Ayokunmi O. Ojebode
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3801-5377 
Institute for Name-Studies, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

https://doi.org/10.4467/K7478.47/22.23.17742

Abstract
This study explores animal names in Femi Osofisan’s “Kolera Kolej” (2001), entrenched in the characters’ animalistic tendencies and nonconformity to Yoruba ethics, values and norms. Despite studies on Osofisan’s theatre and satirical technique, especially the playwright’s commentary on Nigeria’s socio-economic and political crises, there is no compelling research on zoonyms (animal names) anchored on Yoruba epistemology in the work. The study adopted Onomastic semiosis within the framework of Dan Izevbaye’s (1981) sociocultural and literary naming contexts to foreground the Yoruba philosophy ìse ènìyàn n’ìse ẹranko equating animals and human beings through names and characteristics. In the Yoruba culture, animalistic or unethical behaviours contradict the Omoluabi concept of ideal citizenship. Thus, the playwright’s designation of profound Yoruba animal names ridicules African elites and political leaders’ chauvinistic and greedy nature and its consequences on a nation’s socio-politics and economy.

Keywords
animal psychology, Cultural Studies, Osofisan, Yoruba Orature, zoonyms