Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has taken its campaign for the promotion of Igbo language and culture to women’s meetings in communities across Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dunukofia Chapter, Chief Uchenna Nwoye, led other executive members of the organisation on the campaign to sensitise women of Umudioka community during this year’s August meeting.
The August meeting is an annual gathering across Igboland where women, both at home and in the diaspora, return to meet and deliberate on issues of welfare, family and others.
Nwoye, who addressed the Umudioka women, spoke to them about the need to promote Igbo culture.
He said: “Our culture and our language are dying, and that is because we are already neglecting what we have.”
“Our culture is our identity, so is our language. We want to charge you to start early in communicating with your children in our language. Teach them our culture, our dressing and our food too.”
The state woman leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mrs Joy Onyekwere, who also addressed the women, lamented that children born in Igboland do not know how to speak the Igbo language, saying that such a trend portends danger for the family.
“What that means is that you cannot communicate secretly with your children or even pass a message to them when they are in danger without strangers knowing.
“How do you tell your child to run for his life when he is in danger without those after him knowing?
“We came to you with a message about our dying culture, and we want you to steer your children back to our culture.
“We came to ask you to encourage your children to embrace their language. We need to embrace our language and culture the way other ethnic groups do.
“We want to beg you to start teaching your children how to speak Igbo because that is what defines who they are and where they come from. I was born and raised in Lagos, but my parents always spoke Igbo to us. But today, we have children who were born here in Anambra who cannot speak their language. It is painful.”
Earlier, the traditional ruler of Ifitedunu community, Igwe Emeka Ilouno, who is also a medical doctor, harped on the need to feed children natural and organic food, insisting that some of the junk food women feed their children is responsible for their poor performance in school.
“You cannot be feeding your children with noodles and expect that they will do well in school. It can’t happen.
“I’m talking to you as a medical doctor, and I say that feeding your children with noodles and other such foods limits the capacity of their brains. Let us go back to our natural food,” he advised.
Ohanaeze takes campaign for Igbo culture, language to women’s meeting