Literature, Integration and Harmony in Northern Nigeria Editors: Hamzat I. Abdulraheem, Saeedat B. Aliyu, and Ruben K. Akano

This book explores from various perspectives how the literature of the northern region of Nigeria has

promoted the ideology of integration and societal resurgence. Through the diverse cultural productions

from this very heterogeneous socio-political region, researchers have dissected the portrayals and

characterisations of ideologies which foster harmony among the people who speak a multitude of

languages and have an array of cultural practices. These contributions bring to the fore the multiple roles

that both indigenous literary productions and those adapted from foreign elements have played in

realizing social and cultural integration and advancing collective values of the people of Northern

Nigeria.

This collection of essays is the result of a selection of scholarly contributions to two national conferences

on Literature in Northern Nigeria held at the Kwara State University, Malete in 2015 and 2016. These

conferences were the 9th and 10

th in the series of conferences jointly organized by Kwara State University,

Malete and Bayero University, Kano.

The Editors

Hamzat I. Abdulraheem is a professor of Literature in the Department of Languages and Literary Studies,

Kwara State University, Malete. He teaches Arabic literature and his research interest is in Nigerian

literature of Arabic expression, comparative literature and Arabic rhetoric. He has many publications to

his credit.

Dr. Saeedat Aliyu is a lecturer in the Department of English, Kwara State University, Malete where she

teaches Literature. She has published works in her areas of research interest – environmental literary

criticism, gender and culture studies.

Dr Reuben K. Akano is a lecturer in the Department of English, Kwara State University, Malete. He

teaches Literature and he is both a creative writer and a critic. His research interest includes poetry, oral

literature and literary criticism.

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Ìléw Ìk we Yorùbá Òde-òní Authors: Ọládélé Awóbùlúyì, Ọlásopé O. Oyèláràn

Àwọn ìlànà inú ìwé ìléwọ yìí fún kíkọ èdè Yorùbá dára ju àwọn tàt yìnwá. Wọ n kún jù wọ n bá

kan náà. Ìgbìmọ Èdè Yorùbá Àtil dél ni ó b w i ìwé náà, tí ó sì gba gbogbo ìlànà inú r wọlé

fún lílò ní Nàìjíríà, Bìnì, Tógò, àti àwọn ibi mìíràn ní àgbáyé. Àwọn onímọ -ìjìnl méjì nínú èdè

Yorùbá, Ọ jọ gbọ n Ọladele Awobuluyi àti Ọ jọ gbọ n Ọlasope Oyelaran, ni wọ n e aáyan bí àwọn

ìlànà náà e jáde ní èdè Yorùbá.

This book presents rules and guidelines that are better formulated and more detailed than hitherto

proposed for writing modern Yoruba. The rules and guidelines are based on those commissioned

and approved by the Yoruba Cross-Border Language Organisation for use in Nigeria, Bénin,

Togo, and elsewhere in the Yoruba-speaking world. The book is jointly authored by two

renowned Yoruba Language scholars in the persons of Professor Ọladele Awobuluyi and

Professor Ọlasope Oyelaran.

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Esu Elegbara: Change, Chance, Uncertainty in Yoruba Mythology

Author: Ayọdele Ogundip

Esu is arguably the least understood of all the numerous deities in Yoruba pantheon, despite his

being venerated by the devotees as the Yoruba gatekeeper god, messenger of the deities, and

close associate and errand boy of Ifa, god of divination; one who brings both fear and joy to his

devotees, because he brings both blessings and trouble to them.

Ayodele Ogundipe’s objective in this insightful book has been to provide a better

understanding of the ubiquitous deity in Yoruba pantheon, an objective which is brilliantly

achieved. The author’s extensive fieldwork involved close interactions with the leaders and

votaries of the Esu cult, particularly in two major Yoruba cities where the cult traditions are

kept alive. The author also extends the coverage to Esu traditional worship in the Yoruba

Diaspora, particularly in Dahomey, now Benin Republic and Brazil.

Several praise poems in the original Yoruba language, aptly translated into English by

the author, as well as several mythological stories about the deity, told by the worshippers and

reliable informants, form part of this work.

The author, Professor Ayodele Ogundipe, currently teaches in the Department of Sociology,

Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.

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Soyinka’s Language

Author: Obioma Ofoego

This book, which itself explores in depth the uses of language in Wole Soyinka’s plays, poetry

and prose, uses language with great elegance and sublety. It is a great delight to read.

Moreover, its erudition is stunning, covering as it does a range of fields, subjects and disciplines

that have both direct relevance to the subject of the book and those with a less direct but

enriching pertinence to its central arguments. The use that Obioma Ofoegeo makes of this vast

and impressive erudition is especially noteworthy, going far beyond merely citing or

acknowledging its wide-ranging scholarly and theoretical sources to searching and mature

conversations with them. This book is destined to become a major addition to Soyinka studies

worldwide.

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The First (1st) Inaugural Lecture:

Aeronautics and Astronautics: The Paradigm Shift in Nigeria’s Future Space

Exploration and Development

Author: Leonard F. Daniel

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The Second (2nd) Inaugural Lecture:

Democracy in Nigeria at the Crossroads: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Author: Sakah Saidu Mahmud

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