No abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on human interactions deeply affected the sense of humour of individuals. Using a social media research approach, this article analyses social media data in order to understand how social media users related with COVID-19. We sought to address the various events that generated humour among Ghanaians during the pandemic. The study reveals that the various instances of humour revolved around nose and/or face masks, terminologies and various social media posts. People neutralised their tensions and raised their humour with posts that flooded social media. This stemmed from the idea that people were mainly surprised at what they saw, watched or heard as they sought to release stress. We conclude that, owing partially to the creation of humour, the fear and tension associated with COVID-19 decreased with time among Ghanaians.

The paper aims at tracing the genesis of abuse of power and the irresponsibility that goes with it to its full blossoming in Achebe’s fiction through a close reading of Arrow of God and A Man of the People. Disenchantment with leadership in Africa, especially after independence, is not new on the African literary scene. But to Achebe, the problems associated with poor leadership in Africa did not start after independence. Failure in leadership only worsened in most African countries after independence due to the perpetuation of colonial vestiges. By doing a close reading of the two novels and by using the theory of postcoloniality, the researchers compare the traditional world of Ezeulu in Arrow of God to the post-independence setting of Chief Nanga in A Man of the People. The paper concludes that Africa has gone beyond the politics of post-colonialism and is now at the postcoloniality stage. In order for Africans to truly overcome the perennial problem of poor leadership, there is the need for us to first accept our role as a continent in contributing towards the failure of leadership in Africa. There is also the urgency to encourage grass root participation and understanding of modern democracy, to build stronger institutions and to put in place heavier punishments for those who abuse power.

Music is a part of life in Ghana. Studying a people’s music brings one closer to understanding them since music and reality are intertwined. Despite this reality, the contribution of popular music to national discourse has not received adequate research  attention in Ghana. This paper sets out to study the lyrics of one of the songs of Ebony Reigns (Opoku-Kwarteng Priscilla), a Ghanaian musician who died few years ago. Using the womanist theory, the paper investigates how the tenets of this theory are inscribed in the song, the problems that womanism addresses in the song and their implications to the Ghanaian youth. The researchers conclude from the analysis in the paper that the youth have to use social media with caution; they need to listen to advice from the elderly in choosing life partners and the African woman needs to fight for self-expression and liberation through positive cultural means.