Strengthening The Cultural Heritage- Leveraging The Power of Retrospect

Strengthening The Cultural Heritage- Leveraging The Power of Retrospect

The prefix retro- means “back," and spect is a component of the words inspect, spectator, spectacles, and perspective, among others, which all have to do with looking or seeing. So it makes sense that retrospect means to look back in time or to remember.

Retrospect - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com

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Retrospect is a powerful tool for drawing ene²s22²²222bb2b2b2b2bbb2b22r2b22222r222r²r2²22222²²2222222222222222222222222222222222222222bbbbbbɓb2be11111111111111111111b111r1111111b11bbbbb1b111bbbb1b1111b11reb11r11111111¹11¹¹11eee1¹1ffg1f1¹¹1zzz1¹¹gg1g1¹¹11¹g1¹ĝgggggggggggggggggggggggrgy from some past experiences or from stories or from the news or from history or mentors, to fuel transformation or work for a better future.

However, this powerful tool is fast becoming unpopular and no thanks to the invasion of social media.

It's becoming more and more convincing that social media has its ultimate agenda; to de-emphasize African Culture and push Western ideologies.

We have also helped the agenda by buying into the pay-tv culture and our children have been drawn away from everything African to embrace everything Western and to be exact, everything American.

Ask your wards if they know a program called "Tales By Moonlight" or Shows like “Speak Out” and “Storyline,” which aired on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), taught essential life skills to children via stories.

These programs drew from retrospect and built subconsciously and shaped our love for traditional values of family ties, family loyalty, respect for seniors and elders, and collaborative efforts in family members’ economic development.

We have almost completely lost our collectivist ideologies and fast embracing the American individualistic ways of life, which is responsible for their high level of victims of loneliness and depression.

I am also guilty or shall I say, I am a victim of embracing the American ways to the point, I do not think any more in my local dialect.

I am a victim because, even though i grew up in the village, I had embraced the American ways as far back as 1978, with so much access to the TV when i was seven, watching King Kong Cartoon, Big Foot & Wise Boy, Charlie’s Angel, Hawaii 5'o, The Invisible man and many others. And in music, the likes of Michael Jackson were my favorites; everything local TV contents were secondary or watched because other viewers in the family prevailed on the choice of what to watch. But i still had the floor from 10 pm till when all the stations signed off at midnight, switching from one movie to another; all American or European. I had clearly preferred their ways to the ways of the village to the point, i could not proficiently speak my dialect then and even now.

I grew up having more American (individualistic culture) than that of a typical traditional Yoruba man and still having difficulty selling my Yoruba values to my children.

I am very sure that if i had my ways in the 90s, i would have relocated and found more alignment in the American environment and chances are that i may never return, which is true of many that fell victim to my era.

The American cultural invasion agents; subtly and powerfully altogether, sold their history and values to my generation so well that our parents did not see them coming.

We need to salvage what is left of our children being sold the Western ways and make a deliberate effort to teach them our traditional values of family ties and loyalty.

Deliberately, go on a retrospective journey with the children or find people who can; tell our own stories. Catch fun speaking your dialect with them and pay less attention to the flaws, knowing proficiency comes with continual practice.

Find on YouTube, documentaries of our rich culture and get them to watch with you.

Many of our children, may never return to their root countries, not because of economic issues but because there is no traditional tie.

Family Ties strengthen Cultural Legacy; once we lose the tie, we lose the hold of culture. We must strengthen our resolve to build family ties, take measures that focus on cultural awareness, and use the power of retrospect to forge ahead.

Government must see this as a nationwide crisis; cultural erosion across the nation through the media and create policies that will strengthen cultural awareness.

To be continued...Hiworks