By Yabagi Mohammed
Every session, the Mass Communication Department, Kogi State University, Anyigba, sets aside a day to highlight the uniqueness of the African culture and tradition through a course titled: African Communication System. This year is different as students of the department saw their Head of Department, Sr. Dr. Chika Asogwa in an attire other than her usual Rev. Sisters’ Habit. The lecturer of the course, Mr. Gabriel Ottah is a known proponent of embracing of the indigenous ways of life. Our Correspondent, Yabagi Mohammed, who also witnessed this year’s just celebrated African Communication Day in university writes:
IN the face of worries being expressed by parents, caregivers and public authorities about the continuous erosion of societal values, especially African values, which have resulted in a number of pronouncements and promulgation of laws to regulate public conducts, efforts are being made to mitigate the situation. Even as cultural imperialism continues to threaten the known and unique African traditions of old, Mass Communication Department, Kogi state University, Anyigba, is making efforts to ensure that there is a halt on the erosion of the morality and practice of the people’s way of life. The Department is doing this through a course titled: African Communication System, which has a day set aside to celebrate its Festival every session. ‘Imperialism’ is a term used to describe the imposition of western culture on the culture of people in developing countries; it is often seen as the cultural influence of the west on other countries.
The day becomes more unique considering the fact that there is a huge public outcry about the values being inculcated in the youths of today, especially university students, who, rather than be progenitors of modern inventions, have become nuisances who being about vices rather than virtues. The message of every of these festival is that a man’s right lies in his confidence and personality which is nurtured by the way he lives his life. It is also about a reminder that man is essentially the product of his tradition. It beats and moulds a person into a particular shape. Mores makes one think, speak, dance and behave in a particular manner. It is culture that makes an individual Nupe, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Alago, Tiv, or whatever language he is born into.
Dr. Chika Asogwa
Africa as a continent, has its cultures which are unique in their own way. This culture may not be absolutely the same among all countries and even within a country, a lot of cultures exist but there are features that differentiate Africans from other people of the world. The issue here is that any person with passion for the African culture 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? A visit to our banks today will give you a perfect example. In fact, it is mandatory in the banks that you wear a suit except on Fridays that you are allowed to wear native attire.
It is with the above in mind that all students offering the course and their compatriots in the department as well as lecturers are enjoined to identify with their mother-culture on the day of the Festival by adorning the African attires.
Thus, the department is always a colourful sites during the 2016 Celebration of the day recently held.
In fact, this year’s edition of the event got the shocker of its life as lecturers, students and other members of the university community got the shocker of their lives as the Head of the Department, Sister Dr. Chika Asogwa, who, before that day, had never been seen in any attire other than her religious Habit, left her robe and decided to adorn a traditional African attire to the surprise of all, making her a star-attraction during the celebration.
Speaking during the 2016 version of African Communication Day in Kogi State University, Anyigba, which was celebrated at the Prof Idachaba Lecture Theatre in the Faculty Social Science, the lecturer, Mr. Gabriel Ottah, told our correspondent that the day goes beyond just celebration of the culture of Africans, but a day when Africans who are not ashamed of their cultures gather to savour the nostalgia of the days of old when the people openly display their unique mode of activities through the eyes of the students.
With a glint of exhilaration he says: “I am overwhelmed by the display of joy shown by the students of Mass Communication and other Departments who offer the course. Africans of old had and still have unique patterns of interactions among themselves. They conducted their businesses using the media and settings of the family, age groups, the open markets, the town criers, smoke signals, demonstratives, music, dances, gunshots, colours, folktales, proverbs, riddles, the talking drums, the brass, etc and they lives happily among themselves.”
Bemoaning the prevalence of societal vices in today’s world, the Mass Communication don lambasted today’s society, where cultism, kidnapping, terrorism, armed robbery and others have sneaked into the African soil. “The African man”, he pointed out, “is identified with hard work and diligence, hence Africans must uphold their decent culture,” he added.
On her part, the Head of Department of Mass Communication, Sr. Dr. Chika Asogwa, expressed pride for witnessing the occasion, describing the African attire as beautiful and called on the young generation to embrace their culture and display its uniqueness openly, rather than allowing themselves to be boxed into western attires than show their nakedness rather than cover them up.
She says: “African Communication Day Celebration in this department always reminds me of my school days in Europe. We have what we referred to as ‘African Day’, where all students of African origin were expected to dress in their local attires and display the traditions of their people. So, seeing the same thing here, especially with the lecturer teaching the course who is known for his consistent unique African ways of dressing, Mr. Gabriel Ottah, has brought extra touch to the study of the course and the celebration of the day.”
She therefore enjoined the students to inculcate the values being taught in the course, saying that the department would do all that it can to assist in addressing the headache of immoral dressing, especially among female students, on campus.
While calling government to always give required support to the university system in the country through improved funding, she said the university system is the best place where efforts of government to fight societal ills can be achieved.
The Dean of the university’s Students Affairs, Dr. Usman Ogbo, who also witnessed the celebration bared his mind on the day saying: “a negative effect of cultural imperialism, which is the rising case of immoral dressing and semi nudity especially amongst the youths. The students should display more of the best attires worn by Africans. One of the negative roles the mass media plays in our today’s society is the dominance and propagation of violence particularly on television and video film industry. A lot of the foreign film content on television is mainly scenes of violence. The actors who engage in murder and other violent actors are portrayed as heroes. Home video, which is very popular now with Nigerian films, also carries the same theme. Research has shown that children who watch violence on screen are most prone to violent behavior in adulthood.
“The proliferation of pornographic films in our society is also another negative issue of this cultural imperialism. These movies corrupt and defile the minds of people-patronizing them is a practice alien to our society. Public discussion of sex for us is regarded as a taboo, which should not be practiced.
A student of the department, Ikechukwu Ann said apart from losing their cultural and traditional dress code to western imperialism, Nigerians have also lost their local food delicacies as well as our traditional worship to the alien culture. She said: “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 food, but we discover today that most Nigeria people are no longer interested in their local food as they now prefer the western food.”
