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Ore-ore Ehinmore

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          In the words of chief Obafemi Awolowo, two things shape life in this mundane existence, they are culture and nature.

          Culture is the totality of the ways of life of a group of people while nature literally refers to the universal existence of the physical world as designed by God. So, nature in others words, refers to the things created by man. Every human society as evolved its own cultures and language which in the longrun determine its identity.

          The Yoruba in general and the Ilaje race in particular, have very rich cultures and tradition which make them some of the most unique group of people in the whole wide world. The Ilaje People have a very rich cultural heritage as seen in their unique dialect, their mode of dressing, their locally made dishes and their delicacies, their mode of greeting, their ideologies and believes, their traditional practice and their unique occupation as a subgroup of the Yoruba ethnic group.

          As told by my grandfather, the biripo, asiko and JuJu brands or genres of afro music are indigenous to the Ilaje People. Besides, I was told that malokun and oghoye festivals were once being celebrated annually at ugbo and oropo communities where the spirits of our ancestors and the benevolent goddes of  ocean, malokun is being appeased in order to have abundance fish, crayfishes, prawns and crabs to bless our fisherman in their daily fishing activities. My grandfather also told me that ode ugbo, ode mahin, ode etikan and agerige once  had the most beautiful and colourful masquerade in West Africa. Ayetoro community was once  the epi- centre of community in Africa.

          However, it is regrettable that many aspects of the Ilaje culture is on the part of wane and ruin due of powerful wave of civilization being spread by the advancement in technology. Following the successful colonisation of the African states in the 19th century, the African culture did had a contact with foreign culture which eventually leads to some cultural modification. Our belief system, ideologies, mode of dressing,mode of greetings and others got affected. Meanwhile, the advancement in technology has made foreign ways of life accessable on television screen,  the internet and social media.

          Nevertheless, as the globalised world gets civilised through imbibing ideas and culture which are termed global best practices, the African children including our Ilaje youth are now sacrificing our rich cultural heritage for the western cultures which in most cases, negate the Africa personality. Today in Ilaje land, an average Ilaje child or youth sees traditionalists as even dua or idiour wishiper who should be otrecisedand ex- communicated. What a mental salary.? 

          As an Ilaje boy , if you don't sayor wear crazy jeans you are seen as being unexposed and uncivilised. Our girls, in the name of civilization either flaunt thir Breast, bra-less or wear jumper dresses to review their novel. 

          To this end, as we are aware that the damage done to our cultures and traditions by civilization are great we certainly lead to instill in our children and mentality that the Africa culture is the richest in the world and as a result most be preserved at all time.

                                   EHINMORE OREOFE

                (Pure Wisdom College Igbokoda)


OUR CULTURE AND TRADITION IN FACE OF CIVILIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS

in  AFROSKY ESSAY COMPETITION 2025

by Ore-ore Ehinmore

on 28-06-2025 | "Voting Start & End Date "Jun 28, 2025, 7:00 AMJul 7, 2025, 6:00 PM (Europe/Berlin)

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Media Type: Writing Contest
Category: Education & Arts

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