PLACE OF CARTOON IN REMOLDING CHARACTER FOR SUSTAINABLE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Cartoon is often seen as a humorous form of expression when compared with other genres in visual arts. It satirizes nature and depicts absurdities in human characters. Thus, cartoonists in Nigeria have used their creative skills to address serious issues in Nigeria political space. Often, they address many socio-political happenings, using satirical imagery encoded with typography and semiotic sagacity to pass important messages with positive impact on the lives of many Nigerians who pass through various challenges on a daily basis simply because of the poor management of Nigerian economy by the political elite. This research, therefore, examines the themes and composition of some of the cartoons by three selected Nigerian cartoonists: Akinwale Onipede, Jimoh Ganiyu and Mike Asukwo who have used their works to express issues on education, morality, politics and economy. The study offers a qualitative analysis of works of the selected cartoonists, the analyses centered on the pictorial and iconographic representation of the cartoons. The study adopted Charles Sanders Peirce’s (1867) Social Semiotic/Semiology framework for its analyses. More so, the society largely pays more attention to the humorous and entertainment aspect of cartoons, rather than the important information the cartoonists embedded in their works. Numerous cartoonists have creatively bound the texts and images to humorously communicate serious socio-political issues in Nigeria. This study maintains that cartoons, apart from being forms of entertainment, work better in creating a better society by educating the citizens on social ills and the need for good governance.