Nigerians And Their Blind Imitation Of Western Cultures And Values
by Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

There are others, but three subject matters that habitually become part of the public discourse are religion, ethnicity, and culture. Religion, like ethnicity, can be very sensitive. As an atheist, and as someone to whom ethnicity is inconsequential, I shall vacate both subjects and instead dwell on culture.

Let me say, here and now, that ethnicity, onto itself is good. It only becomes poisonous and insidious when elites or groups of individuals manipulate it. Insofar as religion goes, it seems everyone around me is a born-again of some sort. Declaration of religious or spiritual belief, piousness, and closeness to Jesus Christ and to God seems to be the litmus test of their humanity.

One of the most exciting things about culture is that it is dynamic. It evolves. It transmutes. It is what meshes a society and gives it meaning. But above all else, it helps society transmit memory from one generation to another; it is the vehicle through which we study the past, absorb the present, and glean the future. In terms of definition, the concept is expansive, hence, one means it here to specify a “belief and behavioral system and patterns, shared attitudes and values that are central to a people or groups of people.”

And especially for those who conduct their daily lives in agrarian societies like Nigeria, culture -- the Nigerian culture -- seems embedded in their everyday lives and vocabulary. For instance, most Nigerians, as I have come to observe them, make frequent references to culture. In other words, other than the obsessive reference to God, to Jesus, or to money, Nigerians tend to invoke culture a lot.

In spite of my earlier attempt at providing a definition, we all seem to know what we or others mean when “culture” is mentioned. Assuming this assumption is true, I wonder why we seem not to be vigorously promoting our culture and cultural heritage; why we seem to condemn or shun it; and why we seem to imitate -- in a wholesale manner -- the western culture? Yes, it is true that all living cultures anywhere in the world have a way of affecting other cultures; but must Nigerians neglect theirs? What seems true of the typical Nigerian seems true of the typical African: they neglect their cultures, while embracing other cultures.

All Africans seem to have done, or seem to be doing, is to copy and imitate the West, especially the United States and Britain. Like parrots, we imitate without understanding why the west acts and or live their lives in certain ways. We imitate ideas, social scripts, fashion, and arts and culture so much so. we are steadily becoming a shell of our former selves.

Who are we?

What does it mean to be a Nigerian or African?

No one seems to know anymore as our humanity and our essence and our way of life seems to be eroding at a rapid pace. I am all for change, but change must be meaningful, beneficial, and enriching.

Not too long ago, I had the privilege of watching/listening to an instructive and intelligently produced documentary, “ORIKI," by Femi Odugbemi. It is done in four parts. You don’t find too many of such intellectual accomplishments that center on the African/Yoruba culture. And you need not be a Yoruba, or one who understands the language, to truly appreciate Mr. Odugbemi’s work. You come away with many lessons; but one of such lessons is that some Africans are now becoming effective tools with which the African culture is being supplanted and deracinated.

There are those who strenuously condemn the Traditional African Religion (TAR) and culture. And they do so in all ignorance, forgetting that long before Islam and Christianity came along, the Africans had been religiously and spiritually faithful. Especially amongst the Yoruba, it is not uncommon to see individuals or groups of persons, forsake their family/surnames simply because such names have roots in TAR: Fadeyi, Ifagbemi, Fajebe, Fajemirokun, Falola, Osanyingbemi, Ifabumuyi, Fadahunsi, Fafunwa, Fadeinde, Fadipe, etc. This ungodly phenomenon seems to have begun in the 1980’s when the Pentecostal sect became the rave and the craze in Nigeria.

The irony is that none of the major religions of the world -- Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and TAR -- teaches one to forsake his or her cultural heritage. But somehow, adherents of Pentecostalism in Nigeria have taken it upon themselves to exorcise those values, ideals, beliefs and phenomenon that are truly African.

To be African is to be backward and untouched by the wind of westernization and modernity. Yet, thousands of years before the West or the East, Africa was the canter of the universe, the beginning of mankind, and the source for all living things. Today Africans are relegated to the backwater of humanity.

Now, it is possible that my observations are wholly incorrect or slightly skewed. Even so, I am taking the liberty to make public just a few of the things I have observed as I traversed Nigeria.

FIRST, in virtually all Nigerian movies -- the Nollywood movies -- you, for the most part, hear men and women who speak in convoluted voices: accents that are not Nigerian nor American, British, or of any decent society. Whose culture or accent are they trying to imitate? You have actors and actresses, most of who have never been outside of the Nigerian border, act and speak as though they are from the prehistoric era.

