Wisdom and Evil in African Culture

  

  

I was watching an episode from one of these American reality tv shows and in one scene, the mother was talking to her child about how important it was to clean her room when suddenly the child bolted out in anger and the mother began to ask herself if she did something wrong. I immediately begn to imagine the scenario in an African setting where a child would walk out on her mother. I can imagine the speed at which a broom or slipper will accompany that child at the back of the head. Then the customary slaps on the face.

There is no doubt about the usefulness and importance of traditional culture and heritage, I would be crazy to say otherwise. However I have discovered that there are still a mammoth of excess that hopefully our generation can change.

Recently I was at a burial of someone close to my heart and I had the priviledge of encountering some of our 'traditions'. One of the things that shocked me was a the fact that the family of the deceased was asked not to kill a cow for the deceased (as part of the burial food) because the deceased had not done the same for his father (because he couldn't afford it). The summary was that the widow had to kill 2 cows and each was a hundred thousand naira. I was shocked and angry that someone who had just lost her husband and had children to take care of would be spending excessively because of 'tradition'. I personally saw it as a means created by some suppsosedly respectable people to extort money from the defenseless. 

There are many other traditions that are purely designed to extort from the unsuspecting. I carried out a mini survey some months back to ascertain a degree of the reception of the idea of and I discovered that many of those who were against marrying and Igbo girl was because of financial reasons. So I asked myself why and I discovered that in the mind of the traditional and dare I say the average Igbo man today, his daughter is somewhat of a liability. But I ask myself is it a coincidence that a large number of influential Nigerian women are Igbo. The okonjo-Iwealas the Chimamanda Adiches, the Oby Ezekwesilis. It wasn't until recently I discovered that this thinking is still part of the mind sets of many Igbo men. It has just assumed a more quiet posture and allows education and until this generation can equate the girl child with the boy child in our minds and their education we still have a lot of work to do!