a religious zealot and rules over his family through imposed his authority. He mentally and physically abused his family. He is really communist person. When we saw Eugene as negative character. We also feel as his moral dilemma. This describe as the physiological conflict in his character. He is Nigerian but he believes that white people do everything better. So he wants everything in his life to be western and modern. Just like he used British accent when talking to white people, and avoids native Igbo language. Adichie revisited history and describe political and ethnic conflict in Nigeria through this novel’s characters. Adichie describe internal and external conflict. Like internal conflict of Eugene, Jaja and Kambili’s characters. External conflict of man/Society by Ade Coker’s editorials against the government. External conflict of man vs. man, like Jaja against Papa and Papa against Papa-Nnukwu. And Eugene’s violence.

References

1. Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Purple Hibiscus. London: Harper Perennial, 2003. Print .
2. ‘Colonialism and Niderian Politics.’ n.d. LitCharts. 11 4 2019. .
3. Conflict. n.d. .
4. ‘Conflict Theory.’ 2018. Investopedia. 4 2019. .
5. Jeong, Ho-Won. Understanding Conflict and Conflict Analysis. Singapore, 2008.

King and queens in the past have made the mistake of abusing their power. King George III Abused his power. He prevented the British government from making judicial decisions. He took complete control over Brittan. This resulted in the USA being founded. In the book ‘Purple Hibiscus’ Papa gets the opportunity many times and takes advantage of his power. He uses his power to take advantage of Mama the same way throughout the book. In ‘Purple Hibiscus’ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shows Papa’s lack of change throughout the book by making Papa abuse Kambili and Mama, making him a man of power and also by making him act like a God.

Papa abuses his power by abusing Mama and Kambili. He uses it to set unreal expectations for his kids and his wife. After Kambili Gets 2nd in your class, Papa goes to Kambili’s class. Kambili describes Papa and his actions at the school: “Papa changed his accent when he spoke, sounding British, just as he did when he spoke to Father Benedict. He was gracious, in the eager to please way that he always assumed with the religious, especially with the white religious” (Adichie, 46). By how Kambili describes papa, he seems like he wants to impress people. He seems like a perfect person from the outside. On the outside, he seems like a feather, but he is a rock on the inside. He has a string tied to him and he brings others down. He can’t be stopped from sinking. He seems like he wants to be a feather in the community. He changes his voice to make himself seem impressive. He wants to have the narrative of being a respectable man. He thinks he can get away with anything and this is why he needs this narrative to seem true. If people knew what was happening behind closed doors, they wouldn’t think the same way they do about Papa.

Papa is strictly Catholic and uses that as his excuse for everything. He uses this to set unreal expectations for his kids. Papa will not let the kids into the same building as Papa Nnukwu. Aunty Ifeoma talks about papa by saying this: “But you know Eugene quarrels with the truths that he does not like… Eugene has to stop doing God’s job. God is big enough to do his own job. If God will judge our father for choosing to follow the way of our ancestors, then let God do the judging, not Eugene” (Adichie, 95). From what Aunty Ifeoma Says, Papa is seen as a man of power. He is shown as a king. In reality, he might be corrupt but the people that bow down to him can’t see through him. They see one picture unlike the loved ones of papa. Aunty Ifeoma sees the abuse and can tell that it is bad and getting worse, but the people of the town don’t see it. He sets way too many standards for his kids and most of them are impossible.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shows Papa as a man of power. He acts like he is God throughout the book. He worships the catholic religion and uses it as an excuse for everything. While the kids are in Nsukka, Papa learns that Papa Nnukwu is staying there. Papa immediately leaves to go pick them up and finds out that Papa Nnukwu is dead. The first thing he says is that Papa Nnukwu was not a Christian when he died: “did you call a priest to give him an extreme unction… I cannot participate in a Pagan funeral, but we can discuss with a parish priest so we can have a Catholic funeral” (Adichie 188). In this quote Adichie makes papa have crazy goals. His excuse for everything is that he is doing it for God. In this quote, instead of caring about his father, he cares more about if he was converted to Catholicism or not. It just shows how little he comes of age in this book. He thinks he has given his life to the lord, but he acts like he is God. He acts like this throughout the entire book. This shows him not coming of age.

‘Purple Hibiscus’ falls under multiple genres like Bildungsroman and Romance that we see though Kambili’s character but is also a Novel and Domestic Fiction piece. The genres establish many themes and Adichie challenges readers to not just to think about violence, but about religious hypocrisy, family, and politics. The novel is broken up into four parts but does not follow a chronological order. Adichie includes many stylistic elements such as imagery, foreshadowing, flashback, repetition, and allegorical examples. The story is told through first person narration and presents a tone parallel to Kambili’s quiet character in order to intensify what is going on around her. The novel was published in 2003 and written in response to the political turmoil that took place in Nigeria during the 1990s. Nigeria had coups all the way up into the 1990s, had unfulfilled promises from its President, and near 2003, there was an increase in violence due to elections. Adichie’s purpose for writing the novel was to represent how Nigerian politics affects personal lives. Adichie is a Nigerian author who promotes feminism. Her views on gender are very important because ‘Purple Hibiscus’ and many of her other works deal with women empowerment. ‘Purple Hibiscus’ is translated in multiple languages and intended for an international audience, men and women, people of various ages, and people of different cultures and ethnicities.

The comparison of vegetable oil and bleached palm oil represents a pivotal turning point in the characters’ relationship, as Amaka realizes that Kambili’s wealth comes at the cost of independence, leading her to play a key role in Kambili’s assertion of freedom from Papa while establishing Adichie’s idea of a healthy family dynamic.

The book presents a clear picture of the relationship’s transformation that started out rocky because Amaka mistook Kambili’s silence as a sign of her wealth and privilege, showing young adult readers that you shouldn’t judge someone based off of first impressions. In reference to her question to Kambili on why they don’t watch television, Amaka asks, “Because you’re bored with it? If only we all had satellite so everybody could be bored with it” (Adichie 79). Amaka makes fun of her cousin for her privileged lifestyle, and we see Kambili’s inability to say that Papa is so controlling that he doesn’t even allow her to watch television. This provides a good foundation on the characters’ relationship and the characters individually so that readers can see the transformation of both.

Later, when Amaka tries uncovering the truth about who is responsible for the abuse Kambili endures, Kambili’s response shows a critical milestone for her character as she is no longer afraid and is able to be open in her relationship with Amaka. Amaka asks, “it was Uncle Eugene who did that to you? … Yes. It was him” (Adichie 220). Not only is this a big step in Kambili breaking free from silence and oppression at the hands of Papa, but Amaka, who now shows “no resentment in [her] eyes, no sneer, no downturn of her lips”, better understands Kambili, causing the cousins to bond and become closer as family.

