Design Compatibility of Classroom Furniture in Urban and ... - IOSR

IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (JHSS) 

ISSN: 2279-0837, ISBN: 2279-0845. Volume 6, Issue 2 (Nov. - Dec. 2012), PP 01-05 

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Design Compatibility of Classroom Furniture in Urban and Rural 

Preschools 

Shivarti, 1 U.V. Kiran 2 

1,2 Department of Human Development & Family Studies, School for Home Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao 

Ambedkar University, Lucknow-226025. 

Abstract: Classroom furniture design can affect educational activities because it is an important component in 

any classroom which helps in providing a comfortable and functional classroom environment for the children. 

Improper furniture design can result in defective posture which could affect children’s academic performance. 

Hence it is essential to facilitate school furniture in accordance to the requirement of school children. To focus 

on the issue of furniture design the present study is conducted with an objective to identify the mismatch 

between the individual body dimensions of children and existing furniture in preschools. To carry out the 

objective, urban and rural preschools were selected randomly from the selected urban and rural areas of 

Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The evaluation of the study was made by using the self made 

questionnaire standardized along with anthropometric checklist. The results of the study revealed mismatch 

between existing furniture (seat height, seat depth, and desk height) with children’s body dimensions which may 

result in various health problems in later life. 

Keywords: „Classroom furniture’, ‘Design compatibility’, ‘Urban and rural preschools’ 

I. Introduction 

Furniture is one of the important physical facilities provided in classrooms where the children spend 

most of their time working with different learning activities [1] like reading, writing, drawing and other related 

activities in the classroom, they sit continuously for long hours. Hence it is necessary that schools should be 

provided furniture that is fit to the requirement of school children. The use of poorly designed furniture that fails 

to accommodate the anthropometric characteristics of its user have a negative influence on human health. A 

surprising number of school children are reported to have regular back pain, neck pain and headache by using ill 

designed furniture that result in bad postural habits, while good posture habits reduces organ crowding, strain on 

soft bone and muscle. Most of the researches have revealed that in most of the schools, the furniture is designed 

by manufacturer without considering the anthropometric dimensions of the users of different age groups. As an 

outcome, benches and desks become unsuitable, uncomfortable, inconvenient, affecting classroom learning 

activities of school children while attending their classes [2]. Thus anthropometric measurements are an 

important factor that should be taken in to account the design of classroom furniture. Specific measurements, 

such as elbow rest height, popliteal height, buttock popliteal length, hip breadth are necessary in order to 

determine school furniture dimensions that facilitate correct sitting posture. Correct designed furniture that 

promotes proper posture is more important to children than adults because it is the biological stage of life where 

sitting habits are formed. Bad sitting habits that are acquired in childhood are very difficult to change in later 

life [3]. 

Classroom activities are strongly influenced by areas where schools are located and the facilities that 

are provided to the children in their schools. Recent studies have presented a conflicting picture of rural verses 

urban preschool qualities. A prominent study concludes that students in rural preschools in comparison to urban 

preschools perform less because of affected learning environment and classroom facilities. In rural preschools it 

is often seen that the same size of furniture are used in several classes either in pre-classes or in secondary. 

Urban preschools allocate various types of furniture for different classes. The reason is that such type of 

furniture is less costly to manufacture and easier to purchase at the lower price. The urban and rural preschools 

vary in terms of their facilities, type of education and furniture too because majority of urban preschools use 

good furniture, matched with the anthropometric dimensions of the students, reduces organ crowding and strain 

on soft bones and muscles. It can be seen that if the seat surface is too high the underside of the thighs becomes 

compressed causing discomfort and restriction in blood circulation. When the seat surface is too deep, the front 

edge of the seat will press into the area just behind the knee cutting off circulation; the person in the seat will 

slide forward but will lose proper backrest and support for the lower thighs. 

Thus, good type of furniture, facilitate perfect match with the individual body dimensions would help 

to reduce, eventually eliminate stress during learning period in preschoolers because incorrect sitting posture 

pose extreme physiological strain on muscles. Hence the present study is taken up to identify the mismatch 

between the individual body dimensions of children and the existing furniture in preschools. 

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Design Compatibility Of Classroom Furniture In Urban And Rural Preschools 

II. Research Methods 

2.1. Sample Selection 

Lucknow District of Uttar Pradesh, India was selected purposively to conduct the present study. 

Multistage random sampling technique was used to select the sample for the present study. The list of zones and 

wards were obtained from the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (Census, 2001). Out of the existing six zones, 

two zones were selected randomly by using random sampling technique. From each zone, two wards were 

selected randomly after obtaining a list of them. From the selected areas, the lists of schools were obtained and 

from the existing no of schools, ten preschools each from urban and rural areas were selected randomly by using 

random sampling technique. From each preschool, the students studying in nursery, in the age group of below 6 

years were identified and 20 respondents inclusive of 10 boys and 10 girls were selected randomly using random 

sampling technique. The sample size for the present study was computed using the given formula- n = z2 pq 

. 

E 2 

The total sample size is fixed as 400. 

2.2. Data Collection 

Data sheet was prepared to acquire the anthropometric dimensions of sample and the measurement of 

existing furniture in both urban and rural preschools. 

2.3. Anthropometric Measurements 

To identify the mismatch between individual body dimensions and existing furniture the 

anthropometric dimensions were measured as given in table-1 with the use of measuring tape in inches. All the 

anthropometric measurements were taken with the subject in a relaxed and erect posture. The subjects were 

wearing light clothes and were bare footed during measurement. 

Table -1 Definition of Measured Anthropometric Dimensions to Identify the Mismatch 

S. Dimensions in Sitting 

Definition 

No. Posture 

1 Elbow rest height Height from the top of the sitting surface to the bottom of the tip of 

the elbow. 

2 Popliteal height Popliteal angle point at the underside to the thigh immediately behind 

the knee, where the tendon of biceps and femor muscle insert. 

3 Buttock popliteal 

length 

Horizontal distance from the rear most surface of the buttock to the 

back of the lower leg. 

4 Hip breadth Maximum horizontal distance across the hips. 

[4, 5] 

2.4. Dimensions of Existing Furniture 

The dimensions of classroom furniture, in randomly selected preschools were also measured as given 

in table 2 with the use of measuring tape in inches. The following variables represent relevant dimensions of 

classroom furniture (chairs, desks):- 

Table 2- Classroom Furniture Measurements 

S. No. Dimensions Definitions 

1 Chair height Vertical distance from the floor to the topmost part of the chair. 

2 Chair depth Horizontal distance of the sitting surface from the back of the seat to the front 

of the seat. 

3 Chair breadth Horizontal distance from left hand side of the seat and the right hand side or 

vice versa. 

4 Desk height Vertical distance from the floor to the top of the front edge of the desks. 

5 Desk depth Horizontal distance from the front of the desk to the back at the top of the 

front edge of the shelf under the writing surface. 

6 Desk breadth Horizontal distance from left hand side of the seat and the right hand side or 

vice versa. 

[5] 

2.5. Data Analysis 

The anthropometric data was statistically analyzed in averages, Standard Deviation and t- test statistic 

using SPSS. The mismatch between anthropometric dimensions of children and existing furniture was analyzed 

based on the equations which were given by various researchers to define mismatch, as listed below- 

Seat height mismatch- when the seat height was either >95% or 95% or


Seat breadth mismatch- should be at least 10% to accommodate hip breadth and at most 30% larger than 

hip breadth [6] 

Desk height mismatch- when the desk height was at 95% of sitting elbow height (Evans et al. 1988). 

Marmora‟s calculated that the desk should be 3-5cm height than the elbow [6]. 

III. Research Findings And Discussion 

3.1 Anthropometric Dimensions- 

Anthropometric dimensions are the measurements of human body dimensions which present the 

physical characteristics of an individual. In the present study, to identify the mismatch between individual body 

dimensions and existing furniture in preschools, anthropometric measurements were taken from rural and urban 

preschool children. Data of each anthropometric parameter is presented by calculating Arithmetic mean, 

Standard Deviation (SD) in Table-1 and the significance of the differences across gender (boys and girls) and 

area (rural and urban) was determined by using t-test. 

Table -1 Anthropometric dimensions of preschool children (in inches) 

Dimensions 

Urban/ 

Boys t value Girls t 

In sitting posture Rural 

value 

preschool 

Mean ± SD 

Mean ± SD 

Sitting elbow height U 5.64 ± 0.90 4.14** 5.64 ± 0.81 3.31** 

R 6.64 ± 0.63 

6.32 ± 0.62 

Popliteal height 

U 5.04 ± 0.61 2.14* 5.48 ± 0.71 0.20 

R 5.56 ± 0.91 

5.44 ± 0.65 

Buttock popliteal 

U 17.84 ± 1.28 1.04 17.56 ± 0.86 0.95 

length 

R 18.28 ± 1.69 

17.8 ± 0.91 

Hip breadth 

U 

R 

22.56 ± 1.73 

23.28 ± 2.22 

1.25 21.88 ± 1.92 

22.24 ± 2.36 

1.05 

The measurements of boys and girls were found to be almost same with significant differences in rural 

and urban preschools. The data (table 1) presented, compared the anthropometric dimensions of rural and urban 

preschool boys and girls. The dimensions of rural preschoolers were more when compared to the urban 

preschoolers among both boys and girls. Highly significant differences were found with regard to the 

dimensions of sitting elbow height when urban preschool boys (µ=5.64) were compared with rural preschool 

boys (µ= 6.64) and urban preschool girls (µ= 5.64) with rural preschool girls (6.32). Significant differences 

were found in popliteal height of urban preschool boys (µ= 5.04) and rural preschool boys (µ=5.48) which is 

considered non significant between rural preschool boys (µ=5.56) and rural preschool girls (µ= 5.44). Non 

significant differences were found in both buttock popliteal length and hip breadth of preschoolers in urban and 

rural preschool boys and girls. 

3.2 Furniture Profile- 

The dimensions of furniture in urban and rural preschools were measured to find out the mismatch of 

the classroom furniture with children‟s body dimensions. The mean, standard deviation and t value of the same 

are presented in the Table 2. The proposed dimensions of the classroom furniture were calculated and presented 

in Table 3 to evaluate the mismatch between children‟s body dimensions and furniture design. 

Table -2 Mean and SD values of Existing furniture in urban and rural preschools. 

Furniture 

Urban preschool Rural preschool t value 

measurement Mean SD Mean SD 

Table depth 11.8 0.44 11.2 0.83 0.5 

Table breadth 15.4 1.34 14.6 2.60 2* 

Table height 20.8 3.27 19 2.82 3* 

Chair depth 10.6 0.89 9.4 1.34 5.28** 

Chair breadth 14 2.54 13.8 2.48 0.39 

Chair height 14.4 6.06 12 1.73 2.64* 

Significant differences were observed in the dimensions of student‟s furniture in preschools. The 

students seating furniture inclusive of table and chair were studied in case of chair and table the height, the 

depth and the breadth were studied which are the key factors in providing comfort for the child, avoiding 


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postural comfort for the child, avoiding postural problems and accidents. Significant differences were found in 

the furniture existing in urban and rural preschools. 

Table -3 Mismatch of existing furniture with children body dimensions (in inches). 

Dimensio 

Range Urban preschool Rural preschool 

ns 

Existing Calculated/ 

Proposed 

Existing Calculated/ 

Proposed 

Seat height Popliteal height >95% or 15.8 4.78-4.43 12 5.28-4.89 

95% or


IV. Conclusion 

The present study was able to establish a picture of mismatch between body dimensions of children and 

existing furniture in rural v/s urban preschools. The study reveals that the mismatch of existing furniture among 

both the preschools is due to ignorance of anthropometric measurements of children during manufacturing of the 

furniture. The information emerged out of the study revealed that the furniture provided in preschools do not 

match with body dimensions of furniture. The seat height, seat depth, and desk height do not match with the 

children‟s body dimensions in both urban and rural preschools. Due to mismatch of furniture design with body 

dimensions children faced posture related problems during work in their classrooms. Thus it is essential to make 

classroom furniture user friendly, designing each component of furniture by considering the body dimensions of 

user carefully. Government has to interfere and make strict policies regarding the type of furniture to be used in 

preschool. The differences in urban and rural preschools also have to be minimized “as a child, anywhere is a 

child- “a tender bundle of softness in need of protection”. 

References 

[1] Khanam C.N; Reddy M.V; and MrunaliniA. (2006). Designing Student's Seating Furniture for Classroom Environment. J. Hum. 

Ecol., 20(4): 241-248. 

[2] Dhara P.C; Khaspuri G; Sau S.K. (2009). Complaints arising from a mismatch between school furniture and anthropometric 

measurements of rural secondary school children during class work. Environ Health Prev. Med, 14:36-45. 

[3] Daneshmandi H;Isanezhad A;Hematinezhad M. (2008). The effect of classroom furniture on back, neck, lumbar and leg fatigue in 

student. Journal of Movement Science and Sports, 1:37-44. 

[4] Hafezi R; Mirmohammadi S.J; Mehrparvar A.H; Akbari, H. (2010). An analysis of anthropometric data on Iranian primary school 

children. Iranian Journal of Public. Health, 39(4):78-86. 

[5] Ismaila S.O; Akanbi O.G; Oderinu S.O. (2010). Anthropometric survey and appraisal of furniture for Nigerian primary school 

pupils. Journal Science and Tech (4) 29-36. 

[6] Parcells C, Manfred S, Hubbard R. (1999). Mismatch of classroom furniture and body dimensions. Empirical findings and health 

implications. Journal of Adolescent Health, 24(4):265-73 

[7] Ghazilla R.A.R; Taha Z; Kamaruddin, S; Hasanuddin I. (2010). Pilot investigation on the mismatches of classroom furniture and 

student body dimensions in Malaysian Secondary Schools. Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2):287-292. 

[8] Gouvali M.K; Boundolos K. (2006). Match between school furniture dimensions and children‟s anthropometry. Applied 

Ergonomics, 37:765-773. 


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Fuel Subsidy Removal and Mind Control Game In Nigeria: A 

Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective 

Chris Uchenna Agbedo 1 , Samuel S. Akaan 2 

1 Department of Linguistics, Igbo & Nigerian Languages, University of Nigeria Nsukka- Nigeria 

2 Department of English, College of Education, Oju Benue State, Nigeria 

Abstract: This paper addresses the arguments for and against fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria as a political 

discourse in the Nigerian media. We examine the political discourse from the theoretical and methodological 

perspectives of discourse structure, linguistic function, and ideological bearing to determine how the groups on 

both sides of the divide exploit their social power to control the public discourse and by extension control the 

mind and actions of one another. The results of the analysis tend to show that the more powerful group 

represented by the Federal Government struggles to redefine the discursive structure of those properties of the 

social situation that are relevant for the production and comprehension of the fuel subsidy discourse to change 

the personal/social cognition and mental representations of fuel subsidy by Nigerians as one sure way of 

achieving the ultimate aim of reproducing dominance (power abuse) and hegemony. The less powerful group 

led by the organized labour combats this mind control onslaught by enlisting discursive strategies that provide 

information from which derive alternative knowledge and beliefs needed by the Nigerian masses to challenge 

the discourses and information about fuel subsidy, which they are exposed to by the Federal Government. 

Keywords: CDA, fuel subsidy, mind control, Nigeria, power. 


On 4 October, 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan informed the National Assembly about his 

government‘s plan to begin the removal of fuel subsidy in 2012. According to the 2012-2015 Medium Term 

Fiscal Framework (MTFF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) which the President sent to the National 

Assembly, ―A major component of the policy fiscal consolidation is government‘s intent to phase out fuel 

subsidy, beginning from the 2012 fiscal year. That, the President noted, ―will free up to about N1.2 trillion in 

savings, part of which can be deployed into providing safety nets for poor segment of the society to ameliorate 

the effects of subsidy removal.‖ In throwing her weight behind the fiscal policy, the Minister of Finance and the 

Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, averred that it was only the removal of 

fuel subsidy that would guarantee the success of the Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF). With the claim 

that the subsidy would have risen to N1.2trillion by the end of 2011, the federal government insisted that there 

was no going back on the removal. 

This proposed fiscal policy met with stiff opposition from a wide segment of the Nigerian society. 

Apart from the organised labour that vowed to shut down the country should the government go ahead to 

implement the policy, a good number of discerning Nigerians saw the removal of fuel subsidy as the brainchild 

of the Bretton Woods Institutions intended as a neocolonial stratagem to teeter the Nigerian economy 

irredeemably to the enslaving apron-strings of the Euroamerican imperialism. The Bretton Woods Institutions 

are the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) set up at a meeting of 43 countries in Bretton 

Woods, New Hampshire, USA in July 1944 to help rebuild the shattered postwar economy and promote 

international economic cooperation. But critics claim the Institutions were going beyond their original mandate 

especially in the Third World countries such as Nigeria, where members of President Jonathan‘s economic 

management team were fingered as arrowheads of this economic re-colonization by the western powers. This 

provided the basis of the ideological divide on the contentious issue of fuel subsidy between President 

Jonathan‘s government and the opposition. 

This ideological difference predisposed both parties to take refuge in the manipulative use of language, 

which provided the enablement to control the other party against its best interests, the control being aimed at the 

recipients‘ verbal contribution to the interaction and cognitive processes of comprehension and interpretation of 

fuel subsidy removal. The foregoing harks back to an abuse of ideological power, as outlined in Fairclough‘s 

classification differentiating between economic, state and ideological power, (Fairclough 1991; 1992; 1995a). 

While economic power deals with the relationship between social classes in the process of economic production, 

state power is exercised by the government, army, police and various social institutions, ideological power 

considerably complements the first two, being exercised in discourse and defined as the power to project one‘s 

practices as universal and ‗common sense‘. 


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Fuel Subsidy Removal And Mind Control Game In Nigeria: A Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective 

In examining the abuse of ideological power from the positions of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), 

we shall seek to characterize the mind control strategies employed by the two groups to advance their sectarian 

positions based on implicit assumptions which are taken for granted and eventually come to be seen not as 

arbitrary but natural. The value of this line of inquiry derives from the fact that among many other resources that 

define the power base of a group or institution, control over public discourse and communication and by 

extension mind control, is an overriding symbolic resource for consolidating social power. This is because the 

group who controls most influential discourse is equally eminently predisposed to control the minds and actions 

of others. 

II. Framework 

CDA does not have a unitary theoretical framework, perhaps, because it is not a specific direction of 

research, (Dijk, 1996). All the same, given the commonality of perspectives and uniformity of the aims, most 

kinds of CDA will ask questions about the way specific discourse structures are deployed in the reproduction of 

social dominance, whether they are part of a conversation or a news report or other genres and contexts. Thus, 

the typical vocabulary of many scholars in CDA will feature such notions as "power," "dominance," 

"hegemony," "ideology," "class," "gender," "race," "discrimination," "interests," "reproduction," "institutions," 

"social structure," and "social order," besides the more familiar discourse analytical notions.' Nonetheless, our 

primary preoccupation here is with the theoretical aspect of CDA that relates discourse, cognition, and society. 

Specifically, we focus on personal and social cognition, that is, how both types of cognition influence 

interaction and discourse of individual members, as well as the ways shared "social representations" govern the 

collective actions of a group. 

Dijk posits that a central notion in most critical work on discourse is that of power, and more 

specifically the social power of groups or institutions. Groups have power if they are able to control the acts and 

minds of (members of) other groups. This ability presupposes a power base of privileged access to scarce social 

resources, such as force, money, status, fame, knowledge, information, "culture," or indeed various forms of 

public discourse and communication. With regard to the fundamental issue of discursive power, CDA seeks 

answers to how powerful groups control public discourse; how such discourse control mind and action of (less) 

powerful groups, and what are the social consequences of such control, such as social inequality? Members of 

more powerful social groups and institutions, and especially their leaders (the elites), have more or less 

exclusive access to, and control over, one or more types of public discourse. For instance, professors, teachers, 

journalists, lawyers, politicians control scholarly, educational, media, legal, political discourses respectively. By 

implication, those who have more control over more — and more influential — discourse (and more discourse 

properties) are also more powerful. 

The social power, which a more powerful group has to control public discourse, equally confers on it 

the power to control the mind and action of the less powerful group. Within a CDA framework, Dijk notes 

further that mind control involves even more than just acquiring beliefs about the world through discourse and 

communication. Drawing from Nesler et. al. (1993), Giroux (1981), Downing (1984), and Wodak (1987), Dijk 

(1993) outlines four ways through which power and dominance are involved in mind control. First, recipients 

tend to accept beliefs, knowledge, and opinions (unless they are inconsistent with their personal beliefs and 

experiences) through discourse from what they see as authoritative, trustworthy, or credible sources, such as 

scholars, experts, professionals, or reliable media. Second, in some situations, participants are obliged to be 

recipients of discourse, which may need to be attended to, interpreted, and learned as intended by institutional or 

organizational authors. Third, in many situations, there are no pubic discourses or media that may provide 

information from which alternative beliefs may be derived. Fourth, recipients may not have the knowledge and 

beliefs needed to challenge the discourses or information they are exposed to. Whereas these conditions of mind 

control are largely contextual (they say something about the participants of a communicative event), other 

conditions are discursive, that is, a function of the structures and strategies of text or talk itself. 

Contextually based control derives from the fact that people understand and represent not only text and 

talk, but also the whole communicative situation. Also, Martin Rojo and van Dijk (1997) have shown how 

context features (such as the properties of language users of powerful groups) influence the ways members of 

dominated groups define the communicative situation in "preferred context models". Part of CDA preoccupation 

is with how discourse structures influence mental representations. Such studies as Duin et al. (1988); van Dijk 

(1991), Wodak and van Dijk (2000) present empirical evidence of how various types of discourse structure may 

influence the formation and change of mental models and social representations. It follows then that if dominant 

groups largely control public discourse and its structures, they thus also have more control over the minds of the 

public at large. Nonetheless, such control is not without its limits. This informs Dijk‘s observation that ―the 

complexity of comprehension, and the formation and change of beliefs, are such that one cannot always predict 

which features of a specific text or talk will have which effects on the minds of specific recipients.‖ 


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In the next section, we subject the festering ‗tug of war‘ between the Federal Government of Nigeria and 

the Nigerian masses on the fuel subsidy removal to analysis and determine the extent to which the mind control 

game is exploited by the more powerful group to reproduce dominance and social inequality in Nigeria. 

III. Discussions 

3.1 Federal Government’s coercive persuasion as mind-control strategy 

‗Mind control‘ (also referred to as 'brainwashing,' 'coercive persuasion,' 'thought reform,' and the 

'systematic manipulation of psychological and social influence') refers to a process in which a group or 

individual systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of 

the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated," (Langone in Ofshe, 2003). Citing 

Schein (1961) and Lifton (1961), Ofshe (2003) observes that ―ccoercive persuasion and thought reform are 

alternate names for programmes of social influence capable of producing substantial behavior and attitude 

change through the use of coercive tactics, persuasion, and/or interpersonal and group-based influence 

manipulations.‖ In his opinion, Zimbardo (1971) in Ofshe (2003) sees mind control as the process by which 

individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or 

distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes. 

A combination of staple social influence ingredients - conformity, compliance, persuasion, dissonance, 

reactance, guilt, fear arousal, modeling, identification - tends to create a powerful crucible of extreme mental 

and behavioural manipulation when synthesized with several other real-world factors, such as charismatic, 

authoritarian leaders, dominant ideologies, social isolation, physical debilitation, induced phobias, and extreme 

threats or promised rewards that are typically deceptively orchestrated, over an extended time period in settings 

where they are applied intensively. 

In her technical overview of mind control tactics, Singer in Ofshe (2003) notes that a coercive 

persuasion programme is a behavioural change technology applied to cause the "learning" and "adoption" of a 

set of behaviors or an ideology under certain conditions. It is distinguished from other forms of benign social 

learning or peaceful persuasion by the conditions under which it is conducted and by the techniques of 

environmental and interpersonal manipulation employed to suppress particular behaviors and to train others. 

With coercive persuasion, one can change people's attitudes without their knowledge and volition. One can 

create new "attitudes" where they will do things willingly which they formerly may have detested, things which 

previously only torture, physical pain, or drugs could have coerced them to do. 

Coercive persuasion or thought reform is best understood as a coordinated system of graduated 

coercive influence and behavior control designed to deceptively and surreptitiously manipulate and influence 

individuals, usually in a group setting, in order for the originators of the programme to profit in some way, 

normally financially or politically. Hunter (1951) in Ofshe (2003) referred to such programmes as 

―brainwashing‖. Singer identified about seven main tactic types found in various combinations in a typical 

coercive persuasion programme. Also, Robert Jay Lifton in Ofshe (2003) articulated an 8-point model of 

thought reform. We sift through these models and determine the extent to which they fit into the mind control 

stratagem of government on the issue of fuel subsidy removal. 

3.1.1. Thought reform through increased suggestibility and/or "softening up” and demand for purity. 

In this regard, the less powerful group is prepared for thought reform and made receptive to demand for 

purity by the more powerful group. The explicit goal of the dominant group is to bring about some kind of 

change, whether it is on a global, social, or personal level. Solution to an existing problem is only possible if one 

stays with the group and is committed. The mindset of the Federal Government on the fuel subsidy removal 

seems to be driven by the aforementioned thought reform stratagems as can be gleaned from Texts 1 – 19 (See 

Appendix). President Jonathan set in motion the thought reform and demand for purity when he sent the 2012- 

2015 Medium Term Fiscal Frameworks (MTFF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) memo to the National 

Assembly on 4 October, 2011. As the President noted, ―A major component of the policy fiscal consolidation is 

government‘s intent to phase out fuel subsidy, beginning from the 2012 fiscal year.‖ Discontinuing with the 

subsidy remained the only responsible way of harnessing revenue for capital stock formation, among others. 

His words: ―There are proposals to phase out petroleum subsidies in a deliberate and responsible way that will 

harness revenues for capital stock formation and leverage on private sector investments in public-private 

partnerships (PPPs).‖ 

Government defended its decision to deregulate the industry based on the its conviction that ―the huge 

subsidy being paid on petroleum products has constrained government spending on the development of adequate 

infrastructural facilities and depletion of national revenue profile; that it encourages inefficient utilization of 

resources and product smuggling across the borders; that the consumers of kerosene for instance do not buy the 

product at a regulated/subsidized price set by the government due to distribution bottlenecks, multiple handling 


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and malpractices by marketers; and that fuel subsidy does not encourage healthy competitions among operators 

as the regulatory environment is controlled by the government.‖ 

Citing long term benefit as its main focus, the presidential memo said the gradual removal of subsidies 

is a step towards deregulating the sub-sector. Moreover, the level of investment in the sector is inadequate, as 

the four refineries in the country are over-aged and are only able to produce about 50 per cent of their installed 

capacity and meet only about 40 per cent of the daily 30 million litres domestic demand for refined petroleum 

products. The drive was to woo investors who could establish refineries in the country and would be encouraged 

to do so, since they would get returns on their investments. The removal of subsidy in the 2012 fiscal year 

would enable it to release funds for infrastructure and to create jobs, while overall expenditure next year is likely 

to rise. As a further justification of the policy, the memo noted that subsidizing the cost of fuel, mainly diesel, 

petrol and kerosene, costs the government, N1.2 trillion naira ($7.5 billion) in lost revenues. 

Having set the ball rolling, it was only expected that other members of the powerful group provided the 

choric refrain. In order to maintain the new attitudes or "decisions," sustain the rationalization, and continue to 

unduly influence a group‘s behaviour over time, coercive tactics must be more or less continuously applied. In 

this mind control game, Mr. President needed such choric refrains to constitute the "necessary chords and 

orchestration" of a sequenced, continuous, coordinated, and carefully selected stratagem of surreptitious 

coercion, "coercive persuasion." Governor Abdul‘aziz Abubakar Yari (Zamfara State), Governor Peter Obi 

(Anambra State), CBN Governor, Sule Lamido, Finance Minister, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Petroleum Minister, Mrs. 

Diezani Allison-Madueke, PDP leadership, NNPC, organized private sector, European Union among others 

provided the mellifluous synchrony, suggesting that there is no alternative to fuel subsidy removal if Nigeria 

must put an end to the enrichment of a few people through the N1.2 trillion huge sum deducted by the NNPC as 

subsidy and avert the looming catastrophe. 

The President and members of his powerful group have been unrelenting in reminding the less 

powerful group of Nigerians that the fiscal policy ―will free up to about N1.2 trillion in savings, part of which 

can be deployed into providing safety nets for poor segment of the society to ameliorate the effects of subsidy 

removal.‖ For Diezani-Allison Madueke, ―it has become pertinent that we find other ways to utilize the vast 

resources that are being channeled into the subsidy which are not reaching the masses… There are major 

benefits that will cut across all major sectors of the economy. Some of them involve road work, major public 

maintenance work, on going mass transportation, schemes for skilled and unskilled youths and of course there 

will be areas for maternity and child care…‖ 

From the foregoing, it is evident that by using rewards and punishments, efforts are made by the more 

powerful group to establish considerable control over the less powerful group‘s social environment, time, and 

sources of social support. Frequent and intense attempts are made to cause the group to re-evaluate the most 

central aspects of its existence. Efforts are designed to destabilize and undermine the group‘s basic 

consciousness, reality awareness, world view, emotional control, and defense mechanisms as well as getting its 

members to reinterpret their life's history, and adopt a new version of causality. Desperate and renewed efforts 

are intensified to undermine the group‘s confidence in itself and judgment, creating a sense of powerlessness. 

Certain secular psychological threats (force) are freely deployed. For instance, failure to adopt the approved 

attitude, belief, or consequent behaviour will lead to severe punishment or dire consequence such as economic 

collapse. For President Jonathan, if the fuel subsidy is not withdrawn, Nigeria will be importing fuel from 

neighbouring Ghana and Cameroon in the next 10 to 15 years. His threat overreached itself when he averred that 

the country will crash if subsidy on petroleum products was not removed, a remark which the CNPP faulted as 

lacking merit. (See Text 40). 

Also, in its unrelenting push for subsidy removal, the more powerful group demand for ‗purity‘ and 

‗sacred science‘. In this regard, the government's perspective is absolutely true and completely adequate to 

explain EVERYTHING about fuel subsidy removal. The doctrine is not subject to amendments or question. The 

logic goes thus: importers bring in products at high cost due to a variety of factors which include cost of 

production in the respective foreign countries and transportation of finished products from those countries to 

Nigeria. By the time a typical petroleum product lands on the Nigerian shore, it is so expensive that the Federal 

Government had to mercifully and magnanimously subsidize it for local consumption. The implicit assumption 

is that solution to the specific challenge of getting refined petroleum products for local use is one-dimensional – 

that is, Nigeria must import, and once we import, we must either subsidize or not. This kind of fossilized 

fixation is reflected in Mr. President‘s seeming regimented firm resolve: ―Fuel subsidy must go; no going back 

on oil sector deregulation.‖ By implication, Mr. President is saying that subsidy payment by successive Nigerian 

governments as a penalty paid for unending absence of creative solutions to a basic national challenge is no 

longer sustainable. He is saying that subsidy is simply a dubious coinage to explain the costs we pay for the 

inefficiency and slothfulness of the Nigerian system. It is the cost ordinary, weather beaten Nigerians pay for the 

gargantuan corruption complex that has hobbled almost all facets of governance in Nigeria. Such is the framing 

of the oil subsidy that has no place in President Jonathan‘s Transformation Agenda. 


9 | Page


Given that absolute conformity to the doctrine is required, a novel brand of vocabulary, popular more 

for its ludicrous ingenuity, emerges within the context of the group. Thereafter, group members begin to "think" 

within the very abstract and narrow parameters of the group's unquestionable doctrine. The homogenizing 

terminology effectively stymies any form of critical thinking by suffusing members with a "black and white" 

mentality. This explains the seamless ease with which group members buy into the logic of fuel subsidy 

removal. Failure to key into this noble vision of the group is an open invitation to Mr. President‘s allegation of 

‗treasonable felony‘ as amply demonstrated in Text 4. Not many members of this group would be disposed to 

taking the high risk of failing to profess absolute conformity to the doctrine. For instance, Chief Emeka Wogu, 

the Minister of Labour and Productivity, dutifully re-jigged the group‘s acquired ‗black and white‘ syndrome 

when he remarked that the Federal Government would save about 6 billion dollars by removing fuel subsidy, 

noting that the issue of subsidy was not ―an evil deal,‖ rather it would stimulate the country‘s economic growth. 

The Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Dr Levi Ajuonuma crowned the more 

powerful group‘s coercive persuasion with the finishing clincher: ―As a people, we must learn to open our eyes 

to current realities and embrace the opportunities that a deregulated downstream sector of the oil industry has on 

offer for us all. ―Removal of subsidy means that government would have more funds to channel into the 

provision of some identified vital infrastructure and social welfare packages for some vulnerable groups like 

pregnant women, children, as well as unemployed youths. ―All these are captured in the post-deregulation 

Social Safety Net scheme.‖ 

The foregoing constitutes the kernel of argument of advocates of subsidy removal led by the federal 

government and its coterie of mercantile supporters. In the next section, we present the flipside of the argument. 

3.2. Combating the mind control strategy 

We had earlier noted Dijk‘s observation that ―the complexity of comprehension, and the formation and 

change of beliefs, are such that one cannot always predict which features of a specific text or talk will have 

which effects on the minds of specific recipients.‖ In this regard, it seems pertinent to observe that the less 

powerful group combats this mind control onslaught by enlisting discursive strategies that provide information 

from which derive alternative knowledge and beliefs needed by the Nigerian masses to challenge the discourses 

and information about fuel subsidy, which they are exposed to by the Federal Government. Texts 20 – 40 reflect 

the robust onslaught unleashed by anti-subsidy removal to combat the mind control strategy of the more 

powerful group. 

