Dr Funsho Usman, the Principal of Junior Secondary School (JSS), Dutse Sagwari, Abuja, says the school holds its cultural day to constantly remind students to get abreast of their various cultural diversities.
Usman said this in Abuja on Wednesday at the celebration of the 2024 Cultural Day with the theme titled ‘Nurturing and Celebrating our Cultural Diversity”
He urged students to appreciate the different cultures in order to ensure peaceful co-existence of the country.
According to him, the purpose of marking cultural day is to exercise the good cultural identity of the six geo-political zones of the country.
“There is need to constantly remind the students to get abreast of their various cultural diversities and appreciate other people’s culture.”
The Principal said the day provided an opportunity for students to rediscover their roots and remind them of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage that have been in existence for generations.
According to him, most of these children are born in Abuja and most of them don’t even speak their dialects. So, they need to be reminded of who they are and where they come from.
“They don’t know their language and perhaps they have not even visited their villages but with a programme like this it will help them know their languages.
“It will also make them know how to prepare their local foods and traditional occupation so that when they grow up they will be able to appreciate their culture,” he said.
While commending the Federal Government for the reintroduction of history into the curriculum, Usman said this would go a long way in reminding the students of their origin and the need to respect others culture.
“Some parents call this modernisation but for me, it is not and some homes don’t even speak their languages and that is why the Federal Government is taking a bold step in that regards by reintroducing history in all schools and they have made it compulsory.
“I believe if we know our history, it will help us understand our culture, traditions and languages.
“Our parents must also encourage their children to speak their language to encourage them to understand their traditions and cultures,” he said.
In his remarks, the Director of Quality Assurance, FCT Universal Basic Board, Dr Emmanuel Shuaibu, emphasised the importance of culture, saying that culture has now been enshrined in the school curriculum.
“If our children learn their culture, the crisis we are having in the country today will be reduced to the barest minimum. They will know the culture of other tribes and they can live with each other in harmony.
“As we place emphasis on football, inter-house sports competition, it is necessary to also make a policy for every school to institute cultural day in its yearly activities.
He noted that doing this would help the country to cement its relationships.
Also speaking, the Hausa language teacher of the school, Mrs Halima Mohammed, said that teachers faced a lot of challenges in teaching Hausa language in secondary schools.
Mohammed appealed to the government to recruit more language teachers, noting that these teachers must be deployed to the basic schools so as to help the pupils learn the language from their foundational classes.
A student, Joseph Afolabi, who loved to speak his language fluently but could not, blamed his parent for failing in that regards, saying that knowing how to speak his language would be an additional advantage to him in the future.
Another student, Fatia Taofeek, commended the role of her parent in reshaping her values through her cultural heritage.
“I learnt how to speak Yoruba because my parent encourage me to speak it. it will also helps me in my future. It will help bring out my values and I am very proud of my language,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the day features students beaming in their colourful native attire that showcases cultures and tribes of various students. (NAN)
