HENRISOL ENTERTAINMENTS LTD: Towards a Revival of our Fast Effacing Traditions & Cultural Values
By Tunji Ajayi
In “OUR COPY & PASTE GENERATION OF YOUTHS & Dearth of Future Soyinkas” (Ohio Wesleyan University Press, USA, July 16, 2020)I recalled the relevance of Norman Geschwind’s Dichotic Test to buttress the fact that the human brain is partitioned into left and right hemispheres. Geschwind was an American behavioral neurologist who posited as such. While the right hemisphere processes speech and language, the left hemisphere of our brain processes emotions, actions and reactions, thus impacting on human natural behaviours. The category of humans that acquire the languages spoken around them most easily, are babies. Just like humans acquire language, they also acquire the popular conducts around them easily too. In that piece, I wrote: “Were it possible to confine a newly-born baby in a community of apes for far too long, he would acquire the language and behavioural pattern of monkeys. Conversely, exposures to good, orderly conducts have far-reaching effects on a person’s general behaviour. Succinctly put, the society in which a man is bred has effect on his morality and conducts.”
The above postulation shows that human conducts, and even cultural practices, traditions, mores, norms etc are peculiar to people in a specific geographical location, or around that location. Consequently, the way we speak, dance, behave, dress, relate with others etc., are quite often a reflection of our environment and our identity. It is safe to assert that the language we speak, the dialects, socialization, social lifestyles, greetings etc., eminently specify our cultural identities.
In socio-linguistic foundation of communication, language is seen as “a device for conveying meanings through sounds. It is a system of arbitrary oral symbols by means of which a social group interacts.” That being so, the language spoken by people in a specific geographical space, is one of their cultural identities. In his book: Descriptive Linguistics: An Introduction, Winfred Philipp Lehmann wrote: “Sounds are said to be arbitrary because they have no inherent meaning; to those in the English world dog happen to refer to the animal canis familiaris, but German uses the sounds of Hund and Japanese the sounds of Inu to refer to the same animal. Speaker of every language speaks in sentences and interprets sentences as units.” You can identify a man from Osogbo, or Ilesha, Ibadan, Egbaland, Akure, Ila-Orangun, Eruwa or Ondo Township simply by his peculiar dialect, dressing pattern, his preferred genre of songs, or his behavioral patterns. From the foregoing, our language, habits, mien, kinesics viz paralanguage or gestures, etc. are a mark of our identity. Once the language of a group of people in a particular geographical space is lost due to disuse; demeaned, denigrated, smeared, or discountenanced in favour of other foreign languages, their identities are lost! For example, the pristine beauty of our indigenous Yoruba language is hardly known let alone valued by our modern-day youths who, from kindergarten or primary school ages had been mis-tutored not to speak in their mother tongue otherwise denigrated as “vernacular”. Whoever did so was punished by the teacher! Children thus elevated the English language far and above their mother tongues. Consequently, many never speak them. Our languages are gradually being effaced with grave effect. Thus, in Yoruba parlance, the proverb remains apropos that “Omo t’ó bá so ilé nù, ló s’àpòìyà kó” translated to mean that a son that forgets his homestead merely postpones his calamitous days.
We live in an era where all manners of opprobrious, despicable attitudes and practices are glorified, while our youths and the older people alike revel in unwholesome practices antithetical and repugnant to our hitherto agelong omolúàbí culture and traditions. The youths in the olden days respected the elderly ones. Their words and advice were held in high esteem. School teachers were treated with reverence. People believed so much in hard work to earn their living. Children helped their parents in the farms and other vocations during the holiday period or after school hours. Youths learned useful lessons from messages of the music they listened to, which had effect on their subconscious. They emulated the edifying scenes and stories they watched on the television. They mimed and allowed the messages of the great and didactic poems they were taught in the school to have dignifying effect on their morals.
