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The Igede in the Twentieth Century: How Modernity Impacts Nigerian Tribes
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12498 |
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Section : |
Culture
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| Issue
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7 / 1987 |
6,735 Words |
| Author
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Robert W. Nicholls
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Africa's transition from traditional to modern life is confronted by ecological, economic, and social and cultural problems. African traditionalists blame external influences for not only disrupting society but also for undermining the authority of traditional value systems. Their arguments are not without substance. Indigenous moral codes have been challenged by the ascendancy of materialism and by the impact of imported religions, while the pursuit of modernization "at any cost" has created a situation of trauma in which traditional institutions have been abandoned.
In the process of modernization, people need to maintain links to their cultural identity and historical roots. Modern and traditional cultural systems are multifaceted and possess both positive and negative features. Humane development requires the integration of traditional and modern systems, not a complete breakdown of the old and its replacement by the new. However, not all aspects of indigenous traditions aid development, and some are clearly antidevelopmental. For example, the traditional African emphasis on procreation and large families could lead to a population crisis of overwhelming proportions. Today's African leaders need to examine traditional structures closely to determine their intrinsic worth. An integrated developmental model is needed in which positive features of modern and traditional systems are incorporated.
Indigenous African cultures are functional social instruments that have developed over the centuries to meet practical needs in often extreme environments. Traditional Africa fostered harmony and balance with nature and within society, and a system of constraints minimized disruptions of natural and social harmony. Historically, African communities lived in proximity to nature's whims, dependent upon locally available materials. The African appraised life in terms that matched his experience. Ecological respect for the environment was a result. Man was not conceived as having dominion over nature but rather as collaborating with the natural order. He believed in reciprocity and the equality of all living things.
Subsistence-level economies provide personal autonomy but require constant effort and are at best unstable. The African compensated for the low level of his technology by developing the possibilities of harmony and adaptation inherent in the social nature of man. Literature suggests that traditional African societies are much better than industrial societies at organizing human relationships in ways that reduce tensions and anxieties. Groups like the Igede have clearly defined notions of good and bad reflected in their religious mythology, oral narratives, and other art forms. The principle of "good" tends to be equated with whatever promotes communal welfare, while "bad" does the reverse. Social status is not obtained simply by the accumulation of material wealth but by living a good and productive life and fulfilling obligations within kinship, community, and religious networks.
Oral traditions are fragile. Because knowledge and skills are committed to memory and not to print, loss of life means loss of knowledge. Experience, insight, and methodology that may have been carefully sustained for thousands of years can be extinguished in a single generation. All indications suggest that indigenous knowledge systems deserve to be conserved at least until they are fully understood within the marketplaces of world thought. Today, however, as African elders and other guardians of ethnic lore join the
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