Finally, Adichie establishes the idea of a healthy family dynamic through Kambili’s ability to make the garri perfectly, and her watching the soup spread into the garri symbolizes Kambili and Amaka forming their relationship into that of actual family instead of distant cousins. When referring to Amaka’s artistic talents and her relationship with Papa-Nnukwu, Kambili says, “watching them, I felt a longing for something I knew I would never have” (Adichie 165). We see a big role that Amaka plays because Kambili goes from never having hope of one day being a part of a good family to finding comfort and not worrying about having “separate dishes for garri and soup”, like the passage states, symbolizing Kambili’s gain of freedom and feeling of safety in her family now.

The book showing Kambili and Amaka’s relationship is a good example of the Exeter quality that reads, “characters who reflect experiences of teen readers, something that is not found in much of the literary canon, especially when it comes to strong female protagonists” (Donelson & Nilson 18). Adichie calls for the women empowerment through the strong characteristics of her young female narrator, which helps readers, male or female, who go through challenging life experiences be able to relate to the main character.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel ‘Purple Hibiscus’ explores the tumultuous relationships between the members of the Achike family, inflicted by the father, Eugene. The novel is narrated in the first person, by the fifteen-year-old protagonist Kambili. This essay will portray the significance of ‘body writing’ which will be depicted through Eugene and Aunty Ifeoma. The entire family are subjects to domestic violence, in which the father justifies through the practice of strict Catholicism. The idea of dualism, where the mind and body are considered to be separate entities is the reason why the tyrant abuses his family, to ultimately rid their flesh of temptations and sin. The violence Eugene juxtaposes the military takeover in the public sphere of colonial and postcolonial Nigeria, which ultimately leads to his downfall. In contrast to Eugene, his sister Ifeoma, who is widowed, is an independent and modern working woman who refuses to succumb to generational patriarchy. She is depicted as a strong female and defies her brother’s authority, in which she is able to merge Catholicism with the Igbo culture.

Apart from Eugene’s authoritative behaviour in the family home, he would always act in a similar way at church. He would always want to be at the centre of attention and the one in first position, almost fighting for the attention of God. He does this as an act of proving that he is more faithful and ultimately to show the congregation that he is the better Catholic. He wanted to be recognized by Father Benedict. Eugene would even kneel at the altar, offering himself to the “blonde life-size Virgin Mary” (Adichie, 2004:4). Eugene would “hold his eyes shut” and he also “stick his tongue” out as far out as he could, displaying a grotesque display of attention, almost in a way trying to prove his loyalty and obedience to the Lord (Adichie, 2004: 4). Eugene was groomed by Father Benedict to abandon his Igbo culture and turn to Catholicism, which is ironic because it juxtaposes the influence of the colonial reign in Nigeria. In which Eugene’s grotesque display in church is a direct influence of what was taught to him. The body language of Eugene, like the way he kneels to the blonde statue of Virgin Mary contrasts the colonial takeover in Nigeria by the white colonialists. The way he would shut his eyes and stick out his tongue emphasizes his adherence to Christ. And his willingness to put his body through pain and sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin of himself and his family, shows he determination and obedience not only to God, but the teachings of Father Benedict. Eugene tells Kambili a story after he burns the soles of her feet and her brothers with boiling water for living under the same roof with his “unconverted father” when they went to live with their aunty Ifeoma (Cooper, 2008: 111). He explains that once he had “committed a sin’ against his very ‘own body’”, in which he was caught masturbating (Adichie, 2004: 196). Just as his body was subjected to abuse by the father in charge, he believes that by burning his children’s feet he will stop them from committing sins caused by the body. This emphasises Eugene’s view of the body being a separate entity to that of the mind. This links to the idea of body writing as Eugene’s grotesque body language is described negatively alluding to the post-colonial discourse, which is portrayed through the military takeover in Nigeria. Also, the idea of the dual body, in which the mind and the body should not be joint but separate in order to function is the reason why the family is subject to the tyrant’s abusive behaviour.

Father Benedict’s role as the priest of the church, gave him an honorary title that is bestowed upon a chosen person to lead the congregation into glory of the Lord. Yet, Father Benedict wanted to be seen and a God-like figure, rather than to teach the ways of Christ. Similar to that of his prodigy Eugene, he was at an authoritative position in which he “brainwashed Papa” to believe that being Catholic was associated with being not only closer to God. Yet Father Benedict gave Eugene the impression that he was superior and therefore made him look down upon wife and children, especially his father who kept his faith in the Igbo culture (Cooper, 2008: 119). Father Benedict would even refer to a hierarchy order of church of Christ which included the pope, Eugene and Jesus being last, instead of first, which shows his disregard for even God, because he is of the opinion that he is above everyone else. Father Benedict controls his congregation by prohibiting the use of Igbo and implementing Latin. He restricted “hand clapping” and when he did allow some songs in Igbo, he would refer to them as “native songs”, which further implies his dislike towards the native Nigerians as well as their culture and traditions (Adichie, 2004: 4). Father Benedict disregards the Igbo culture by stopping them from embracing their culture, by making them sing in a foreign language and restrict body movement, which is a part of the Igbo culture in which they praise dance. This is a direct link to the juxtaposition to the way in which the white colonisers took over Nigeria and prohibited the native people from practising their culture, because the colonisers saw the black Nigerians as uncivilised and uncouth. They implemented Westernised practices and lifestyles, just as how Father Benedict controls the congregation and Eugene.

Aunty Ifeoma in contrast to Eugene, is caring, affectionate and jovial. And apart from the personalities of the siblings, there is significant contrast between the two homes. In Eugene’s home there is strict routine, discipline and predictability, whereas in Aunty Ifeoma’s home, there is always spontaneous conversations, laughter, dancing and freedom to speak. Ifeoma displays a motherly affection and bond with her children that seem foreign to Eugene. Aunty Ifeoma is described as being “as tall as Papa” and the way in which she walked like someone who knew “where she was going and what she was going to do there” (Adichie, 2004: 71). Even when she hugged Kambili, she did so “tightly” and pressed her against her soft body (Adichie, 2004: 71). Even though Eugene and Aunty Ifeoma have similar body structure, in terms of height, she is described as a confident woman who walks with purpose. This indicates that Aunt Ifeoma’s authority should not be shadowed by the fact that she is a woman, because she has the ability to do anything, regardless of being female. Aunty Ifeoma displays a modern picture of feminine strength accompanied with love, which is the love and strength Eugene lacks. This also contrasts the idea that women are seen as weak and inferior to men, according to Eugene’s views on women being nothing child bearers and housewives, rather than modern working women. Aunty Ifeoma’s character also embraces both the Catholic religion and Igbo culture, intertwining them instead of choosing the one that is to be taught to be more superior. She attempts to “integrate the spirituality” of their father Papa Nnukwu into their Catholicism (Cooper, 2008: 119). Unlike Eugene who even rejects their father for still practicing the Igbo culture. The influence of the colonists pushed Eugene further away from his culture, making he believe that Catholicism was more superior and righteous. And this is a direct juxtaposition to the colonial takeover of Nigeria and their reign on its people.

