Tradition And Cultural Decadence In Hausa Land

Tradition And Cultural Decadence In Hausa Land; Who Is To Blame

Mohammad Isah Atabo

One thing that has acquired and remained constant in life is change. The concept of change touches every aspect of human existence including other life forms. Cultures and traditions are other aspects of life subject to change. However, change in culture or tradition have prolific effects on the lives of the people loyal to such cultures and traditions, been avenues that direct the people’s way of life. And for many cultures of the world, tempering or going against some aspects of the tradition attracts outright condemnation that could come with consequences; some of which could be very grave and may last for generations.

Hausa, the largest speaking language in West Africa is one universe epitomized by the concept of change in both its traditions and culture. The history of Hausa universe from the 7^th century AD to date has shown a gradual change in traditional creeds with a more radical change by the end of last century. Of course, going by the concept of change, those changes are normal, but there seems to be a lot of misconceptions on such procession in the Hausa society with regards to the precursors of the changes.

The older generations that make up the bulk of the traditionists in Hausa land claimed the younger generation is solely responsible for the change in tradition and culture of the land. They claimed that Hausa culture and traditions have been ‘destroyed’ by Hausa youth that instantly developed an extremely high taste for western cultures there by disowning their own and destroying what their forefathers have kept for centuries. They also have fears for the future of tradition stressing that if the trend should continue, the whole institution that once directed the way of life for the Hausas will be history.

But who is to blame for this traditional decadence really? Is it the fault of the young Hausa men and women alone, or are there other factors that contributed to it?

I believe every tradition has a purpose, one that is moral in nature. Because it is the morality endowed in traditions that makes them worthy of transmission from one generation to the next. A particular culture or tradition could be discarded if it is discovered it has a negative impact on the society probably due to the fact that it was built on a platform devoid of knowledge, wisdom and foresight, or, far more impacting avenues (such as religion, civilization, etc) have evolved that presented people with easier and better ways of living their lives, or when traditional and cultural institutions fail in their duty to properly educate the future generation on the importance and need to preserve tradition, and show them how important are those traditions to their people and race, mandating them right from the cradle to respect and preserve those traditions. These could be achieved through giving quality time to the children, talking to them, participating in traditional and cultural activities with them, giving them chance to participate on their own to carry out those traditional processions and so on.

The history of the Hausa universe is very rich with traditional and cultural activities, replete with wisdom, knowledge, valuor and courage. Knowing the concise history of the Hausas makes one understands what we are, where we are and what we are made of. It also puts parents in better positions to educate their children effectively on cultural and traditional issues. But how many parents know the concise history of Hausa universe? This is important because, to be able to teach a child effectively based on truth and without bias, the teacher must know what he is to teach very well. And again, how much time do we give to our children and what are the efforts made by the Hausa society in general towards achieving this important course?

For thousands of years, the Japanese have centered much of their efforts on youth development in that almost all what they do is targeted at the younger generation. In other words, older people are living for the young. That is why they maintained a consistent culture to date. As means of preserving and promoting culture and tradition, the Egyptians have for thousands of years, maintained their traditional architecture that thrills visitors any time. The Chinese civilization began about 6000 years ago but they still maintained the most consistent culture witnessed in the entire human history, evident in their attires, cuisines, buildings, festivals, etc. Also, the Japanese for thousands of years have maintained their styles of interior decoration keeping the tradition of sitting on floors. Everywhere in an Indian home, one can feel the solid presence of their religious culture that has been directing their lives for centuries.

The Hausas could have maintained their culture and traditions if the older generation had made it a point of duty to imbibe the spirit of culture in them first, then making their children imbibe it, think it and exhibit it with pride. If we don’t give our children quality time, their companions would be televisions, the main media that would teach them other people’s culture, and their pears that may likely put pressures on them. We have the architectural capabilities to modernize our Old-kano-City models of buildings and make a whole city of them. Countries that maintained their cultures for centuries also excelled in technology, sciences, arts, governance, etc. This means that you can be civilized and at the same time be cultured. It is not too late. We can still put in extra efforts to preach culture to our children so that their children and grand children may spare our dearest culture and traditions.