Archives de catégorie : Evènement/Event

Conference

Date: June 22 and 23, 2022

The department of political science of the Indian ocean sciences Faculty, University of the State of the African Diaspora (USOAD)  


In collaboration with

The Visual Culture and Heritage Research Group, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Organize the Second Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS

Politics, Religion and Personality Cult in Postcolonial Africa

Personality Cult refers to a situation in which a public figure (such as a political or charismatic leader) is deliberately seen as an idealized, heroic icon worthy of unquestioning praise, admiration and veneration. Also commonly known as cult of personality, it arises when a country’s government or people in any sort of power or authority employ the mass media, propaganda, spectacle, the arts, patriotism, and government-organized demonstrations and rallies to create an idealized, heroic, and worshipful image of a leader, often through totalising flattery and praise. Closely related to apotheosis, the term was popularised in 1956 in Nikita Khrushchev’s secret speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, in which he criticized the deification of Joseph Stalin, and his Communist ally Mao Zedong, as being contrary to Marxist doctrine. The speech was later made public and was instrumental to the “de-Stalinization” of the Soviet Union. Politically, personality cult is a common feature of totalitarian and authoritarian governments.

In Africa, as in most other parts of the world, the personality cult syndrome has also found fecundity in the realm of religion, as religion become more politicised and commercialised. Personality cult operates on a dialectic basis, either occasioned by the deployment of propaganda by its own subject, that is, the leader or personality around whom it is built, or generated by the people through excessive hero worship. In modern Africa, the media has become, among others, one of the major tools for the invention, sustenance and celebration of the personality cult. Today personality cult is sustained in the mill of the travestied democracies and religious movements that define Africa.

In Africa, politics is a complex phenomenon, largely driven by the sensitivities of ethnicity and ethnocentrism manifested in the pursuits of ethnic domination and cleansing, migration and re-settlements, minority issues, resource-control controversies, political exclusion and marginalization theories, ethnic conflicts, terrorism, gender inequality, sit-tight-syndrome, corruption and leadership ineptitude, etc.  The quagmire is vividly complemented by the complexities and contradictions harboured in contemporary religions/religious movements, especially Pentecostalism with its propensity for nescience, nihilism, extremis and intersectional intolerance within and across countries in the continent. The situation is further compounded by the intermingling of religion and politics in neo-colonial Africa as the two realms increasingly become instruments of aggression and impoverishment against the masses. When religion trespasses into realms (such as education and politics) not traditionally its own, as Jonathan Sacks suggests in his Politics of Hope, the results can be very catastrophic.

With the enthronement of religion and politics as fundamental means to heroic materialism and crude power in contemporary Africa, there is not only a scramble by people to become pastors and politicians, but to amass wealth and wield enormous power thereof and to use these as instruments of control on the people. In a continent where hunger and poverty have taken the front seat in many nations, political and religious leaders quickly become agencies for bread and butter and are easily confused or substituted with the offices and interests they should ordinarily represent. It is in this socio-political, religious and economic context that personality cult thrives in the continent and is beamed onto the landscape as a legitimate phenomenon and model. Against this background, we would like to invite papers for the conference “Politics, Religion and Personality Cult in Postcolonial Africa”, with a view to tracing the history and social dynamics and dimensions of personality cult as it manifests and operates within the realms of religion and politics in postcolonial Africa, using the following subthemes and other related issues as possible spin-offs:

a- The Concept of Personality Cult

What is personality cult, both as a concept and experience? How does it operate in societies in and out of totalitarianisms masking as democracies with emphasis on the African experience?

b- History of Personality Cult in Africa

This subtheme anticipates exploration of the history of personality cult in Africa from pre-contact through colonial time and up to the present. Papers should focus on any epoch in Africa’s history or on the interface and relation of the various periods in Africa’s political, religious and social evolution.

c- Politics, Religion, Personality Cult and the Media in Africa

How has the personality cult syndrome or phenomenon manifested in politics and religion in Africa, especially through the substitution/confusion of persons (politicians, Church men and women, public office holders, chiefs and other leaders) with the interests they should represent? And how has the media, both private and government-owned, abetted, promoted or mediated this syndrome over time?