It takes the form of enlisting public support in the impending face-off between federal government and 

the Nigerian masses. The subsisting argument is that further removal of subsidy only feeds ‗fat cats‘ at the 

expense of the poor and pays for gross inefficiencies down the fuel import value-chain. This line of reasoning 

seeks credible answers to such fundamental questions: Is this the right time? Who really benefits from fuel 

subsidy removal? How is a halt put to the vicious cycle of fuel price-hike and inflation? Does ‗subsidy‘ like ‗a 

mirage‘ – disappear and relocate ahead as one draws closer? What intervention would the government put in 

place to reduce the incidence of poverty resulting from imminent hyper inflation and how have similar schemes 

or projects worked in the past? Is it possible to identify projects, measure and evaluate individuals businesses 

that are the product of such intervention? What has been the specific impact of such projects on overall poverty 

level reductions? Would it not be sensible then to delay the removal of subsidy until the government delivers on 

the electricity supply required to service industries? Does deregulation imply NNPC will no longer operate a 

monopoly in importation of refined petroleum product or is this lobby a self- serving lifeline to continue its 

monopoly? Why should ordinary citizens bear the brunt of government inability to curb profiteering by a 

faceless bunkering cabal the NNPC referred to? Would it not be expedient to push for greater accountability and 

good governance to ensure a more transparent privatisation process that will respond to the market magic of 

enterprise and ‗trickle down‘ effect? Would it not be more expedient to pressure government to service the 

refineries to full production capacity given the implications on overhead and competitiveness for local 

industries? 

Honest answers to these questions would eminently predispose the Nigerian political authorities to 

wash their hands off fuel pricing-fixing and rethink the policy from the point of sustainability in the form of an 

in-built mechanism, which transfers the periodic swing in input price to pump price? The Nigerian economy is 

almost singularly hinged on crude oil export and therefore, highly sensitive to internal and external market 

shocks in the oil sector. The implication is that a fractional rise in cost of fuel has unmitigated ripple effects on 

the industrial sector and key components of basic need indicators such as food, housing and health. Moreover, 

the ripple effects are without boundary, as social liberties for instance, become less accessible to the average and 

less privileged Nigerians who constitute the vast majority of the over 150 million population. The private sector 

suffers the biggest reverses as small scale entrepreneurs‘ lose their businesses due to higher business overheads. 

When one business is lost, many dependent families are exposed not only to poverty but other forms of social 


10 | Page


exclusion which include constrained access to justice system (determined by financial leverage) and constrained 

rights to electoral/political participation. 

Given that price of crude oil is a key driver of fuel prices the world over, the issue is really not subsidy 

but having a proper pricing model in a world of powerful ‗oligopolists,‘ Bello (2011). A fair price from the point 

of view of a consumer would be one that is affordable, reflects market realities and excludes inefficiencies. In 

essence, the Jonathan administration needs to go beyond the usual threadbare and worn-out pedestrian economic 

arguments for fuel-subsidy removal to remove all the market imperfections and institutionalise a credible 

pricing mechanism, which Nigerians would trust and smooth out the sludge of systemic inefficiencies clogging 

the wheel of economic development. Nonetheless, if the powerful group remains unrelenting in reciting the 

wonky and weather beaten arguments for removal of the so called fuel subsidy, then the less powerful group 

must take the adversary‘s disposition as the last battle it must fight for its survival and approach it with all the 

seriousness it demands. 

The foregoing represents the efforts of the presumably less-powerful group to control the fuel subsidy 

discourse and by extension control the minds of Nigerians. It reveals the ideological leanings in the discourse of 

socioeconomic developments in Nigeria as constructed by the different social groups. 

3.3 The ‘Different Angles of Telling’ 

The ‗different angles of telling,‘ (Salami & Ayoola, 2010: 52), harks back to van Dijk (2006: 379) 

position about media-political discourse as one that is replete with manipulative strategies which include 

―emphasizing one's own power and moral superiority, discrediting one's opponents, polarization between Us and 

Them, negative Other-presentation, ideological alignment, and emotional appeals.‖ From the tenor of the 

argument, it shows how the federal government backed by its ardent supporters rides on the crest of World Bank 

and IMF-driven economic logic to goad Nigerians into accepting the economic policy. In this regard, the 

group‘s logical fabric of subsidy removal is woven around the presumed existence of a faceless cabal that is 

carting away hundreds of millions of dollars from the government in the name of fuel subsidy. In other words, 

the subsidy meant to benefit the poor Nigerian masses only ends up enriching the very few Nigerians in the oil 

supply chain. The only sensible to do is to remove the subsidy and channel the proceeds into ‗providing safety 

nets‘ for the poor. 

The Senate President, David Mark, who blamed the controversy on the cabals in the petroleum 

industry, vowed that the Senate would uncover those that short-changed Nigerians in the process. His words: 

―My belief is that there is a cartel within the petroleum industry and whatever they do is just exclusive to them. 

Ninety per cent of people outside do not know. We must find out how much is spent on subsidy, who are the 

beneficiaries? Has subsidy benefited us? These are salient points and we cannot run away from them.‖ The other 

group in this mind control duel maximises it‘s access to the media to puncture government‘ argument on the 

grounds that the economic policy not only lacks proper definition but that it is inimical to the general well-being 

of Nigerians. 

The deafening chatter about petroleum subsidy does not explain who erected the ubiquitous and 

amorphous cabal in the first place neither does it bother to offer a precise definition of what exactly constitute 

this ‗strange animal‘ called fuel subsidy. This is the crux of Chidi Amuta‘s worry: 

Is the subsidy a cult secret? Why is it unknowable? Is it the opportunity cost of selling imported fuel instead of 

refining here? Is it the penalty ordinary people have to pay in aid of those who have serially sabotaged our 

refineries? Is it the differential between what poor Nigerians mostly on $1 a day pay for a litre of petrol to power 

their smoky bikes and what affluent Europeans and Americans on a minimum N200, 000 a month pay for the 

same commodity? What is the relationship between the projected pump price of petrol and the purchasing power 

of an average Nigerian in a nation with one of the highest unemployment rates in the world? Going forward, by 

what percentage do we adjust petrol pump prices to compensate for international oil price increases that we have 

absolutely no control over? Are we going to leave the field open again so that the next administration that comes 

along can burst the budget and take easy recourse to petrol tax under the guise of subsidy removal? 

(www.thisdaylive.com 15 November 2011) 

The failure to provide plausible answers to these and other pertinent questions derive mainly from the 

communication deficit of the Jonathan fuel subsidy campaign, which in the opinion of Amuta, is fast becoming 

part of the overall basket of perception liabilities of the administration that continues to mount. What it costs 

Nigeria in terms of facts and figures to sustain the subsidy is a matter of convoluted conjectural postulations for 

advocates of subsidy removal, who churn out conflicting figures to justify government‘s desperation to compel 

poor hapless Nigerians to pay more for petroleum products so that it can get more money to carry on with 

business as usual. For reasons that are as diverse as they are self-serving, the State Governors have a different 

set of figures from the Federal Government just as the NNPC has a completely different set of figures on the 

basis of which it is alleged to cream off homologous sums of petrodollars with clinical efficiency from the 

federation account every month. 


11 | Page


This formed the kernel of Senator Saraki‘s argument, while moving the motion for investigation into 

the management of subsidy in 2011, (Amanze-Nwachukwu, 2011; Kolawale, 2012). His words: 

In furtherance of the implementation of the fuel subsidy in 2011 appropriation, the sum of N240 billion (N20 

billion monthly) is budgeted. Of the N20 billion monthly allocated, N11.2billion was allocated for domestic fuel 

subsidy (NNPC) and N8.8 billion for domestic subsidy (market) as stated in the Appropriation Act 2011. 

Although, N20 billion was set aside for subsidy on a monthly basis in the Appropriation Act 2011, in August 

2011, the total figure expended was N165bn of which the NNPC was N88 billion and Independent Marketers 

was N77.7 billion. In the first three months of the year, both the NNPC and the Independent Marketers did not 

exceed N62 billion monthly but within the last three months, figures have ranged between N150 billion and 

N186 billion. With this trend, by the year-end, we will have a fuel subsidy bill of over N1.2 trillion as against 

the N240 billion budgeted in the Appropriation Act. The implementation of 2011 Appropriation Act will surely 

be in troubled waters if a variation of N1.2 trillion arises as a result of the level of expenditure incurred on fuel 

subsidy so far. 

Worse still, the blissful ignorance of government about the exact amount it spends annually to sustain 

the so-called subsidy came to light when the chairman of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal 

Commission (RMAFC), Mr Elias Mbam disclosed that both the NNPC and the oil marketers under the 

Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had illegally deducted the sum of N1.079 trillion for 

fuel subsidy between January and September this year. Mr Mbam said that while the NNPC deducted N615.670 

billion from January to September as against N81.720 billion payable to it as contained in the 2011 

Appropriation Act with a difference of over N5333.950 billion, the PPPRA deducted the sum of N647.660 

billion as against the approved N102.753 billion in the 2011 appropriation within the same period with a 

difference of over N544.907 billion. Mbam made the shocking revelation at the House of Representatives joint 

committees on Finance, Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Upstream) and Gas Resources investigating the 

alleged non-remittance of about N450 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) between 

2005 and 2008 to the Federation Account, (Olatunji & Daniel, 2011). 

On the strength of the unfolding realities of the fuel subsidy imbroglio, this group of Nigerians has 

coalesced into a formidable opposition that summons all manners of verbal resources from its linguistic arsenal 

to delineate the insensitive, callous, and uncaring disposition of the Nigerian government. Perhaps, the 

frightening prospects of an Armageddon, which the opposition promises government should it go ahead with its 

planned subsidy removal, might have informed government‘s gradual shifting of ground on the January 2012 

implementation date. President Jonathan said it was necessary because of the plot by his critics to bring his 

government down, noting that the critics had given him their consent only to turn around to oppose it. The 

government, Mr. President further noted, had to soft-pedal on the implementation date to ensure that all 

stakeholders were carried along through mass education and logical reasoning, Okoroanyanwu et. al. (2011). 

All in all, the foregoing analysis only goes to show that the mind control battle is one conflagration that 

is set to roar and soar to the proverbial ‗high horrendous heavens.‘ The outcome of this duel is a matter of which 

group blinks first - the government or the Nigerian public. 


The focus of this paper has been with the conflicting perspectives that tend to characterise the 

discourses of oil subsidy removal as a fundamental component of economic reforms in Nigeria. While the 

dominant group represented by the federal government canvasses capitalist-driven free ‗marketization‘ of the 

economy, the dominated group represented by the labour unions, civil society groups, and other advocates of 

neo-liberalism draws attention to its attendant negative effects on the poor masses of Nigerians. The analysis 

reveals the extent to which the dominant groups in our contemporary society use all shades and hues of coercive 

tactics, persuasion, and/or interpersonal and group-based influence manipulations to control public discourse 

and ram unpopular policies down the throat of the silent majority, and how the latter equally appropriates the 

evocative powers of discourse and access to the media to resist the systemic class domination and oppression. 

By implication, the theoretical and methodological perspectives of CDA that offer useful insights into the 

workings of society have proved quite invaluable for objective interpretation of the meanings and proper 

distillation of the two-sided ideological polarities underlying those texts under review. 

Perhaps, one outstanding value of this line of academic inquiry is the explicit recognition by critical 

discourse analysts of their crucial role in the society. Of course, it goes without saying that this line of reasoning 

is born out of their conviction that scholarly discourses generally are inherently part of and influenced by social 

structure, and produced in social interaction, (Dijk, 1998; 2003). Moreover, given that the fundamental 

theoretical and methodological perspectives of CDA are ‗socio-politically situated,‘ occasional reflections on 

the role of scholars in society and the polity thus becomes an inherent and integral part of the discourse 

analytical enterprise. Accordingly, such enterprise embarks on empirically adequate critical analysis of social 

problems, thus explaining discourse structures in terms of properties of social interaction (especially social 


12 | Page


structure) and how they enact, confirm, legitimatise, reproduce, or challenge relations of power and dominance 

in society. In the case of this study, the analyses reveal, inter alia, how CDA can address the social problem of 

power relations and dominance in the Nigerian society as demonstrated by the festering ‗verbal warfare‘ 

between the Jonathan administration and the discerning Nigerian public on the vexed issue of oil subsidy. 

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Company, 2003). Retrieved from: http://www.rickcross.com Accessed: 18 December, 2011. 

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2011, Accessed: 29 October, 2011. 

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January, 2012. Accessed: 25 January, 2012. 

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January, 2012. 

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•Says NNPC‘s account shrouded in secrecy, Retrieved from: http://www.tribune.com Wednesday, 02 November, 2011. Accessed: 

18 November, 2011. 

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Appendix 

Text 1 

―A major component of the policy fiscal consolidation (2012-2015 Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper 

(FSP) is government‘s intent to phase out fuel subsidy, beginning from the 2012 fiscal year..‖ (Source: Fuel subsidy removal: In whose 

interest?‘ Taiwo Olanrewaju and Tunde Ogunesan www.trbune.com 19/10/2011) 

Text 2 

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday justified the impending removal of fuel subsidy and highlighted the gains to the economy, saying it 

would unlock capital that would be used for critical infrastructural development. (Source: ―Jonathan: Why Fuel Subsidy Must Go‖ 

Ahamefula Ogbu www.thisdaylive.com 14/10/2011.) 

Text 3 

Fuel ―subsidy‖ must go, President Goodluck Jonathan insisted yesterday… He spoke at the 17th Nigerian Economic Summit (NSE) in 

Abuja. (Source: www.thenationonlineng.net 11 November 2011) 

Text 4 

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has lamented the alleged high politicisation of the Federal Government‘s proposed fuel subsidy removal, 

saying that those against the policy wanted to bring down his government. (Source: ―Fuel subsidy: Opponents want to topple my govt - 

Jonathan •Says no going back on oil sector deregulation‖ Gbola Subair and Leon Usigbe www.tribune.com Friday, 11 November 2011) 

Text 5 

Participants at a summit organised for the private sector by the Presidency in Abuja last night endorsed the plan by the Federal Government 

to remove fuel subsidy… (Source: ―Jonathan‘s summit endorses proposed fuel subsidy removal‖. Vincent Ikuomola 

www.thenationonlineng.net 15/10/2011) 


13 | Page


Text 6 

The G. G. M., Public Affairs Division of the NNPC), Dr Levi Ajuonuma, said that the planned removal of fuel subsidy on petrol would 

enable the government to plough back the huge annual subsidy on provision of basic infrastructure… (Source: ―Deregulation‘ll create more 

investment, job opportunities — Ajuonuma‖ www.tribune.com Monday, 31 October 2011) 

Text 7 

Senator Jibril Aminu, threw his weight behind President Goodluck Jonathan‘s move to remove the contentious fuel subsidy. (Source: 

―Aminu backs fuel subsidy removal.‖ Idinor Daniel www.tribune.com October 31, 2011) 

Text 8 

For former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, removal of fuel subsidy would correct distortions in the economy. 

(Source: ―Fuel subsidy must go, say Anyaoku, Jibril Aminu.‖ Geoffrey Anyanwu, Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Aidoghie Paulinus And Juliana 

Taiwo-Obalonye, and Oye Ogunwale www.sunnewsonline.com 31/10/2011 Monday) 

Text 9 

The Nigerian Youth Leadership Advocacy Group (NYLAG) says the planned removal of fuel subsidy would be a blessing for Nigeria. 

(Source: ―Group endorses removal of fuel subsidy.‖ Emmanuel Okubenji www.dailytimes.com 19/10/2011) 

Text 10 

Ikwerre Traditional Rulers Council in Rivers State has called on Nigerians to support the removal of oil subsidy being considered by 

President Goodluck Jonathan. (Source: ―Monarchs back Jonathan on subsidy removal.‖ George Onah www.vanguardngr.com October 26, 

2011 

Text 11 

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products as the surest 

way to economic prosperity. (Source: ―PDP: planned removal is surest way to economic prosperity.‖ Gbade Ogunwale 

www.thenationonline.net) 

Text 12 

Major marketers and operators in the oil and gas industry, yesterday, expressed their support for Federal government‘s plan to remove fuel 

subsidy… Oscarline Onwuemenyi www.vanguardngr.com November 4, 2011) 

Text 13 

The EU Chief backed subsidy removal yesterady in Abuja during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka 

Wogu. (Source: ―Opposition mounts against removal of fuel subsidy.‖ Clifford Ndujihe, Okey Ndiribe, Providence Obuh, Monsur 

Olowooepeo & Oamen Areguamen www.vanguardngr.com October 25, 2011) 

Text 14 

Governor Abdul‘aziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara State said the removal would put an end to the enrichment of a few people through the 

huge sum deducted by the NNPC, which he put at N1.3trillion in 2011. (Source: Fuel subsidy removal:In whose interest? www.trbune.com 

Wednesday, 19 October 2011) 

Text 15 

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Ali Gulak, defended the move to remove fuel subsidy… (Ref: 

―We‘re compiling oil cartel‘s names for publication –Presidency.‖ Christian Okeke, www.tribune.com Wednesday, 16 November 2011) 

Text 16 

Participants at a summit organised for the private sector by the Presidency in Abuja endorsed the plan by the Federal Government to remove 

fuel subsidy. (Ref: ―Jonathan‘s summit endorses proposed fuel subsidy removal.‖ Vincent Ikuomola, www.thenationonline.net 15/10/2011) 

Text 17 

THE World Bank may have washed its hands off the proposal by the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy, saying that the decision 

could not be externally influenced. ―What is going on in the world with subsidies? That is the question you have to ask yourselves.‖ 

According to him, the idea of giving subsidies has been focalised adding that the idea of also giving subsidies to the rich has been left 

behind. (Ref : ―Fuel subsidy removal is a Nigerian affair, says World Bank.‖ Roseline Okere www.ngrguardiannews.com Monday, 21 

November 2011) 

Text 18 

Federal Government declared yesterday that the plan is not yet a done deal as talks with various stakeholders were ongoing, even as it stated 

that no date has been fixed for take-off of the removal of the subsidy. (Ref: Fuel Subsidy Removal: Our Offer – FG Emma Ujah, Daniel 

Idonor, Ola Ajayi, Victor Ahiuma-Young & Yemie Adeoye www.vanguardngr.com October 26, 2011) 

Text 19 

THE United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Terence Mc-Culley, has said the government of the US is in support of the planned removal of 

fuel subsidy in Nigeria. (Ref: ―US supports FG on oil subsidy removal.‖ www.tribune.com Wednesday, 30 November 2011) 

Text 20 

The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC has demonstrated what the government would likely face if the subsidy is eventually removed. (Ref: 

Fuel subsidy removal:In whose interest? www.tribune.com Wednesday, 19 October 2011) 

Text 21 

EFFORTS to break Labour‘s ranks in its opposition to the planned fuel subsidy removal may have failed, it was learnt yesterday… Besides, 

opponents of subsidy removal, who insist that it will further impoverish the poor, are not giving up. Ref: Opposition stands firm against 

subsidy removal Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, Miriam Ndikanwu and Khadijat Saidu) 


14 | Page


Text 22 

With the removal of fuel subsidy would come a number of ripple effects, which, according to many people who had spoken with the 

Nigerian Tribune, would be far from being palatable to the common man. (Ref: Fuel subsidy removal: In whose interest? www.tribune.com 

Wednesday, 19 October 2011) 

Text 23 

Kinsmen of President Goodluck Jonathan have called for caution in the implementation of the planned removal of fuel subsidy by the 

Federal Government. (Ref: Fuel subsidy removal: kinsmen call for caution Isaac Ombe, www.thenationonlineng.net) 

Text 24 

―WE have been treated to this fuel subsidy story since 1999. It has been the same sing song: ‗We will use the proceeds to provide amenities, 

build roads, provide healthcare, etc‘. But none of the promises has been fulfilled. Rather, corruption has grown in leaps and bounds. More 

fuel price increase, more corruption.‖ With these words eminent Nigerians and leaders of prominent pressure groups, ethnic nationality and 

religious groups, as well as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, resolved to fight to standstill, government‘s planned removal of 

fuel subsidy from next year. (Ref: Opposition mounts against removal of fuel subsidy October 25, 2011www.vanguardngr.com Clifford 

Ndujihe, Okey Ndiribe, Providence Obuh, Monsur Olowooepeo & Oamen Areguamen) 

Text 25 

From the responses received in the last one week, it is clear where Nigerians stand on this matter: Mr. President, don‘t do it. (Ref: Re: Fuel 

subsidy: Jonathan beware of darkness Dan Onwukwe www.sunnewsonline.com Tuesday, October 25, 2011 

Text 26 

The citizens contend that further removal of subsidy only feeds ‗fat cats‘ at the expense of the poor and pays for gross inefficiencies down 

the fuel import value-chain. (Ref: Nigeria: Rethinking fuel subsidy removal Thursday, 15 September 2011 Olusola Bello 

www.businessdayonline.com ) 

Text 27 

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), yesterday, warned President Goodluck Jonathan to, as a matter of urgency, desist from 

the idea to remove fuel subsidy come January next year or face the crisis and social unrest the would follow such action… (Ref:: CNPP to 

Jonathan: Drop the idea of fuel subsidy removal now Thursday, 06 October 2011 www.nationalaccordnewspapers.com Taiye Agbaje) 

Text 28 

Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday disowned a suggestion by President Goodluck Jonathan that he had thrown 

his weight behind the Federal Government‘s plan to remove oil subsidy. (Ref: ―Buhari replies Jonathan: I‘m not for subsidy removal.‖ 

www.thenationonlineng.net 11/11/11) 

Text 29 

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan should look critically into how to rescue the economy instead of taking decisions such as the planned 

removal of fuel subsidy which would further impoverish Nigerians. (Ref: PDP Leader Cautions Jonathan Against Fuel Subsidy Removal 

Saturday, 29 October 2011 00:00 By Tunde Akinola) 

Text 30 

The claim about using the subsidy money to finance critical infrastructure is not only hollow, it is sheer bunkum. Today, the subsidy debate 

has become a huge distraction to the point of becoming an alibi for non-performance by the two tiers of governments. (―Removal of the socalled 

fuel subsidy is ill-digested and ill-timed‖ Editorial www.thenationonlineng.net) 

Text 31 

There was rage across the country on Wednesday as Nigerians, in groups and as individuals, reacted angrily to the planned removal of fuel 

subsidy beginning from January 2012. (Ref: Thursday, October 6, 2011 Imo Herald www.imostate.blogspot.com Fuel Subsidy Removal: 

Labour, civil groups vow to resist FG) 

Text 32 

The Arewa Students Forum, Bauchi State chapter has condemned the proposed plan to remove fuel subsidy by the federal government. (Ref: 

Students oppose fuel subsidy removal, warn Jonathan of impending danger PAUL ORUDE, Bauchi Wednesday, October 26, 2011) 

Text 33 

This is the highest form of haram: the worst manifestation of economic rascality," NLC's deputy president Promise Adewusi said. (Ref: 

Nigeria: Outrage Over Fuel Subsidy RemovalAbdul-Rahman Abubakar, Abbas Jimoh, Turaki A. Hassan, Abdulwasiu Hassan and Nahimah 

Ajikanle Nurudeen www.allafrica.com 6 October 2011) 

Text 34 

The All Nigerian Peoples‘ Party, [ANPP] has warned the Federal Government not to go ahead with its proposed removal of fuel subsidy on 

petroleum products. (Ref: Don‘t remove fuel subsidy, ANPP warns Jonathan •Says Nigerians are already pauperized Taiwo Amodu 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 www.sunnewsonline.com) 

Text 35 

JOINT committees of the House of Representatives mandated to study the proposals of the Federal Government, which contain removal of 

fuel subsidy from next year has recommended that subsidy removal is ―pre-mature‖… (Ref: Planned removal of fuel subsidy premature, say 

Reps panels Friday, 04 November 2011 John-Abba Ogbodo, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh and Terhemba Daka,) 

Text 36 


15 | Page


THE World Bank has admonished the Federal Government to handle the issue of oil subsidy removal with caution. (Ref: World Ba nk 

cautions FG on oil subsidy removal •Slams Nigeria over low MDGs record •FG raises advisory panel Written by Gbola Subair, Leon 

Usigbe, and Soji-Eze Fagbemi, www.tribune.com Wednesday, 26 October 2011) 

Text 37 

As the battle line appears drawn between advocates of the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and those opposed to it, the World Bank Vice 

President for African Region, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has stressed the need for government to tackle the supply structure of fuel before 

implementing the policy… (Ref: Fuel subsidy removal: World Bank chief cautions Jonathan By Emma Amaize, Kingsley Omonobi, 

Demola Akinyemi , Peter Eguatu, Inalegwu Shaibu, Victor jeme & Akpokona Omafuaire October 24, 2011 www.vanguardnews.com) 

Text 38 

Put bluntly, the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria is a direct affront to the millennium development goal number 1 of halving the number of 

people living in poverty by 2015 and at odds with global concern for the low levels of economic growth and recently reported declining 

human development index in Nigeria. (Ref: Against removal of fuel subsidy and the argument for deregulated petroleum sub sector by Son 

Gyoh) 

Text 39 

Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday, warned that the planned fuel subsidy removal, devaluation of the national currency and hike in 

electricity tariff would set the nation on fire, as the social consequences would be unbearable… (Ref Subsidy removal, devaluation of 

naira‗ll set the nation on fire – NLC On November 3, 2011 www.vanguardngr.com VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG) 

Text 40 

CNPP faulted President Goodluck Jonathan‘s remarks that the country will crash if subsidy on petroleum products was not removed… 

CNPP asked Jonathan to read the lips of his countrymen, legislators, trade unions and clergy and shelve proposal to remove the subsidy. 

(Ref: CNPP to Jonathan: Nigeria won‘t crash with subsidy removal November 21, 2011 www.vanguardngr.com Chris Ochayi) 


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Placards as a Language of Civil Protest in Nigeria: A Systemic- 

Functional Analysis of the Fuel Subsidy Crisis 

Chris Uchenna Agbedo 

Department of Linguistics Igbo & Other Nigerian Languages, University of Nigeria Nsukka Nigeria 

Abstract: This paper examines the linguistic messages of the placards, which were displayed during the fuel 

subsidy removal protests in Nigeria. In this regard, we rely on the central notion of ‘stratification’ deriving from 

Halliday’s Systemic-Functional Grammar. The data elicited from the online edition of Nigerian newspapers is 

subjected to analysis following the analytical procedure of context stratum. The results of the analysis indicate 

an emerging pattern of civil protest in Nigeria driven by the nation’s brand of ‘Arab Spring’, or the ‘Occupy 

Movement,’ which interrogates a wide range of socioeconomic and political ills plaguing the Nigerian nation. 

Specifically, the protests transcended the narrow confines of hardships caused by the fuel subsidy removal to 

pertinent issues of official corruption, debilitating cost of governance, crash in public expectations of a 

Jonathan presidency, and recourse to people power-induced revolution. The paper concludes that the fuel 

subsidy removal protests provided a teachable moment, the invaluable lessons of which need not be lost on the 

PDP-led administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. 

Keywords: context, fuel subsidy, linguistic message, Nigeria, placards, systemic-functional grammar 


At its very essence, language can be defined as a tool used for the communication of meaning. 

However, there is much more than simple lexical or grammatical meaning encoded in text. People use language 

to achieve goals and express ideas. Through language, individuals establish and maintain social identity and 

relationships. “We use language to talk about our experience of the world, including the worlds in our own 

minds, to describe events and states and the entities involved in them. We also use language to interact with 

other people, to establish and maintain relations with them, to influence their behaviour, to express our own 

viewpoint on things in the world, and to elicit or change theirs,” (Thompson, 2004:30). Of the seven functions 

of language outlined by Halliday (1973), the representational and personal functions are of utmost relevance in 

this paper. Representational function is the use of language to make statements, convey facts and knowledge, 

explain, or report to represent reality as the speaker/writer sees it; the personal function is to express emotions, 

personality, and „gut-level‟ reactions. In this paper, we seek to adopt the analytical procedure of Systemic- 

Functional Grammar (SFG) enunciated by M.A.K. Halliday in analysing the use to which Nigerians put 

language in expressing their „gut-level‟ feelings about the vexed issue of fuel subsidy removal. 

The Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had on 1 January 2012 announced the 

upward review of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N65 to N141 following the removal of 

oil subsidy. This was in line with the provisions of the 2012-2015 Medium-Term Fiscal Framework and 2012 

Fiscal Strategy paper submitted by President Jonathan to the National Assembly, which proposed full 

deregulation of the oil industry beginning from the 2012 fiscal year. This fiscal policy elicited stiff opposition 

from the organised labour (spearheaded by the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress), and a 

coalition of civil society groups, opposition politicians, and professional associations all of which coalesced into 

a Joint Action Front that prosecuted a five-day nationwide protest intended to get the government to reverse the 

fuel subsidy removal and revert to the N65 pump price of PMS. The protest, which lasted from Monday 9 to 

Friday 13 January, 2012 witnessed the emergence of „Occupy Nigeria Movement‟. 

In the course of the fuel subsidy removal protests, Nigerians gave vent to their pent-up feelings about 

the way their country was being governed. The oil subsidy struggle transcended the narrow confines of petrol 

price and developed into a full-scale interrogation of the governance process with penetrating questions being 

asked about the workings of the system. Tensions on the narrow issue of fuel subsidies have unleashed broader 

popular anger over corruption and inequality. After decades of shattered promises, today‟s generation have 

difficulty believing in the Nigerian state as an agent of development. This was easily discernible from the 

various placards that were boldly displayed during the protest, which spoke volumes about the express wishes of 

Nigerians as attested to by public affairs analysts. “Those placards contained the wishes of Nigerians. They 

needed to be studied carefully,” (Amuta, 2012). “Occupy Nigeria was a novel experience, which passed a clear 

message to Nigerian leaders that it is no longer business as usual,” (Gabriel, 2012). 

In Systemic Functional Grammar, the central notion is „stratification‟ such that language is analysed in 

four strata – context, semantics, lexico-grammar, and phonology-graphology. Of these strata, we shall focus on 


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Placards As A Language Of Civil Protest In Nigeria: A Systemic-Functional Analysis Of The Fuel 

the context, which consists of the field (what is going on), tenor (the social roles and relationships between the 

participants), and the mode (aspects of the channel of communication). Specifically, the main thrust of analysis 

is the channel of communication, that is, the protesters‟ placards and the implicit linguistic messages they were 

meant to convey. 

II. Framework 

Systemic functional grammar (SFG) or systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a model of grammar 

developed by Michael Halliday in the 1960s, which takes a functional approach to grammar, analyzing language 

as a social-semiotic of communicative meaning-making. Language and interaction are defined by context and 

this model seeks to show how contextual meaning is expressed in grammar. SFG is „systemic‟ in that grammar 

consists of a series of choices that can be made in order to express ideas; in other words, language represents a 

system network within which language choices are meaningful in relation to other choices that are suppressed. It 

is „functional‟ in that the systems achieve certain functions which are realized in the lexico-grammar of the 

language. There are three „metafunctions‟ formulated by Halliday (1994) which form the basic foundation on 

which Systemic Functional Grammar is based. 

Metafunctions are broadly-categorized fundamental functions which each concerns a different kind of 

meaning within grammatical clauses. The „experiential‟ metafunction includes the happenings, or the topic, of a 

text. An analysis from this perspective consists of examining the system of TRANSITIVITY realized as 

„processes‟ in a verb phrase constituent and its associated participants. There are several kinds of processes and 

participant types which are given different functional labels according to their role in a clause. The four main 

types of process are material, mental, relational and verbal, which each have assigned participants relating to 

each other by means of the process. The „interpersonal‟ metafunction involves the structure of clausal elements 

as they manage the interpersonal relationship between speaker and addressee and achieve the communicative 

purpose of a text. The MOOD realizes this metafunction and elements of modality, tense and polarity are taken 

into account. The „textual‟ metafunction organizes clauses as messages realized by speakers who arrange the 

ways in which the various groups and phrases in the clause are ordered with the THEME system. 

Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a theory of language centred on the notion of language 

function. While SFL accounts for the syntactic structure of language, it places the function of language as 

central (what language does, and how it does it), in preference to more structural approaches, which place the 

elements of language and their combinations as central. SFL starts at social context, and looks at how language 

both acts upon, and is constrained by, this social context. The analysis of context is broken down into field, 

tenor, and mode, which collectively constitute the „register‟ of a text (Halliday, 1985). The field refers to what is 

happening, the nature of the social interaction taking place, what is it that the participants are engaged in, in 

which language figures as an essential component. Tenor is concerned with who is taking part; the social roles 

and relationships of participant, the status and roles of the participants. The mode is the symbolic organization of 

the text, rhetorical modes (persuasive, expository, didactic, etc); the channel of communication, such as spoken 

or written, monologic or dialogic, visual contact, computer-mediated communication, telephone, etc. 

In this paper, we adopt the „functional‟ aspect of SFL, which is concerned with the contextualised and 

practical uses to which language is put in analysing the linguistic messages of the placards displayed during the 

fuel subsidy removal protests in Nigeria. 

III. Data Analysis 

As earlier noted, the Systemic-Functional Grammar analyses language in terms of four strata, one of 

which is the context, and one that is further broken down into field, tenor, and mode. The thrust of analysis is 

the mode, which is concerned with the symbolic organization of the text, rhetorical modes, and the channel of 

communication. In this regard, the channel of communication is placards with different inscriptions that 

mirrored the peculiar mindsets of the protesters and the communicative functions, which they intended the 

linguistic messages to achieve. Generally, we have categorised a sample of the placards into five based on their 

thematic unity – fuel subsidy removal, official corruption, crash in public expectations, governance, and 

revolution. We set out to examine how the protesters maximised the utilitarian communicative value of placards 

to address these different but related issues that are of grave implications for governance in Nigeria. 

3.1 Fuel subsidy removal 

A major component of the policy fiscal consolidation (2012-2015 Medium Term Fiscal Framework 

(MTFF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) is government‟s intent to phase out fuel subsidy, beginning from 

the 2012 fiscal year. The policy, as President Jonathan claimed in his submission to the National Assembly, 

“will free up to about N1.2 trillion in savings, part of which can be deployed into providing safety nets for poor 

segment of the society to ameliorate the effects of subsidy removal.” This proposed fiscal policy sustained by 

stereotypical and tasteless recitation of wonky and threadbare economic arguments of the federal government in 


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favour of fuel subsidy removal elicited stiff opposition from a wide segment of the Nigerian society. (See Fig. 

1). 

