The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cultures

  • A cap on their brains: How parents limit their children by neglecting local languages

    Given their penchant for choosing native names with quintessential meaning for their children, one would be forgiven to vouch for the cultural identity consciousness of Nigerian parents. This is because most given names across the various tribes of Nigeria tells a story. However, the essence of the identity consciousness pales the moment one realizes that a four -year-old born in the south western part of Nigeria, who has been named Oluwafirewamiri (God has located me with favour), cannot hold a conversation in a mother tongue but English.

    There is a growing trend in Nigeria where parents shy away from speaking their native languages to children while adopting English as a means of communication. The tendency is fueled by the belief that English, as the world’s foremost language of wider communication and opportunity, signifies upward mobility and class. However, research suggests that putting a cap on the number of languages a child is exposed to is a disservice, as such children are denied the ability to acquire language skills which can be beneficial to both local and global communities.

    A language expert, Ignatius Usar, told The Nation that the child language acquisition theory clearly explains that children are born with a capacity to learn various languages while growing up, since their minds is a tabula rasa–plain slate.

    “It is as a child grows that experiences, including languages, are written on that slate. That is why a child has capacity for many languages than adults”, he said.

    Describing the decision of parents who neglect communicating with their children in the mother tongue as poor judgement, Usar also lamented the fact virtually all indigenous Nigerian languages are threatened since parents are not interested in the generational transfer of language as part of the cultural identity.

    Agreeing that intermarriages could be a reason why some parents insists on their wards speaking English, he also conceded to the fact the acceptability of indigenous languages for early childhood education has not been helped by the apparent lack of a language policy by the Nigerian government.

    “Nigeria’s language policy is geared towards English and to make matters worse, we are

    promoting French and Arabic. When we do that as a matter of policy, we are keeping our languages down and promoting other languages. For instance, we have a Nigerian French language village in Badagry, then we have another one for Arabic somewhere in the North, but we do not have a centre for the study of any Nigerian language,” the linguist lamented.

    The low acceptance of indigenous language as a medium of instructions for childhood development is a global problem not limited Nigeria. As English continues to gain preeminence as a global language, some countries around the world come up with deliberate language policy to ensure their indigenous languages do not go into extinction. change of status quo. However, that is not the case in Nigeria where English has continued to gain more grounds, to the extent that many parents, both literate and illiterate, invest time and money in ensuring their children learn to speak English, even though scientific evidence suggests that children who first learn to read and write in their native languages learn all subjects faster.

    Nigeria’s national policy on education, initiated in the 80’s, also recognized this and there was a resolution that early childhood education should be taught in a child’s mother tongue or language of the immediate environment. Till date, the resolution has been a policy in paper that has not seen the light of the day. One of the major hindrance to the policy is that except in remote areas, many teachers do not speak the language of the immediate community since Nigeria has over 400 languages. Another practical consideration is that text books and instructional materials are written in English. Majority of the indigenous languages are not codified; hence they are not available in written documents.

    Despite these challenges, Usar believes that progress can still be made if there are deliberate attempt to ensure that indigenous languages are preserved.
    “Language is a living thing. It is born, it grows, and it dies. If you want to keep a language alive, what we suggest is that you codify by ensuring there is a literature for it that can be transferred from one generation to another. This is the area where Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo, the three major indigenous languages edges out other languages”, Usar submitted.

    The Craze for British and American Accent

    The apathy for indigenous languages amongst Nigerian parents is not only restricted to the preference for English as language of communication. It’s also extended to the point that parents want their children to speak in British and American accent.

    Ayanfeoluwa Lawal, a diction and elocution coach, has created a niche for herself in the business of teaching people how to speak well. What confounds her, however, is the encounter of parents and school owners who approach her to teach their children the British accent. “We are in a generation of parents who want their children to sound differently. It’s a misplaced priority and I’m so against acquiring a foreign accent when it’s not coming to you naturally because the best you can be is fake. This is the in-thing in schools right now”, she said.
    Lawal also offered that the in-thing amongst elite schools in developed cities around the country is that children are taught to speak in British accent, on parents and school owner’s insistence.

