Papers for Vol. 34(3) 2026
Artificial Intelligence and Robots in the Nigerian Hospitality Sector: Factors to Consider Before Adoption
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots in the hospitality industry has improved efficiency, personalisation, and 24/7 service in developed economies, yet scholarship on their applicability in emerging African economies remains limited. This preliminary study identifies factors that Nigerian hospitality stakeholders should consider before adopting AI and robots. A documentary, narrative literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, and credible industry publications published between 2017 and 2024 was conducted using Google Search and Google Scholar, accessed through Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers in May 2024. Relevant studies from Nigeria, Ghana, India, and developed economies were thematically synthesised. Five interrelated factors emerged: (a) economic viability and total cost of ownership; (b) labour implications, staff support, and retraining needs; (c) operational resilience and infrastructural readiness; (d) customer and cultural acceptance of high-tech versus high-touch service; and (e) marketing and service personalisation potential. High acquisition, installation, maintenance, and training costs, exchange-rate pressures, fear of job loss, and uneven digital literacy are major constraints, while seasonal hiring and complementary deployment offer pragmatic pathways. Phased, complementary adoption supported by government, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, and the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, alongside empirical guest and staff studies, is recommended before large-scale deployment. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Service robots, Hospitality industry, Labour, Nigeria
Chiedozie Cyprain Nweke, Ali Dhakir Abbas, Chigozie Jude Odum
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.1.14
Framing AI Through Implicit Meaning: Presupposition and Implicature in BBC and CNN Headlines
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a prominent topic in international news, requiring journalists to report complex and rapidly evolving developments in concise and accessible forms. This study examines how implicature and presupposition contribute to implicit meaning in AI-related headlines from BBC News and CNN. Drawing on Grice's (1975) theory of conversational implicature and accounts of presupposition (Levinson, 1983; Stalnaker, 1974; Yule, 1996), and viewing headlines as relevance optimizers (Dor, 2003), the study uses a qualitative-descriptive comparative approach. Nine purposively selected headlines (five BBC, four CNN, February–November 2025) concerning AI reliability, employment, and technological competition are analyzed for what is said, what is presupposed, and what is implicated. Presupposition packages background assumptions through definite descriptions, change-of-state lexis, interrogative structures, and additive and focus constructions, while implicature extends specific events to broader frames of disruption, competition, risk, and employment change. The two mechanisms frequently co-occur: presupposed content provides the background on which further implicatures are built. In this sample, BBC headlines foreground evidential grounding and source attribution, whereas CNN headlines foreground disruption and competition through metaphorical lexis. Observations are limited to the sample and are not generalized to either outlet as a whole.
Keywords: Pragmatics, Implicature, Presupposition, News headlines, Artificial Intelligence, BBC, CNN
Abdullah Najim Abd Aliwie
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.15.25
Gods as Custodians: Sacralisation and the Survival of Ironworking Heritage in Nsukka Cultural Zone, Nigeria
Abstract
Iron smelting is extinct in most parts of Nigeria, including the Nsukka cultural zone, leaving behind slag, furnace remains, tuyere fragments, and ore-mining pits. Many former smelting locations have been destroyed by farming, housing and road construction, market expansion, and erosion. Yet some relics have survived. This study examines whether religious beliefs and practices associated with the god of iron and related shrines have contributed to the preservation of early ironworking sites in the Nsukka area. Using an ethnoarchaeological approach involving archaeological survey and reconnaissance, oral interviews, and participant observation, the study compares nine early ironworking sites: Lejja, Umundu, Owerre-Elu, Orba, Idoha, Obimo, Opi, Onyohor, and Ekwegbe, with in-depth focus on Otobo Ugwu Dunoka Square, Lejja and Odinanso Square, Opi. Findings show that sacralisation — attribution of sacredness, taboos, custodianship, and communal ownership — restricts removal of slag and regulates movement and maintenance within sacred squares and shrines, thereby preserving archaeological signatures. In non-sacralised locations, the same classes of relics have been bulldozed, reused for construction and erosion control, or reclaimed for farms and buildings. The study concludes that religion has functioned as an informal heritage-management system, but that it is vulnerable to urbanization, religious change, and natural degradation and therefore needs to be integrated with formal protection.
