By Gabriel Olawale

Historians, culture and traditional advocates have called on both the federal and state governments to leverage on culture and tradition for the country’s development.

They said this at the colloquium in honour of Olori Francis Meshioye during his 60th birthday celebration in Lagos.

Former Dean, Faculty of Art, University of Lagos and Executive Director, Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Professor Siyan Oyeweso said that history is the life wire of any society but regrettably many children nowadays don’t know their family history not to talk of town or country.

Oyeweso said: “A typical Yoruba family emphasizes family values, exceptional up bringing and hard work as a child grows up. But today, Yoruba language is an endangered language. Few years ago, Yoruba Language department almost closed down at UNILAG, for it to survive, they had to combine it with other subjects because that particular year we had eight lecturers in the department and only one student was admitted to study Yoruba language.

He hinted that for Nigeria to be able to market its culture, infrastructure and security must be priorities, “All cultures are local, from local to national and from national to international. For us to market our culture, we must get our governance right. If you want to promote international tourism, you must get your transportation infrastructure right.

“In 2019, Kenya got it right in which 49 percent of visitor to Kenya are tourist from America. Dubai also took the world by surprise to become tourism destination. Today, China gives competition to the United States. In Nigeria today, we have only two UNESCO site which are Osun Osogbo and cultural landscape in Adamawa, but insurgents have crippled Adamawa tourist Centre.

Oyeweso disclosed that most cultural organizations in Nigeria operate in solo capacity, “when some of these organizations attend international meetings like UNESCO, they find it difficult to speak with one voice on Nigeria culture. UNESCO should inscribe as a world heritage site.

“We also have challenges with government in term of continuity, for instance the talking drum festival that Ogun State started, why should it be stopped? We want to urge our governor to see governance as continuity. The talking drum festival attracted visitors to Nigeria.

Corroborating his views, Director, Institute for African and Diaspora Studies, University of Lagos, Prof. Muyiwa Falaye disclosed that the easiest way to enslave people is to take away their culture and language.

Falaye said: “Once you lose culture and language, you have lost your identity, unfortunately many of us are unwilling accomplishes. We are proud when our children can not speak our language, it is only when they speak other languages that we feel they are learned.

“Culture is a significant way of promoting economic wellbeing and development of societies across the world. Many parents hardly speak Yoruba language again, what is going to happen to generations after us? Some people are of the opinion that Yoruba is too big to disappear, no language is too big to disappear. It only takes time, except we begin to plan to ensure we do not allow this language to die.

“Tourism is a very significant aspect of economic development, there are many tourism potential sites in Nigeria especially in South West, we have a lot of tourist centres that can attract foreigners to the country, all of them need to be reviewed, leaving everything to government is not the right thing to do. Individuals can also contribute to tourist attraction that will bring the culture of our people to the forefront.

“The development and advancement of Nigerian culture to enhance economy can be achieved if Nigerian young people consciously break challenges posed by globalization by promoting cultural diplomacy and indigenous marketing of Nigerian products.”

Director of Cultural Industries and Heritage, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Mrs. Rose Kwarsen posited that culture should not be neglected and mothers must play the core role of raising their children personally, “children should be taught mother tongue alongside English. Allowing children to learn courses of their choice will help them grow positively.

Also, Professor Oye Oguntola-Laguda from Department of Religious and Peace Studies, Lagos State University, said that religion as a part of culture should be seen as a complimentary social institution that should be deployed in the development of indigenous industries for economic growth.