The Victims Of Globalization

Last year I asked my twenty-two years old grandson what is referred to as Ogogoro in West Africa. He smiled and replied "Grandpa, I don't really know but I think it's a kind of Masquerade in Igboland". I opened my toothless mouth in bewilderment when the lad utter those words. My twenty-two year old son and many of his counterparts do not even know that Ogogoro is an alcoholic drink mostly brewed in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

He would certainly have given me the correct answer if I'd asked him about foreign drinks like Heneiken, Guinness, Maltina, Calipso, Hernesy, Champaigne, Baron etc. Suppose I'm to play the blame game, who do I blame for my grandson's lapses? Should I blame God, the government or the university he attended? Maybe the alibi lies in the fact that Ogogoro had never been advertised on the television.

A few days after, I asked another of my grandson who was a football fanatic whether he knew the name of the goal keeper of Warri Wolves. He tauntingly replied "Grandpa I don't know but nobody really cares about Nigerian league, why should I?"

I stroked my white beards in amazement. My grandson and many of his peers know the nitty-gritty of European league but they're completely clueless when it comes to Nigerian league. Again, suppose am to play the blame game, who do I blame for these lapses? Do I blame God, the government or our educational system? Maybe the alibi lies in the obvious fact that

Nigerian league is infrequently broadcasted on the television.

Again, in my university class, I carried out a survey on the predominant choice of music among my students. The results startled me. Many of my students mentioned hip-pop, rap, R&B etc but nobody mentioned Apala, Juju, Afro-beat, Fuji etc. Many youths have considered the African genre of music as passe, superannuated, barbaric and benighted.

Again, suppose I'm to play the blame game, who do I blame for the youthful distaste for indigenous music? Do I blame God, the government or the educational system? Maybe the alibi lies in the fact that indigenous music are seldomly played on radio and television.

At a conjugral knot ceremony, being the eldest man present, I prayed for the bride and the groom in Ijaw language. After the ceremony, the groom and his bride came to me by night like Nicodemus for the interpretation of my prayers at the ocassion.

I cannot comprehend how grown-ups would strain to understand a few vocabularies of their own native language. Again, suppose I'm to play the blame game, who do I blame for this uncanniness? Do I blame God, the government or the educational system? Maybe the alibi lies in the fact that children are not allowed to speak "vernacular" in elementary schools.

Last week Sunday, a worker in one of the new generation churches was sanctioned because he wore "Agbada" to service when the expected dress code was "corporate". Which page of the Bible instructed people to wear "corporate" dress?

By the way, what distinguishes "corporate" and "traditional" attire? Is Agbada not the African "corporate" dress? Again, if I'm to play the blame game, who do I blame? Do I blame God, the government or the religious institutions? Maybe the alibi lies in the fact that "Agbada" is less smarter than "corporate" wears.

Whatever our alibis are, the youths and a great deal of African elders have been swept away by the waves and tides of globalization. Our cultural values have been obtruded, invaded, infiltrated and impinged by the storm of globalization.

Unfortunately, we're all victims of globalization, from the needles in our homes to the cooking pots in our kitchen. Until Africans defend their cultural values like the Chinese, the pursuit of happiness for the African continent may be a mirage.