Keywords: Disappearing archaeology, Cultural heritage preservation, Iron smelting, Sacralisation, Nsukka, Nigeria
Joshua Okenwa Uzuegbu, Edmund Ikechukwu Itanyi, Christian O. Agbo, Chinonye Emilia Kayode
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.26.39
The 'Uthmanic Rasm as Revisory Standard: Script, Reading, and Grammar in Early Qur'anic Standardization
Abstract
This article revises the debate on the 'Uthmanic orthography (al-rasm al-'Uthmani) by distinguishing two questions: (a) origin—what relation did the 'Uthmanic codices bear to the seven aḥruf in which the Qur'an was revealed; and (b) effect—which criterion governs when script (rasm), reading (qira'a), and grammar conflict. Drawing on classical rasm and qira'at literature (al-Dani, Makki b. Abi Talib, Ibn al-Jazari, Abu Shama) and early grammatical criticism, and situating the argument against modern codicological research, we argue that the 'Uthmanic compilation is best understood as revisory (tanqihi) rather than purely documentary (tawthiqi): it retained what the undotted, unvocalized skeleton could accommodate and thereby functioned as a negative filter for readings, not as a complete record of all permitted modes. We reinterpret early claims of abrogation (naskh) as abandonment (tark) and distinguish bareness (tajarrud) from deliberate stripping (tajrid) of dots and vowels. A systematic comparison of Ibn 'Amir's reading of Q 6:137 and the cases of Ibn Shanabudh (d. 328/939) and Ibn Miqsam (d. 354/965) clarifies the rule we defend: transmission establishes Qur'an-ness; rasm constrains it after 'Uthman; Arabic permissibility alone does not create it. We operationalize these insights in a teachable module for Qur'anic and linguistic studies.
Keywords: Uthmanic rasm, seven aḥruf, qira'at, Arabic grammar, tajrid, Ibn Shanabudh, Ibn Miqsam
Ahmed Laklimi, Mohamad Abdullah Alsaied, Bashayer Almarzooqi, Hadaya Almazrooei
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.40.51
Institutional Assertion and Feminist Resistance in Nollywood, 2010–2025: Beyond Eurocentric CDA
Abstract
This article examines feminist discourse in five contemporary African women's films produced between 2010 and 2025: Lionheart (2018), King of Boys: The Return of the King (2021), The Boss Lady (2023), The Uprising: Wives on Strike 3 (2024), and Irreplaceable (2024). Drawing on Fairclough's (2021) three-dimensional critical discourse analysis (CDA) integrated with five African feminist epistemologies—motherism, stiwanism, nego-feminism, womanism/Africana womanism, and post-motherism—the study demonstrates how institutional assertion, professional authority, legal discourse, and political sovereignty function as culturally grounded forms of feminist resistance. Analysis of modality, transitivity, and evaluative lexis (Tables 2–4) shows a decisive shift from domestic negotiation to public, legally literate, and institutionally embedded assertion. A systematic comparison of Eurocentric and African feminist readings (Table 5) demonstrates that Eurocentric CDA systematically misreads code-switching, silence, care, and maternal authority as ambivalence, passivity, or retreat, whereas African feminist epistemologies recover them as strategic authority. The article argues that African feminist epistemologies are methodologically necessary, not merely additive, for interpreting contemporary African feminist cinematic discourse.
