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Charts new trends in gender studies through a compelling analysis of Igbo society. ... Read more

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Great Book
Nzegwu does an excellent job of showing the problems about theorizing from a Western perspective, and yet, in turn making judgments about non-Western cultures (e.g., Igbo family).In this book is a very interesting dialogue where she shows how Western perspectives have misundestood Igbo culture.In chapter 5, she provides a very provactive solution (i.e., dual-sex system) to the problems raise by liberal equality in America. ... Read more

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How have different forms of colonialism shaped societies and their politics?William F. S. Miles focuses on the Hausa-speaking people of West Africa whose land is still split by an arbitrary boundary established by Great Britain and France at the turn of the century. ... Read more

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Good stuff!
A long-running debate in the study of 20th Century African history has been whether there really was any substantive difference between French "direct" rule and British "indirect" rule in the colonial era.Miles gives us a new perspective by focusing on the contemporary differences between two neighboring Hausa-speaking communities -- one in Niger (formerly a French Colony) and one in Nigeria (formerly under British rule).By examining not only conteporary conditions but also the memories of the respective inhabitants, Mile's careful study provides scholars and interested readers with an insightful perspective into the impact of the past on the present. Well-written accessible, and smart. ... Read more

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"Cultural Dimensions - Nigeria" reflects the author's love of West Africa, as well as the combined observations and experiences of many other expatriates whose views have contributed to this book. Here is a brief sample of the kind of "street-smart" information you will encounter throughout the book.

Nearly all rural Nigerians and even many urban dwellers, including many Muslims believe in the existence of nature spirits. These are spirits that animate water, trees, rocks, etc. In some areas there will be a special Chief in charge of a shrine to a particular spirit. Many Nigerians believe in the power of these spirits to help and to harm. Illness, injury and death are often attributed to a strong juju cast by an enemy, and drought and famine are seen as signs of the anger of these spirits, while equally often good fortune and good crops, along with healthy children and productive animals are attributed to the positive spirits.

African culture is rich in spiritual experience throughout everyday life because spiritual experience is not limited to formal practices and ceremonies but occurs many times a day as a person goes about the ordinary tasks of living like working, communicating, eating, talking, or thinking. Westerners tend to pride themselves on not being superstitious, and may sometimes characterize the kinds of beliefs they flatter themselves to think that they observe among Africans as primitive or magical. This kind of culturally biased observation may appear to have little to do with technical or business issues, however, West Africa is not kind to Western managers and technical experts who fail to understand the power of the unseen.

For many Africans, especially those who are not technically or broadly educated, the world is full of unseen forces that act on people and on mechanical systems as well. When a complex system begins behaving erratically or breaks down, the Western analytical mind immediately begins to look for the mechanical or electrical cause, and only jokes about bugs and gremlins. From the traditional African point of view, a highly probable cause of any given system failure would be what Westerners call magic or witchcraft. Many educated Africans reject the notion that they are affected by such thinking, but that rejection may sometimes be due to concern for how their western colleagues would judge them if they admitted even an academic interest in the topic.

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Customer Reviews (1)

Great little book with useful advice
Having spent 3 years on expatriate assignment in Nigeria, I can say that this book is extemely accurate.It is a book that I wish I had read before going to Nigeria, and one that I would have consulted many times while there.Companies should make this book mandatory reading for anyone they are sending on assignment to Nigeria.I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be effective as a business person in Nigeria, to anyone who wants to make their stay there a bit easier, and to anyone who just wants to understand their experinece in Nigeria. ... Read more

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Nigerian Video Flims
This book offers excellent insight into one of the world's largest film industries. The inclusion of essays on the Hausa films of northern Nigeria makes the book admirably well balanced, as southern productions have usually received the most attention. Overall, I found it fascinating, scholarly and well-written. ... Read more

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The NIGERIA-BIAFRA war started in mid 1967 when a tiny region of Nigeria seceded from Nigeria to become Biafra. With the complete support of the British government, Nigeria instituted a very powerful and effective blockade on Biafra. The only communication that Biafra had with the rest of the world was through the RED CROSS and CARITAS relief flights that were flown into Biafra at nights under heavy attacks from Nigerian forces. Some of the planes were shot down. With no powerful nation backing Biafra, coupled with the blockade and the consequent lack of food and medicine, surviving in Biafra became a matter of improvisements for both Biafran forces and citizens. In an area that was replete with diseases like malaria, typhoid and kwashiorkor, this book explains how the Biafran citizens were able to survive for almost three years until Biafra was defeated in January 1970. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Totally Inadequate
This book was very unorganized and unedited. This is not at all a good way to learn about the Biafra war. I couldn't believe that anyone would allow this book to be published.

