Scholarly Works
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Item Social implications of human killings for money ritual among the Yoruba people of Southwestern Nigeria(2024) Oke, O. P.Human killing for money ritual in Nigeria, particularly in the southwest region, has become a source of general concern. The highly valued virtues of hard work, honesty and dignity of labour have been sacrificed on the altar of materialism and the Get-Rich-Quick syndrome by the money ritualists. Their belief that wealth accumulation is more important regardless of the repercussions of such activities have negatively impacted the country's already fragile security situation. Over time, this menace has sparked a flurry of discussions among stakeholders on security issues related to development. Previous studies on the subject of money ritual induced human killing and its effects in southwest Nigeria has mostly been examined from a number of perspectives. Some scholars studied the problem from a security viewpoint, while others viewed it from the perspectives of poverty, greed, unemployment and loss of morals without paying adequate attention to its social implications. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the social implications of money ritual induced human killing. Youths and middle-aged men and women from Yoruba communities were interviewed using qualitative and unstructured questions. The findings showed that the causes of human killing for money ritual include greed, inordinate ambition, peer pressure, social media influence, poor parenting, loss of societal value systems, government insensitivity to the plight of the people, unemployment, corruption, and similar issues. The study recommends that both parents and government should make good efforts to reorient the youths as they also improve on security architectire.Item The efficacy of traditional songs in the control of deviant behaviour of incest among Yoruba people of South-western Nigeria.(ISRG Publishers, 2022-11) Oke, O. P.Incest is a cultural term that describes sexual contact between members that are closely related, especially between members of a nuclear family, that is, between parents and children or between siblings. The alarming rate of incest in our societies in the recent times calls for an urgent attention as it has brought a dirty blow on family stability and societal structure. Existing literature on incest have focused more on the modem approaches to deal with culprits of incest like making an arrest and prosecution by the police and other security agencies of culprits while little attention is paid to how traditional songs were used in time past to deal with offenders thereby bringing the menace to a barest minimum and restoring sanity into the society. The incessant cases of incest in the society makes it imperative to explore one of the mechanisms that was effectively used in the pre-colonial time to restore social order. Traditional songs were copiously intoned to address the menace of incest which led to the considerable peace experienced in the past by the Yoruba people. Oral tradition and written records that are relevant to the subject matter were made use of in this study. We observed through our findings that traditional songs were more effective in the pre-colonial period in controlling deviant behaviour of incest and can also play a complimentary role in the rejuvenation of social order in Yoruba society today, if properly and systematically integrated.Item A Philosophical Appraisal of Prosperity Teaching in Selected Churches in Southwestern Nigeria(2014) Ogunmodede, O. O.Prosperity teaching is the idea that health and wealth are compulsory benefits of the Christian faith. Most followers of this teaching have accepted it dogmatically, making them vulnerable to exploitation and delusion. Previous studies on prosperity teaching have examined it from hermeneutical and theological perspectives without sufficient attention paid to its appraisal from the philosophical viewpoint which is capable of providing a balanced understanding of prosperity teaching. This study, therefore, assessed prosperity teaching in terms of its principles, logicality, consistency with biblical teachings and effects on its followers. The study adopted Immanuel Kant‟s Principle of Humanity. Three Pentecostal churches; Living Faith: (LFC), Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), and Livingspring Chapel (LSC) were purposively selected because prosperity teaching is more entrenched in their practices. Data were collected from books written by Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor Enoch Adeboye and Pastor Femi Emmanuel. Additional information was collected from thirty tapes/DVDs on prosperity teaching. Forty members of selected churches were randomly interviewed (RCCG 15, LFC 15, LSC 10). Using the stratified random sampling technique, 640 copies of a questionnaire were administered to 440 members and 200 officers from two branches each of RCCG and LFC (Ogbomoso, Oyo, Lagos, Sagamu and