Nelson Fashina | University of Ibadan (original) (raw)

Papers by Nelson Fashina

Journal of Pan African Studies, Jul 1, 2008

... who were present at the Copans' IFRA sponsored Lecture maintained a culture of diplo... more ... who were present at the Copans' IFRA sponsored Lecture maintained a culture of diplomatic silence and ... Western contexts where a Mr. Stone, Mr. Clay, Mr. Wood or Mr. Stanley may ... like 'Ogun' and 'Sango' as in Ogunkoroju and Sangodele, respectively, in Ola Rotimi's historical ...

Arsenic contamination of underground/well water in developing countries of the world is a major h... more Arsenic contamination of underground/well water in developing countries of the world is a major health concern for man and animals, thus the search for other co-toxicants and potent remedies. The herbal therapeutic use of Eclipta alba in the management of ulcer, diarhoea, constipation and pile have been documented. We investigated the effects of the ethanol leaf extract of Eclipta alba (ELEA) on sodium arsenite (SA) induced-genotoxicity and hepatotoxicity in male Wistar rats. Twenty male rats were divided into four groups of five rats each. Group I received distilled water only. Group II rats were treated with SA (5.0mg/kg b.w.) once in two days and Group III with ELEA (200mg/kg b.w./day). Group IV received SA (5.0mg/kg b.w.) and ELEA (200mg/kg b.w.) simultaneously. All treatments were oral and for fourteen days. The activities of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), γ-glutamyl transferase (γGT), alanine (ALT) and aspartate (AST) amino transferases were monitored as markers for hepatot...

Spheres Public and Private, 2011

O the inherent semantic ambiguity of the topic before me in this allsignificant subject. Thus, in... more O the inherent semantic ambiguity of the topic before me in this allsignificant subject. Thus, in order to excuse the ironic contradiction in the theoretical and conceptual underpinning of such academic discourse, I choose to read my topic as 'Lit-Orature Development, World ...

The paper traces the recurrence of a great matrix of identical literary 'codes' and 'signatures' ... more The paper traces the recurrence of a great matrix of identical literary 'codes' and 'signatures' of African/black literature all over the world. It proves that this 'birthtmark' atavistically remains immanent in every black literature in spite of the cultural diffusion and dispersion of the blacks and the relative textual conquest of black literary values by the Western cosmopolitan literary culture. Literary productions by Africans and their stock in America, Brazil, West Indies and Africa contain, in varying degrees, the synergy of African cultural values. They integrate ancient mythologies into modem context of post-colonial, post-slavery and post-industrial global society. And it is from this universal matrix that we can evolve novel systems of ritual aesthetic theory and criticism for African literature. The paper offers a critical interrogation of attempts in African/black literary history to de-colonize African Literature. It problematizes the claim that African rituals and festivals compare with European drama and argues that though African literary identity is still concealed by its burden of European linguistic, aesthetic and cultural contents, the hybrid status should also be used as framework for developing a factual theory of African literature. Lack of acceptance of this reality has put some barriers of authenticity on the search for an African theory that is insulated from critical consultations of Western reading theories. Thus, the paper recognizes the inevitable influx of several confluences of linguistic, cultural and literary forms into African literature, And it argues therefore that any reading theory of this literature must approach it from the angle of its inextricable hybridity and at the same time recognize its depth of source in African indigenous epistemology.

The entrance of Toyin Falola, a renowned African scholar historian based at the University of Tex... more The entrance of Toyin Falola, a renowned African scholar historian based at the University of Texas at Austin, into African literary creativity has mid-wived a significant landmark in the development? of an African theory of knowledge and an African theory of being, with the consciousness of miscegenation of African oratorical, rhetorical, and discursive poetics alongside the stifling alternatives of Western paradigms and metropolitan capitals of ancient Greek and modern philosophies. Integrated into this poetics of African knowledge are philosophical reconstructions of the Yoruba concept of Eda (being), a dialogical discourse method, African individuality and socialism, the philosophy of womanhood, motherhood and of the transcendence of human spirit, illusion and magic over the empirical structures of science and physicality. This provides a multi-disciplinary window into the project of evolving a valid African epistemology and theory of knowledge that are insulated from critical and theoretical homage to Western alternative paradigms.