A must-read book on surviving in Biafra
Chief Jim Ojiaku has written a fantastic and excellent expose' of the events of the Nigerian civil war from the home perspective. The rendition of his experiences, his free style of writing, enabled him to compress a large volume of facts with eloquence and details, thus, reminding the reader about why 'war is raw'. Chief Ojiaku wrote from the heart--a testament of the originality that would be a point of reference for future writers, hence there were no bibliographical references. The book portrayed how a determined people (Biafrans) courageously persevered over a thirty-month bloody civil war in the face of adversity perpetrated by world super-powers who coerced the international community to look away while they helped the Federal Government of Nigeria in its failed effort to win the war in forty-eight hours, then resorted to blockade and blanket the Biafrans both by sea, air, and land and executed the blood-letting and starvation that led to an eventual surrender to peace in 1970.
Chief Ojiaku indicated that although the battle ended in the war front, the war rages on as people from the Biafran side continue to be marginalized in almost all aspects of Nigerian life--politics, university admissions, road constructions and what have you! This book showed that Chief Jim Ojiaku can successfully make use of good advice. Thanks to his brother in law--Professor Joe Akunna who sincerely advised him to put down his thoughts in black and white.
Surviving the iron curtain exemplified how Biafra was killed in a genocidal civil unrest, but the people refused to die. The planned extermination of the Biafrans from the surface of the earth--how civilians were tortured and starved, the poor state of Biafra, how ill-equipped young people joined the war to save their people, how the Biafrans used improvises to fight valiantly as the Biblical David against Goliath. Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku did not forget the benevolence of the Red Cross and other relief organizations in breaking the iron curtain despite enemy attack. Worst still was the only twenty pounds which Biafrans received from the Nigerian Government who had any bank account in Biafran banks--being the only rehabilitation received since after the war.
Chief Jim Ojiaku deliberately refused to deal with the blame game that characterizes every war. He was right to blame both sides in order to allow the reader to understand his reason for writing the book. Finally Biafra surrendered through the courage and bravery of Colonel Philip Effiong who helped to salvage the human skull that was left of Biafra--in 1970. I strongly recommend this book to all who profess to the Biafran cause-both old and young--a reminder of the indelible scar--that was Biafra.

Surviving the iron curtain by Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku
In reading Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku's book I learned a piece of history that needs to be read by everyone and the world needs to remember the horrors of the war between Nigeria and The Republic Of Biafra and a war that tore apart a country.
He tells of one story about his brother Emmanuel who is killed at the front at the young age of 19 and the beautiful touching letter his father writes to his dead son, "An Epitath To Lt. Emmanuel Ojiaku."

This letter is heart breaking and no one would forget reading it. He writes very lovingly about his mother, father, brothers and sisters and especially about his love for his people. He brings forth in his book many beautiful photographs and diagrams on the many foods in his region and explains in great detail on each food and how they're prepared.

This book is a must read. Jim brings forth the great love he has for his people, his family and most of all his great country.

I give Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku five stars ***** for a book well written.

