Gender-based violence in Gloria Ernest-Samuel’s <i>Radical Sacrifice</i>: A paradigm of African narrative

From the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates till today in Nigeria’s historical evolution, the issue of gender-based violence (GBV), which includes physical, economic, mental, and social harms that are inflicted on people, either in public or in private, has been recurring in many Nigerian families and society. Regrettably, the issue has been interrogated based on western theories, such as Feminism, Queer, and their equivalents, not considering the nature and application of GBV in the African setting and in Nigeria specifically that appears to be different from western practices. As a result of this, GBV on the women by the male counterparts is aggressively visible in the Nigerian society and has affected the women psychologically, physiologically, emotionally, and physically. It has also affected their growth politically, socially, culturally, religiously, and economically. The study, therefore, interrogates the negative effects of GBV on the female gender in Nigeria as portrayed in Gloria Ernest-Samuel’s Radical Sacrifice. To achieve this, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw’s Intersectionality Theory and critical discourse analytical methodology are employed as guideposts. Expectantly, a positive attitudinal behaviour will be spawned among Nigerians, thereby inspiring change in society.