THE UTILITIES AND SHORTCOMINGS
OF SOCIOLOGY IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA
BY
MUOGBO
MICHAEL IZUCHUKWU
SS/PP/2368
TERM PAPER:
Critically discuss the utilities and
shortcomings of Sociology in the contemporary Nigeria
Being a Term Paper submitted to the
Department of Philosophy, Seminary of
Saints Peter and Paul, Bodija, Ibadan, in Affiliation with the
University of Ibadan, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award
of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy (B.A. HONS.).
COURSE
SOCIOLOGY
COURSE
CODE
SS/SOC/101
LECTURER
DR.
E.E. OKAFOR
DATE:
JANUARY, 2013.
TERM PAPER: CRITICALLY DISCUSS THE UTILITIES
AND SHORTCOMINGS OF SOCIOLOGY IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA.
INTRODUCTION
The society is a group of people
living together in a community and in some cases shares the same customs,
traditions and laws. This includes the whole issue of human relationship and is
without boundary or assignable limits. It encompasses all of humanity; all
kinds of relationship man enter in the course to live a group life. Members of
a society in most cases have one identity, a feeling which induces them to
conform to mutual expectation.
Human society involves people entering into relationships with each
other and that such relationships take many forms and to participate in society,
human beings maintain an understanding of their relationships with others and
of the institutions in which they participate.
Smaller scale relationships are connected to larger scale relationships
and the totality of this is the society itself. Human beings have wants, needs
and desires but the form these take is related to attachments to social
groupings and participation in social institutions. The latter are patterns of human
interaction which become instituted over time. People therefore recognize them
and orientate their actions towards them.
According to Jean Jacque Rousseau
in his book titled ‘social contract’, “there
is a social contract between the people and the authorities in which the people surrendered power, ambition,
desire and other things to the authorities in exchange for peace, order,
security, stability and other things that will enhance worth while living.
When the authorities keep to their
part of the contract, it will bring about social uplift and the society would
reach its optimum level but when the authorities fail in their part of the
contract it would bring about social degradation.
The
origins of Sociology lie in the 19th century when, the BSA notes: “advances in
science and technology encouraged people to believe there could be a rational
explanation for everything and that scientific study could lead to the solving
of all of the problems faced by human beings”.
With
this sense of opportunity and optimism “Auguste
Comte”, who gave the name ‘sociology’,
confidently hoped and expected it would provide the highest and optimum level
of scientific explanation in establishing laws of human behaviour in the
society itself.
CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS
Sociology etymologically means the
scientific study of a society. This etymological meaning of sociology was
gotten from the synthesis of a Latin
word ‘socios’ which means society and a Greek word ‘logos’ which means study. When the two meanings are
merged lexically, it gives sociology the etymological meaning to be the
scientific study of a society or the science of a society. It is the systematic
study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of
organized groups of human beings in the society.
Sociology is conceptual; that is: “Ideas about the society are devised
as concepts to describe and explain the workings and happenings of a society.
In this way the forms of social organization and the results of social
institutions which people create and reproduce in the course of everyday life
become defined in sociological terms”.
There are different definitions of sociology given by
different scholars in Sociology: Emile
Durkheim defined sociology as a scientific study of social facts. According
to him, these social facts are the products of individuals, group interactions
and relationships and that they are external to individuals and constrain the
way individuals behave in the society. Max
Weber defined sociology as a science that attempts interpretative
understanding of social actions in order to establish cause and effects of
relationships. Talcott Parsons defined
sociology as the systematic study of human grouped structures and processes.
According to him sociology focuses attention on aggregate behaviour as well as
social groups. Anthony Giddens (“Sociology”, 1989) provides the
following general definition: “Sociology is the study of human social life,
groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its
subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. In “The Complete A-Z
Sociology Handbook” (1996) Tony Lawson and Joan Garrod - two
writers with recent experience of being an AQA Chief Examiners - provided the
following definition: “Sociology is the study of individuals in groups and
social formations in a systematic way, which grew out of the search for
understanding, associated with the industrial and scientific revolutions of the
18th and 19th centuries”.
Utility in the economical setting is
the amount of satisfaction one derives from the consumption of a commodity at a
particular point in time. For the sake of the context of this work or article
the commodity here is taken to be the useful services provided to the public
for consumption for example electricity, water supply and many other things
which necessarily must not be materialistic. According to the Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary 7th
Edition, utility means the quality of being useful, in other words it means
the usefulness of a particular thing or concept.
