Papers by CASMIR ONYEMUCHARA
Theatre-for-Development as Information Panacea for Rural Dwellers in Nigeria during a Pandemic: Lessons from COVID-19
The Journal of Society and Media/The Journal of society and media, Oct 29, 2023
The subject of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Nigeria emerged with various misrepresentations and cons... more The subject of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Nigeria emerged with various misrepresentations and conspiracy theories, such as the notion of COVID-19 as a forerunner of the Anti-Christ or the commencement of a 'New World Order' occasioned by the 5G network. The information dissemination on coronavirus in Nigeria was managed mainly by the Presidential Task Force (PTF), which hosted daily media briefings on its activities. This paper examined the PTF's information dissemination structure and its impact on four indigenous communities in south-eastern Nigeria: Ikwo in Ebonyi State, Iva-Valley Forestry Hill Camp 1 in Enugu State, Umualumu Old Road in Imo State, and Ogbagu Obukpa in Enugu State. It concentrated on sensitizing indigenous communities and how theatre-for-development (TfD) complemented other media platforms during the lockdown to keep rural dwellers abreast of the situation and take necessary health precautions. It employed Bertolt Brecht’s Epic Theatre Theory and Theatre-forDevelopment (TfD) methodology in four south-eastern indigenous communities in Nigeria to demonstrate how TfD could complement other media platforms available to the PTF in the dissemination of information on the coronavirus to rural dwellers. Despite the robustness of the PTF’s information dissemination structure, TfD considerably mobilized dwellers of the four indigenous communities in south-eastern Nigeria to understand their local language of Igbo and take necessary precautions against the coronavirus. It was a critical additional information panacea for the rural populace. TfD was a potent means to reach remote communities that the PTF should have considered in its information dissemination on COVID-19 in Nigeria. It was suggested that a robust awareness infrastructure to confront COVID-19 or any emerging pandemic should be placed by the Nigerian government to accommodate rural dwellers through the use of TfD.
The Journal of Society and Media, 2023
The subject of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Nigeria emerged with various misrepresentations and cons... more The subject of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Nigeria emerged with various misrepresentations and conspiracy theories, such as the notion of COVID-19 as a forerunner of the Anti-Christ or the commencement of a 'New World Order' occasioned by the 5G network. The information dissemination on coronavirus in Nigeria was managed mainly by the Presidential Task Force (PTF), which hosted daily media briefings on its activities. This paper examined the PTF's information dissemination structure and its impact on four indigenous communities in south-eastern Nigeria: Ikwo in Ebonyi State, Iva-Valley Forestry Hill Camp 1 in Enugu State, Umualumu Old Road in Imo State, and Ogbagu Obukpa in Enugu State. It concentrated on sensitizing indigenous communities and how theatre-for-development (TfD) complemented other media platforms during the lockdown to keep rural dwellers abreast of the situation and take necessary health precautions. It employed Bertolt Brecht’s Epic Theatre Theory and Theatre-forDevelopment (TfD) methodology in four south-eastern indigenous communities in Nigeria to demonstrate how TfD could complement other media platforms available to the PTF in the dissemination of information on the coronavirus to rural dwellers. Despite the robustness of the PTF’s information dissemination structure, TfD considerably mobilized dwellers of the four indigenous communities in south-eastern Nigeria to understand their local language of Igbo and take necessary precautions against the coronavirus. It was a critical additional information panacea for the rural populace. TfD was a potent means to reach remote communities that the PTF should have considered in its information dissemination on COVID-19 in Nigeria. It was suggested that a robust awareness infrastructure to confront COVID-19 or any emerging pandemic should be placed by the Nigerian government to accommodate rural dwellers through the use of TfD.
