Forced truancy is a risk factor that influences juvenile behavior, requiring the joint efforts of school authorities, parents, and courts to address. It is a phenomenon where students desire attending school, but for reasons beyond their control, they are prohibited from attending classes. Some of these reasons are teachers' strike action, students' poverty, lack of educational infrastructures, and unsafe educational environment. Teachers' strike is a frequent occurrence in southeastern Nigeria caused by irregular payment of teachers' wages, benefits, and other remunerations. This case study of 3 secondary schools in southeastern Nigeria sought to understand the impact of forced truancy by examining the relationship between forced truancy and youth delinquency. Although previous studies have explored the causes of truancy, few studies have addressed the effect of forced truancy created by incessant teachers' strike. The theoretical framework that guided this study included Hirschi's social bond theory and Merton's social structure. Case studies were developed using data from the participants and review of documents. A maximum variation method was used for data collection through semi-structured that resulted in a review of archival records and open-ended interviews with students (S = 9), teachers (T = 8), and principals (SP = 4). Descriptive case analysis were used to identify common themes and patterns using constant comparative techniques. Implications for positive social change include identifying areas that need improvement and recommending to legislators and education policy makers for the best approach to addressing the problem, where it has the potential to eliminate teachers' strike, reduce youth truancy, and improve student's academic performance.

This doctoral dissertation presents new data and analyses concerning the expansion of Mormonism in postcolonial southeastern Nigeria after 1960. It considers why Efik- and Igbo-speaking Nigerians joined both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) despite the profusion of alternative Christian denominations already established in the southeastern part of Nigeria in the late twentieth century. This study also examines how the expansion of Mormonism in southeastern Nigeria affected the policies, practices, and theology of both the LDS and RLDS Church. This dissertation makes two overarching arguments. First, it contends that the Efik- and Igbo-speaking Nigerians who embraced Mormonism wanted to have the social respectability and imagined economic benefits of joining an international mission church, while making the smallest possible departure from their indigenous culture. Second, this project argues that the expansion of Mormonism in southeastern Nigeria raised existential questions for American church leaders about what it meant to be Mormon in the second half of the twentieth century. While the LDS Church resisted adapting many of its religious practices to indigenous customs and cultures, the expansion of Mormonism in Nigeria nevertheless pushed LDS and RLDS theology and values towards both the Protestant and American mainstream. This dissertation bases its conclusions on preliminary research conducted in Nigeria and on a close reading of archival records and manuscripts housed at the Church History Library of the LDS Church, L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University, and the Community of Christ Library Archives. / 2027-10-31T00:00:00Z