“Gone were the days when life was treasured and values were welcomed and held with high level of respect. As of then, parents hide their faces in shame when their daughters are found out to be non-virgin by their husbands during wedlock. The notions of chastity and virginity have been rendered absurd. The moral excellence in Nigeria society has overnight transformed into moral decay. Elders are no longer respected; our rich cultural festivals and ceremonies are now seen as “old school”.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, has expressed strong dismay over carefree attitudes by leaders in contemporary African societies, including Nigeria, who in principle, have the duty of defending and enriching communal heritage, and the dictates of ancestors for proper documentation and development.
Oba Adeyemi made the remark when students of OXBRIDGE TUTORIAL COLLEGE from Lagos paid him a courtesy visit in his palace.
The College was established in 1993 as the first specialist sixth form college in Nigeria.
Since its inception, it has successfully prepared students for the Cambridge International Examinations.
The college which is value-driven and aspiring to excellence offers quality, cost effective post school pre-tertiary education programmes, using internationally recognized curricula and assessment tools.
It fully prepares students for a successful pursuit of internationally recognized higher education studies.
The visiting students were drawn from the Departments of Geography, Sociology, History and Law.
Oba Adeyemi said intensification of direct dissemination of information either by temporary or permanent exhibitions, publication of information in journals, local or continental dailies is an indispensable complement in the training of younger ones about issues concerning culture, and the preservation of heritage.
Alaafin noted that despite reforms experienced since independence by most African countries, the continent is still far from harmonious integration of their cultural heritage in the framework, methods, and official programmes.
‘’One therefore observes a tendency in African countries, including Nigeria, to be ambiguous in the reassessment of the values of their cultures, and the need to preserve them from extinction. What we have today is that our children take solace in Western-oriented cultures and music to the detriment, If not near extinction of our rich and incomparable praise poetry and other delightful traditional music. Hip hop and other meaningless foreign music are now order of the day in the name of globalization. Rarely will you find Yoruba sons and daughters appreciating praise poetry of their ancestral lineages.”
The paramount ruler explained that it is a statement of fact that any person with passion for the African cultures today will believe that, the very material, spiritual and aesthetic fabric of African people had been destroyed by western civilization.
‘’Nigeria which is made up of rich and diverse cultural values is beginning to lose most its cultural ideals especially through the adoption of foreign culture showcased through the mass media. Nowadays, it is observed that our young men and women have abandoned our local attires such as the ‘Adire’ and ‘Ankara’ for alien attires. It is common to see young people walking across the streets half nude putting on micro-mini skirts, handless top, trousers and other outfits that are not part of our cultural identity.
Africans and indeed Nigerians have their traditional attires, but how many people proudly wear such traditional attires today?’’
‘’Must we copy everything western? Can’t we promote our rich cultural and traditional outfit so that our local industries can boom? The dress code aspect is of importance in our present situation especially now that there is a global economic meltdown coupled with the need to be inward looking in exploring and exploiting the potential inherent in our local fabrics particularly the Ankara”.
A paradigm shift from nude dress code, he noted, which characterizes the dress code today will not only boost the country’s economy but will go a long way in generating employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in our society today.
The royal father told the exciting students that apart from losing our cultural and traditional attires and dressing code to western imperialism, we have also lost our local food delicacies as well as our traditional worships to the alien culture.
‘’The kind of food we eat and even the mode of worship in our churches today have been altered. For example, the Igbo’s are known for “Akpu”, the Yoruba are known for “Amala” and pounded yam, the Igarras are known for “Uka” and the likes. We have our traditional delicacies, but we discover today that most Nigeria people are no longer interested in their local foods as they now prefer the western food.
More so, our local dialects are gradually going into extinction due to preference for foreign language’’.
‘’The younger generations can hardly communicate in their local dialects. White men colonized Africa; those colonial masters arrived Africa with their own culture and languages, which Africans consciously and unconsciously imbibed. In the process of accepting the new culture and language, they forgot to sift carefully and select the important and discard the less important ones. They forget the existence of their true (culture and language). The colonial masters provided Africans with their own language and painted array of benefits that would accrue him (the African) once he mastered the white man’s language and culture’’.
Today, the Titan of Yoruba kingdom posited that many people are even ashamed to speak their local dialect in the public, but prefer to speak English because they believe that is the best language to speak.
‘’We often see couples who hail from the same village in Nigeria whose children cannot speak their native language instead, they speak English and even in most cases, they do not speak simple and correct English but pidgin. What an aberration! Our cultural heritages have been watered down by western civilization. Gone were days where life was treasured and values were welcome and held with high level of respect. As of then, parents hide their faces in shame when their daughters are found out to be non-virgin by their husbands during wedlock. The notions of chastity and virginity have been rendered absurd. The moral excellence in Nigeria society has overnight transformed into moral decay. Elders are no longer respected; our rich cultural festivals and ceremonies are now seen as “old school”.
One’s right, Alaafin stressed lies in his or her confidence and personality which is greatly nurtured by culture, adding that man is essentially the product of his culture.
‘’It beats and moulds a person into a particular shape, as culture makes one think, speak, dance and behave in a particular manner. It is culture that makes one belongs to each of the ethnic clans in the country. Africa as a continent and Nigeria as a country have their given cultures which are unique in their own respect. This culture may not be absolutely the same among all countries and even within a country, but there are features that differentiate Africans from other people of the world’’.
Oba Adeyemi asserted that ‘’as a purveyor of authentic Yoruba traditions and symbol of philosopher king among traditional rulers, and given the responsibility of the Alaafin who is expected to be diplomatic, energetic and protective of his people, the Alaafins before me possessed all these qualities hence, their success in building of a strong and longest reigning Empire in the world, OYO EMPIRE, and founding a new settlement with an efficient palace bureaucracy, and an unwritten but resilient constitution.’’
He disclosed that Oba Adeyem 111 became the Oba at a time when articulation is needed to save , protect and promote the heritage and the glory of Oyo and the Yoruba, adding that’ Oba Adeyemi 111 is the first Western educated Alaafin .
He went further, ’’but western education on its own cannot make a person articulate. It requires clarity of language, erudition, agile mind, seriousness of purpose and of course courage. Oba Adeyemi 111 possesses all these before he became the Alaafin. He is politically, historically and socially sensitive. Alaafin’s articulation can be more appreciated when one examines the contents of his writings under the groupings of governance, politics, social developments and general history.
All these, Oba Adeyemi hinted, are the manifestations of the philosophy of the Alaafin, his vision and mission for his people, race and country.
Said he, ‘’this philosophy is upholding, preserving projecting and defending the historical traditions and native laws and customs of the people. In addition, it is the living embodiment of the cherished cultural heritage of the Yoruba people and the accredited custodian of this tradition to fight and defend same. Clearly, this philosophy and the consequent articulation are independent in all things and never neutral in nothing affecting the progress and development of Oyo as well as inherited traditions of the Yoruba.’’
Alaafin’s articulation can be more appreciated when one examines the contents of his writings under the groupings of governance, politics, social developments and general history.
‘’All these are the manifestation of the philosophy of the Alaafin and his vision and mission for his people , race and country. This philosophy is upholding, preserving projecting and defending the historical tradition and native laws and customs of the people. In addition, it is the living embodiment of the cherished cultural heritage of the Yoruba people and the accredited custodian of this tradition to fight an d defend same.’’ According to him, ‘’clearly, this philosophy and the consequent articulation are independent in all things and never neutral in nothing affecting the progress and development of Oyo as well as inherited traditions of the Yoruba.’’