Keywords: Institutional assertion, African feminist epistemologies, Critical Discourse Analysis, Nollywood, Feminist sovereignty, Legal discourse
Odinichi Kelicha Ochonogor, Abiola S. Kalejaiye, Gift Okat
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.52.64
Integrating Traditional and Contemporary Pedagogies in Fiqh Education: Evidence on Engagement, Critical Thinking, Motivation, and Outcomes
Abstract
Changes in higher education have required rethinking pedagogy in demanding disciplines such as Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). This correlational study examined the extent of traditional and contemporary pedagogical practices in fiqh instruction at Mohamed Bin Zayed University for Humanities (MBZUH) and their statistical prediction of students' learning engagement, critical thinking, academic motivation, and perceived learning outcomes. All 305 undergraduates who had passed the Fatwa-Making course were surveyed through a census (total population sampling) using the 60-item Questionnaire on Traditional and Contemporary Pedagogical Practices and Student Learning Outcomes in Islamic Jurisprudence Education (QTCPPSLO-IJE; 4-point Likert scale). The instrument showed expert-supported face and content validity and strong internal consistency in pilot testing (subscale α = .84–.96; total α = .90). Mean, standard deviation, Pearson product-moment correlation, and multiple regression (α = .05) were used. Both traditional (cluster M = 3.42, SD = 0.52) and contemporary (cluster M = 3.45, SD = 0.53) practices were rated high, well above the scale midpoint of 2.50. Both were strongly positively correlated with learning engagement (traditional: r = .87, R2 = .76; contemporary: r = .89, R2 = .79, ps < .001). Together they explained 74% of variance in critical thinking, 71% in academic motivation, and 71% in perceived learning outcomes (all model ps < .001). Contemporary practices made a unique significant contribution in all models; traditional practices contributed uniquely to motivation and perceived outcomes but not to engagement or critical thinking when contemporary practices were controlled—a pattern that must be interpreted cautiously given severe multicollinearity (tolerance = 0.06, VIF = 15.67) and single-source self-report data. Findings support an integrated pedagogy that preserves classical scholarship while expanding interactive, technology-supported learning. Limitations, including cross-sectional design and perceived (not tested) outcomes, are discussed.
Keywords: Traditional pedagogy, Contemporary pedagogy, Islamic jurisprudence education, Learning engagement, Critical thinking, Academic motivation
Abderrazak Ourkia, Mohamad Abdullah Alsaied, Mohamed Aly Isselmou Taleb Ebeidy, Azza Juma Hamad Alkaabi, Nayef Hamad Alketbi, Nawal Abdulla Saif Almarshoodi
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.65.78
Language, Stigma, and Feminist Agency: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Childless Wives' Voices in Nollywood
Abstract
This study examines how childless wives linguistically construct identity, reproduce, and resist patriarchal stigma in selected Nollywood films. Guided by Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (1995, 2003), Goffman's stigma management theory (1963), and radical feminism (Firestone, 1970), it analyses the wives' utterances in five purposively selected films. Findings reveal a trajectory from silence and self-blame to confrontation and resistance. Early utterances marked by guilt, repetition, and spiritual lexis (barren, cursed, my fault) reflect internalised pro-natalist ideology that equates womanhood with motherhood. Silence, sustained by loyalty and unequal power relations, preserves family harmony at women's cost. When humiliation becomes intolerable, wives shift to evidential and imperative counter-discourse (medical report, low sperm count, Enough!, get out of my house), rejecting imposed labels and exposing concealed male infertility. The study concludes that language is both mechanism of oppression and resource for feminist agency in Nollywood.
Keywords: Nollywood, Childlessness, Infertility stigma, Feminist resistance, Critical Discourse Analysis, Patriarchy
Nwaugo Goodseed Ochulor, Victor Kelechi Ashiegbu, and Adejoke Maria Olojede
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.79.87
Professional Development as a Double-Edged Moderator of High-Impact Teaching in Bangladesh
Abstract
In recent years, technologically enhanced tools and reflective pedagogies have reshaped higher education, yet evidence on what drives high-impact teaching (HIT) in South Asia remains limited. This study examined factors influencing HIT in conventional universities in Bangladesh using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Faculty members (N = 281) completed a structured questionnaire measuring four antecedents—teachers' knowledge (TK), classroom conduct and dealings (CD), reflective practice (RP), and technological integration (TI)—and professional development strategies (PDS) as a moderator. The measurement model demonstrated adequate convergent validity (average variance extracted > .50) and internal consistency (composite reliability > .70), although Cronbach's α values above .90 suggest item redundancy that requires further refinement. Classroom conduct and dealings (β = .295, p < .001), reflective practice (β = .098, p = .048), and technological integration (β = .099, p = .021) had significant positive direct associations with HIT, whereas teachers' knowledge did not (β = .057, p = .256). PDS significantly moderated the CD–HIT relationship positively (β = .126, p = .015) but moderated the RP–HIT (β = −.131, p = .002) and TI–HIT (β = −.139, p < .001) relationships negatively, indicating a dampening rather than amplifying effect. PDS did not moderate the TK–HIT relationship. Findings underscore the centrality of classroom relationships and management for HIT and suggest that current formal professional development in this context may not uniformly enhance reflection- and technology-driven teaching. Implications for sustainable faculty development, technology policy, and future research are discussed.