Apart from the organised labour that vowed to shut down the country should the government make 

good its threat, a good number of discerning Nigerians saw fuel subsidy removal as the brainchild of the Bretton 

Woods Institutions intended as a neocolonial stratagem to teeter the Nigerian economy irredeemably to the 

enslaving apron-strings of the Euroamerican imperialism. It made little sense to them that ordinary Nigerians 

should be compelled to subsidise waste, mismanagement, and official corruption that have become the 

trademark of Nigeria‟s oil industry, which brought about importation of petroleum products in the first place and 

the subsidy that goes with such woeful economic system. Perhaps, the whole fuel subsidy debate would have 

made sense if it formed part of a larger effort by government to keep faith with market-driven economic 

policies, which would have predisposed it to be more accountable, reduce waste in public expenditure, conduct 

the business of government in a more sensible and business-like manner. Also, the whole argument would have 

made even more sense if it formed part of an ideological change in the direction of government policy intended 

to institutionalise a functional market determined economy in which everyone pays for whatever they want to 

enjoy be they political officials or private citizens and conversely dismantle an economic system, which 

compels the poor, hapless innocent masses of Nigerians to subsidise the filthy comfort, hedonistic extravagance 

and slothful luxuriance of only a tiny elitist minority. 

The communication deficit of the Jonathan fuel subsidy removal campaign imposed great debilitating 

constraints on the administration‟s propaganda team that compelled it to open a debate that confounded rather 

than enlightened the Nigerian populace on the tenability of its argument. In failing to explain the kernel of the 

hysterical chatter about oil subsidy, most of the government apologists were content with anchoring their hollow 

argument on the fabled existence of a cabal in the oil industry that is carting away billions of petro-dollars from 

the government in the name of fuel subsidy, without lifting the veil off the dim-light shadows that erected and 

sustained the shenanigan octopus or even offer a simple definition of this ex-terrestrial creature called fuel 

subsidy. 

Apart from the dubious origin which cloned and vested the strange animal called fuel subsidy with a 

badge of infernal liability, there was hardly a consensus on facts and figures among advocates of subsidy 

removal, as they reeled out homologous and conflicting figures. The consensus terminated at the viciously 

pedestal level of a Machiavellian determination to get hunger and poverty-stricken Nigerians to pay more for 

petroleum products so that governments can effectively keep outright bankruptcy at bay and get more money to 

carry on with the tinkering or trial-and-error business of governance in Nigeria. For instance, the governors had 

a different set of figures from the Federal Government because they wanted a review of the revenue allocation 

formula in favour of the states and local council areas. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) 

also generated a different set of unverified figures on the basis of which it was alleged to cream off stupendous 

sums of money from the federation account every month. Perhaps, it was against this background of discordant 

cacophony and cerebral confusion that firmly hemmed in the misty outlines of the fuel subsidy figment. 

The foregoing represents a tight summary of the linguistic messages, which the placards in this 

category were meant to communicate. In summary, the protesters spoke through their placards: “Jonathan, 

reverse fuel subsidy removal because that‟s the only thing we enjoy from the government, we don‟t want 

corruption, and we are ready to fight it with the last drop of our blood.” Before rounding off this section, it is 

pertinent to note that as the „Occupy Nigeria‟ protest progressed, the debate quickly shifted from the quaint 

calculus of subsidy removal to more inflammable issues of grave concern. Protests against federal government‟s 

decision to end fuel subsidies escalated to include mass discontent at corruption, mass unemployment, and lack 

of infrastructure. Equally interrogated were the nagging issues of governance quality, heavy cost of governance, 

and the beleaguered Nigerian federation, which were either quickly addressed decisively through due process or 

the cavalier and radical path of revolution. In the subsequent sub-sections, we shall address these different but 

related themes as overtly advertised by the protesters‟ placards. 

3.2 Corruption 

The placards in this category have corruption as their theme. (See Fig. 2). Every simple sentence has a 

theme (Brown & Yule (1983) or what Mathesius (1942) refers to as „the starting point of the utterance‟ and a 

rheme, everything else that follows in the sentence, which consists of „what the speaker states about or in regard 

to, the starting point of the utterance. The theme, then, is what speakers / writers use and what Halliday (1967: 

212) calls a „point of departure. From the nature and content of the placards, there exists a wide variety of 

syntactic forms, which the protesters used to convey the same propositional or cognitive content. Whether it is 

„Kill corruption, not Nigerians,‟ „tackle corruption and cut cost before removing fuel subsidy‟ or „Expose 

corruption,‟ the same propositional content is expressed each time. In almost all the cases, the protesters asserted 

through their placards that corruption is the pivot around which all other national development challenges 

revolve. Dismantle the ulcerous bugbear and the rest aspects of our national life would be automatically fixed, 


19 | Page


they seemed to be chorusing. They questioned the oil subsidy business, which had become a scandalous 

patronage system, the beneficiaries of which seemed determined to perpetuate it and truncate the original vision 

of functional local refining to shield the consumers from the vagaries of international pricing. 

Perhaps, the exigency of keying into the popular vision of cutting the nation‟s corruption monster to 

size predisposed President Jonathan in his speech on 15 January 2012, to underscore the urgency of addressing 

pandemic corruption in the NNPC. Before the presidential acknowledgement of official corruption in the oil 

industry, the Finance Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi-Okonjo Iweala had 

admitted that there may have been some fraud in the payment of N3.655 trillion as subsidy to fuel importers as 

revealed by the Abbe-led Senate Subsidy Probe Committee., Dr Okonjo-Iweala, said the Federal Government 

was aware “there may have been „mago-mago‟ (shaddy deals) in the payment of fuel subsidy to major oil 

marketers. “I am not trying to hold brief for anybody or say that everything is perfect, that there is no magomago 

inside. But what I am saying is that that money was what people spent to bring in products… So, I am not 

saying it is perfect, don‟t get me wrong, what I am saying is that the money is for transacted business…This 

does not mean that we should allow Nigerians to be cheated, some of that money is genuine,” the Minister said, 

(Oluwasegun & Anofi, 2011). 

The House of Representatives took up the gauntlet of combating corruption in the oil industry when it 

set up the Farouk Lawan-led Ad hoc committee to probe the subsidy payments made the benefiting companies 

that had earlier been unveiled by a parallel probe committee of the Senate. Chairman of the House Committee, 

Mr. Lawan added another twist to the actual cost of subsidy payments in 2011 when he contended that the actual 

amount was in the region of N2 trillion. In essence, the linguistic messages intended by a good number of those 

placards to communicate not only transcended the narrow confines of the fuel subsidy removal debacle but 

equally exuded an appreciable dose of illocutionary force, which ripple perlocutionary effects of variegated 

dimensions seared the soul of Nigeria‟s most lucrative industry – corruption. 

3.3 Crash of public confidence in President Jonathan’s administration 

The protesters‟ placards in this category displayed linguistic messages, which generated awful 

imageries depicting their loss of confidence in the ability and readiness of Jonathan administration to fulfill its 

campaign promises to the Nigerian people. Four youth groups vis the Nigerian Youths‟ League (NYL), National 

Association of Nigerian Students‟ (NANS), Association of Writers and Artists against Fuel Subsidy Removal 

(AWAAFSR) and the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) have condemned Federal Government‟s 

decision to remove fuel subsidy. The groups said by virtue of what government had done, the masses, especially 

the youths had lost the trust and confidence, which it reposed in it, (Umoren, 2012). 

Given this backdrop of „trust deficit between the government and its people,‟ the advent of a Jonathan 

presidency, which rode on the crest of divine providence, represented a huge opportunity for effecting a radical 

departure from the inglorious past characterised by instrumental leadership. When he was elected president in 

April 2011 through the instrumentality of an unprecedented pan-Nigerian mandate, President Jonathan was 

described as “Nigeria‟s Obama,” a leader who would bring positive changes to the oil-rich but poverty-ridden 

nation. Nigerians believed a divine hand orchestrated his success. After all, his name spoke of his destiny: 

Goodluck Jonathan. Nigerians desperately wanted to believe in Jonathan‟s capacity to bring change, essentially 

because they liked his feline meekness and supple humility and identified with him. Goodluck Jonathan used his 

humble beginnings as political capital during his election campaign in 2011. In an oft-repeated speech, he said: 

In my early days in school I had no shoes, no school bags. I carried my books in my hands but never 

despaired, no car to take me to school, but I never despaired. There were days I had only one meal, but I never 

despaired. I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day, but I never despaired. I didn‟t have power, 

didn‟t have generators, studied with lanterns, but I never despaired. In spite of these, I finished secondary 

school, attended the University of Port Harcourt, and now hold a doctorate degree. Fellow Nigerians, if I could 

make it, you too can make it! 

Nigerians lapped up this man-of-the-people rhetoric, hence the pan-Nigerian mandate freely expressed at the 

April 2011 polls. 

However, few months after his election and presidential inauguration, Jonathan, had in an ironic twist 

of fate, become an embattled leader whose popularity had plummeted almost irredeemably. This crash of 

expectations was clearly evident when angry Nigerians took to the streets during the fuel subsidy crisis carrying 

his mock coffin and placards calling him „President Badluck‟. His „no shoes‟ metaphor became the butt of 

ludicrous allusions of social media activism. (See Fig. 3). Take note of the tinge of satire implicit in one of such 

computer-mediated messages, which drenched the social media: 

Now available for sale in different sizes: bicycles, camels, horses and donkeys. We can also train you 

on how not to buy shoes for your wards to school, since there are no functional public schools to attend. Visit 

our office at No.1 Oil Subsidy Road, Diezani Alison-Madueke Avenue, Goodluck Close, off Okonjo-Iweala 


20 | Page


Street, by Labaran Maku Crescent, Sanusi Lamido District, Abuja. Welcome to the year of transformation from 

going to school without shoes to residing at Aso Villa. 

Also, one of the pictures of the fuel subsidy protests depicted puppetry wherein President Jonathan was 

cast in the ludicrous mould of a frolicking puppet being pulled from different directions by members of the socalled 

Economic Management Team. By their dexterous manipulations of the strings, they reconfigured the 

dancing steps of the puppet to rhyme with the rhythmic and lyrical precisions of their principal choreographers – 

the Bretton Woods Institutions. Ironically, the same choreographers who regales Nigeria as good candidate to 

swallow its poisoned chalice of free market economic policy hook, line, and sinker, did not consider her 

candidate, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, fit enough to head the World bank 

Perhaps, it is pertinent to aver that the loss of trust in Jonathan‟s administration did not happen 

overnight. Critics claim that his sudden fall from grace drew inspiration from a series of blunders, beginning 

with his effort, just months after his election, to extend the presidency tenure from four to six years, the inept 

and clueless response to the grave security challenges posed by the Boko Haram insurgency, his apparent lack 

of political mettle to combat the ever-thriving corruption industry. The oil subsidy removal was the last straw 

that ignited the massive loss of confidence in so little time. 

3.4 Quality and cost of governance 

The placards in this category speak volumes of the poor quality and huge cost of governance that has 

become an albatross around the neck of President Jonathan‟s administration. (See Fig. 4). This was equally 

evident in the various press statements released by a number of coalition groups that formed that the „Occupy 

Nigeria Movement,‟(Akowe, 2012; Ehikioya, 2012). Besides these and other similar statements, a number of 

placards displayed by the protesters raised objections to the poor quality and high cost of governance in Nigeria. 

In contemporary Nigeria, the cost of governance encapsulates the huge financial, moral, even reputational cost 

to Nigeria as a country, and Nigerians as a people, of maintaining (s)elected office holders, appointed officials 

(including the sundry hangers-on and a coterie of political odd jobbers), and career officials in the three tiers of 

government in an executive presidential system. 

To watchers of the polity, the government is becoming one of the heaviest bureaucracies of all times, 

piling up over 20 extra-ministerial committees, in addition to the huge number of ministries, departments and 

agencies (MDAs). At the comparative level, very few countries, match the cost of governance, particularly the 

cost of general administration in Nigeria. The United States, the largest economy in the world, with a GNP of 

US$ 13 tr. per annum, has a federal cabinet not exceeding 20, less than half that of Nigeria. The cost of general 

administration represents less than 10% of the federal budget of the US. Unfortunately, bloated bureaucracies do 

not necessarily translate to good or effective governments. On the contrary, there is overwhelming evidence that 

the bigger the government, the higher the probability of wasteful spending and large scale public corruption, 

(Fafowora, 2011). 

Perhaps, it was in the light of the foregoing that the Theophilus Danjuma-led Presidential Advisory 

Committee, PAC, had in January 2011, expressed concern over the increasing cost of governance and advised 

President Jonathan to reduce the number of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). While the initial 

body language of President Goodluck Jonathan gave the impression that he was favourably disposed to such 

policy measures that discourage bloated government and wastages, the reverse seems to be the case, some long 

dreary months into his administration. The uproar associated with many provisions of the 2012 budget, which 

have generally been termed as wasteful, bloated and unrelated to the felt needs of the majority of Nigerians 

seem to indicate the clear-cut policy thrust of Jonathan administration. 

The Guardian editorial of 11 January, 2012 described the emerging indication that ministries, 

departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government will spend a whopping N11.25 billion on foreign 

trips alone in the 2012 budget as “deplorable, scandalous, and shamefully insensitive to the state of the nation.” 

In December 2011, the Director of Budget, Dr. Bright Okogu, admitted that the federal government‟s wage bill 

for 2011 had hit N1.5 trillion, almost a third of the government‟s annual budget for the year. This was predicted 

to rise to N1.7 trillion in 2012. If Dr. Okogu was to be believed, it means that personnel costs alone in the 

federal government will account for 50 percent of recurrent expenditure and 36 percent of the total budget in 

2012. 

The federal government, apart from its 42 ministries, runs about 400 parastatals. The ministries with 

the highest numbers are Health, 77; Science and Technology, 40; Education, 41; Agriculture, 44; Power and 

Steel, 27 agencies. This is in addition to countless number of standing and sitting committees, which seem to 

indicate that the focus of the authorities hardly reckoned with the crushing cost of governance, (Salaudeen, 

2012). The number of committees/task forces that have so far been set up calls to question the sincerity of the 

administration to genuinely cut down the cost of governance. The question is whether Nigeria needs such an 

unwieldy and bloated system of governance? The answer can hardly be in the affirmative because the country 

may not make any headway in any sphere of life if she continues to have such a large government with the 


21 | Page


attendant bureaucratic flatulence that could exert undue pressures on the fast depleting national resources. As 

the Guardian editorial (Monday, 23 January 2012) puts it, “the horrendous cost of governance is at the heart of 

the people‟s disenchantment with the government.” 

3.5 People power as precursor of revolution 

A sample of placards in this category depicted a sudden socio-political awakening of Nigerian citizens 

for participatory democracy, one that predisposed them to appreciate the fact that power belongs to them and 

that those who hold positions of authority do so on behalf of the people and must of necessity remain 

accountable to the people. (See Fig. 5). The protests have emboldened ordinary Nigerians and raised new 

awareness of wasteful expenditure. The fuel subsidy struggle brightened the prospects of a revolution in Nigeria, 

which implied the exercise of people power for the socio-economic and political advancement of Nigeria. In 

simple parlance, people power is the mass attempt by non -violent protesters to overthrow despots or a 

movement for a peaceful regime change. People power is the prerogative of the people to determine who 

governs them and how they are governed in a society to which they have submitted their sovereign will under a 

system that is agreeable to them. It could come in the form of open support for the activities of their duly elected 

representatives or through open condemnation and opposition to their leaders. People power can be perceived as 

the preponderance of the political will of the people of a nation that can be mobilized against or in support of 

any cause. It can also be said to be the force of the people's will along a particular course, and it represents the 

ultimate barometer of resolution on contentious state or national issues, (Mimiko, 2011). 

As the nationwide strike declared by the organised labour took off Monday, 9 January 2012, members 

of civil society organisations, politicians, political activists, actors and musicians declared in resolute terms that 

the much canvassed revolution had finally commenced. The massive protest rally held at Gani Fawehinmi Park, 

Ojota, featured 76-year-old politician and political activist, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, who said the current event in 

Nigeria showed that the appointed time to rescue the soul of Nigeria from those who held it captive had finally 

come. “There‟s something called an appointed time. We are here today on this podium to announce to our 

children and rulers that the appointed time has arrived. There‟s no going back. With the power of the Almighty 

with us, we are taking over our nation and the entire black race and freeing ourselves,” Braithwaite said. In his 

own remarks, Denja Yakub of NLC noted, “If a revolution will solve our problems, why not, what is going on 

already shows that our people are prepared for a revolution…” 

It was little wonder how President Jonathan managed to rally the entire country against himself and 

stoke the little fires of discontent into a consuming conflagration. Definitely, he grossly underestimated public 

reaction to the removal of fuel subsidy as a major public policy. Perhaps, his advisers never spared a fleeting 

thought for the likely political backlash, which fuel subsidy removal (considered from a purely simplistic 

perspective as a mere technocratic decision) would engender. Moreover, former President Obasanjo increased 

the prices of petroleum products almost uncountable times during his eight-year rule without igniting any public 

outrage comparable to the national upheaval of cataclysmic proportion, which greeted the fuel subsidy removal 

misadventure of 1 January 2012. But unknown to this line of reasoning is the fact that under Obasanjo, there 

were no facebook, twitter, ipad, ipod, or blackberry as potent tools of mobilisation and razor-edge social media 

activism. There was neither „Arab spring‟ nor „Occupy movement‟. But in contemporary times, it is „no longer 

at ease‟. 

As Richard Spencer of the Telegraph UK wrote, “In the 21st century things will be different. The 

internet has brought people closer to their leaders. It is they who will determine their futures, not the ambitions 

and ideologies of their generals.” Really, things have changed dramatically over the years and it was Jonathan‟s 

great (mis)fortune to be the first Nigerian ruler to embrace the thorny chest of social media-induced resentment. 

History abound with examples of the withdrawal of the people's support and cooperation, thus leading to loss of 

credibility and legitimacy of the government, which is the whole essence of the social contract as brilliantly 

espoused by John Locke. The truth of the matter is that the gear of Nigerian brand of revolution automata has 

been engaged and only a slight throttle is required for it to go full blast. A revolution is a serious social and 

security problem that can threaten the very foundation of a country. The onus lies on the government of the day 

to do everything humanly possible to stymie it. 

IV. Lessons Of The Placards 

From the tone and texture of the placards displayed during the fuel subsidy protests, it would be right to 

say that the protesters, who can be described as the microcosmic representation of the over 140 million 

Nigerians, have given vent to their pent-up feelings about how the serious business of governance is being 

prosecuted in their (dear?) country Nigeria by a band of both „shoe-less‟ and „shoe-ful‟ politicians. Surely, the 

immediate dangers of the subsidy hullabaloo and „Occupy Nigeria‟ movement may have been averted or 

postponed. Also, the seeming clueless Jonathan government may have been successfully escorted through an 

extremely precarious policy terrain by the National Assembly, acting in concert with the Governor‟s Forum and 


22 | Page


the organized labour. Nonetheless, the subsidy protests provided rare teachable moments, the lessons of which 

the Federal Government can only afford to squander at its own peril. 

First, the Federal Government needs to rethink its mechanism of policy-decision and crisis 

management strategy. The timing of the price increase in the aftermath of a Christmas marred by an unfortunate 

bomb blast was unfortunate. The choice of January, a time when most people are stone broke after the expenses 

of the end of the year and are eager to return to work in the midst of school fees and other beginning of the year 

costs is even more questionable. The Action Congress of Nigeria described the Boko Haram insurgency and the 

petroleum subsidy removal as a “potent mix that can push the country to the precipice,” (Amuta, 2012). The 

unfolding events provoked questions as whether there were not enough pressure, tension, edginess, heat, 

restiveness, and restlessness in the land that Mr. President must exacerbate these inflammable indices in an 

already over-heated polity? In Atalanta in Calydon, the literary work of Algernon Charles Swinburne, 

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, was asked: “Was there not evil enough, Mother, and anguish on earth, 

born with man at his birth… that thou must lay on him love?” In the same manner that Aphrodite was accused 

of adding to man‟s troubles by imposing love on him, with all the troubles that come with it, so were Nigerians 

asking President Jonathan whether there was not enough trouble in the country that the fuel subsidy removal 

must come when it did. 

Public support in a democracy is essential to the success of public policy. From the comments of a 

good number of informed Nigerians, subsidy removal, where it is orderly implemented does make a lot of 

economic sense as it has worked well for Nigeria and her citizens in the telecommunications sector. However, 

honesty of purpose demands that the Federal Government should have employed robust engagement with the 

people to get its position across when what is involved is taking tough decisions that would affect their „welfare 

and security‟ which as the Constitution says, is the primary responsibility of government. The argument of 

promoters of fuel subsidy removal that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan should be tough in 

implementing his policy of deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry without regard to 

populist sentiments should be disregarded as misleading. “Economic policies,” notes the Nobel Prize Winner in 

Economics, Joseph Stiglitz “are not neutral, but ideological - and populist resistance to them is a rational 

response,” (Nwosu, 2012). 

Before yanking off his thinking cap after abandoning his editorial desk at the Nigerian Guardian 

newspapers to join the establishment, which he had spent a greater part of his journalism career years hauling 

constructive fires and brimstones at, Reuben Abati had in an article in the Guardian (2009) advocated the 

stoning of economists in official corridors for advancing outdated economic arguments to justify deregulation 

policy. He wrote thus: 

The arguments being advanced to justify the proposed full deregulation do not make sense. All the 

arguments have a ring of deja vu. They are taken from the same textbooks that the economists have refused to 

update, the same ideas that led to the collapse of the global economy. Other countries are making a U-turn and 

subjecting textbook knowledge to the test of reality, Nigerian policy makers are still holding on to old 

paradigms. One of these days, we shall start stoning the economists in official corridors. 

That was the old Reuben, the thoroughbred regular columnist in his fine journalistic elements. One 

wonders if the new improved Reuben, the loquacious Presidential spokesman, would still summon enough liver 

to stone his „fellow economists‟ at the Aso Rock bedroom of power. 

Nonetheless, the truth of the matter is that for decades, armchair theorists and fleeting ideologues have 

virtually turned this country into a huge laboratory for conducting wild economic experiments with attendant 

hardships on the people. Now, the people of Nigeria have in one united voice said a loud vociferous „NO‟ to an 

economic policy, which compels them to subsidise the filthy hedonistic tastes of the tiny ruling elite class. It is a 

trait of accountable and responsible leadership to defer to the popular feelings of the people. Government needs 

to roll back its regimented fixations on the economic policy and rethink the hogwash about „no going back‟ and 

„no alternative to subsidy withdrawal‟. Let the Government imbibe humility from the grass and be not like the 

tree; let those in government bend down a little and listen to the ordinary Nigerians. The grass bends with the 

wind and rises when the wind blows away. Big trees are arrogant. They stand erect, resisting the wind and are 

broken by the force of the wind for standing in its way. 

This is even more relevant in a contemporary world wherein the people power has blossomed so 

significantly that no sane leader can afford to ignore. The Arab World is turning upside down and inside out in a 

momentous revolution called Arab Spring. The streets of western world‟s capital cities are quaking with 

„occupy movement‟. Despite turning the Egypt‟s democratic space into a jungle filled with warring denizens, 

whose practised predilection for brutalization of protesters is legendary, cameras and iphones were adept at 

tweeting the obscene images (of female protesters stripped naked) instantly around the world. Nigerians live in a 

close-nit world that is interconnected. They cannot but learn the power of peaceful protests as demonstrators in 

Abuja, Kano, Ibadan, Benin, Kaduna, Ilorin and Lagos had shown. Although the protesters may not have 

succeeded in effecting regime change but they have invariably proved seminal in having planted the seeds of 


23 | Page


change and activated the sim pack of people power in the usually docile and agitation-indifferent Nigerian 

political environment. 

It is not difficult to identify the source of the people power infection of the Nigerian political system 

as the street revolution in North Africa disgracefully ended the tyrannical regimes of former despots - Ben Ali in 

Tunisia, Housni Mubarak in Egypt, and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. As indispensable as these despots thought 

they were to the security and progress of their nations, their people survived them without an earthquake or 

eclipse of the sun and new leaders have kept the torch of governance burning and blowing in the direction of the 

masses' interests and welfare ever since. The current Nigerian power brokers holed up in the Aso Rock 

sanctuary cannot afford to give the impression that they have not learnt anything from the experiences of the 

despots vanquished by people power in the nations aforementioned. If it has not been their earnest ambitions 

and honest desires to be blown away by the roiling hurricane of change sweeping across the globe, then, 

President Jonathan and his team should learn to respect the wishes of Nigerians and always leave an exit door 

for negotiations to resolve difficult political and human issues. 

The second lesson is that from the fundamental agitation for immediate reversion to the old pump price 

of N65 per litre, the demands have been expanded to include not only concerted action against corruption in the 

oil industry but drastic reformatting of the entire governance‟s central processing unit. The big lesson is that so 

long as corruption continues as the country‟s chief industry; poverty rules the lives of 90 percent of the 

population and workers are miserably underpaid, so long will Nigerians continue to resist subsidy withdrawal. 

This underscores the imperative of enthroning good governance as a state policy. The essence of any democracy 

irrespective of its colour and shape, nation or region is good governance. Good governance is expected to roll 

back the frontiers of national poverty and create in the citizens the sense of hope. It is the major antidote to 

socio-political upheaval and a veritable enabler of development. A nation such as Nigeria, which seeks 

development, must necessarily embrace good governance as an inescapable option, Mimiko (2011). 

V. Conclusion 

The primacy of language as the exclusively and uniquely human means of communication is all about 

investing the homo loqueans with the faculty of speech to express and describe not only the expressible and 

describable but also the inexpressibility of the inexpressible and indescribability of the indescribable. Nigerians 

latched onto this uniquely human predisposition to voice out their opposition to the entire governance process in 

their country. This peculiar linguistic behaviour was examined from the theory of language, which emphasizes 

the centrality of language function. To this effect, the whole gamut of choices, which language makes available 

to its users (speakers/writers) is examined. These choices relate speakers' and writers' intentions to the concrete 

forms of a language. By analysing the functions of language as the basis of human communication activity, we 

shed more light on the „context of situation,‟ which obtains “through a systematic relationship between the 

social environment on the one hand, and the functional organization of language on the other,” (Halliday, 1985: 

11). 

From the theoretical standpoint of Halliday‟s systemic functional linguistics, the context examined in 

this paper is the oil subsidy removal, the spontaneous responses of Nigerians, and the channels of 

communication adopted, (Halliday, 1995). In this regard, we chose for study the placards as one of the aspects 

of channel of communication, which Nigerians adopted for exploiting the functional potentialities of language. 

By deft combination of creativity and ingenuity, the fuel subsidy protesters deployed placards in making 

fundamental statements about their collective demands for a total re-invention of the entire governance process 

in Nigeria. Specifically, they demanded immediate reversion to the old pump price of N65 per litre of PMS, 

concrete action against endemic corruption especially in the oil industry, and the enthronement of good 

governance. They equally served a clear notice of popular revolution driven by people power Nigeriana. 

The implication of the foregoing is that Nigerians have finally found their collective voices long 

drowned in the sea of group inertia and complacency. They have, more than ever before, become resolute in 

challenging all the imprimaturs of instrumental leadership foisted on their country by the ruling class. And like 

the Tunisian revolutionaries, Nigerians seem to be saying: 

The power of the revolution lies within us, with us and only and until we decide to rise up and stand 

our grounds for our rights; until the day when it is said of us that „For this great humanity has said "enough" and 

has started to move forward.‟ And our march, the march of giants, cannot stop, will not stop until we have 

attained our true independence, for which many of us have already died, and not uselessly; we will die for our 

never-to-be-renounced, our only true independence. 

It makes little sense to underestimate the power of the people. The “people power” revolution that 

removed Ferdinand Marcos from power in 1986 and the Arab Spring of 2011 that led to the fall of Abidine Ali, 

President of Tunisia; Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt and Muamar Gaddafi of Libya, were all products of a 

commonly-shared determination by the people to get rid of their rulers that had lost touch with the realities of 

their modest aspirations. Nigerians may not be Filipinos (who blocked Marcos‟ military tanks with their bodies 


24 | Page


to prevent them from storming Camp Crame to kill defecting Defence Minister, Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy 

Chief of Staff, Fidel Ramos). Also, they may not have in their veins the hot blood of the Arabs who protested 

day and night for months, braving bullets, armoured tanks and teargas without wilting. Yet, they are not 

oblivious of the lesson from history, which states that ideas and movements of common concern never die in the 

annals of history without achieving their goal. 

The Nigerian people, who have borne the enormous social costs of the series of adjustments and neoliberal 

reforms imposed on the country, have spoken loudly and celestial wisdom demands that Mr. President 

listens to the resonant voices on the street. As Komalafe (2012) surmises, “Obstinacy in implementing 

unpopular policies is not a mark of effective leadership; it is a subversion of popular democracy. The President 

should avoid this anti-people road”. Need we say more? 

References 

[1] G. Thompson, Introducing functional grammar 2 nd Edition, (London: Hodder Education, 2004). 

[2] M. A. K. Halliday, Explorations in the functions of language, (London: Edward Arnold, 1973). 

[3] C. Amuta, Subsidy: Teachable moments. Retrieved from: http://www.thisdaylive.com 17 January, 2012. Accessed: 18 January, 

2012. 

[4] O. Gabriel, The economic danger signals are here; lets act fast now. Retrieved from: http://www.vanguardngr.com 23 January, 

2012. Accessed: 23 January, 2012. 

[5] M. A. K. Halliday, Introduction to functional grammar, 2 nd Edition, (London: Edward Arnold, 1994). 

[6] M. A. K. Halliday, Spoken and written language, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985). 

[7] G. Brown & G. Yule, Discourse analysis, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983). 

[8] V. Mathesius, From comparative word order studies. Casopis pro Moderni Filologii 28, 1942). 

[9] M. A. K. Halliday, Linguistics and the teaching of English, in. J. N. Britton (Ed.), Talking and writing: A handbook for English 

teachers, (London: Methuen, 1967). 

[10] V. Oluwasegun & D. Anofi, We‟ll compel the authorities to implement subsidy probe report. Retrieved from 

http://www.thenationonlineng.net 20 Febraury, 2012. Accessed: 18 March, 2012. 

[11] C. Umoren, C. (2012). We have lost confidence in FG. www.thisdaylive.com 05 January. Accessed: 05 January, 2012. 

[12] T. Akowe, Jonathan has declared war on Nigerians, says civil society. Retrieved from: http://www.thenationonlineng.net 09 

January, 2012, Accessed: 10 January, 2012. 

[13] A. Ehikioya, Doctors vow to hit the street. http://www.thenationonlineng.net 09 January. Accessed: 10 January, 2012. 

[14] D. Fafowora, Public service and cost of governance. Retrieved from: http://www.thenationonlineng.net 15 September, 2011. 

Accessed: 17 January, 2012. 

[15] Nigerian Guardian editorial, Removal of oil subsidy (3). Retrieved from: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com Wednesday, 11 


[16] L. Salaudeen, Jonathan‟s government by task forces, committees. Retrieved from: http://www.thenationonlineng.net 13 March, 

2012. Accessed: 18 March, 2012. 

[17] Nigerian Guardian editorial, Fuel subsidy: a question of leadership. Retrieved from: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com Monday, 23 


[18] O. Mimiko, People Power, Good Governance and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria. Being Keynote Address Delivered at the 

Public Presentation of the 'Nigeria Golden Book' by The Sun Publishing Ltd, on 27th September, 2011, at The Shehu Yar'adua 

Centre, Abuja. Retrieved from: http://www.thenigerianvoice.com Accessed: 20 January, 2012. 

[19] C. Amuta, Subsidy: Teachable moments. Retrieved from: http://www.thisdaylive.com 17 January, 2012. Accessed: 18 January, 

2012. 

[20] I. Nwosu, Subsidy removal: I‟m ready for mass revolt –Jonathan Retrieved from: http://www.sunnewsonline.com Sunday, 11 

December, 2011. Accessed: 12 December, 2011. 

[21] O. Mimiko, People Power, Good Governance and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria. Being Keynote Address Delivered at the 

Public Presentation of the 'Nigeria Golden Book' by The Sun Publishing Ltd, on 27th September, 2011, at The Shehu Yar'adua 

Centre, Abuja. Retrieved from: http://www.thenigerianvoice.com Accessed: 20 January, 2012. 

[22] M. A. K. Halliday, Spoken and written language, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985). 

[23] M. A. K. Halliday, Learning how to mean: Explorations in the development of language, (London: Edward Arnold, 1975). 

[24] K. Komolafe, It‟s a virtue to listen to the people. Retrieved from: http://www.thisdaylive.com 11 January, 2012. Accessed: 11 

January, 2012. 


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Appendix 

A sample of the placards 

Fig. 1 

Fig. 2 

Fig. 3 

Fig. 4 

Fig. 5 


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‘Verbal Carpentry’ As Language of Political Corruption in 

Nigeria 

Chris Uchenna Agbedo 

Department of Linguistics, Igbo & Other Nigerian Languages, University of Nigeria Nsukka Nigeria 

Abstract: This paper examines the ingenious ways Nigerians use the English language with less integrity and 

in so doing, abuse the power of language, and consequently enthrone corruption through deception, 

manipulation, judgmental accusations, and lying. The grave implications, which this practised state art of what 

can be described as “verbal carpentry” portend for good governance in Nigeria and Africa by extension call for 

a radical departure from this depraved communication system. To give the power of the English language its 

rightful place in Nigeria, the political leaders should strive to use and appreciate the power of language with 

integrity, teach the power of articulate speech that captures the intensity of our feelings, without using it as a 

weapon of mass deception, and abhor the abuse of this power that violates and insults the sensibilities of the 

people. 

Keywords: corruption, Nigeria, language, verbal carpentry 


A wealth of terms, both technical and every day, are carefully defined and argued over in the design of 

information systems. When they are used in live systems to explain what is happening in the organization they 

colonize the understanding of members and define the terms of debate (Bloomfield, Coombs, and Owen, 2006). 

The foregoing illustrates the power that language has. Of course, it is simply emphasizing the obvious to posit 

that language is a facilitator of the flow of power. It is a substrate that links people, and allows them to coordinate 

and construct systems, ideas based on groups rather than individuals. Every word in a language is a 

"term". Every word has both meaning and assumption. A language has society and emotion in its very essence. 

