The Stages of Igbo Conversion to Islam: An Empirical Study

In recent years a very rare phenomenon was observed in Igboland, Southeastern Nigeria—the conversion of the Igbo to Islam. There exists a signi cant scholarly work on the stages of conversion or conversion process among di erent people group; however, to the best of our knowledge, little exists on the Igbo conversion to Islam. This could be as a result of the phenomenon being a relatively recent develop- ment in Igboland, commencing in the second half of the twentieth century (Uchendu in Soc Sci J 47(1):172–188, 2010). This article seeks to discover the stages of Igbo conversion to Islam; that is, the systematic phases involved in their conversion pro- cess to Islam To accomplish this, ethnographic interviews were conducted with thirty (30) former Igbo Christians, all now converts to Islam. Gerlach and Hine’s (People, power, change: movements of social transformation, Bobbs-Merrill, Indian- apolis, 1970) stages of conversion theory were applied to this study, and the ndings showed that Igbo converts to Islam underwent six stages in their conversion process to Islam. These are: “Initial contact with a practicing Muslim; focus of need through demonstration; re-education through group interaction; decision and surrender; commitment event; and group support for changed cognitive and behavioral patterns (consequence)”. The ndings from this study reveal that tension and crisis do not often begin the stage of disa liating from one’s original religion as some scholars claim. The study recommends that Igbo Christians should build strong ties with one another so that disa liation will not quickly occur

Theorizing black (African) transnational masculinities

Just as masculinity is crucial in the construction of nationhood, masculinity is also significant in the making and unmaking of transnational communities. This article focuses on how black African men negotiate and perform respectable masculinity in transnational settings such as the workplace, community and family. Moving away from conceptualizations of black transnational forms of masculinities as in perpetual crisis and drawing on qualitative data collected from members of the new African diaspora in London, the article explores the diverse ways notions of masculinity and gender identities are being challenged, re-affirmed and reconfigured. The article argues that men experience a loss of status as breadwinners and a rupture of their sense of masculine identity in the reconstruction of life in the diaspora. Conditions in the hostland, in particular, women's breadwinner status and the changing gender relations, threaten men’s ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and consequently force men to negotiate respectable forms of masculinity

Masculinities in Contemporary Africa

Although gender and non-gender scholars have studied men, such an academic exercise requires a critical and focused study of masculine subjects in particular social contexts, which is what this book attempts to do. This empirically rich collection of essays, the seventh of the CODESRIA Gender Series, deals with critical examinations of various shades and ramifications of Africa's masculinities and what these portend for the peoples of Africa and for gender relations in the continent. So much has changed in terms of notions and expressions of masculinities in Africa since ancient times, but many aspects of contemporary masculinities were fashioned during and since the colonial period. The papers in this volume were initially discussed at the 2005 month-long CODESRIA Gender Institute in Dakar. The contributors are gender scholars drawn from various disciplines in the wide fields of the humanities and the social sciences with research interests in the critical study of men and masculinities in Africa. The CODESRIA Gender Series aims at keeping alive and nourishing the African social science knowledge base with insightful research and debates that challenge conventional wisdom, structures and ideologies that are narrowly informed by caricatures of gender realities. The series strives to showcase the best in African gender research and provide a platform for emerging new talents to flower

NIGERIA AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT: 60 YEARS AFTER INDEPENDENCE

Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Science and Technology was created on 1 January 1980, with the vision of making “Nigeria one of the acknowledged leaders of the scientifically and technologically developed nations of the world”. Sixty years after independence, and forty years after the Science and Technology Ministry was created, Nigeria is neither a regional nor global technological power. Despite the advancements recorded in the country during the Civil War years (1967–1970), Nigeria remains a largely import economy, now dependent on countries that were once rated on the same pedestal or below her. That Nigerians in diaspora continue to make globally acknowledged strides in diverse fields of endeavour (including science and technology) presents the Nigerian state with an irony that consistently stares her in the face. The African Humanities Research and Development Circle (AHRDC) and Professor B. I. C. Ijomah Centre for Policy Studies and Research at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, therefore, announce their second international and interdisciplinary conference to engage with different aspects of this very important theme. The goal of the conference is to provide scholars and other participants with a platform to critically discuss the prospects and challenges of technological advancement in Nigeria. Technology is at the heart of the fourth industrial revolution. It is hoped that this conference will chart the way forward for science and technological development in Nigeria