Nordic Journal of African Studies 

About: Nordic Journal of African Studies is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Yoruba & Languages of Africa. It has an ISSN identifier of 1235-4481. Over the lifetime, 463 publications have been published receiving 6214 citations.

From Apartheid Education to the Revised National Curriculum Statement: Pedagogy for Identity Formation and Nation Building in South Africa

Abstract: The transition from apartheid education to the present education system in South Africa has not been without problems. Debates on educational issues are always contentious because they involve many stakeholders such as politicians and ordinary communities. In the past, South African education reflected the fragmented society in which it was based, and it hardly created conscientious, critical citizens. Education as a means of undemocratic social control created individuals who were not only short changed but were also compartmentalised along racial and cultural lines. The system also failed to address the democratic principles based on access, full participation and equity. Currently, however, education is seen as a weapon of transformation. The Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) sees education as a tool that could root the South African values enshrined in the Constitution. Democracy, social justice, non-racism, equality and reconciliation are among the fundamental values of the South African education system. On the one hand, market requirements emphasise the need to empower learners in the sciences as this has the potential to improve the economy. On the other hand, education needs to empower learners for effective citizenship and individual enrichment. In this paper, we trace the historical foundations of formal education. Thereafter, the focus falls on how the current RNCS enhances the meaningful participation of learners in society. We look at the potential of education for nation-building. It is also crucial to look at models that could magnify the value of education in post-apartheid South Africa.

The Economy of Conflict in the Oil Rich Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract: Economies of war underpinned by greed and opportunities have been posited to underlie causality, dynamics and the sustenance of conflicts and particularly Africa’s resource wars. The study examines the economy of conflict in the resource conflicts in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It was found that a conflict economy comprising an intensive and violent struggle for resource opportunities, inter and intra communal/ethnic conflicts over resources and the theft and trading in refined and crude oil has blossomed since the 1990s. The paper examines the interfaces between the Nigerian state, multi-national oil companies, the international community and youth militias with the economy. It was found that though the economy did not cause the conflict, it has become a part of the resistance and a resource for sustaining it. The economy underpins an extensive proliferation of arms and the institutions of violence and the pervasiveness of crime, violence and communal/ethnic conflicts.

Code-Switching and Code-Mixing: Style of Language Use in Childhood in Yoruba Speech Community

Abstract: This article is the report of an investigation into the types of languages acquired at different periods in the lives of members of the education elite in a speech community; to wit, the Ikale in the Irele and Okitipupa Local Government Areas of Ondo State. Through the questionnaire administered on about fifty respondents of the target population, the researcher could establish that the average child of the community starts to become bilingual from the primary school stage of his education. This, in effect, makes code-switching and code-mixing manifest in the child’s linguistic performance right from his early age. The implication is that, since both phenomena correlate positively with the educational attainment of individuals, English language teachers should devise the means of preventing the demerits of code-switching and code-mixing from adversely affecting the language acquisition process of the child.

The Sociolinguistic of Akan Personal Names

Abstract: The paper addresses personal names among the Akan of Ghana and considers naming as an important aspect of the Akan society The paper looks at Akan names within the purview of linguistics anthropology It considers names as not being arbitrary labels but sociocultural tags that have sociocultural functions and meanings The paper discusses the typology of Akan names These include (1) day names, (2) family names, (3) circumstantial names, (4) theophorous names, (5) flora and fauna names, (6) weird and reincarnate names, (7) achievement names, stool names, religious, occupational, etc (8) insinuating and proverbial names, (9) bodily structure and (10) kinship etc

Social Exclusion and Inclusion: Challenges to Orphan Care in Malawi

Abstract: One of the major effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Malawi as in sub-Saharan African in general is the rising number of orphans. Development practitioners and scholars interested in the topic argue that there is a total breakdown in family structures and social support systems. Safety nets are collapsing and increasing numbers of orphaned children are becoming destitute. This paper argues that granted the social strains caused by the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, families and social support systems are developing adaptive capabilities with varying degrees of success and failure. New strategies are adopted while others are abandoned. There are many conceptions of orphanhood depending on an individual's social and economic position. The size of the family in which the orphans are found, the ages and gender of the orphaned children, the number(s) of losses of the family members, and the economic status of the care givers all have a bearing on the success or failure of the orphan care system.