SECOND, when did it become fashionable to imitate frivolity or silliness? The Nollywood characters are not alone in this regard. You also have the television and radio newscasters, the radio disc jockey (DJ), announcers at the airport, and many others who seem to speak through their noses. Perhaps, by so speaking, the everyday Nigerian and listeners might think they are special, unique. What do you suppose the American, the Canadian and the British audience would think, if their newscasters and public service announcers started sounding like Mauritanians, Senegalese, or Ugandans?

THIRD, you now have women – very many women – who wear wigs, clip-on hair, fake nails, fake eyelashes, and stenciled eyebrows. You see forty, fifty or fifty-plus year old women with shiny and slick synthetic hair. Where is the natural hair? Where has the grey hair gone? There is something beautiful, radiant and sophisticated about women who look their age. At the extreme are women with breast implants and or silicone buttocks. Not to be outdone, old and older men are now coloring their grey hair, too.

FOURTH, we now see fifty-plus year old men pathetically struggling to hide their true age. Men and women now struggle to cover what they should otherwise be celebrating. What’s next? Cheek and lip implants, liposuction, nipple, clitoris and scrotum piercing? Everything African is bad; but everything Western -- no matter how horrific -- is both good and elegant. Oh well, with time, Africans will imitate the aforelisted and many other procedures, too.

FIFTH, in the near future, old-peoples-home (nursing homes) may become the norm in Nigeria (as opposed to children taking care of their aged parents). The West is replete with such holding-cells. But before you know it, Nigerians will begin to think these gallows are godly and necessary and practical, and would start dumping their mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles there. We may dump them there and then send cards and flowers every so often.

Oh heavens, have you seen some of those fashion shows that are organized in Lagos or Abuja? Models, on the runway or catwalk are dressed like extraterrestrial beings. At parties, and at other social functions, you see men and women dressed in ways that offends decency, commonsense and good sense.

Not to be outdone, some university students dress as if they work for brothels in Las Vegas. And finally, respect for elders and the elderly is slowly eroding. In Lagos or in western Nigeria for instance, when was the last time you saw a young man prostrate for an elder; or a young woman kneel or the grownups? Today, it is mostly “hi” and “hello” and “how you doin” with heads grudgingly bowed, if at all.

Certain aspects of the Western culture are good and may be copied. Also, certain aspects of the African/Nigerian culture can be limiting and oppressive. Nevertheless, it is shocking to see some Africans abandon, in whole scale, their Africanness. This rejection manifests itself in ways that are disgraceful, embarrassing and appalling.

Now, before I sign off, allow me to make a confession: Maybe I am lost or stuck in the 18th century. Maybe I am oblivious to the changes that are now taking place in and around the country. Maybe I am resisting modernity and globalization. Maybe I am just too old to adapt to all the changes that are going on around me. Maybe!

Change is good.

But really, some of the changes I see are worth spitting on.

Source: saharareporters.com

nice article

nairamaverick: nice article

Your thoughts?

Nice one!!
The writer is an atheist, i hope he/she did not condemn nigerians when we refused to accept homosexual , which is a western culture and against our african culture. I know most atheists and TAR member e.g soyinka supports gay right even as it is un-african.

caseless: Nice one!!
The writer is an atheist, i hope he/she did not condemn nigerians when we refused to accept homosexual , which is a western culture and against our african culture. I know most atheists and TAR member e.g soyinka supports gay right even as it is un-african.

Questions:

Why is homosexuality the only aspect you chose to highlight?

Some atheists reject homosexuality too, so why single out the author as being atheist?

Rejection of the homosexual lifestyle is one thing, but how sure are you that homosexuality is a product of Western culture, rather than just another aspect of African culture - however hidden?

Certain aspects of the Western culture are good and may be copied. Also, certain aspects of the African/Nigerian culture can be limiting and oppressive
That's all.

I find the question on what it means to be African strange. I mean, what does it mean to be European, Asian, South American etc? There is no one meaning, and I guarantee you won't come across either of these other expressions, except...African.

Americans/Westerners have always made it a habit, in their ignorance, to lump Africans together as if we're one homogenous entity of sorts, and it almost seems as if we Africans are taking the bait.