Keywords: High-impact teaching, Technological integration, Reflective practice, Classroom management, Professional development, Bangladesh
Md. Motahar Hossain, Yadu Prasad Gyawali, Md. Mahfuzur Rahman, Abu Naser Mohammad Saif, Tondra Rahman, Rehnuma Mostafa
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.88.102
Language, Time and Power in Africanfuturist and American Science Fiction
Abstract
This study investigates how time is stylistically constructed as linear and fragmented in selected African and American science fiction, using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). It analyzes Project Hail Mary (Weir, 2021), Remote Control (Okorafor, 2021), The Space Between Worlds (Johnson, 2020), and Far From the Light of Heaven (Thompson, 2021). Drawing on close reading, the study examines how temporal meaning is realized through transitivity and agency, cohesion and reference, tense–aspect–modality, and clause organization. Findings show four distinct chronotopic systems: (a) Project Hail Mary constructs instrumental, linear time as measurable and manageable through sequential clause chaining and precise temporal lexis; (b) Remote Control constructs mythic, cyclical time through memory-based cohesion and symbolic temporal markers; (c) The Space Between Worlds constructs fragmented, multiversal time through repetition, shifting agency, and ontological multiplicity; and (d) Far From the Light of Heaven constructs technologically mediated, recursive time through delayed communication and investigative reverse chronology. Across texts, temporality is ideologically shaped rather than neutrally physical. The study conceptualizes shreds as micro-level syntactic ruptures (fragments, ellipses) and shards as macro-level chronological ruptures (flashbacks, recursions, parallel worlds), and argues that science fiction constructs time as a dynamic experiential system.
Keywords: Temporality, Fragmentation, Linear time, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Africanfuturism, Science fiction
Victor Kelechi Ashiegbu, Adejoke Maria Olojede, Nwaugo Goodseed Ochulor
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.103.114
Decolonizing the Museum: Conceptual Incarceration and Restitution of Nigerian Artefacts
Abstract
This article makes the case for the unconditional return of Nigerian cultural artefacts looted during colonial military campaigns and for restitution understood as acknowledgment of cultural, spiritual, and economic harm, not merely physical repatriation. Drawing on historical scholarship, museum studies, and policy developments from 2017 to 2022, we address two questions: (a) How did colonial takings and their continued exhibition in Europe shape narratives about African history and identity? and (b) What conditions make return and restitution legitimate and sustainable now? We clarify return, restitution, reparation, and loan as distinct concepts; reconstruct the Benin 1897 and southeastern Nigeria 1901–1902 takings; and review recent shifts including the Benin Dialogue Group, German commitments to return Benin holdings, and decolonial re-evaluation at institutions such as the Pitt Rivers Museum. We argue that shrine figures, royal plaques, and memorial objects are not merely art but repositories of history and spiritual mediation (notably chi), whose absence creates a continuing cultural loss. We also engage counterarguments concerning conservation capacity, universal museums, and long-term loans, and outline conditions for sustainable return, including transfer of legal title, transparent inventories, and the planned Royal Museum in Benin City.
