“Gone were the days when life was treasured and values were welcomed and held with high level of respect. As of then, parents hid their faces in shame when their daughters were found out to be non-virgin by their husbands during wedlock. The notions of chastity and virginity have been rendered absurd these days.
” The moral excellence in Nigeria society had overnight been transformed into moral decay. Elders are no longer respected; our rich cultural festivals and ceremonies are now seen as “old school”.”
These were the views of participants at a forum on Yoruba cultural renaissance , held yesterday in Saki town.
The Forum was organised by a non- Governmental Organisation, Vanguard For Yoruba Cultural Renaissance.
In a communique at the end of the forum and signed by the Convener , Engineer Babs Oyinloye, the forum 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.
It 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 forum 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”.
The forum further pointed out that a paradigm shift from nude dress code 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.
“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 forum argued that many people are not 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” “.
Conclusively, the forum asserted that one’s right, 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’’.
