THE CELEBRATION OF FOREIGN CULTURES AT THE EXPENSE OF LOCAL CULTURES: WHAT IS LEFT FOR THE FUTURE GENERATION?

thenationonlineng

A critical look at our society today, one will be tempted to say that we live in a confused cultural life values. A conflict which is more apparent than real. This is true because before the coming of Western education Nigerians through culture had different ways of educating themselves, preserving history and information. One can say that they were educated and civilized in their own way; this explains why the wisdom and proverb of our forefathers are still important. When the whites came to colonize us, they came with their cultures which were alien to us and made us to belief that ours was not good, uncouth, ancient, archaic; convincing us of the supremacy and absolute goodness of their cultures. Today, especially among the youths, one will always notice that many of them do not know how to speak their dialect, many do not even know anything about their culture, some do not even know the road to their villages, they rather prefer to speak foreign languages, dress in foreign attires, eat foreign foods, this indeed is a shame to the rich treasure trove of our local cultures. Little wonder then Maina emphasizes ‘the child centeredness of education', to serve as a foundation for the acceptance of one’s background.

One cannot but recognize the efforts of our colonial masters for a job well done, in spite of the many hardships they encountered among which are unfavorable climatic conditions, the stress of learning new languages etc. While we thank our colonial masters for so to say liberating us from our “ignorance”, we will not stop lamenting on the harm caused as a result of colonialism, as it is, the future of our cultures are vague as our younger generation might have just little or even nothing to hold onto.
Africans have rich cultural heritage, but sadly enough in the 21st Century Nigeria and many African countries, there is a high competition between western and indigenous cultures. Nowadays, youths no longer respect elders all in the name of freedom, gestures and postures such as squatting or prostrating to greet an elder is now a thing of the past, many youths now use bleaching creams to change their complexion. Hardly can one see a Nigerian youth embarking on the study on how to personally and nationally thrive in terms of agricultural engagements. What many desire is nothing but a mad rush at white collar jobs, hence stating his observation Afariogun quoting O. Nduka observes that ‘long after the introduction of western education to Nigeria, the schools continued to ignore the fact that agriculture was the backbone of the country’s economy’.

Language is one of the most effective means of communication and the uniting factor for most societies today. It’s quite unfortunate that today many people prefer to learn and speak French, English, Spanish etc, and doing nothing to learn how to speak their mother tongue this has made us not to discuss any confidential matter in public. Mother tongue serves as a medium for the preservation of culture because it creates an opportunity for authenticity and acceptance of cultures. Understanding also depends on language for assimilation, thus accounting for unity among members of the same nation when they find themselves in a foreign nation.

There is nothing wrong with learning other people’s culture but when we give ourselves completely to it and forgetting our roots then, we stand the chance of endangering our rich cultural heritage. Parents and traditional rulers have a key role to play here, while the former should give priority to children especially by speaking their mother tongue at home and taking the children to the village during holidays and festive moments to spend time learning their customs and tradition instead of spending money to sponsor their children to Dubai or Cuba for holidays , the latter too should do their best in organizing programs that will enhance the growth and development of its cultures through traditional dances, festivals, traditional competitions on art’s day, regards folk tales, proverbs, wise sayings etc.

The national ministry of education too must do its best to ensuring that the curriculum includes subjects and activities that promote indigenous cultures like allowing students to speak their mother language at intervals during school sessions, craft should be highly encouraged among the students, cultural days, etc, by so doing, the students will not only get to know their cultures alone but also the cultures of their friends.

The government and the social media too can play an important part in promoting our cultural values, the ministry of arts and culture should be at their best in making sure that artifacts are preserved and displayed for people to learn empirically.

Conclusively, people often say that the beauty of a painting is in the combination of individual strokes of the paint brush. If we all work together in unity of purpose, we can achieve anything. One shall chase a thousand but two shall chase tens of thousands. We should go by the theory of ‘Africa-Europeanism’ for us to succeed in our country today.

BY: JAMES SAMINU LAVO

Works cited
Afriogun Anthony. Education under the state and the church. Jos. Nicxz multimedia and communication, 2014. Print.
Musa, Joseph. The rudiments of philosophy of education. Pankshin: Eureka Academic foundations, 2008. Print.
Joseph, Omerogbe. A simplified history of ancient philosophy vol.1. Lagos: Joja Educational and Research publishers Ltd, 2011. Print.
Madukwe, Chinyere. African value system and the impact of westernization: a critical analysis.nd. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
The negative impact of westernization in Nigeria. Aug 06, 2013.