A world where shamelessness was a taboo, a world where children took their parents as their earthly Gods, by according them utmost respect, a world where the young respect the old, a world where greeting served as an agent of love and affection, a world where parents would gather their children and feed them with fairy tales about how to live a responsible life, a world where decency was highly celebrated and nudity is greatly penalized. That was the world in which the greatest people the world ever had lived in. That was the time when moral values were given primacy and attended to. The total way of life and idiosyncrasies of the then people actually propelled their greatness and achievements majorly because things were done the ideal way. Those were the good old days when my culture was really put in to practice and not just on the books of art.

Our cultural values have been abandoned and the world is in disarray. Now is the time to respect our unequaled wisdom, values and lifestyles by going back to the old days in order to build a better future that we desire.

As a sufficient instance, I present to you a brief detail of the YORUBA culture. The Yoruba identity could be summarized in a behavior of a typical Yoruba man. As far as Yoruba ethics and teachings are concerned, a typical Yoruba man is respected through his hard work and his contented with what he gains from his handwork. This man is most described as Omoluabi in the Yoruba encyclopedia.
A typical Yoruba man is courageous and firm in his dealings. He doesn't tell lies irrespective of the circumstance. He is ready to fight for his right and always at alert in a defensive manner. However, he is not foolhardy.

In a sentence, The Yoruba philosophy is based on “Iwa lewa” meaning Character is beauty. And to the Yoruba, Your ATTITUDE determines your ALTITUDE in life.

Also of which I take pride in is in the aspect of “family as an Institution”. In the Yoruba culture, the family is a sacred entity. A typical Yoruba family is child-centered, ruled by the elderly, and controlled by adults. It is also the most effective agent of socialization. The family teaches the first lessons in discipline, personal gratitude, and affection. The family is where young people are exposed to their first preferences and prejudices. In the family, the lessons in honor and shame are learned.

Fortunately, there is good news. The good news is that majority of the people in world today have got greater potentials and even more opportunity to be liberated from all forms of problems that could be faced by a living man. The world today is fast advancing and technology is simplifying lifestyles. Sadly, the result or side effect of this turns out to be a display of insanity, in view of this it is highly necessary we all join in the crusade to eradicate moral decadency and further degeneration. Just like the nature of a typical Yoruba family, our families should be built on sound intellectual engagement centering on love, respect, decency, character, dignity, chastity, and responsibility among others. As prescribed by the Yoruba culture, children should imbibe the spirit of selflessness, humanity, peaceful co-existence and industriousness. Nobody is absolved of these blames even me, but the idea is making fixes where necessary and ensuring moderation. We should seek a time in the future when mediocrity would be a sin and genuineness would be celebrated. With all these taken into consideration, a better future is assured.

This is a very important thread here. firstly parents should often communicate in Yoruba with their children from little ages thereby making them conversant with the language as they grow.
Tell epic stories from time past about some Yoruba heroes.
Take them to your hometown regularly, let them even know their origin.
Tell them stories about their grandparents and great grandparents. And many more
Yoruba culture,tradition,language and religion is too valuable to just let go, failure to have knowledge about this is very bad

This is a very important thread here. firstly parents should often communicate in Yoruba with their children from little ages thereby making them conversant with the language as they grow.
Tell epic stories from time past about some Yoruba heroes.
Take them to your hometown regularly, let them even know their origin.
Tell them stories about their grandparents and great grandparents. And many more

Yoruba culture,tradition,language and religion is too valuable to just let go, failure to have knowledge about it is very bad

Good points.

Thanks guys. That's it.

The world has turned into something else.
Everything is upside down. Nudity is celebrated, chastity is now an object of mockery. Only a few live by core moral values or even good social ethics.

We really need to go back to the basis, and retrace our advancement from one generation to another

prodam: The world has turned into something else.
Everything is upside down. Nudity is celebrated, chastity is now an object of mockery. Only a few live by core moral values or even good social ethics.

We really need to go back to the basis, and retrace our advancement from one generation to another

Phd.. But you know that morality and ethics is subjective. What might be moral to me might be amoral to you.
The truth is we live in a world where there would never be a convergence of rules on morality.

