Feet Washing (John 13:1-17) as a Paradigm for Christian Leadership in Nigeria (Published)
The washing of the feet is unique to the Gospel of John. In John 13:1-17, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Scholars have offered numerous interpretations of this pericope in their efforts to provide a better understanding of the pericope. However, putting together the grammatical, literary, philosophical, and theological analysis of some interpretations can be difficult because they do not fully capture the Johannine presentation of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. This piqued our interest, and we decided to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether Christians should wash their feet today. This article contends that the Johannine hupodeigma (see v. 15) implies more than an example for imitation, but rather a concrete and fundamental sign of Jesus’ perfect form of love by which Jesus victoriously conquers the world, completes the mission, and offers a part in his life for ‘his own’, thus challenging them to foster servant leadership. The Historical-Critical method is used in this article, with diachronic and synchronic approaches. It addresses literary issues in the text such as delimitation, textual analysis, and an examination of the text’s remote and immediate contexts. The importance of this work lies in the fact that it will add to the existing literature on John 13:1-17 and open up new avenues for future research on the subject.
Citation: Jatau P.D. (2023) Feet Washing (John 13:1-17) as a Paradigm for Christian Leadership in Nigeria, Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol.11, No.4, pp.1-31
Keywords: Christians, Leadership, Nigeria, Paradigm, feet washing
Praying for Civil Authorities (1 Tim 2:1-7): A Contextual Study (Published)
Most exegetes regard 1Timothy 2:1-7 as a general command for Christians to pray for all people and kings or rulers. This paper will demonstrate how Paul exhorts the church in Ephesus to pray for all people, including kings, in order to fulfill God’s mission of bringing salvation to all humanity in the text under consideration. In the same vein, Christians in Nigeria must equally pray for themselves and civil leaders in order to exercise their mission in a country riddled with ills that dehumanize the image of God in the human person. To elaborate on the meaning of this passage, the grammatical structure of the text will be examined. This article argues that if 1Tim. 2:1-7 is read and understood, Christians in Nigeria would know that authority comes from God to humans, therefore they would appreciate and pray for civil authorities. Hence, the work uses contextual exegetical approach. This method combines rhetorical and literary analysis in the quest for theological meaning. Furthermore, it is a synchronic approach, this is because, it seeks to co-ordinate the different levels of meaning, the literary and theological, the historical and the hermeneutical with a view to drawing out the meaning and message of biblical text at the level of its composition and for today.
Citation: Jatau P.D. (2023) Praying for Civil Authorities (1 Tim 2:1-7): A Contextual Study, Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol.11, No.3, pp.16-38
Keywords: Authority, Christian, Civil, Nigeria, prayer
Praying for Civil Authorities (1 Tim 2:1-7): A Contextual Study (Published)
1 Timothy 2:1-7 is regarded by most exegetes as a general command for Christians to; pray for all people and kings or rulers. This paper will show how, in the text under consideration, Paul exhorts the church in Ephesus to pray for all people, including kings, in order to fulfill God’s mission of bringing salvation to all humanity. In the same vein, Christians in Nigeria must equally pray for themselves and civil leaders in order to exercise their mission in a country riddled with ills that dehumanize the image of God in the human person. The grammatical structure of the text will be examined to expound on the meaning of this passage. This article argues that if 1Tim. 2:1-7 is read and understood, Christians in Nigeria would know that authority comes from God to humans, therefore they would appreciate and pray for civil authorities. Hence, the work uses contextual exegetical approach. This method combines rhetorical and literary analysis in the quest for theological meaning. Furthermore, it is a synchronic approach, this is because, it seeks to co-ordinate the different levels of meaning, the literary and theological, the historical and the hermeneutical with a view to drawing out the meaning and message of biblical text at the level of its composition and for today.