    “The focus should be on the proper enunciation and articulation of words. It is sounding your words accurately. What should be emphasized is social intelligibility, which is the ability to be heard anywhere in the world. Nobody cares about your accent when you are eloquent because nobody expects you to have a British accent when you are not a Briton.

    “The thing with parents is ignorance and social pressure, so a parent sees a child speaking differently and they also want to transfer that to their children. When I teach children elocution, I start from the science of elocution so that they can understand how sounds work and come together to make words and also how they have to produce the sounds in a particular way.”

    Ms Lawal, who manages Quints, a foremost communication and social polish organization in Lagos, said she has encountered situations where parents literary caution their children from speaking their mother tongue in public. Lawal, who never spoke English at home while growing up, said even illiterate parents want their children to speak English in the public so that they can feel important.

    Read Also: ‘Make local language admission criterion’

    “I have a full mastery of my indigenous language, yet I speak English better than those who have spoken it all their lives. First, it’s a thing of the mind because we feel our language is inferior; we feel it’s vernacular; it’s not good enough so we feel that English language is better. I am an advocate of people speaking impeccable English but not at the expense of their local language. If you speak English language so well and you cannot speak your local language, you have lost your identity. One should not affect the other”, she submitted.

    Whither a comprehensive National Language Policy?
    Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba have long been regarded as Nigeria’s major languages. However, English remains the sole official language in almost all spheres of national activities.

    Segun Awonusi
    Segun Awonusi

    Scholars like Segun Awonusi of the University of Lagos suggested that language policies that favour indigenous identity should be implemented on a sustainable basis. Another linguist, Emmanuel Emenanjo, also declared that Nigeria does not have a language policy but a document that could be called a statement of intention of what a language policy could be.

    Since his appointment as the chairman of the National Technical Committee on language policy in Nigeria on 10th of April 2018, Adeniyi Harrison, a professor of Linguistics and African languages at the Lagos State University, carried a weight of high expectations. Harrison who is also the president of the Linguistics Association of Nigeria wants the Lagos State Language Policy which mandates all schools to teach Yoruba in Lagos, replicated in other parts of the country.

    He said the Linguistic Association of Nigeria has been advocating that parents, irrespective of the linguistic environment, should teach their children at a tender age to read and write in their various indigenous languages.
    “Except from the fact that some give their languages social status, there are some languages in Europe whose speakers are not as populated as speakers of Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo, but for their social status in the society, these languages are enforced on us. Indigenous languages are embodiment of the cultural repository of knowledge. When the languages are not spoken, the language die and the identities are lost,” he said.

    Prof Harrison said when children continue to bear English and biblical names, it does not allow for information on the family background, especially in the African context where people’s names are stories of the family.
    “If the person does not bear the name, how do people trace one’s family?”, he asked, adding that same goes for food where there could be a loss of identity and economic opportunities when there is a neglect of local delicacies.

    “The more languages a person is able to speak, the more the horizon widens. We are advocating for a multi-lingual society where Nigerians learn each other’s language in order to ensure national unity and cohesion”, Harrison submitted.

  • How Sisi-Oge promotes African cultures

    In the past 10 years, Idris Aregbe, popularly known as Sisi-Oge, has been in the forefront of the promotion of African cultural values. He relates the secret behind this in this interviewa with Omolara Akintoye

    What is Sisi Oge, the Pride of Africa all about?

    Thanks to the Almighty. This is a concept that started some years back, 10 years to be precise. We are ready to host the 10 anniversary, a lot of people have dreams and trying to live that dream is a problem for many because we have somehow lost our values. It has been 10 years of promoting African values and 10 years of celebrating our cultural heritage, as well as exchanging cultures all over the world knowing more about our values and roles its something that we are happy about we believe in and we are glad to be doing it and it has come to stay. The pageant is predicated upon the promotion of Africa’s heritage and values to the outside world. The event is aimed at the public and in particular the youths, with an objective of reconnecting them with their roots and origin using arts and culture as tools for National development.

    What is the area of focus?

