Blossom Shimayam OTTOH-AGEDE, PhD Department of English Federal University of Lafia P.M.B. 146 ,

Date of birth: January 26, 1979 Nationality Nigerian State of origin: Cross River State L. G. A.: Yakurr Marital status: Married Number and age of children: One/3years Email address: [email protected] Contact number: +23408063828763 Current rank: Lecturer I (CONUASS 4/1) Years of University teaching: 7years, 10months Key skills: Editing/reviews, research, teaching, writing, photography, and information and communication technology (ICT), social media networking, etc.

Research interests: Gender and development studies, feminist stylistics and media rhetoric, discourse analysis and pragmatics, sociolinguistics and language for (inter)national development, social media advocacy and literacy.

Academic history

Institutions attended with dates

Date Institution 2014-2019 University of , Ibadan 2009-2011: University of Ibadan, Ibadan 2011: AfriHUB Computer Training 2003-2008: University of , Calabar 1998-2000: NYSC Model Secondary School, Calabar 1984 -1990: Presbyterian Primary School, Ugep Qualifications obtained with dates Date Qualification 2019 PhD (Thesis: Rhetorical orientation and style in representations of terror in selected Nigerian newspaper reports on Boko Haram). 2011: Master of Arts’ Degree (English Stylistics) 2011: Computer Appreciation 2008: BA, English & Literary Studies (2nd Class Upper Division) 2000: National Examination Council (NECO) 1990: First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC) Publications

1. Essien-Eyo, A. and Ottoh, B. O. (2009). A semiotic analysis of the map of the University of Ibadan road network (cartosemiotics). ÑDÜÑODÉ: Calabar journal of the humanities. 8:1, 148-156. 2. Essien-Eyo, A. and Ottoh, B. O. (2011). Semiotics of cartoon in two Nigerian newspapers: The punch and the guardian. LWATI: An academic & research journal in all disciplines.8:3, 79-90. www.universalacademicservices.org.

3. Essien-Eyo, A. and Ottoh, B. O. (2012). A contrastive analysis of sentence and clause patterns in Lokaa and English. Annals of humanities and development studies. 3:2, 73-85. www.universalacademicservices.org.

4. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. (2013). Gendered-selves reconstruction in Alice Walker’s The color purple and Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings. World journal of the English language. 3:2, 22- 33. doi: 10.5430/wjel.v3n2p22; URL: http://dx.doi.org/10. 5430/wjel.v3n2p22

5. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. (2013). Grapho-metaphorization in Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings and Alice Walker’s The color purple. Journal of languages, literature and communication studies.1:1,103-113.

6. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. (2014). Language and identity in Alice Walker’s The color purple and Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings. Currents in African literature and the English language. IX, 89-104.

7. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. and Essien-Eyo, A. (2014). Linguistic identity and the role of Ebonics in African American literary experience. International journal of English language teaching. 1:1,68-82. doi:10.5430/ijelt.v1n1p68; URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijelt.v1n1p68.

8. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. and Essien-Eyo, A. (2014). Gender semiotics and the 21st century feminist utopia. Theory and practice in language studies. 4:1, 15- 23. http://www.academypublisher.com/tpls.

9. Ottoh-Agede, B. S, and Agede, J. I. (2016). The African, his spirituality and language exploitation: a cause of some armed conflicts and insurgency in Africa. The international journal of diverse identities. J. Collins, ed. Illinois: Common Ground Publishers. 16:2; 19-33, www.ondiversities.com.

10. Ushie, G. O. and Ottoh-Agede, B. S. (2016). Social network sites (SNS) technology and language education: harnessing ICT-driven service delivery in FULafia. FULafia journal of humanities and social sciences. 1:1; 18-34.

11. Ushie, G. O. and Ottoh-Agede, B. S. (2019). Literacy, complementarities and nationalism: a reading of selected poems in Idris Amali’s Efeega: war of ants. Journal of Pan-African reading and literacy research, 1:2; 78-85.

12. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. (2020). Sexual objectification and genital cursing metaphors for socio- political activism in Stella Nyanzi’s online poem to President Museveni and select-social media comments. International journal of humanitatis theoreticus. 4:1; 26-38. www.integhumanitatis.com.

Published conference proceedings:

13. Ottoh-Agede, B. S., Ushie, G. O. and Essien-Eyo, A. (2014) Short comic stories in the social media and literacy. The 2014 WEI international academic conference proceedings, New Orleans, USA. 58-73. http://www.westeastinstitute.com/proceedings/2014-new-orleans-presentations/

Book chapters:

14. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. and Essien-Eyo, A. (2014)). Androgynous tendencies in Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a woman” and Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal woman”. Gender dialectics and African development, Y. Akorede and M. Omotosho, eds. Irvin-Texas: Hightee Books.

Forthcoming:

15. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. and Ojebuyi, B. A critical discourse analysis of social-media petitions and comments on the criminalisation of hate speech in Nigeria.

16. Ottoh-Agede, B. S. Feminist-stylistic perspective in select-Nigerian newspaper reports on Boko Haram.

17. Ottoh-Agede B.S. and Joseph Igono. Violence and narrative representation of women’s experiences in Sefi Atta’s Swallow and Chika Unigwe’s On black sister’s street.

Conference papers

1. Gendered-selves reconstruction in Alice Walker’s The color purple and Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings being a paper presented at the sixth African and World Literature Conference which held at the University of Nigeria, on the 4-7 November, 2012.

2. Language and identity in Alice Walker’s The color purple and Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings being a paper presented at the International Conference which held at the University of Calabar, Calabar on African Literature and the English Language on the 7-11 May, 2013.

3. Gender semiotics and the 21st century feminist utopia: Implications on national security and socio- political development being a paper presented at the International Conference on African Literature and the English Language which held at the University of Calabar, Calabar on the 7-11 May, 2013.

4. Androgynous tendencies in Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a woman” and Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal woman” being a paper presented at the 2nd International Conference of the Feminist/Womanist Theorists on Gender: integration and development which held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, on the 23rd -27th September, 2013.

5. Semiotics of black arts, black image and the European sway in Obin, being a paper presented at the 23rd International Conference of African Literature and the English Language on African Literature, the Environment and Security Challenges which held at the University of Calabar, Calabar on the 5th – 9th May, 2014.

6. Short comic stories in the social media and literacy, being a paper presented at the 2014 West East Institute International Academic Conference in New Orleans, USA on the 19th - 22nd October, 2014.

7. The African, his spirituality and language exploitation: A cause of some armed conflicts and insurgency in Africa, being a paper presented at the 15th international conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, University of Hong Kong, SAR, China on the 15th-17th July, 2015.

8. Professionalising English language teaching and the means to attaining some sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Nasarawa State being a paper presented at the 34th annual national conference of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN) which held at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, between 18th – 21st September, 2018.

9. Grammar and composition problematic in selected essays of students of ENG212, Federal University of Lafia being a paper presented at the 35th annual national conference of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN) which held at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) , between 16th – 19th September, 2019.

10. Feministic postures and vaginal activism in Stella Nyanzi’s post-birthday poem to President Museveni, being a paper presented at the 26th international conference on African literature and the English language (ICALEL), which held on the 26th – 29th November, 2019.

Seminar papers/workshop attended

Seminar papers:

1. Ushie, G. O. and Ottoh-Agede, B. S. (2014). Social network sites (SNS) technology and language education: Harnessing ICT-driven service delivery in FULafia. Being a seminar paper presented at the second Faculty of Arts’ Seminar Series of the Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State

Distinctions, prizes and nominations

2007 Best academic student award in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Faculty of Arts’ Students’ Association, University of Calabar, Calabar

2006 Award of excellence, Nka Literary Club, University of Calabar.

2019 Best PhD thesis nomination in the Department of English, University of Ibadan.

Employment history

Position Organization/Address Dates

Oral English teacher: The Reformed Presby. Nur. and Prim. School, Lomé, Togo: 2005

Planning, Research and Statistics Officer; Cross River State Handbook Project: 2008