That aside, I think the author brings up some valid points. Being a global village has it's downfalls, but it also has it's perks. We can all learn from each other, but at the same time there are some things worth preserving.

it means you are proud of your origins.

Outsmarting your tutors
Selling all your properties before travelling on a 3 months visiting visa to US
Forming British accent after 3 days visit to Malawi

E too many ojare

una no the sleep,even the mod,make una no ask about me oo,i be one of the vigilante for my area oo.

you are Nigerian or African if you have Nigerian or African ancestry or are a citizen of Nigeria or an African country.
Identity politics have always existed and will always exist but we should be careful and not let the "us vs them" mentality cloud our rational judgement.

it means exactly wat It is
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[quote author=zboyd]Nigerians And Their Blind Imitation Of Western Cultures And Values
by Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

There are others, but three subject matters that habitually become part of the public discourse are religion, ethnicity, and culture. Religion, like ethnicity, can be very sensitive. As an atheist, and as someone to whom ethnicity is inconsequential, I shall vacate both subjects and instead dwell on culture.

Let me say, here and now, that ethnicity, onto itself is good. It only becomes poisonous and insidious when elites or groups of individuals manipulate it. Insofar as religion goes, it seems everyone around me is a born-again of some sort. Declaration of religious or spiritual belief, piousness, and closeness to Jesus C
And especially for those who conduct their daily o invoke culture a lot.

In spite of my earlier attempt at providing a definition, we all seem to know what we or others mean when “culture” is mentioned. Assuming this assumption is true, I wonder why we seem not to be vigorously promoting our culture and cultural heritage; why we seem to condemn or shun it; and why we seem to imitate -- in a wholesale manner -- the western culture? Yes, it is true that all living cultures anywhere in the world have a way of affecting other cultures; but must Nigerians neglect theirs? What seems true of the typical Nigerian seems true of the typical African: they neglect their cultures, while embracing other cultures.[quote]


All Africans seem to have done, or seem to be doing is imitate?
Who are we? Then, that's who we are: 'imitators'

What does it mean to be a Nigerian or African? To wake up without power, to have children that can't get jobs, to live in a failed state and to cherish the failure.

This is a very wonderful article, very deep and I agree with writer in many of the aspects that she outlined. For example, people faking accents because they think Nigerian accent is too rustic, or that using a foreign accent is superior. It truly annoys me, especially when I turn on the radio only to hear OAPs blasting fake British accents.
As for the issue of ladies' using artificial hair and nails, I do not really have a problem with that. I believe that every lady has the rights to do what she thinks will make her look beautiful, although in moderation, as inner beauty is what truly matters.
Concerning religion, the writer was speaking from an atheist's point of view. As a christian, I, of course, believe that Christianity is the true religion, and anything that affiliates me with a strange religion, I'd want to cut it off. I don't think Christianity is such a 'western affair', although it was brought into Nigeria by the Europeans. It's more like a personal decision.
In general, I totally agree with the writer that the African culture is being eroded.

My Opinion

mstik:
In general, I totally agree with the writer that the African culture is being eroded.
My Opinion

All cultures are always evolving. If a culture doesn't evolve or change, it means that the people can't adapt and are dying off or on the verge of extinction. look, we are typing in English on this technological internet platform. Does this mean that our culture is eroding or adapting?

What can an atheist possibly say that would catch my attention. Absolute nothing!!

* Slams the door and works out on thread.*

The value system of Western seems to be high, efficient and effective compared to African value system ....

Despite our rich cultures , norms and religion , we are still where we are .

Westerners are said not to be modest , they said westerners aint religious despite that look at where they are !!


There will always be tendency for people to imitate what seems to be working great .......

A culture soaked with Corruption , Religion bias , tribalism and Irresponsible government will not promote ''Nigerianness'' nor ''africanness'' of anybody !

when you fail to develop as a nation, region and continent this is what you get. why is the world copying the West? Its because they are the most advanced. Humans intrinsic nature is to improve, to be better. If we had developed in time by now it will be our culture everyone is copying.

You know OP truth be told d Western world are steps ahead of us in terms of development and all.

Like you rightly pointed somewhere up there, some aspects of their ways and lifestyle is worth copying. But only important aspects of their ways should be copied!

And not us feeling like they are ''whites so whatever they do is the correct thing to do'' .

I'd like to stress this, there are many kids today who can't understand or speak their local language, yet try to form some accent that they'd be better of being without.

