00:00Hi, I'm Angel Onyechi Unigwe in Lagos, Nigeria.
00:08Today we are discussing culture.
00:11With more than 250 ethnic groups, Nigeria is a land with diverse cultures.
00:16But how much do young people in Nigeria know about their culture?
00:19Come with me as I give my microphone to some of my peers in Starbrite Private School to
00:24share their thoughts on culture.
00:30Today we are discussing culture, but first, tell us what ethnic groups you are from.
00:34I'm from the Hausa ethnic group.
00:36Igbo and Ambari States.
00:38I'm from Yoruba Eketa States.
00:40I'm Nambia and I'm from Bayasa States.
00:43So what do you like about your culture?
00:46I like our language.
00:47Our language is a really easy thing to learn once you get to know it.
00:51It is a really like, it's a unique language.
00:53I like the attire, because we girls, we love to be too fast, so those red bits complement
00:57our culture, they complement our dressing, they complement everything about us.
01:01I like the way we tolerate each other, I like the way they have taught us to respect people
01:06that are not only older than us, but also our age mates.
01:10Language is one of the most important aspects of our culture, but many young Nigerians speak
01:16English more than our native language, right?
01:20So which is more important to us as teenagers, our native language or English?
01:26I'm gonna say both, because if we go to our village now, you'll hardly see them speak
01:30English over there, so you have to speak your native language over there to interact with
01:34one another.
01:35English, because we were colonized by the British, and so most people nowadays speak
01:40English, so we also need English to interact with people in this city.
01:43I'll say English, because we Nigerians, we're now modernized.
01:48We speak English everywhere, they even adapt the American accent or British accent, anything.
01:53I don't know what it's called, but we love speaking English, so I think English is the
01:59best one.
02:00I'll say both.
02:01The reason why I'm saying both is because my parents would just say, you say both because
02:05they want you to build up those two languages, so they'll say Yoruba to me and my siblings
02:12and English to me and my siblings in the house, so my parents would call me in Yoruba, then
02:17I'll do answer in English.
02:18I would actually say our native language, so that we can pass it on from generations
02:23and it won't die.
02:24Here in Nigeria, who would you pick as your cultural icon and why?
02:29I'm gonna say my mom, because my mom taught me everything I know about my culture.
02:33She taught me our mode of dressing, how to speak our language, how to cook our cultural
02:38food and the festivals we do.
02:40I'll say Peter Dutchie, because he's our Igbo icon.
02:44That man portrays Igbo, our culture, really well.
02:47Check the way he dresses, check his mode of conduct, everything about him showcases our
02:52culture.
02:53I'll say my family members, because my family members are the ones that taught us everything.
03:00My brothers, my sisters, my mom and dad, grandmas, they're my cultural icon.
03:05You've heard it all from my peers.
03:07Let's hear from a teacher involved in teaching the pupils about culture.
03:12With the free flow of information worldwide, would you say some aspects of the Nigerian
03:17culture are under threat?
03:19I would say yes.
03:21Let me use language as a case study.
03:24Most people find it very difficult to interact in their local dialects.
03:29If you cannot speak it, how will you teach it?
03:31If I cannot pass on my culture, my tradition to my children, how will my children be able
03:38to pass it on to the next generation?
03:41Most of the parents we have these days want to emulate a modern language, like speaking
03:48English at home and all that.
03:50Nigeria is making progress in its call for European countries to return back our famous
03:56bronzes.
03:57What are young Nigerians likely to learn from our culture when these bronzes are returned
04:01back to Nigeria?
04:02Without a past, there will be no present.
04:07So our forefathers had reasons to mould these artefacts.
04:12So if these artefacts are brought back, it will prompt us to want to know the reason
04:17behind each of the bronze or the artefact.
04:20We want to know the story behind it, the reason why it was created or made.
04:25So it's very, very important that they are all returned back to Benin Kingdom.
04:32We have been discussing culture.
04:35Culture is essential for young people as it will likely define their identity and affect
04:40their future.
04:42For Girls of Mute from Lagos, Nigeria, I am Angel Oninetunigwe.
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