Keywords: Authority, Christian, Civil, Nigeria, prayer
Religion and Nation Building in Nigeria: A Critique (Published)
From its etymological definition, religion connotes relationship, bond and reverence. Ipso facto, it ought to be fundamental and a veritable tool for nation building, if nation building implies a systematic process of making a people with cultural and ethnic differences become integrated as one and feel belonged under one nation. Unfortunately, religion as it is practiced in Nigeria by the adherents of the dominant religions: Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion, rather than integrate the peoples of Nigeria, turns out to be one of the major causes of conflict and division among Nigerians. What is the reason behind this paradox? The philosophical method of critical analysis is employed to dissect the historical cause of this in view of finding lasting solutions. On this, the nature and mode of propagation of these faiths in Nigeria is identified as the major cause of the seed of division witnessed among these religions. If only the government and the religious leaders would liaise to educate the populace on the need for religious tolerance and freedom of worship, religion would have assumed its natural role of bridge building among the peoples of Nigeria.
Citation: Igbokwe A.C. (2022) Religion and Nation Building in Nigeria: A Critique, Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol.10, No.11, pp.37-46
Keywords: Nation Building, Nigeria, Religion.
Religion and Nation Building in Nigeria: A Critique (Published)
From its etymological definition, religion connotes relationship, bond and reverence. Ipso facto, it ought to be fundamental and a veritable tool for nation building, if nation building implies a systematic process of making a people with cultural and ethnic differences become integrated as one and feel belonged under one nation. Unfortunately, religion as it is practiced in Nigeria by the adherents of the dominant religions: Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion, rather than integrate the peoples of Nigeria, turns out to be one of the major causes of conflict and division among Nigerians. What is the reason behind this paradox? The philosophical method of critical analysis is employed to dissect the historical cause of this in view of finding lasting solutions. On this, the nature and mode of propagation of these faiths in Nigeria is identified as the major cause of the seed of division witnessed among these religions. If only the government and the religious leaders would liaise to educate the populace on the need for religious tolerance and freedom of worship, religion would have assumed its natural role of bridge building among the peoples of Nigeria.
Citation: Igbokwe A.C. (2022) Religion and Nation Building in Nigeria: A Critique, Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol.10, No.11, pp.37-46
Keywords: Nation Building, Nigeria, Religion.
Prevalence of Rape in Ekiti State Nigeria: Expectations from the Church (Published)
The article investigates the prevalence of rape and sexual assaults in Ekiti State, Nigeria. It reviews some pieces of literature on rape from scholarly perspectives; rape in the bible and its effects were equally investigated. The causes and effects of rape were emphasized in work. The article examined expectations from the church being the moral bastion of society. It is a concern that rape has become cancer that has eaten deep into our contemporary society. There have been reported cases of rape in Ekiti state, which calls for this article. It is no doubt that some men have thrown morals into the bin and defiled women of all ages, but children are not left behind in this contemporary madness. Some men have slept with children far below their children’s ages. The research shows that rape is not exclusive to the state under study; allegations of rape and molestation have come from different states in Nigeria using qualitative and interview approaches. The paper equally gives information on reported and cases of convicted culprits of rape in the state. Likewise, efforts of the State Government and the church to forestall rape were revealed in this work. Nevertheless, it was observed that despite the efforts of Ekiti State in curtailing rape in the state, it is still prevalent. However, this is due to the number of new cases reported daily. Consequently, the call for church intervention as the moral bastion of society to forestall rape is imperative at this juncture. It has been discovered in the work that cases of rape are underreported due to the stigma and shame associated with it. Ekiti state, just like every other state in Nigeria, is a patriarch in nature. Hence, men are always at an advantage in nearly everything. Therefore, the paper recommends that the church intensify efforts to enlighten society through radio, television evangelism, counselling, preaching and workshop on the danger of rape. Finally, rape victims should be given the moral and medical support needed for their healing from the physical, emotional and psychological traumas associated with rape.