Joseph Frank Baraba
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Audrey Smedley offers a unique interpretation of the role of women in traditional patrilineal societies. Her research with the Birom people of Nigeria reveals that many of the critical features of patrilyny were in fact invented by women. Her work contributes to the new global studies of women that document the realities of their lives that often contradict current Western assumptions. It is a valuable resource for researchers in anthropological kinship and theory, gender studies, and African studies. ... Read more

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The Bantu people cover a wide swathe of Africa and their legends have changed and evolved separately but have maintained a thread unique only held by Bantu legends. This book is a must read for anybody with in interest in the incredible world of African folklore and legends. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

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Egbe History and Culture This book explains the origin of Egbe, a Yoruba town in Nigeria and suggests that there were people who settled at the site as far back as 3,000 BC. It identifies the Founder, Kelae, and explains the eleven original settlements in the town as well as its relationships with the environs. Common beliefs and practices are discussed including initiation into womanhood, rituals, age grouping system and so on. The history of chieftaincy institutions and the four most recent chiefs of the town are discussed as well as the appointment of honorary chiefs. The legacy of the early missionaries in the areas of education, health-care provision and religion are also briefly looked into. This New Edition has been expanded with additional information on several issues and it now possesses exhibits and an index useful for a good study. ... Read more

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Though Africa today, with her large number of Christians, is often seen as the future hope of the Church, a closer examination of Christianity shows that the Christian faith has not taken deep roots in Africa. Many Africans today declare themselves Christians, but as before, they remain followers of their traditional African religions especially in matters concerning the inner dimensions of their life. It is evident that in strictly personal matters relating to such issues as passage and crises of life, most Africans turn to their African traditional religions.Christianity as an incarnational faith has its history a part of which is the encounter of the Christian faith with other cultures and taking deep roots in some of these cultures. The central question remains why has the Christian faith not taken deep root in Africa?Addressing this question is the main thrust of this volume. ... Read more

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"Olaniyan has given us a profound and beautifully integrated book which culminates in a persuasive interpretation of the relationship between Fela's apparently incompatible presentational selves.... The book's accessible and evocative prose is in itself a kind of homage to Fela's continual ability to seduce and astonish.... This is such an attractive book you feel like... ransacking your collection for Fela tapes." -- Karin Barber

"... an indispensable companion to Fela's music and a rich source of information for studies in modern African popular music." -- Akin Euba

Arrest the Music! is a lively musical study of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, one of Africa's most recognizable, popular, and controversial musicians. The flamboyant originator of the "Afrobeat" sound and self-proclaimed voice of the voiceless, Fela used music, sharp-tongued lyrics, and derisive humor to challenge the shortcomings of Nigerian and postcolonial African states. Looking at the social context, instrumentation, lyrics, visual art, people, and organizations through which Fela produced his music, Tejumola Olaniyan offers a wider, more suggestive perspective on Fela and his impact on listeners in all parts of the world.

Placing Fela front and center, Olaniyan underscores important social issues such as authenticity, racial and cultural identity, the relationship of popular culture to radical politics, and the meaning of postcolonialism, nationalism, and globalism in contemporary Africa. Readers interested in music, culture, society, and politics, whether or not they know Fela and his music, will find this work invaluable for understanding the career of an African superstar and the politics of popular culture in contemporary Africa.

African Expressive Cultures -- Patrick McNaughton, general editor

Customer Reviews (1)

3.5 Stars for Worthy-to-Read Glimpse Into a Former Matriarchy. But Author's Next Book Would Be Better Choice
I read the original edition of 1987. It is a booklet of some 60 regular text pages, with eight additional monochrome picture pages.

It is about the Igbo of Nigeria. Their focus on the mother, women's political power, the Nnobi matriarchy and the goddess Idemili. If you have already read this one, it does make sense to also read the author's next book, published immediately thereafter, it appears: Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society. If you want an in-depth elaboration of this book, that is. It doesn't make any sense vice versa: It appears that Ifi Amadiume copy-and-pasted this book's content directly into the next one, after correcting typos and deciding to spell "Afrikan" with a "c". The only information not included in the next book seems to be the two-page conclusion. In other words I don't deem it necessary to pay a collectors' price for this one, if the next book is available. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the story of a little Nigerian boy who doesn’t know what job to do when he grows up. His father teaches in a school, his mother owns a bakery, Auntie Ngo is a doctor, and another aunt makes pots. But his grandfather seems wiser and more interesting than any of them — for he is a traditional healer who uses the ancient knowledge of plants and trees to help his people. Award-winning author Ifeoma Onyefulu presents a vibrant view of African village life in this book for children of all cultures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nigerian Children's book
This book is an excellent introduction to the Nigerian culture. It is accurate and shows through the use of photographs different elements of Nigerian daily life. Excellent book for the younger grades who may only have been exposed to Disney's Africa and Tarzan.