Keywords:
Restitution, Benin Bronzes, Museums, Decolonization, Nigeria, Cultural heritage
Okpan Kalu Oyeoku, Ekenechukwu Anazor Anikpe, Ndubuisi Nnanna, Jovita C. Ogu, Livinus Kenechi Ngwu
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.115.126
Nziputa Nsonaazu Nju Ghi N'igbo Izugbe: Ntule Myiri na Ndiiche N'olu Mbanaasaa
Ụmị
Nchọcha a tụlere nziacutepụta nsonaazụ njụ ghị n'Igbo izugbe na olundị Mbanaasaa. Ebe a na-enwetakarị myiri na ndịiche n'olundị na Igbo izugbe gụnyere ụtọasụsụ, ụda, mmebeokwu, nghọtaokwu na usorookwu. Agbanyeghị, e nwebeghị nchọcha kpọmkwem gbasara mgbakwụnye nsonaazụ njụ ghị n'olu Mbanaasaa. Nchọcha a ji atụtụ nnyocha ndimiche nke Lado (1957) — dịka usoro ntụle — wee kọwaa usoro mmebe na ọnọdụ nke akara njụ n'ụdị abụọ ahụ. E nwetara data olundị Mbanaasaa site n'aka ndị na-asụ ya dịka asụsụ mbụ [tinye ọnụọgụgụ ndị nyere ozi, obodo — Akọkwa, Akpụlụ, Obodoukwu, Osina, Ụmụalaọma, Urualla, Uzii — na usoro mkpọkọta: ndepụta ahịrịokwu, ndekọ olu, 20XX], e tinyekwara ihe sitere n'akwụkwọ, jọnal na ịntanet. A chọpụtara na Igbo izugbe na-eji ụdị na-adịgide adịgide ghị egosi nsonaazụ njụ n'azụ ngwaa (dịka nwe + ghị → nweghị; ri + ghị → righị), ebe olundị Mbanaasaa na-eji ụdị nsonaazụ -hV ebe V na-adakọrịta n'ụdaume ikpeazụ nke ngwaa: -ha, -he, -hi, -hị, -ho, -họ, -hu, -hụ. Ndịiche a anaghị eweta mgbanwe na nghọta; ọ bụ ndịiche n'ogo ụdaasụsụ na mmebeokwu. Nchọcha a na-atụnye ụtụ n'ọmụmụ olundị, Igbo izugbe na ụtọasụsụ, ma na-akwado na olundị bụ isi iyi e si emejupụta Igbo izugbe.
Okwu gbara ọkpụrụkpụ: Asụsụ Igbo, ghị, Igbo izugbe, mgbakwụnye, ndakọrịta ụdaume, Mbanaasaa
Abstract
This study contrasts the Standard Igbo negative suffix -ghị with its Mbanaasaa dialect equivalents. While similarities and differences between dialects and Standard Igbo occur in phonology, morphology, semantics and syntax, no prior study has focused on the negative suffix ghị in Mbanaasaa. Using Lado's (1957) contrastive procedure as an organizing framework, supplemented by vowel-harmony analysis, the study describes the form and position of the negative marker in both systems. Mbanaasaa data were obtained from first-language speakers [to be completed: number of consultants, towns, elicitation list, recording, date], supplemented by books, journals and online sources. Findings show Standard Igbo uses invariant -ghị after the verb, while Mbanaasaa uses a suffix -hV where V harmonizes with the final vowel of the verb stem: -ha, -he, -hi, -hị, -ho, -họ, -hu, -hụ. The difference is phonological and morphological; it does not change sentential meaning. The study contributes to dialect studies, Standard Igbo and grammar, and supports the view that dialects enrich Standard Igbo.
Keywords: Igbo language, ghị, Standard Igbo, affixation, vowel harmony, Mbanaasaa
Felista Chidi Akidi, Chinyere Benedicta Onyemaechi, Ngozi Okechukwu Okoro, Jane Ahunna Ihenacho
https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.3.127.135
The Impact of White and Frederikson's Investigative Model on Developing Creative Thinking and Teaching Physical Exercises from Original and Derived Positions in Futsal
Abstract
Traditional futsal instruction in Iraqi colleges of physical education remains teacher-centered, limiting students' ability to apply concepts during study and after graduation as teachers. As a subject teacher, the author observed persistent theoretical and practical difficulties in initiating physical exercises and in distinguishing original from derived positions. This study developed and tested an educational curriculum based on White and Frederikson's investigative model and constructed a futsal-specific creative thinking scale. An experimental pretest–posttest control-group design was used with fourth year students at the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Al-Qadisiyah University (2025–2026; N population = 120). Two intact sections were assigned to an experimental group (Section C, n = 40) and a control group (Section D, n = 40). Both groups completed a 30-item creative thinking scale (0–4 scoring, total range 0–120) and 10 rated physical-exercise tests (five original and five derived positions; 10 points each, mean of three raters) before and after the intervention. The experimental group received 10 instructional units (90 min each, once weekly) structured around the model's seven stages; the control group received traditional instruction of equal time. Both groups improved, with significantly greater posttest gains in the experimental group on creative thinking and on all 10 position tests (all ps < .01). Findings support the positive effect of the investigative curriculum on teaching original and derived exercises and on fostering creative thinking.
Keywords: White and Frederikson's model, creative thinking, original positions, derived positions, futsal, physical education
Ali Yaqoob Yousif