d- Interface of Politics and Religion and the Power Struggle in Neo-Colonial Africa

How has the quest for power and the tendentious heroic materialism defined the soul and contours of politics and religion in Africa, as concretised in the behaviour and attitude of Africa’s postmodern, bread-and-butter politicians and churchmen and women? How are both realms of society characterised as complement to each other, as typified by the social reality in Africa?

e- Religions and Personality Cult in Africa

How has “men of God” been transformed to “God of men” in contemporary Africa through the misinterpretation of values and virtues by the “Shepherd”, “flock”, people and media, as the centralising mantra moves away from God’s purpose (“Come let us make man in our own image”) in surrender to man’s selfish purpose (“Come, let us make God in our own image”).

f- Personality Cult and Socio-Economic (Under)Development/Survival in Africa

How has both religion and politics trespassed each other’s terrain in Africa, through the instrumentality of Personality Cult? And how has the situation impacted (under)development in different countries in the continent?

g- Personality Cult, Ethnicity, Religion and Politics

In a multi-ethnic continent or cultural bazaar like Africa, Personality Cult can easily take a great toll on the social fabrics of the society as the main issues of religion and politics may not always be built around ideas and ennobling issues but on the personalities aligned with particular ethnic or religious interests. How has these tendencies played out in the history of religion and politics in Africa?

h- Extremis, Apocalypse and the Personality Cult Syndrome in Some Religions/Denominations

In postcolonial/neo-colonial Africa, the new crop of churchmen tend to turn religion into magic and what has been described by critics as “Jesus Industry”, while also playing on the “end-time” band-wagon as means of controlling the faithful. How has the ambition of some church men and women  fuelled and sustained the principles of extremis, that is, the belief in the possible end of history and the propensity to act in ways calculated to bring history to a forcible end?

i- Personality Cult and Violence in Democracy in Postcolonial Africa

How has the recourse to promotion of individuals and their personal ambitions as against what Jonathan Sacks describes as the “politics of hope” turned democracy into the decentralisation of violence and corruption in postcolonial/neocolonial Africa?

j- Personality Cult as a Cultural Residuum in Africa

Is personality cult both in politics and religion a cultural residuum deriving from autochthonous African culture and way of life or is it a hangover from primordial times or is it a child of colonialism?

k- Personality Cult and Social Conflicts

How has personality cult been at the heart of ethnic rivalries and religio-political uprisings and conflicts in postcolonial/neocolonial Africa?

l. Visual Communication as a Tool for Personality Cult in Africa

How have politicians and the church employed possibilities in visual communications and multi-media arts and design in the service of personality cult? Good examples are campaign and crusade posters, radio/TV jingles in which political or religious personalities are lionised visually, conceptually and otherwise, through the manipulation of images and text that can impact the psyche and judgement of the public.

m. Personality Cult as Resource in Arts and Literature in Africa

Personality cult has provided creative resource for propaganda art, resistance art, film, theatre and others over the years in the continent. Some of the art and/or artists may provide a basis for interesting studies.

Note

The Conference will be held online on June 22 and 23, 2022. Prospective participants are to send abstracts of not more than 250 words to the editors via the email addresses: krydz.ikwuemesi@unn.edu.ng , or laurence_buzenot2@yahoo.fr for consideration before May 30, 2022. Abstracts should be submitted with the following information in this order: (a) title of paper, (b) author(s), (c) affiliation, (d) email address, (e) phone number(s), and (f) 5 keywords of your proposed paper.  Outcome of the conference will be published in an edited anthology.

Conveners

Prof Laurence Buzenot and Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi

Chair, Organising Committee

Dr. George C. Nche, Department of Religion Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Email: nche.george@unn.edu.ng, Tel: +2348063732241

Forward to the past. Re-engaging Uli in new experiments

 

Save the date. This exhibition, which is held in London from May 10 to June 25, 2022, highlights the contributions of culture, of the Igbo civilization to the history of the world and of Africa. The exhibition highlights artists engaged in the revival of Igbo culture.Organized by Professor Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi from Nsukka University. The exhibition is held in London.Uli refers to different interrelated. It is a dye but also a logographic writing sometimes used as body decoration. It is an ancient script, oriented towards aesthetics. Patterns vary from region to region and artists are free to invent new ones. Uli is not a codified sign language like Nsibidi of the Ibidio or the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt, but it is an ideogram in its own right which tends to capture through its abstract and minimalist tendencies the vision of the world of its exponents, while deconstructing cosmic ideas and issues into abstract symbols and signs that are not alphabets or phonemic words but elegant bearers of aesthetic and cultural values ​​that border on history, philosophy and identity. It can be called an expression of communication.