EJOTMAS: Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts, 1970
Dance is a symbolic art form that transcends the overall aesthetics of the body to the cultural e... more Dance is a symbolic art form that transcends the overall aesthetics of the body to the cultural essence of a people. It has continued to develop beyond being a cultural activity, to fulfilling other needs in the society, including economic, socio-political, educational, physical, psychological, and religious desires. The rate of development in dance genres/forms and choreographic styles globally is quite intriguing and a herculean task to the contemporary dancer and choreographer in Nigeria, especially in the area of producing quality dancers and choreographers from Nigeria's institutions of higher learning, through a well crafted curriculum and training. This article, therefore, examines the challenges that confront dance studies in Nigeria through a qualitative study, which includes participant observation in the collection of data while drawing from extant literature. The study argues that there is a noticeable gap between dance theory and praxis which appear to have mired th...
The Journal of Society and Media, 2020
This article examined the impact of participatory video (PV) technique in (re)educating rural dwe... more This article examined the impact of participatory video (PV) technique in (re)educating rural dwellers on Corona virus (COVID-19) at Iva-Valley Forestry Hill Camp 1, Southeast Nigeria, with a view to generating data that could be tested or extrapolated elsewhere. It used historical-analytic, key informant interview (KII) and direct observation methods to argue that the COVID-19 pandemic/period has exposed weaknesses immanent in human institutions globally. One of such exposed interstitial gaps is the seeming weak media-link in the rural areas. This situation results from lack of electricity, non-access to reliable locally-generated news by resident community members and the lack of know-how to use mobile phones to generate media contents. Rural dwellers constitute 49.66 percent of the total Nigerian population (National Population Commission [NPC], 2018), yet media focus in Nigeria is mostly urban-driven. Having interacted and co-created a video script in Igbo with the community mem...
The Emergence of New Dance Forms In Festival and Carnival Performances In Contemporary Nigeria: Calabar Carnival In Perspective
Dance represents the totality and living experience of man from prehistoric times till date. It w... more Dance represents the totality and living experience of man from prehistoric times till date. It was embedded in all his daily activities: his work, communication and even in his worship of the gods and ancestors. This explains the communal essence in African traditional societies where dancers and viewers/audience are usually involved during performances and traditional dances are essential ingredients. Modernity and globalization have created more sophistication as festivals are beginning to give in to carnivals as a result of acculturation and or diffusion. New forms of dances have emerged as hybridized movements and gestures of indigenous dances are taking the shine during these carnivals. Scholarly articles and or materials on carnival are usually skeletal and if found, discussion are often based on other theatrical genres such as management, costume and make up, Aesthetics to mention a few without rapt attention to dance performances. There is therefore the need to study this aspect of the carnival which has been ignored over the years. This study adopts the Performance analysis and diffussionist models to drive home the discourse. This research is necessary because it seeks to explore the relationship between carnival and festival, the development of these emerging dance forms in Nigeria with particular attention to movement, costume and make, choreography and paraphernalia in our contemporary society especially in carnivals. The study concludes that change is constant and that as societies advance, there is bound to be transformation in facets of life (dance culture inclusive). Furthermore, that dance has the potential to improve economic growth via tourism and gainful employment to the teaming youths of the country.
Addressing National Security through Contemporary Dance and Motif Conception
Dance is a product of expression. When humans move in a formalized and ordered pattern in time an... more Dance is a product of expression. When humans move in a formalized and ordered pattern in time and space and with rhythm to express an idea or tell a story, dance is said to have taken place. This goes to say that dance is a vehicle of communication. In every movement, there is an expression of idea. The choreographer plays on motifs which are subsequently transformed into movements. The Contemporary dance has been a style of dance that has bestowed on the choreographer the freedom of expression via movement and patterns, which was explored by Udoka in “Black Skies”. Udoka clearly highlighted, with dexterity, the vast vocabularies that could be used in addressing the pertinent issues in the Nigerian State especially as they relate to national security through the motifs of violence, religious intolerance and insecurity. This study therefore analyzes the form and content of the dance production and its relevance to the society especially this time the national security of the country...
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Papers by CASMIR ONYEMUCHARA