The Good Old Days
By
Toyeen Ojo
Finance Estate, Wuye, Abuja
toyeenojo@gmail.com
An editor once
referred to the 1980s as better than present times. Ironically, the
rapid technological advancement of the present time evolved from the
desires to make life better and more comfortable. But how much of
these truly affect the lives of the ordinary Nigerian.
Back in the
glorious years of old, education was something every Nigerian looked
forward to and could afford. Though the schools were fewer than what
presently obtains, everything was done to encourage enrolment and
delivery of qualitative education to the citizens. This included the
grant of bursary. Government at that time approved the bursary for
almost every child especially for indigent from poor background. The
grant usually covered the school fees and some change as pocket
money to take care of some personal expenses of the child. In those
old days, attention was also given to the academic requirement of
the students in addition to their personal welfare. Books were
always made available for free.
Today, what obtains in our education sector is more of the shadows
of the old. With more revenue accruing to the government, most of
the policies and actions taken towards the welfare and quality
education are empty promises. The indigent students are not properly
encouraged in the schools as bursary granted by most of the states
is not even enough to cater for the fees less any personal expenses.
The high rate of unemployment has taken away vacation jobs enjoyed
by the hardworking students of the old. In those years, students
spent their vacations meaningfully by engaging in short term jobs to
raise money for the school sessions.
The issue of the moment is no longer that of free books but how many
modern books could be found in the libraries. The hostels in most of
the schools including in some universities are so dilapidated and
unfit for decent studies. Most of the infrastructures have
collapsed.
Given the decent and conducive learning conditions of the old, any
student that failed to perform well would only be fit to be thrown
into the lagoon.
Besides, in those old days child training was the responsibility of
all parents in the community. In a typical Igbo and Yoruba
communities for instance, training of children were for both the man
and his wife in the family as well as for the neighbours. The
neighbours often look after the younger child when the parents were
too busy with other chores. It was not strange to see a man
disciplining a child who is not his own. If a child turns out to be
bad, all the parents in the community were accountable for that and
if a child turns out to be successful, it was the joy of all the
parents in the community. Children were the pride of all in the
community. So, kids that had no longer had parents enjoyed the
privilege of assistance from other families while couples without a
child too pride in those of their neighbours. There was no fear of
kidnapping, neighbours molesting kids or food poisoning by one
parent, everyone lived in peace and understanding.
Moving from one place to another was safer and less hassle in those
days than now. Though there were less number of roads and fewer
vehicles, but these were better maintained. Orderliness was easily
the observed and established rules and regulations designed for
safety in the roads were obeyed by all users. Then motorcyclists
knew his limits and didnt need to fear being knocked down by any
motorist. The sharp increase of traffics has come without
commensurate improvement in the roads. Disregard for safety rules
and poor conditions of the roads have resulted in frequent accidents
and carnage with the attendant loss of lives. By the mid-1990s lack
of investment had left most of the roads to deteriorate.
At the family level, children were always treated to decent and
meaningful orientation about life and their culture. All cultural
groups in Nigeria have its own tale of where their ancestors came
from. These differ from tales of people descending from the sky to
stories of exodus from far-off places. There were also the old
tradition of masquerades, festivals, and storytelling. Masquerades,
which emphasized costume and dance rather than dialogue, were a key
instrument of social control and political observations, especially
in traditional south-eastern Nigerian cultures. In the southwest,
Alarinjo, a court masquerade and professional popular plays, was
common, especially in the 14th-century Oyo kingdom. The traditional
Ozidi dramas of the southern Ijo took three days and nights to
perform, after several years of practice. The theatrical traditions
of the northern Hausa, still practiced today, include the
performances of travelling minstrels known as yan Kamaand public
ceremonies of the bori spirit cult. In the middle belt area is the
Tivs Kwagh-hir, being an amalgamation of traditional masquerades,
puppets theatre, acrobatics, dancing and music reputed of the rich
tradition of communication and entertainment in the community. Today
we find that most children know nothing of their cultural heritage
less speaking of their local languages.
Clothing often represents the cultural and religious affinity of any
people. It also defines the social status in the society. Muslim men
wear long, loose-fitting attire called caftan with colourful
embroidery hats or (among traditional officials) turbans. The
Christians are mostly given to the western styles of shirts and
trousers as well as their traditional attires. Most Yoruba men also
wear elaborate gowns and hats called fila. Many Nigerians in the
south wear casual Western-style dress. Women wear wrappers round
garments or dresses, typically made from very colourful materials,
and beautiful head-ties (gele) that are usually fashioned into
elaborate patterns. This kind of clothing is still very pronounced
among older Nigerians but gradually declining among the youths due
to competition from wears like jeans, suits and tops.
Communal and personal hygiene are other areas that have greatly
declined over the years. In the time past, residents including the
landlords were arrested for not keeping their residential areas
clean or not planting flowers to beautify the environment. Sanitary
officers commonly referred to as wolewole by the yorubas made sure
that defaulters pay fine. Nowadays, we find dirt everywhere even in
the hospitals environment, people peeing by the roadsides and more.
Very few people live clean.
History is a memorial of the succession of time. Each generation
imagines itself to be more intelligent and better than the past,
perhaps also wiser than the one that comes after it. But the truth
remains that much more is needed from the present to improve over
the past.
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