Los medios de comunicación como agentes de socialización

5.3.5 Lack of Disciplined Students and Youths

It is the decline in Igbo traditional education that contributes to the decline in education for character development in the contemporary Igbo society. The idea that education starts at home is a typical feature of Igbo traditional education. This is because Igbo traditional education is an educational system that takes place within the homestead and community. According to Fafunwa (2004) in traditional Nigerian societies such as traditional Igbo society character formation starts at home. Parents and elders used Igbo proverbs and folk-tales in teaching young ones the accepted social behaviours and the consequences of bad behaviours or misconduct, but today the reverse is the case. Therefore western education’s inability to produced men and women of sound moral character is as a result of the decline in Igbo traditional.

members of the society. In fact, it was a functional education that encouraged self employment. Through this system of education, children and young ones were able to earn a living. Expatiating on the place of Igbo traditional education in creating jobs for members of the society, Agada (1991) confirmed that in traditional society, there were no unemployed persons. This is because every member of the community had a vocation by which he can earn a living. One was either a well-known hunter, a blacksmith, a yam farmer, or a mat maker. Others were sent to a master craftsman to learn one vocation or the other to become midwives, herbalists, rainmakers and so on.

In identifying why traditional education creates employment opportunities , Afigbo (1981) asserted that Igbo society did not only placed a high premium on hard work, but valued also the hard worker because he provided the theme for edifying songs and tales, while the lazy man was the subject of ribald songs and jokes”(p.129).

5.4.2 Preservation of Igbo Cultural Identity

Traditional education is a means of persevering Igbo cultural values such as community consciousness, dressing pattern and indigenous language. Indigenous occupations such as making of mat, farming, wine tapping, blacksmithing industry and so are also preserved through traditional education. It is a means of informing children and young adults that Igbo traditional religion is the indigenous religion in Igboland. Igbo traditional education helps in transmitting the information that marriage, taboos, traditional medicines are means of preserving human life and ensuring the continuation of human race. Therefore, decline in some Igbo cultural practices in contemporary Igbo society pointed out the need for this form of education if Igbo nation is to retain its traditional features.

5.4.3 Community Solidarity

The influence of western individualism on the Igbo cherished value of being your brothers’ keeper and community training of young adults is enough to perceive the importance of Igbo traditional education in contemporary society. Igbo traditional education promotes community solidarity in Igboland because it is a means of educating members of the society on sacredness of community and how essential it is to maintain a harmonious relationship with the members of the spiritual world. It also promotes community development since it inculcates in the youths the spirit of being productive for personal and community needs. And that is why members of the community join hands for community projects such as community school, community hospital, and village markets and so on. Communal training of children is an important aspect of Igbo traditional education that enhanced community solidarity and awareness to the children that they live for the community and the community live for them. No wonder Ejizu (2014) contended that a child does not answer his or her personal name; rather a child is identified by his parents’ names in traditional Igbo society.

5.4.4 Extended Family Relationship

High rate of marital instability and individualist spirit in modern Igbo family pointed out the relevance of Igbo traditional education in Igbo society today. This is because in the pre-colonial Igbo family, people lived together as brothers and sisters.

The family heads and elders were well respected. The brotherly love was very strong even in polygamous families. Nzomiwu (1999) noted that it is usual for wives of a polygamist to take oaths on Ofo never to poison one another or other members of the family. On the other hand, extended family relationship promotes traditional

education in pre-colonial Igboland because members of extended family were educators. Ekpeh and Mamma (1997) asserted that “the extended families share the joys and sorrows of bringing up the children and young adults and in educating them”

(p.55). This suggests that the training of children was a family affair. In fact, traditional education starts at home and parents and other members of the extended family are indispensable teachers of traditional education. Therefore, Igbo traditional education and extended family are interwoven. As the elders in extended family help to inculcate moral values in children, Igbo traditional education ensures the survival of extended family system by maintaining peace and order in the family.

5.4.5 Character Formation

This is an essential function of Igbo traditional education that helps in human development and in maintaining harmonious relationship in the community. Social vices coupled with the moral laxity experience among children in contemporary society suggest the need for character development in the contemporary society.

Fafunwa (2004) confirmed that:

In traditional Nigerian society all parents want their children to be upright, honest, kind and helpful to others, and will spare no pain to instill these qualities. All Nigerian parents irrespective of ethnic group prefer to remain childless than to have children who will bring shame and dishonour to the family.(p.11).

Igbo traditional education produced men and women of sound moral characters. It helps young ones to be productive and well behaved. It is a means of teaching young girls the socio-moral values that will enable them get married at the right time and as well being women of substance. Through this system of education, children were able to identify the traditional ways of greeting and respecting elders.

5.4.6 Good Governance

Igbo traditional education ensures good governance in the society. The moral values inculcated in young ones at the tender age help to produced good leaders in the traditional society. Therefore, to ensure good governance in contemporary society Igbo traditional education is needed. The inability of leaders to ensure good governance in contemporary society, suggests the need for Igbo traditional education.

According to Ekegbo and Ezeuko (2012) Igbo proverbs promotes good governance because they are used to promote Igbo sense of community, sense of co-operation and to maintain justice in the family and among members of the community. During village meeting or religious gatherings some of the pieces of advice are given in Igbo proverbs. For instance Egbe bere Ugo bere nke si ibe ya ebela ya gosi ya ebe o ga-ebe which literally means let the hawk perch and the eagle perch anyone which does not want another to perch, let it show it where it will perch implies that it is only with the spirit of live and let live that a just society and good governance can be guaranteed.

Another Igbo proverb which points out the relevance of Igbo traditional education in maintaining good governance in modern society is E menyere Nwaogwugwu e menyere Nwanoksike which literally means that when a favour is done for a child the same favour is needed to be done to the other child. This proverb expressed the importance of fair treatment in ensuring good governance in the society. The proverb is essential in maintaining good governance because it implies that every body of the same rank or class should be treated equally.

However, the essence of Igbo traditional education in contemporary society cannot be over estimated. This is because it is a way of life that disclosed the Igbo identity. In traditional society, it was a functional education that provided the needs of

the family. It helps in producing sound moral children and young men. Igbo traditional education was a normal process of life in the day to day activities.

Although it was criticized by many scholars for being unorganized and unsystematic but the immediate impact this education makes on Igbo children are far more impressive than the institutionalized schools. Therefore the measures employed by the Igbo and Nigerian government to avert the decline in Igbo traditional education shall form part of this study.