The Ondo State coordinator, National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Mrs. Victoria Nnenna Ani, has challenged youths to serve as agents of positive change towards revitalising the cultural values of the country.
Ani made the call when she declared open the Cultural Carnival for 2023 Batch ‘C’ (Stream II) orientation course which served as the last in the series for the current year.
Ani who is equally a Cultural Ambassador from Enugu State and traditional title holder of Odibeze said that Nigerian youths should stop playing the Ostrich when it comes to identifying with the nation’s cultural heritage.
“It is most unfortunate and disheartening that the generation that we are planning to bequeath our heritage to are showing little interest and identifying with what emanates from foreign land. This is not good enough and playing Ostrich when you should team up with other indigenes and natives to promote what we hold dear and precious.
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“As you prepare to make your most-sought services available at your places of primary assignment and host communities, let them know that you cherish our culture by promoting the indigenous language as well as adorning our locally made fabrics. If those who are coming into our country are promoting their cultures and exporting same into our land, then we should be wise to give our heritage an identity and sustain it,” she opined.
The Camp Director, Mrs. Martha Iziengbe Ihenyen, declared that the corps members should be proud to showcase to the world their cherished culture and language, saying that anyone who relegated his or her culture could be likened to a stranger in his or her own home.
“My dear Gentlemen Corps Members, you are resplendent in your various attires and I want to charge you to dedicate at least a day for a start that you will be putting on locally made fabrics to your places of primary assignment, religious and social circles as well as during festive season like the one which is fast approaching. Let us promote what our forebears bequeathed to us so that when we are no longer on the scene, they would be praying for us for not allowing our culture to go into extinction”.
In promotion of native attires, the management directed that corps members should adorn native attires brought from home or put on white on khaki trouser for those who did not have.
At the end of the culturally rich and captivating colourful event, number seven platoon which showcased Igbo culture clinched the first position after beating number three platoon that displayed Ijaw culture to second position while third position went to number two platoon with Tiv culture.