    This year’s Sisi Oge will showcase a lot of art exhibition, beautiful and colourful events, dance drama with 22 contestants on stage showcasing their talents, presently the contestants are on camp for three months whereby they are exposed to knowing more about what the contest is all about. Today’s high moral decadence in Nigeria and across Africa is as a result of cultural neglect… And for us this is different when compared to other contest all over the world because its all about those skills that have been impacted into them The most important thing about it is that it will be used to reconnect them back to their roots as well as prepare them for the future. It will take place on the 26th of March at Civic Centre when we will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Sisi Oge. Delegates from all over the world will be present at the vent. It has been 10 years of raising cultural Ambassadors, of promotion of our values, of talent display and culture. This year, we’ve been able to use Governor Ambode’s office to get a lot of things done. We’ve partnered with countries like Turkey, U.S, among others in order to promote our values. The show is an empowerment tools for nation building. Highlight of the event include Celebrity Match, African Hair Braiding Festival, Arts exhibition & Awards, Fashion Show/Pageant,

    What are the criteria for selecting these contestants?

    The beauty of an African woman is not only about how beautiful she is It s a display of the African beauty not only in appearance but also in her strength, her value, her skills and mentality I’m not a pageant promoter, but a promoter of African culture and values, so its not just about pageant but rather about values and what it represents

    The beauty of an African woman should not be about how beautiful she is, its not a pageant that accommodate chubby people, rather, it talks more about the real African beauty, her strength, her values, mentality and exposure. I’m not a pageant promoter, rather, I believe so much in our values and that is why we are using this platform to promote it.

    It has been 10 years on, how has it been?

    If you don’t stand on what you believe in and if you don’t push, you won’t get there. It has not been easy especially when you are coming from a different direction which others are not familiar with. The pageant is more about values, focusing on something different entirely. We are looking for a content that can be used to export our values. Sisi Oge Beauty Pageant promotes dignity and it represents who we are, that is why we believe in this course and we are promoting it

    What are the Challenges encountered so far?

    Challenges are something that you encounter on a daily basis. Whether we like it or not the society is bad and we’ve lost our values. Things have changed, looking at corruption and bad governance in this country is from the top and this cannot help us unless we go back to the root. The degeneration is so high that you will do something wrong and the society will still hail you. Mind you, there are still many of our leaders who stand by these values, let’s learn from them. For instance, Ambassador Olusegun Olusola of blessed memory was my mentor who believed in our values and culture. So this show is like a clarion call to our African values. We need to go back to the root, knowing more about our values and appreciating it.

    Most of our leaders no doubt are bad examples, how can it be corrected with the Pageant?

    My organization recently came up with “Operation correct your Neighbour”, if your neighbor is doing something wrong correct him or her and the society will be a better place. The problem is about individuals, hence the need to start correcting ourselves. Gone are the days when you discover a true African woman by her strength and values. But if we start doing the right thing once again the society will be a better place for all.

  • ‘Study of cultures key to unity’

    ‘Study of cultures key to unity’

    To foster national unity, the Social Studies Association of Nigeria (SOSAN) is advocating the study of cultures in schools. Its members made the suggestion at the end of their 31st yearly conference held at the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo. OLAWALE ODEYEMI (400-Level History, University of Ilorin) reports.

    How can culture be used to promote national integration? Members of Social Studies Association of Nigeria (SOSAN) seem to have an answer to this poser. At their 31st yearly conference held at Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo, they made far-reaching recommendations on how culture can be used to foster unity in a multi-ethnic society.

    The theme: Cultural Studies and National Unity: Emerging trends was aimed at entrenching social education for the enhancement of cultural knowledge and building of responsible citizenry.

    The conference drew participants from 29 states. It was chaired by the college’s Provost, Dr Razak Adefabi. The SOSAN president, Prof Samuel Ogundare of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) led other national officers to the event.

    Other dignitaries at the event included the Permanent Secretary, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mr  Adeyinka Osuntogun, Dean, School of Arts and Social Sciences, EACOED, Mr O.O. Oladokun, SOSAN vice president, Dr Alice Jekayinfa, and Treasurer, Dr Eunice Oyetade, who came from Michael Otedola College of Primary Education in Lagos.

