In Nigeria, elders are not just old people; they are the preservation of certain cultures and heritage. Through their stories, we get to relive a ton of historical events that took place in the past before we were born. Losing them is like losing a whole chapter in an interesting storybook. Way before there were libraries or books, these elders were the ones responsible for passing down the stories, culture, tradition, and the ways of doing things to the next generation. Not everything about our culture and heritage is well documented, but at least there are some, and the ones available may not tell the full story, or at least they might be from the lens of another person. In Nigeria, it is well regarded that what the elders see while sitting requires the children to see on their feet or at least on a stool.
Elders were not just there for the morals but also to teach the young ones how to behave and respond in a given situation. They can achieve this through their stories that center on morals, and sometimes the negative part of not doing things the right way. I remember some stories that usually involve the animal tortoise with his crafty means of getting ahead, which always end badly for him in the end. It is like trying to outsmart the next person, but only for it to blow up in your face. They even taught about certain rituals and why they are important for their given reason. Things like this cannot be well written compared to the way an elder would explain or teach it. In certain crises or issues, elders were summoned as judges for conflict resolution. This and more contribute to the reason why it is not only a sign of respect to be obedient to one's elders, but also a form of cultural survival.
Let's go down to the aspect of traditional marriages. When one wants to get married, the elders are the ones responsible for the negotiation of the bride price and present the list of things that need to be gotten. They even get their specific section in certain events. Like a traditional marriage ceremony, you get to see them seated in their section, waiting for the activities of the day to take place, for the bride to come out, so we can do the wine carrying. Let her people meet the man's people. These people are usually elders serving as representatives from their respective sides.
The exciting part for me is the fact that modern days have taken over a lot of the roles that used to be played by these elders. For starters, you can see nobody sits in a gathering to listen to stories from an elderly person. Infact do we still have those periods where everybody sat down as a family to watch superstory or Papa Ajasco? Now you can easily stream what you want to watch, and everybody in the household has their various device that can be used to stream whatever they want to watch at any time, so there is no need for a family gathering to watch a particular show at a given time. Things are changing, but what gets me is when our cultural heritage vanishes at the same time. A child needs to know their root inorder to appreciate what was given up for them to be where they are now.
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