Cyril Obioha decries the attitude of today’s youths.
2 min read
The Ezekwesiri 1 of Akaland, Agunaechemba 1 of Ibele and Agugoeshi 11 of Akahland, Chief Cyril Nwokorom Obioha, a native of Okwudor Ibele Autonomous Community in Njaba LGA has raised a serious alarm on how Igbo culture, tradition, respect for elders and the society, are being totally suppressed by the Igbo people themselves and at the same time, replaced by alien cultures and criminal quest to get rich overnight. The octogenarian disclosed this to Umuaka Times last week when a team of Umuaka Times reporters called on him early last week. Chief Obioha who was visibly angry over the ugly social developments of today, especially within the Umuaka locality and environs lamented that Umuaka Municipal Council is taking the lead in this abrasion. He specifically singled out careless marriages of today by the careless youths as a major cause of the problem.
According to him, “the Okwudor people in Ibele were the first settlers in Ibele followed by Oru Ibele and Umuduruodo respectively. From that early time till today, we the Ibele people and other towns and villages across Igboland had the traditional habit of carrying out pre-marriage investigations which include a lot of asking questions to determine if the two families who want to engage their children in the marriage institution are either related or of good behaviour. But today what do we see? That investigative tradition is completely dead and buried. The result is what we are seeing today from the youths.”
The Umuaka Times reporter demanded from Chief Obioha if the children of today should be blamed for this unhealthy social developments or their parents. He exonerated some of the parents of today, citing an Igbo proverb which says, “seeing and refusing to talk is the fault of the parents while hearing and refusing to change is the fault of the children. Many parents of today have been speaking for the past decades and the children refused to listen.”
Asked to explain the type of punishment stubborn children faced anytime they disobeyed their parents in his days as a youth, he told Umuaka Times that such children were not given food and during Christmas, Easter and Oghu festivals, their parents would not buy them new cloths. For the fear of that, most of them behaved properly.
The solution to these highly disturbing social maladies by the youths according to Chief Obioha still remains that parents should continue to talk and pray to God for serious spiritual interventions.
