Don Warns Against Relegation of Nation’s Traditional Values 

Professor Toyin Falola

 

A renowned historian, Professor Toyin Falola, has advised that traditional values should not be relegated behind in Nigeria while the country embraces modernity and modernization.

He said that with this the country would not lose values beneficial to its social and economic life as it adapts to the modern trends in life.

He said values include respect for elders and respect for family’s integrity as making the people virtuous and said this could curb corruption and the use, for fraud, of the internet that modern technology produced.

Falola, a professor of history at the University of Texas, USA,  gave the advice when he delivered convocation lectures at the 37th and 38th combined convocation ceremonies of the University of Ilorin.

He submitted that it was because this value of respect for self and family is no longer promoted as it used to be in the cultures of the people of the country that makes the nation highly corrupt despite being religious.

“See contradiction, Nigeria is one of the most religious nations in the world, yet, one of the most corrupt. This means that something is not connected,” he stated.

The historian, however, pointed out some areas where he said the growth of the economy of the nation had been aided by the promotion of the nation’s social-cultural values.

He said that the transformation of the nation’s film industry and the booming of the fashion industry aided the economy.

“When Nigeria recalibrated its economy to become the biggest in Africa, it was made possible by what we call a cultural economy where we have a transformation of the Nollywood into the third best in the world and the fashion industry becoming of the best in the world,” he stated.

The historian noted the challenges in modernization as ” The relentless progression of modernization across the global terrain, closely observed in the burgeoning advancements within ten African continents, especially in Nigeria, is fraught with impediments. At the forefront of contemporary observation, one sees Nigeria grappling with the multifaceted challenges that often accompany such expeditious transformation

“With the rapid growth of urban centres and the increasing integration of technology into the social fabric, there emerges a discerning perspective that highlights potential erosion of cultural heritage, thus creating a fracture in the previously seemingly unbroken continuum of traditions transmitted across successive generations

“The relentless force of modernization can overpower the subtle complexities of indigenous knowledge systems, leading to a society that grapples with existential dilemmas and the imminent risk of forfeiting its cultural opulence and multiplicity.”

In his speech at the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Wahab Egbewole, urged both the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency in the university education sector to address the problem of brain drain he said was affecting the sector.

Egbewole felicitated with the graduating students as he expressed confidence that they would make an impact in their respective fields.

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