Protocol
I am delighted to welcome you all to this national workshop organized for the purpose of rejuvenating our culture for national integration and sustainable development. As you all know, CBAAC has been in the forefront of preserving, promoting and propagating African cultural values and showcasing Africa 's contributions to world civilization. In line with that statutory mandate, this workshop was conceived to arrest the ebb and strategically place African culture to achieve the desired integration for sustainable development.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, as a people, Africans and Nigerians have come a long way. We have transited from our traditional institutions and culture to one bequeathed to us by the circumstances of foreign domination through colonialism, religion and globalization. Even after the demise of colonialism, the consequential inheritances are imbibed and we are fast transmitting them to this and next generations. These appear to be the bane of our quest for integration and development.
Prior to colonization, Africa and Nigeria as they are known today have been multi-ethnic. Despite our ethnic diversity then, interaction among our people knows no boundary or border. However, with colonization, Africa , for purposes best known to our colonizers, was partitioned, divided and fractionalised, thus creating artificial borders. Initially, these borders, despite their creation, never existed in our consciousness, however, with continuing division and proliferation of identities, ethnic and other differences crept into our consciousness. Rather than unite, as we urgently require now, ethnic consciousness has kept us divided. Consequently, we have been unable to articulate paths to development using our cultural values.
As we know them to be today, the fast developing Asian tiger countries suffered fate similar to ours. At different times they went through different colonization. Take for instance Korea before its division; the people were vassal to imperial Japan . Despite colonization by Japan , the people cultural identity remains intact. Their identity, despite the division, is propelling their achievements today. As a people, the Japanese are not as monolithic as we think, like us, they have diversity. Despite their diverseness, their culture remained at the engine room incubating their strides in science and technology.
Our need to rejuvenate our culture as the workshop set for itself is premised on the impacts of triple influences of foreign faiths, colonization and globalisation. Our culture we believe could be explored to unite us for the onerous task of sustainable development. Based on this need, this workshop, pulling scholars from various academic institutions, would facilitate transaction of ideas and sharing of knowledge on the best way national integration and sustainable development can be achieved.
I heartily welcome you with the hope that our common desires would be realized through this workshop.
Thank you . |
