‘Cultural Reorientation Needed for Behavioral Change among Youths’

Funmi Ogundare The Director General of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), Ferdinand Anikwe, has called for a reorientation of Nigeria’s cultural values among youths to bring about behavioural change.

Anikwe, who was guest speaker at the fifth annual cultural day of King’s College, Lagos, expressed concern that respect for elders among the youths is fast disappearing, adding that the zeal to imbibe western culture is hindering the development of the country’s cultural values.

In his paper, ‘Culture and Learning’, he argued that parents and teachers could proffer solution to the lingering moral decadence in the society if they are able to instill cultural values in their children.

“Socialisation methods are fast giving way to strange and stinky infiltration from the other side. Propagation, preservation and promotion of the Nigeria culture are seemingly mandatory to retain our indigenous languages, mode of dressing, morality, beliefs and values. The effect is our children’s inability to speak and understand their mother tongue; our young men and women behave and appear every inch American.”

The director general said education in the country should integrate and inculcate the norms and values of the various cultural groups, adding that such education would lead to the creation of consciousness required for social integration and national unity.

“Unity in diversity is a necessary criterion for peace and the development of people, societies, nations and the world at large. Nigerian education policies and programmes should be the ones that children must be made to understand and from which they would learn the values of the differences in our cultures.”

The Principal of the college, Chief Oladele Olapeju, stressed the need for Nigerians to promote and sustain their culture, adding that when civilisation was brought into the country by the white men, Nigeria was still able to retain its culture.

On the essence of the day and the relationship between culture and learning, he said, “they are interchangeable, when you are learning, there is an aspect of culture there that is learning, they are two interchangeable concepts which combined together form the total man. In the senior class, they have a subject called cultural and creative arts, so they are just putting to practice what they learnt in class and are now displaying that on the field.”

He expressed hope that the cultural day would be sustained at the school, adding, “it’s about the school and management, I brought the idea of the cultural day and this is the fifth edition. It’s going to be sustaining because there is no other way than to promote the African culture. We are established through a colonial vision, but we have domesticated the vision to the country’s mission.”

The Chairman of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), Chief Emmanuel Oriakhi, expressed delight about the programme saying, “the parents have been supportive. The cultural day has confirmed that King’s College is leading the way. We want to commend the management for the laudable step.”

The event featured various cultural dances and display of different states by the students.