When Civilisation meets Culture
|By Glen Don||
Civilisation is when one is educated and enlightened and culture is that which characterises humankind or a particular society or nation.
Lifestyle depicts which part of the society one come from. culture seems to be standing on the way of civilisation in Africa at tertiary education levels. Whether it is a point of tradition overruling modernity and modernity thrashing traditionalism in institutions of learning, it is hard question to answer.
Africa have its culture, and dress code characterised part of our culture. Dressing code was an important amazing aspect. Before colonialism tainted our culture, an African would be seen donned in animal hides while some communities putting on clothes made from tree parts like Baganda of Uganda who had Ngonge clan as the craftsmen and the Mbuti men of Congo who would extract bark of tree to make clothes. The mutuba tree is well known for this.
In Kenya, the Maa community seemingly are the one to remain preserving their culture as some communities bend theirs to give room for civilisation to give entrance.
African culture is taking another divergent direction especially with the youths who swerve to Western culture then exceedingly do it more than the owners and call that civilisation.
At the tertiary institutions is where there are lots of youths. In these institutions is where they change the tradition and become adopters of deviants and they adapt comfortably.
Masinde Muliro this month rocked social media after the memo dated 11 October, 2023 was issued to the students advising them on how to dress decently. The memo gave clarity directing students on clothes that are not permissible within the precincts of the institution.
Surprisingly, this is not the first institution in Kenya and Africa at large to issue such memoranda reminding students on how to dress appropriately.The Mount Kenya University did that before Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. Some of the privately owned institutions also have defined decent dress codes for their students and staff members. The trend of 'indecency' therefore may deductively be assumed to have been propagated in the public tertiary institutions.
Uganda's Bishop Stuart University in 2021 December banned students from wearing mini skirts, tattoos, damaged pants among other outfits, Ahmadu Bello University of Nigeria even extended it to the staff and visitors in the year 2022, Enugu University and Lagos State University (LASU) and Rivers University are not left behind in instilling decency within the premises.The university administrations taking matter at hand of taming the students' dress code portrays some negative aspect on the students, perhaps their background and their upbringings.
The question whether the students are tired of the Africa's decency when it comes to dressing and instead have spacious room for their 'exaggerated' foreign dressing style then extending its definition to civilisation can only be answered by them.
The African youth is doing away with African culture and tradition in their institutions and denigrating the African way. During pre colonial, the oral traditioned stories tells of how decency was of high value.Whether to insert and fix the blame among the society or it be left as individual's cross is not easy to tell because these were their attributive role.
Most of the time children stay with the whole community inclusive of the parents then learning institutions comes in for formal learning. The role that most universities seems to effect to students at maturity.
The primary and secondary education levels, there is a common mode dressing and the children at their various schools are identifiable with their respective uniforms. At these levels, students or pupils are bound to abide by the school rules. Should it be said that at these levels children did not have the decency implanted on them? Of course little lies with the schools because after schools parents have to be with their children, what then should be said if a child reaches tertiary levels and finds scintillating bounty freedom that makes some of them to easily swerve and join other forms of overrated dress code.
The youths complicate everything when they reach tertiary education levels and that's how and where African tradition is being erased to usher in immoralities.
These are the future employers, employees, generation, role models and mentors.
When institutions come in to rescue future Africa and morals, the youths especially netizens come in defense and make everything sound negative.
Can something right possibly come out of the present odd or wrong? Certainly no. The Swahili adage " samaki mkunje angali mbichi" rings in mind for such asked question.
When things shall have gone haywire beyond reparable is when eyes will be unwaxed and this is what the institutions are trying to avoid.
Civilisation is as worth as gold and is worth received as a gift, but what of civilisation that is an alloy of alien culture? Africa has moved from era of hide and bark as clothes and have cherished other people's.
Africa have great minds and golden think-tanks, how it would be good if our brain prompted us to modify African lifestyle and make it dazzling array.Loving foreign at the expense our own does not help.
African child promoting foreign trade yet Africa too have traders, African child promote foreign culture yet Africa have culture that is worth preserving.At tertiary institutions they have the term 'comrade' not weird term since truly they are together for a common purpose. After the purpose it is narrowed down to individual.The individual should be that person who can do things soundly and right, an individual who should be a mentor and role model to upcoming generation -3.
The true picture begins with how someone sees you because first sight impression doesn't have a second chance.
Amazing work
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