By Foluke Sijuwola Falayi
When will Nigerians start accepting their own? It is so sad that many do not value what is made locally in the country. That’s why Africa is behind. A country that will grow economically and culturally must embrace indigenous products.
Recently, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, admonished schools, parents and other stakeholders inculcating societal core values into children. He maintained that from time immemorial, societal core values had shaped and differentiated African children from those of the western world. It was as if the minister was reading my mind.
But it is sad that schools, which are supposed to be custodians of knowledge and continuity, are busy throwing away culture and holding on to the glamour, glitters and even mundane things. The aspects of culture I’m referring to here are that of speaking our indigenous languages and reading our own literatures.
You would hardly see a Chinese man unable to speak his language; but in our own case, many children are incapable of speaking many of our indigenous languages. As an author, I feel unhappy whenever I visit schools, especially the ones that brand themselves as international schools, and see them brushed off culture.
Many times, they are fond of the slogan, ‘We do not read Nigerians authors.’ Is that supposed to be a thing of pride?
You have your school on the shore of Nigeria, Eighty per cent or more of the parents are Nigerians. Then, why would any institution in her right mind deny students access to their local languages and texts written by native authors? Have the schools forgotten that the students learn more about culture, social awareness, perception, politics, history, reasoning and problem-from indigenous authors through their books? Every culture has a story to tell and no nation can tell African stories more than Africans themselves.
It is depressing that, these days, many parents do not even have the time to teach their children values, philosophy and beliefs. Schools that are to assist yet feel Africa stories and books are below them.
When you teach them with British curriculum, America curriculum, would that make them British citizens? Even if they end up studying or living abroad, they are still second class citizens. It is only in one’s country one feels most belonging and ‘freest’ in the world. Do not get me wrong, I do not have anything against international curricular. My point, however, is: do not neglect your own.
Not quite long ago, I was in a school in Lagos, and a teacher – one of the sectional heads, really – stylishly talked down on one of my books. The moment I told her that the same book was applauded by some white people somewhere in the United States, she changed her statement. It’s sheer foolishness, if you do not value what you have. These institutions fail to recall that culture is taught through Literature.
As a child, I read, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, as an older child, I read Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine and many others. Despite living in the South-West, I could say a lot of things about Igbo culture, through my experience reading the novels. And when I read Zainab Alkali‘s The Stillborn I could relate with the northern part of Nigeria. And when I read Camara Laye’s African Child, Ngugi wa Thiongo, it is as if I have visited Guinea, Kenya and nationality of other authors. What then is wrong with our learning institutions, the so-called international schools that loathe the indigenous books? What are they portraying? Are they schooled at all?
Teach the children our culture; it is an indispensable part of growing up. Let them know about our root through the works of indigenous writers, and, tomorrow, they we have cause to thank us.
