Literature Review
1. Mami Wata
Mami Wata is portrayed in many visual forms sometimes depicted as female or male. Her images forms the image of goddess sometimes portrayed as holding serpents and other forms of cultural figures. The Nigerian cultural tale starts with Mami Wata as a daughter to Yemaja. She takes the form of mermaid and her tales predominantly surround coastal areas. Her tales are mainly religious and she people accuse her of playing part in many sea associated calamities and tragedies including abductions when people are swimming, sinking ship, storms and other forms of water catastrophic events. Although she depicts in visual form as human, she is believed to be a spirit of the underwater and her abductions lay basis that her survivors tend to come back wealthier and in better status than they left. Her visualization mostly comes with a serpent wrapping around her bosom; between her breasts. People believe that sometimes she passes through marketplaces in the figure of a complete human. Mami Wata takes form of a superstitious being with string powers and negative personality attributes. Nigerians believe that she has the power to make people sick and that only she can take away these particular ailments. People blame Mami Wata for all kinds of body diseases and conditions. Barren women blame her for her ability to make people infertile. People also believe that Mami Wata has the ability to cure these sicknesses and also has the ability to make women beautiful after she heals them of their ailments. Her body’s tattoo of a snake shows her superstitious nature, mainly associated with negativity and her dark side. Mami Wata’s conceptualization grew vastly in the 20th century. This was primarily due to the improvement in communication with the emergence and spread of urbanization across the African continent. Through this period, many cultural