This thesis serves to politically conceptualize and explain the popularity of Pentecostalism in Nigeria. The paper focused on the choice of students and employees Covenant University to join that...Show moreThis thesis serves to politically conceptualize and explain the popularity of Pentecostalism in Nigeria. The paper focused on the choice of students and employees Covenant University to join that same university. Covenant University is a private university which is a subsidiary of the Living Faith Church Worldwide (LFCWW), one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. This choice of university represents a clear choice to affiliate with or join the Pentecostal community and faith. Covenant University is also a community under full control of the church and a Pentecostal societal model. As an multidisciplinary project, the thesis involved using system-level conceptual analysis of political theory combined with an anthropological ethnographic micro-level study of the Covenant University community. The main argument of the thesis is that while the Nigerian sociopolitical landscape is in a state of disorder, meaning that it is void of a supraethnoreligious ethic and is plagued by extreme violence in everyday life, Covenant University and the LFCWW present themselves as communities of order. This is because they are governed by an overarching ethic derived from scripture and because the main compound of the LFCWW is safe contrasted to the Nigerian public space. Church members and staff explicitly separate themselves from the non-believing populous and the government in a dichotomous friend-enemy fashion. The thesis concludes that the choice of Covenant University as a workplace or place of study constitutes a political choice of order over disorder. As this choice mirrors becoming a Pentecostal church member, the analysis of it bares the political importance the Pentecostal movement in Nigeria.Show less
Given the success of African women’s literature in disseminating the African Womanist cause, this study examines popular Nigerian women’s lifestyle magazines to ascertain whether and in what ways...Show moreGiven the success of African women’s literature in disseminating the African Womanist cause, this study examines popular Nigerian women’s lifestyle magazines to ascertain whether and in what ways they are able to reflect, reinforce or contradict the African feminist agenda.Taking an interdisciplinary approach applying qualitative content analysis from literary studies to the content and feature articles of two Nigerian women’s magazines, this study thematically analyzes discourses and practices of femininity in the Nigerian media. Viewed from the African Womanist perspective, this research illustrates that, contrary to the generalization that representations of women in the media are stereotypical and destructive to women, Nigerian women’s lifestyle magazines construct positive images of femininity. Women are portrayed as actively carving out spaces for more freedom of choice and achievement for themselves in work, marriage and motherhood as well as issues that pertain to gender equality and empowerment. Magazine discourse thus mirrors the African feminist agenda, affirming that women’s sectional media can act as vehicles for the positive identity formation of women. Through the application of methods and paradigms from African women’s literary studies to the media, this research contributes to the current shifts in methodological approaches to feminist media studies and provides an understanding of how the mass media can play a role in women’s empowerment.Show less
