TRENDS OF KIDNAPPING AND HOSTAGE TAKING IN 21ST CENTURY NIGERIA: A REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE

Kidnapping and hostage taking activities have geometrically increased across the world, taking different forms. These activities for money and other reasons have contributed immensely to the state of insecurity of average Nigerian from within and outside the territory. It is on this note that this paper addresses the trends of kidnapping and hostage taking in Nigeria, its causes, implications and how best to arrest the worrisome situation. Relevant existing body of knowledge were reviewed according to the objectives of the paper. The research design for the paper was explanatory in nature where rational choice theory, routine activity theory and situational crime prevention were adopted to buttress the understanding of the subject matter. Based on the reviewed literature, it was found that the trend of kidnapping and hostage taking in the 21st century Nigeria is on the “high” side thereby needing urgent attention from all stakeholders; Nigerian government, non-governmental organisations, private bodies and all citizens. It is, therefore, recommended that increased effort to fight kidnapping and hostage taking should be made possible by the Nigerian government. This would make the risk of involving in kidnapping related activities higher than the expected benefit; to deter offenders and potential ones from committing such act. Also, capturing the geographical boundary of Nigeria with sophisticated gadget will help reduce the chances of being a victim of kidnapping. These strategies would make kidnapping unattractive to the motivated offender since the opportunity to commit such crime no longer exists.

Myth-Historical Tensions

Chapter 1 examines the origins of “myth-history” as a narrative category and the purposes for which it is employed. The term myth-history has been used by some physicists to self-consciously distinguish the informal stories they tell from scholarly histories. These scientist-storytellers are not admitting wrongdoing. They are aware of the deficiencies in rigor underlying their myth-histories, yet they reserve the right to filter out historical details for science’s greater good. This chapter sets the context for the rest of the book by establishing scientists’ diverse intents and justifications for writing myth-histories. The discussion is careful not to depict the relationship between myth and history as a polarized conflict. Instead, a more reflective discourse is sought, a common ground to appreciate the power of myth-histories as a distinct mode of storytelling. This framing challenges scientist-storytellers and historians to think critically about the effects of the stories they tell.

Diskursive Syntax als Teil der Angewandten Linguistik

In contemporary academia, there are no mono-semantic definitions of either applied linguistics or discursive syntax. I analyse how applied linguistics is understood in Russia, Poland and Germany, and present syntax as a part of applied intercultural linguistics. The analysed data are reflective texts by Russian and German participants of the intercultural project “Rilke and Russia” that took place in 2019, in Samara. I consider these texts for reflective discourse appearing as a result of speech acts realised as self-talk. In my analyses, I use methods that are specific for speech acts research on the one hand, and that are typical of syntax on the other. So, I identify the role subjects, their intentionality and the persons addressed. Then, I compare the syntactic means used by Russian and German role subjects and show that these means are influenced by national culture and mentality.

Building Toddlers' Language/Literacy Proficiency Through Parental Interventions During the Pandemic

This chapter will review research on early language development of toddlers from casual talk (CT) used in the home. Around age two there is the transition to academic talk (AT), which has a significant effect on later academic performance. AT requires embedding academic vocabulary (word level), complex syntax (sentence level), decontextualized topics (discourse level), and analytic and reflective discourse. The process of reading to toddlers embedding written academic language (WAL) can be expanded through encouraging storytelling narratives (STN).

«ANOTHER WORD» IN MODERN RUSSIAN LITERATURE: INTERTEXTUAL REFRACTIVE VECTORS

Subject of the article: problems of intertextual refraction in contemporary artistic discourse. Object of the article: "dialogue" in Russian prose of the late XX-early XXI centuries. The goal of the project: to actualize the ideas of M.М. Bakhtin for contemporary literary criticism. Methodology of work: the context of studying the scientific creativity of M.M. Bakhtin with the help of literary and cultural approaches. Results of the work: a parody contributing to the construction of a different artistic paradigm in the culture of the XXI century. turned out to be a rather rare phenomenon, since intertextual strategies ceased to lead to building on interpretative delimitation along the line of authorship of lyric intonation of comprehension and rethinking, transforming myths into poetry. Field of application of the results: a dialogue that reflected a new multi-level way of researching Bakhtin's works, as the basis for the formation of a new artistic paradigm. Conclusion: in the development of artistic discourse at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. two vectors complement each other clearly stand out. The first is engaged in the search for new artistic means of expression and is caused by the need to understand the changes that have taken place at the level of linguocultural behavior and the desire for a certain synthesis. The second vector, which is a reaction to the mental and stylistic complex of postmodernism as a cultural mainstream, is characterized by a return to the sphere of non-reflective discourse. The conclusions presented in the scientific review are reasoned and logical.

On ginseng and Iroquois

This study is dedicated to 2 texts written by French Jesuit father Joseph-François Lafitau (1681–1746), created in the context of his missionary stay in Nouvelle France: Mémoire concernant la précieuse plante du gin-seng de Tartarie (1718) and Mœrs des Sauvages amériquains comparées aux mœrs des premiers temps (1724). Both texts permit a multi-level analysis of material dimensions of culture and knowledge in the history of knowledge, the first dealing with a botanical subject, the second an anthropological one. They convey a meta-reflective discourse on material-specific epistemological problems that is realized through narrative textual structures. These texts enable a structural view point of systemic functions of the materiality of knowledge in historical epistemological orders. Finally, they show exemplary and significant transmedia representation techniques and the associated textualization and visualization strategies.