Shortcomings means deficiencies,
failures, faults etc. this is the part where a particular concept, system or
plan have failed or rather did not work out as expected. This synonymously can
be taken to be the problems of a particular thing.
NIGERIA
Nigeria is
a republic in western Africa, with a coast along the Atlantic
Ocean on the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria is by far the most
populated of Africa’s countries, with more than one-seventh of the continent’s
people. The people belong to many different ethnic groups. These groups give
the country a rich culture, but they also pose major challenges to nation
building. Ethnic strife has plagued Nigeria since it gained her independence in
1st October, 1960.
CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA
Contemporary according to the Oxford advanced
learner’s dictionary, international student’s edition, second meaning
“belonging to the present time”. Contemporary Nigeria in this context means the
present condition and situation of Nigeria.
The utilities and shortcomings of sociology
in the contemporary Nigeria simply means the effectiveness and failure of
sociology in the modern Nigerian societies. The utilities and shortcomings of
sociology in the contemporary Nigeria are strongly influenced by the edifice
that was established during the past times and the edification of the present
society.
UTILITIES AND SHORTCOMINGS OF SOCIOLOGY IN
CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA
“Sociology
is the one social science which embraces the whole range of human activities
and this makes it a very wide field of study. As a result, it offers many
opportunities for specialisation and these are reflected in the work of
sociologists”.
“Concepts
are tested through “empirical research”
that is, Researches involving the investigation of particular aspects of the
society and the way people interact with each other in relationships. This
provides a check as to whether sociological concepts and issues actually
correspond to the way social life is conducted by people in the real sense of
it”. Sociological research consists of the identification, development and
testing of theories about human beings, their behaviours and their societies.
The
traditional focuses of sociology have included social stratification, social class, culture, social mobility,
religion, secularization,
law, and deviance. As all spheres of human activity are
affected by the interplay between social structure and individual agencies, sociology has gradually expanded its
focus to further subjects, such as health, medical, military and penal institutions, the Internet, and the role of social activities in
the development of scientific knowledge,
just as a matter of fact a rise in scientism.
The
range of social scientific methods has also expanded. Social researchers conclude based on varieties of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The linguistic and cultural turns
of the mid-twentieth century, led to increasingly interpretative,
hermeneutic,
and philosophic approaches to the analysis of the society. Conversely,
recent decades especially in Nigeria have seen the rise of new analytically, mathematically and computationally rigorous techniques, such as agent-based modelling and social network analysis.
Sociology should not be confused with various general social studies
courses which bear little relationship to sociological theory or social science
research methodologies.
UTILITIES OF SOCIOLOGY IN THE CONTEMPORARY
NIGERIAN SOCIETY
UTILITY OF HUMANISM:
“Humanism is a global
outlook that maintains that human being has the right and responsibility to
give meaning and shape to their live. The humanist in the stand point of some
philosophers is informed that human being have no creator or maker but are born
with power to shape and determine their destinies but it could work efficiently
with the aid of a good social orientation. This is therefore not a naturalistic
philosophy as opposed to super-naturalistic and other worldly ideologies”.
The utilities of sociology in this context is
that since sociology deals with the society and human relationship, it helps in
this conceptive aspect because when one relates with another, he get to know
the ideas and opinions of other thereby not limited to only his own knowledge
about the things of their society and how to make a better future for himself.
Since human beings are free thinker, they are characteristically non-dogmatic
and non-authoritarians.
A SOCIALLY ORGANISED WAY OF LIFE:
Socialization
is a very important aspect of the human society because there is need to ensure
that culture, norms and values are passed from one generation to another. The
Nigerian society is socialized today because of the utilities brought about by
sociology and the inability to do this may bring about social vices.
Nigerian society varies
greatly between urban and rural areas, across ethnic and religious borders, and
with levels of education. Still, most Nigerians share a strong attachment to
the family and especially on children, to clearly differentiated roles for men
and women, to a hierarchical social structure, and to the dominance of religion
in shaping community values.
