Honestly speaking many among our peers have erroneously subscribed to the bogus idea that often says a Man of western characters is the most civil and most highly regarded in the eyes of the world.
While, I together with people of like minds failed to kowtow to this notion of crass inferiority complex because the likes of Sardauna, Tafawa Balewa, Zik, Awolowo, Malam Aminu Kano, Du Bois and the rest are not far from us and their outstanding memories are still with us which stands to prove the first assertion and perception as wrong. Because the world has rendered them a and iconic treatment and tribute upon their ever living souls.
But Onset the moment we throw away our golden cultures and tradition and mischievously go hellbent to get them replaced by the over hype and so called western values which are in all sense in nonconformity with our setting, I realized there would be a terrible gap.
To this point, in the name of civilization, modernization or whatever we called it, many folk have decided to surrender their psyche and whims to that of the imported customs. This has caused a great setback to our behavior and the society as well. Many whom are not exposed to the idea of hugging or kissing overtly have now been found themselves in to the business, not only restricted to their relative but sadly to those they fit right calling bestie, lover or something related to this intimate category.
In line with this, we also have sunk ourselves in to the gutter of moral decadence. As it’s obvious to all, in our matrimonial events, we now possessed the gut of framing it with western indecencies. Hence We normalize engaging in to a vulger affairs all in the name quest of being civilized.
Yet some views this negativities as new phase of development for as I can decipher what they mean by this porous admittance of western practices as just a yardstick of measuring their level of civilization not knowing the question of civilization doesn’t limited itself to social aspect, rather it goes beyond that. Had it we are wise enough we could have channel this energy toward getting ourselves intellectually rich through education as our way of romancing civilization instead.
Perhaps, to some length, I can agree with Samuel Hunting Tong bogus claimancy which says ” Only by inculcating the west a country would be rate as a developed ” well, if we are to go with this assault of inferiority complex against us, then until we eye the practices of those so called developed countries as our models, and we tend to be their facsimile, we would never be developed. No wonder despite the intellectualism that flows in Egypt they are yet to be universally recognized as one.
So shall we continue surrendering our hard earned as well as sumptuous culture to the dirty hand of western indecency ? Shall we succumb substituting our marvelous spiffy dress with that of half naked, archaic and sassy one : Our Babbar Riga with Jeans and Shirt, Abaya with Mini shabby skirt and our Zanna Bukar with that worthless P Cap which we traditionally called it Hana Sallah ? Never, we can’t afford doing this nonsense for it’s only the remaining part that left with us now.
Alas, we must lament here for we have lost many sensational cultural practices to the face of modernism and civilization of which among them it include our modest tradition of eating in a collective form ( Chiyayah ) which used to close many holes of poverty and hunger among us in those days and the culture of respecting elderly people even if they happen to be with unknown identity to us have today been lost.
Thus, the decent act of matrimonial events where meant by the relatives show themselves and get themselves pleased in such a sonorous and marvelous dressing and at same time engage themselves in to a cute and morally sounded cultural events, unfortunately all are now part of our history. Sadly all these beautiful practices are among the most enthralling ones which we lost to western social ideas in disguise.
Until we tend to honor, glorify and revive the enticing lost culture of ours towards chasing away the bad foreign ones, we will never get it right and the turbulence of immorality would surely defeat us and subject to shame and remorse and the end of the journey.
However, with the likes of People of anti-western ideas amidst us, the people with Mazruian mentality an their alikes and that of Mugabe’s as well as Dahiru Yahaya resistance personality we shall Insha Allah soon get out of the wood ad have our social predicamations addressed.
All we need to do is to intensively copy the resistance mentality of our ancestors to any imported value that might cost us a greater gap to our society. For with our culture only our edifice and beauty thrive universally and with it devoid we are bound to experience a colossal decline in the book of history.
To this end, I pray Africans will join hands to receive their expensive culture and move to compete with the charlatans of our civilization at the international community.
I only believe when we drench in the lake of our morally upright inherited culture our faces will glow rattlingly and beautifully as well. So let’s subscribe to ours and turn a blind eyes to the faulty corrupted ones.
Abdulrahman Yunusa is a political and public affairs analyst, he writes from Bauchi and can be reached via abdulrahmanyunusa10@gmail.com