Now when you copy things like that, you're not doing your self any good in my opinion.

Today respect for elders is something that is diminishing without a trace in our society. The whites should be copying this aspect of us and not the other way round.

In a nut shell i think we MOSTlY copy trivial and less important aspects of their ways and lifestyle rather than more important things.

On ds forum few weeks back, a dude accused d Israelis of bin copy-cats for building Iron domes to protect it's nation. Why can't Nigeria copy such things?

In my opinion, copying their style of life is not a bad thing.. But if what you're copying isn't improving your lifestyle in anyway then there is no point.

The writer already said that Nigerian culture seems embedded in our everyday lives and vocab. No wahala sha. The writer did not acknowledge the role of Christianity an Islam in influencing cultures. To the extent that these two religions are a way of life, they are likely to override any cultural practice that runs contrary to them. That one is no ones fault. Nobody jokes with their salvation.

I think the writer was dismissive of anybody that speaks english with and English or American accent. While some people affect an accent out of pretentiousness, she has to keep in mind that anybody trying to learn a language well learns the accent too. Would you like to hear Yoruba spoken with a Tiv accent?

Also, displays of culture are not the norm in cosmopolitan settings in Nigeria, due to our ethnic diversity. The attempt to find a common denominator, as opposed to everybody being cultural in the midst of every other person, is one of the factors promoting the adoption of western culture. Just like we use English as our lingua franca.

And the writer could have been less critical of cosmetic enhancements. I don't see it as a western idea, but as a human idea. It is good to try to look your best. Also, plastic surgery is mostly frowned upon in these parts. (Not by me)

The write up highlights a big problem we are facing, but there could have been better suggestions for a solution. The suggestion here seems to be: STOP IT! Yeah, but what do we replace it with? There must have been something that made it appealing in the first place. I don't know what it is but we should address it.

Nice article.

caseless: Nice one!!
The writer is an atheist, i hope he/she did not condemn nigerians when we refused to accept homosexual , which is a western culture and against our african culture. I know most atheists and TAR member e.g soyinka supports gay right even as it is un-african.

. Homosexuality is not a just western culture but a normal occurrence in the human race. It has been among blacks before the arrival of the whites the only difference is that their culture has fueled and increase in the rate of homos around. and Given them more boldness to practice. There were harsh punishments for such those days so people keep it to themselves.

*grabs chair*

The writer has made a lot Of valid facts here.. And we can see the effects around. . The problem has to do with the black man thinking. Which has evolved. But till date nothing has been done to correct it and accelerate black mental freedom . We need deep thinkers in our institution that will set emphasis on making an educational. System that will let the blacks. Think.. I believe our traditional religion and system can talk one or tow lessons from Asia.. Bhutan precisely which have to me the most effective traditional system incorporated with government.. They Have advanced their culture for the benefit of the people . Majority of Blacks are just being mentally Lazy. What we need is traditional reforms in the country and africa.

sample!!!! Ekwe!!!

SB

Ok

Na who want read all this things. No wonder after 24hrs I fit make am too front page.

Its not my fault,its the people who colonised me you should blame...when una suppose fight them,una no fight!...we love our food,festivals and clothes,that's culture.what else do u want?boring old folks.

I endorse this post.

I do understand the foölishness though that drives Africans into denying their own selves. We have real and pressing economic and political problems. And when you consider that there are some places with seemingly already-made solutions, it doesn't seem sensible to stick around and persist at solving them when you can get on with life elsewhere.

I totally respect people seeking out more accommodating climes and encourage it. But to gain them and then start to disparage your origins is a very despicable thing to do. You did not create the solutions you're enjoying. Some people took the trouble to create them. Even if you do not know that they had it as difficult as you did when you tried, you ought to have enough decency to at the very least shut up about your home if you've nothing good to say about it.

Needless to say, there's absolutely no sense in adopting mannerisms and cultures of other places while you're in Nigeria with no context to integrate such into. This is what has bred all the confusion in today's Nigeria. You don't know if we spell center "centre" or whether we speak British or American. While we're here absorbing cultures wholesale, South Africa is exporting their own language and today "vuvuzela" is an English word marked "SA" or something like that in the dictionary. Did they have less problems than we do?

It is one of my life's ambitions to rediscover the meaning of Africa and Nigeria.

... Is to see black and call it white.
... Is to vote for party and not personality.
shm or Nigeria.