African Study Monographs, 2009

This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fi... more This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fiction, The Voice. While it is common to ascribe masculine interpretations to most early post colonial writings, this author argues that Okara's agenda in this novel is to propagate a bisexual, co-sexual and joint gender heroism thesis as the best and most harmonious approach to a true post-colonial African nationalism. The search for "it" (the neuter pronoun as metaphor for the essence of truth, justice, gender equality and fairness) by the male messiah-hero is invigorated by the physical, logistic and spiritual support of the misunderstood female mother In the tale of a strong bond between the two main characters to search "it," and "the thing between us," Okara uses a genderless pronoun and a generic noun, respectively. This desexation in language, style and themes in The Voice can be understood and appropriated for the contemporary search for an African epistemology.

JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African …, 2007

This paper attempts to re-read Soyinka's absurdist play, The Road, to demonstrate that its depth ... more This paper attempts to re-read Soyinka's absurdist play, The Road, to demonstrate that its depth of philosophical meaning transcends earlier critical interpretations that seem to view Soyinka's linguistic obscurantism as a weakness rather than a metafunctional device. It employs illustrative accounts that language itself is a symbolic thematic problem which Soyinka projects in the play both as a character, center, and circumference of postcolonial African literature and human society in general. The linguistic ideas of Halliday, Barthes, Deridda, and Nietzsche are used to elucidate the problem of the inchoate nature of language and the inevitable fact that language is indeed a 'prisoner' of human thought. Thus, Professor's search for the 'Word' is a trope of Soyinka's search for the solution to the language problem arising from the 'disjunctive' relations between the European languages and the 'indigenous ideas of African literature' -a problem which short-circuits the communication, exchange, and transaction of artistic and aesthetic meaning among the African folk.

This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fi... more This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fiction, The Voice. While it is common to ascribe masculine interpretations to most early post colonial writings, this author argues that Okara's agenda in this novel is to propagate a bisexual, co-sexual and joint gender heroism thesis as the best and most harmonious approach to a true post-colonial African nationalism. The search for "it" (the neuter pronoun as metaphor for the essence of truth, justice, gender equality and fairness) by the male messiah-hero is invigorated by the physical, logistic and spiritual support of the misunderstood female mother In the tale of a strong bond between the two main characters to search "it," and "the thing between us," Okara uses a genderless pronoun and a generic noun, respectively. This desexation in language, style and themes in The Voice can be understood and appropriated for the contemporary search for an African epistemology.

Journal of Pan African Studies, Jul 1, 2008

... who were present at the Copans' IFRA sponsored Lecture maintained a culture of diplo... more ... who were present at the Copans' IFRA sponsored Lecture maintained a culture of diplomatic silence and ... Western contexts where a Mr. Stone, Mr. Clay, Mr. Wood or Mr. Stanley may ... like 'Ogun' and 'Sango' as in Ogunkoroju and Sangodele, respectively, in Ola Rotimi's historical ...

Arsenic contamination of underground/well water in developing countries of the world is a major h... more Arsenic contamination of underground/well water in developing countries of the world is a major health concern for man and animals, thus the search for other co-toxicants and potent remedies. The herbal therapeutic use of Eclipta alba in the management of ulcer, diarhoea, constipation and pile have been documented. We investigated the effects of the ethanol leaf extract of Eclipta alba (ELEA) on sodium arsenite (SA) induced-genotoxicity and hepatotoxicity in male Wistar rats. Twenty male rats were divided into four groups of five rats each. Group I received distilled water only. Group II rats were treated with SA (5.0mg/kg b.w.) once in two days and Group III with ELEA (200mg/kg b.w./day). Group IV received SA (5.0mg/kg b.w.) and ELEA (200mg/kg b.w.) simultaneously. All treatments were oral and for fourteen days. The activities of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), γ-glutamyl transferase (γGT), alanine (ALT) and aspartate (AST) amino transferases were monitored as markers for hepatot...

Spheres Public and Private, 2011

O the inherent semantic ambiguity of the topic before me in this allsignificant subject. Thus, in... more O the inherent semantic ambiguity of the topic before me in this allsignificant subject. Thus, in order to excuse the ironic contradiction in the theoretical and conceptual underpinning of such academic discourse, I choose to read my topic as 'Lit-Orature Development, World ...