It evolves as a people evolve. To understand a language, then, is to live within it and its culture. It is little 

wonder then that the deliberate ingenious use of language as a technology for shaping people is becoming 

fashionable in contemporary times. Many are quite aware already that when you want to control people's 

thoughts, influencing the use of words towards your own persuasion is one of the most powerful techniques. By 

subtly biasing the way people think, it is possible to get people to do things they wouldn't otherwise allow. 

Today, there is clear evidence of renewed predilection of politicians for a kind of linguistic gobbledygook, a 

convoluted verbal carpentry intended to bamboozle, mesmerize, hoodwink and coo those who are pathologically 

susceptible to such manipulations, at the heavy cost of telling the truth and good governance. One of the worst 

aspects of our discourse these days is how rarely our political language is used to express honest and clear 

thought (G. Orwell in Ed, 2004). Although G. Orwell heaps the blame partly on the school system, which tends 

to reward the complexity of thought and the use of obscure words, the real problem with our political discourse 

these days, in his opinion, is the purposeful use of words to lie and mislead. In one of his essays, George Orwell, 

continues Ed, noted that the tendency to use unclear language can be a flaw found in any political persuasion. 

But the real danger according to Orwell comes when people purposely pervert language, because their goal is to 

mislead people and deny them the ability to make decisions based on accurate information. 

In Nigeria, the deliberate perversion of the English language for achieving the twin goals of deception 

and corruption has become a hallowed statecraft, which tends to grip a typical Nigerian political leader with 

irresistible allurements. When such superficially harmless words and phrases as ‗misapplication‘, 

‗misappropriation‘, ‗presidential retreat‘, ‗capacity building workshop‘, ‗presidential task force‘, ‗presidential 

steering committee‘, presidential intervention fund, ‗restoration of Abuja master plan‘, ‗rule of law‘, ‗due 

process‘, ‗vision 20…‘, ‗privatization‘, ‗concession‘, ‗import waiver,‘ ‗soft landing‘ etc. shoot from the lips of a 

typical Nigerian public officer, it is most likely that he/she hardly reckons with the minimum content of such 

words beyond the attractive prospects of deploying them for perpetrating varying degrees of malfeasance. In this 

depraved art of verbal carpentry, the typical Nigerian public office holder looks up to the roadside carpenter for 

inspiration. Taking a cue from the uncanny dexterity, with which the carpenter hews out planks, cuts and joins 

pieces of wood to knock up a ‗woman bench‘, the political office holder engages in the mechanical 

concatenation of sonorous lexical items to produce catchy phrases bereft of any significant relevance to good 

governance except for the regular Turn Around Maintenance of the machine of corruption. If he is not making a 

requisition of hundreds of millions of Naira or Dollars for a ‗retreat‘ on ‗capacity building‘ for his horde of 

Senior Special Assistants to be held in one of the most expensive five star hotels in the world, he is busy 


27 | Page

„Verbal Carpentry‟ As Language Of Political Corruption In Nigeria 

mortgaging and signing away the collective future of Nigeria under the hypocrisy of ‗concession‘ agreement. 

Such has been the pervasive and ubiquitous nature of the mischievous hobgoblin called corruption that Nigerian 

wordsmiths have taken to punning as a literary pastime. Such words referring the three arms of government 

(where political corruption seems most pronounced) as executive legislature judiciary have now become 

‗executhieves‘ ‗legislooting‘ ‗judisharing‘, perhaps to underscore the interlocking nexus where political 

corruption is conveniently incubated and consummated. 

Perhaps, the deliberate use of deceptive language to mislead people and possibly perpetrate corrupt 

practices is not altogether new or peculiar to the Nigerian situation. In this depraved art of statutory deception, 

language often provides a handy potent tool. In USA for instance, the top strategists of the right-wing have used 

deceptive language in their pursuit of power for several decades. They have spent much money and energy 

putting together think tanks and focus groups to find ways to ―sell‖ their message. And for years they have used 

language to demonize Democrats as a way to gain control of the government. Newt Gingrich even produced a 

booklet that recommended words to use when describing Republicans (strong, moral, citizen, protector) and 

how to describe their opponents (Gingrich, 1996). In his 1996 GOPAC memo, entitled ‗Language: A Key 

Mechanism of Control,‘ Newt Gingrich counsels the Republicans in the following words: ―As you know, one of 

the key points in the GOPAC tapes is that ‗language matters.‘ In the video, ‗We are a Majority,‘ Language is 

listed as a key mechanism of control used by a majority party…‖ 

After 9/11, the right-wing radicals gloated that they had won the battle for the hearts and minds of the 

American public. Rather than wallowing in self-delusion that their ideology was so compelling that the majority 

of Americans would be won to their side without lies, there is consensus among the right-wing radicals that it is 

okay to lie to people because the ends justify the means. Gingrich further avers that the fire of Leo Strauss‘ 

theoretical construct, which posits that only a select few, could really understand the truth and that it is 

necessary to deceive the public, has not only influenced many radical conservatives in the United States, but 

also caught on with the proponents of abortion agenda. Deceptive and confusing language is being used to 

disguise the abortion-advocacy agenda. 

The realities of governance in contemporary Nigeria suggest that Leo Strauss‘ theoretical construct has 

equally gripped the ruling elite with irresistible fingers of excitement, as they daily perfect the art of using 

imprecise and deceitful language to disguise real policies of government and perpetrate corruption. The grave 

implications of this depraved communication system for governance in Nigeria form the thrust of analysis in 

this paper. 

II. Framework 

Using a language as a primary means of communicating our thoughts is so natural for normal human 

beings that it is often too difficult to realize what in the real sense the functions of language are. Due to their 

diversity, the functions of language might be divided into two categories: micro functions, which refer to 

specific individual uses, and macro functions, which serve more overall aims, (Wisniewski, 2007). The micro 

functions of language range from physiological, phatic, reasoning, identifying, recording, pleasure, to 

communicating. Macro functions, on the other hand, include ideational, interpersonal, poetic, textual, among 

others. The well-known model of the functions of language introduced by the Russian-American linguist, R. 

Jakobson distinguishes six elements, or factors of communication, that are necessary for communication to 

occur: (1) context, (2) addresser (sender), (3) addressee (receiver), (4) contact, (5) common code and (6) 

message. Each factor is the focal point of a relation, or function that operates between the message and the 

factor. The functions are the following, in order: (1) referential, (2) emotive, (3) conative, (4) phatic, (5) 

metalingual, and (6) poetic (Jakobson, R. 1960). When we analyze the functions of language for a given unit 

(such as a word, a text or an image), we specify to which class or type it belongs (e.g., a textual or pictorial 

genre), which functions are present/absent, and the characteristics of the functions, including the hierarchical 

relations and any other relations that may operate between them. Following Jakobson, any act of verbal 

communication is composed of six elements, or factors (the terms of the model): (1) a context (the co-text, that 

is, the other verbal signs in the same message, and the world in which the message takes place), (2) an addresser 

(a sender, or enunciator ), (3) an addressee (a receiver, or enunciatee), (4) a contact between an addresser and 

addressee, (5) a common code and (6) a message. Each factor is the focal point of an oriented relation, or 

function that operates between the message and the factor. This, in turn, yields six functions aforementioned. 

In a proper analysis, it is important to start by determining whether each of the functions of language is 

present or absent. In theory, each factor is necessary to communication, although this does not necessarily mean 

that each function is always present. The assumption is that while one or more – or even all – of the functions of 

language may be absent in short units (such as an isolated sign), lengthy units can activate all of them. Where 

more than one function is present, it becomes possible to establish either: (1) a simple hierarchy, by identifying 

the dominant function and not ranking the other functions, or (2) a complex hierarchy, by specifying the degree 

of presence of some or all of the functions. In terms of establishing the functional hierarchy, various criteria can 


28 | Page


be used. For example, R. Arcand and N. Bourbeau use an intention-based criterion. The dominant function is the 

one that answers the question, 'With what intention was this message transmitted?' …and the secondary 

functions are there to support it. We must distinguish the intention associated with each fragment from the 

overall intention, which is a sentence or series of sentences that corresponds to an intention (Arcand, R. and 

Bourbeau, N. 1995). Since the intention can be hidden, the function that is dominant in terms of overt degree of 

presence may not be dominant in terms of intention. Arcand and Bourbeau also distinguish between direct and 

indirect manifestations of intention, which correlate to the opposition between actual and overt functions. The 

appellative (conative) function is manifested directly in "Go answer the door" and indirectly in "The doorbell 

rang" (which is equivalent to "Go answer the door"), where the overt function is the referential (or informative) 

function. 

In this paper, we shall adopt Arcand and Bourbeau‘s intention-based criterion in establishing the 

functional hierarchy of the verbal communication act being performed by Nigerian political leaders in the 

routine course of walking the tightrope of governance. In essence, it seems pertinent to determine the extent to 

which the overt degree of presence of intention is dominant in terms of message being transmitted. This harks 

back to J. L. Austin‘s felicity condition of sincerity (Austin, J. L. 1962) and Paul Grice‘s maxim of quality, 

which evaluate the truth conditions of message(s) intended in a given set of speech acts (Grice, P. 1975). In this 

regard, our primary aim is to examine the communication system of Nigerian politicians from the intentionbased 

perspective of Arcand and Bourbeau (1995) and determine the extent to which it impacts on the quality of 

governance deriving from a constitutional democratic experiment. 

III. Verbal Carpentry As Language Of Political Corruption 

Corruption is an all-pervading phenomenon in Nigeria. If the ‗Nigerian factor‘ is corruption, the 

primary mode of illegitimate corruption in Nigeria is 419, named after the number in the Nigerian penal code 

that deals with a specific form of fraud (Smith, D. J. 2006). Citing Apter (2005), Smith notes how 419 emerged 

as Nigerians became disillusioned with the state at the same time that the state itself, no longer awash in oil 

money, relied on the politics of illusion to maintain its eroding legitimacy. There is no gainsaying the fact that 

the original 419 scams have continued to flourish and innovate with dizzying sophistications. If anything, the 

scam businesses have increased and diversified as the Internet has democratized unlimited access to the 

technology of 419. But even more significant than the continued practice of 419 scams through e-mail is the fact 

that the traditional meaning of the original 419 scams has undergone rapid semantic extensions to become an 

all-encompassing metaphor in Nigerian discourse for any behavior that relies on dissimulation, illusion, or some 

other manipulation of the truth in order to facilitate illicit gain or undue advantage. In fact, virtually nothing 

illustrates better the Nigerian encapsulation of political corruption than the wide spectrum of activities and 

behaviour of political leaders that are described as 419. In this section, we subject this perverse act of 

criminality to linguistic lie detection device and determine the extent to which 419 – illusion simulation through 

ingenious deployment of deceptive language- is the central strategy. 

Our linguistic lie detection technique derives from Nejolla Korris‘ Scientific Content Analysis 

(SCAN). Korris‘ SCAN is a type of linguistic lie detection device, which relies on a series of reliable tip-offs to 

catch deceivers in the act (Elliot, R. 2007). One such trigger is the subject's emotions. Those telling the truth are 

quite emotive when telling their version of events, and they will use words like stolen, theft, and fraud during 

their testimony. Conversely, liars are emotionally controlled, because they have rehearsed their answers ahead 

of time, and they are likely to use words such as missing, misplaced, and gone. "When it is playing like it's a 

real-time story, it usually is a real-time story, and it is not coming from anywhere in the memory," says Korris. 

Criminals share one trait in common, regardless of their nationality. They think they can fool interrogators with 

clever stories. 

In this paper, we examine the deceptive use of language by political office holders to perpetrate 

corruption and see whether the same trait of deception runs through them. Our analysis may prove us as a 

Nejolla Korris with whom criminals are less likely to succeed in fobbing off with fables if they crossed his 

paths. 

1. Avoidance strategy 

Here, we intend to show how political corruption in Nigeria is perpetrated through avoidance strategy, 

that is, the deliberate use of deceptive words to obfuscate corrupt practices. By using Arcand and Bourbeau‘s 

intention-based criterion to establish the functional hierarchy of such words/phrases as misappropriation, 

misapplication, soft lading, we would, perhaps be predisposed to determining the extent to which the overt 

degree of presence of intention is dominant in terms of the message being transmitted. In essence, the intentionbased 

criterion in concert with Austin‘s (1962) felicity condition of sincerity and Grice‘s maxim of quality 

provides the theoretical basis for evaluating the truth conditions of such words aforementioned. Our working 


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hypothesis is that such words are intended to simulate illusions as a necessary prelude to perpetrating political 

corruption in Nigeria. 

In Nigeria, the use of such words as theft, stealing, embezzlement to instantiate corruption is strictly 

contextualized. As would be evident in the following analysis, the social status of the person(s) involved 

determines whether to characterize such corrupt tendencies either as ‗theft‘, ‗stealing‘ or ‗misappropriation‘, 

‗misapplication‘. Specifically, it does appear that the ordinary common Nigerian ‗steals‘ but the high and the 

mighty, shakers and movers merely ‗misappropriate‘ or ‗misapply‘ public fund. The Zamfara State Sharia legal 

system is clearly illustrative. In January 2000, Sharia law was introduced in Zamfara State by the then 

Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Sani Yerima. Yerima promised that his made-in-Nigeria Sharia would not affect non- 

Muslims, but would ‗purge the system‘ of corruption. Though Yerima‘s version prescribes the loss of limbs and 

pubic flogging for petty thieves he paradoxically and audaciously proclaimed that it was perfectly alright for 

State Commissioners and other government officials to accept bribes provided the work was done. He declared 

that receiving bribe (by government officials) is not stealing. In other words, his made-in-Nigeria version was 

going to be a poor man‘s Sharia (Egbejumi-David, M. 2009). And true to his words, in March 2000, as reported 

in African Confidential Vol. 41 No. 8 (14 April, 2000), a notorious cow thief, Baba Bello Care Garhie Jangedi 

was arrested for stealing a cow. He was prosecuted and convicted by a Sharia court. His right arm was 

consequently amputated in accordance with the provisions of the Sharia legal system. Then, in 2002 when His 

Excellency‘s shoes were stolen from the Government House mosque, Yerima threatened that if and when the 

thief was caught, he would have both his hands and legs cut off. As Egbejumi-Davd further observes, Sharia‘s 

practice ―…has followed a similar dichotomous path: only the poor masses are force-fed a deceitful doctrine 

that does not apply to the rulers, the rich, and their kinds.‖ 

Shortly after the adoption of the Sharia legal system (precisely in June 2000), the Peoples Democratic 

Party (PDP), according to Egbejumi-David (2009), accused Yerima of ―high corruption, misappropriation of 

public funds and squandermania.‖ Former EFCC boss, Mallam Ribadu had once said of Yerima in a BBC 

interview: ―The case of Zamfara is a tragedy – direct stealing – no third party.‖ Now, currently a Senator, 

Egbejumi-David observes that ―Yerima‘s corrupt practices have only been reinforced.‖ Again, Aziken (2006) , 

after months of investigation of the petitions and allegations of corruption against 31 of the state 

governors/governments, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on September 27, 2006, 

handed over to the Senate its findings which established cases of corruption against 15 of the governors 

(Aziken, E. 2006). The EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu described Zamfara State as one of the worst cases facing 

the commission with the Governor of the state, Yerima Sani, fingered as being involved in direct stealing of 

state funds. He described the allegations against the Governor and the counter efforts by Governor Sani as a 

tragedy. Later, (i.e. 28 August 2006), Ribadu‘s EFCC, notes Egbejumi-David, formally dragged Sani Yerima 

and seven other officials before an Abuja Federal High Court on a 36-count charge of money laundering and 

conspiracy. The EFCC charge detailed that the looting was ―gross misappropriation of local government funds, 

award of contract, Ecological funds, Education Trust Fund and illegal bank loans. Perhaps, the original and 

appropriate word- steal- was considered a regrettable gaffe or slip of tongue that needed to be corrected by the 

EFCC. In essence, the former Governor did not steal any money; he was charged with allegations of mere 

misappropriation of public fund. Moreover, the Sharia law only has stealing or theft as a word and not 

misappropriation, which the Islamic law frowns upon as an offence that attracts prosecution and amputation in 

the event of conviction. For having merely misappropriated and not stolen the state‘s fund, the Sharia Governor 

did not commit any crime that would have lumped him together with the likes of Baba Jangedi. Later, Alhaji 

Ahmed Sani Yerima was privileged to occupy the hallowed chambers of the Senate as an horourable Senator of 

the Federal Republic of Nigeria! Egbejumi-David laments that the Governor who had threatened to cut off the 

hands and legs of the shoe thief ―still has his own limbs and beard well intact… Nobody has flogged him; 

instead, his corrupt practices have only been reinforced in the Senate where he is today living large and rubbing 

shoulders with other great guns…‖ 

2. Deceptive Language 

When one uses language that is deceitful, the policies that are proposed are also suspect. In America for 

instance, When the Bush administration decided to sell the war on Iraq as a part of the War on Terror, they 

manufactured weapons of mass destruction, which they gleefully ascribed its patent to Saddam Hussien. They 

created the illusion that the continued existence of a safe America as a sovereign nation is inextricably tied to 

the immediate invasion of Iraq and outright dismantling of Saddam‘s weapons of death. They created a 

nightmare for the national troops and for the ordinary Iraqis who are now living in a chaotic, war-torn country. 

They also created the cesspool of Abu Ghraib where soldiers believing that the prisoners in their power were 

terrorists or had information about terrorists, were given the green light to indulge in torture and sadism because 

terrorists are evil. And just as the Americans will feel and live with the consequences of Bush‘s needless war of 

choice justified with lies for years, as evident in Bush‘s 2007 State of the Union address, (Rudyk, I. 2007), so 


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would Nigerians learn to cope with the avoidable nightmares of political corruption forged on the anvil of makebelieve 

projects couched in populist catchy terms through the instrumentality of verbal carpentry and rendered 

with mellifluous suavity and patrician cadence. 

3. Phony Projects: National Integrated Power Projects 

In his 14 March, 2000 nationwide broadcast on the state of power generation and his government‘s 

agenda for the defunct NEPA, now PHCN, President Obasanjo declared: ―Let me reiterate the essence of the 

covenant implicit in my taking oath of office. My word is my bond. If I tell you I will deliver, by the Grace of 

God, I will use everything within my power not to let you down. And so be it with NEPA.‖ Like his American 

counterpart, who failed woefully to smoke out the much touted weapons of mass destruction from Saddam‘s 

nuclear arsenal, Obasanjo, in an ironic twist, only succeeded in bringing the 4,800 megawatts he inherited in 

1999 down to less than 2,600 megawatts some eight years later, during which he spent $16 billion with little or 

nothing to show for such stupendous expenditure. This is not altogether surprising given that the ultimate 

objective of deceptive language is to dress government policies in borrowed robes. This ugly scenario played 

out very well in the area of power generation during the Obasanjo presidency. Analysts contend that a large 

chunk of all the billions pelted at the power sector between 1999 and 2007 simply developed legs and walked 

into private pockets (Onyemaizu 2008). Also, writing under the caption, ‗A Can of Worms,‘ Abimboye notes 

that on-going investigations into the activities of the federal government in the last nine years have uncovered 

losses of huge sums of money through fake contracts and other illegal transactions (Abimboye, D. 2008). 

A World Bank report in 2005 had estimated that $10bn was needed to ensure that at least 75 per cent 

Nigeria's population had access to electricity. This has meant that the $16bn mismanaged by Obasanjo 

government, if judiciously spent, should have largely mitigated the monumental electricity crisis in Nigeria 

(Adewale, P. 2008). Perhaps, Adewale‘s observation was not a mere wild speculation as Ndudi Elemelu, 

Chairman of the House of Representative Committee that probed the power sector described Obasanjo‘s huge 

expenditure in the power sector as a ‗puzzle‘. In his words, ―the puzzle is not merely that the huge expenditure 

failed to translate to more electric energy, but for the most time, it actually translated to less electric power for 

the people with its attendant consequences.‖ The objective of the investigations into the power puzzle, notes Mr. 

Elumelu, was ―…to unravel the classic mystery in Nigerian development whereby the more you spend on 

power, the less electric power you get.‖ At the close of public hearing, he came up with a summary of the 

submissions, which in itself turned out an enigma wrapped in a mystery. ―From the oral and documentary 

evidence, it has been clearly established that the total expenditure in the power sector during the period was 

about $13.28 billion which is well over $10 billion as reported by Mr. President. Indeed, had the supplementary 

budget of the power sector in 2007 been released/reflected, it could then have been over $16 billion as reported 

by the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives,‖ Mr. Elumelu concluded. 

It seems pertinent to wonder how the former President achieved this monumental feat of monumental 

proportion, on which President Yar‘Adua (now late) first blew the whistle on 18 February, 2008 at the 8 th 

edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja (Abimboye, D. 2008). Of course, the former President 

could not have succeeded in consummating this high-wire political corruption without resorting to verbal 

carpentry. When the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Dr. 

Hamman Tukur, was summoned by the House Committee on Power to testify on the role of his Commission in 

the power projects, he captured Obasanjo‘s seeming obsession with the art of verbal carpentry in the following 

submissions: ―These power projects seem to be classified under three distinct names. When we started raising 

alarm in the commission, it was called Niger Delta Power Holding Company and the first payment was 

$666,000. When we drew the attention of all the governors including the National Assembly, they now changed 

the name to NNPC Joint Venture Operation Gas for NNDC plants. Again, the sum of $213 million was 

withdrawn directly from the Federation Account… ―Under whose authority, we are yet to know, on the 28th of 

December 2005. We again drew the attention of those concerned, all the beneficiaries of the Federation Account 

including the governors, the minister of finance, and all the local governments. We said this should not have 

been withdrawn from the Federation Account. Then the name changed again. It now became National Integrated 

Power Plants.‖ 

A commissioner at the RMAFC, Ambassador Kabiru Rabiu, who addressed the Committee on the 

status of the NIPPs said: ―As ―part of my assignment, I went to Cross River State. I went to see how they 

(NIPPs) were utilising money from the Federation Account. I was directed to visit one of the sites where the 

NIPP projects were being done. I went to visit one of the sites commissioned by President (Olusegun Obasanjo) 

at the time. We almost passed the site because it was over-grown by weeds. There was no access road. There 

was no road there.‖ 

Ordinarily, Obasanjo would have had the undue presidential privilege of hiding behind one finger by 

pointing fingers at the contractors and absolved himself of any complicity to defraud the nation. But he gave 

himself up as an accomplice by commissioning many projects that were either non-existent or uncompleted with 


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pomp and pageantry (Adewale, P. 2008). The Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation 

Commission (RMFAC), Hamman Tukur alluded to this grand executive deception when he disclosed at the 

hearing that a power project commissioned by Obasanjo in Cross River was discovered to be an empty site! 

―We went to some of the sites and there was nothing on the sites; so where was the money going?‖ (Punch 

newspaper, March 21 2008). The House committee itself while on the spot assessment tour discovered an 

uncompleted N9.8bn ($83m) power project that was commissioned in Bayelsa. What is more; the RMFAC 

Chairman further shocked the probe panel members when he disclosed that ―Between 2005 and 2006, $3.974, 

394,143 was withdrawn for power projects, and we were surprised that commissions were paid to the Central 

Bank even after the projects were stopped. To whoever the commissions were paid, we do not know. On 17th of 

May 2007, $2 million was paid as commission charged (by the Central Bank) on Letters of Credit.‖ According 

to the final report of the Elumelu-led Committee Obasanjo‘s government ―…spent the sum of $13.28 billion 

(n1.567 trillion) on the power sector between 1999 and 2007 ‗with unfunded commitments of over $12 billion 

(N1.416 trillion)‘. Put together, the report says Obasanjo wasted over $25.28 billion (N2.983 trillion) without 

making ‗a difference in the country‖ (Adekeye, F. 2008). 

4. Concession Agreements 

If this despicable statecraft, which Adewale describes as political scam artistry was executed with a 

kind of pin-point precision that could earn the undertakers a Nobel Prize, the stakes were raised severally 

notches higher when the Obasanjo administration entered into concession agreements with an Indian outfit, 

Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GIL) in respect of the Ajaokuta Steel Company. The deceptive undertone 

of the concession agreement came to light when President Yar‘Adua approved the revocation of the sale of the 

steel company at a give-away price of $525million to the Indian ruse of a company, Global Infrastructure 

Limited on Wednesday, April 2 2008. The panel had indicted GIL for several breaches of the 10-year 

concession agreements, which included failure to submit a workable time frame and non-payment of 

concessionary fees (Uffot, E. 2008). GIL was also indicted for embarking on the cannibalization and exportation 

of plants and equipment of the company. Later, in a special report, entitled, ‗Ajaokuta: The Steel Rust‘, Uffot 

observes that Ajaokuta Steel was conceived as the bedrock of Nigeria‘s technological transformation but that 

dream appears to have crashed with the looting of vital equipment from the plant. Other nerve-frying discoveries 

by the panel include that the purported Share Sales Purchase Agreement between government and GIL on 

Ajaokuta Steel is technically not in force given that the share transfer to the private sector was never effected. 

Consequently, President Yar‘Adua ordered commencement of criminal proceedings against federal government 

officials indicted by the EFCC and promoters of GIL for asset stripping. 

Also in the long list of political scam artistry, which provides convenient theoretical framework for 

prosecuting political corruption with resounding ‗dividends of democracy‘ in Nigeria are Aviation Intervention 

Fund, Restoration of Abuja Master Plan, Christmas Bonus, Retreat, Soft Landing. The list is endless but we 

shall for the purpose and scope of this paper limit to these. 

5. Aviation Intervention Fund 

According to a newspaper report, (July 1, 2008), the Senate Committee on Aviation commenced public 

hearing on the disbursement and application of the Aviation Intervention Fund as approved by former President 

Obasanjo (Ojeifo, S. 2008). On 30 June, 2008, the two former Ministers of Aviation, were arrested by the EFCC 

after testifying before the Senate Panel on the Aviation Fund for being the two principal actors at the centre of 

the N6.5 billion Safe Tower Projects in four major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. According 

to Ojeifo, ―…their arrests came on the heels of last week‘s arrest of the Head of AVSATEL Communication 

Limited, whose company got the N6.5 billion Safe Tower Project. The contract,‖ continues Ojeifo, ―was 

confirmed to have been inflated by N4.5 billion, going by the global best estimate provided by the Technical 

Consultant to the Senate Committee, Captain Daniel Omole.‖ 

6. Restoration of Abuja Master Plan 

The Restoration of Abuja Master Plan, a pet project, which the former Minister of the FCT, Mallam 

Nasir el-Rufai, pursued with such orchestrated patriotic zeal, came under scrutiny at the public hearing of the 

Senator Abubakar Danso Sodangi-led Committee on the FCT. With the revelations that came out of the National 

Assembly, Adegbamigbe reports that there is no doubt that el-Rufai‘s excreta has hit the ceiling fan, spattering 

dirt all over and keeping the accuser and the accused, his acquaintances, principal - former President Obasanjo – 

and others busy in the attempt to clean up themselves (Adegbamigbe, A. 2008). Testifying at the public hearing, 

the General Manager of Abuja Geographical Information Service, Mr. Ismaila Iro explained that 37,998 plots 

were allocated between 1999 and 2007, while 2,807 were revoked within the period, adding that plots were 

revoked for different reasons, which included overriding public interest, breach of provisions of the master plan, 

encroachment on green areas and refusal to pay for Certificate of Occupancy – C of O. 


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However, one of the scandals that broke out at the Senate Committee public hearing, as Adegbamigbe 

reports was that ―former President and members of his family were allocated choice parcels of land, altogether 

measuring over 1 million square metres in different parts of the FCT.‖ The former Minister of FCT and 

members of his immediate and extended el-Rufai family, continues Adegbamigbe, own 19 parcels of land in 

different choice parts of the FCT. A deluge of submissions made at the public hearing revealed how el-Rufai 

demolished ‗illegal structures‘ and revoked plots under the pretext that either they distorted the FCT master plan 

or that they encroached on the green belt zones only to turn round to re-allocate same to his benefactors, family 

members, friends, and cronies. It was on the strength of this overwhelming evidence that the Senate Panel on 

FCT ordered an immediate revocation of a good number of allocations, particularly those that encroached on the 

green belt zone as well as thousands of allocations he made on his last day in the office as the FCT Minister. 

Also, part of the Report‘s recommendations is that Mr. el-Rufai be banned from holding any public office again 

in Nigeria. 

7. Christmas Bonus and Retreat 

If ‗restoration of Abuja master plan‘ provided the convenient phrase for capturing the pervert linguistic 

ingenuity of perpetrators of political corruption in Nigeria, Christmas bonus and Retreat provided the leeway for 

prosecuting bureaucratic corruption, reported by M. Mumuni & T. Agbaegbu as the ‗The Looting Spree‘ in the 

Federal Ministry of Health. President Yar‘Adua had directed that unspent monies from the 2007 budget 

allocations to all MDAs be returned to the national treasury (Mumuni, M & Agbaegbu, T. 2008). The N400 

million, which was part of the unspent money from the 2007 allocation to the Ministry of health was withdrawn 

and passed as Christmas bonus for the year 2007. The alleged arrowhead of the scam, the ministry‘s Director of 

Administration and supplies, H.B. Oyedepo, shared the money among the Ministers and staff of the ministry 

according to positions and ranks. Beneficiaries of the loot also included the Senate Health Committee, chaired 

by Iyabo Bello-Obasanjo who initially denied ever receiving the N10 million share of the loot. Later, it was 

confirmed the Committee actually received such an amount, but which the Committee argued was for 

sponsoring its members for a ‗retreat‘ in Ghana. 

Perhaps, the choice of Ghana, amidst all the choice resorts in Nigeria and elsewhere, far from being a 

mere chance, was strategic enough, given that ‗Ghana-must-go‘ bags usually provide convenient suitcases for 

carting away money realized from such sleazy deals. Of course, Nigerian parliamentarians are not new to the 

sight of ‗Ghana-must-go‘ bags struggling for space on the floor of the supposedly hallowed chambers of the 

National Assembly. The looting spree led to the sacking of the two Ministers of Health, Professor Adenike 

Grange and Gabriel Aduku and their subsequent prosecution by the EFCC. Also, all the staffers of the Ministry 

that partook of the ‗Christmas bonus‘ were sent on compulsory leave pending the outcome of their prosecution 

by the EFCC. Meanwhile, Iyabo Bello-Obasanjo got arrested after playing hide-and-seek game with the anticorruption 

agency and is currently facing corruption charges in the court. In this advanced case of political cum 

bureaucratic corruption, ‗Christmas bonus‘ and ‗retreat‘ have joined other words and phrases in the lexicon of 

verbal carpentry. 

8. Soft-landing policy 

Soft landing is one of those phrases, which plays very prominent role in lubricating the monstrous 

wheels of political scam artistry in Nigeria. It is a term specifically designed to shield a trusted colleague in the 

art of political corruption from embracing the thorny chest of the law in the event of proven case(s) of 

corruption against him or her. This term is better understood in the context of the N628 million house renovation 

scandal involving the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Olubumi Etteh. In an article 

captioned ‗Nigeria: Etteh Splits Panel‘, C. Ekpunobi reports: ―Strong indications emerged yesterday that some 

members of the House of Representatives probe panel investigating the N628 million contract scam involving 

Speaker, Hon. Patricia Etteh and her deputy, Hon. Babangida Nguroje may have rejected the report of the 

committee slated for submission tomorrow. Concerning the panel's report,‖ Ekpunobi, C. 2007). Ekpunobi 

further notes that it was gathered that the planned minority report followed sharp disagreement over the Hon. 

David Idoko-led committee on critical recommendations of the panel. Quoting his sources, Ekpunobi reports 

that some members of the panel alleged to be working for the forces against the embattled Speaker were said to 

have opposed certain recommendations in the draft report of the panel which they considered a soft landing for 

the Speaker and her deputy. 

When Mrs. Etteh eventually bowed to the pressures asking her to step down, Andrew Aota writes that 

the Report of the Idoko-led committee of the House, did indict all the stakeholders in the contract scam, namely 

the management of the National Assembly, the Speaker and her Deputy as well as the principal officers of the 

House of Representatives, including the minority wing of the Nigerians lower parliament. Later, the Senate 

Majority Whip, Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello and other chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party were 

mandated to broker a last minute peace at the party's headquarters between the Honourable Farouk Lawal-led 


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Integrity Group and others favourably disposed to the embattled speaker (Aota, A 2007). The crux of the 

meeting, according to Aota‘s report, was to provide a soft landing for the former Speaker by appointing a 

Speaker pro-tempore from her group, who would also tow the line of the party in the debate on the Idoko report. 

Although the Integrity Group had their way by easing out Mrs. Etteh, the principle of soft landing for the former 

speaker was strictly adhered to by the PDP hierarchy, perhaps also in the curious spirit of ‗family affair‘. 

Throughout the tenure of the 5 th National Assembly, Mrs. Patricia Etteh sat pretty well in the House of 

Representatives as an ‗honourable‘ member, courtesy of the PDP‘s policy of ‗soft landing‘ for any member of 

the ‗one family‘ indicted for corruption. Of course, Mrs. Etteh was a sole beneficiary of PDP‘s soft landing 

policy. 

One of the PDP chieftains and confidants of Former President Obasanjo, Chief Olabode George, was 

indicted twice by the EFCC for the massive corruption that shook the Nigerian Ports Authority to its very 

foundations when he was the Board Chairman. The EFCC submitted its Reports to the Federal Executive 

Council but nothing came out of it. Before he was later prosecuted, convicted and jailed, Chief George was a 

free man, wielding even more powers in the PDP. Shortly before April 2007 general elections, Saharareporters, 

an Internet-based investigative outfit, claimed it has ―uncovered the existence of the real list submitted by the 

EFCC to the Presidency,‖ but according to their highly reliable source, ―elements within the presidency 

doctored the final list that was released to the media after excluding names of presidential favorites.‖ Today, all 

those people aforementioned as having been indicted one way or the other are unrepentant beneficiaries of 

PDP‘s soft landing policy, which has become a highly favoured option in the Nigeria‘s infamous culture of 

corruption. 