Adichie represents a postcolonial society, which is still indirectly under the control of the new military. This ultimately juxtaposes the character of Papa Eugene, who asserts his authority and dominance over his family causing privatised domestic violence in his home, because of the teachings and influence of Father Benedict, which is similar to the abuse Nigerians had to endure during the reign of the colonialists. Adichie also depicts ‘body writing’ through the contrasting relationship between Papa Eugene and Aunty Ifeoma. As Aunty Ifeoma has a positive authoritative role in her family, centred around love and growth, which she also combines her belief in Catholicism with her culture of Igbo and practices the two in harmony with each other. Whereas Papa’s authoritative role and strict focus on Catholicism hinders the growth development of his family, ultimately leading to his downfall.

Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to safe drinking water and adequate treatment and disposal of human waste and sewage (Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.). Nigeria is located in West Africa and has the largest population of approximately 200 million in Africa (UNDP, 2019). Nigeria has a Human Development Index of 0.534, which ranks the country as 158th in the world (UNDP, 2019). The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and having a decent standard of living (UNDP, 2019). HDI is an important tool in assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone (UNDP, 2019). Although it is important to note that HDI does not take into consideration other fundamental aspects of human development, and hence does not reflect inequalities within a country or the level of empowerment. These two aspects, inequalities and empowerment are vital when it comes to sanitation and its consequences. This essay argues that lack of access to sanitation disproportionately impacts women and girls, hindering the ability of countries to develop. In 2010, the UN General Assembly recognized access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right, and called for international efforts to help countries to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation (WHO, n.d.). This provision of water and sanitation has not been achieved in Nigeria, in fact access to sanitation is declining due to rapid population growth. To understand how the lack of sanitation affects Nigeria, and in particular females, this essay will firstly focus on the prevalence of diseases associated with unsanitary conditions. Furthermore, it will explore the consequences lack of sanitation has on the level of education achieved in Nigeria. Additionally, the essay will display how discrimination and violence towards women and girls is motivated by lack of sanitation. Finally, how these circumstances hinder the ability of Nigeria to flourish and develop.

The United Nations estimates that there are 2.5 billion people who still do not use an improved sanitation facility and a little over 1 billion practicing open defecation (UNDESA, 2014). The Millennium Development Goals which ceased in 2015, aimed to improve access to sanitation. This was not met. Therefore, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlighted basic sanitation again as a key issue. “Goal 6 of the SDGs is to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’, where Target 6.2 aims by 2030 to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations” (United Nations, 2015; Saleem, 2019). Nigeria happens to be among the top 5 countries with the largest number of people without access to sanitation and also practicing open defecation. Overall, about 50 million people defecating in the open (Gilbert, 2017). Open defecation poses many risks to the health and wellbeing of women and girls. Open defecation refers to a condition where human feces are disposed of in fields, forests, open bodies of water, beaches or other open spaces or disposed with solid waste (UNICEF, n.d.). When this occurs, human feces contaminate water used for agriculture, washing, drinking, etc. A direct result of this is contact with pathogens that make people ill. Poor sanitation is associated with the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, hepatitis A, dysentery, typhoid and polio (WHO, n.d.). Diarrhea is the water-borne disease (Gross, 2013), and in Nigeria 121,800 people die from diarrhea each year (UNICEF, n.d.). Repeated cases of diarrhea weaken the body and immune system, making individuals more susceptible to malnutrition and other infections. For pregnant women, this can serenely impact the pregnancy, causing outcomes such as preterm births, low birth weights, stunted growth and infections. In Nigeria, one woman in every 23 will on average lose a baby to infection during her lifetime compared to one in 7,518 in the UK (WaterAid, 2016). Nigeria has a low Inequality Human Development Index (IHDI) of 0.349 (UNDP, 2019). This means that there is a large amount of inequalities within the Nigerian demography. Desai (2013) acknowledges that health varies between countries and amongst different groups within countries. It is these differences that are known as health inequalities. This is noticed in the burden of disease experienced by men and women in Nigeria, as women are more likely to contract diseases linked to poor sanitation. Currently the world doesn’t have a strong focus on tackling burden due to communicable diseases, which are prevalent in Nigeria. This is an example of the 10/90 gap. This refers to the fact that 10% or less of the world’s health research spending is directed to conditions that account for 90% of the global burden of disease (Schrecker, 2017). If diseases associated with poor sanitation are to contribute less to the mortality rate in Nigeria, the world health research industry must work together. In order to develop ways to provide universal health coverage, regardless of one’s ability to pay. Additionally, once there is wider health coverage in Nigeria, improving the country’s ability to cope with the burden of disease, development can be directed towards sanitation.

In Nigeria only 50% of public schools have access to a basic sanitation facility (Idoko, 2020). In many cases girls who attend schools that do not have basic latrines drop out, once they reach menstruating age, or simply are absent when they are menstruating. In Nigeria females achieve 5.3 mean years of schooling, whereas males achieve a higher 7.6 mean years of schooling (UNDP, 2019). A significant reason for this is poor sanitation. The UNICEF and UN Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) program ‘WinS for Girls’ aims to increase the number of girls completing primary school, and entering secondary school. One of the keys focuses of the initiative is menstrual health management (Government of Canada, 2014). Nigeria is a country of focus for this program. They found that the lack of privacy makes it difficult for girls to change menstrual products with safety and dignity. (UNICEF, 2015). There was also a common fear that used sanitary pads might be used for ritual purposes, hence girls won’t throw away products at school (UNICEF, 2015). These challenges to manage their menstrual health, courage being absent from school and for girls to drop out completely. If Nigeria improved their facilities in schools, they would see many benefits. Educating women and girls results in falling fertility rates and stable population growth. If girls don’t drop out for school, they are less likely to be married early and become pregnant while they are a teenager. Currently in Nigeria the adolescent birth rate is 107.3 births per 1000 women aged 15-19 (UNDP, 2019), and 44% of women are married by age 18 (UNDP, 2019). These figures are very high, by providing sanitation services in schools these can improve. Educated mothers not only have fewer and healthier children, their children have a 40% higher survival rate (Beaumont, 2017). They are also twice as likely to send their own children to school as mothers without an education (Beaumont, 2017). In Nigeria this could be vital in managing current rapid population growth and ending the cycle of poverty. If the number of educated women increases, this would initiate economic growth due to increases in productivity from a larger workforce. Furthermore, by improving sanitation in Nigerian schools, this will assist in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4 Quality Education and Goal 5 Gender Equality, by allowing all children access to education regardless of gender.

