ALAAFIN LAMENTS 'COLONISATION' OF AFRICAN YOUTHS

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, has lamented the rate at which African youths are being lost to Western culture.

He has, therefore, urged true sons and daughters of Africa to rise to their responsibility of returning the race to its lost glory.

A statement from his palace made available to our correspondent in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Tuesday, quoted the traditional ruler as speaking at the foundation laying and fund-raiser of the Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III Centre for African Heritage and International Studies at the Babcock University, Ilisan Remo, Ogun State.

The monarch was said to have expressed dismay at the rate at which technological advancement and global civilisation had adversely affected the culture and customs of Nigerians and Africans in general.

He regretted that many of the African youths 'have been mentally, physically and emotionally colonised.'

He said, 'African children are now lost to western culture; they are caught in between being Africans and being Oyinbos; but tragically, they belong to none.

'At a time when many of the Africans in the Diaspora are tracing their roots back to Africa, appreciating the enormous richness of the African culture, the globalisation of the world brought about by modern technology has beclouded a lot of our children, who now prefer to see themselves in white colour, both in their deed and appearance.

'Unfortunately, they could not decipher the point of demarcation between the good and bad aspects of Western culture.'

The university's Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Makinde, was also quoted as saying that Africans must be mindful of the kind of world they wanted to bequeath to their children because they would be liable.

He said, 'Africans should arise and conceive the kind of world we want to pass on to our children because they will hold us accountable for what we do or fail to do.'