While the power probe lasted, Nigerians were daily treated to a reality show at the public hearing on 

power sector expenditure on how the previous Olusegun Obasanjo government that strutted around as an 

Olympian height of virtue and wisdom had made fortune out of misfortune of the entire nation. But beyond the 

startling revelations that underscored the egregious corruption which characterised the Obasanjo government, 

Peluola Adewale warns that the masses should not expect any fundamental outcome from the public hearing and 

entire power project probe. Of course, Obasanjo is on trial but he considers the entire exercise as a circus show. 

He has not lost sleep, notwithstanding the ignominy the hearing has unleashed on him. Reacting to the probe, he 

boasted, ―God has never disappointed me. I sleep well, exercise well, and eat moderately. I don't allow anything 

to weigh down my mind. I thank God for creating me.‖ (Punch, March 16, 2008). In Adewale‘s opinion, it is not 

God that makes Obasanjo to be so confident but his experience. He knows all the anti-corruption exercises in 

Nigeria are mere show trials or publicity stunts; he organised a number of them himself while in office. The 

National ID card scam, the Ikoyi House scandal, NPA fraud, bribe for budget episode, PTDF, etc are some of 

the features of Obasanjo anti-corruption crusade that, after momentary sensationalism generated in the media, 

were thrown into the dustbin of history. 

9. Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) and Oil Block Allocation 

The concepts of turn around maintenance (TAM) and oil block allocation represent another instance of 

verbal carpentry as language of corruption in Nigeria. Gary Busch, in an article entitled, ‗How Emeka Offor 

ruined the National Refineries,‘ published on the Saharareporters website (20 June 2007), identified the NNPC 

as the engine room of corruption in Nigeria. In his words, ―the root of Nigeria‘s problems can be found at the 

Nigerian National Petroleum Company. This is the most important constraint on Nigeria‘s economy and the 

mother lode of Nigeria‘s corruption.‖ Perhaps, it is this combustion chamber of political corruption that 

underscores the relevance of these twin concepts. According to Busch, ―…In one of his deals, Chrome 

Consortium [owned by Mr. Offor] was paid millions of dollars for the repairs of the old and new Port-Harcourt 

refineries. According to experts in the industry the nation was ripped off to the tune of about $100 million as 

inflated payments in this contract alone… The turnaround maintenance underperformed by Emeka Offor, at 

great expense, has been an unrelieved disaster.‖ 

The suit by Malabu Oil & Gas, seeking US$2.5 billion in the U.S. courts against former President 

Obasanjo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, is clearly illustrative of how such a seemingly harmless 

term as oil block allocation is fast gaining pre-eminence in the lexicon of Nigeria‘s political corruption. 

Revelations at the probe of the House of Representatives‘ Committee on Petroleum, as reported by the 

Newswatch of 14 July 2008, bespeak volumes of how former President Obasanjo presided over a corruptionridden 

oil sector as the de facto minister for eight years. In his report entitled, ‗A Chamber of Scandals‘, Ajaero 

(2008: 14) notes that ―the oil industry under former President Olusegun Obasanjo was a huge chamber of fraud 

and corruption.‖ 


According to Toomey (1999), Liberation psychology teaches us how to use and appreciate the power of 

language with integrity. Integrity is the key word, because without it, the power of language is abused. Integrity, 


34 | Page


or honesty, in self-expression, eliminates deception, manipulation, judgmental accusations, abusive tongue 

lashings, and lying. Our orientation toward this communication system, therefore, must be to preserve its 

integrity by being respectful and honest with the information that gets transmitted through it with the intention 

of understanding it and having intimacy with it. From the foregoing discussions, it is obvious that the overt 

degree of presence of intention of our politicians‘ system of communication is dominant in terms of message 

being transmitted. A critical examination of the truth conditions of the message(s) from the intention-based 

perspective of Arcand and Bourbeau (1995) suggests that political corruption in Nigeria rides on the rollercoaster 

drive of pervert linguistic ingenuity, which we have chosen to refer to in this paper as verbal carpentry. 

With effortless ease, politicians hew out planks of words, chop them up into immediate constituents and glibly 

string them together into catchy phrases, intended to create an illusion of a populist development paradigm but 

which in reality is a corruption-driven enterprise. 

In the light of this festering culture of corruption, prosecuted most often through the ingenious art of 

verbal carpentry, it is only expected that its all-pervading effects on Nigeria as a nation would be everything but 

salutary. In 2006 the then head of Nigeria‘s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, 

estimated that Nigeria lost some US$380 billion to corruption between independence in 1960 and the end of 

military rule in 1999. Nigeria‘s corruption epidemic has continued since then. Exact figures are impossible to 

come by, but some western diplomats estimate that Nigeria lost a minimum average of $4 billion to $8 billion 

per year to corruption over the eight years of the Obasanjo administration. In May 2000, Jack Blum, a partner of 

Lobel Norins and Lamont, experts in transparency and corruption, testifying before the US House of 

Representatives Sub-committee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, revealed that ''From 

independence to the present time, past leaders in Nigeria have either stolen or misappropriated state funds 

estimated at N400 billion ($40 billion) . . . The amount also involved funds received on behalf of the country by 

key government officials as international assistance, loans from international financial institutions, kick backs to 

government officials involved in purchasing and special arrangements for currency conversion. The amount 

includes misappropriated oil revenue emanating from international oil deals between Nigeria and her customers 

abroad. Quoting David Blair of London Telegraph (June 25, 2005), George Ayittey (Distinguished Economist in 

Residence, American University) notes, ''Nigeria's past rulers stole or misused u220 billion ($412 billion). That 

is as much as all the western aid given to Africa in almost four decades. After that mass theft, two thirds of the 

country's 130 million people—one in seven of the total African population—live in abject poverty, a third is 

illiterate and 40 per cent have no safe water supply.‖ On the whole, Ayittey listed inefficiency and waste, budget 

deficit problems, disinvestment, economic contraction and collapse as the major deleterious effects of corruption 

on the Nigerian state. 

In the opinion of this paper, the above chilling statistics on Nigeria‘s corruption profile were mainly 

facilitated by deliberate deceptive use of language. Therefore, one real challenge in our contemporary times is 

reclaiming the right to clear and truthful language. To reclaim our inalienable rights to this kind of information 

predisposes us as Nigerians to make good decisions as a people who live in a real democratic society. The time 

to condemn the bare-faced lies and grand deception, achieved through the instrumentality of verbal carpentry 

and confront head-on the perpetrators of political corruption is now. 

References 

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http://www.exmosis.net/node.Security/AndControl 13 June 2008. 

[2] George Orwell in Ed. 2004 

[3] Gingrich, N. (1996) Language: A key mechanism of control. Newt Gingrich's 1996 GOPAC memo. Information Clearing House 

Retrieved from http://www.informationclearinghouse. info/atricle/13420.html 23 June 2008. 

[4] Wisniewski, K. (2007) Functions of language. Online Publication 

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[6] Arcand, R. and N. Bourbeau (1995), La communication efficace. De l'intention aux moyens d'expression, Anjou (Québec): CEC. 

[7] Austin, J. L. (1962) How to do things with words. Oxford: Claredon Press. 

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Academic Press. 

[9] Smith, D.J. (2006) A culture of corruption: Everyday deception and popular discontent in Nigeria Princeton: Princeton University 

Press 

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2008. 

[11] Egbejumi-David, Michael (2009) So, whatever became of the Sharia man? Posted to the web 11 August 2009. Retrieved from 

http://www.nigerianvillagesquare.com. 14 August 2009. 

[12] Aziken, Emmanuel (2006) Nigerian looting and corruption: EFCC report indicts 15 governors. Vanguard, 28 September. 

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and Culture (23) 68-73 

[14] Onyemaizu, C. (2008) The Obasanjo billions. The Source news magazine Vol. 22, No. 18, 25 February, pp: 15 – 19. 

[15] Abimboye, D. (2008) The $16 Billion Power Controversy. Newswatch Magazine, Vol. 49 No. 9 March 3, 2008, pp: 14 – 24. 

[16] Adewale, P. (2008) Power project looters. Retrieved from htpp://www.socialistworld.net /z/bin/e2f.cg/start? 

url=eng/2008/04/18nigerira.html 25September 2008. 


35 | Page


[17] Punch Newspapers 21 March, 2008. 

[18] Adekeye, F. (2008) The verdict and the power. Tell magazine No. 19, 21 July, pp: 20 – 25. 

[19] Uffot, E. (2008) Ajaokuta : The steel rust. Newswatch news magazine Vol. 47, No. 20, 19 May, pp: 22 – 25. 

[20] Ojeifo, S. (2008) Aviation Fund: EFCC Arrests Borishade, Fani-Kayode. ThisDay newspaper, Vol. 13, No. 4819, Tuesday 1 July, 

pp: 1, 6. 

[21] Adegbamigbe, A. (2008) Probing El-Rufai. TheNEWS magazine Vol. 30, N0. 16, 28 April, pp: 20 – 25. 

[22] Mumuni, M. & Agbaegbu, T. (2008) The looting spree. Newswatch magazine Vol. 47, No. 13, pp: 18 – 23. 

[23] Ekpunobi, C. (2007) Nigeria: Etteh Splits Probe Panel. Daily Champion Online Posted to the web 25 September, 2007. Retrieved 

from http://www.champion-newspaper.com/ 27 June 2008 

[24] Aota, A. (2007) Nigeria: Etteh‘s Resignation – The intrigues, the issues. Leadership Posted to the web 2 November, 2007. 

Retrieved from http://www.allafrica.com/stories/200711020226.html 20 September 2008. 

[25] Punch newspaper March 16, 2008. 

[26] Busch, G. K. (2007) How Emeka Offor ruined the National Refineries Saharareporters Posted to the web on Wednesday 20th June, 

2007 1:35:29 pm. Retrieved from http://www.saharareporters.com/www/interview/detail/? 26 June 2008. 

[27] Ajaero, C. (2008) A chamber of scandals. Newswatch magazine Vol. 48, No. 3, 14 July, pp: 14 – 21. 

[28] Toomey, M. (1999) The power of language. Retrieved from http://www.mtoomey.com/index.html 28 June 2008. 

[29] Ayittey, G. (2006) Prepared Document of George B. N. Ayittey, Ph.D. Retrieved from 

http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa27648.000/hfa27648_0htm#FNI#FNI 27 September 2008. 

[30] Ribadu, N (2006) Prepared Statement of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, Executive Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, 

Federal Republic of Nigeria Retrieved on http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa27648.000/hfa27648_0htm.htm#63#63 

27 September 2008 

[31] Nigeria‘s Struggle with Corruption. Haring Before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations 

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Retrieved from http://www.house.gov/international—relations 27 September 2008. 


36 | Page




Pattern of Crop Diversification and Disparities in Agriculture: A 

Case Study of Dibrugarh District, Assam (India). 

Beejata Das¹, Nitashree Mili² 

Centre for Studies in Geography, Dibrugarh University, India. 

Abstract: The progress of human civilization mainly depends on agriculture. In the rural areas particularly in 

India, for sustainable income and employment, people seems to be very much dependent on the degree of 

diversification of landuse towards cultivating various types of crops. Crop diversification refers to the raising of 

varieties of crops in a given area in a crop season. To achieve agricultural sustainability there must be crop 

diversification. The economy of Dibrugarh District of Assam located in the North Eastern corner of India, is 

mainly agrarian as most of the population are engaged in agriculture. But due to lack infrastructure and others, 

the agricultural sustainability in the study area is hindered. So to achieve agricultural sustainability, Dibrugarh 

district should go for crop diversification. In this context the present paper tries to study pattern of crop 

diversification and find out the nature of change in cropping pattern during the period lying between 1999-2000 

and 2009-10 in Dibrugarh district. It also tries to find out the nature and magnitude of disparity in agriculture 

in the study area .The varying natural, socio-economic and cultural environments in Dibrugarh exercise a 

critical and differential effect on the adoption of modern farm technology which has resulted to disparity in 

agriculture. 

Key words: crop diversification, cropping pattern, disparities, sustainability, dibrugarh. 

I. Introduction: 

Traditionally, Agriculture was practiced in rudimentary way that leads to degrading consequences. 

Now, impact of modernization brings the situation in the best practices for proper utilization, resisting soil 

erosion, retarding soil depletion and enhancing good production which will ultimately led to agricultural 

sustainability. The progress of human civilization mainly depends on agriculture. The most necessary thing in 

man’s life is food which is derived through agriculture. The quality and the culture of the man are the 

dominating role in the utilization of natural resources in different environmental conditions. The present study is 

carried out in the dibrugarh district of Assam which consist of larger proportion of land (3381sq km) and by far 

the larger proportion of its population are engaged primarily in agriculture. But the district is characterized by a 

slow growth in agriculture because of adverse environmental consequences like flood and drought, no scope for 

area expansion and limited technological breakthrough. Environmental factors like terrain, rainfall and soil 

create disparity in agriculture in the seven circles of the district which hinders the agricultural development of 

the area. So, there is an urgent need for crop diversification in the study area not only to overcome the adverse 

environmental consequences but also to provide a boost to agricultural production. 

1.2: OBJECTIVES: 

To study the pattern of crop diversification and find out the nature of change in cropping pattern during the 

period lying between 1999-2000 and 2009-10 in Dibrugarh district. 

To find out the nature and magnitude of disparity in agriculture in the study area. 

1.3: METHODOLOGY: 

The study is based on secondary data of the seven circles of Dibrugarh district collected from the office 

of ‘Directorate of Economics and Statistics’, Dibrugarh. The variation in agricultural activity can be investigated 

by adopting some suitable statistical techquines. To get final investigation of crop diversification, Gibb’s and 

Martin Index of crop diversification is used. The formula read as follows: 

Where, x= percentage of total cropped area occupied by each individual crop in hectares. 

The value of indices has been classified into four groups ranging from High, Medium, Low and Very Low 

diversified crops. 


37 | Page

Pattern Of Crop Diversification And Disparities In Agriculture: A Case Study Of Dibrugarh District, 

Disparities in agriculture are analyzed by two varieties like – 

a) Proportion of net area sown, and 

b) Cropping intensity. 

Crop Intensity (CI) is calculated by the expression 

The extent of disparity is to be identified with the Co-efficient of Variation (CV). 

1.4:THE STUDY AREA: 

Dibrugarh district is located between 27 0 53 / 8 // N to 27 0 42 / 30 // N latitude and 94 0 33 / 46 // E to 95 0 29 / 8 // E 

longitude. It is bounded by Districts of Dhemaji on the north, Tinsukia on the east, Tirap of Arunachal Pradesh 

on the south-east, Sivasagar on the south and Lakhimpur on the south-west (Map 1). The district covers a 

geographical area of 3381 sq. km. 

II. Findings: 

In the study area largest proportion of land is put to agricultural purpose. The physiography, climatic 

conditions and soils are very conducive for growing crops like rice, wheat, tea, maize, fruits and vegetables. 

Table 1 shows the percentage share of crop hectarage in seven circles of the district. 

Source: Calculated by author. 

From the table it is clear that cultivation of food grain and tea occupies the largest share of crop 

hectarage. In Dibrugarh the agricultural practice, is by and large, tradition-bound. The present status of farm 

implements, fertilizer and irrigation water used, methods of crop production and harvesting, storage adopted 

clearly indicate that there is yet a long way to modernize the district’s farming system. This has led to degrading 

consequences such as reduction per capita cultivable land, low yield per capita cultivable land, erosion, soil 

degradation, etc. So, Dibrugarh should go for diversification of crops with views to provide a boost to 

agricultural production and to achieve agricultural sustainability. 

2.1:CROP DIVERSIFICATION PATTERN: 

Crop diversification refers to the raising of varieties of crops in a given area in a crop season. The more 

is the number of crop grown in an area, the higher is the crop diversification. 

Table 3: Crop Diversification Index (Gibb’s-Martin Method) 

Sl. no Range of category Category Crop Diversification Index Variation 

(Area under categories in percent) 

1999-2000 2009-10 

1 Above 0.65 High 62.9 16.43 -46.5 

2 0.55 – 0.65 Medium 37.04 70.84 +33.8 

3 0.45 – 0.55 Low 00.00 12.7 +12.7 

4 Below 0.45 Very Low 00.00 00.00 00.00 

Source: Calculated by author. 


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The above table provides category wise explanation of changing pattern of crop diversification for the 

year 1999-2000 and 2009-2010 based on Gibb’s and Martin Method. A perusal of Table 3 reveals that in the 

study area the crop diversification is not a favourable trend. The high category of crop diversification of above 

65 percent occupies a large area with 62.9 percent of the total cropped area in 1999-2000 covering four circles 

namely Dibrugarh West, Moran, Tengakhat and Naharkatiya but in 2009-2010 there was marked decrease as the 

area reduced to only 16.43 percent covering only the Naharkatiya Circle. In the medium category the value of 

index is significantly increased by 33.8 percent in 2009-2010 covering Dibrugarh West, Chabua, Tingkhong, 

Moran and Tengakhat. The value of index of the lower category of 12.7 percent is also found to have increased 

in 2009-2010 which was nil in 1999-2000. The Very Low category of crop diversification was not recorded in 

both the periods. 

The fall in the index value of 46.5 percent in the high category from 1999-2000 to 2009-10 is due to 

frequent floods; tradition bound agricultural practice and sedentary cultivation 

2.2: DISPARITIES IN AGRICULTURE IN DIBRUGARH DISTRICT: 

The varying natural, socio-economic and cultural environments in Dibrugarh exercise a critical and 

differential effect on the adoption of modern farm technology which has resulted to disparity in agriculture. This 

disparity should be reduced to the minimum to achieve overall development. Table 3 shows the extent and 

nature of agricultural disparities in Dibrugarh for the period 2009-10 

The nature and extent of disparities in agriculture can be measured in respect of, 

I. Proportion of net area sown indicating the nature of land utilization, and 

II. Intensification of crops, indicating cropping pattern. 

Table 4:Co-efficient Variation of Agricultural Variables 

Indices Standard Deviation Mean Co-efficient of Variation 

Percentage of Net Area Sown 1.67 14.3 11.68 

Cropping Intensity 8.81 132.1 6.67 

source: Calculated by author. 

I) Net Area Sown: 

Dibrugarh represents the tapering end of Brahmaputra valley and can be divided into three 

physiographic zones namely the active flood-plains and char lands, middle plains and southern foothills. The 

first two regions are alluvial and fertile while the third zone is composed mostly of lateritic soil. Net Sown Area 

is predominantly identified by various nature of land utilization depending upon the physiographic features. 

Therefore, the disparity is not that acute in agriculture. The co-efficient of variation of proportion of net sown 

area and cropping intensity have been computed which are as low as 11.68 and 6.67 respectively proves that the 

disparity is moderate in nature. 

Table 5:Index of Net Sown Area 

Types Percentage of Net Sown Area Circles 

High >15.5 Tingkhong, Tengakhat 

Medium 11.5-15.5 Dibrugarh East, Dibrugarh West, 

Moran, Naharkatiya 

Low


Table 6:Index of Crop Intensity 

Types Percentage of Intensity Circles 

High >140 Chabua 

Medium 130-140 Dibrugarh East, Moran, 

Naharkatiya 

Low 140 percent) is prevalent in Chabua which is due to the 

presence of alluvial soil as it provides extra physical quality. Dibrugarh East, Moran and Naharkatiya falls under 

moderate intensity of cropping (130-140 percent) whereas Dibrugarh West, Tengakhat and Tingkhong falls 

under low intensity of cropping (




Àbèsàbèsì Orthography: A Proposal 

Taiwo Opeyemi Agoyi 

Department of Linguistics and Languages Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba- Akoko Ondo State, Nigeria 

Abstract: This paper proposes orthography for Àbèsàbèsì a language known as Akpes in Literature with 

ethnographic identity ibe. Agoyi 2008 proposed the name Àbèsàbèsì formed from the root morpheme Àbèsì ‘we’ 

because it is the only identity accepted by all the nine communities that speak variant of the language. All 

speakers of the language are aware of the endangered status of the language hence the need to have a writing 

system that will be used in writing literature in the language for teaching and documenting the language. In line 

with Nigeria National Policy on Education 2004section 4 subsection 19e states that the medium of instruction 

in the primary school shall be the language of the environment for the first three years. During this period, 

English shall be thought as a subject. To be able to implement this policy there is the need to propose 

orthography for the languages to assist speakers of minority languages who feel the need to safe their languages 

from death. Since the speakers are familiar with the Yoruba orthography, this paper proposes graphemes that 

are close to the Yoruba graphemes. The orthography is based mostly on a co-language orthography principle. 

The proposed graphemes ware tested with literate speakers of the language. In all 37 graphemes are proposed 

for the consonants, vowels and tone phonemes the various dialects attest. 

This research is sponsored by Àbèsàbèsì Language Development committee. 

Key Words: Àbèsàbèsì multi-dialectal orthography, consonants, vowels, Nasalized vowels, tone, word, 


Thames and Hudson (2007:8) say that….a person who can read and write has greater opportunities for 

fulfillment than one who is illiterate’. Orthography represents wisdom and thought. It puts agreements law, 

commandments etc on record. It facilitates the growth of a state and people. There is power in the coded word. 

‘The commandment of a priest or king and his seal could go far beyond his sight and voice and could survive his 

death. The urgent for immortality has always been the first importance to writers’ writing can predict the future. 

Orthography serves the useful purpose of preserving the language. An endangered language that is reduced to 

writing for the few interested speakers helps in rekindling speakers’ interest in the language. A good 

orthography helps to preserve the proto- language. 

We share Gary Simons (2011)’s view that ‘language variation limits communication’ He explains that 

dialectal variation may be so great as to prevent speakers of two dialects of the same language from 

understanding one another. To him many of the limits to communication can be overcome in written 

communication. A unified orthography encourages different pronunciations of the same word. Each reader 

assigns his own pronunciation to the written symbols. In proposing an orthography for Àbèsàbèsì, we take into 

cognizance Simons’ principles of Multidialectal orthography which is always designed to be used by many 

dialects. 

Àbèsàbèsì ( known as Akpes in Literature and identified as ibe in Ethnography) is spoken in nine 

communities in Akoko division of Ondo State Nigeria. The communities are Ìyànì, Ìbaràmù, Gèdègédé, (these 

three communities are Ìluẹnì) Àsẹ Ìkáràmù (Èkiròmì), Àkùnnù, Ìlúdọtun, (Akpes) Dája and Èṣ ùkù (Ọṣ ùgù). 

In proposing Àbèsàbèsì orthography we will adopt the phonemic principle which states that graphemes should 

be assigned to all significant sounds. Speakers are already familiar with most of the grapheme proposed. Thus 

the Yoruba orthography as well as availability of graphemes on computer key board serves as a reference point 

in the choice. 

II. Àbèsàbèsì Phonemes 

Àbèsàbèsì attests 22 consonant, seven oral vowels, five nasalized vowels and three level tones phonemes. 

III. Consonants 

The 22 consonants phonemes Àbèsàbèsì attests are presented on a chart thus: Consonant Chart 

Bilabial Labiod Alveolar Postalve Palatal Velar Labiov Glottal 

ental 

olar 

elar 

Plosives p b t d k g kp gb 

Nasals n ɲ ŋ 

Fricatives m f s ʃ h 


41 | Page


Affricates ʧ ʤ 

Roll 

r 

Lateral 

l 

Approximants j w 

The sounds should be written thus: 

Table 1 

Phonetic Phonemic Orthography 

[b] 

[bae] ‘come’ [badi] ‘beat’ 

/b/ 

/bae/ ‘come’ /badi/ ‘beat’ 

b 

bae ‘come’ badi ‘beat’ 

[b w ] 

[ẹ b w i] ‘goat’ 

/ b w / 

/ẹ b w i/ ‘goat’ 

bu 

ẹbui ‘goat’ 

[p] 

/p/ 

p 

[ìpɔ̀mpɔ̀m] ‘thigh’ 

/ìpɔ̀mpɔ̀m/ ‘thigh’ 

ìpɔ̀mpɔ̀m ‘thigh’ 

[d] 

/d/ 

d 

[dò]‘want’ [dàgì] ‘vomit’ /dò/ ‘want’ /dàgì/ ‘vomit’ dò ‘want’ dàgì ‘vomit’ 

[t] 

[t] 

t 

[ta] ‘build’ [te] ‘exist’ ‘ [ta] ‘build’ [te] ‘exist’ 

ta ‘build’ te ‘exist’ 

[ʤ] 

/ʤ/ 

j 

[ʤòmì]‘swear’[ʤe] ‘eat’ /ʤòmì/ ‘swear’/ʤe/ ‘eat’ jòmì ‘swear’ je ‘eat’ 

[k] 

/k/ 

k 

[ko] ‘sing’ [kàyì] ‘count’ /ko/ ‘sing’ /kàyì/ ‘count’ 

ko ‘sing’ kàyì ‘count’ 

[k w ] 

/k w / 

ku 

[ik w i] ‘penknife’ 

/ik w i/ ‘penknife’ 

ikui ‘penknife’ 

[g] 

/g/ 

g 

[ga] ‘enough’ [gùmù] ‘to /ga/ ‘enough’ /gùmù/ ‘to cover ga ‘enough’ gùmù ‘to cover 

cover hole’ 

hole’ 

hole’ 

[kp] 

/kp/ 

kp 

[kpasi] ‘hear’ [kpani] ‘to /kpasi/ ‘hear’ /kpani/ ‘to k kpasi ‘hear’ kpani ‘to 

decive/trick’ 



[gb] 

[gb] 

gb 

[gbòmì] ‘to heat’ [gba] ‘give’ [gbòmì] ‘to heat’ [gba] ‘give’ gbòmì ‘to heat’ gba ‘give’ 

[f] [foi] to uproot’ [fù] ‘to [f] [foi] to uproot’ [fù] ‘to cook’ f foi to uproot’ fù ‘to cook’ 

cook’ 

[s] sà ‘know’ sagi ‘call’ /s/ /sà/ ‘know’ /sagi/ ‘call’ s sà ‘know’ sagi ‘call’ 

[∫] 

/∫/ 

ṣ 

[∫o] ‘weep’ [∫uù] ‘run’ /∫o/ ‘weep’ /∫uù/ ‘run’ 

ṣ o ‘weep’ ṣ uù ‘run’ 

[ʧ] 

/ʧ/ 

tṣ 

[ʧai] ‘small’ [ʧoò] ‘lead the /ʧai/ ‘small’ /ʧoò/ ‘lead the way’ tṣ ai ‘small’ tşoò ‘lead the way’ 

way’ 

tṣ ẹrẹ na ‘mend me’ 

[ʧ w ] 

[ìʧ w ì] ‘a type of beans cake’ 

/ʧ w / 

/ìʧ w ì/ ‘a type of beans cake’ 

tṣ u 

ìtṣ ùì ‘a type of beans cake’ 

[h] 

[hoi] ‘ripe’ [honò] ‘hard’ 

[h w ] 

[ih w i] ‘urine’ 

[m] 

[mi] ‘do’ [muà] ‘full’[imi] 

‘pregnancy’ 

[n] 

[nù] ‘go’ [nani] ‘wash 

(plates)’ [ono] ‘a type of seed’ 

[ɲ ] 

[ɲ umì] ‘sweat’ [oɲ o] ‘wife’ 

[iɲ i] ‘water’ 

[ŋ] 

[íniŋi] ‘four’ 

/h/ 

/hoi/ ‘ripe’ /honò/ ‘hard’ 

/h w / 

/ih w i/ ‘urine’ 

/m/ 

/mi/ ‘do’ /muà/ ‘full’/imi/ 


/n/ 

/nù/ ‘go’ /nani/ ‘wash (plates)’ 

/ono/ ‘a type of seed’ 

/ɲ / 

/ɲ umì/ ‘sweat’ /oɲ o/ ‘wife’ /iɲ i/ 

‘water’ 

[ŋ] 

/íniŋi/ ‘four’ 


h 

hoi ‘ripe’ honò ‘hard’ 

hu 

ihui ‘urine 

m 

mi ‘do’ muà ‘full’ imi 


n 

nù ‘go’ nani ‘wash (plates)’ ono 

‘a type of seed’ 

ny 

nyumì ‘ sweat’ onyo ‘wife’ inyi 

‘water’ 

ng 

íningi ‘four’ 

42 | Page

[y] 

[iyi] ‘day’ [yo] ‘dance’ 

[w] 

[wo] ‘resemble’ [wosi] ‘carry’ 

[l] 

[lo] ‘weave’ [logi] ‘help’ 

[r] 

[erikisi] ‘a type of ant’ 

[okpòro] ‘pilar’ 

[y] 

[iyi] ‘day’ [yo] ‘dance’ 

/w/ 

/wo/ ‘resemble’ /wosi/ ‘carry’ 

/l/ 

/lo/ ‘weave’ /logi/ ‘help’ 

/r/ 

/erikisi/ ‘a type of ant’ /okpòro/ 

‘pilar’ 


y 

iyi ‘day’ yo ‘dance’ 

w 

wo ‘resemble’ wosi ‘carry’ 

l 

lo ‘weave’ logi ‘help’ 

r 

erikisi ‘a type of ant’ okpòro 

‘pilar’ 

All the 22 consonants phonemes Àbèsàbèsì attests are represented. Since speakers are familiar with 

‘ṣ ’ used to represent ‘∫’, I suggest ‘tṣ ’ should represent ‘ʧ . 

The choice of ‘tṣ ’ is based on the principle of familiarity. The intended user of the orthography are 

familiar with Yoruba orthography uses ‘ṣ ’ to represent ‘∫’ for the voiceless alveolar plosive quality is introduce 

grapheme to make it sound similar to the phonetic palato- alveolar fricative. The above suggestion is informed 

by the fact that it is easy for beginner class understand things that look alike. The teacher needs to guide the 

pupils to take note of the differences in ‘s’ ’ṣ ’ and ‘tṣ ’ as graphemes. Furthermore, I propose the nasal quality 

in ‘ɲ ’ and ‘ŋ’ should be represented by writing the grapheme for alveolar nasal ’n’ to precede ‘y’ and ‘g’ 

respectively which results in the realization of ‘ny’ and ‘ng,’ the grapheme are in agreement with Schroeder 

2010:7-8 suggestion for similar phonemes in Bantu Orthography. The above suggestions make the orthography 

as close as possible to the Yoruba Orthography which learners are already familiar. It also makes the 

orthography close to languages that attests similar graphemes as Suggested in Schroeder 2010. 

3. Vowels 

(i) Oral Vowels 

Oral Vowels: Graphemes for the 7 Àbèsàbèsì oral vowels are shown on table 2 below. 

The vowels should be represented as: Table 2 

Phonetic Representation Phonemic Representation Orthographic Representation 

[i] 

[imi] ‘pregnancy’ [iyi] ‘day’ 

/i/ 

/imi/ ‘pregnancy’ iyi/ ‘day’ 

i 

imi ‘pregnancy’ iyi ‘day’ 

[e] 

[ehu] ‘rat’ [hu] ‘dry’ 

/e/ 

ehu ‘rat’ /hu/ ‘dry’ 

e 

ehu ‘rat’ hu ‘dry’ 

[o] 

[oyo] dance (noun) [ko] ‘sing’ 

/o/ 

/oyo/ dance (noun) /ko/ ‘sing’ 

o 

oyo dance (noun) ko ‘sing’ 

[ε] 

sεmὲ ‘greet’ [ε] ‘it’ 

/ε/ 

/sεmὲ/ ‘greet’ /έ/ ‘it’ 

ẹ 

sẹmẹ̀ ‘greet’ ẹ́ ‘it’ 

[a] [sà] ‘know’ [bà] ‘come’ /a/ /sà/ ‘know’ /bà/ ‘come’ a sà ‘know’ bà ‘come’ 

[ɔ] 

/ɔ/ 

ọ 

[ɔbɔ] ‘hand’ [lɔ] ‘throw’ 

/ɔbɔ/ ‘hand’ /lɔ/ ‘throw’ 

ọbọ ‘hand’ lọ ‘throw’ 

[u] 

[ku] ‘fall’ [hu] ‘die’ 

[u] 

[ku] ‘fall’ [hu] ‘die’ 

u 

ku ‘fall’ hu ‘die’ 

Literate speakers, young and old, are familiar with all the graphemes propose on table 2 because of their 

exposure to Yoruba Literature. Therefore we do not envisage any problem in learning and teaching them. 

(ii) Nasalized Vowels 

The five nasalized vowels are: 

ĩ 

ԑ ̃ 

ɔ ̃ 

ũ 

ã 

The vowels occur in words as represented on table 3 thus; 


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Table 3 

Phonetic Representation Phonemic Representation Orthographic Representation 

[ĩ] 

/ĩ/ 

in 

[ekĩ̀] ‘one’ [ìʧĩ̀] ‘domestic //ekĩ̀/ ‘one’ /ìʧĩ̀/ ‘domestic ekìn ‘one’ ì tṣ ìn ‘domestic 

animals’ 

animals’ 

animals’ 

[ε̃] 

/ε̃/ 

ẹn 

[ὲdεǹ] ‘that’ [ìgbε̃] ‘when’ ὲdεǹ ‘that’ /ìgbε̃̀/ ‘when’ ẹ̀dẹǹ ‘that’ ìgbẹǹ ‘when’ 

[ã] 

/ã/ 

an 

[hãsi] ‘peel (yam)’ [kpã] /hãsi/ ‘peel (yam)’ /kpã/ hansi ‘peel (yam)’ kpan 

‘deceive’ 

‘deceive’ 

‘deceive’ 

[ɔ̃] 

/ɔ̃/ 

ọn 

họn ‘cultivate’ họnsi ‘dry’ 

[hɔ̃] ‘cultivate’ [hɔ̃si] ‘dry’ [hɔ̃/ ‘cultivate’ /hɔ̃si/ ‘dry’ 

[ũ] 

/ũ/ 

[ɔ∫ũ] ‘hill’ 

/ɔ∫ũ/ ‘hill’ 

All Àbèsàbèsì vowel phonemes are represented in table 3. 

un 

ọṣ un ‘hill’ 

Long Vowels 

Àbèsàbèsì attests both long and short vowels. Graphemes are already proposed for the short vowels on tables 2 

and 3. The long vowels will be represented by double grapheme for the shorter vowels that share similar 

phonetic features. Examples of such vowels are: 

[i:] /i/ ii [uu] /uu/ uu 

[ee] /ee/ ii [oo] /oo/ oo 

ԑԑ /ԑ ԑ/ ẹẹ [ɔ ɔ] /ɔ ɔ/ ọọ 

[aa] /aa/ aa 

The vowels can be found in lexical items like: 

ìkpẹdùmẹẹ ‘guinea warm’ 

ehii ‘word/matter’ 

èhee ‘,like this’ 

èree ‘like that’ 

ìkẹdẹẹgbẹẹ ‘lice’ 

ínyàádo ‘a type of grass hopper’ 

àjaà ‘pot’ 

ọọ ‘you second person singular’ 

ayoò ‘eye/face’ 

ítìróò ‘eye lace’ 

ṣ uù ‘run’ 

4. Tone 

Tones are super-segmental phonemes that indicate the pitch of an utterance in a tonal language. 