However, today, things have gone odd and odious! Even primary school students are now in cultism. They bear dangerous charms, threatening and beating their teachers! Thieves and armed robbers rob and kill in broad daylight. Policemen have become targets of unprovoked attack and become victims of banditry and kidnapping. Children and adults alike are raped by the street brigands and urchins. Our youths, while deriding the hitherto culture of hard work, they no longer have interest in scholarly activities. Many are jettisoning reading culture, while chanting “Ká sá ti lówó . . . Mo féé lówó ju Daddy mi lo”. (As long as we have money . . . I want to be richer than my Father). Many youths now engage in all manners of extortions, scamming, illicit practices, killing their colleagues, trading in human parts etc., without respect for law and order, while joining the ignoble Association of Yahoo Boys & Girls with effrontery, riding sleek cars and living ostentatious lifestyles without any noticeable dignifying jobs or worthy vocations. It was reported that many parents, not minding the sudden and ill-gotten wealth of their children, are in the euphoria of their stupendous “wealth” are also joining the ignoble Yahoo-Yahoo Parents’ Association.
Our society seems to be reaping the seed of her dereliction of duties of the past years. Nonetheless, evil thrives when concerned elders and perceptive minds keep silent. A man is what he listens to. Children imitate and replicate what they watch on the television and the social media. Where are our good and didactic music of the past years that taught us good morals? Where are our poems that moralized and impacted positively on our conducts in the olden days? Where are our dignifying and decent dressing habits? Where are our history books that relate the great stories of our heroes and how they lived exemplary and purposeful lifestyles, making them the envy of the rest of the world? If the media has a traditional role of informing, educating and entertaining the society, are the modern-day entertainment programs on the television dignifying enough? Is the information on street and public billboards edifying? Where are our great songs that controlled our emotions and purified our thoughts and actions? Indeed the great Lord Justice Bowen in the celebrated Edgington v Fitzmaurice averred that “the state of a man's mind is as much a fact as the state of his digestion.” Consequently, the state of a man’s mind (mens rea) is as good or as bad as his intention or actions (actus reus). If the society in which a man lives has great impact on his conducts and actions, then our beleaguered and permissive society of “anything goes” must have negatively influenced our youths, the consequences of which we are now seeing causing us grief and untimely deaths.
Perhaps, the realization of the fact that the anomalies can be rectified impelled a foremost but unassuming, reticent and perspicacious philanthropist to take a bold step through his Henrisol Entertainments Ltd., to work on the revival of Nigeria’s effacing hitherto rich cultural values and esteemed traditions. Otunba Olusola Adekanola, FCA, mni, JP, a foremost tax administrator and initiator of the popular Accelerated Revenue Generation Programme (ARGP) which tremendously improved infrastructural provisions and transformed the internally generated revenue of virtually all the states of the Nigerian federation throughout the 90s up to the beginning of the millennium, is deeply concerned about the depleting moral fabrics of the society and the impact of lost cultural values and rich traditions in our society. According to the ace golf buff and promoter of youths development, Nigeria can have a reversal of the ugly trend if we, especially the youths with their impressionable minds, all revisit and watch the great epic, audiovisual works of high value by our veterans in the entertainment world, which taught us morals, good conducts, and decent traditions in the good old days. Otunba Adekanola is poised to feature and showcase decent works in entertainment arts, aimed at revamping and addressing the scourge of social vices and ugly trends in our society. If what we watch and listen to often affects our thinking, then the parents and the old ones alike must adjust their mindset with the “default-setting” knob first, with a view to influencing the youths to compare our glorious past with their despicable present.
Where is our indigenous music, the didactic, non-vapid and non-insipid, informative and meaningful types that made the likes of King Sunny Ade, Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey, Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Admiral Dele Abiodun, Alhaji Ayinla Omowura, etc, household names without them having to copy foreign idiosyncratic mannerisms? Where are the likes of Bongos Ikwue, Sonny Okosuns, Rex Lawson, Christie Essien, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Dan Maraya, Oliver De-Coque, etc who sang indigenous and impactful music devoid of insipid and vapid lyrics and yet are renowned worldwide without mimicking foreign brands, esoteric accent, etc? If, just like Joseph Addison an English essayist says, “music is the greatest good that all mortals know, and all of heavens we have below”, how do our youths play and apply their music today? Does it satisfy the canon of edifying and impactful music capable of correcting the anomalies in the society, or does it worsen our dismal situations.