Insufficient access to sanitation in Nigeria, shows a correlation to discrimination and violence towards women and girls. The inability of Nigerian women to access basic sanitation, is a failure to address this at a national level is a form of gender discrimination a further violation of human rights (Saleem, 2019). The dignity of women and girls is compromised when they do not have access to a private latrine. Often, women and girls relied themselves at dawn and dusk so that they had a form of privacy. There is also a social stigma surrounding females defecating. Women can face deep shame and loss of personal dignity if indecently exposed to men outside their home (Saleem, 2019), therefore the times of day with minimal light are used as a form of security, placing them in a position of vulnerability. An appalling trend has emerged, which highlights that when women go to relieve themselves, they are prone to violence and harassment. This physical and verbal assault that women experience due to lack of household satiation facilitates can lead to increased fear, anxiety, sense of powerlessness, and disempowerment (Saleem, 2019). The HeForShe campaign by the UN, is a pledge that calls for action, to end forms of violence and discrimination faced by women and girls. This movement acknowledges that gender development is a human rights issue (Tiessen, 2017). In order to improve sanitation, women in Nigeria must recognize their own rights and strive to achieve human dignity. This in turn, will promote gender development, by removing inequalities, women will be more empowered to see change.

Nigeria’s economy is dependent on oil. This has helped it grow from a developing country to lower-middle-income status, although changes in global oil prices make this progress unstable (WaterAid, n.d.). In the world of modern development, Nigeria has a reputation of oil-fueled corruption (Watts, 2013). The country has very little to show in a development sense, for the $700 million dollars of oil revenues captured in the last half century (Watts, 2013). Despite this Nigeria is still one of the largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria has a gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,041.2 (2011 PPP $ billions) (UNDP, 2019). Yet Nigeria is failing when it comes to progress on delivering sanitation. It is the third most regressive country in the world on sanitation and access to basic sanitation is decreasing rather than improving (WaterAid, 2016). The percentage of Nigeria’s population without access to private toilets is currently 71%, accounting for 130 million people (WaterAid, 2016). A huge 25% of the population, equaling over 46 million people practicing open defecation (WaterAid, 2016). According to UNDP in 2019, research and development expenditure accounted for only 0.2% of Nigeria’s GDP. This lack of sufficient private and public investment (Rud, 2019) into development directed towards sanitation has contributed to the ‘sanitation crisis’ (Rud, 2019). In a study on the economic impact on poor sanitation in Nigeria in 2012, it was estimated that Nigeria loses NGN 455 billion or US$ 3.6 billion annually due to poor sanitation. This amounts to US$ 20 per person in Nigeria per year or 1.3% of the national GDP (UNICEF, n.d.). Universal access to sanitation services would significantly contribute to growth in Nigeria. Greater productivity from less time spent accessing water and sanitation, will result in reduced health care and mortality costs (WaterAid, 2016). Investing in improving access to sanitation will be effective in growing the economy and improving the standard of living in Nigeria (WaterAid, 2016). The market potential of investing in a sanitation program, would create employment in both construction and service. The cost estimate of a pit latrine with a slab is approximately NGN 25,000, the resulting total market potential for both material and labor would be worth NGN 1.25 trillion (UNICEF, n.d.). These estimates are based on the figures of approximately 50 million people still open defecate. Ultimately a greater focus on improving sanitation, can enable Nigeria to prosper.

To conclude, this essay has illuminated that sanitation is a basic human right. The lack of sanitation in Nigeria disproportionately impacts women and girls. Gender and economic development have been hindered in Nigeria, through gender gaps in education and exhaustion of women’s dignity. Until Nigeria can improve sanitation standards across the country, they will be unable to control their rapid population growth, increase education levels of girls, and prosper economically. Women must be empowered to end inequalities as they hold the power to progress the development of the nation and thus benefit the lives of others and of future generations.

Abstract

This study seeks to understand both Nigeria and South Africa’s respective unemployment situations. This study discusses what factors can contribute to the consistent disparity between South Africa and Nigeria’s unemployment rates. In this research, various possible factors are considered, including an underdeveloped agricultural sector, a lack of quality education, and a lack of accessibility to jobs. This proposal also seeks to better understand why Nigeria’s unemployment rate seems to have been steadily climbing over the past five years. In a broader sense, this proposal aims to understand what causes unemployment to better understand possible solutions to unemployment and lessen the poverty that follows as a result of high unemployment rates.

Introduction

Nigeria and South Africa are two very similar countries, with both nations boasting the top-performing economies in Africa. However, for countries so economically similar, both South Africa and Nigeria have had drastically different unemployment rates for the past five years at least. While South Africa has had consistently high unemployment rates, Nigeria’s unemployment rates have been comparatively lower. Stranger still, Nigeria’s unemployment rate has been steadily increasing, and yet, even at the height of its ascension it has still maintained a consistently lower unemployment rate than South Africa, as shown by Figures 1 and 2:

This research proposal aims to investigate what factors lead to the unemployment rate disparity between Nigeria and South Africa. I begin to go about this task by first describing the works from which I derived my data in a literature review. I will then describe the model that my research leads me to believe is the most justifiable and hypothesize about how the said model can effect change within South Africa and Nigeria. I will then go on to explain why I selected South Africa and Nigeria for this case study, and I will describe the benefits and flaws inherent in this comparison. Finally, I will close with my final thoughts on this study, describing not only why this study is important, but how it could be continued and improved in the future.

Literature Review

There were many possible explanations for the differing employment rates between Nigeria and South Africa. Unemployment in and of itself is a difficult phenomenon to explain due to the various possible cultural, economic, and political factors that can lead to it. Within the various scholarly discussions about the subject, there seemed to be three main schools of thought that explained the disparity. The first school of thought, which from this point on will be referred to as the Agricultural school, believed that unemployment within the nation of South Africa was a direct result of their poorly developed agricultural sector and that the comparatively low unemployment rates in Nigeria can be attributed to their better developed agricultural sector. The second school of thought, which will be referred to as the Educational school, posited that South Africa’s unemployment rates were the result of a poorly developed education system and that Nigeria’s unemployment has slowly been increasing due to a similarly poor educational system. Finally, the last school of thought, which will be referred to as the Labor school, identifies an incompatible labor supply and demand as the culprit for South Africa’s unemployment situation and the development of a similar situation in Nigeria as the cause of its slowly increasing unemployment rates.

Agriculture

The agricultural school can be summarized as holding a poorly developed agricultural sector responsible for South Africa’s unemployment and a well-developed agricultural sector responsible for Nigeria’s lack of unemployment. This school of thought was supported by information from the CIA’s World Factbook. The database provided useful information about GDP composition by sector, enabling a more comprehensive analysis and comparison of the two country’s agricultural sectors.

The information provided by the CIA makes it clear that, in terms of the sophistication of their agricultural sectors, Nigeria is much more developed than South Africa.

Author O.E. Ayinde (2008) provided a lens through which to interpret this data in her article Empirical Analysis of Agricultural Growth and Unemployment in Nigeria stating that “Unemployment is a result of the inability to develop and utilize the nation’s manpower resources effectively, especially in the rural sector” (p.465). Ayinde argues throughout her article that increased growth in Nigeria’s agricultural sector could likely alleviate the country’s growing unemployment, attributing the country’s comparatively low unemployment rates to its already marginally more developed agricultural sector. According to Ayinde (2008), in countries with large rural populations, like Nigeria (and by extension South Africa) “agricultural growth rate has an inverse relationship with unemployment” (p.465). This article suggests possible validity for the agricultural school.