Social life
in Nigeria has traditionally revolved around ceremonies: weddings,
infants’ naming ceremonies, and public performances associated with cultural
and religious activities. Young adult males living in cities enjoy going to
cinemas, dance clubs, and bars for recreation. “Some Muslim women, for example
among the Hausas, have their own social dressings and social institutions
revolving around the ‘Bori’, a cult of spirit possession. Bori ceremonies provide women
with a forum for interaction that is relatively free of male control, and offer
explanations and remedies that help women cope with problems such as the death
of their children or husbands”.
EDUCATIONAL UTILITIES:
For generations before
the arrival of Europeans, Nigerians taught their children informally about
their culture, tradition, work, survival skills, and social activities. With
the aid of sociology, civilization came in and people received formal teachings
about concepts. Some societies gave more formal instructions about the society
and culture as part of young peoples’ rites of passage into adulthood. In
Islamic communities, students studied the Qur’an (Koran) and read other
religious texts written in Arabic. Many of the more able students pursued
higher Islamic studies and became teachers, clerics, or legal scholars.
“Adult literacy is estimated
to be 78 percent for men and 64 percent for women. An improvement resulting over
the past years from the universal primary education and programs for adult
literacy. Official data, however, estimate literacy only in English, thus
discounting the significant level of literacy in Arabic among northern Muslims.
A large number of Islamic schools are still in operation”.
LANGUAGE UTILITIES:
Most Nigerians speak more
than one language including foreign languages. English, the country’s official
language, is widely spoken, especially among educated people. Many native
Nigerian languages have been identified, and some are threatened with
extinction. The most common and dominant of the native languages are Igbo,
Hausa, and Yoruba. Other major languages include Ibibio, Tiv, Efik, Edo, Ijaw,
and Nupe. The most widely used languages have several distinct regional
dialects, and in some regions, such as the Jos Plateau and surrounding middle
belt, hundreds of small groups make for wide linguistic variations across short
distances. The two main trade languages are pidgin, a distinct language in
which English is combined with native languages, used commonly in the south;
Igbo commonly in the east and Hausa, used mostly in the north.
THE UTILITY OF PERSONAL FREEDOM AND
DEVELOPMENT:
“The act of giving
free rein to one’s thinking is a free thought. Can you reject all dogmas and
ignore all orthodoxy? Can you jump the bar put by superstitions and faith
without the aid of sociology? That is being a free thinker”.
To let your thoughts soar and to fly beyond
customary convections and mores is to be in the realm of free thought and these
are the gifts and utilities of sociology. For a thought to go beyond the
borders of one’s own limits and beyond ancient and modern authorities is also
the fruit of a good social community, precisely human socialization. The
advantage of free thought is that it nurtures the inquiring mind in us, and
sharpens our critical and creative acumen.
HUMAN ORIENTATION AND SOCIALIZATION:
Sociology as a
discipline has battled its way out to see that the causes of human behaviors
are well examined because the societal development is under the influence of
the individual developments of the people that made up the society.
Values are the things one regards to be good,
desirable and better in comparison with other things. Objectively, value is a
quality in a thing that makes it desirable. Subjectively, value is a deep conviction
that something is good, right and important and therefore worth seeking and
having. It is an orientation towards a thing external and essential to an
individual.
There are many human and social values like:
reason, intelligence, skepticism, naturalism, human right, justice, freedom,
individual anatomy, equality, privacy, human solidarity etc. the human and
social values are many to be mentioned and they are all the fruits, gifts and
benefits of a well socialized community. The opposites of these values are
regarded as bad concept and they would occur or suffice where sociology fails.
UTILITY OF SOCIAL FREEDOM:
Jean Jacque Rousseau said that “man was born free, yet every where
he is, is chain”. This chain Rousseau
was talking about would be broken when sociology is properly utilized. All
bondages must be destroyed that man may be free. On the mental level, freedom
is essential to man to think about himself and be free from unreasonable
dogmas.
The concept of freedom runs through all other
sociological value so that in everything he does, a man must operate freely and
autonomously, in other words sociology is on its optimum level.
In this Nigerian contest of social freedom,
it includes freedom from primitive and oppressive tribal customs, traditions
and values; Nigerians should be free from such customs like female genital
mutilation, the subjection of women in the patriarchal families, the “Osu” caste system in Igbo land, the
oppression of widows and other customary vices.
UTILITY OF HUMAN RIGHT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE:
Just as other utilities
of sociology, human right is one of the values of sociology; there cannot be
peace without justice, now the concept of human right is rooted in justice.