    Speakers included Prof Segun Ajiboye of the Department of Teacher Education, University of Ibadan (UI), and Dr Festus Fasanmi of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State.

    After presentation of papers and discussion, participants issued a communiqué, which they said would help the government to achieve its agenda for national cohesion.

    The association praised the Federal Government for ensuring peace and security every part of the country. It, however, noted that various approaches devised by the government to achieve unity among the ethnic nationalities had not been effectively pursued.

    The association suggested the need to incorporate cultural diplomacy into the government approaches. The communique reads in part: “Cultural studies have been found to be a good strategy to build bridges and fill gaps across divides. Understanding of other people’s cultures promotes recognition, respect and facilitates unity.”

    The association urged the government to employ modern approach in addressing division among the people. It said: “Informal approaches, such as school cultural days, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and display of cultural traits during sporting fiesta will go a long way in bridging gaps. The formal cultural studies at all levels of education should be given more prominence and promoted through motivational offers.”

    The educationists hinted that government must incorporate cultural diplomacy in its change mantra, saying: “A cultural curriculum is a veritable tool for change and at this moment, we suggest that our school curriculum should be revised to incorporate teaching and learning cultures and their values in all the subjects at primary and secondary school levels.”

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE after the event, the association’s National Secretary and Sub-dean of Students’ Affairs Unit, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Dr Abdulraheem Yusuf, said there was urgent need for President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate cultural programmes that would erase mutual suspicion among various cultures in the country. He said such move would help in promoting good democratic practice and national unity.

    Highpoints of the event was presentation of awards to some members of the association and induction of new members.

  • June 9: Fallout of clash of cultures

    Sometimes, even an adversity is not without an advantage. One painful lesson from June 9 National Assembly (NASS) disgrace and APC disaster is that we are once again reminded that we are a nation of many nationalities with different world views. What the Fulani see looking at June 9 from their own cultural prism is different from what the Igbo see. What the Yoruba see is different from both. Where the Fulani see pragmatic politics in action and the Igbo, business deals, what the Yoruba see is treachery and outright theft. The fault is not in their stars but in their cultures.

    Bukola Saraki’s father claimed he was a descendant of a powerful Fulani hegemonic ruling class that migrated from Mali some 150 years ago. And for the Fulani, struggle for power is an obsession. And for its pursuit, as in war, all is fair and foul. This perhaps explains why Saraki does not see trading off the victory of his party to satisfy his ambition as a national disgrace and personal tragedy for a politician with eyes on the future. He does not believe he owes the nation an apology, or his party an explanation. He has in fact moved on to consolidate his hold on power by ignoring the directives of his party on the composition of National Assembly (NASS) principal officers. In this regard, not even the fact that his father became senate leader in a house where his father’s NPN had only 35 of 95 senators in the Second Republic counted for much. Saraki shares a common bond with Abubakar Atiku, another Fulani whose pursuit of power makes him move with the winds behaving like a woman with five husbands with loyalty to none. As a pragmatic Fulani trader of power and influence, Atiku has already reminded his APC colleagues that politics, as war, may not always produce the expected result. Despite strident denials by his aides, his eyes are already set on 2019.

    For the Igbo for whom everything is business, June 9 fiasco is an opportunity to do business which allows for reaping from the sweat of others. Ekweremadu was in all his elements telling Nigerians how the deal to usurp what rightly belongs to others was negotiated in the dead of the night by well known PDP dealers and wheelers. For him and his Igbo nation, immorally snatching the deputy senate presidency was just another successful business deal which called for celebration. And indeed, drums were rolled out while Enugu was shut down to celebrate what they described as ‘snatching victory from the jaw of defeat’. Neither the Ohaneze nor any notable Igbo man has publicly condemned Ekwerenmadu’s opportunism. If anything, the rank and file of Igbo people who have nothing to show for Ekwerenmadu’s eight years as deputy senate president have declared anyone that asks him to drop what he has immorally taken, an enemy of the Igbo nation.