Education

Within the educational school of thought, scholars argued that historically unequal access to education brought on by apartheid, as well as poor quality of education, is responsible for South Africa’s high unemployment rates. Nigeria, in comparison, is plagued only by a poor quality of education allowing it to have lower (albeit steadily rising) unemployment rates than South Africa.

A newsletter by the South African Department of Communications (n.d.) provides a firm basis for the educational school, citing data that suggests that “the deliberate exclusion of black people from the educational system…under apartheid contributed to high rates of unemployment today” (Possible Root Causes, para. 2). The report also states that “[i]nadequate education and lack of productivity is costing jobs. Unemployment increases progressively with decreased educational levels, and the education system is not producing the skills for the labor market,” (Possible Root Causes, para.3) further supporting the claim that South Africa suffers from a simultaneous lack of quality education and lack of equal access to education.

Nigeria, in comparison, understandably lacks South Africa’s racial history and, therefore only really struggles with providing a quality education. According to Poverty and Rate of Unemployment in Nigeria, an article written by Adebobola Olotu, Rafiu Salami, and Igbayemi Akeremale(2015), Nigeria has been struggling to provide their students with an education that makes them attractive to employers, stating that “[i]neffective educational quality, inadequate job skill and training are shortcomings militating against [the] productive sector of [the] Nigerian economy, [and the] private sector [is] not willing to recruit Nigerian graduates because of insufficient knowledge and experience”(p. 3). The Nigerian economic system is struggling to sufficiently prepare students to enter the workforce and this may explain why their unemployment rates are slowly increasing.

Labor

Within the labor school of thought, scholars argue that unemployment within both countries is being driven by a sudden oversupply of willing laborers within a market that has not yet developed an equally high demand for them. The article Poverty and Rate of Unemployment in Nigeria (ibid.) presents a simple explanation for the oversupply of workers in Nigeria, stating that an unprecedented amount of educated workers looking for work has been produced “as a result of the sharp increase in the tertiary institution turnout” (p. 2). Simply put there has been a sharp increase in higher education graduates within Nigeria, and the sudden increase in educated individuals was not mirrored by an increased need for labor, resulting in a high rate of unemployment. As to why so many new people were suddenly attending and graduating from “tertiary institutions” in Nigeria, research presented numerous explanations, the most compelling of which was a mass migration of aspiring workers from rural to urban areas.

In comparison, South Africa experienced a similar increase in laborers, however for very different reasons. While the situation in Nigeria was motivated mainly by a sudden increase in educated individuals as a likely result of rural-to-urban migration, the labor increase situation in South Africa can once again be explained by its history of discrimination. According to the South African Department of Communications (n.d.), South Africa was prevented from accessing the full potential of its workforce until 1995 due to the “deliberate exclusion of black people…from skilled occupations under apartheid” (Possible Root Causes, para. 2). Since South Africa has a majority black population, it makes sense that, with the change in laws, many of the black citizens who had formerly been denied work would be entering the job market that had now been opened to them. While this sudden influx of workers bears many similarities to the influx that occurred in Nigeria, its most notable difference is that this sudden increase in workers involved a majority of the country suddenly being allowed to enter a workforce that had previously been closed to them, and thus a more extreme level of unemployment is to be expected in such a situation.

Model and Hypothesis

According to my research, the most justifiable model would be the model presented in the labor school of thought. I hypothesize that the volume of new workers being introduced to the job market influences unemployment rates, more specifically, when new labor is introduced in too high a volume at any one time within a country, said country’s unemployment rate increases as a result. A country needs time for its job market to adapt to new workers and so a gradual introduction of new workers would better maintain low unemployment rates. This hypothesis also attributes South Africa’s high unemployment rates to the high volume of new workers that the end of apartheid suddenly introduced to the South African job market. Had this introduction been more gradual perhaps South Africa would have had lower unemployment rates today. This hypothesis also attributes Nigeria’s growing unemployment rates to the growing number of students being produced by Nigerian schools to transition into the workforce. Compared to South Africa’s sudden transition out of apartheid, the gradual pace at which Nigeria’s schools are producing more aspiring workers explains why Nigeria has a low unemployment rate compared to South Africa.

Research Design

This research focuses on comparing the unemployment rates of Nigeria and South Africa. These specific countries were chosen for their economic similarities, with both countries being among the top economies in Africa. Furthermore, both countries share major urban demographics. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook Database (2018), 50.3% of Nigeria’s population lives in urban areas (People and Society Nigeria) while 66.4% of South Africa’s population live in urban areas (People and Society South Africa). Finally, both countries share similar population demographics between ages 15 and 54, with 59.29% of South Africa’s population falling within said interval and 50.25% of Nigeria’s population falling within the interval (ibid.). This age structure is especially important because it is the interval between which individuals are most likely to be seeking employment, and thus this similarity allowed me to more accurately judge whether any differences between the two countries correlated to their low or high unemployment rates.

Of course, many complications arise when trying to compare two extremely large nations. For one thing, the population of Nigeria (203,452,505) is more than three times the size of the population of South Africa (55,380,210), making it slightly more difficult to accurately compare the two (ibid.). Furthermore, both countries are geographically dissimilar, with Nigeria being located much farther north than South Africa. This difference in location may create unseen geographic variables that are difficult to measure and could, thus, skew the results of my research. Finally, very little historical information is available on Nigeria’s past unemployment rates, limiting my research and leading me to narrow down the scope of my study to a period of 5 years before the present day.

The strategy I used to evaluate the validity of the various arguments I came across was a system of information synthesis, analysis/comparison, and reasoning. To begin I gathered as much information as possible about unemployment in South Africa and Nigeria. This included general information and demographics on both countries (most of which was gathered from the CIA World Factbook Database), and various scholarly articles and essays discussing unemployment rates within both countries. After learning as much as possible about the employment situations within both countries, I analyzed the data that I had gathered, looking for major similarities and differences between the two countries that might explain why they have consistently differed so greatly in their unemployment rates. Finally, I used reasoning to ascertain which school of thought best explained the employment phenomenon occurring within both countries, taking into consideration factors such as which schools had the largest volume of supporting data, and which schools gave the most complete explanations (with “complete explanation” in this case meaning depicted the most direct correlation between their school of thought and South Africa and Nigeria’s unemployment disparity). While this method of assessment is partially subjective (and therefore biased) it is virtually impossible to test any theory in real-time, and thus gaining a deep understanding of the situations within both countries and comparing them is the best that can be done at present.

Discussion

All in all, the labor school seems to have been the most justifiable school of thought. The labor school of thought provides a viable explanation for both South Africa’s comparatively high unemployment rate and Nigeria’s steadily rising unemployment rate. South Africa’s history of apartheid involved introducing an extremely large number of new workers to the labor force abruptly thus resulting in its historically high unemployment rates. Nigeria did not have such an abrupt change in its labor force and thus was able to maintain comparatively low unemployment rates, however, increased urbanization within Nigeria explains why Nigeria’s unemployment rates have been slowly increasing. The amount of aspiring workers is increasing much like it did in South Africa, but in a much less abrupt fashion.

