The Danger of a Single Story: Epic-Pandemic Narratologies and Memorials of COVID-19 in Nigeria

Ojebode, Ayokunmi O.; Solanke, Stephen O.; Okunloye, Oluwabusayo

Abstract

Few critics of memory studies have considered stories as plotted, documentary, and empirical evidence, especially in preserving Nigerians’ divergent socio-economic, religious, and political subjectivities during the coronavirus pandemic era. Therefore, this study explores Nigerians’ collective memory of the coronavirus pandemic, putting their stories in the perspective of mainstream discourse on the global health crisis and government and agencies’ discourses, especially during the lockdown in Nigeria. The primary data were from face-to-face interviews with participants between 18 and 70 (low and middle classes) from the three predominant Nigerian religions: Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional. The residents’ stories from Ajegunle (Atiba Local Government, Oyo State), Ededimeji (Ede-South Local Government, Osun State), and Oro (Irepodun Local Government, Kwara State) represented Southwest and North-central Nigeria. The collection made three main canons of the grassroots memory of lockdown in Nigeria presented as eleven personal stories and summarized under three taglines: Virus Is Divine Retribution; Virus Is a Hoax and Government Conspiracy, and Virus Is Targeted at the Rich. The predominant stories validated Nigerians’ disapproval of the closure of religious activities and centers considered antithetical to efforts to contain the threatening virus. Beyond Adichie’s ‘single-story’ postulate, grassroots memories and storytelling are a tool for political criticism, social therapy, and moral convictions on failed expectations regarding public welfare and economic security during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. The study concluded that collected and preserved stories are a form of counter-memory.

Citation

Ojebode, A. O., Solanke, S. O., & Okunloye, O. (2023). The Danger of a Single Story: Epic-Pandemic Narratologies and Memorials of COVID-19 in Nigeria. In O. Fridman, & S. Gensburger (Eds.), The COVID-19 Pandemic and Memory (87-107). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34597-5_5

• Online Publication Date: Dec 15, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 15, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 16, 2025
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 87-107
• Series Title: Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies
• Series ISSN: 2634-6257
• Book Title: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Memory
• Chapter Number: 4
• ISBN: 978-3-031-34596-8
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34597-5_5
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/31611690
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-34597-5_5