The paper traces the recurrence of a great matrix of identical literary 'codes' and 'signatures' ... more The paper traces the recurrence of a great matrix of identical literary 'codes' and 'signatures' of African/black literature all over the world. It proves that this 'birthtmark' atavistically remains immanent in every black literature in spite of the cultural diffusion and dispersion of the blacks and the relative textual conquest of black literary values by the Western cosmopolitan literary culture. Literary productions by Africans and their stock in America, Brazil, West Indies and Africa contain, in varying degrees, the synergy of African cultural values. They integrate ancient mythologies into modem context of post-colonial, post-slavery and post-industrial global society. And it is from this universal matrix that we can evolve novel systems of ritual aesthetic theory and criticism for African literature. The paper offers a critical interrogation of attempts in African/black literary history to de-colonize African Literature. It problematizes the claim that African rituals and festivals compare with European drama and argues that though African literary identity is still concealed by its burden of European linguistic, aesthetic and cultural contents, the hybrid status should also be used as framework for developing a factual theory of African literature. Lack of acceptance of this reality has put some barriers of authenticity on the search for an African theory that is insulated from critical consultations of Western reading theories. Thus, the paper recognizes the inevitable influx of several confluences of linguistic, cultural and literary forms into African literature, And it argues therefore that any reading theory of this literature must approach it from the angle of its inextricable hybridity and at the same time recognize its depth of source in African indigenous epistemology.

The entrance of Toyin Falola, a renowned African scholar historian based at the University of Tex... more The entrance of Toyin Falola, a renowned African scholar historian based at the University of Texas at Austin, into African literary creativity has mid-wived a significant landmark in the development? of an African theory of knowledge and an African theory of being, with the consciousness of miscegenation of African oratorical, rhetorical, and discursive poetics alongside the stifling alternatives of Western paradigms and metropolitan capitals of ancient Greek and modern philosophies. Integrated into this poetics of African knowledge are philosophical reconstructions of the Yoruba concept of Eda (being), a dialogical discourse method, African individuality and socialism, the philosophy of womanhood, motherhood and of the transcendence of human spirit, illusion and magic over the empirical structures of science and physicality. This provides a multi-disciplinary window into the project of evolving a valid African epistemology and theory of knowledge that are insulated from critical and theoretical homage to Western alternative paradigms.

African Study Monographs, 2009

This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fi... more This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fiction, The Voice. While it is common to ascribe masculine interpretations to most early post colonial writings, this author argues that Okara's agenda in this novel is to propagate a bisexual, co-sexual and joint gender heroism thesis as the best and most harmonious approach to a true post-colonial African nationalism. The search for "it" (the neuter pronoun as metaphor for the essence of truth, justice, gender equality and fairness) by the male messiah-hero is invigorated by the physical, logistic and spiritual support of the misunderstood female mother In the tale of a strong bond between the two main characters to search "it," and "the thing between us," Okara uses a genderless pronoun and a generic noun, respectively. This desexation in language, style and themes in The Voice can be understood and appropriated for the contemporary search for an African epistemology.

JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African …, 2007

This paper attempts to re-read Soyinka's absurdist play, The Road, to demonstrate that its depth ... more This paper attempts to re-read Soyinka's absurdist play, The Road, to demonstrate that its depth of philosophical meaning transcends earlier critical interpretations that seem to view Soyinka's linguistic obscurantism as a weakness rather than a metafunctional device. It employs illustrative accounts that language itself is a symbolic thematic problem which Soyinka projects in the play both as a character, center, and circumference of postcolonial African literature and human society in general. The linguistic ideas of Halliday, Barthes, Deridda, and Nietzsche are used to elucidate the problem of the inchoate nature of language and the inevitable fact that language is indeed a 'prisoner' of human thought. Thus, Professor's search for the 'Word' is a trope of Soyinka's search for the solution to the language problem arising from the 'disjunctive' relations between the European languages and the 'indigenous ideas of African literature' -a problem which short-circuits the communication, exchange, and transaction of artistic and aesthetic meaning among the African folk.

This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fi... more This paper is a new reconstruction of gender meanings on Gabriel Okara's post-colonial African fiction, The Voice. While it is common to ascribe masculine interpretations to most early post colonial writings, this author argues that Okara's agenda in this novel is to propagate a bisexual, co-sexual and joint gender heroism thesis as the best and most harmonious approach to a true post-colonial African nationalism. The search for "it" (the neuter pronoun as metaphor for the essence of truth, justice, gender equality and fairness) by the male messiah-hero is invigorated by the physical, logistic and spiritual support of the misunderstood female mother In the tale of a strong bond between the two main characters to search "it," and "the thing between us," Okara uses a genderless pronoun and a generic noun, respectively. This desexation in language, style and themes in The Voice can be understood and appropriated for the contemporary search for an African epistemology.