Eclairage Africa

NGO in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, Interview of its founder by Laurence Buzenot, 22 février 2022

Quickly introduce yourself. What is your name ?

My name is Kelechi Jude Uzomaka. I am of Nigerian descent and am a social worker. I have a bachelors degree in social work obtained from the university of Lagos.

Peut être une image de enfant, plein air et texte qui dit ’CLAIRAGE CLAIRAGE’

The founder of NGO’s Eclairage Africa, Kelechi Jude Uzomaka at Ikota slum, october 2021.

How did you come to create an NGO ?

I created the NGO to help the needy. I was bothered that we have so many people who have excess clothes, while the poor don’t have good clothes, so I came up with the idea of ​​gathering people who have a lot of clothes to be given to the poor living in slums and non-standard communities.

How long have you existed ?

The NGO that I founded is only 6 months old. We carried out 3 actions called Outreach in Ikota slums 1 and 2.

Why the name “Eclairage”?

Eclairage is a French word which means light, we are an NGO which gradually brings light to the poor living in the dark, without history, without institutional recognition.

Do you think you can influence the authorities in Nigeria ?

Yes, because what I am doing will change the minds of greedy leaders and help the needy too.

What is your best experience within your NGO ?

Every moment I spend helping those less fortunate is my best time. I get joy by putting smiles on the faces of the needy

Could you describe the specificity of slums in Nigeria ? Why is it important to act for the poor and what are your actions? Your ambitions for the future?

Slum dwellers are mostly people who cannot afford to buy a house, so they go to slums where they pay little or nothing, and these areas are affected by climate change. We have big slums in Lagos. The most popular is Makoko, also known as the Venice of Africa. It is important that we take care of each other because not everyone can be rich. This is why some are poor. The value of life is not just about making money and getting rich, there is a joy I feel when I help the poor. Helping the poor is what we should live for because we came to earth with nothing and we leave with nothing, and the call to help the needy is not limited to NGOs alone. It is everyone’s duty to watch over the needy, what Africa Lighting preaches is love and we hope that in the near future we will do more with kind-hearted people who understand what it really is to give. We are completely financially self-sufficient. I use my network of friends and now we have relays in European countries.

Peut être une image de 13 personnes, personnes debout et plein air

Outreach Ikota

Présente-toi rapidement. Quel est ton nom ? 

Mon nom est Kelechi Jude Uzomaka. Je suis d’origine nigériane et je suis un travailleur social. J’ai une licence en travail social obtenue à l’université de Lagos.

Peut être une image de enfant, plein air et texte qui dit ’CLAIRAGE CLAIRAGE’

Le Fondateur d’Eclairage Africa, Kelechi Jude Uzomaka au bidonville d’Ikota, octobre 2021.

Comment en êtes-vous venu à créer une ONG ?

J’ai créé l’ONG pour aider les nécessiteux. J’ai été dérangé par le fait que nous ayons tant de gens qui ont des vêtements en excès, alors que les pauvres n’ont pas de bons vêtements, alors j’ai eu l’idée de rassembler des gens qui ont beaucoup de vêtements à donner aux pauvres vivant dans des bidonvilles et des communautés non standard .

Depuis combien de temps existez-vous ?

L’ONG n’a que 6 mois. Nous avons mené 3 actions appelées Outreach  dans les slums Ikota 1 et 2 à Lagos.

Pourquoi le nom “Eclairage” ?

Eclairage est un mot français qui signifie lumière. Nous sommes une ONG qui apportons progressivement la lumière sur les pauvres vivant dans l’inconnu, sans histoire, sans reconnaissance institutionnelle.

