ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE | Nov. 14, 2023
Promiscuous Technologies: Shifting Notions of Gender and Sexuality in Nigeria’s Digital Public Sphere
Olubukola Deborah Odedairo
Page no 311-317 |
DOI: 10.36348/sjhss.2023.v08i10.001
This paper critically examines the emergence of sexual technologies in Nigeria's digital public sphere. In particular, it explores how the use of sexual technologies like vibrators and dildos in public spaces is viewed as transgressive, and how cultural, social, and religious factors shape Nigerians' perceptions. The paper adopts the concept of transgressive publics to describe how social media enables minoritized groups to challenge dominant norms around sexuality. Two recent cases are analyzed – one involving a Nollywood actress publicly distributing dildos at an event, and another with a blogger recording Nigerian women using vibrators. To examine public discourse around these events, social media comments on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were collected and analyzed thematically. Key findings show sexual technologies are condemned as immoral, demonic, disrespectful to cultural values, and a threat to masculinity. Criticism relies heavily on moral and religious beliefs that cast non-normative sexual expressions as sinful. Reactions also expose gender anxieties related to female autonomy and shifting power relations. However, some pragmatic comments defend women's actions given Nigeria's difficult economic climate. While stigmatized, the public emergence of sexual technologies constitutes a transgressive public for asserting women's sexual agency and pushing boundaries. The study demonstrates how cultural narratives regulating sexuality are negotiated through technology, highlighting tensions between tradition and modernity.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE | Nov. 24, 2023
Terrorism and Global Security: A Comparative Analysis of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS)
Elemanya A. Vincent
Page no 318-328 |
DOI: 10.36348/sjhss.2023.v08i10.002
The transformation of terrorism from Al-Qaeda to the Islamic State (IS) has created new security challenges. This article examines the threats posed by these two groups by discussing their ideologies, structures and capabilities. Unlike local terrorist groups like the Afghan Taliban, the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda pose a global threat. The work looked at the origin of Al- Qaeda which cannot be separated from the soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and the objective of Al- Qaeda which main purpose is unifying and leading the jihad movement and providing its purpose and direction. The organization of Al- Qaeda was also discuss in this work, which is divided into four levels, which include, core Al- Qaeda, affiliated groups, allied groups and motivated persons and network. This work also assessed the impact of Al- Qaeda in global security, where some scholars argued that the group is not viable enough to pose global threat while others argued against it. On the other hand this work examined the origin of IS which started as a result of U.S military intervention in Iraq in 2003. It also examines resource base of IS and its objectives which is the destruction of the asymmetry status- quo existing for a long between Muslim countries and the Western allies. The impact and threat assessment of Al- Qaeda and IS on global security which we found out is that IS initially was fighting the near enemy in Iraqi and Syrian regimes, but latter changed its strategy by equally focusing on the “far enemy” as well, and manifested in its high profile attacks in Europe and other places beyond the Middle East. Lastly the researcher look at the differences between Al- Qaeda and IS in terms of their structure, brutality, popularity, conceptual difference etc. At the end, this paper recommends that a comprehensive global strategy is required to eradicate this growing menace of organized terrorism.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE | Nov. 29, 2023
Hausa in the 21st Century Internet Environment: From Easy Access to Documentation
Abu-Ubaida Sani, Adamu Rabi’u Bakura
Page no 329-336 |
DOI: 10.36348/sjhss.2023.v08i10.003
The research is geared towards investigation on one hand the extent to which Hausa is found on the internet, and utilizing the internet for documenting Hausa materials on the other. The most active internet search engines (i.e. AOL, Ask, Baidu, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, Internet Archive, WolframAlpha, Yandex. and Yahoo) were utilized to determine the number of existing and functioning Hausa websites. The activities and contents of the websites were studied to ascertain if they help matters by providing the needed materials for the ‘Hausa academic world’. The areas and forms of weaknesses of the sites were studied accordingly. It has been observed that the Hausa websites are dominated by several challenges ranging from socio-political to environmental. Finally, suggestions are offered as panaceas for the observed problems, one of which is the need for a collaborative effort between departments and centers for the studies in the Hausa language and the enthusiastic Hausa bloggers for the attainment of common documentation and improvement goals.