At Christhill School, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, it was a celebration of Nigeria’s diverse cultures recently, as parents joined their children to celebrate the Cultural Day.
The children, who were dressed in cultural attires, also spoke their native languages of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. Even the minority ethnic groups were not left out as the Fulani, Tiv and Ibibio also displayed the beauty of their cultures.
One of the parents, Mrs Olawaseun Ganiyu from Osun State, said the programme was one of its kinds. “I have four kids in Christhill School. I have one in year nine, one in year seven, one in year four and one in nursery one. Today, we are celebrating our cultures, where we come from, our heritage. The beauty of cultures that is what we are celebrating.”
Mr Ikenechukwu Chukwuma, who has a daughter, Ebele, in the school, said the event “reminded us of where we come from. People without culture don’t know who they are. It is good for this new generation to know about their cultures. Cultural Day helps us to keep the cultures going, passing it from generation to generation. That is why today is very important.”
He said that religion and culture should not clash. “To my own understanding culture has been there before religion.
Culture is the way of life of the people. We should not say because of religion we should forget who we are. “
Mr Olusegun Akani said that he came for the programme because of his niece. “I love everything about the programme. The dancing, the tradition, the drama, it is nice. What Christhill School did today is very nice. It is to our own advantage the language must not die.”
One of the students, Sonto Ohayuba of JSS8, who was a dancer in the Ibo cultural group, said: “Our culture is important because it is a beautiful culture that tells us a lot of things about the Igbo race: Our food and our tradition. If we lose our culture we lose our identity, our respect. Parents should teach their children more about their cultures.”
Also, Elvis Orebuche of JSS 8 said: “We are celebrating our cultures by coming together. Our culture is actually where we come from. That is our tradition.”
We must respect our tradition.”