    For instance, the South-east caucus (55 federal lawmakers, including all the Senators and members of the House of Representatives,) after rising from ‘a crucial meeting ‘noted with a deep sense of concern the orchestrated attempts to malign and undermine the highly esteemed person and office of the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu”. They accused his critics of pursuing ‘narrow political interests over and above the larger interest of peace and equity in the country’.

    The youths are not left out. From Umuahia, the national president of Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), the youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro has issued a statement asking the All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and other “anti- Igbo forces in APC” behind the plot to remove Ike Ekweremadu as the deputy senate president to retrace their steps or face the wrath of Igbo youths. Similarly Comrade Patrick Afuberah, Secretary General, Ndigbo Youths Organization (NYO), a pan-Igbo youth group has in a statement said “The calls from some APC Senators and leaders for the resignation of Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President is unacceptable to us and in fact an insult to the Igbo race.”

    From far away Jos came a statement signed by Dr. Ugo Ihekuna and Chief Elvis Chukwu, President and, Secretary General of another Igbo socio-cultural organition – Izu-Umunna Cultural Association, and a think-thank of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, saying ‘it will hold President Mohammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress responsible should anything happen to the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu’.

    But as against what the Fulani north and the Igbo east saw, looking at June 9 from their own cultural prism, what the Yoruba west saw was markedly different. Where the Fulani saw real politics, the Yoruba saw treachery. Where the Igbo saw business deals, they saw outright theft. The wages for the former is banishment and the later contempt. Were Saraki to be Yoruba, he and his off springs face the prospects of sharing the fate of Afonja, who driven by his ambition sold out to Alimi who later  upstaged him  leading to the loss of Ilorin to the caliphate. But as indicated above, the fault is not in their stars but in their different cultures.

    WE are back to where we were 85 years ago when the white man first asked us to look at ourselves in the mirror. We claimed our cultural differences had been exaggerated by accident of colonial rule. We chose to live in denial. It was the white man who reminded us that ‘Just like the Scandinavian of the Baltic, the Slavs of Bulgaria are different from the Semitic people of Egypt and Morocco, the Hausa of Zaria are different from the Bantus people of the Benue Valley,’   the 200,000 Ogonis who escaped from the tyranny of South Africa Chaka the Zulu, the Effiks, Ibibios, the Igbos, and the Yorubas, all of who were at different levels of cultural developments. They spoke of ‘the cannibals of the mama hill, the unsocial Mumuyes of Muri Province and of naked warriors” of the inner eastern tropics.  They even at the period dismissed the idea of one Nigerian nation as dangerous.

    In an address to the Nigerian Council on December 29 1920, Hugh Clifford, the then Governor General of Nigeria asserted that the British policy was to support ‘the local tribal institutions and the indigenous forms of government based on the ‘social institutions which have been evolved for it by wisdom and by the accumulated experiences of generations of its forbearers’. As if Clifford saw our today in 1920, he added “if suddenly the impossible were feasible’, that those separated by difference of history, traditions, social, political and religious barriers were indeed capable of being welded into a single homogenous nation’, it would be a disservice to the concept of national government which secures to each separate people the right to maintain its identity, its individuality and its nationality Today, eighty five years after this warning, and forty three years after our selfish and greedy new inheritors of power derailed the workable federal arrangement  that held so much promise for our nation at independence, we are confronted by clash of cultures which Clifford predicted would become a threat to the concept of national government if not well managed.

    It is a shame that without the towering figure of the white man, we have been unable to manage our affairs since 1962. Our parasitic ruling class who shared among themselves and their family members the conglomerates set up by regional governments in the 50s and the federal governments since independence have continued to promote the current unworkable system that produced a Bukola Saraki as Senate President. With the experiences of Canada, India and even Europe to copy from, it is time we face our own demon.

  • Cultures, colours at Lalong’s inauguration

    Cultures, colours at Lalong’s inauguration

    For 16 years, the people of Plateau State endured lack of good governance. They ardently prayed for quality leadership. The 2015 general elections provided them with the opportunity to elect Governor Simon Bako Lalong who they believe will offer them the leadership they desired. He was inaugurated on May 29 as the fifth governor of the state who wrestled power from a ruling party. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU reports that the event was a celebration of cultures and colours

    The people of Plateau State had endured lack of good governance for a decade and six years. They literally became accustomed to the kind of leadership that alienated them from the scheme of things, even as they had yearned for a man who would offer them quality leadership.

