Technological advancement has pushed into extinction older modes of communication such as fax, Telegrams and letter writing with people now using Short Message Service (SMS) and internet platforms to pass messages across.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey, which was conducted in Lokoja, Makurdi, Jalingo, Minna and Jos, found that modern technology has diminished the use of photo studios as people now use cell phone cameras to snap pictures for sundry purposes.
It is, however, a different story for clay pots, as many people still use them to cook variety of meals.
In Makurdi, Prof. Kpamor Orkar, the Board Chairman, Akanu Ibiam Polytechnic Uwana, said that the advent of internet had pushed letter writing and photo studios out of business.
Orkar told NAN that before the advent of the internet, people spent nights upon nights trying to connect their loved ones through letter writing.
The 81-year-old professor of Tiv literature, said before the advent of letter writing people trekked over 100 kilometres to deliver messages.
According to him, the internet has completely put an end to letter writing as people now send messages to people within seconds and get feedback.
The board chairman said most youths were not aware of earlier modes of communication such as fax machines.
“Internet has made communication very easy. We now keep in touch with our loved ones every minute anywhere they are in the world. It has also improved our social life.
“I remember in a single night I would write several letters and post them through the post office the next day. I still have a postal mail box but I don’t receive any letters and send any. With internet now, people don’t write letters, anymore.
“In those days, a whole community would have one individual who usually ran errand for them by sending messages to where necessary on foot and this was a very difficult way of communicating. This was done even before the advent of letter writing.”
According to him, in Makurdi and across Benue, people no longer made use of fax machines or type writers anymore.
He also said that, “nowadays, people either use computers or their telephones to send messages and receive same within minutes.”
Miss Comfort Atser, a photographer said internet had greatly enhanced her photography business.
Atser explained that internet was her major place for marketing and majority of her customers were social media users.
She said that with the internet, she got regular new trends in photography to update her studio.
She said that a lot of people still came to her studio to snap photos because she had updated her studio.
She, however, said that most customers only collected soft copies of their pictures to post on social media, instead of hard copies like before.
For Mr Titus Kwagh, however, the internet had completely destroyed his photography business which he established over 15 years ago.
Kwagh said that with the introduction of internet not all people came to his studio to snap pictures and collect hard copies of the pictures anymore, and regretted that he lacked the necessary equipment for modern photography.
He said the situation compelled him to shut down his studio in 2018 and had since taken to tailoring to make ends meet.
For Dr Bashir Yankuzo of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger, there is nothing wrong with advances in technology or modernisation in areas related to improving the lives of human beings.
Yankuzo, a lecturer with the Department of Educational Sciences of the university said: “Superior and more advance technologies have been developed over the years making the aforementioned items almost irrelevant in today’s world.
“Today people hardly write letter; why because within a tinkle of an eye the message can be sent through SMS, WhatsApp chat, Facebook messenger and other social media platforms at a less cost.
“All android phones of today are equipped with superior cameras which can snap any picture supported by applications to edit the pictures to your taste.These, in my opinion, are responsible for the extinction of the old ways of doing things.
“As we move forward, other advance technologies will be discovered in future, some of the present technologies will also become obsolete,’’ he said.
In Lokoja, Pastor Ayo Abereoran, the National Secretary, Okun Development Association (ODA), said modernisation had brought increase in knowledge via science, information technology and computer, which had changed things.
”Yes we were using earthen vessels to drink, eat and convey waters, ditto for telegram, but through modernisation, which brought increase in knowledge via, science, information technology , computer, things changed. Life is now far less cumbersome,” he said.
He said that through modernisation, things were a lot easier, using cell phones and social media made things faster and no stress.
”Clay pots are easily broken unlike stainless steel pots. Some of the chemical compositions of aluminium pots are injurious to our health.”
Mr Mike Abu, the Publisher, Nigerian Post Newspaper, said modernisation had made letter writing archaic, saying, ”I no longer see the post office as useful.
”Modernisation makes sending messages faster, cheaper, with less energy, and its saves one the stress of going to cyber, and makes the world a global village.”
Also speaking, Mr Julius Atabor, a Media Practitioner, said advancement of science and technology had made some occupation, culture and indeed some innovations to become archaic or obsolete.
According to Atabor, those equipment and innovations that were in vogue then, had lost appeal now, not necessarily because of their defects but because of better development of products that replaced them.
”There was a time fax machine, telegram and typewriters were the latest mode of transmission of information and messages.
”However, digitisation in form computers and hand held laptops and cell phones have rendered its usage unattractive, but in some communities, like mine, we still cherish the earthen wares,” he said.
”Though, those in the urban cities may have discontinued them, those in less developed towns cannot afford the cost and application of modern cooking wares.
”In spite of the overwhelming advantages of these innovations, some people still hold on to them.”
Mr Dare Olukaiyeja, a retired Director in Federal Ministry of Agriculture, noted that since the world became a global village, the use of telegraph and fax machine was abandoned.
”The advantage of this development is the reduction and ease of doing business today in the world. Business is faster and less costly.
”As for clay pot, it’s still in use at village level because it is cheaper and more reliable,” Olukaiyeja said.
Meanwhile, some residents of Taraba say they still use clay pots and native plates, especially those in the rural areas.
One of them, Alhaji Ibrahim Bashir, a resident of Maihula, Bali Local Government Area, said the people of his community still used clay pots and native plates.
According to him, water stored in the clay pots remains moderately cold for drinking even when the temperature rises.
Bashir noted that even cooked food that was preserved in the clay pots retained its warmness for a longer time compared to the one stored iron pots.
Mrs Jenifer Matsonde, a resident of Arufu in Wukari Local Government Council of Taraba said she still made use of the clay pots both for cooking, storing water and serving food and drinks.
Matsonde said that since there was no electricity in the village, the native pots remained very useful to the people of the community.
“I still use clay pots for cooking, storing water and preserving cooked food for warmness and for me, the clay pot is natural and better,” she said.
Similarly, Mr Ochima Achadu, a resident of Jos, said meals prepared and served in clay pots and plates had a distinct taste and it retained heat compared to those served in iron pots and plates.
Achadu said that water taken from clay pot “is sweeter” and more satisfying than water gotten from the refrigerator.
Similarly, Mrs Hadiza Bala, a civil servant in Jos, said that meals prepared in clay pots were tastier.
Bala said that the clay pot gave a distinct taste and aroma more than the meals prepared in iron pots
She said that meals cooked in the earthen pots had a longer shelf life as compared to meals cooked in iron pots.
Technological advancement makes letter writing photo studios, fax machine irrelevant – Survey
