STREETISM IN CHIKA UNIGWE'S ON BLACK SISTERS' STREET

ABSTRACT

STREETISM which is a term used to describe children who live and work on the streets due to lack of family ties or who are stuck in relationships where their parents use them to support the household financially and this highly prevalent in our society. Chika Unigwe's On Black Sisters' Street has provided valuable insights throughout the pages of the novel. The themes of Poverty, Societal Expectations, Bad governance, Child Abuse and Rape, Violence and Brutality, Domestic Violence, Complexities of Personal Displacement, Migration, Exploitation, Betrayal, and Abandonment are vividly portrayed and intertwined throughout. Poverty is seen as one of the resultant effects of STREETISM in Chika Unigwe's On Black Sisters' Street . Poverty is seen as one of the main causes of the growing population of young people living and working on the street. And society influences the lives of individuals. And so do individuals' intentions of living up to societal expectations most times influence their actions in life. In addition, the rate of unemployment in a country or nation if not tackled can cause young adults and children to go into the streets for survival. The human cost of Bad governance can be seen in the low level of basic infrastructure, weak healthcare, educational system, high unemployment, and the number of out-of school children.