    They prayed and waited for 16 solid years for a leader whose policies and programmes will impact positively on the people, even as they longed for a leader who would not be disposed to nepotism.

    God heard their prayers as He heard those of Israelites when they were in bondage in Egypt. So, during the governorship and House of Assembly elections on April 11 this year, God provided them the kind of leader they most wanted. Simon Bako Lalong was their choice. He defeated former Governor Jang’s candidate from Berom at the polls.

    •The Rwang Pam Township Stadium, venue of the event
    •The Rwang Pam Township Stadium, venue of the event

    On May 29, Lalong was inaugurated as the fifth governor of the state created in1975. The colourful event held at the Rwang Pam Township Stadium.

    It was an incident they never expected, at least for now. But that was real; the political party that didn’t provide them with what they expected is now in the opposition in the political equation of Plateau State.

    Any wonder the people heartily celebrated the coming of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its standard bearer in whom they believed would provide them good governance.

    The event was akin to a carnival. The razzmatazz that was the feature of the inauguration in Plateau State made the transition of power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC to have the semblance of an independence celebration.

    The people prepared for the inauguration ceremony as if they were preparing to celebrate a new state. But this is not the first civilian governor of Plateau State; Governor Lalong is the fifth civilian governor of the state. This apart, the jubilant Plateau citizens said: “We are celebrating our emancipation from a second slavery. We are celebrating for defeating an incumbent government that wants to run a fourth term in office. We are celebrating the departure of PDP after taking us for granted for 16 solid years.”

    A day to the inauguration, people started moving en-masse from all the 17 local government areas of the state to Jos, the state capital for the ceremony. Also, on the day of the inauguration, the people started moving to the stadium as early as 6:00 in the morning. By 10:00 a.m., the stadium was filled to capacity.

    The Plateau Police Command deployed not less than 500 policemen to the venue of the inauguration, aside from those deployed by other security agencies. Yet still, it was taxing for the security agents to control the huge crowd.

    The APC supporters came in their droves to witness the transfer of power from the PDP to their party and their governor-elect, Simon Lalong. They were so enthusiastic, and genuinely so.

    But their enthusiasm was informed by the fact that it was the first time in 16 years that an opposition won an election in the state.

    Different cultural groups were present at the celebration. The Tarok people came with their cultural dances such Nzem-Zur cultural group and Nzem-Shir traditional dancers. The Shargindim traditional dancers from Garkawa in Mikang Local Government Area were also present. The Berom people were there with their Vwanna, a female dance group. People of Pankshin Local Government Area were not left out of the carnival; they came with Veku dancers from Chip and Jingla women dancers also from Chip.

    The Mopung people came with their Fer group, Bhwel dancers and Chier dancers. The Amo ethnic group from Bassa Local Government Area also came with their Iwana dancers as well as Izara dancers.

    The people of Dengi in Kanam Local Government Area paraded their Ngyal-Nzam traditional dance, Ngyal-Lyang as well as Ngyal-Lak. Some cultural groups that had no space to display inside the stadium were outside the stadium entertaining some crowd.

    The people had enough reason to celebrate. Most people believed that the last eight years of Jonah Jang administration could be likened to military rule. The conduct of the former governor, Jonah Jang in his eight years in office made the people develop hatred for the PDP as well as the Berom ethnic group.

    The Berom people never had the opportunity to govern the state since its creation in 1975. But in 2007, the opportunity came for the people of Plateau North Senatorial zone and the Berom ethnic group was favoured to produce Jonah Jang. However, many believe that the former governor had disappointed them with the policies and programmes which his administration enunciated.

    One of the elder statesmen, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande said: “Jang ruled us for eight years within which period he brought several infrastructural developments. He built roads and so on, but he messed us up. Jang’s tenure was full of bloodshed; he inherited that insecurity but he failed to manage it. He also helped to damage the image of Plateau people outside by the way and manner he played his politics at the national level.

