Editorial

I am delighted to announce the successful publication of Volume 26, 2020 of our esteemed journal, Lagos Notes and Records. This current edition is made up of thirteen well-researched articles across the various disciplines of the Humanities and Social Sciences namely History, Philosophy, Creative Arts, Language Studies, Literature, Communication Studies, and Linguistics.

Lynn Schler in the first article, ‘The Local and the Global in African Studies: An Essay in Honour of Prof. Ayodeji Olukoju @ 60’, argues that in every geographic context, African studies evolved as an intersection between local and global flows of ideas, politics and capital. She concludes that the future of African studies requires scholars to view Africa as both a singular idea and a conglomeration of vastly diverse cultural contexts. Scholars must be aware of what is distinctive in local contexts and also take cognizance of global solutions. 

In the second article, ‘Identity and Ideological Positioning in Popular Nigerian Ethnic Jokes’, ’Rotimi Taiwo and David Dontele examine the discursive constructions of selected jokes to determine their expression of attitudinal and ideological dispositions of the ethnic groups within the multilingual/multicultural context of Nigeria. They argue that ethnic jokes in Nigeria construct stereotypes about linguo-cultural signs, and that the jokes have been stripped of their stigmatizing effects owing to the ability of Nigerians to laugh collectively at their perceived prejudices and stereotypes. In a related article, ‘Impression Management and Face Sensitivities in Delta State Courtroom Interactions’, Olasimbo Takpor and Felix Ogoanah investigate impression management and courtroom interactions in High Court proceedings in Delta State of Nigeria within the theoretical framework of Rapport Management Model (Spencer Oatey). They conclude that to manage face sensitivities, courtroom interactants create diverse impressions of themselves or others by deploying impression management strategies such as self-promotion, intimidation, apologies, ingratiation and conformity as determined by the peculiarities of legal procedures and cultural norms, which mediate judicial proceedings, interpretations and decisions.

Felix Ajiola’s ‘Colonial Capitalism and the Structure of the Nigerian Cocoa Marketing Board, 1947-1960’ examines the origin, structure and impact of the Nigerian Cocoa Marketing Board (NCMB) from its inauguration in 1947 up to 1960. The author argues that the NCMB served various interests and purposes, which hardly benefitted cocoa producers, but rather exploited them through intolerable taxes, harmful price regulations and unfavourable grading policies. In another article, ‘The Language Factor and Internet Penetration in Nigeria: A Practical Assessment’, Olushola Are examines all the unstated assumptions behind quests for more language options on the internet with specific reference to Nigeria. The author concludes that the provision of Nigerian language options online would not significantly enhance internet penetration in the country without broader adjustments to the roles and status of indigenous languages as well as greater socio-economic and political reforms to fight general social exclusion for which linguistic exclusion of any form may be merely symptomatic. 

In the sixth article, ‘Theatrical Intervention towards “Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness”’, Oluwatoyin Olokodana-James examines Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness (BPCR) strategies. She argues that BPCR reduces the risks of complications in that it helps health practitioners to detect danger signs from both mother and the newborn early enough. Using qualitative research approach, the author employs theatre and dance as interventionist tools to educate women within Ifako-Ijaye LGA in Lagos State on the usefulness of BPCR. In a different article on ‘Stress Patterning in Polysyllabic Words among Educated Yoruba Speakers of English in Lagos’, Emmanuel Osifeso investigates one hundred (100) undergraduate and post-graduate students across Lagos State to underscore the role of stress patterning of polysyllabic words among educated Yoruba speakers of English in Lagos (EYSEL). He concludes that EYSEL have a propensity for shifting the main stress in English polysyllabic words rightward.

Victor Ariole’s article, ‘Peul (Fulani) Worldview as seen in Ba’s Work: A Critique’, identifies the cultural integration constraints in Africa using Ba’s discussion of the Peul/Fulani as a case study. He concludes that Ba’s thought patterns are quite relevant in understanding the Peul’s worldview which sees probity and constituents’ responsibilities as inalienable with peaceful living or existence. Babatunji Adepoju in the ninth article, ‘Cohesion in English Biblical Narratives: A Study of “The Prodigal Son”’, examines the different methods that writers/speakers employ in making English narratives coherent. He discusses the reasons why many texts are considered disjointed/disorganised thereby making such texts lose the desired radiance. He concludes that the unity of a text is enhanced by adherence to the appropriate usage of grammatical and lexical ties in English narratives. 

Ayọdele Shotunde in ‘A Discourse on the Nature of Crime and Punishment in the Administration of Social Justice in an African Culture’ evaluates the nature of crime and punishment among the Yoruba of Nigeria. Adopting the critical and prescriptive methodology, he concludes that it is important to take an insightful look at the traditional Yoruba conception of crime and punishment given its embedded spirit of forgiveness because such has the potential of fostering better social ethics in contemporary Nigeria. In the next article, ‘China-Hong Kong Dual System: Twenty-Three Years of Uncertainty and Broken Promises’, Henry Ogunjewo argues that the relationship between China and Hong Kong in the last twenty-three years has been characterised by broken promises, failed covenants, unnecessary political meddling, judicial undercutting, press gagging and restrictions on freedom of expressions, leading to protests and political tension in Hong Kong. He concludes that the United Kingdom, former colonial administrator of Hong Kong, needed to bring international pressure on China to protect the interests of Hong Kong.

Bisoye Eleshin’s ‘High-Toned Vowel Prefix in Yoruba’ examines prefixation as it relates to gerund derivation in Yoruba. He uses the morpho-syntactic approach to establish the claim that there actually exists a high-toned vowel prefix i- in Yoruba and that the class of noun it derives is gerund.

The last paper by Mosunmola Ogunmolaji and Oyinade Adekunle ‘‘Madam Due Process’: The Public Life of Obiageli Ezekwesili’ is a biography of Obiageli Ezekwesili. The authors analyse the public life of Obiageli Ezekwesili providing insights into her lifestyle, especially the major forces that spurred her interest in politics and public administration. They conclude that Ezekwesili is an intellectual who has broken gender barriers in Nigeria. She possesses pragmatic understanding of the yearnings of Nigerians through deliberate identification of their problems, acquisition of necessary problem-solving tools, and swift responses to the problems whether or not she stepped on toes in the process.

I hereby warmly recommend these articles to the academic community with the hope that scholars will find them interesting and useful. I congratulate the Editorial Team for a job well done despite the constraints of the COVID era!

Professor Olufunkẹ Adeboye

Dean, Faculty of Arts

Editor-in-Chief