Pensez-vous pouvoir influencer les autorités au Nigeria ?

Oui, parce que ce que je fais fera changer d’avis les dirigeants avides et aidera aussi les nécessiteux.

Quelle est votre meilleure expérience au sein de votre ONG ?

Chaque instant que je passe à aider les moins fortunés sont mes meilleurs moments. J’obtiens de la joie en mettant des sourires sur les visages des nécessiteux.

Pourriez-vous décrire la spécificité des bidonvilles du Nigeria ? Pourquoi est-il important d’agir pour les pauvres et quelles sont vos actions  ?  Vos ambitions pour l’avenir  ?

Les habitants des bidonvilles sont majoritairement des personnes qui n’ont pas les moyens d’acheter une maison. Ils vont donc dans des bidonvilles où ils paient peu ou rien et ces zones sont affectées par le changement climatique. Nous avons de grands bidonvilles à Lagos. Le plus populaire est Makoko, également connu sous le nom de Venise de l’Afrique. Il est important que nous prenions soin les uns des autres car tout le monde ne peut pas être riche. C’est pourquoi certains sont pauvres. La valeur de la vie ne se limite pas à gagner de l’argent et à devenir riche, il y a une joie que je ressens lorsque j’aide les pauvres. Aider les pauvres est, selon moi, une manière de vivre car nous ne sommes pas venus sur terre avec rien et nous repartons sans rien et l’ appel à aider les nécessiteux ne se limite pas aux seules ONG. Il est du devoir de chacun de veiller sur les nécessiteux, ce qu’Eclairage Africa prêche, c’est l’amour et nous espérons que dans un avenir proche, nous ferons plus avec des personnes de bon cœur qui comprennent ce qu’est vraiment donner. Nous sommes totalement autonome financièrement. J’utilise, pour le moment, mon réseau d’amis et maintenant nous avons des relais dans des pays européens.

Peut être une image de 5 personnes, personnes debout et texte

Contact : eclairage.ng@gmail.com

linktr.ee/eclairageafrica

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071277875894

Spanish version –

Preséntate rápidamente. ¿Cómo te llamas? 

Mi nombre es Kelechi Jude Uzomaka. Soy de origen nigeriano y soy trabajadora social. Tengo una Licenciatura en Trabajo Social de la Universidad de Lagos.

 

Peut être une image de enfant, plein air et texte qui dit ’CLAIRAGE CLAIRAGE’

El fundador de la ONG Eclairage Africa, Kelechi Jude Uzomaka en el barrio marginal de Ikota, octubre de 2021.

¿Cómo llegaste a crear una ONG?

Creé la ONG para ayudar a los necesitados. Me molestó el hecho de que tenemos tanta gente que tiene exceso de ropa, mientras que los pobres no tienen buena ropa, así que tuve la idea de reunir a personas que tienen mucha ropa para dar a los pobres que viven en barrios marginales y comunidades no estándar.

¿Cuánto tiempo llevas cerca?

La ONG que fundé tiene solo 6 meses. Llevamos a cabo 3 acciones denominadas Divulgación en las barriadas Ikota 1 y 2.

¿Por qué el nombre “Eclairage”?

Eclairage es una palabra francesa que significa luz, somos una ONG que poco a poco trae luz a los pobres que viven en la oscuridad, sin historia, sin reconocimiento institucional.

¿Cree que puede influir en las autoridades de Nigeria?

Sí, porque lo que hago cambiará las mentes de los líderes codiciosos y también ayudará a los necesitados.

¿Cuál es tu mejor experiencia con tu ONG?

Cada momento que paso ayudando a los menos afortunados son mis mejores momentos. Obtengo alegría poniendo sonrisas en los rostros de los necesitados

¿Podría describir la especificidad de los barrios marginales de Nigeria? ¿Por qué es importante actuar por los pobres y cuáles son sus acciones? ¿Sus ambiciones para el futuro?

