Photo: The conversation.com
Technology is a “cultural information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires” (Nolan and Lenski, 2006:37). Africa is witnessing the effects of western technology with its occupying blessings and curses. The reality is that Africa lags behind in accelerating appropriate indigenous scientific knowledge to solve their problems (needs).
Therefore, they depend on western technology. These dependency syndromes have an enormous challenge on African cultural values. Some of these western technologies (devices) are not congenial to African context and have rather helped to erode (reduce) African cultural values to zero mark. Ahule (2010:6) captures this picture more vividly thus: Africa and indeed Nigerian value system have metamorphosed from its collective orientation to take on a western form. Rather than taking on African form, values congruent with western society have come to dominate the African way of life, and rather than solidly the African, it degenerate him.
In the traditional African society today, children are losing the ability to play properly because of the influx of western technological devices like toys and computer games. In many higher institutions across Africa, indecent dressing has become the emblem of modernity. African society is now grappling with many behavioral problems of dishonesty, drug abuse, assault, insult, gansterism, violent demonstrations, vandalism, examination malpractices, robbery and secret cult activities (Nnachi, 2003).
Abanyam, Noah Lumun.
Department of Sociology University of Mkar, Mkar, Benue State-Nigeria
No comments:
Post a Comment