With the statements above, I can say that the structures and institutions that
put limitations on the rights of individuals, groups and communities are
preventing justice from being realized. In this contest, it is not only
constitutional rights but also natural rights of man that he got from creation.
SHORTCOMINGS OF SOCIOLOGY
Nigeria is a country that has enough material and intellectual resources
to make a good social life for her citizens but when the intellects and
resources are misused or abused, it brings about a non social society. In spite
of the merits of sociology in the contemporary Nigerian societies discussed
above, I can still rationally argue that it still have some weaknesses in other
words demerits. They are as follows:
RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS AND CRISIS:
In the case of
religious conflicts and crisis in the contemporary Nigerian society, it has
been a big challenge facing sociology as a discipline. Many Nigerians due to
the fruits a of these crisis like taking a particular religion to be superior
to the other, Boko Haram crises and conflict of bombing the church, are really
tired of worshipping God, a God they cannot see or touch no matter how hard
they try. Because of the crisis, some Christians are disgusted with the fact
that God, the almighty exists; is he there watching the Boko Haram group bomb
his church with the believers inside it? The land devastated by diseases,
conflicts and corruptions? There is a great need of sociology in the Nigerian
societies to cure these social illnesses that were brought about by an
ineffective social community and is affecting the socio-religious life of the
people in the society.
SOCIAL INJUSTICE:
The discrimination
perpetrated against the minorities all over the country is equally built on the
socio-political and economic structures of domination right from the Jihad and
was exacerbated during the colonial era. All these result in the continuing
violation of the basic human right of a large section of the Nigerian citizens
using the instruments of the state and application of unjust polices. “Some
values like political repression, marginalization, colonization, racism, sexism
etc militates against peace and justice”.
“Another form of social oppression is the
Shari’ a legal code being implemented in some region of the federation. The
moment preference is given to a particular religion over another in a
multi-religious society like Nigeria; you are giving grounds to injustice
because it entails discrimination, it also means that the rights and freedom of
the other religion is tampered with. It necessarily violates the principles of
equality before the law, and it amounts to an imposition”. This is the exact of
what the Shari’ a law has done because to some extents it bounds the limits of
the natural rights of those that did not subscribe and conform to it.
SOCIAL EVIL AND NETWORK CRIMES:
Sociology
brought about civilization and with civilization, people learnt and are
socialized on how to commit crimes in an advanced way that they would not be
caught. Examples of such crimes are: frauds like duping, internet crimes like
hacking of people’s site, computers and accounts illegally. And also due to the
civilization that was brought about by sociology, the internet was made
accessible for those that have the accessories like a set of computer, mobile
phones e.t.c. and because of this, our youth are visiting pornographic sites to
watch nude movies thereby putting a question mark on the future of the youths
and of the nation in general.
LACK OF SOCIO-ECONOMICAL AND ENVIROMENTAL MAINTENACE: “The rural economy that supports most
Nigerians is based on the productivity of the land, 33% of which is cultivated.
Soil fertility varies considerably but is generally poor. The most fertile of
the soils are the result of alluvial deposition of dead animals and fishes in
river valleys. Many, however, are overused and eroded. Trees, which help
prevent erosion, are often used for fuel, lumber, material for tools, fodder
for animals, and herbal medicines. As a result, the landscape is becoming increasingly
barren of trees, especially in densely populated areas and near larger cities”.
Nevertheless,
the country, due to lack of a well oriented socio-economic training, has to
some extent abandoned farming as a means or source of income and as an export
goods and have so much cringed and embraced the production of petroleum as
their major means of revenue generation and also as the major export product.
CONCLUSION:
This work began with the
clarification of the concept of “Sociology” that aided this task. I also made a
survey of the contemporary Nigerian society and tried to identify the utilities
and shortcomings of sociology in it.
Sociology as a
discipline identifies
the examples of the variety of behaviours both of individuals and institutions
because sociology as a discipline is concerned with studying and explaining of
social behaviours and there causes.
As discussed in the early paragraphs of this work,
sociology has its strength and weaknesses; the strength of sociology is
advantageous to us as the constituents of our various societies and the
weaknesses are disadvantageous and are of bad influences to us. With regards to
the previous statements, one can conclude that the strengthening sociology is
essential for us living in the modern Nigerian society.
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