Los habitantes de los barrios marginales son en su mayoría personas que no pueden permitirse comprar una casa. Así que van a barrios marginales donde pagan poco o nada, y estas áreas se ven afectadas por el cambio climático. Tenemos grandes barrios marginales en Lagos. La más popular es Makoko, también conocida como la Venecia de África. Es importante que nos cuidemos unos a otros porque no todos pueden ser ricos. Es por eso que algunos son pobres. El valor de la vida no se trata solo de ganar dinero y hacerse rico, hay una alegría que siento cuando ayudo a los pobres. Ayudar a los pobres es, en mi opinión, una forma de vida porque no vinimos a la tierra con nada y nos vamos sin nada y el llamado a ayudar a los necesitados no se limita solo a las ONG. Es deber de todos cuidar de los necesitados, lo que Eclairage Africa predica es el amor y esperamos que en un futuro cercano hagamos más con las personas de buen corazón que entienden lo que realmente significa dar. Somos completamente autónomos financieramente. Utilizo, por el momento, mi red de amigos y ahora tenemos relevos en países europeos.

Peut être une image de texte qui dit ’The desire to clothe another man of your kind is a rare one and an aspiration love to make the worlda better place. In this season love, make that decision today. to put love first in all you do. Love conquers all gift of ...a hope +2347018863018 Instagram: @eclairaigeafrica Facebook: Eclairage Africa Youtube Eclairage Africa E-mail eclairage.ng@gmail.com’

 
 
Portuguese version –
 

Apresente-se rapidamente. Qual é o seu nome? 

O meu nome é Kelechi Jude Uzomaka. Sou de origem nigeriana e sou assistente social. Tenho uma Licenciatura em Serviço Social pela Universidade de Lagos.

Peut être une image de enfant, plein air et texte qui dit ’CLAIRAGE CLAIRAGE’

O fundador da ONG Eclairage Africa, Kelechi Jude Uzomaka na favela de Ikota, outubro de 2021.

Como veio criar uma ONG?

Criei a ONG para ajudar os necessitados. Fiquei incomodado com o facto de termos tantas pessoas que têm roupas em excesso, enquanto os pobres não têm boas roupas, por isso tive a ideia de reunir pessoas que têm muita roupa para dar aos pobres que vivem em bairros de lata e comunidades não padrão.

Há quanto tempo está por aqui?

A ONG que fundei tem apenas 6 meses. Realizamos 3 ações chamadas Outreach nos bairros Ikota 1 e 2.

Por que o nome “Eclairage”?

Eclairage é uma palavra francesa que significa luz, somos uma ONG que gradualmente traz luz aos pobres que vivem na escuridão, sem história, sem reconhecimento institucional.

Acha que pode influenciar as autoridades nigerianas?

Sim, porque o que faço vai mudar a mente dos líderes gananciosos e também ajudar os necessitados.

Qual é a sua melhor experiência com a sua ONG ?

Cada momento que passo a ajudar os menos afortunados são os meus melhores momentos. Fico feliz colocando sorrisos nos rostos dos necessitados

Pode descrever a especificidade dos bairros de lata da Nigéria? Por que é importante agir pelos pobres e quais são as suas ações? As suas ambições para o futuro?

Moradores de favelas são na maioria pessoas que não podem comprar uma casa. Por isso, vão para bairros de lata onde pagam pouco ou nada, e estas áreas são afetadas pelas alterações climáticas. Temos grandes bairros de lata em Lagos. O mais popular é Makoko, também conhecido como a Veneza de África. É importante que cuidemos uns dos outros porque nem todos podem ser ricos. É por isso que alguns são pobres. O valor da vida não é só ganhar dinheiro e enriquecer, há uma alegria que sinto quando ajudo os pobres. Ajudar os pobres é, na minha opinião, um modo de vida, porque não viemos à Terra com nada e saímos sem nada e o apelo para ajudar os necessitados não se limita apenas às ONG. É dever de todos cuidar dos necessitados, o que a Eclairage África prega é o amor e esperamos que, num futuro próximo, façamos mais com pessoas bondosas que compreendam o que realmente significa dar. Somos completamente autónomos financeiramente. Uso, para já, a minha rede de amigos e agora temos retransmitidas nos países europeus.

Contact : eclairage.ng@gmail.com

linktr.ee/eclairageafrica

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071277875894

Outreach Ikota, January, 2022