Otta) and LSC (Ibadan). Data were subjected to philosophical analysis and percentages. Four basic principles of prosperity teaching were adopted at varying degrees of emphasis in the selected churches. While they all taught “wealth is a compulsory gain of salvation” and “positive confession attracts positive actions to believers”, RCCG and LSC emphasized “sowing fatly to reap multiple blessings”. LFC emphasized “Divine unfailing health is guaranteed to believers”. A critical evaluation however reveals the illogicality and inconsistency of prosperity teaching: “wealth as gain of salvation” fails to explain why Christians like Apostles Peter and John were poor (Acts 3:6). “Sowing and reaping” contradicts Jesus‟ directive to Christians to give, expecting nothing in return but to store treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19). “Covenant of divine unfailing health” contradicts scientific and biblical proofs (I Tim. 5:20) of human‟s vulnerability to sickness. “Positive verbal confession” is hinged on a faulty premise of an anthropocentric view that humans are in God‟s class, making prayerful requests unnecessary. Besides, 80.0% interviewed from LFC accepted they occasionally fall sick despite assurances of “divine unfailing health” and 55.0% in RCCG agreed they were yet to reap from “kingdom investments”, negating the automation of “reaping from sowing”. A total of 85.0% respondents believed they attracted blessings from positive confession, agreeing in part with the “principle of verbal confession”, and 90.0% officers and members across selected churches believed they were rich. On the opposite, 70.0% members had no personal house(s), 63.0% had no personal car(s), 62.0% estimated their yearly income at less than N1m, contradicting the principle of “wealth as gain of salvation”. Although popularly accepted among selected churches, prosperity teaching is fideistic, negates Kant‟s Principle of Humanity and is inconsistent with biblical teachings and followers practical life experiences. Prosperity exponents should teach balanced theology that encourages rational faith for more effective Christian impacts.Item The Contributions of Youth Organisations to the Growth of Christ Apostolic Church in Southwestern Nigeria, 1943-2013(2015) Afolabi, S. O.Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), an African indigenous church, has various youth organisations, which have contributed significantly to the growth of the church. Previous studies on CAC have focused on the contributions of the founding fathers, as well as on men and women‟s associations with little attention paid to those of youth organisations. This study, therefore, examined youth organisations in the history of CAC in Southwestern Nigeria from 1943 to 2013 with a view to assessing their contributions to the growth of the church through church planting, promotion of formal education, leadership and career development. The study adopted Matthew Seebach‟s theory of youth participation. The Light of the World Society (LOWS), CAC Students‟ Association (CACSA) and CAC Youth Fellowship (CACYOF) were purposively selected being the most prominent youth groups in CAC. A questionnaire was used to elicit information from 542 (355 males and 187 females) purposively selected members of CAC in Abeokuta, Ado Ekiti, Akure, Ibadan, Lagos and Osogbo. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 elderly pastors, 25 youth pastors and 12 youth leaders purposively selected from the Church. Church records were also consulted. Data were subjected to historical analysis and descriptive statistics. The LOWS planted 25 churches between 1966 and 1992 thereby increasing membership from 87,077 to 1,059,438. The CACSA planted 70 churches, leading to membership growth from 1,059,438 in 1992 to 4,707,438 in 2013. During the same period, CACYOF established 241 English-speaking assemblies resulting in the membership increase of 941,487 in 2013. Between 1971 and 2013, CACSA established 29 campus fellowship centres while CACYOF established 31 between 1992 and 2013. The CACYOF contributed to leadership development by initiating an annual Leadership Training Programme in 2002. This has produced many leaders for CAC. On career development, CACYOF organised seven empowerment seminars targeted at teaching vocational skills and creating job opportunities for youths in 11 centres between 2010 and 2013. In advancing infrastructural development, CACSA established a primary school, two secondary schools and a theological college in Osogbo between 1999 and 2009 while CACYOF introduced Information Communication Technology to the operations of CAC in Lagos, Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States from 2003 to 2013. A total of 93.5% respondents agreed that youth organisations contributed to the infrastructural growth of the church. Youth organisations have contributed to the growth of Christ Apostolic Church in southwestern, Nigeria. Therefore, youth organisations should be recognised in the growth and development of the church