This research is important simply because growing or high unemployment rates always lead to growing or high poverty rates. The very state of being unemployed necessitates that said unemployed person has no means through which to provide themselves and, as a result, often must rely on outside forces like government agencies to live. Poverty places people’s lives in danger since it often makes it difficult for them to procure the resources necessary to survive. In this way, unemployment can be a matter of life and death. Understanding what factors cause unemployment within a country can aid researchers in understanding how to alleviate both unemployment and poverty.

If I were to continue this research it would likely be helpful to make predictions about the two countries’ unemployment rates based on each school of thought, that way it would be easier to pinpoint whether or not there is any real correlation between the listed factors. Perhaps widening the scope of the research to other economically and demographically similar countries in Africa could provide a more comprehensive understanding of which factors influence unemployment in either country.

Abstract

This study seeks to understand both Nigeria and South Africa’s respective unemployment situations. This study discusses what factors can contribute to the consistent disparity between South Africa and Nigeria’s unemployment rates. In this research, various possible factors are considered, including an underdeveloped agricultural sector, a lack of quality education, and a lack of accessibility to jobs. This proposal also seeks to better understand why Nigeria’s unemployment rate seems to have been steadily climbing over the past five years. In a broader sense, this proposal aims to understand what causes unemployment to better understand possible solutions to unemployment and lessen the poverty that follows as a result of high unemployment rates.

Introduction

Nigeria and South Africa are two very similar countries, with both nations boasting the top-performing economies in Africa. However, for countries so economically similar, both South Africa and Nigeria have had drastically different unemployment rates for the past five years at least. While South Africa has had consistently high unemployment rates, Nigeria’s unemployment rates have been comparatively lower. Stranger still, Nigeria’s unemployment rate has been steadily increasing, and yet, even at the height of its ascension it has still maintained a consistently lower unemployment rate than South Africa, as shown by Figures 1 and 2:

This research proposal aims to investigate what factors lead to the unemployment rate disparity between Nigeria and South Africa. I begin to go about this task by first describing the works from which I derived my data in a literature review. I will then describe the model that my research leads me to believe is the most justifiable and hypothesize about how the said model can effect change within South Africa and Nigeria. I will then go on to explain why I selected South Africa and Nigeria for this case study, and I will describe the benefits and flaws inherent in this comparison. Finally, I will close with my final thoughts on this study, describing not only why this study is important, but how it could be continued and improved in the future.

Literature Review

There were many possible explanations for the differing employment rates between Nigeria and South Africa. Unemployment in and of itself is a difficult phenomenon to explain due to the various possible cultural, economic, and political factors that can lead to it. Within the various scholarly discussions about the subject, there seemed to be three main schools of thought that explained the disparity. The first school of thought, which from this point on will be referred to as the Agricultural school, believed that unemployment within the nation of South Africa was a direct result of their poorly developed agricultural sector and that the comparatively low unemployment rates in Nigeria can be attributed to their better developed agricultural sector. The second school of thought, which will be referred to as the Educational school, posited that South Africa’s unemployment rates were the result of a poorly developed education system and that Nigeria’s unemployment has slowly been increasing due to a similarly poor educational system. Finally, the last school of thought, which will be referred to as the Labor school, identifies an incompatible labor supply and demand as the culprit for South Africa’s unemployment situation and the development of a similar situation in Nigeria as the cause of its slowly increasing unemployment rates.

Agriculture

The agricultural school can be summarized as holding a poorly developed agricultural sector responsible for South Africa’s unemployment and a well-developed agricultural sector responsible for Nigeria’s lack of unemployment. This school of thought was supported by information from the CIA’s World Factbook. The database provided useful information about GDP composition by sector, enabling a more comprehensive analysis and comparison of the two country’s agricultural sectors.

The information provided by the CIA makes it clear that, in terms of the sophistication of their agricultural sectors, Nigeria is much more developed than South Africa.

Author O.E. Ayinde (2008) provided a lens through which to interpret this data in her article Empirical Analysis of Agricultural Growth and Unemployment in Nigeria stating that “Unemployment is a result of the inability to develop and utilize the nation’s manpower resources effectively, especially in the rural sector” (p.465). Ayinde argues throughout her article that increased growth in Nigeria’s agricultural sector could likely alleviate the country’s growing unemployment, attributing the country’s comparatively low unemployment rates to its already marginally more developed agricultural sector. According to Ayinde (2008), in countries with large rural populations, like Nigeria (and by extension South Africa) “agricultural growth rate has an inverse relationship with unemployment” (p.465). This article suggests possible validity for the agricultural school.

Education

Within the educational school of thought, scholars argued that historically unequal access to education brought on by apartheid, as well as poor quality of education, is responsible for South Africa’s high unemployment rates. Nigeria, in comparison, is plagued only by a poor quality of education allowing it to have lower (albeit steadily rising) unemployment rates than South Africa.

A newsletter by the South African Department of Communications (n.d.) provides a firm basis for the educational school, citing data that suggests that “the deliberate exclusion of black people from the educational system…under apartheid contributed to high rates of unemployment today” (Possible Root Causes, para. 2). The report also states that “[i]nadequate education and lack of productivity is costing jobs. Unemployment increases progressively with decreased educational levels, and the education system is not producing the skills for the labor market,” (Possible Root Causes, para.3) further supporting the claim that South Africa suffers from a simultaneous lack of quality education and lack of equal access to education.

Nigeria, in comparison, understandably lacks South Africa’s racial history and, therefore only really struggles with providing a quality education. According to Poverty and Rate of Unemployment in Nigeria, an article written by Adebobola Olotu, Rafiu Salami, and Igbayemi Akeremale(2015), Nigeria has been struggling to provide their students with an education that makes them attractive to employers, stating that “[i]neffective educational quality, inadequate job skill and training are shortcomings militating against [the] productive sector of [the] Nigerian economy, [and the] private sector [is] not willing to recruit Nigerian graduates because of insufficient knowledge and experience”(p. 3). The Nigerian economic system is struggling to sufficiently prepare students to enter the workforce and this may explain why their unemployment rates are slowly increasing.

Labor

Within the labor school of thought, scholars argue that unemployment within both countries is being driven by a sudden oversupply of willing laborers within a market that has not yet developed an equally high demand for them. The article Poverty and Rate of Unemployment in Nigeria (ibid.) presents a simple explanation for the oversupply of workers in Nigeria, stating that an unprecedented amount of educated workers looking for work has been produced “as a result of the sharp increase in the tertiary institution turnout” (p. 2). Simply put there has been a sharp increase in higher education graduates within Nigeria, and the sudden increase in educated individuals was not mirrored by an increased need for labor, resulting in a high rate of unemployment. As to why so many new people were suddenly attending and graduating from “tertiary institutions” in Nigeria, research presented numerous explanations, the most compelling of which was a mass migration of aspiring workers from rural to urban areas.