The three level tones Àbèsàbèsì attests should be represented thus: 

Low Tone [ ̀ ] / ̀ ] ̀ ̀àkàdà ‘vagina’ ẹ̀ dẹ̀ dẹ̀ ‘penis’ òtùlà ‘refuse dung’ 

High Tone [ ́ ] / ́ / ́ ‘áye ‘mother’ ọmúdẹ ‘mortal’ 

Mid Tone [ ̄ ] / ̄ / not indicated ẹbui ‘goat’ ebo ‘dog’ 

oyo ‘dance noun’ onyo ‘wife’ 

5. Spelling of Words 

Àbèsàbèsì: Words should be spelt as pronounced. 

Each (meaningful unit) morpheme should be separated by word spacing. All the three significant tones should 

be appropriately reflected on the word. Examples are: 

ajaà ‘pot’ àdáà ‘hoe’ atọ ‘land/ground’ adomi ‘moon’ igbadomi ‘sky’ 

ọni ‘person’ ọbọ ‘hand’ ṣ o ‘weep ’ṣ ongi ‘turn’ iṣ umi ‘head’ ṣ erè ‘roam about’ 

etşì ‘market’ ẹtşa ‘evil’ ọşìşẹgì ‘perforated pot/local sieve’ ẹnami ‘meat’ 

ẹnamà ‘bird’ ẹgẹ ‘door’ ẹtẹngi ‘fish’ ẹşẹgì ‘suffering’ 

ímonyì ‘melon’ ọmìnyà ‘knife’ aṣ ongi mortal ọkurẹ ‘cane noun’ ọjọjọ cake made from water 

yam’ ọyẹyẹ ‘a type of beans’ òtílí ‘type of beans’ 

ẹkpukpangi ‘a type of shrub’ ikpado ‘groundnut’ ikpari ‘children’ àkpàngì ‘chin’ ipọmpọm laps 

ọmudẹ ‘pistol’ 


44 | Page


Idaja Igèdègédé Èkiròmì Asẹ Ìyànì Ìbaràmù Àkpes 

The lexical items above are proposed taking into account the production of the lexis in isolation and in a string 

morphemic boundary of lexical items in a string will be indicated with word spacing. 

For instance an individual from Èkiròmì going to Gègèdédé will say to the neighbour: 

n á dasÌgèdègédé 

n á dasi Ìgèdègédé 

I ASP go Ìgèdègédé 

I am going to Ìgègèdédé 

ọhunẹ òkúlebàgòrì ‘type of a tree’ 

tree pre-uproot-dog-bottom 

‘obeshe’ 

‘òkúlebagori ‘ is a word form from the combination of four morphemes: 

ọ- kulè- ebo- àgòrì 

pre up-root dog -bottom 

In the first example two morphemes are contracted in the speech of an Èkiròmì speaker. They are: dasi 

‘go’ and Ìgèdègédé ‘name of a community of Abèsàbèsì speakers’. Thus we propose the separation of each 

morpheme in structures that attest combination of more than one morpheme. 

The universal punctuation principles that govern the use of question mark ?, comma , semi colon; colon : and 

compound words will be adopted as appropriate in the orthography. 

References 

[1] Ahumibe, Chiedozie (2002) Orthography of Ìlu ẹnì: A proposal. Undergraduate Long Essay, Department of Linguistics and African 

Languages University of Ibadan, Nigeria. 

[2] Arohunmolase L. O., Agoyi T. O etal (2006) The Orthography of IIgau and Iyinno UNESCO: (Lekoba Publishers Ondo). 

[3] Arohunmolase L. O., Agoyi T. O etal (2006) A Brief Linguistic Description of IIgau and Iyinno, the Outline of the Social and 

Historical Situation of the Language and their Communities UNESCO: (Lekoba Publishers Ondo). 

[4] Arohunmolase L. O, Agoyi T. O etal (2006) IIgau Alphabetical Word Lists and Vocabulary Items UNESCO: (Lekoba Publishers 

Ondo). 

[5] Arohunmolase L. O., Agoyi T. O etal (2006) Iyinno Alphabetical Word Lists and Vocabulary Items UNESCO: (Lekoba Publishers 

Ondo). 

[6] Arohunmolase L. O., Agoyi T. O etal (2006) IIgau I bi Yonun (1) UNESCO: (Lekoba Publishers Ondo). 

[7] Arohunmolase L. O., Agoyi T. O etal (2006) Iyinno Winnigin (1) UNESCO: (Lekoba Publishers Ondo). 

[8] Arohunmolase L. O., Agoyi T. O etal (2006) Teaching Mannual: A Handbook Giving Instruction On How To Speak, Read, Teach 

Learn IIgau and Iyinno UNESCO: (Lekoba Publishers Ondo). 

[9] Bamgbose A 1974 Yoruba Orthography UPL Ibadan Friesen Dianne 2001Proposed Segmental Orthography of Mokolo BPP 

129Yaoundé Republique Du Cameroun www.google.com search 5/8/2011 

[10] Giwa Olabode Biola Not indecated 500 Iyani Dialects with English and Yoruba Translations 

[11] Koffi N Ettien Language Planning & Orthography Design www.google.com search 4/8/2011 

[12] Robbinson, Andrew 2007 The Story of Writing Alphabets, Hieroglyphs & Pictography Thames & Hudson New York, USA. 

[13] Schroeder Leila Bantu Orthography Manual SIL International (2010) 

[14] Stark P. Janie 2010 Kambari Orthography SIL International 2010 

[15] Simions Gary Principles of Multidialectal Orthography www.google.com search 4/8/2011 


45 | Page




The Impact of Corporate Governance and Leadership on 

Entrepreneurship Development in Nigeria 

1 Atoyebi Kehinde .O., 2 Adekunjo Felix .O., 3 Kadiri kayode .I., 

4 Ogundeji Musibau .O., 5 Falana Adedamola .A. 

1,2,3,4,5 

Dept. Of Economics. Lagos State University, Ojo. 

Abstract: The study empirically examined the impact of leadership and corporate governance in Nigeria. The 

paper gather information through structured questionnaire and this was analysed through simple percentage, 

table for tabular analysis, and the spearman’s rank correlation coefficient for the testing of formulated 

hypothesis. The results revealed that effective leadership and good corporate governance determines the 

success of organisation. In the analysis, we found out that corporate governance policy has really helped 

Nigerian entrepreneur to grow financially. Based on our findings, effective leadership and good corporate 

governance was a solution to global financial crises, organisation problems and the right policy that enhances 

increased productivity and economic growth in Nigeria. 

Key words: Corporate Governance, leadership, entrepreneur, productivity. 


All enterprise and organizations, both profit and profile conduct their business through involvement 

and respect for those work in them, achieve superior results, Cadbury (1996) posited that leadership is the 

creation of vision about a defined future state, which seeks to enmesh all membership of an organizational 

setting, the effect which is relevant to the attainment of the organization goals. 

Cooperate governance on its own is defined as an at, fact and manner of controlling, ruling and directing the 

public affairs of city, country e.t.c Enabunene (2005) defines it is the exercise of political power to move a 

nation‟s affair forward. 

Considering the modern business environment, corporate govern an has biome a priority objective for 

emergent economics from Latin American to China and the world at large. 

Recently, there has been considerable practices of modern corporations, particularly since the high profile 

collage of large US firms such as Enron Corporation and worldcom. 

In Nigeria likewise, big firms which seems to be doing well such as Commercial Banks, Forum 

Limited, Universal Trust Bank Limited, Savannah Bank Limited and others, suddenly collapse due to array of 

problems ranging from ineffective leadership and corporate governance coupled with poor and instable 

economic environment. 

There are other problems associated with this issues and they are: 

Unethical behaviour on the side of the leaders, lack of cooperation among the operators of the 

organization, poor quality leadership styles in directing their affairs of the organization, territorial conflicts, i.e 

the extension of duties and responsibilities beyond one is jurisdiction which an lead to disagreement between the 

shareholders and the managers and a list more. 

In the light of this background, the study will however adds to the existing literature by re-examine the impact 

of leadership and corporate governance on entrepreneurship development in Nigeria and also to take a cursory 

look at other factors affecting growth and entrepreneurship development in Nigeria. Also, analysing the 

relevance of ethnics in the business environment in Nigeria. 

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 

The focus of this study is however on the impact of leadership and corporate governance on 

entrepreneurship development with reference to Zenith Bank Plc and Bank of Industry. The right of individual 

owners and shareholders, managers and their subordinates, has become a debatable issues globally, hence the 

need for effective leadership and corporate governance in the business environment especially Zenith Bank Plc 

and Bank of Industry to enhance efficiency. Other purpose of this research work is to: 

Take a look at the other factors affecting the growth and development of entrepreneurship in Nigeria; 

Analyze the significance of ethics in the business environment (organization); Know the extent at which 

leadership and corporate governance has helped small and medium scale enterprises to combat organizational 

conflicts; Examine the impact of leadership and corporate governance on entrepreneurship development; Take a 


46 | Page

The Impact Of Corporate Governance And Leadership On Entrepreneurship Development In Nigeria 

look at the relationship between leadership corporate governance and entrepreneurship development; Examine 

the contributions of entrepreneurship development to the growth and development of Nigerian economy. 

1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

To achieve direct result, this research work will attempt to ask the following questions. 

Is there any relationship between leadership, corporate governance and entrepreneurship development? 

Does the success of business organization depend largely on the quality of leadership and corporate governance? 

Is selfish interest of the chief executive officers one of the factors affecting corporate governance in an 

organization? 

Can an unethical behavior of the leaders hinder the smooth running of an organization? 

Can ineffective leadership and poor corporate governance pose negative effect on entrepreneurship growth and 

development? 

Does good leadership structure in business organizations enhances the achievement of superior results? 

Can effective leadership and corporate governance create the rights climate for effective production and work 

satisfaction? 

Do leadership corporate governance has positive impact entrepreneurship development? 

Has entrepreneurship development contributed to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy? 

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESES 

Osuala (2005) describes hypotheses as conjectural statement of the relationship between two or more 

variables. Therefore, the hypotheses formulated for this research work are shown below where (Ho) represents 

Null Hypothesis while (Hi) denotes Alterative Hypothesis. 

Ho: Organizational success or otherwise does not depend largely on the quality of leadership and corporate 

governance. 

Hi: Organizational success or otherwise depends largely on the quality of leadership and corporate 

governance. 

Ho: There exist no significant relationship between leadership, corporate governance and entrepreneurship 

development. 

Hi There exist a significant relationship between leadership, corporate governance and entrepreneurship 

development. 

Ho: Ineffective leadership and poor corporate governance do not affect entrepreneurship development. 

Hi: Ineffective leadership and poor corporate governance affect entrepreneurship development. 

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY (JUSTIFICATION) 

On this note, the study is justified based on the fact that leadership and corporate governance are 

needed in the banking industry for its development and so as affect positively entrepreneurship development. 

Since effective leadership and corporate governance structure determines the achievement, success and progress 

an organization can attain, this research work is very important to the banking industry, including Zenith Bank 

Plc, and entrepreneurs as it will help them to manage their enterprises to attain greater height. Also, this study 

will help the leaders to see the need to imbibe ethical behavior and inculcate it into their subordinates which will 

in no small measure help in combating unethical behavior in the organization and the society at large. 

The rest of the study is organized as follows: section 2 reviews the existing literature and theoretical framework. 

Section 3 presents the data and the analysis of the results. The last section gives the summary, conclusion and 

recommendations 

II. Literature Review And Theoretical Framework 

The impacts of leadership and corporate governance on entrepreneurship development in Nigeria and 

the world at large can not be overemphasized. To have a better understanding about the above assertion, it is 

necessary to define and explain in details the following terms: leadership, corporate governance, and 

entrepreneurship development. 

All enterprises and organizations, both profits and non-profits which conduct their business through 

involvement and respect for those who work in them, achieve superior results. Gannon (1977) states that 

without effective leadership, it is difficult for an organization to function effectively. Leaders or manager define 

the goals the organization pursues; they develop the planning and control systems that guide and monitor the 

organization's destiny; they construct an organizational structure appropriate for the tasks undertaken; and they 

motivate their subordinates to complete these tasks. 

Cadbury (1996) assert that leadership is the creation of a vision about a defined future state, which 

seeks to enmesh all members of an organization in its net. He stated further that, a leader is one who designs and 


47 | Page


implement by way of instructing the subordinates, enthusiastically, motivating, encouraging and guiding them 

towards the achievement of the enterprises goals and objectives. 

Colley, Doyle, Logan & Stettinius (2004) posit that, leadership is a social influence in an 

organizational setting, the effect of which is relevant to or has an impact upon the achievement of organizational 

goals. 

Lawal (1993) sees leadership as the process of influencing others to work willingly towards an 

organizations goal with confidence and keenness. 

Effective leadership as earlier mentioned is a key factor in the life and success of an organization. 

Obviously, there are many factors involved in successful leadership. Many are difficult to measure, some are 

even hard to identify. In developing a profile of leadership, it is important to remember that simply being in 

managerial position does not make a person a leader. What assumptions does the manager make about the 

behavior of his/her subordinates? What is the relationship between assumptions and the types of power a 

manager may use? Here, the profile of leadership considers the idea that being a leader is not a single role but a 

group of important roles that managers play in the life of an organization. 

Gannon (1977) in the work of Weber (1949), states that, in the past, a manager was automatically 

thought to be a leader. The manager did not need any formal training whatsoever in the area of leadership for it 

was assumed that subordinate automatically followed his orders. He states further that, a leader possesses power 

by virtue of his position, and power is the ability to give commands that must be accepted. 

Gradually, the importance of leadership was recognized, because subordinates frequently disobeyed the 

commands of superior. As put forward by Mullins (2005) from the work of Barnard (1930) gives new definition 

of leadership as the ability of a superior to influence the behaviour of subordinates and persuade them to follow 

a particular course of action. Currently, managers view leadership no longer as a right of office but rather, as a 

skill that can and must be learned in order to motivate subordinates to be productive. 

Corporate as a concept, is an adjective that is shared by all in a group. As such, it is a group and not 

just an individual. Entrepreneurial organization that is managed by just one individual cannot be properly 

described as being corporate, it must have a group of individuals heading the enterprise to be tagged corporate 

(Ogundele, 2007). 

Governance is considered as that organ of small or big organization or even the larger society, which is 

charged with the responsibility for controlling resources, of all types, within the spheres of its influences, and 

also having power of rulership over the human and material resources, of the organization or community 

(Ogundele, Alaka and Balogun, 2005). 

Omonzejie (2005) considers governance as an act, fact, and manner of controlling, ruling and directing 

the public affairs of a city, country, etc. He notes further that, governance as a process or the art of governing is 

a body vested with the power and authority to maintain security, peace and stability by making and enforcing 

conventional and fundamental law in a given state or society. 

Enabunene (2005) postulates that governance connotes the manner in which government governs the 

territory and people it juristically control. That is, governance is the exercise of political power to move a 

nation's affairs which encompasses all the state's institutional and structural arrangements, decision-making 

process, and implementation capacity, and relationship between government official and the public. He notes 

that governance, therefore, consists of a nation's system of politics and its interconnection of public 

administration and law. 

According to Keasey, Thompson & Wright, (2005) corporate governance, is a term that scarcely 

existed before the 1990s, now universally in vogue wherever business and finance are discussed. The subject 

has spawned consultancies, academic degrees, encyclopedias, innumerable articles, conferences and speeches. 

Almost all the OECD Nations are currently revising their corporate governance or have recently done so while, 

the establishment of a viable corporate governance system has become a priority objective for emergent 

economics from Latin American to China. In the midst of so much interest, the underlying issues of the subject 

are always in danger of being swamped. Moreover, since good governance, like `fair trade' and `free 

competition' is an abstraction that commands near-universal respect but diverse interpretation; it has also 

become the destination board for a bandwagon carrying those who would, in fact, take the corporation in myriad 

directions. 

They further argued that, not merely does the term corporate governance carry different interpretations, 

its analysis also involves diverse constrained by legal, regulatory, financial, economic, social, psychological and 

political mechanism which are themselves sometimes substitutes and sometimes complements. Academic 

researchers, predominantly coming from a single subject background will typically explore the operation of 

merely a subset of these and then in the context of the priorities of their own discipline. This inevitably means 

that research on the subject becomes Balkanized and less accessible. 

Olayiwola (2010) states that corporate governance as a concept may be viewed at least from two 

perspectives - the narrow and the broad perspectives. The narrow view is concerned with the structure within a 


48 | Page


corporate entity or enterprise receives its basic orientation and direction. The narrow view perceives corporate 

governance in terms of issues relating to shareholder protection, management control and the popular principleagency 

problems of economic theory. 

However, Oman (2001) observe that broader approach to corporate governance is the method by which 

suppliers of finance control managers in order to ensure that their capital cannot be expropriated and that they 

earn a return on their investment. 

There is a consensus, however that the broader view of corporate governance should be adopted in the 

case of banking institutions because of the peculiar contractual form of banking which demands that corporate 

governance mechanisms for banks should encapsulate depositors as well as shareholders. Oyejide and Soyibo 

(2001) joined the consensus by depositor, by arguing that the special nature of banking requires not only a 

broader view of corporate governance, but also government intervention in order to restrain the behaviour of 

bank management. They further argued that, the unique nature of the banking firm, whether in the developed or 

developing world requires that a broad view of corporate governance, which encapsulates both shareholders and 

depositors, be adopted for banks. They posit that, in particular, the nature of the banking firm is such that 

regulation is necessary to protect depositors as well as the overall financial system. 

According to Soyibo, Olayiwola, & Alayande, (2002), in the Nigerian financial sector, poor corporate 

governance is identified as one of the major factor sin virtually all known instances of a financial institution's 

distress in the country. Thereafter the consolidation of the banking industry, however, necessitated a review of 

the existing code of the Nigerian banks. The 2006 Code of Corporate Governance for Banks in Nigeria Post 

Consolidation was developed to compliment other policies and enhance their effectiveness for the Nigerian 

banking industry. Compliance with the provisions of this code is mandatory. However the recent Global 

Financial Crisis, Asia Crisis and the bitter experience of banks distress and failure, suggest that Nigeria needs to 

take stock of its corporate governance. 

Oyejide and Soyibo (2001) define corporate governance as the relationship of the enterprise to 

shareholders or in the wider sense as the relationship of the enterprise to society as a whole. 

Ogundele, (2007) defined corporate governance as the system that relates to the patterns of 

arrangement within private organizations or companies, which vested individuals or groups with power and 

authority to control the affairs of an enterprise. 

Dess and Lumpkin (2002) define corporate government as the relationship among various participants 

in determining the direction and performance of corporations. They noted that, the primary participants are – 

shareholders, the managing headed by Chief Executive Office (CEO), and the board of directors. 

Confederation of India Industry (CII) (1997) states that corporate governance deals with laws, procedures, 

practices, and implicit rules and determine a company‟s ability to take managerial decisions vis-à-vis its 

claimant- particularly, its shareholders, creditors, the state and employees. 

They suggested that corporate governance be made more effective through shareholders activism, 

effective managerial rewards and incentive and committed and involved board of directors. 

The concept of entrepreneur has a wide range of meanings. Entrepreneur is an individual who successfully 

thinks or conceives of a new business concern, organizes or initiate actions to start it, and manages it through its 

initial problems and struggles for survival. (Ogundele, 2000 and 2005). 

Therefore, small and medium scale enterprises (entrepreneurs) in Nigeria need a good corporate 

governance to control and direct their day to day activities. Amit, Glosten and Muller (1993) define 

entrepreneur as individual who innovates, identifies and creates business opportunities, assembles and 

coordinates new combinations of resources, and extracting the most profit from his innovation in uncertain 

environment. 

Entrepreneurship is an aspect of the concept entrepreneur. For this reason, Ogundele (2007) describes 

entrepreneurship as the processes of emergence, behaviour and performance of entrepreneurs. He notes that a 

focus on entrepreneur is a focus on the individual organization created while entrepreneurship is a focus on the 

processes involved in the initiation of a new organization, the behaviour of such organization and its 

performance in terms of profit made. Entrepreneurship therefore refers to the activities of individual 

entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial groups at all the three phrases of emergence, behaviour and performance 

of entrepreneurs. 

Hill and McGowan (1999) sees entrepreneurship as a process which involves the effort of an individual 

(or individuals) in identifying viable business opportunities in an environment, obtaining and managing the 

resources needed to exploit those opportunities. 

Schumpeter (1934) an Australian economist found that the single function which constitute 

entrepreneurship concept is innovation such as new products, new production method, new market and new 

forms of organization. Wealth is created when such innovation 'results in new demand. However, in today's 

knowledge driven world, individual entrepreneurial skills have ceased to be the important determinants of 

business success but, organizational characteristics have assumed for greater importance on collaborative effort 


49 | Page


of networked individuals to identify and exploit business opportunities, to introduce new goods and services, 

ways of organizing markets, processes and new raw materials through organizing market efforts that previously 

not existed (Akanni, 2010). 

Dollinger (2001) views entrepreneurship as a process which involves the creation of an innovative 

economic organization for the purpose of gain or growth under condition of risk and uncertainty. 

Entrepreneurship plays a major role in the economic development of countries that have developed 

entrepreneurial culture. For: instance, Price (2001) pointed out that, the secrete behind the successful economic 

growth and development of an enterprising nation like the United State of America is its ability to imbibe 

entrepreneurial culture. That is, ability to see entrepreneurs as a set of individual(s) that creates new business 

that brings about new job opportunities. He stressed further that; entrepreneurs create two out of three jobs and 

twice innovative as large companies in the USA. 

In summary, the quality of leadership and corporate governance determines the success or otherwise of 

an enterprise or organization, especially small scale entrepreneur (Colley et al, 2004). 

An organization may be likened to a vehicle, and every vehicle needs a good driver, if an organization is like a 

vehicle, then it has to be driven by a safety conscious pilot, a visionary and truly committed leader. A leader 

practices leadership through vision, character, mission and value, and is purposefully directed at predetermined 

collective goal. Leadership relies on due diligence, total quality management, efficiency, effectiveness and 

responsive followership (Anuku & Achienu, 2011). 

There are two major types of leadership styles-task-oriented and people-oriented types. The peopleoriented 

style is politically directed while task-oriented type is management and results in organizational 

effectiveness which is measured through performance and result. The function of leadership therefore, is to 

induce or persuade all subordinates or followers to contribute willingly to organizations goals in accordance 

with maximum capability. 

According to Gannon (1977), without effective leadership, it is difficult for air organization to function 

effectively. Anuku & Achienu (2001) states that effective leadership represents the quality of response to the 

environmental factors of time, culture, personalities, community, needs and products, and a harmonization of 

these environmental factors in an interplay to derive equilibrium in their operations. Adding that, such interplay 

of factors against circumstances and products enhances organizational effectiveness and performance. Here 

effectiveness consists of accountability, performance and achievement beyond the predermined objectives. 

Anuku and Achienu (2001) describes corporate governance as the ability of the leader to effectively manage an 

organization in terms of accountability, transparency, excellent performance, achieving beyond the predermined 

objectives of the organization, quick response to environmental factors, identifying problems and proffered 

immediate solutions to the problems. 

However, banking industry and small medium scale entrepreneurs, need effective leadership which is 

the ability of a superior to influence the behaviour of subordinates and persuade them to follow a particular 

course of action so as to achieve organizational goals likewise corporate governance which is all about the 

manner in which corporations are directed and controlled by an effective leadership are most required. (Mullins, 

2005 and Wilson, 2006). 

According to Wilson (2006), the clear lesson Enron, Parmalat, WorldCom, Barings Bank etc, taught 

the corporate world is that no company (or bank) is too big (financially or otherwise) to fall. That is, irrespective 

of the financial standard or capability of an organization be it bank or an entrepreneur, without an effective 

leadership and good corporate governance system will go bankruptcy. Therefore, effective leadership and good 

corporate governance are an essential ingredients to the success of every organization. 

III. Theories Or Approaches To Leadership 

Due to its complex and variable nature, there are many alternative ways of analysing leadership. It is 

helpful, therefore to have some framework in which different approaches to theories of leadership should be 

considered. These approaches or theories are mentioned and analyzed below. 

The qualities or traits approach; The functional or group approach, including action-centred leadership; 

Leadership as a behavioural category; Styles of leadership; The situational approach and contingency models; 

Transitional or transformation leadership; and Inspirational model 

3.1.1 FUNCTIONAL (OR GROUP) APPROACH 

This approach to leadership focuses attention not on the personality of the leader, but on the functions 

of leadership. It views leadership in terms of how the leader's behaviour affects, and is affected by, the groups of 

followers. This approach concentrates on the nature of the group, the followers or subordinates. That is, the 

content of leadership. Attention is given to the successful training of leader and the means of improving the 

leader's performance that will lead to effective subordinates (work group) performance. 


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The functional approach believes that the skills of leadership can be learnt; developed and perfected. In 

contrast to traits approach, Kotter (1990) states that successful companies do not wait for leaders to come along 

but, they seek out people with leadership potential and expose them to career experiences (training) designed to 

develop that potential. Indeed with careful selection, nurturing and encouragement, dozens of people can play 

important leadership roles in a business organization. Similarly, Whitehead (2002) pointed out that there has. 

been a dramatic change in how management thinkers regard leadership today. Leaders are not born, they say, 

but made. The good news is that everyone can do it, one does not need to be promoted to a management position 

or be the boss before becoming a leader, but can be a leader in whatever you do. 

However, the contribution of Adair (1970) to functional approach is on "action centered leadership" 

which focuses on what leaders actually do. The effectiveness of the leader is dependent upon meeting three 

areas of need, within the group work: the need to achieve common task, the need for team maintenance, and the 

individual need of groups members. 

These needs are symbolized by three overlapping circle. 

Fig 2.1 Interaction of needs within the group 

3.1.2 LEADERSHIP AS A BEHAVIOURAL CATEGORY 

This approach draws attention to the kinds of behaviour of people in leadership situations. One of the 

most extensive research studies on behavioural categories of leadership was the Ohio state leadership studies 

undertaken by the Bureau of Business Research at Ohio state university. The focus was on the effects of 

leadership styles on group performance, that is, it is to determine the relationship between effective leader 

behaviour and subordinates' satisfaction and performance. The result shows that effective leaders exhibit 

different behaviour in different situations. The two major dimensions of behaviour are: 

Consideration reflects the extent to which the leader establishes trust, Mutual respect and rapour with 

the group and shows concern, warmth, support and consideration for subordinates. This dimension is associated 

with two-way communication, participation and the human relations approach to leadership. 

Initiating structure reflects the extent to which the leader defines and structures group interactions towards 

attainment of formal goals and organizes group activities. This dimension is associated with efforts to achieve 

organizational goals. 

Further research conducted shows that while both are necessary for effective leadership, it is more 

important for a leader to know how to use strike a balance between the two. That is identifying the appropriate 

combination for particular situation rather than exhibiting a high degree of both at all times. 

Other leadership theories, approaches or studies under behavioural category are Michigan studies and Blake and 

Mouton Management grid. 

Fig 2.4 Path-goal theory of leadership 


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(Source: Mullins, L.J., Organizational Behaviour, Pearson Education (2005) P.30) 

Leadership behaviour is determined by two main situational factors such as the personal characteristics of 

subordinates; and the nature of the task as shown in fig 2.5 above, are demonstrated, below 

The personal characteristics of subordinates determine how they will react to the manager's behaviour 

and the extent to which they see such behaviour as an immediate or potential source of need satisfaction. 

The nature of the task relates to the extents that it is routine and structured, or non-routine and unstructured. 

For instance, when a task is highly structured, the goals readily apparent and subordinates are confident, then 

attempts to further explain the job or to give directions are likely to be viewed as unacceptable behaviour. On 

the other hand, when the task is highly instructured, the nature of the goals is not clear and the subordinates lack 

experience, then a more directive style of leadership behaviour is likely to be welcomed by subordinates. 

Therefore, effective leadership behaviour is based on both the willingness of manager to help subordinates and 

the needs of subordinates for help. Leadership behaviour will be motivation to the extent that it provides 

necessary direction, guidance, and support; helps clarify path-goals relationships and removes any obstacles 

which hinders attainment of goals (Mullins, 2005). 

3.2 GLOBAL CONCERN FOR ETHICAL CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 

The issue of ethic in corporate governance has received global attention in recent times. Kamzi (2003) 

notes that globally, there has been concern the biased and sometimes outright unethical practices adopted by 

held companies. In United Kingdom, the Cadbury committee went into various aspect of financial matters 

related to governance of companies by its boards. The reports prepared by the committee have generated a lot of 

interest worldwide (Kamzi, 2003). 

Dess and Lumpkin (2002) notes that if corporate America succeeds in re-making governance, one of 

the greatest ironies will be that we have Enron to thank for it. This was due to the fact that unquestioning faith 

which Enron's board placed on the company's management was revealed to be a colossal blunder. Faith in other 

once-revered executives also began to falter. As a result, Enron, and corporate disasters that followed forced 

many companies to get serious about governance. 

In Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria PLC, is the Enron of our environment. Madueke (2007) reports that 

Cadbury had been overstating its profits for so many years. A close examination of its books revealed that it 

indulged in that unwholesome practice for quite sometime, and as a result, overstated its profits to the tune of 

N15 billion. Cadbury had made, profit in the past but in this particular case was a lie and that was what made it 

all wrong. The company directors lied to the owners of the company, the share holders, those who regulate 

corporation; Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Federal Government 

and relevant agencies; the suppliers, employees and the general pubic that they made profit when they did not. 

The unethical behaviour of the board of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, will continue to be one of the most abiding 

corporate sleaze of such magnitude. (Madueke, 2007). He notes further that it was not in isolated case, that 

falsification of annual reports has been an insider practice in corporate Nigeria for ages. 

3.2.1 GLOBAL ISSUES IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 

According to Fitzroy and Herbert (2006) each country has its own distinct type of corporate 

governance reflecting its history as well as its legal, regulatory, and tax regimes. But all over the world there are 

concerns with inadequate governance arrangements. Switzerland has had problems with Swissair and UBS, 

Swedon with ABB, Korea with Daewoo, Germany with Kirch, France with Vivendi, Italy with Parmalat, and, of 

course, the United States with Enron and World Com. As a result, countries are re-examining the way 

companies are managed. Germany has had a committee *Under the chairmanship of Gerhard Cromme, the head 

of Thyssenkrupp; France Verniot Report; and the United Kingdom Hampel Committee in 1998; the U.S 

congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, attempting to improve the governance of American Corporations. 

Flaws in the way in which companies are managed have focused attention on corporate governance and 

the role of boards of directors. At the same time, globalization-with the adoption free-market system and the 

removal of trade barriers, together with technological advances in communication and transportation has led to 

higher levels of competitive intensity in both product and capital markets. As a consequence investors, both 

institutional and individual, have recognized that the quality of corporate governance affects the firm's 

competitive performance and hence its ability to attract investment capital. Fitzroy and Herbert (2006) states 

that there is a growing recognition in all countries that the expectations of shareholders have to be met when the 

firm relies on the financial markets for debt and equity. At the same time, boards of directors need to give 

consideration to the needs of other stakeholders such as customers, employees, suppliers, creditor and the 

community. 


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3.3 LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN 

NIGERIA 

In Nigeria, as in most developed countries, observance of the principles of corporate governance has 

been secured through a combination of voluntary and mandatory mechanism. In 2003, the Atedo Peterside 

Committee (APC) set up by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), develop a Code of Best Practice for 

Public Companies in Nigeria. The code is voluntary and is designed to entrench good business practices and 

standards for boards and directors, CEOs, auditors, etc., of listed companies, including banks. 

Mandatory corporate governance provisions relating to banks are contained Companies and Allied 

Mattes Act (LAMA) 1990, the Banks and other financial Institution Act (BOFIA) 1991, the investments and 

Securities Act 1999, the Securities and Exchange Commission Act (SECA) 1988 and its accompanying Rules 

and Regulation), etc. and only recently the CBN issue' a Code of Conduct for Directors or Licensed Banks and 

Financial Institutions issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and a Code of Corporate Governance for Banks in 

Nigeria Post consolidation 2006. Compliance with the provisions of these codes is compulsory. 

It is a credit to Nigeria that these extant laws and codes (which place responsibility for regulating 

corporate governance on the CAC, SEC and CBN reflect some of the OECD and Basel principle. The key 

highlights of the SEC and CBN codes include: 

Separating the roles of the CEO and the board chairman; Prescription of non-executive and executive 

directors on the board; Improving the quality and performance of board membership; Introducing merit as 

criteria to hold top management positions; Introducing transparency, due process and disclosure requirements; 

Transparency on financial and non-financial reporting; 

Protection of Shareholder rights and privileges; and Defining the composition, role and duties of the audit 

committee etc. 

3.4 PRACTICE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA 

Following the leadership of Ricardo (2000) and as documented by Oyejide and Soyinbo (2001), 

reviewed the different provisions of legislation governance corporate governance in the Nigerian banking 

industry from three perspectives: disclosures and transparency; minority and shareholders rights; and oversight 

management. 

