I earned my Ph.D. in gift and reciprocity from Rice University, Houston Texas in 2014, working under Professors. Elias Bongmba of the Department of Religion and James Faubion of the Department of Anthropology. I am an author of peer reviewed articles in journals, Encyclopedia and books. I coedited a book with Yunusa K. Salami and Kola Abimbola titled: Ethics of Individualism and Communitarianism: Multidisciplinary Essays published by Harvest Day Publisher, MD, USA 2006. My research interest focuses on culture and family, gift and reciprocity, interreligious dialogue, religion and ecology, and Aladura and Pentecostal Spirituality. Since 2000, I have been on the Faculty at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where I teach courses in anthropology of religion, philosophy of religion and Methods and Theories in the study of religion.
This paper asserts that since the Nigerian media is patriarchal, they inexorably present images t... more This paper asserts that since the Nigerian media is patriarchal, they inexorably present images that give the impression that men have a superior knowledge of God than women. This idea is incidentally reechoing in contemporary Nigerian Christian practices, especially in the age of the new media. The paper examines gender, religion, and media from historical perspectives; analyses the theoretical framework at the root of the construction of the female gender and their representation in religion; and lastly, presents selected examples from day-to-day empirical evidence from Christian organizations in the Nigerian media space with the aim of deconstructing the public image of Christian women in the Nigerian public square. It thus aims to reconstruct the public image of women in religion via the media, showing the importance of equal gender representation. The narrative concerning reconstruction is deeply contextual, analytical, rigorous, and interdisciplinary.
We argue that Christ Apostolic Church leaders used doctrines and rituals to exclude women from fu... more We argue that Christ Apostolic Church leaders used doctrines and rituals to exclude women from full participation in prayer mountain experience in the Yorùbá cities of southwestern Nigeria. We examine the underlying doctrinal reasons behind this practice. We analyze how ritual performance alters the status of participants on the prayer mountain. Finally, we address the question of any antecedent in the Christ Apostolic Church’s doctrine regarding the exclusion of women on the prayer mountain rituals. The field works that form the basis of this study took place between October 2011 and January 2015. We used participant-observation and oral interview methods on selected mountains in Southwestern Nigeria. We conclude that the leadership of Christ Apostolic Church must reexamine their doctrines to eliminate practices that exclude women from full and active participation in religious experience.
Gbadegesin offers a summary of a dialectical relationship between individualism and community. Fo... more Gbadegesin offers a summary of a dialectical relationship between individualism and community. Focusing on collective social action, the chapter draws attention to the evil effects of the Enlightenment ethic, which contributes to the weakening of traditional societies with their communal values that were based on affection, kinship, the common good and historical attachments. Looking at the ways in which modern culture is arranged, Gbadegesin argues that modern society interprets success and progress in terms of how much an individual creatively innovates, acquires, possesses and controls the objects of his or her gaze. The chapter concludes with a suggestion for a return to the social and interactive character of communal ritual action.
How can we be meaningfully talking about development where religion is used, misused and abused b... more How can we be meaningfully talking about development where religion is used, misused and abused by political elitist class and people of wealth in Nigerian socio-political and economic realm? Of what values, importance and relevance is religion to economic development in a country still engrossed in the spate of senseless killings and maiming of innocent lives orchestrated by the Boko Haram insurgency? Or how thetical is religious intolerance and violence sponsored implicitly or explicitly by the clerics and pastors of Islamic and Christian religions against the African traditional religions to national development? All these questions are being addressed in this article by using sociological functional theory of religion to problematize how religion can be a source of or contributor to national development in Nigerian nation in 21 st century. By bringing Max Weber’s concept of Protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism in conversation with Clifford Geertz’s Interpretation of Culture...
Page 1. INDEX OF AUTHORS AND PERSONALITIES 1999 Names in italics refer to personalities mentioned... more Page 1. INDEX OF AUTHORS AND PERSONALITIES 1999 Names in italics refer to personalities mentioned within an entry Akinyemi, Akin 1831 /Jdnyeye, Yomi 2751 A Cherad, M. See: Cherad, Ma Aaron, Uche 1212 Aarons ...
This paper asserts that since the Nigerian media is patriarchal, they inexorably present images t... more This paper asserts that since the Nigerian media is patriarchal, they inexorably present images that give the impression that men have a superior knowledge of God than women. This idea is incidentally reechoing in contemporary Nigerian Christian practices, especially in the age of the new media. The paper examines gender, religion, and media from historical perspectives; analyses the theoretical framework at the root of the construction of the female gender and their representation in religion; and lastly, presents selected examples from day-to-day empirical evidence from Christian organizations in the Nigerian media space with the aim of deconstructing the public image of Christian women in the Nigerian public square. It thus aims to reconstruct the public image of women in religion via the media, showing the importance of equal gender representation. The narrative concerning reconstruction is deeply contextual, analytical, rigorous, and interdisciplinary.
We argue that Christ Apostolic Church leaders used doctrines and rituals to exclude women from fu... more We argue that Christ Apostolic Church leaders used doctrines and rituals to exclude women from full participation in prayer mountain experience in the Yorùbá cities of southwestern Nigeria. We examine the underlying doctrinal reasons behind this practice. We analyze how ritual performance alters the status of participants on the prayer mountain. Finally, we address the question of any antecedent in the Christ Apostolic Church’s doctrine regarding the exclusion of women on the prayer mountain rituals. The field works that form the basis of this study took place between October 2011 and January 2015. We used participant-observation and oral interview methods on selected mountains in Southwestern Nigeria. We conclude that the leadership of Christ Apostolic Church must reexamine their doctrines to eliminate practices that exclude women from full and active participation in religious experience.
Gbadegesin offers a summary of a dialectical relationship between individualism and community. Fo... more Gbadegesin offers a summary of a dialectical relationship between individualism and community. Focusing on collective social action, the chapter draws attention to the evil effects of the Enlightenment ethic, which contributes to the weakening of traditional societies with their communal values that were based on affection, kinship, the common good and historical attachments. Looking at the ways in which modern culture is arranged, Gbadegesin argues that modern society interprets success and progress in terms of how much an individual creatively innovates, acquires, possesses and controls the objects of his or her gaze. The chapter concludes with a suggestion for a return to the social and interactive character of communal ritual action.
How can we be meaningfully talking about development where religion is used, misused and abused b... more How can we be meaningfully talking about development where religion is used, misused and abused by political elitist class and people of wealth in Nigerian socio-political and economic realm? Of what values, importance and relevance is religion to economic development in a country still engrossed in the spate of senseless killings and maiming of innocent lives orchestrated by the Boko Haram insurgency? Or how thetical is religious intolerance and violence sponsored implicitly or explicitly by the clerics and pastors of Islamic and Christian religions against the African traditional religions to national development? All these questions are being addressed in this article by using sociological functional theory of religion to problematize how religion can be a source of or contributor to national development in Nigerian nation in 21 st century. By bringing Max Weber’s concept of Protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism in conversation with Clifford Geertz’s Interpretation of Culture...
Page 1. INDEX OF AUTHORS AND PERSONALITIES 1999 Names in italics refer to personalities mentioned... more Page 1. INDEX OF AUTHORS AND PERSONALITIES 1999 Names in italics refer to personalities mentioned within an entry Akinyemi, Akin 1831 /Jdnyeye, Yomi 2751 A Cherad, M. See: Cherad, Ma Aaron, Uche 1212 Aarons ...
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