The Principal of Day Secondary School, Independence Layout, Enugu, Mrs. Kate Ugwuoti and her Management Staff were full of praises for National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), when they received in audience staff of NICO Enugu State Office, led by the State Coordinator, Mr. Nwajagu Nnaemeka.
Mrs. Ugwuoti identified religious fanaticism and lack of adequate support for cultural workers as two major factors militating against the progress of cultural administration.
On the other hand, the Vice Principal (Academics), Mr. Dennis Nnaji, pointed out a dangerous trend where people were giving their children foreign names to the detriment of the indigenous culture, noting that this was sheer bastardisation of the meaning and identity of our culture.
Also speaking, the Vice Principal (General Duties), Mrs. Tina Aniagolu, observed that one aspect fast eroding in our life style is food culture, stressing: “Our people have been dis-oriented and prefer eating synthetic foods and chemicalized drinks instead of our local foods, which have negative effects in our life expectancy.”
She maintained that our local foods are medicinal, which made our forefathers to live longer, and enjoined NICO to continue to support cultural festivals and arts.
Earlier in his speech, the NICO Enugu State Coordinator, Mr. Nwajagu Nnaemeka, had briefed the management of the school on the Institute’s desire to work with them to realize its mandate, especially in the formation of Cultural Clubs and the long vacation Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP).
He traced the root cause of the moral decadence in the society to the neglect of our cherished cultural values and norms, hence, the need to “catch them young” to reverse the trend through NICO Cultural Clubs in Schools.
Kingsley Ngoka
Enugu State Office