Secretary II, Academic Planning Unit: Abia State College of Education,

Arochukwu (NYSC): 2009

Graduate Assistant: Department of English, Federal University of Lafia 2012-2014

Assistant Lecturer: Department of English, Federal University of Lafia 2014-2016

Lecturer II: Department of English, Federal University of Lafia 2016–2019

Lecturer I: Department of English, Federal University of Lafia 2019 - date

Key Responsibilities

Teaching and mentoring; assessing, invigilating examinations, marking and grading of examination scripts, supervising students’ projects and term papers, etc. Hobbies

Cooking, listening to good music, watching of movies, table tennis, badminton, bike cycle riding, etc.

Relevant workshops and conferences attended

Workshops:

1. Gender development training workshop, Students’ Union Government, House Committee on Female Matters, University of Calabar, Calabar and Concern Universal and GHAIN project assisted which held in April, 2006 at the University of Calabar, Calabar.

2. Job creation and awareness Seminar-IEC career training network which took place in September, 2008 at the Abia State NYSC Batch B orientation camp.

3. Academic Staff Union of Universities’ leadership training workshop, which held at the Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, 14th July, 2017.

Conferences:

1. The 6th African and World Literature Conference on Language and Literature in the 21st Century which held at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on the 4-7 November, 2012.

2. The 22nd International Conference of African Literature and the English Language on African Literature, the English Language, Corruption and National Security which held at the University of Calabar, Calabar on the 7-11 May, 2013.

3. A Joint 26th Conference of the West African Linguistic Society (WALS) and the Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN) which held at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan on the July 29- August 2, 2013.

4. The 2nd International Conference of the Feminist/Womanist Theorists which held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife on the 23-27 September, 2013.

5. The 23rd International Conference of African Literature and the English Language on African Literature, the Environment and Security Challenges which held at the University of Calabar, Calabar on the 5th – 9th May, 2014.

6. The 2014 West East Institute International Academic Conference which held in New Orleans, USA on the 19th - 22nd October, 2014.

7. The 15th International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, University of Hong Kong, SAR, China on the 15th-17th July, 2015.

8. The 34th annual national conference of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN) which held at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, between 18th – 21st September, 2018.

9. The 35th annual national conference of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN) which held at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Abuja, between 16th – 19th September, 2019.

10. The 26th international conference on African literature and the English language (ICALEL), which held on the 26th – 29th November, 2019. Membership of Professional Bodies

Dates Name of Institution or Body

2013 Member, Linguistics Association of Nigeria (LAN)

2013 Member, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA)

2013 Member, Feminist/Womanist Theorists

2014 Member, Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN)

2015 Member, Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations

2018 Member, English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN)

Institutional Committees/Services

Committee / Service Role Date Faculty of Arts’ Publication Member 2012- 2014 Committee, Federal University Lafia Faculty of Arts’ Students’ Member 2012- 2014 Advisory Committee, Federal University Lafia Faculty of Arts’ Welfare Member/Chairperson 2012- date Committee, Federal University Lafia

Department of English Seminar Member Series Committee, Federal 2012- date University Lafia Creative Writers’ Forum, Founder/Coordinator 2012- date Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State.

Level coordinator Advisory 2017 - date

Community/public service

Service Date Panel Judge in ANA/Yusuf Alli Schools’ Reading 2013 Campaign Nasarawa State Visiting Oral English Teacher (voluntary job), 2014 Government Secondary School, Tudun Kawari, Behind NBS, Lafia, Nasarawa State Special Marshal, Federal Road Safety 2014- date Commission, R. S. 4.3, Lafia, Nasarawa State.

ASUU Investment Secretary 2015- 2018

Referees  Prof. Obododimma Oha Department of English University of Ibadan, Nigeria [email protected] +2348033331330.  Prof. Sampson Victor Dugga Dean, Faculty of Arts Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria [email protected]. +2348037009799.  Dr. Babatunde Ojebuyi Department of Communication and Language Arts University of Ibadan, Nigeria [email protected] +2348032804101.