Africans and the influence of Western culture 

Culture imperialism has been a pivotal tapestry for the acculturation of Africans since the Colonial era. It has facilitated the mental conditioning of Africans by making them to accept the western value system as superior and theirs as inferior.Traditional African cultural practices paved the way for foreign ways of doing things as Africans became fully ‘westernized’- Western culture now regarded as frontline civilization. The African way of doing things became primitive, archaic and regrettably unacceptable in the public domain.

There’s no doubt that the Western culture has brought positive changes to Nigeria, like access to better education and health care. But it also had negative effects like eroding traditional values and encouraging materialism. At its core, western culture values individualism, freedom and democracy. The era of colonial pillage and plunder led to the relative stagnation and often precipitous deadline of traditional cultural pursuits in the colonies. With Africa subjugated and dominated, the western culture and European mode of civilization began to thrive and outgrow African cultural heritages. 

When you look at society today, most people, both young and old, rich or poor, no longer want to dress in our traditional African way, the western culture has been adopted so much that most Africans don’t even know what their cultural dresses look like. Even though the African print is still worn, the ladies don’t want to be seen in the traditional ‘IRO and BUBA’ so they would rather prefer it sewn in western styles like boom short, mono strap, etc. For the guys, since they don’t want to be seen in the traditional AGBADA, they go for fitted jackets, high collar shirts, etc. This is bad because we as Nigerians are losing our cultural identity, of course this can’t be regarded as a positive change in our society.

It is also very clear that the traditional ways of worship have drastically changed and modernized. The local or traditional drums that make the music of the people very significant and meaningful have greatly been replaced with band-set and English songs. Africans should return back to their heritage and revive the locally made drums and music which makes them distinct in their nature of worship. The acrobatic dance of the Africans when drums and music are played is far richer than the Western pattern of worship which has gradually turned African worshipers into Iroko trees that stand as though erected in the place of worship.

Also, the vast number of Nigerians today who speak English instead of their ancestral language has caused a barrier in communication between the young ones who migrated to the urban areas and those living in the rural areas. Between old men and women. As native African societies continue to do this, most communities will be experiencing a corresponding loss of their traditional culture. There is a need for Africans to teach and educate their children in the midst of acculturation so that the local language of the people will not be completely lost to Western languages.

Due to cultural change, women especially go along the road, school, and churches and so on half-naked. Some of then put on sexy clothe that reveals special part of their body all in the name of fashion which negatively leads to sexual harassment, raping, etc, which at times, opens way for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) in our society. All hands should be on deck to stop this deadly practice in our society.

It is even more frustrating that Western accompanied by advanced technology, stepped down the pace of African local technological development and oral tradition. We keep basking in the euphoria of Western technological achievements and forget to improve on our local technology. We should appreciate the products of our local art works of painting, sculptures, and molding just for what they are and it will encourage development.

It is true that all cultures change through time. No culture is static. However, most cultures are basically conservative in that they tend to resist change. Some resist more than others by enacting laws for the preservation and protection of traditional cultural patterns, while putting up barriers to alien ideas and things. It is clear that we are in an accelerating culture change period all around the world regardless of whether we try to resist it or not. African culture should act as a means of checking, adopting and transmitting such changes as technological development, political development and social development. In order to avoid cultural extinction, there is an urgent need for cultural restoration in Africa owing to erroneous impressions or Western indoctrination. This is very necessary because people without a culture are people without an identity.

Idris Kporo Halirat is a student of Mass Communication at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State.

Note: This article is (without any alteration to its original form) completely an opinion of the writer and does not convey or represent the thoughts of, or a shared belief with NIGERIAN TRIBUNE.

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