In comparison, South Africa experienced a similar increase in laborers, however for very different reasons. While the situation in Nigeria was motivated mainly by a sudden increase in educated individuals as a likely result of rural-to-urban migration, the labor increase situation in South Africa can once again be explained by its history of discrimination. According to the South African Department of Communications (n.d.), South Africa was prevented from accessing the full potential of its workforce until 1995 due to the “deliberate exclusion of black people…from skilled occupations under apartheid” (Possible Root Causes, para. 2). Since South Africa has a majority black population, it makes sense that, with the change in laws, many of the black citizens who had formerly been denied work would be entering the job market that had now been opened to them. While this sudden influx of workers bears many similarities to the influx that occurred in Nigeria, its most notable difference is that this sudden increase in workers involved a majority of the country suddenly being allowed to enter a workforce that had previously been closed to them, and thus a more extreme level of unemployment is to be expected in such a situation.

Model and Hypothesis

According to my research, the most justifiable model would be the model presented in the labor school of thought. I hypothesize that the volume of new workers being introduced to the job market influences unemployment rates, more specifically, when new labor is introduced in too high a volume at any one time within a country, said country’s unemployment rate increases as a result. A country needs time for its job market to adapt to new workers and so a gradual introduction of new workers would better maintain low unemployment rates. This hypothesis also attributes South Africa’s high unemployment rates to the high volume of new workers that the end of apartheid suddenly introduced to the South African job market. Had this introduction been more gradual perhaps South Africa would have had lower unemployment rates today. This hypothesis also attributes Nigeria’s growing unemployment rates to the growing number of students being produced by Nigerian schools to transition into the workforce. Compared to South Africa’s sudden transition out of apartheid, the gradual pace at which Nigeria’s schools are producing more aspiring workers explains why Nigeria has a low unemployment rate compared to South Africa.

Research Design

This research focuses on comparing the unemployment rates of Nigeria and South Africa. These specific countries were chosen for their economic similarities, with both countries being among the top economies in Africa. Furthermore, both countries share major urban demographics. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook Database (2018), 50.3% of Nigeria’s population lives in urban areas (People and Society Nigeria) while 66.4% of South Africa’s population live in urban areas (People and Society South Africa). Finally, both countries share similar population demographics between ages 15 and 54, with 59.29% of South Africa’s population falling within said interval and 50.25% of Nigeria’s population falling within the interval (ibid.). This age structure is especially important because it is the interval between which individuals are most likely to be seeking employment, and thus this similarity allowed me to more accurately judge whether any differences between the two countries correlated to their low or high unemployment rates.

Of course, many complications arise when trying to compare two extremely large nations. For one thing, the population of Nigeria (203,452,505) is more than three times the size of the population of South Africa (55,380,210), making it slightly more difficult to accurately compare the two (ibid.). Furthermore, both countries are geographically dissimilar, with Nigeria being located much farther north than South Africa. This difference in location may create unseen geographic variables that are difficult to measure and could, thus, skew the results of my research. Finally, very little historical information is available on Nigeria’s past unemployment rates, limiting my research and leading me to narrow down the scope of my study to a period of 5 years before the present day.

The strategy I used to evaluate the validity of the various arguments I came across was a system of information synthesis, analysis/comparison, and reasoning. To begin I gathered as much information as possible about unemployment in South Africa and Nigeria. This included general information and demographics on both countries (most of which was gathered from the CIA World Factbook Database), and various scholarly articles and essays discussing unemployment rates within both countries. After learning as much as possible about the employment situations within both countries, I analyzed the data that I had gathered, looking for major similarities and differences between the two countries that might explain why they have consistently differed so greatly in their unemployment rates. Finally, I used reasoning to ascertain which school of thought best explained the employment phenomenon occurring within both countries, taking into consideration factors such as which schools had the largest volume of supporting data, and which schools gave the most complete explanations (with “complete explanation” in this case meaning depicted the most direct correlation between their school of thought and South Africa and Nigeria’s unemployment disparity). While this method of assessment is partially subjective (and therefore biased) it is virtually impossible to test any theory in real-time, and thus gaining a deep understanding of the situations within both countries and comparing them is the best that can be done at present.

Discussion

All in all, the labor school seems to have been the most justifiable school of thought. The labor school of thought provides a viable explanation for both South Africa’s comparatively high unemployment rate and Nigeria’s steadily rising unemployment rate. South Africa’s history of apartheid involved introducing an extremely large number of new workers to the labor force abruptly thus resulting in its historically high unemployment rates. Nigeria did not have such an abrupt change in its labor force and thus was able to maintain comparatively low unemployment rates, however, increased urbanization within Nigeria explains why Nigeria’s unemployment rates have been slowly increasing. The amount of aspiring workers is increasing much like it did in South Africa, but in a much less abrupt fashion.

This research is important simply because growing or high unemployment rates always lead to growing or high poverty rates. The very state of being unemployed necessitates that said unemployed person has no means through which to provide themselves and, as a result, often must rely on outside forces like government agencies to live. Poverty places people’s lives in danger since it often makes it difficult for them to procure the resources necessary to survive. In this way, unemployment can be a matter of life and death. Understanding what factors cause unemployment within a country can aid researchers in understanding how to alleviate both unemployment and poverty.

If I were to continue this research it would likely be helpful to make predictions about the two countries’ unemployment rates based on each school of thought, that way it would be easier to pinpoint whether or not there is any real correlation between the listed factors. Perhaps widening the scope of the research to other economically and demographically similar countries in Africa could provide a more comprehensive understanding of which factors influence unemployment in either country.

The impact of the Twitter ban on the Nigerian economy is examined in this article. The Nigerian government’s move to ban Twitter could have serious economic consequences. The reason for the restriction appears to be the social media companies’ decision to delete a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari that was labeled as ‘abusive behavior’ by Twitter just a few days ago. Twitter is one of Nigeria’s most widely used social networking platforms.

Later, it was discovered that the Twitter ban infringes on people’s rights to freedom of speech, expression, and access to and sharing of information. It was also determined that the restriction had such a negative impact on the economy that it hampered the flow of information between business partners, resulting in employment losses, investor hostility, and business collapse. The government should rethink its decision and allow people access to Twitter, as it is one of the platforms through which people may make a living and also a way to boost the country’s economy.

The present Nigerian government has long been concerned about the country’s use of Twitter. The continuing local ENDSARS protest started on Twitter and gained traction in 2020, when it received 48 million tweets in ten days. Prior to banning Twitter, the present government discussed the concept of social media control on several times. Attempts to establish anti-social media legislation in the past have largely failed due to widespread public outcry on Twitter. Days before the ban, Nigeria’s communications minister deemed Twitter’s actions in the country dubious, noting its role in the ENDSARS protests.

The Nigerian government banned Twitter from operating in the country indefinitely on June 5, 2021, after the social media platform deleted tweets from Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari warning the south eastern people of Nigeria, primarily Igbo people, of a potential repeat of the 1967 Biafra civil war due to the ongoing insurgency in the region. The removal of the president’s tweet was cited by the Nigerian government as a reason in their decision, but it was ultimately based on a long list of issues with the social media site in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news distributed through it have resulted in real-world violence.