3.4.1 Disclosure and Transparency Issues 

In the section, we review the various laws governing the practice of corporate governance in the 

Nigerian banking industry are reviewed. These are: 

Financial Performance: The basic company law is the Companies and Allied Matters Decree (CAMD) 

of 1990. It provides that the directors of every company shall prepare financial year. The financial statements 

must include, among others, the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts; the source and application of funds, 

giving information about the generation and utilization of funds; the value added statement reporting the wealth 

created by the company during the year; and the live year summary which provides comparative inter-temporal 

performance information. The financial statement must be laid before the share holders at the Annual General 

Meeting (AGM). These statements must reach the shareholder, who must decide whether to approve or reject 

the financial statements, at least 21 days before the AGM. The CAMD also provides for the annual preparation 

of the Directors' Report which should shareholders a fair view of the developments of the business of the 

company; its principal activities during the year and any significant change in those activities. 

Auditing Matters/ Required Accounting and Auditing Standards: The Company Law specifies that all 

companies must appoint at its AGM, auditor or auditors to audit the financial statements of the company and 

hold office until the next AGM. In case where no auditors are appointed or statement of the company and hold 

office until the next AGM. In cases where no auditors are appointed or re-appointed, the law empowers the 

directors to appoint a person to fill the vacancy. It also provides for the procedure for reappointing any retiring 

auditor without a resolution being passed at the AGM. To ensure the independence of the auditor, CAMD 

prohibits any officer or servant of the company from being an auditor, neither can who is a partner or is in the 

employment of any officer of the company, nor is any person or firm that offers consultancy services to it. 

Additionally, for a bank, no person who has any interest in the bank other than as a depositor or who is indebted 

to the bank; no firm in which a director of the bank has interest as director or as a partner shall be an auditor. 

The BOFID also requires that any auditor appointed by any bank must be approved by the Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN). The auditor is expected to form an opinion as to whether the company kept proper accounting 

records and proper returns relevant for the audit have been received the branches not visited. The auditor will 

also tell whether the company's balance sheet and profit and loss account are in agreement with the accounting 

records and returns. 


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Requirements for Equity Ownership Disclosure: The law requires that each company must keep a register of 

members/ shareholders where the shares held bar each holder is recorded as well as the amount paid or agreed to 

be paid. Whenever shares are sold they must also be recorded in the register. For a Plc, in addition to the 

register, the law also requires that unless the register is in s-ach a form that it constitutes in itself an index, the 

company shall keep an index of the names of the members of the company. In the case when any alteration is 

made in the register of members, the company must within 14 make any necessary alteration in the index. The 

index is expected to have sufficient information to enable the account of any member to be easily located. The 

register or index shall be open for inspection during office hours expect when the register of members is closed, 

subject to such restriction that the company in general meeting may impose and such that not less than 2 hours 

in each day shall be allowed for inspection. 

Disclosure on Sundry Issues and Items: An important issue in corporate governance relates to the 

requirements of the company law in relation to disclosure on identity, compensation, background of directors 

and senior managers and of the relationship between directors and senior managers, as well as disclosure of 

related party transactions. As stated earlier any change in ownership interest and values must also be updated 

and be made known to all shareholders who have a right to ask for a copy of the register, or any part thereof, 

albeit, at a fee. The company law requires that the identity of directors, the size of their shareholding and their 

remuneration be in the public domain and thus be known and available to all shareholders. Accordingly, the law 

requires that a register of all members of the company including its index, where appropriate, be maintained in 

its registered office. In addition, parts V and VI of Schedule 3 of CAMD specify that the compensation of 

directors and number of employees remunerated at higher rates be made public. Besides, as mentioned earlier, 

disclosures on transactions and agreements on loans, quasi loans and other dealings in favour of directors and 

"connected persons” mandatory under the law. 

3.4.3 Oversight Management. In carrying out her duties, the management oversees the following. 

Mechanism and Structures for Prudent Management of Shareholders' Asset 

There are many rules and regulations for ensuring that management of companies act in the interest of 

investors and of the firms. Among these are the shareholders' meeting which have supervisory functions over the 

companies; the requirements that financial accounts of companies be certified by external auditors; the different 

returns the companies are expected to send to regulatory agencies like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) 

which registers all reported companies; the SEC which registers all shares of quoted Plcs; the Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) which have regulatory and supervisory mandates 

for licensed banks and other financial institutions like finance houses and community banks, the National 

Insurance Commission of Nigeria (NAICOM), which has regulatory mandate over insurance companies. 

Shareholders can use their meetings to express and exercise their collective will as a corporate body. It is these 

meetings that all shareholders get to express their opinions about the way the company is run and make 

suggestions about how the company operations can be improved. In these meetings shareholders have the right 

to speak and vote on resolutions concerning the affairs of the company. In Nigeria, the CAMB provides for two 

main types of meetings: Statutory and General Meetings. 

The use of external auditors to examine the books of companies is a way of exercising oversight 

management. 

Section 357 of CAMD provides that all companies must appoint a qualified person as external auditors who 

must make a report to the all members of the company on all accounts they examined, and on every balance 

sheet and profit and loss account and on all group financial statement copies, which are to be laid before the 

company at AGM during the tenure of the auditor. Besides, Section 29 of BOFID prescribes that auditors of 

licensed banks must be approved by CBN. This is another way of exercising oversight management of banks. In 

particular, Subsection 5 of the same section provides that every auditor shall have a right of access, at all times, 

to the books, accounts and vouchers of the bank and shall be entitled to require from directors, managers, 

officers of the bank such information and explanation that he thinks for the performance of his duty. 

Additionally, Subsection 6 requires that two of the auditor's report and that of the directors together with the 

auditor‟s analysis of bad and doubtful advances in a prescribed form be forwarded to the CBN. 

Mechanism for Effective Oversight of the Audit Function 

The Audit Committee for Public Limited Companies, elected annually at the AGM, provides some 

measure of oversight for the audit function. However, its effectiveness is an empirical question. The 

membership is equally distributed between the Board of Directors and other shareholders subject to a maximum 

of six. Among the functions of the Committee which are germane to oversight of the audit functions are: 

review of the scope and planning of the audit requirements; review of the findings on management 

matters in conjunction with the external auditor and the internal responses thereon; keeping under review the 


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effectiveness of the company's system of accounting and internal control; making recommendations to the 

Board regarding the removal and remuneration of external auditors; and authorizing the internal auditor to carry 

out investigation into any activities of the company which may be of interest or concern to it. 

Liabilities and Sanctions for Directors who Fail to Perform 

The AGM with its power to appoint and remove directors as well as approve their remuneration is 

expected to act as check on the performance of directors. Accordingly directors will endeavour to bring to the 

AGM results that will win the approval and commendation of shareholders. Besides, certain sections of the 

company law prescribe penalties for erring directors and officers of the company. For example, Section 348 of 

CAMD prescribes the penalty for each director of any company that lays a faulty financial statement before any 

meeting of shareholders. If the company is in liquidation, for example, Section prescribes the offences that can 

be committed by officers of the company antecedent to or in the course of winding up. Section 503 prescribes 

penalty for falsification of company books; Section 504, for frauds while See prescribes the liability for not 

keeping proper accounts. 

Section 507 prescribes the power of law courts to assess damages delinquent directors while the 

prosecution of delinquent officers and members of the company is provided for in*Section 508 of CAMD. 

3.5 THEORIES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

Several theories have been developed over the years in attempts to explore and explain the 

entrepreneurship phenomenon. These include among others, economic, socio-cultural, managerial, educational, 

developmental, experiential, innovation, network, structural and multi-dimensional theories. Each of these 

theories had been used in the study of the processes of entrepreneurship. 

Economic Theory: The economists see the entrepreneurship as the man who perceives business opportunities 

and takes advantage of scare resources to use them. Relevant, therefore, are the structure of economic incentives 

that are available in the market. Writers on this approach include (Schumpeter, 1934; and Drucker, 1985). The 

patterns of economic incentives have acted as stimuli for the emergence of entrepreneurs. They have also 

influenced the positive responses in terms of behavior and their performance (Kilby, 1965; and Singh, 1985). 

Socio-Cultural Theory: The socio-cultural approach sees entrepreneurship as a social role and entrepreneurial 

development as a function of the form of society and the characteristics of culture. The socio-cultural 

environment have aided entrepreneurship by providing funds, business ideas, valuable information and other 

forms of social supports, thus directly influencing the processes of emergences, behaviour and performance of 

entrepreneur. 

Political Theory: The influence of the political factor on eh emergence, behaviour and performance of 

entrepreneurs had been reported by several writers. Schatz (1962 and 1964) discussed tow forms of asstiance 

that were provided for indigenous entrepreneurs by government in Nigeria. These were (1) the financial support 

through the Federal Loan Board and (2) the establishment of the Yaba Industrial Estate for use by indigenous 

entrepreneurs. Ogundele (2000) discussed the provision of training and financial asstiance by government to 

indigenous entrepreneur through National Directorate of Employment (NDE). Government by way of 

legislations and provision of infrastructure and other support system have aided the entrepreneurial process. 

Managerial Theory: This perceptive focuses on the perception of market opportunities. It in addition emphases 

the operational skills requires to run a successful enterprises. Kilby (1971) listed thirteen managerial functions, 

which the entrepreneurs might have to perform for the successful operation of their strategic managing practices 

as the function of entrepreneurs. Therefore managerial skills will have direct positive effect on the 

entrepreneurship processes of emergence, behaviour and performance. The environment that provides 

opportunities for relevant skills acquisition will tend to promote entrepreneurship. 

Development Theory: This approach views entrepreneurship as an extension of the process of occupational 

choice in the individuals. This in turn is part of the individuals‟ total striving for an adequate life adjustment, 

and as such supportive training and development must be given to such individuals (1990). The developmental 

approach focuses on the development of entrepreneurial skills. At the macro level, it involves training in 

opportunity awareness, relating to relevant publics technology, market and dealing with government agencies. 

At the micro level, areas of focus include attitudes, motivation, education and work experience. This approach 

envisaged the positive effects of training and development on several determinants that effect entrepreneurs. The 

National Directorate of employment (NDE) in Nigeria adopted this approach and also provided fund for trained 

entrepreneurs. Thus, it provides both developmental and financial opportunities. 


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Educational Theory: It is concerned with general level of education in the society. Its proponents contended 

that education tend to broaden peoples‟ outlook. It equips people with needed skills to look at the world around 

them in a more organized and coordinated fashion. This will make them to perform better in entrepreneurial role 

Akeredolu-Ale (1975) found that more entrepreneurs had lower levels of formal education than the civil 

servants. He could not establish any direct association between the level of formal education of entrepreneurs 

and the degree of success achieved. He reported that the general conclusion that entrepreneurs are less well 

educated than the general population was not supported by their study. Singh (1986) found that earlier notion 

that hose lacking educational qualification were usually the ones who went in for business was not borne out on 

his study. 

3.6 ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA 

Development is defined as gradual advancement through progressive stage of growth from within 

(Hornby, 1974), Baech (1975) considered development as a systematic process of training and growth through 

which the individuals gain and apply skill, knowledge, insight and attitude to manage work organisation 

effectively. Development is thus seen as process which involves growth. These features of development imply 

“change”. One has to bear this in mind in any considered of development of entrepreneur. The developmental 

approach to entrepreneurship, considers nurturing the actual or potential entrepreneurs to become effective in 

running their own organizations. This has to be done at various stages and in various institutions by three 

factors. First, is his own attitude towards his occupation. The second role is the expectations held by the 

sanctioning groups. The third is the operational requirements of the job. He noted that society‟s values are the 

most important determinants of the first two factors. Ekpo-Ufot (1988) gave an account of an entrepreneurship 

development programme that was carried out at the University of Lagos. He therefore, produced a list of seven 

determinants that affect entrepreneurship responses. These determinants are – society‟s value and needs, family, 

schools, work organisation, urbanization and industrial estates, availability of financial resources and structured 

to accelerate entrepreneurship development. He added that these determinants can accelerate entrepreneurship 

development only through the development of planning skills in the entrepreneurs with the provision of the 

feasibility study of their projects. Okaka (1990) observed that entrepreneurial success depends on possession of 

certain qualities in addition to the skills and knowledge concerning the technical aspect of owning a business. 

Such skills could be acquired through organized training and development. Rao, Wright, and Mukherjee (1990) 

noted that the focus of the development is entrepreneurial skills. Such skills include: 

development of entrepreneurial spirit, characteristics and personality; development of technical technology and 

professional competence needed for productive work employment; development of enterprise building and 

small business development capabilities to initiate and start one‟s own business or self-employment and 

development of managerial capability to run the business and other self-employment activity successfully. 

Conclusion 

Different types of leaders are needed at different stages of the development of a company as supported 

by Rodrigues. Organizations functioning within a dynamic environment experience three stages of change; a 

problem-solving stage, an implementation-of-solution stage, and a stable stage. At each of these three 

organizational stages a leader with different trait, abilities, and behaviour is most effective. Organizations which 

exist in a dynamic environment therefore generally require the effort of dynamic leaders. Since they is no type 

of leadership style or approach that is more appropriate than the other a one time or the other, therefore, leaders 

are expected to make use of the leadership style based situation surrounding them. On the other hand corporate 

governance issues are receiving greater attention in both developed and developing countries as a result of the 

increasing recognition that a firm's corporate governance affects both its economic performance and its ability to 

access long-term; low-cost investment capital. Numerous high-profile cases of corporate governance failure 

have focused the minds of governments, companies and the general public on the threat posed to the integrity of 

financial markets, although it is not clear that any system will or should prevent business failures, or that it is 

possible to provide a guarantee against fraud. Therefore, what constitute good and bad corporate governance 

remain the global issues. 

However, entrepreneurship, as a process which involves the effort of an individuals in identifying 

viable business opportunities in an environment and obtaining and managing the resources needed to exploit 

those opportunities i.e small and medium scale industry (SMI) remain one of the sectors that enhances economic 

growth and development. Therefore, every nation, be it developed or developing must ensure that effective 

leadership and good corporate governance. 

IV. Data Presentation And Analysis Of Result 

This section deals with the presentation and analysis of the data collected for this research work. The 

data were presented and analyzed with regards to response to the research questions. All the data were presented 


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in tables which show the response in percentage. The data collected are presented and analyzed below so as to 

have a better understanding of the impacts of leadership and corporate governance on the banking industry 


4.1 RESPONDENTS’ CHARACTERISTICS AND CLASSIFICATION 

The respondents‟ characteristics and classification as presented in section „A‟ of this research work 

which stands as the personal data of the respondents are stated below: 

Table 1: Sex distribution of respondents 

Respondent No of respondents % of respondents 

Male 52 52 

Female 48 48 

Total 100 100 

Source: Author‟s computation 2012 

Table 1 above indicates that 52 or 52% of the total number of the respondents sampled were male which 

represents the majority, while 48 or 48% were female. This implies that the number of male in these 

organizations were more than their female counterpart. 

Table 2: Age distribution of the respondents 


21-30yrs 38 38 

31-40yrs 31 31 

41-50yrs 23 23 

51-60yrs 6 6 

61yrs & above 2 2 

Total 100 100 


Table 2 above shows that out of the total population of the respondents, majority with a total number of 

38 or 38% were with in the age bracket of 21-30years, 31 or 31% were within the age bracket of 31-40 years, 23 

or 23% were within the age bracket of 41-50years, 6 or 6% were within the age bracket of 50-60years, while 2 

or 2% were within the age bracket of 61 years and above. From the above analysis, it could be inferred that 

majority of the respondents were still young, agile, productive and mobile to run the affairs of these 

organizations effectively. 

Table 3: Marital status of the respondents 


Single 42 42 

Married 56 56 

Divorced 02 02 

Widow (er) - - 

Total 100 100 


Table 3 above shows that a total of 42 or 42% of the respondents were single, 56 or 56% were married, 

2 or 2% were divorced, while none was widow(er). This is to say that, majority of the respondents are married, 

which means that they are responsible people. 

Table 4: Educational Qualification of the respondents 


ND/NCE 23 23 

HND/B.Sc 41 41 

MBA/M.Sc 30 30 

Others 6 6 

Total 100 100 


Table 4 above which portrayed educational qualification of the sampled population reveals that, a total of 23 or 

23% of the respondents were ND/NCE holder, 41 or 41% were HND/B.Sc Certificate holder, 30 or 30% were 


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MBA/M.Sc certificate holder while 6 or 6% holds other certificates. This indicates that majority of the 

respondents are well educated. 

Table 5: Work experience of the respondents 


0-5yrs 34 34 

6-10yrs 43 43 

11-15yrs 14 14 

16yrs & above 9 9 

Total 100 100 


As regards the work experience of the respondents from table 5 above, it was shown that, 34 or 34% of 

the respondents has between 0-5yrs experience, 43 or 43% has between 6-10years experience, 14 or 14% has 

between 11-15 years experience while 9 or 9% has between 16 years and above experience. The above 

illustration shows that majority of the respondents had spent between 6-10 years in these organizations. 

4.2 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA ACCORDING TO RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

Respondents‟ response to the research questions in section B of this research work are presented and 

analyzed thus: 

Table 6: Good leadership and corporate governance are essential ingredients for organizational success. 


Strongly Agreed 50 50 

Agreed 43 43 

Undecided 1 1 

Strongly Disagreed 2 2 

Disagreed 4 4 

Total 100 100 


In response to the question in table 6 above, majority of the respondents with a total number of 46 or 

46% strongly agreed with the question, 40 or 40% agreed, 3 or 3% undecided 4 or 4% strongly disagreed while 

7 or 7% disagreed. This revealed that for any organization to record success, good leadership and corporate 

governance are required. 

Table 7: There exist a significant relationship between leadership, corporate governance and 




Agreed 49 49 

Undecided 4 4 


Disagreed 4 4 

Total 100 100 


With regards to the question in table 7, whether there exists a significance relationship between 

corporate governance and organizational development or not, 38 or 38% of the respondents strongly agreed, 

majority with a total of 49 or 49% agreed, 4 or 4% undecided, 5 or 5% strongly disagreed, while 4 or 4% 

disagreed. As majority of the respondents agreed, it shows that, there exists a strongly relationship between 

corporate governance and organizational development. 

Table 8: An organization cannot function effectively without effective leadership. 



Agreed 44 44 

Undecided 2 2 


Disagreed 11 11 

Total 100 100 


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From table 8 above, it was revealed that 38 or 38% of the total number of the respondents sampled 

strongly agreed, 44 or 44% agreed, 2 or 2% undecided, 5 or 5% strongly disagreed, while 11 or 11% disagreed. 

This implies that, if not completely impossible but it would be very difficult an organization to function 

effectively without on effectively leadership. 

Table 9: Organizational success or otherwise depend largely on the type or quality of leadership style 

used by the leaders. 



Agreed 48 48 

Undecided 5 5 


Disagreed 5 5 

Total 100 100 


In view of table 9 above, the tabular analysis shows that 39 or 39% of the respondents 53 or 53% 

strongly agreed, 48 or 48% agreed, 2 or 2% undecided, 5 or 5% strongly disagreed while 4 or 4% disagreed 

completely. This means that organizational success depends largely on the types or quality of leadership style 

put in place by the leaders of such organization. 

Table 10: Effective leadership and good corporate governance create the right climate for effective 

production and job satisfaction. 



Agreed 43 43 

Undecided 3 3 


Disagreed 9 9 

Total 100 100 


According to the respondents in table 10 above, it was revealed that 40 or 40% of the total population sampled 

strongly agreed, 43 or 43% which represents the majority agreed, 3 or 3% undecided, 5 or 5% strongly 

disagreed while 9 or 9% disagreed. The tabular analysis shows that, corporate governance as a policy has helped 

Nigerian Bank to grow financially since the Bank consolidation. 

Table 11:Corporate governance as a policy, strategy, instrument or system helps every organization to 

achieve her goals. 



Agreed 40 40 

Undecided 3 3 


Disagreed 5 5 

Total 100 100 


Table 11 above revealed that, a total of 43 or 43% of the respondents which stands as the major strongly agreed 

that, corporate governance helps every organization to achieve her goals, 40 or 40% agreed, 3 undecided, 9 or 

9% strongly disagreed while 5 or 5% disagreed. 

Table 12: Global financial crisis is one of the major reasons for the general acceptance of corporate 

governance policy. 



Agreed 40 40 

Undecided 0 0 


Disagreed 8 8 

Total 100 100 


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Table 12 above, shows that, majority of the respondent were of the opinion that, global financial crises is one of 

the reasons for the general acceptance of corporate governance with a total number of 49 or 49%, 40 agreed, 

none was undecided, 3 or 3% strongly disagreed, while 8 or 8% disagreed. 

Table 13: Effective leadership and good corporate governance has been a solution tools for global 

financial crises. 

Respondents No of respondent % of Percentage 


Agreed 40 40 

Undecided 2 2 


Disagreed 4 4 

Total 100 100 


Table 13 above shows that, out of the total population sampled, 54 or 54% of the respondents was strongly 

agreed that, effective leadership and good corporate governance has been a solution tools for global financial 

crises, 40 or 40% agreed, 2 or 2% undecided no respondents was strongly disagreed, while 4 or 4% disagreed. 

Table 14: The Nigerian small scale entrepreneur needs good leadership and corporate governance for 

their growth. 



Agreed 48 48 

Undecided 6 6 


Disagreed 10 10 

Total 100 100 


In respect of table 14above, 34 or 34% respondents strongly agreed 48 or 48% agreed, 6 or 6% undecided, 2 or 

2% strongly disagreed none disagreed. This shows that, for the Nigeria small scale entrepreneurs to grow 

steadily there is need for good leadership and corporate governance to be put in place. 

Table 15: Good leadership and corporate governance brings about proper management of small scale 

entrepreneurs’ resources and enhancement of economic growth. 



Agreed 38 38 

Undecided 2 2 


Disagreed 0 0 

Total 100 100 


The analysis of table 15 above reveals that, a total number 60 or 60% strongly agreed that corporate governance 

and good leadership brings about proper management of small scale entrepreneurs‟ resources and enhancement 

of economic growth. Entrepreneurs 38 or 38% agreed, 2 or 2% undecided, while none was strongly disagreed or 

disagreed. 

Table 16: The success of small and medium scale entrepreneurs largely depends on the efficient allocation 

of her scare resources by its management. 



Agreed 40 40 

Undecided 0 0 


Disagreed 1 1 

Total 100 100 



60 | Page


Table 16 above revealed that, a total of 58 or 58% strongly agreed that the success of small and medium scale 

entrepreneurs largely depend on the efficient allocation of their scare resources by its management, majority 

with a total number of 40 or 40% agreed, none undecided, 1 or 1% strongly disagreed, while 11 or 11% 

disagreed. 

Table 17: The death of many small and medium scale entrepreneurs can be traced to the poor and 

ineffective leadership. 



Agreed 57 57 

Undecided 2 2 


Disagreed 2 2 

Total 100 100 


Table 17 above indicates, 38 or 38% of the respondents strongly agreed, 57 or 57% agreed, 2 or 2% undecided, 

1 or 1% strongly disagreed, while 2 or 2% disagreed. The tabular analysis shows that poor and ineffective 

leadership have lead to the death of many small and medium scale entrepreneurs based on the responses of the 

majority. 

Table 18: Unethical behaviour of the leaders hinders the success of an organization. 



Agreed 35 35 

Undecided 5 5 


Disagreed 8 8 

Total 100 100 


From table 18 above, the opinion of the respondents are as follows: 50 or 50% strongly agreed with the above 

question, majority with a total of 35 or 35% agreed, 5 or 5%, undecided, 2 or 2% strongly disagreed, while 8 or 

8% disagreed. In a nutshell, the above analysis reveals that, unethical behaviour remains one of the factors 

affecting the success of organizations negatively. 

Table 19: Ineffectively leadership and poor corporate governance affects the development of small and 

medium scale entrepreneurs negatively. 



Agreed 46 46 

Undecided 2 2 


Disagreed 4 4 

Total 100 100 


As evident by table 19 above, about 45 or 45% of the total population strong agreed, 46 or 46% agreed, 2 or 2% 

undecided, 3 or 3% strongly disagreed, while 4 or 4% disagreed. This shows that ineffective leadership and poor 

corporate governance effects the development of small and medium scale entrepreneurs negatively. 

Table 20: Corporate governance aids the achievement of an organization’s budget through adequate 

implement and monitoring. 



Agreed 46 46 

Undecided 6 6 


Disagreed 5 5 

Total 100 100 



61 | Page


The available figures in table 20 above reveals that, 41 or 41% of the respondents strongly agreed 46 or 46% 

agreed, 6 or 6% undecided, 2 or 2% strongly disagreed, while 5 or 5% disagreed. As the largest population of 

the respondents were in support of the above question, it means that, corporate governance has been of 

tremendous assistance in the achievement of the organizations goals. 

4.3 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA ACCORDING TO TESTS OF HYPOTHESES 

For an acceptable decision to be taken either to accept or reject the hypothesis to be tested, the hypotheses are be 

tested using the formula known as spearman‟s coefficient of rank correlation. 

The formula is stated thus: 

r = 1 – 6 ∑d 2 

n(n 2 - 1) 

where: 

r = coefficient of the correlation 

d = the difference between the rank of each pairs 

n = the number of paired observations. 

In order to know the strength of the relationships between the pairs (rank 1 and 2), the spearman‟s rank 

correlation shall be converted to t – statistics using the formula below: 

t = r 

where: 

n - 2 

n = number of element 1 (Pair – r 2 observation) 

t = student‟s t – distribution 

However, the null and alternative hypotheses are: 

H 0 : The rank correlation in the population is zero. 

H i : There is a positive association among the ranks 

Decision Rule: 

The decision rule is to reject H0 if the computed value of t is greater than the tabulated value of t at 

0.05 (5%) level of significance. 

HYPOTHESIS ONE 

H 0 : Organizational success or otherwise does not largely depend on the type or quality of leadership style used 

by the leaders. 

H i : Organizational success or otherwise largely depends on the type or quality of leadership style used by the 

leaders. 

Questions 4 (table 9) and 1 (table 6) in section B are used to test hypothesis one. Therefore, let X represents 

question 4 and let Y represents question 6 

d d 2 

Respondents X Y R X R Y R X – R Y (R X – R Y ) 2 

Strongly Agreed 39 50 4 5 -1 1 

Agreed 53 43 5 4 1 1 

Undecided 2 1 1.5 1 0.5 0.25 

Strongly Disagreed 2 2 1.5 2 - 0.5 0.25 

Disagreed 4 4 3 3 0 0 

Total 100 2.5 

Computed value of t = 3.1303 

Degree of freedom (d.f) = n – 2 but n = 5 

d.f = 5 – 2 = 3 

Since the value could either be positive or negative, the test is one-tailed test. Therefore one tailed value of t- 

distribution table was used. 

At d.f 3 and 0.05 (5%) level of significance, tabulated value of t = 2.353. 


Since the computed value of t (3.1303) is greater than the tabular value of t (2.353), null hypothesis 

shall be rejected while alternative hypothesis shall be accepted. 


62 | Page


HYPOTHESIS TWO 

Ho: There exist no significant relationship between leadership, corporate governance and entrepreneurship 

development. 

Hi There exist a significant relationship between leadership, corporate governance and entrepreneurship 

development. 

Questions 2 (table 7) and 5 (table 10) are used to test the hypothesis in order to arrive at a rightful conclusion. 

Therefore, let X represent question 2 and let Y represents question 5. 

d 

d 2 Respondents X Y R X R Y R X – R Y (R X – R Y ) 2 

Strongly Agreed 38 40 4 4 0 0 

Agreed 49 43 5 5 0 0 

Undecided 4 3 1.5 1 0.5 0.25 

Strongly Disagreed 5 5 3 2 1 1 

Disagreed 4 9 1.5 3 -1.5 2.25 

Total 100 16 3.5 


Degree of freedom (d.f) n – 2 but n – 5 

5 – 2 = 3 



Since the computed value of t (2.529) is greater than the tabulated value of t (2.353), H 0 (null) 

hypothesis shall be rejected while alternative hypothesis (H i ) shall be accepted. 

This shows that corporate governance policy has really helped Nigerian banks to grow financially since the bank 

consolidation. Also, corporate government as a policy, strategy, instrument or system helps every organization 

to achieve her goals. 

HYPOTHESIS THREE 

H 0 : Ineffective leadership and poor corporate governance does not affect the development of small and medium 

scale entrepreneurs negatively. 

H i : Ineffective leadership and poor corporate governance affects the development of small and medium scale 

entrepreneurs negatively. 

To test this hypothesis, question 14 (table 19) and question 12 (table 17) are used to test the hypothesis. 

Therefore, let X represent question 14 and Y represent question 12 

d d 2 

Respondent X Y R X R Y R X – R Y (R X – R Y ) 2 

Strongly Agreed 45 38 4 4 0 0 

Agreed 46 52 5 5 0 0 

Undecided 2 3 1 2.5 -1.5 2.25 

Strongly Disagreed 3 2 2 1 1 1 

Disagreed 4 3 3 2.5 0.5 0.25 

Total 100 100 3.5 


Degree of freedom (d.f) n – 2 but n – 5 

5 – 2 = 3 



Since the computed value of t (2.529) is greater than the tabular, value of t (2.353), null hypothesis (H 0 ) 

shall be rejected while alternative hypothesis (H i ) shall be accepted. This reveals that ineffective leadership and 

poor corporate governance has been an obstacle to the development of small and medium scale entrepreneurs. 

Likewise, the death of many small and medium scale entrepreneur can be traced to the poor and ineffective 

leadership. 

Having tested the formulated hypothesis, it was proved from every angle that good leadership and 

corporate governance in every organization, especially in the banking industry and entrepreneurship 

development in Nigeria and the world at large remains one and only major alternative way to restore 


63 | Page


accountability, honesty fairness, etc which will in turn bring about increased production economic growth and 

development. 

V. Summary, Conclusions And Recommendations 

5.1 CONCLUSIONS 

Impacts of leadership and corporate governance on entrepreneurship development using Zenith Bank 

and Bank of industry as a survey have been reviewed in this research work. 

However, different theories or approaches to leadership, importance of leadership, variables affecting 

leadership effectiveness, meaning of leadership and corporate governance, theories of corporate governance, 

effects of corporate governance on growth and development, characteristics and principles of corporate 

governance, legal and regulatory framework for corporate governance in Nigeria, etc were reviewed in order to 

know more about the importance of effective leadership and good corporate governance so as to enjoy more of 

the benefits accrued to these terms. 

The gathered information in this research work through questionnaire were analyzed and interpreted 

using simple percentage table for tabular analysis and Spearman‟s Rank Correlation Coefficient for the testing 

of the formulated hypotheses so as to know more about the topic understudy. It was proved in the research 

carried out that, effective leadership and good corporate governance determines the success of an organization. 

In the analysis, corporate governance policy has really helped Nigerian entrepreneur to grow financially. Also, 

effective leadership and good corporate governance was seen as a solution tools for global financial crises. 

Therefore, it is hereby concluded that, effective leadership and good corporate governance remains a solution 

tool for global financial crises, organizational problems and the right policy that enhances increased productivity 

that brings about economic growth and development globally. 

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 

In the course of carrying out this research work, many factors were found responsible for ineffective 

leadership and poor corporate governance in the small and medium scale entrepreneurs, and global financial 

crises. For this reason, the following recommendations were made to help the Nigerian banks and small and 

medium scale entrepreneurs to grow and wax stronger. 

There is need for more awareness on the importance of good leadership and corporate governance to 

embrace corporate governance being a system that encourages efficient use of available scarce resources in 

order to achieve organizational objectives in the small and medium scale industries (SMI) and other sectors of 

the economy; The top management staff of every organization should do away with fraudulent acts and 

unethical behaviours; There should be more severe punishment for the leaders or top manager that involved in 

any fraudulent acts; As it was proved that, ineffective leadership and poor corporate governance hinders the 

development of small and medium scale entrepreneurs, government should encourage and educate them by 

organizing seminars, workshops, public lectures, etc about the dangers of ineffectiveness and mismanagement. 

It was found that corporate governance aids the achievement of an organization‟s budget through adequate 

implementation and monitoring, every organization is hereby advice not to handle corporate governance system 

with levity but with all seriousness to achieve greater result. 

5.3 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES 

The researcher hereby suggests that, further studies on the topic – impact of leadership and corporate 

governance on the banking industry and entrepreneur development, should be carried out in other industries, 

sectors all over the federation for comparative analysis since this study is restricted to Zenith Bank and Bank of 

industry both in Lagos State. 

However, the findings and recommendations of such studies will be of immense benefits to students, 

other researchers or scholars, industrialist, entrepreneurs, bankers, political sector, and the entire nation if so 

strictly adhered to or implemented. 

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QUESTIONNAIRE 

LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, DEBARMENT OF ECONOMICS 

Dear respondent, 

I am a lecturer of the above named institution carrying out a research on the topic: The Impact of Leadership 

and Corporate Governance on Entrepreneurship Development in Nigeria. The questionnaire is designed and 

served to facilitate the collection of relevant data which will be used to carry out a successful research work. 

I hereby promise to use any information provided solely for academic purpose. 

Thanks for your cooperation. 

Yours faithfully, 

Atoyebi Kehinde 0. 


66 | Page


QUESTIONNAIRE 

SECTION A 

BIO-DATA 

Instruction: Please tick ( √) the appropriate answer from the options provided. 

Sex Distribution 

Male ( ) 

Female ( ) 

2. Age Distribution 

21-30yrs ( ) 

31-40yrs ( ) 

41-50yrs ( ) 

51-60yrs ( ) 

60 years and above ( ) 

Marital Status 

Single ( ) 

Married ( ) 

Divorced ( ) 

Widow (er) ( ) 

Educational Qualification 

ND/NCE ( ) 

HND/B.Sc ( ) 

MBA/M.Sc ( ) 

Others ( ) 

5. Work Experience 

(a) 0-5yrs 

(b) 6-10yrs 

(c) 11-15yrs 

1. Leadership and Corporate governance are essential ingredient for 

organizational development. 

2. There exist a significance relationship between leadership, 

corporate governance and entrepreneurship development. 

3. An organization cannot function effectively without effective 

leadership 

4. Organizational success or otherwise depends largely on the type 

or quality of leadership style used by the leaders. 

5. Effective leadership and good corporate governance create the 

right climate for effective production and job satisfaction. 

6. Corporate governance as a policy, strategy, instrument or system 

helps every organization to achieve her goals. 

7. Global financial crisis is one of the major reasons for the general 

acceptance of corporate governance policy. 