You cited culture as a benchmark. Yes culture recognises an individual as a representation of a society or community and it enforces rules of ethics or morals on that individual to conform to the societal standards set by the community. However, we now live in a world of individuality where "freedom" of an individual superimpose that of his immediate environment. Until we determine the limits of rights of an individual thats when we could return to those era you have been talking about. But the critical question is who determines the limit of an individuals freedom? Is it the corrupt and myopic elders of our community, the religious leaders who are more interested in their pockets, the youths with their over bulging energy or who please?

Bottomline is we could just forget culture and community as Individuality is the reigning and buzz word now and is the main determinant of peoples actions and inactions.

Yeah, you have a point MD.
Actually, to every problem there is always an alternative problem.
It is of no doubt that individualism and materialism are the bane of our society. It has done more harm than good. Everyone believes he lives by no specified rules, no standard or a medium to keep their characters on check. So anyone does anything to satisfy his pleasure. Without minding the laws of the land or whether someone else is affected. The erroneous idea of 'money is everything' has destroyed self-esteem and the virtue of the african culture and traditions.

Also,the idea of individualism is closely related to capitalism. There will be oppression. The mighty, rich and more privileged will enjoy at the expense of others.

Let everyone's culture be respected. Let the laws of the 'land' be effective.

Damn.. I edited the first response and submitted it. But network just bleeped up.

I agree with you on the individualism and capitalism aspect but are we sure the other alternatives we have also don't pose same problems. I know most people put the blame of eroding cultures on globalisation but i beg to differ here. Change is constant and culture is not immune to it. It is however up to a community to determine what parts of their culture they want to leave out whether good or bad.

Also. The broad idea of cultural ways as practiced time memorial does not protect what you might call morality in many aspects it just guarded the individual from his own personal agenda in lieu of a group or communal agenda. We know what transpired during those ancient civilization of ours when culture was enshrined na.<note here* culture defined as a way of life of a group of people.> Oppression by the leaders or king, waton destruction occasioned by wars fought on the premise of collective good which sacrificed the individuality of a person as he had to conform to community dictates to go to wars and stuff even if it went against his moral thinking. Also please note the majority are also not always right.

Everyone's culture should be respected i agree but what about the bad aspect of a culture? Also you said laws of the land...laws of the land that says a woman must drink from the water used to wash her dead
Husband's body just to prove her innocence or one which says multiple birth or twins are evil and must be killed?

I do agree that the want of money is disastrous. Everyone believes that even proponents of individualism

Definitely you are making points by capitalising on the negative part of the laws which were made by fellow men- like you and I based on their understanding of the unseen and to the best of their mental faculty. You are citing from a few cultural practises which definitely forms a minority of the entire cultural practises.
Modernisation and civilisation should however as it leads to advancement in technology also help in filtering the cultural practises rather than replacing them with immorality.
Today, there is democracy. We all agree it is better especially when practised to the letter.
And a few other results of modernisation and civilisation that have actually helped in making life better.
Unfortunately, in this 21st century, it is a an entirely new era. Happenings around the world evidently gives on a clue.
The peace we lack today I must tell you is a result of not respecting our diversity and cultural backgrounds. What is the cause of racism? What is the cause of discrimination in religion? What is the cause of gay or lesbianism?..they say 'it is our lives, we are in the world, nothing is new, let's live the fast life'

My brother, a lot of issues mehn..

@op thank u sir,,we still practice our culture in my family nothing will take it from us beautiful culture *proudly yoruba family*

@ademola

That's it.
One shouldn't be influenced by the society we find ourselves today.

If it is gotten right @ the family level, then we have gotten it right already.

Continue bro.

Prodam.. All the societal ills we face now were present back then it was not as pronounced and widely known as we have it now. Give for example the homo stuff.. .people have been practising that in the past. Its not lack of culture its just the way things are.

And please we are not getting civilised we are just moving from one phase of development to another. Don't tell me people of old were not that civilised e.g Egypt, Nok etc. Isn't it ironic that it was even in these places that they dressed unclad.

Let me give you a practical example. Search for Pa ogunde's stage performance photos and see how the girls bared there bosoms. Also there are still people in some culture who walk around bare chested in the northern part of Nigeria. Ain't that part of the culture you say we should return to?

Not that i support all these bad things but lets look at things from an objective view we would see that lack of culture is not the MAIN causes of these acts we so much detest.

People do need to make an effort to be civilized though, before we all descend into that final abyss of barbarism from which it will be difficult to emerge.