Keywords: Church, Ekiti State, Expectations, Nigeria, Prevalence, Rape
Addressing Police brutality as a form of Human Right Abuse in Nigeria: A study of government efforts (Published)
Police brutality have attracted the attention of researchers and human right stakeholders, into the causes of brutality and dimensions of manifestation. In Nigeria, as in many other countries of the world, police brutality has gone as far as taking lives, and casting a shadow of doubt on the professed responsibility of the government in protecting her citizens. In Nigeria, a case at hand is the EndSARS saga which is a consequent action of the youth to end police brutality, yet leading into more brutality and massacre. This study therefore, in addition to knowledge have explored the efforts of the government in addressing police brutality in Nigeria. The study’s objectives were to ascertain the relationship between police daily routine and human right abuse in Nigeria; to assess the effects of police brutality on its victim in Nigeria; to evaluate the accountability of government in proposed measures in addressing police brutality in Nigeria; and to score the effectiveness of the measures employed by the government in addressing police brutality in Nigeria. Concentrating the study in Owerri, Imo State with a total population of 945,046 in 2022. The study draws a sample of 381 respondents who supplied data through a 20-item questionnaire. The collected data were subjected to descriptive analysis using percentages, standard deviation and mean scores. The study’s finding shows that there is a significant relationship between police daily routine and human rights abuse; there is significant effect of police brutality on the victims; the government have not been accountable to their proposed measures for addressing police brutality; and those proposed measures are therefore not effective in addressing police brutality in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommended that government should first revamp the economy to increase standard of living of its citizens, make policies with interest in solving problems and not pleasing the public, and train and retrain the police officers especially on the UN Principle on the use of force and firearms. police brutality, human right abuse, Nigeria, government efforts
Keywords: Nigeria, government efforts, human right abuse, police brutality
Income Inequality, Health Care Expenditure and Economic Performance in Nigeria (Published)
This paper examined the impact of income inequality and healthcare expenditure on economic performance in Nigeria over the period 1990-2020 using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation technique. The findings reveal the existence of a positive and a statistically significant relationship between income inequality and economic performance as well as health care expenditure and economic performance in Nigeria. In addition, the results show that health care is a necessity rather than a luxury in Nigeria. The study recommends that government should implement programs and policies that will alleviate the inequality in income distribution as well as appropriate policies at the macroeconomic level targeted at public health expenditure to enhance economic performance
Keywords: ARDL, Economic Performance, Health Care Expenditure, Income Inequality, Nigeria
Utilitarian Value of Ground Nut Among the Nupe Women of North Central Nigeria (Published)
Agriculture and manufacturing activities is as old as production of goods and services in African society. In the production of goods and services women formed a sizeable population of the labour force. This has not been an exception in Nupe land. The friendly nature of ecology of Nupe land made it possible for production of ground nut in large quantity that allowed for its utilization in different forms most especially by the women. Thus the plants, the nuts and the shell are used by women in different forms. It is on this premise that the study examined production, utilisation, marketing and consumption of groundnut among Nupe women. The study uses historical research methodology of oral interaction, reconnaissance survey and unpublished and published materials in collection of data and analyses. The study revealed that Nupe women played supportive role in cultivation through planting, harvesting, and separation of pod from plants to processing into different bye products and marketing.
Keywords: Nigeria, Utilitarian Value, ground nut, north Central, nupe women
Tax Revenue and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: A Disaggregated Analysis. (Published)
Lately, Nigerians are in confusion on the rationale of paying tax due to the inability of the government to let taxpayers feel the impact of paying tax. These unethical practices have made some Nigerians want to evade tax wholly or partially. All and sundry still limbo in doubt as to whether the tax could ever be flexible or efficient; and if yes, can they deliver the sustainable growth that has eluded Nigeria for decades. This study investigates the impact of tax components in achieving sustainable growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1987-2019 using the ARDL bound testing approach to cointegration to ascertain the long run and the speed of adjustment (Short run) in analyzing the relationship. The result revealed that Petroleum Profit Tax, Company Tax, Value Added Tax and Personal Income Tax have a positive short-run relationship with economic growth (GDP) while Custom and Excise Duties and Personal Income Tax exhibits a negative relationship in the short and long run. This study hereby recommends strong institutional reforms in the department of customs to plug the manifest leakages in other to enable the revenue generated from the unit to reach the desired point to facilitate sustainable development in Nigeria by the year 2030.
Citation: Adewale Mathew Adekanmbi, Amos Dauda, Shallie and Oladimeji Abeeb Olaniyi (2022) Tax Revenue and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: A Disaggregated Analysis, Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol.10, No.3, pp.43-54
Keywords: Nigeria, Sustainable Development, Tax components