Insa Nolte
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638956
- eISBN:
- 9780748653027
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638956.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This book examines the evolution of a distinctive Yoruba community, Remo, and the central role played in this process by the Remo-born nationalist and Yoruba leader Obafemi Awolowo (1909–87). Since ...
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This book examines the evolution of a distinctive Yoruba community, Remo, and the central role played in this process by the Remo-born nationalist and Yoruba leader Obafemi Awolowo (1909–87). Since the nineteenth century, popular participation has played an important role in challenging or confirming local hierarchies in Remo. This historical dynamic had a significant impact on Awolowo's vision both for Yoruba and Nigerian politics. When Awolowo moved into national politics in the 1950s, his career at the national level also gave him the opportunity to shape Remo's political identity. He was both a product and a producer of Remo politics. Based on a subtle analysis of local-level politics, the book argues that traditional and modern participatory structures play an important role both in Yoruba politics and in the African postcolonial state. At the same time, its focus on Awolowo makes an important contribution to the scholarly debate on one of Nigeria's most important politicians.Less
This book examines the evolution of a distinctive Yoruba community, Remo, and the central role played in this process by the Remo-born nationalist and Yoruba leader Obafemi Awolowo (1909–87). Since the nineteenth century, popular participation has played an important role in challenging or confirming local hierarchies in Remo. This historical dynamic had a significant impact on Awolowo's vision both for Yoruba and Nigerian politics. When Awolowo moved into national politics in the 1950s, his career at the national level also gave him the opportunity to shape Remo's political identity. He was both a product and a producer of Remo politics. Based on a subtle analysis of local-level politics, the book argues that traditional and modern participatory structures play an important role both in Yoruba politics and in the African postcolonial state. At the same time, its focus on Awolowo makes an important contribution to the scholarly debate on one of Nigeria's most important politicians.
Jonathan Haynes
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226387819
- eISBN:
- 9780226388007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226388007.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
Nollywood has a reputation for avoiding political issues, but a genre of “political films” emerged after the end of military rule in 1999. Nollywood extended strategies it had already developed to ...
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Nollywood has a reputation for avoiding political issues, but a genre of “political films” emerged after the end of military rule in 1999. Nollywood extended strategies it had already developed to represent the workings of power in society. Traditional rule by kings and chiefs becomes an allegory for national politics in Kelani’s Saworoide and Agogo Eewo. The money ritual film is a vehicle for analyzing mechanisms of political predation in Nnebue Rituals. The family film, whose melodramatic mode is suited to the highly personalized forms of power in Nigeria, turned to the political elite, as in Dark Goddess and Stubborn Grasshopper, which tells the story of the dictator Sani Abacha. Given the un-ideological character of Nigerian politics, the moralism that Nollywood shares with African popular culture effectively addresses much that matters in governance as well as expressing the grassroots desire for justice.Less
Nollywood has a reputation for avoiding political issues, but a genre of “political films” emerged after the end of military rule in 1999. Nollywood extended strategies it had already developed to represent the workings of power in society. Traditional rule by kings and chiefs becomes an allegory for national politics in Kelani’s Saworoide and Agogo Eewo. The money ritual film is a vehicle for analyzing mechanisms of political predation in Nnebue Rituals. The family film, whose melodramatic mode is suited to the highly personalized forms of power in Nigeria, turned to the political elite, as in Dark Goddess and Stubborn Grasshopper, which tells the story of the dictator Sani Abacha. Given the un-ideological character of Nigerian politics, the moralism that Nollywood shares with African popular culture effectively addresses much that matters in governance as well as expressing the grassroots desire for justice.
Nolte Insa
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638956
- eISBN:
- 9780748653027
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638956.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Awolowo's political memory remains iconic. As one of the three big nationalist leaders during the time of Nigeria's independence, he ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Awolowo's political memory remains iconic. As one of the three big nationalist leaders during the time of Nigeria's independence, he still inspires pride and respect, even among those who disagree with his political ambitions and ideals. As the first Yoruba leader in national politics, Awolowo also continues to represent a mythical – or potential – Yoruba unity not only to his political heirs but also to his ideological opponents. In this capacity, he furthermore continues to arouse fear and dislike by those who are suspicious of a Yoruba ethno-national politics. But most importantly, Awolowo's rhetoric of devolution, redistribution and education continues to structure intellectual, ideological and even practical opposition to the central government in both southern and northern Nigeria, even if it is usually only attributed to him by Yoruba speakers. Thus, unlike any of his contemporaries, Awolowo has created a political legacy that includes a lasting template for critical engagement with the Nigerian state.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Awolowo's political memory remains iconic. As one of the three big nationalist leaders during the time of Nigeria's independence, he still inspires pride and respect, even among those who disagree with his political ambitions and ideals. As the first Yoruba leader in national politics, Awolowo also continues to represent a mythical – or potential – Yoruba unity not only to his political heirs but also to his ideological opponents. In this capacity, he furthermore continues to arouse fear and dislike by those who are suspicious of a Yoruba ethno-national politics. But most importantly, Awolowo's rhetoric of devolution, redistribution and education continues to structure intellectual, ideological and even practical opposition to the central government in both southern and northern Nigeria, even if it is usually only attributed to him by Yoruba speakers. Thus, unlike any of his contemporaries, Awolowo has created a political legacy that includes a lasting template for critical engagement with the Nigerian state.
Jonathan Haynes
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226387819
- eISBN:
- 9780226388007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226388007.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
The breakdown of law and order in Nigeria created general terror. A series of scandals linked violence, political power, and occult forces: rumors of money rituals practiced by the elite caused ...
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The breakdown of law and order in Nigeria created general terror. A series of scandals linked violence, political power, and occult forces: rumors of money rituals practiced by the elite caused rioting; a vigilante group, the Bakassi Boys, armed themselves with spiritual weapons; many politicians were exposed as clients of a corpse-littered shrine. Nollywood reacted to these scandals, renewing its key symbolic complex, the money ritual, and creating the new subgenre of vigilante films. Villages are the preeminent imagined community for these dramas, seen as the crucial arena for struggles over governance and for spiritual conflicts among traditional, Christian, and predatory occult forces. The village genre localizes these struggles in a dense social fabric. Other kinds of crime film arose at the same time, around 2000; they show various foreign influences, but Nollywood’s crime genre is distinct, family melodrama and spiritual interventions largely displacing detective work.Less
The breakdown of law and order in Nigeria created general terror. A series of scandals linked violence, political power, and occult forces: rumors of money rituals practiced by the elite caused rioting; a vigilante group, the Bakassi Boys, armed themselves with spiritual weapons; many politicians were exposed as clients of a corpse-littered shrine. Nollywood reacted to these scandals, renewing its key symbolic complex, the money ritual, and creating the new subgenre of vigilante films. Villages are the preeminent imagined community for these dramas, seen as the crucial arena for struggles over governance and for spiritual conflicts among traditional, Christian, and predatory occult forces. The village genre localizes these struggles in a dense social fabric. Other kinds of crime film arose at the same time, around 2000; they show various foreign influences, but Nollywood’s crime genre is distinct, family melodrama and spiritual interventions largely displacing detective work.