Instructive and Respectful of Traditional Knowledge
I must disagree entirely with the first reviewer. This is a lovely, informative, and thought-provoking book.

The young Nigerian boy who narrates this book describes the impressive work that each of his closest adult relatives do. His grandmother is a seamstress; his father a school teacher; his mother the owner of a bakery; his uncles a woodworker, a blacksmith, and a lawyer; and his aunties a potter and a doctor. But most impressive of all, he thinks, is his grandfather, who heals people using his extensive knowledge of plants. Though his work appears "magical" to his grandson, grandfather makes it clear the bounties of nature and the rich knowledge of the forbearers are the real sources of his healing powers. This book displays a level of respect for indigenous knowledge systems that is rare among children's books.

Translate: My granddad's a WITCH DOCTOR
This title euphemizes what is common knowledge to every African. The true and original name in English of the profession of animistic witchcraft is, for all obvious and appropriate reasons, 'witch doctor.' If you adhere to scriptural eschewance of all occultic practices as abomination to God, you will want to reconsider choosing this book. There are any number of wonderful books and other media for teaching your child the beauty of African culture. I have done in-depth studies with each of my children of the customs, art, music, language, clothing, folklore, and landscape of Africa-- including its religions at an appropriate age-- without promoting witchcraft or throwing open the door to such influences. ... Read more

Product Description
This book’s rare insight on media practice shakes conventional notions of the role and enabling environment of the modern press. Romancing the Gun rattles academic tradition by illustrating that Nigeria’s hard-hitting press has not only thrived better while military regimes were in power but that it actually welcomed and supported praetorian rule.

This compelling book draws its energy and depth from the combination of Ndaeyo Ulo’s engaging media practice in Nigeria, and his international education and academic career in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.It exposes the chasm between the armchair media scholarship of Westerns scholars and the damning reality of the media institutions in non-western societies.Romancing the Gun retells the history of the press in Nigeria, and confronts some of the issues that Nigeria’s brand of journalism and the country’s debased political system had driven into oblivion.One example is the letter-bomb death of prominent Nigerian editor and columnist, Dele Giwa, in 1986 that made headlines around the world. This books asks some questions which the international and local media as well as scholars were ‘too polite to conceive and ask’ about the incident that shook the media world. One such burning question is: "what would a renowned journalist be expecting in a large envelope from a military dictator on a Saturday morning?"

By posing startling questions and querying conventional wisdom and mental habits, Romancing the Gun unveils the power and irresponsibility of the Nigerian press—one of the world’s freest presses—and provides crucial missing pieces in the puzzle of global media scholarship and practice. ... Read more

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In Ohafia, Nigeria, histories are danced. John McCall's richly textured and sensuous ethnography, Dancing Histories, focuses on these performative representations of history and ethnicity to suggest new possibilities for theorizing social processes.
Tacking between ethnography and theory, McCall makes the case for heuristic research--research that treats ideas operative on-the-ground as a body of indigenous social theory with explanatory potential equivalent to ideas derived from academic knowledge. Thus, for example, the narrative of a "brave woman" of Ohafia who dresses as a man, has wives, and participates in men's initiatory rites frames the question of transgendered individuals in terms strikingly different from those determined by academic interests. Likewise, rituals that invoke the head-hunting warriors of old in celebration of Ohafia men who succeed in business and higher education challenge assumptions about modernization.
Dancing Histories confronts the intellectual apartheid that has privileged western views, opening a dance of interpretations that resist reduction to a single master narrative. Rather than merely formulating formal models of Ohafia culture, the book uses evocative prose to move the reader toward an understanding of what it is like to live in this part of Nigeria. It will be an important addition to courses on research methods and ethnographic writing as well as more general courses in African peoples and expressive culture.
John C. McCall is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
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