Amnesty International, the British and Canadian embassies in Nigeria, and the Swedish embassy also criticised the ban. The Nigerian Bar Association and the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) have both stated that they will fight the ban in court. Nigeria’s cultural ministers are concerned about the ban, according to Twitter. The prohibition would be revoked if Twitter adheres to local licensing, registration, and requirements, according to Lai Muhammed. ‘It will be licensed by the Broadcasting Commission, and it must promise not to allow its platform to be utilized by individuals pushing activities that are detrimental to Nigeria’s business existence.

It was stated three days after the ban that the restriction had cost Nigeria about 6 billion naira and will contribute to the country’s rising jobless rate. The website traffic for Express VPN increased by almost 200 percent, while VPN searches increased across the country.

The United States and the European Union issued an united statement condemning the restriction. After a screenshot of a twitter deactivation message he uploaded on Facebook revealed a VPN logo, the country’s attorney general openly vowed to arrest individuals who circumvented the ban.

Twitter stated in late June 2021 that it will begin talks with the Nigerian authorities about the platform’s suspension. The talks began in July though no direct meeting has been reported as of July 15.

The prohibition on Twitter in Nigeria, in the opinion of the general public, has major repercussions for the people’s rights. The impact of the prohibition on various aspects of the economy is discussed in this section.

During public health and safety catastrophes like the COVID-19 pandemic, digital media such as Twitter are critical for information dissemination, marketing, customer service, and remote work. The halt in trade might hinder business, reduce productivity, and result in job losses (iyatse and adepelan, 2021).

The Nigerians in Diaspora Movement (NDM) stated that banning Twitter in Nigeria was insensitive, given that many Nigerians rely on the site for a living. NDM recalled that social media platforms such as Twitter have been shown to help individuals, particularly the youth, rise out of poverty by facilitating the acquisition and exchange of value-added ideas.

According to Net Blocks, a watchdog organization that monitors cyber-security and internet governance, Nigeria lost 102.5 million naira every hour of social media gagging, increasing the daily loss to 2.5 billion naira. In three days, the economy would have lost over 7.5 billion naira.

The majority of information and communication technology (ICT) specialists condemned the government’s Twitter ban as a choice made without regard for the dynamism of technology. They claim that the decision could jeopardize the economic benefit that technology provides by steadily increasing the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (osuagwu, Nduihe Njoku et.al, 2021).

In an interview with AI Jazeera, Gbenga Sesan, executive director of the paradigm project, predicts that the prohibition would drive foreign investors out of Nigeria, and that major tech companies looking to invest in Africa will look to Ghana rather than Nigeria (iyorah, 2021).

According to reports, 39 million Nigerians have Twitter accounts; many utilize the platform for business and networking, and the capacity of this group of individuals to generate a decent life will be severely harmed as a result of the ban. Foreign investment in Nigeria’s technology sector will be affected as a result of this ( Sikhakhane, 2021).

Twitter, as a social media platform, is one of the most innovative technology innovations that has facilitated information exchange, marketing, and cooperation. It was recognised that millions of people in Nigeria, particularly the youth, relied on social media to join in debate, share information, and access it (Anyim, 2020). In fact, Nigeria’s constitution and international human rights law, as enshrined in the African Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, protect the right to free expression and access to information, and stipulate that any restriction on this right must be justified in a democratic society (Ewangi 2021).

The government’s decision to suspend Twitter, a leading microblogging platform, has taken its toll on Nigeria’s struggling economy, resulting in a loss of N7.5 billion in the last three days. Nigeria’s decision to suspend Twitter, initially indefinitely and then temporarily, could backfire and cost the country economically in terms of new investment in its technology sector. The restriction could jeopardize Nigeria’s position as one of the best-performing African countries when it comes to garnering investment for technological start-ups (Iyatse and Adepetun, 2021).

Aside from the financial loss, Bala Zaka, an investment specialist, believes the government should be more concerned about the signal that Twitter’s ban has given to international investment. He believes the government could have engaged Twitter diplomatically (Iyatse and Adepetun, 2021). Financial analysts believe that the move, which has brought the country into the spotlight around the world, will raise the country’s investment unfriendly image. In a same spirit, the US, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland issued an unified statement condemning Nigeria’s government for the restriction, warning that it would exacerbate the pandemic’s economic misery (Iyatse and Adepetun, 2021).

Twitter, on the other hand, is a worldwide digital communication and content platform that has the potential to diversify our economy and give our young a prosperous future. It is clear that the longer the ban lasts, the more money the Nigerian government will lose in tax revenue (Tenola, 2021). Twitter has created jobs for a large number of people as well as revenue for the government in the form of taxes, and if this revenue-generating route is stopped, the government will undoubtedly suffer a significant loss (Nwokoma, 2021).

For the most part, Influencers use Twitter as their primary commercial platform. Since the introduction of Twitter, the influencer marketing industry in Nigeria has expanded to the point that nearly anyone with a large following may land deals with companies trying to expand their reach. While companies who deal with influencers can readily use other platforms for marketing purposes, it may be more difficult for them to do so. Furthermore, while they may be able to purchase VPN services, their loyal customers may find it difficult or unwilling to do so (Nwokoma, 2021).

It was also discovered that Nigeria’s startup scene has grown rapidly in recent years, with $3,77.4 million raised in 2019, yet due to the coronavirus pandemic, that figure fell to $120.6 million in 2020. This has resulted in a large number of people finding work and the government receiving revenue in the form of taxes. All of those operations, however, are jeopardized by the Twitter prohibition. The majority of startups rely on social media in some capacity. Business would suffer if they didn’t have access to social media to launch marketing campaigns or create relationships with their customers. Applications that make use of Twitter APIs are also impacted. One of the issues that investors evaluate when making investment decisions is political stability. By banning Twitter and forcing the National Broadcasting Commission to begin licensing OTT services in Nigeria, investors are less likely to risk investing in Nigerian businesses, depriving the country of much-needed capital (Nwokoma, 2021).

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are critical to the growth of any economy, accounting for as much as 60-70 percent of total employment. SMEs in Nigeria account for 48 percent of national GDP, 96 percent of companies, and 84 percent of employment, with a population of over 117.4 million. Many SMEs have taken advantage of the Internet, particularly social media, for marketing and customer service purposes. This is evidenced by the large number of vendors on Twitter and Instagram. While these companies may relocate to other platforms, their postings may not receive as much attention as they do on Twitter (Nwokoma, 2021). In a summary, Hudley, Bishi, and Grossman (2021) determined that the banning of Twitter in Nigeria will have a significant economic impact because many Nigerians rely on Twitter to support their work. Employers, for example, can post job openings on the portal. It is used by freelancers to advertise and promote their services. Nigeria’s thriving start-up community, which boasts the highest number of start-ups in Africa, uses Twitter to recruit financing.

References

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