8. Effective leadership and good corporate governance has been a 

solution tools for global financial crisis. 

9. The Nigerian small scale entrepreneurs need good leadership and 

corporate governance for its growth. 

10. Good leadership and corporate governance brings about proper 

management of small scale entrepreneurs‟ resources and enhance 

economic growth. 

11. The productivity of small and medium scale entrepreneurs largely 

on the efficient allocation of her scarce resources by its 

management. 

12. The death of several small and medium scale entrepreneurs can 

be traced to the poor and inefficient management. 

13. Unethical behaviour of the leaders hinders the success of an 

organization. 


SA A UD SD D 

67 | Page


14. Poor leadership and corporate governance affects the 

development of small and medium scale entrepreneurs. 

15. Corporate governance aids the achievement of an organization‟s 

budget through adequate implementation and monitoring. 

(d) 

16yrs and above 

SECTION B 

RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

INSTRUCTION: In the following questions kindly tick (√) the appropriate answer that represents your opinion 

on the question. 

The following abbreviation will help you to answer the questions below. 

(SA) = Strongly Agree 

(A) = Agreed 

(D) = Undecided 

(SD) = Strongly Disagree 

(D) = Disagree 


68 | Page




Divine Revelation in Yoruba Traditional Religion and In 

Christianity 

Pius Oyeniran Abioje 

Ph. D, Department of Religions, University of Ilorin, P. M. B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria. 

Abstract: This paper discusses divine revelation in its various forms. The occasional conflict between some 

Christians and adherents of African Traditional Religion (ATR) in Yorubaland, Nigeria, was the motivation. 

Some large Christian population sometimes tried to prevent the adherents of Yoruba traditional religion from 

celebrating some of their festivals. One had attributed the conflicts to Christian absolutism and triumphalism. 

The impression seemed to be rife that ATR was not a revealed religion or that it did not enjoy divine revelation 

as applied to Christianity. It was discovered that in the view of many scholars, God is impartial, and no culture 

or religion has a monopoly of divine revelation. The Yoruba example also revealed that although the people did 

not know such biblical personalities as Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus, they have corresponding names in 

their history. In place of the Bible, many scholars refer to the obviously resourceful Africa’s “Oral Traditions”, 

and even Africa’s “oral literature”. Christians in Yorubaland, and indeed all human beings, are, therefore, 

enjoined to cultivate humility, mutual respect, and brotherly sharing of knowledge and experience, since God is 

said to be impartial, and He alone is omniscient. 


The general belief of Christians is that Jesus Christ was God in human flesh (incarnation), and so He 

represented the fullness of God‟s revelation. Christians of that school of faith, who appear to be in the majority, 

find support especially in the Gospel according to John, where it is written that: “No one has gone up to heaven, 

except the one who came down from heaven, the son of Man who is in heaven” (Jn. 3:13), and: “To have seen 

me is to have seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9). Consequently, many Christians seem to see themselves as a privileged 

group who are superior to non-Christians. That assumption often ensues in a sense of arrogance that tends to 

make many Christians in Yorubaland denigrate the Yoruba religious traditionalists, and that sometimes results 

into violent conflict. 

This study on the concept of divine revelation in Christianity and in African Traditional Religion 

(ATR) (with specific reference to Yoruba traditional religion) aims at establishing why Christians should not 

allow themselves to be consumed by superiority complex, but clothe themselves in humility, which can allow 

for mutual respect and harmony in a religiously pluralistic and culturally diverse society, such as Yorubaland, 

Nigeria. John the Baptist is quoted as warning the Jews not to pride themselves in being Abraham‟s children, 

but in being faithful to God as Abraham was, and in producing fruits of good deeds (Luke 3:8-9). Similarly, 

Haught (1996:885) notes that “a strong temptation to triumphalism can indeed accompany a naive doctrine of 

special revelation.” One can add that religious triumphalism very often begets arrogance and conflict, with 

particular reference to a religiously pluralistic society. Tarnas (1991:318) notes that: 

The Christian injunction to love and serve all humanity and high valuation of the individual human 

soul now stood in sharp counterpoint to Christianity's long history of bigotry and violent intolerance – its 

forcible conversion of other peoples, its ruthless suppression of other cultural perspectives, its 

persecutions of heretics, its crusades against Moslems, its oppression of Jews... i t s association with 

slavery and colonialist exploitation, its pervasive spirit of prejudice and religious arrogance maintained 

against all those outside the fold (Tarnas, 1991: 318). 

That does not mean, of course, that Christians are always wrong and other peoples are always right. 

But issues can be raised for critical discourse, as one intends to do in this essay, toward religious peace in 

Yorubaland. Occasional clashes between Christians and adherents of Yoruba traditional religion in some 

Yoruba communities, such as Iseyin and Shagamu, formed the background of this study. The focus is Christians 

who tend to view their faith as the only repository of divine revelation. One has attributed the clashes to 

Christian absolutism and triumphalism. 

II. The Conceptual Framework 

This is an exercise in the study of divine revelation. It posits that an objective perception of divine 

revelation as a diverse phenomenon could help Christians to shed a sense of superiority complex which results 

in denigration and derogation of the faiths of other religionists. The study is comparative, as it compares divine 

revelation in Christian and Yoruba perspectives. It is also expository in the sense that it presents some scholars 


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Divine Revelation in Yoruba Traditional Religion and In Christianity 

who have discussed God as a universal concept and Being who reveals Himself to the entire human race in one 

form or another, past, present, and continuous. Hebblelethwaite (1980:8) warns that: 

Christians must cease to think of their faith as bearing witness to God‟s final and absolute selfrevelation 

to man. Rather they must learn to recognize their experience of God in Christ to be but one of many 

different saving encounters with the divine which have been given to different historical and cultural segment of 

mankind. 

That consciousness seems indispensable to mutual and reciprocal respect, without which socio-political 

collaboration may be elusive in a religiously pluralistic society, such as Yorubaland. What is more, the whole 

idea of religious, racial, and cultural superiority has been dropped in many enlightened societies. Balogun 

(2012:7) asserts, for instance, that he is “not interested in extolling one religion above another”, neither does he 

“consider one religion per se better than another.” He believes rather that “religions are either acceptable or 

rejectable (sic) according to how their adherents practice them”. Besides, he expresses what can be said to be the 

contemporary standpoint that: 

Man is free to follow whichever religion in which he finds solace and tranquility. The final arbiter in 

the matter of faith and religious practice is God; and I believe that He has not put the judgment of a person‟s 

conviction in another person‟s hand. 

That is the sum of contemporary civilization, which fully recognizes freedom of religion. Frankl 

(2000:149) is also of the view that “If religion is to survive it will have to become profoundly personalized 

religion which allows any human being to speak a language of his or her own when addressing himself or 

herself to the ultimate being.” One would reconstruct that statement to read that if religion is to survive in 

Yorubaland and be devoid of violent crisis, it must be allowed freedom of practice. That is imperative if only 

because, as Troeltsch (1980:31) notes, “In our earthly experience Divine Life is not one, but many”, while “to 

apprehend the one in the many constitute the special character of love.” Of course, where there is no love, 

misunderstanding, hatred, and conflict ensue. But the basic concern in this study is the extent to which a 

realization of the fact that divine revelation takes diverse forms can help Christians to be more accommodating 

of other religionists in Yorubaland and elsewhere possibly. 

Etymologically, the word “revelation” derives from the Latin revelare (to remove the veil), and the 

Greek translation is apocalypsis. In history of religions, two forms of divine revelation are recognized, namely, 

natural or general revelation, and special or historical revelation. The former is said to be accessible to human 

beings through the natural order, which includes creation, human experience, and the inner voice of conscience. 

Dulles (1992:94) notes that it is on the basis of natural revelation that Saint Paul could assert, as he has done, 

that “the Law of God is inscribed upon the human heart”, so that those who have not got the code of the Law 

from God can accomplish by nature what the Law requires (Rm. 2:4). Thus, it is generally believed that God‟s 

revelation is open to all human beings, including of course the Yoruba of western Nigeria. 

On the other hand, special or historical revelation refers to God‟s self-disclosure to individuals or 

groups through events within history. With particular reference to the Judaeo-Christian tradition, Scanlon 

(1994:747) observes that special revelation means: “God‟s self-disclosure in the history of Israel and in the life, 

death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth”. As Scanlon further notes, “the normative testimony to this divine 

revelation is the Bible.” Some other Christians may add the catechetical book(s) of their church or churches, as 

the case may be. 

One would think that God would appear irresponsible if He does not reveal Himself and His will to 

whoever is made by Him. As a corollary, human beings can be responsible for their deeds only to the extent to 

which they know the will of God. It is rightly said that there can be no sin, where there is no law. The question 

then arises: Can there be a “special revelation” which is indispensable for human salvation, but is unknown to 

the majority of human beings? The answer to that and similar questions are addressed, towards a clear 

understanding of the nature of divine revelation and mutual respect among human beings and their various 

traditions, with particular reference to Yorubaland. 

III. Divine Revelation in Christianity 

The universal recognition of God does not seem to be in doubt. Weil (2007:15) notes that “It is 

impossible to prove that at the dawn of history man had no religion and later acquired one; rather the very 

opposite is true, for from earliest recorded time we have evidence from man‟s religious practices and beliefs that 

he had some consciousness of God.” That would be because, according to Weil (p.12), “Man, although now a 

fallen creature, has not completely lost the image of God in which he was made; some knowledge of God 

remains in him.” With specific reference to how God reveals Himself to human beings, Weil (p.18) holds with 

theologians, such as Dulles (1992:94), Scanlon (1994:747), and Pinnock (1998:585), that God has given human 

beings “two books to read and to study: the book of nature and the book of God, the Bible.” One would of 

course expect a Muslim to mention the Qur‟an rather than the Bible, while a Yoruba might mention “Oral 

Traditions” (Idowu, 1996:5). Weil (same page) explains the book of nature thus: 


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It is the world and the universe in which we live. There are no words in this book, yet all the things we 

see in it have a story to tell. The sun, moon and stars, the birds, animals and insects, the mountains, fields and 

rivers, the trees, flowers and fruit and finally, Man himself with all his amazing powers proclaim that there is a 

wonderful Person we call God who made all these things long ago. 

That is confirmed by Karl Rahner, who is quoted by Dych (1994:715) as teaching that “God‟s grace 

and revelation have been present at all times and places creating the possibility of supernatural faith for all 

peoples.” On the other hand, some other Christian theologians, such as Karl Barth, hold that genuine revelation 

is impossible outside of Jesus Christ (Pinnock 1998:585); Gollwitzer (1994:49-50) likewise quotes Karl Barth as 

teaching that “the linking of Christian thought about God with this supposed general knowledge is a fateful 

error, because important characteristics are imparted by what man thinks he knows of himself”, while 

“Revelation seeks to rescue man from his own imaginings concerning the divine.” That of course was similar to 

the Roman Catholic position before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), when the Church taught that 

Extra ecclesia nulla salus (there is no salvation outside the Church). As Dych (1994:714-715) notes, Karl 

Rahner‟s influence at the Council positively changed the Church‟s perspective on the reality and validity of 

general revelation. 

What brought about the positive change of perception and attitude to the concept of general divine 

revelation, apparently, was considerable exposure to non-European cultures, in which some Christian thinkers 

encountered appreciable and impressive philosophical and theological insights and practices. Gollwitzer 

(1994:13) notes that “As knowledge of other cultures increased, and particularly of the great religions of Asia, 

the argument that Christianity stands at the top of a ladder of religious development had necessarily to give 

ground to a relativism which could recognise it as the supreme expression of religion only for our European 

civilisation”. Similarly, Needleman (1980:70) relates what one Father Vincent said to him about his missionary 

experience in Africa: 

He began by telling me that his own youthful fantasies about Africa had nothing to do with „saving the 

heathen,‟ although even he was surprised at how little „converting‟ went on. As a matter of fact, he had some 

interesting things to say about the whole missionary enterprise, how it needed to be re-interpreted in terms of 

human fellowship, rather than in the clichés about leading whole tribes or cultures into a new religion. „I learned 

from these people far more than I ever taught them.‟ 

The whole episode seems interesting. Note that when one takes a cursory look at many countries in 

Africa, with particular reference to many parts of Nigeria, it can be argued that not “little” but much 

“converting” had taken place, whereas Father Vincent was right in the sense that ATR remains highly resilient. 

Gbenda (2001:11) quotes two indigenous African missionaries (Utov and Okoro) as complaining that too many 

African Christians are “secretly attached to the traditional religious practices”. Writing much earlier, Adiele 

(1984:191) affirmed that “It is impossible for the rich African culture and religion to be completely wiped-out 

even by modern changes.” All of that shows the extent to which Africans appreciate their religion and culture, 

and it confirms the opinion of “Father Vincent” (above) who is a Western missionary, and the validity of 

universal divine revelation. 

Nevertheless, there are still many Christian theologians who view the divine revelation contained in the 

Bible as unique, superior, and indispensable to human salvation. For many of such theologians, the Bible 

contains the direct and normative Word of God to which no other source is comparable. Along with Karl Barth 

who was quoted earlier, although Weil (2007:18) believes unequivocally in “the book of nature”, he also notes 

categorically on page twelve that “Christians believe that God has revealed himself to man and that these 

revelations have been written down and collected together in a book that we call the Bible – the only true source 

of religion.” He repeats the Christian conviction again on page fifteen thus: “The Bible gives the only reliable 

account of the origin of religion by informing us of the existence of God, infinite and yet personal, the only 

object worthy of worship, who revealed himself to man and created him in his own image”. That, of course, 

explains revelation from a Christian perspective. Nevertheless, in the words of Dulles (1992:103): 

A comprehensive doctrine of revelation cannot limit itself to God‟s self-disclosure in biblical times; it 

must deal with God‟s active presence to the Church and the world today, without which the good news of the 

gospel, which is admittedly normative, might easily be dismissed as a piece of inconsequential historical 

information. 

In that wise, it is said that divine revelation could not have ended with the death of the last Apostle. It 

seems unimaginable that God would, at any time, cease revealing Himself to those He has created in His own 

image, and more so to those He is said to have specially chosen for Himself through the life, death, and 

resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Scanlon (1994:747) explains that revelation was conceived as the unveiling of 

certain truths to be believed by faithful Christians in the Roman Catholic tradition. As he further notes: 

This „truths-belief‟ paradigm led people to conceive of revelation as „information from the Beyond‟ to 

be accepted on the authority of God revealing through the mediation of the ecclesiastical magisterium . . . . This 


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idea that revelation, so understood, ended with the last apostle and was stored in a „deposit of faith‟ rendered 

revelation something static, past, and closed. 

One would think that religious persons would fossilize if God were to stop illuminating them at any 

point in history. For instance, the Jews were said to be miserable when God would not send them prophets 

(Psalm 74 :9). The human agents of divine revelation in the Old Testament were, basically, the prophets. The 

Lord Jesus Himself was said to be a prophet, as well as being the Messiah. But, in the New Testament, God is 

said to have guided His people through the Apostles. Even Saint Paul, who was not a disciple of Jesus Christ in 

His earthly ministry, called himself an apostle, rather than a prophet as such (cfr., for instance, Rm. 1:1). The 

words “prophet” and “apostle” are, however, not to be counter-posed, since the apostles were known to have 

performed prophetic roles. 

Equally worthy of note is that many theologians today do not believe that there are impeccable agents 

of God, both in the Bible and outside of it. In that respect, Riffel (1978:39) notes, for instance, that all who 

heard from God needed “correction, reproof, or confirmation, just as we do.” As he further notes, the fact that 

the Old Testament contains no pretext that the prophets were more than human beings is testified to by such 

stories as the inability of Samuel to recognize the voice of God (1Sm. 3:1-14). And, in his epistle, Saint James 

notes that “Elijah was a human being like ourselves” (James 5:17). Likewise, Saint Peter was rebuked several 

times by the Lord Jesus (cf. for instance, Luke 22:31-34 & John 13:36-38). Beyond that, he was said to have 

denied knowing Jesus Christ three times, at the critical moment of the latter‟s travail. It is interesting to note 

that the story is carried by all the Gospel accounts (Mt. 26:69-70; Mark 14:66-68; Luke 22: 57-59; and John 

18:17-18). On one occasion, Peter was also seriously rebuked by Paul (cfr. Gal. 2:14). It should not be 

forgotten that Peter is only being used as a case study to emphasize that biblical agents of God were human 

beings in every sense of the word. Another typical example is Paul who spoke about the sinful nature of human 

beings as it applied to himself personally (Rms. 7:18 - 20). 

The hagiographers who were the authors of the books in the Bible are believed to be inspired by God 

who imbued them with inerrancy. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul maintains that: “All scripture is inspired 

by God and can profitably be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people‟s lives and teaching them 

to be holy” (2Tim. 3:16). It would seem, nevertheless, that many biblical scholars today are of the opinion that 

while the scripture contains the fundamental truth that can lead one to salvation, some elements of imperfection 

cannot be ruled-out, based on human limitation. As Murphy (1978:69) explains, for instance, “the human 

author is not shunted into the background”, and so, the Scripture constitutes “the product of God and of man.” 

Understandably, since no human being is believed to be perfect, and the hagiographers enjoyed their 

autonomy in the choice of method and materials, the Scripture cannot be said to be the simple word of God. A 

typical example of the human element is when Saint Paul forbids women from speaking in the assembly of 

God‟s people, and that they should not give any teaching to their husbands (cf. 1Cor. 14:34-35, 1Tim. 2:12 - 

15). That instruction from Paul might have been culturally expedient and wise in his own milieu, but that is not 

the case in most contemporary situations, in which there are female ecclesiastical overseers or bishops, and 

pastors of various categories, who lead liturgical services, and render brilliant homilies, offer exhortations, 

instructions and injunctions. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2003:825) notes that “normally God used His 

chosen writers‟ personalities, theological meditations, and literary styles.” In other words, God never wrote 

directly by Himself. 

On another note, there has been some attempt to review the traditional understanding that God‟s most 

definitive and final revelation has taken place in Jesus Christ, through the Incarnation. In the words of Scanlon 

(1984:747): 

Thanks to the biblical scholarship of the twentieth century, we now have significant knowledge about 

Jesus of Nazareth. This knowledge informs contemporary attempts to construct a theocentric Christology 

wherein the fundamental issue is not the divinity of Christ but the kind of God disclosed by Jesus in his words, 

deeds, and destiny. 

One would think that this new perspective of the reality of Jesus makes a continual search for God 

necessary in and outside of Christianity, in and outside of the Bible, to include human encounters, and certain 

historical events that are experienced by individuals, social groups, communities and societies that believe in 

God as the supreme Lord of history. For instance, it is possible to experience God‟s love in one‟s neighbour. A 

person can also experience God‟s almightiness in the fall of a supposedly powerful man or woman. Some 

illness may be the route to some discovery about God for some people. Failures and successes and awareness of 

happenings around can serve as private modes of divine revelation for those who are disposed to knowledge of 

God. Some people also claim to have divine revelations through dreams and visions. All these may be termed 

subjective, without suggesting that they are impossible or false in every case. 


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IV. Divine Revelation in African Traditional Religion 

A spiritual religion, such as the African Traditional Religion (ATR), may not possibly exist without 

being rooted in God. As Awolalu and Dopamu (2005:1) note, “religion can only come as a result of the 

activities of two agents – God who reveals Himself to man, and man who apprehends and responds to God‟s 

revelation.” The general and apparently incontrovertible belief is that Africans worship the same God that is 

known universally as the Creator of heaven and earth. Or, to put it in the words of Balogun (2012:4) that “the 

recognition of God as an object of worship, love and obedience which ultimately leads to practical piety and 

morality, is common to all [the] three religions practiced in Nigeria, i.e. African Traditional Religion, Islam and 

Christianity.” In a similar vein, Awolalu (1981:3) notes in respect of Yoruba indigenous religion that: “The 

indigenous Yoruba believe in the existence of a self-existent being who is believed to be responsible for the 

creation and maintenance of heaven and earth, of men and women, and who also has brought into being 

divinities and spirits who are believed to be his functionaries in the theocratic world as well as intermediaries 

between mankind and the self-existent Being.” What is more, ATR also has two books of revelation: the book of 

nature, and the book of Oral Tradition (the unwritten word of God in the word of human beings that is passed 

from one generation to another, orally). Writing specifically about the Yoruba, Idowu (1996:5) notes that: 

As there are no written records of the ancient past of the people, all that has been preserved of their 

myths, philosophy, liturgies, songs and sayings, has come down to us by word of mouth from generation to 

generation. And all this together we shall call „Oral Traditions‟. These oral traditions are our only means of 

knowing anything at all of their theogony and cosmogony and what they think and believe about the relationship 

between heaven and earth. 

One can note in Idowu‟s book that he uses “oral traditions” as Christians would use the Bible, and 

Muslims the Qur‟an. Indeed, the book is basically on the Yoruba‟s faith in God, as found in the people‟s 

“myths, philosophy, liturgies, songs and sayings”, which are among the sources of African theology, which 

Healey and Sybertz (1996:34) describe as “oral literature”, on the basis of which they term African theology as 

“narrative”. On page twenty-eight, Healey and Sybertz quote one Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike as stating that “The 

oral literature of the African people is their unwritten Bible”, and “religious wisdom is found in African idioms, 

wise sayings, legends, myths, stories, proverbs and oral history”. According to Healey and Sybertz, the word 

“proverb” is inclusive of such things as maxims, adages, pithy sayings, and aphorisms, which encode “the 

philosophical outlook, religious concepts and worldview of African society in a digestible form”. Although 

proverb is a universal concept, Africans are very famous for their proverbs, most probably because it makes up 

for their late literacy. What is more, there is evidence of divine inspiration, and an appreciable degree of 

inerrancy in the proverbs, maxims, adages, etc. 

The Yoruba, like the other African peoples, have practically innumerable proverbs. On a particular 

website, “62 Famous Yoruba Proverbs” are listed (Internet 2012). Number 28 on the list states that “No one can 

uproot the tree which God has planted”; while number 54 teaches that “When you stand with the blessings of 

your mother and God, it matters not who stands against you”, both of which indicates God‟s supremacy and 

invincibility. Another famous but unlisted Yoruba proverb holds that: God drives away flies for a tail-less cow 

(i.e. God helps the helpless; it thus expresses God‟s providential quality); and another is that: A person who 

hides under a mortar to commit evil, if not seen by an earthly king, is seen by the heavenly One (which 

expresses God‟s omniscience, omnipresent, and omnipotence). 

African theology of revelation is summed-up by Kayode (1984:2) thus: 

Revelation is an act of God and to the understanding of African peoples, divine message can be 

obtained through the situation of things in their environment. Man has consciousness or self-awareness of the 

Divine Order. Without any hesitation, the African affirms that God has put this awareness in man and for this 

reason his traditional religion is found everywhere. His experience attracts him into religion. The works of 

Nature – rivers, hills, rocks, forests – instill the awareness in man that there is a superior Force greater than 

himself. The experience derived from Divine Providence – abundance of food for human beings and animals, 

procreation, growth and development of plants and crops – instills in man the awareness of a superior Force in 

the universe. Indeed, the experience of adversity in the form of epidemics, poor harvest, infant mortality, 

drought, etc. also calls for religious awareness. At such times, people then turn round and blame their suffering 

on some external force. There may be need to appease the gods, the divinities or the ancestors. When things go 

well and life is pleasant, Africans give praise and thanks to God from whom all blessings are supposed to flow. 

All of that seems to be well-said. One would like to dwell a little bit on the subject of myth as a 

medium of divine revelation, generally speaking. It has been observed by many biblical theologians that at least 

the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis contain religious lore and legends that are classified as myths. 

Thus, the use of myths is not limited to African tradition. The word “myth” translates the Greek 

mythos, which means a fable, otherwise called a tale of fiction. Brown (1990:31-32) notes that the author(s) of 

Genesis must have learnt the stories from popular “legendary imaginings”, and used them to convey the lesson 

that “God is sovereign of all and creator of the universe.” One can add that the first eleven chapters of Genesis 


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are not the only portion of the Bible that contains mythological stories. The Book of Job, for instance, has been 

used to answer several life puzzles, but there are indications within the text that it is a composed work. A 

critical study of the opening chapter of the book is sufficient to realize that the story is not historical but 

fictional. A commentator in the study edition of The Jerusalem Bible (1985:753) notes that: “The Book of Job 

is the literary masterpiece of the wisdom movement.” In the African context, Oso (1979:22) notes that African 

myths represent “the mental effort of African ancestors to interpret the various cosmological and biological 

phenomena that they experienced.” Thus, in contemporary understanding of myths and legends, they are taken 

as constituting a sacred tradition or primordial revelation. In that sense, every myth or legend expectedly has 

some sacred lesson to teach, beyond the material detail. Tikpor (1983:369) notes that: “If theology may be 

defined as a supernatural science which treats of God and of creatures in their relationship to God, then the myth 

is indeed a depositum of natural theology.” It is worth noting that many of the Yoruba myths are now found in 

books by scholars, such as Idowu (1996:17-27 & 54-107), Oso (1979:25), as well as Awolalu and Dopamu 

(2005:54-72). Basically, the myths portray God as the Supreme Being, who is the Creator, and the Alpha and 

Omega of the universe. 

In addition to the book of nature and oral traditions, the Yoruba, like the other African peoples and 

humanity, generally speaking, believe in private divine revelation through human mind, human experiences, 

dreams, and visions. Haught (1996:886-887) notes how the Second Vatican Council, in its “Dogmatic 

Constitution on Divine Revelation” has challenged “us to think of revelation not as a collection of timeless 

formulas, but as an always enlivening embodiment of God‟s word that can illuminate and transform each new 

situation in a special way.” That of course expresses the dynamic nature of divine revelation. Similarly, Haught 

(p. 884) has this to say on divine self-communication: 

As Karl Rahner has often insisted, revelation is fundamentally the communication of the mystery of 

God to the world. This divine self-communication influences the world at every phase of its coming-to-be, and 

not just within the confines of the biblical world alone. Revelation is the ongoing outpouring of God‟s creative, 

formative love into the entire world. 

Comparatively, revelation cannot be limited in African perspectives to ancient divine “oral traditions” 

of inherited knowledge about God. Indeed, the oral traditions, as evident in the proverbial examples (above) 

indicate that God in African worldview is not the same as the withdrawn God of the Deists, but is eternally 

ruling the world. 

Along with the various forms of divine revelation already discussed, one should touch on the issue of 

prophecy in ATR. If a prophet signifies a person who gives a message in God‟s name, then, it is difficult to 

imagine that traditional Africans would have no prophets. In the words of Preus (2001:86), “Prophecy interprets 

the spiritual meaning of present events, condemns wickedness, both open and hidden, and makes warnings or 

promises about what God is going to do within history.” One‟s observation is that such men and women exist, 

particularly in African priests and priestesses, in talented diviners, and in any other person(s) that God may 

choose to deliver His message and champion His cause among the people. Idowu (1996:5) already noted that 

traditional Africans “believe priests and diviners to be the interpreters of the will of the Deity”. Parrinder 

(1975:122) also notes that many African diviners are men and women with “wide experience, keen 

perceptiveness, and deep intuition”. He notes further that: 

There is undoubtedly some degree of telepathy and extra-sensory perception at work at times. The 

great popularity of the diviner shows that he has a leading function to perform in society, and this he does as 

mediator and guide in many quarrel, trouble and sickness. 

All that Parrinder has mentioned implies a gift(s) of God to certain individuals for the benefit of the 

people. Many Africans believe that there are certain persons with insight and divinatory talents, and so, they 

patronize such individuals. One‟s experience in Yorubaland is that many Christians and Muslims are also 

known to visit them covertly or overtly, directly or indirectly by proxy. 

V. Revelation vis-à-vis God’s Impartiality to All Peoples 

For Muslims, the Qur‟an is not only a holy book. It is unique and extraordinary because Allah is its 

author. It gives a recapitulation of all preceding revelation. It is entirely God‟s Word (Molla, 1997:16) 

Generally speaking, that is the Muslim position, as noted by Molla (1997:16). Indeed, many Muslims 

hold Islam to be the most up-to-date religion, and Muslims to be the latest People of God, even though they 

appreciate Judaisers and Christians. Like its Judaic and Christian counterparts, that form of self-estimation is 

regarded in many academic circles as both subjective and absolutist in disposition. Contrary adjectives are 

“objective” and “liberal” or un-dogmatic dispositions. At a point in history, the Jews thought they alone 

belonged to God, and that they alone knew God. They appeared oblivious that God revealed Himself to other 

peoples. That sentiment is clearly indicated in the story of the contest between Prophet Elijah and the priests of 

Baal (1Kgs. 18:22-20). That conviction also informed such phrases as “God of Israel” (2Kgs. 19:15) and “the 

Holy one of Israel” (2Kgs. 19:22; Ps. 71:22; Isa. 1:4; Jer. 51:5 and Ez. 39:7). Later in history, the belief that 


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Jesus Christ was the ultimate revelation of God (Jn. 14:9) culminated in the exclusive claim that Christians are 

the new People of God, and that made the Jews to be regarded as the old People of God. Jesus Christ is reported 

as congratulating the Apostles, saying: “I tell you solemnly, many Prophets and holy men longed to see what 

you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it” (Mt. 13:17). That is a form of special 

revelation. Dulles (1992:101), writing on the subject of special and absolute claim on revelation, notes that: “the 

limitations imposed by the particularities of time and culture, has difficulty in admitting that there can be any 

absolute or unsurpassed disclosure within history.” On a much more elaborate note, Haught (1996:885) 

observes that: 

In order to obviate arrogance, many contemporary theologians emphasize that the primary meaning of 

revelation is God‟s gift of self to the world. Such a formula prohibits our restricting this gift to a specific 

Church community. Revelation in its fundamental meaning is universal. If we still continue to speak of a 

special historical revelation, we do not mean that it is special in the sense that the people to whom it is 

communicated are thereby superior to other human beings. Nor do we mean that they are any more valued by 

God. 

The biblical basis for emphasizing that “God‟s gift of self to the world” is universal is found in such 

passages as Romans 1:20, where the author notes that: “Ever since God created the world, his everlasting power 

and deity - however invisible - have been there for the mind to see in the things he has made”. Psalm 50:12 also 

quotes God as saying that “the world and all it holds is mine”. By way of application, with specific reference to 

the Roman Catholic Church, Scanlon (1994:749) observes that: 

With the new appreciation of world religions, the Roman Catholic Church has in principle extended the 

need for ecumenical conversation beyond the Christian pale. As Catholics, we are Christocentric, but we are not 

Christomonist. While we witness to Christ in our dialogue with people of other religions, we would expect to 

learn more about the God of Jesus who is Promise for all people. 

That seems to represent the current position in the liberal Roman Catholic and Protestant camps. Taylor 

(1976: v), who was an official of the World Council of Churches, once observed that: “Our neighbours with 

primal views on life and ways of life have much to teach us” (just as Christians may have much to teach them, 

since only God is said to be omniscient). Human beings can always learn from one another, generally speaking, 

if there is humility and openness of mind. Jesus Himself is quoted as saying, on several occasions, about some 

Gentiles, that: “In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this” (Matt. 8:10; Like 7:9). 

The foregoing is a testimony to the fact of some amazement in the content of the philosophy, theology, 

and general epistemology of peoples, such as Africans, who lay no claim to special revelation as in Judaism, 

Christianity, and Islam. 

The points highlighted by Scanlon and Taylor make it reasonable and fair to assume that like the 

biblical hagiographers, African sacred artists are both inspired and inerrant, as far as humanly possible, since 

God is also the Lord in their historical narratives, in their myths and other forms of fiction. Realising how God 

blessed a Gentile household, Peter could not help saying: “The truth I have now come to realise is that God does 

not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to 

him” (Acts 10:34). The statement expresses God‟s impartiality in respect of every people and individual human 

being created in the imago Dei. 

One discovered that traditional Africans don‟t know such personalities as Abraham, Moses, David, and 

Jesus Christ, but along with the name of God, certain names are found in their oral and the emerging literary 

traditions. Among the Yoruba, for instance, the people of Ile-Ife are not likely to ever forget Lady Moremi who 

is said to have risked her life, and offered her only son, Oluorogbo, in sacrifice for the liberation of her people. 

Likewise, the Ijesha Yoruba immortalize the name of Obokun, who played a role that was similar to 

that of Moremi, and the Egba Yoruba commemorate their ancient political liberator, Lishabi (Biobaku, 1991:8- 

11,32). For the Yoruba of Ijebu-Ode it is Obanta, while the Ibadan Yoruba celebrate the memory of Oluyole. 

Collectively speaking, Oduduwa corresponds in Yoruba context to Father Abraham in Judaeo-Christian history 

(Ajayi and Smith, 1971:1-2) . Many local martyrs, heroes and heroines are also known in traditional African 

societies and communities, in whose bibliographies God can be said to have revealed Himself in a special way. 

Jesus Christ is quoted as saying: And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with 

Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom will be 

thrown out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth (Matt. 8:11-12). 

The bottom line is that whether in Christianity, ATR or any other authentic religion and culture, it does 

not seem that God has left anybody or people without revealing Himself to them, one way or another, whether in 

the past or at the present time, and on continuous basis. The modes of revelation have also been found to be 

similar in many respects. God is said to have revealed Himself to human beings through the created order, oral 

and written traditions, some human mediums, historical experiences, conscience, creative and philosophical 

works of art, as well as in dreams and visions. Of course, each case requires discernment for authentication in 

its own context. 


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VI. Conclusion 

This study sought to establish why Christians should not allow themselves to be consumed by 

superiority complex or a form of triumphalism that may injure human unity and solidarity, and create conflicts 

in a religiously pluralistic society, such as Yorubaland. Some quotations (above) indicate that many Christians 

have realized that in spite of the doctrine of the Incarnation, God, as a spiritual Being, remains largely 

mysterious and unmonopolisable. Nobody seems to possess the key to completely unravel God‟s invisibility, 

incomprehensibility, and intractability. That makes nonsense of any form of triumphalism, arrogance or 

pretentiousness in respect of divine revelation. Wisdom demands, therefore, that Christians in Yorubaland, and 

indeed all human beings, cultivate humility, mutual respect, and brotherly sharing of knowledge and experience. 

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