    “Remember his role in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum where he claimed 16 votes was higher than 19. Such action brought shame on Plateau people and it almost became a global embarrassment.”

    Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu said: “Former Governor Jang brought some development to the state, but he over-rated himself and started playing God. He became a tribal warlord and failed to carry all Plateau people along. He believed more of his Berom kinsmen than any other ethnic group in the state. Some of his attitudes made him lose popularity in the state.”

    Mr. Daniel Manjang, a Berom indigene said: “I am not surprised that the people are celebrating the APC’s victory in a manner akin to a carnival. It was because the people have succeeded in defeating the candidate imposed on them by Jang and the PDP. Some of us from Berom told Governor Jang then not to impose governorship candidate on the people, but he refused and thought he will do his wish in the state without hindrance.

    “So, the people teamed up and selected their own candidate to face that of Jang. Eventually, the people won and Jang lost. So, the people are merely celebrating their victory over an incumbent governor.”

    It was a popular view that Jang had challenged the people’s power by bringing a governorship candidate from his own ethnic group. They believed that voting for Jang’s candidate as governor was like giving Jang a third term in office.

    A former commissioner in the state, Dr. Patric Dakum had said: “Voting for Jang’s governorship candidate is like voting Jang for a third term because Jang does not believe that any other ethnic group in the state can produce a governorship candidate apart from his Berom kinsmen.

    “So, the plan of Jang was to impose another Berom man on the people and after another eight years in the hand of Berom, he would have made one of his own sons the governor and no other ethnic group will occupy the Government House. That was why the people rose up against him and voted against his candidate.”

    The PDP had ruled Plateau State since 1999. Within the period, the PDP held sway. The opposition battle in vain to displace the PDP government.

    However, with the birth of APC in 2013, the people were resolute in their resolve to effect a change. They saw in the APC a formidable front to achieve their long political desires.

    An APC supporter, Alhaji Idris Musa said: “We rolled out drums to celebrate the end of PDP, the end of tyrant rule, the end of impunity, the end of imposition and the end of bloodshed on the Plateau. And most especially, we rolled out our drums to welcome the new party; the APC. That is the only way we can express our state of mind. We are happy that the will of the people has finally prevailed. At last, our votes counted. This is a liberty carnival.”

     

  • Celebrating culture to mark milestone

    Celebrating culture to mark milestone

    AMAEKPU community in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State is richly endowed with tourism centres. The Mgbeyi-Ele Lake, Ibuobuo Stream and Ukogoro Spring are scenic vistas any day.

    The community also boast of Ezeofiri caves which accommodate several houses inside and Ekidi stream renown for its curative power and a wonderful landscape of the Ugwu Oko hills.

    Some of the major festivals in the ancient community are the Omume-iri Uduma which ususally held in the month of March; Orie Okpo Odo in April during the planting season, Easter celebration(in April), Igwa Ali(between February and March); Omume Iriji( in September), Uzouiyi ( in February) while Afia Abali is celebrated every leap year.

    The 18th coronation anniversary of the traditional ruler of the town, His Royal Highness,Prof.Emeh Okwara(Ekpudiogba Ofali Agwu III, the Ezeogo of Amaekpu provided an opportunity for the community to showcase its rich tourism and cultural values.

    At the event, the academic turned traditional ruler shone in a red traditional Isi Enyi matched with Okuagu cap and complemented with Eagle feathers pinned to the cap. The monarch expressed his happiness at large turn out of indegenes and guests. He thanked the chieftaincy award recipients for their contribution towards the uplift of the community.

    The guest of honour at the occasion and former gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance(APGA) in Abia State, Ochiagha Reagan Ofomba, praised the people of Amaekpu for the enterprise and desire to continually improve the community. He asked the community to count on his support on community projects saying :”Always feel free to call on me for support on community projects because I consider myself a member of this community”..

    The atmosphere at Ofali Agwu Primary School, venue of the cultural event was lively. Gaily dressed women in their traditional attires register their presence in large numbers.