Contextual reflections on COVID-19 and informal workers in Nigeria

PurposeThe index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was reported on 27 February 2020. Subsequently, the exponential increase in cases has brought about the partial and total lockdown of cities, the closure of all schools and the shutdown of government offices in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 and its subsequent drastic curtailment policies have implications on vulnerable groups, especially, informal workers who constitute about 70% of the active working population in Nigeria. This reflective discourse critically engages the plight of informal workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThe research was guided by the epistemology of pandemic interpretationism. It engages contextual reflections of the plight of economically vulnerable informal workers in Nigeria. Data were collected from secondary sources while rapid case studies were conducted with ten informal workers in Lagos and Ibadan. Afterwards, data were contextually analysed.FindingsEconomically vulnerable informal workers in Nigeria have contextually interpreted COVID-19 as an elite disease, imported into Nigeria by the wealthy. In addition, the mass population views COVID-19 containment measures such as lockdowns, movement restrictions and stay-at-home orders as elitist policies, which are aimed at protecting the wealthy and frustrating the poor and economically vulnerable who live on the fringes of poverty. Many informal workers have slipped below the poverty line while struggling to supply livelihood needs, as they were unable to earn daily income and cannot access palliatives. Consequently, they are of the opinion that “Hunger Virus is deadlier than Corona Virus”.Originality/valueThis paper is a contextual reflection on the plight of economically vulnerable informal workers during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and movement restrictions in Nigeria. It presents pandemic interpretationism as an epistemological guide and reflectively examines the poverty impact of COVID-19 on the Nigerian informal sector via contextual analyses of secondary data and rapid case studies. The paper uncovers various COVID-19 livelihood experiences and the responses of the informal workers; furthermore, it provides policy recommendations.

An Analysis of the Use of Terminological Determinants „Art of Islam“ and „Islamic Art“

This paper is a distinctive analysis of the phenomenological value of terms „Islamic art“ or „art of Islam“, which attempts to clarify the common treatment of such terms found in both Western and Muslim sources and which are inappropriate and ungrounded formulations from the viewpoint of traditional Islamic civilizational principles. By focusing on the cognitive and precognitive approach to the productive-reflective representation of elements of visual art within this topic (i.e. by offering a possible solution) this study „comes into conflict“ with stereotypes that contemporary theories and history of art in the spirit of Western understanding of civilization, which can apply the aspect of globalization to anything it considers within the scope of its scientific area and approaches any civilizational achievement in the same way, reducing it to classic Western postulates. In the explanation of this phenomenon (i.e. a prominent rather than appropriate need to reduce all forms of creative activity to common denominators whereby some lose and others win) the study introduces corresponding Latin and Arabic terms in parallel, and their possible lexical connections through theoretical tenets of Western civilizational circle to come closer to distinctive characteristics of Eastern/Islamic civilizational circle (homo faber, homo islamicus, homo fannān, and so forth). It is interesting and totally distinctive that it is by approaching this terminology both from the Eastern and from the opposite, Western side through a methodological process one comes to the conclusion that these are diametrically opposite phenomena, which the ultimate Western definition names „art“, while Islamic denotation is explained and defined by means of terms grounded in the sacral and profane productive-reflective discourse of homo islamicus’s action-design/qadar, respectively qadar/ṣināʿat. Thus, we will conclude that understanding and the essential meaning of the concept of „art“ in Islamic civilization from the one hand and in other civilizations on the other are not and cannot be the same. Also, many of the issues and dogmas raised earlier are mentioned and some are addressed in this paper.

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY HONORS COURSE ON AGING

With the aging of Baby Boomers, 2030 will mark the first time in U.S. history that those aged 65 and older will outnumber children. This population shift is expected to place unprecedented demands on the healthcare system in terms of both volume and complexity of care. Given these population shifts and emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach to care, a 4-credit Honors aging course was developed for Honors students in nursing and other health-related majors. Aging Reexamined, Reimagined is offered in a discussion/seminar format with limited enrollment to allow for deep reflective discourse about pertinent issues affecting older adults. Topics include physical/cognitive changes, ageism, Alzheimer’s disease, sexuality, aging in place, polypharmacy, addiction, depression, caregiving, elder justice, and end-of-life care. Guest speakers share their expertise on selected issues, otherwise students alternate leading discussions on remaining topics. There are three focused reflections on assigned experiences which include conducting a videotaped interview with a retired community-based older adult, attending a support group or senior center activity, and visiting a center to view various physical/technological adaptive aids that maintain mobility and independence in the home. There is also a culminating research paper on an issue of their choice. Student evaluations are overwhelmingly positive; comments include gaining in-depth knowledge about the unique needs of this population and the importance of healthy aging with an emphasis on a positive, inter-professional approach to care. It is incumbent upon educators to better prepare students to recognize ageist attitudes, as well as address the significant impact of this “longevity revolution”.