TIED TO THE CHAINS OF WESTERNIZATION

By Mohamed Omar
Before I say anything I must express my gratitude to my brother Badrudeen Shareef who was generous to afford me some space on his blog to express my opinion. Were it not by God’s grace and then him, probably you wouldn’t be reading this. It’s also worth noting that this is my first piece on this blog.

After this brief introduction let me turn you to what I want to say. As Africans, We seem to be tied to some Western strings. Almost everything in our lives is dictated by the ways of the West. We seem to be taking their life as the marking scheme for our own; like parrots we imitate everything without understanding. Some  of us are now becoming effective tools with which African culture is being supplanted.We are forsaking what is African in the pursuit of `modernism’. This same modernism could be taking us back to the period of ignorance, if studied critically.

Our choice of wardrobe, for instance has been dictated to us.You will come across men and women, especially women dressed almost nude. My goodness! Have you seen them dressed like extra-terrestrial beings.Our dressing code[Western code you may say] offends decency and common sense.In fact one could be forgiven for saying common sense is a privilege enjoyed by a dismal number of Africans and is therefore  not common. Our minds have memorized this Western thing up to a level that even at temperatures of 40° C you could see someone wearing some kind of jacket in the name of dressing official.

Our good African women have not been left behind too.They put on wigs,clips on hairs,fake nails,fake eyelashes,stenciled eyebrows…You see a woman older than my grandma perhaps with fake hair. Where have the kinky (African Trademark) and grey hair gone? Isn’t remaining natural beautiful? We hide under the common notion of “it” being fashionable. When has backwardness become fashionable? I wonder

Men also seem to be in a competition (I don’t know with whom). Old men want to have colored hair too. How do they feel having such a thing on their head? Enjoyable may be. That grey hair should be a sign of wisdom and should not be faked just to make one look younger. Why should one want to hide their age? Living long is a blessing and should be celebrated. Remember there are others who aren’t blessed to live as long as you have done.

Our accent hasn’t been left behind too. It has been corrupted just to fit in the western ways. You would see them speak through their noses in a futile attempt to be an American or British .Interesting to note these folks even try to improve upon this foreign accent in order to be more westernized. Jokingly, I had someone pose if staying in the western world for a single week can alter someone’s accent, why don’t those who leave for places like India return with the accent of the natives?

Respect for the elders is eroding too. Today is the international day for the elderly. Every day should be.  Elders in the Africa that you and I know were respected and regarded as the community’s emblem. They were the source of wisdom. They no longer enjoy their deserved position in the society. Where are we headed to?

One of the excuses we give for our imitation of others is the pursuit of change. But Good Lord, change should lead us to a more progressive and better life. It should not lead to the killing of the African values. If it does so it is worth dumping into the darkness of our beautiful oceans.

In conclusion, we seem to have the mentality that everything African is bad and everything western has been endorsed by the angels. This needs to change. No culture on earth is perfect. Both the African and western cultures have their weak points. Our challenge should be finding a balance between the two, not worshiping one and despising the other

It is appalling to say the least seeing Africans demean their culture. Wouldn’t it be nice if we kept everything African and may be handpick the good parts of other people’s culture? Rant over

The views expressed here are those of the author.

Mohamed Omar is an Information Technology student at The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture And Technology. He is an aspiring writer and a future Daee inshaalah (Caller to the way of Allah). He is also a young entrepreneur. 

Email: moherze@hotmail.com