    It was as if the men were in competition of sort with the women who filed out in flamboyant attires. Ohafia traditional attire is complemented with bird feathers and shiny materials with images of wild animals such as lion and elephants. The attire allows for such. The traditional cap called Okpu Agu has a single eagle feather pinned to it. As tradition demands on big occasions, Ohafia men do not wear trousers but wrappers made of George fabric. It is usually tied round the waist while the knot is hanged on the ankle level.

    The Ohafia War dancers added to the occasion. About two or three groups of war dancers were on hand to entertain the audience. They gave a good account of themselves with their energetic dance to pulsating drum beat. Their stagemanshi ,rhythmic vibration of their muscle and the scintillating movement had a magnetic effect on the guests . Indeed, some excited guests fruitlessly tried to simulate the energetic dancers.

    The war dancers are like a metaphor for the history of Ohafia people. In the past the totality of the life of an average Ohafia person revolves round wars and conquests. They are like the Spartan people reveled in war in the ancient times.. There are however, no compelling evidence to show that this insatiable appetite for wars go hand in hand with ascetic lifestyle of the ancient Spartan people.

    They no longer engage in war but the war dancers simulate this epoch in the life of the people of Ohafia through the dances.

    After all the dances and merriments, it was time to honour some illustrious sons of the community.

    The chair of the Palnning Committee, Chief Uduma Agbai, urged the recipients of the honorary chieftaincy titles not to relent in their contribution toward the development of the community.

    One of the recipients Chief Ibe Anaga Ojo, the Ochomma Oha 1 of Amaekpu Ohafia said “ the conferment of the title was more or less a call for more service not just to the town and its people, but to humanity in general”.

    Amaekpu was said to have been founded by Nna Ajaiyi Aworo and Nna Ukpai. The community has seventeen ancient traditional compounds which include Ndi Ofali, Ndi Umuozio, Ndi Odike, Ndi Nnate, Ndi Ikuku, Ndi Uche, Ndi Okowu, Ndi Uyo, Ndi Edike, Ndi Inyima, Ndi Agboke, Ndi Aja, Ndi Alum, Ndi Umaja, Eziuku Ngodo, Ndi Nkole and Ndi Nnachi.

    The ceremony turned out to be another occasion for the people of Amaekpu community, regarded as one of the most progressive communities in Ohafia town, to display its rich culture and natural endowments.

     

  • Two cultures and low self-esteem

    Two cultures and low self-esteem

    The two photographs reprinted in this column were published co-incidentally on the same day, yesterday, and they tell graphic stories of two disparate cultures that lead the reader to one unenviable and unflattering conclusion. Picture 1 (top right) shows some of the 60 suspects arrested on Monday by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) somewhere near Ikorodu, Lagos State, for alleged pipeline vandalism. That is not a problem, for Nigerians no longer flinch at indiscriminate arrests, a habit their law enforcement agents have perfected over the decades. The real problem for Nigerians who still retain some cultural pride is the treatment given the suspects. They were made to sit on the ground, their shirts removed, and their dignity, which is worth little in these parts, trampled on the ground. The photograph shows the suspects looking forlornly at the weapons they allegedly used against the NSCDC officials.

    Move over to Picture 2 (bottom right) and see the treatment given some 15 Russian suspects alleged to have sailed into Nigerian waters illegally. They were seized, together with their ship and a cache of weapons, and handed over to the police for further investigations. But here again the problem is not whether the allegations against the white men are plausible or not, though it strains credulity a little; or whether they would soon be released to Russian embassy officials in Nigeria, for this also seems very likely. The problem for the culturally finicky is that all the Russian suspects were photographed standing, not sitting degradingly on the ground. None of the Russians was stripped of his clothes, and their weapons, which they claimed was for their defence on pirate-infested high seas, were not spread mockingly before them.

    The judicious will find it hard to understand this self-deprecating Nigerian mentality. Indeed, it’s no use trying. Many analysts suspect there is a fundamental behavioural dysfunction afflicting Nigerian officials, whether in high places or in the law enforcement agencies. It is perhaps time we challenged our psychologists and sociologists to attempt an explanation of the malady. Or, maybe, a leader with enough chutzpah and self-esteem would one day rise and put an end to this disgraceful affliction.