Search results

The overall aim of this research is to interpret Ikenga and Ofo creativity as it is revered in Igbo societies. Igbo creativity, especially interpreted through material culture, suffers the threat of extinction resulting from the forces of modernity. Forces of modernisation, which appear in the personae of Christianity, education, urbanisation and industrialisation, denigrated indigenous creativity, brandishing them as devious, fetish and primitive. Ironically, in most cases, the drivers of such narratives keep these “fetish” items in their museums and will give a lot to preserve them.

This study centred mostly on several communities in the Nsukka area of Igboland, Nigeria. It relied on both primary and secondary sources of historical enquiry. This qualitative research discussed the nuances of the subject matter as it relates to Igbo cosmos. These approaches involved visiting the study area and conducting personal interviews.

Archaeologists do often rely on material culture to study, periodise and date past human societies. In this study, it is found that material culture, an expression of indigenous creativity, best interprets how society survived or related with their environment. This paper examined two Igbo sculpted artefacts – Ikenga and Ofo – while unearthing the intricacies in Igbo cosmology as regards creativity, spirituality and society.

The shapes, motifs, patterns and designs depict an imaginary history, the intellectualism of the past and even the present. This serves as an objective alternative to the twisted colonial narrative on Igbo material culture and consequently contribute to ongoing efforts to preserve, protect and promote cultural heritage resources in this part of the world.

This study aims to collect new empirical evidence to determine how different forms of ownership structure responded to the recent COVID-19 crisis. In light of this tragedy, it explores the relationship between ownership structure forms (i.e. block-holders, foreign, institutional and family ownerships) and audit quality (proxied by audit fees).

In total, 3,200 firm-year observations for Jordanian enterprises covering the years 2005 through 2020 are used in an ordinary least squares regression with firm-clustered standard error to assess the hypotheses.

The regression results showed that COVID-19 strengthens the association between each type of ownership (i.e. block-holders, foreign, institutional ownership forms) and audit quality. This result reflects the need for high-quality audit services during the pandemic by such owners to improve their business decisions and limit agency-conflict issues. However, the analysis failed to find any effect of COVID-19 when it comes to family ownership. Family-controlled firms may react faster in crisis situations, and correspondingly, they do not bear high audit costs. The extended analysis covering the years 2005–2022 came to the same results.

The results aid authorities in their control and management of the auditing business. The findings have important consequences for policymakers, lawmakers, regulators and the audit profession as they assess the growing issues in an uncertain economic environment. Evidence is provided that may be used to reassure investors and aid authorities as they devise appropriate remedies to the pandemic-triggered economic crisis. The findings may aid in the improvement of legislation that governs Jordan’s auditing industry. Furthermore, the results can be generalized to other Middle Eastern countries.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically evaluate how different types of ownership affect audit quality in response to a dramatic shift in auditors’ working conditions brought on by the global health calamity. In emerging economies like Jordan, this type of analysis allows for preliminary assumptions to be established about ownership status during the COVID-19 outbreak. It adds to the body of auditing knowledge by shedding light on how various kinds of ownership affect responses to adverse events. This assessment is intended to serve as the definitive testimony in the field of accounting regarding the effects of the coronavirus across various corporations’ portfolios.