Fielding questions on “The Roles of Music, Books & Social Media in Reviving our Lost Cultural Values” from the production crew of Henrisol Entertainments recently, the world-renowned cinematographer, ace producer, scholar, dramatist, author and producer of the popular TV soap-opera “Winds Against My Soul” that ricocheted across the entire Nigerian entertainment scene in the 80s, Prof. Laolu Ogunniyi enthused: “we cannot underestimate the strength of the social media nowadays because that is where the world is moving now. But we must be careful by applying it positively and move fast; otherwise the rest of the world will leave us behind.” While discussing on the same topic, the prodigious author and pioneer Director of Programs of the erstwhile Television Service of Oyo State which later metamorphosed into the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State said inter alia: “In those days, those of us who became very interested in the arts grew up seeing our elders doing great things in that area. For example Chief Hubert Ogunde was wonderful in the way he was using theatre arts to represent what was happening in the society then, and till he died that was what he did. So when I was producing him I could recall my youthful respect and appreciation for his artistic genius . . . he was wonderful and he gave me my own recognition. . . take it or leave it, Papa Ogunde was a genius. I don’t know if we may ever have his type again. I picked Professor Wole Soyinka’s “The Lion and the Jewel” for the television screen because that play has so much messages for the young and the old. Duro Ladipo was wonderful and gifted with his ‘Bode Wasinmi’. Up till today, there is a place called Bode Wasinmi in Ibadan where we were using to produce. It was his house.” On why the arts dwindled in spite of modern technology, the dramatist enthused: “These are the type of plays that should have been allowed to grow with the society, and which our youths should have matured into, and which would have served as bedrock of our value system, because all these great talented artistes were upholding our value system and the cultural significance of our existence in their various plays and drama. Unfortunately, everything began to retrogress. And that is why we are here today.”
Talking about Henrisol Entertainments’ bid to support in revamping our lost glory by promoting impactful entertainment arts, the scholar added: “This is why I have immense respect for any organization that is saying it wants to look into remolding and recapturing our value system through the media arts, like my good friends in Henrisol Entertainments. It is something that will uplift the youths and will be a way of reducing the decadent posture of the society.”
In his own contribution, the doyen of theatre arts Alhaji Kareem Adepoju, popularly known as Baba Wande while discussing with Henrisol Entertainments crew in the documentary: “ÌRÍRÍ BABA WANDE: Ìfòròwérò PèlúÒjògbón Òsèré nlá”: emphasized the significance of video films in remolding the society. According to the popular actor who had his tutelage under the great late dramatist, Oyin Adejobi, and who has become a household name in the entertainment arts for 59 years now, “the same social media which has been used to promote illicit plays that have negatively influenced our society and polluted our youthful minds, could still be applied to correct the wrong if our modern-day artistes learn to showcase only plays and conducts that teach moral lessons; using our local circumstances and indigenous examples to teach our youths, and avoid immoral behaviours like sensuous dressings which promote promiscuous lifestyles; adding that fame, deserving honours and wealth could come even without having to engage in illicit practices.”
Our errors of the past can be rectified if we are not pigheadedly impenitent. We can overcome our challenges if we appreciate our follies and are determined to sacrifice and make spiritual and moral atonement. Like the great writer and author, Chinua Achebe wrote in his book: There Was a Country “Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform.” While admonishing the public to watch out for the sizzling audiovisual documentaries on these great entertainment personalities and many others soon to be released on the Youtube channel and other media platforms in a short while, Henrisol Entertainments Ltd. is eminently poised to make positive impacts in promoting artistic works of value, and channel her efforts to the revival of our lost cultural values and great omolúàbí native sense and esteemed culture in the years ahead. May no base of meanest clog ever impede her way towards realizing this noble objective which providence has impelled the organization to work hard and achieve.
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*Tunji Ajayi, writer, author and documentary producer writes from Lagos
*Buy via Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/KING-SUNNY-ADE-LEGEND-Philosophies/dp/B09FSCJX78
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