Chapter Four
3. Networking
4.52 Are you an entrepreneur?
In Igbo land, various media communications existed before the advent of western media. The media referred to here is the traditional channels of communication which enabled their forefathers, traditional rulers and members of the communities to share and exchange ideas and information.
Traditional communication is akin to village or rural communication where the town crier played a prominent role. Hence, traditional communication or oral media is employed in most rural areas like villages, clans, towns and wards; it is essentially an oral process which depends on the effective use of human auditory system. Similarly, westernization brought modern communication which places emphasis on the use of machines or oral equipment. They used electronic and print media such as telephones, television, cable television, radio, GSM, internet, computer, social media, newspapers and magazines to facilitate information dissemination while the Igbo employed the services of town criers and emissaries to deliver information or message to the people. This method of information dissemination as it is presently in Igboland has been modified with the use of public address system. Apart from information dissemination, they also provided education and entertainment. The elements of the size and heterogeneity of audience, ability of the message, the nature of the communication, the efficacy of media and speed of transmission of message makes modern communication quite different from traditional communication.
Much as modern communication is faster, more efficient and effective, it has delivered a knockout blow on the value system of the Igbo society. Gangsterism, armed robbery, assassination, kidnapping, violence and other related criminal behaviours were introduced to Igbo society via western media. Pornographic films and materials have reduced the people to the level of lower animals. Married and unmarried people now hide under the cloak of civilization to indulge in sexual immorality without regard for the customs and tradition of the people and so
many of them have even joined the pornographic film industry in the West. Many young women have destroyed their lives and career because of this ugly trend. Igbo society whose values about sex hitherto were shaped by traditional religious beliefs and doctrines enshrined in taboos and sanctions now have access to the other side of the coin. Ayantayo and Akintunde (2008) also revealed that the end of 20th century which ushered in globalization has produced certain factors that have affected the religious thinking of Africans about sex. To the westerners, the word „sex‟
is like every other word but for the Igbo, it is a taboo. Beyond the use of foul language, violent films, pornographic pictures and videos are freely uploaded in the various sites of the social media for the consumption of both adults and the underage who practice what they watch afterwards. It is the reason family values are trampled upon.
In his views, Obiakor (2016) observed that social media have created an Igbo society that is swayed by reducing cultural barriers and convergence. It has altered the normality of the traditional Igbo family whereby friendship between opposite sex and having dealings with strangers are seen as an aberration. Social network opened the door for silent immoral acts thereby robbing the parents of the opportunity to reprimand and scold their children. Parents are totally locked out of the social media activities. Parental control as enshrined in Igbo value has vanished as the young ones through social media copy from strangers that which is alien. It has taken away the hours of life reforms in exchange for deviance to parental guidance. It has completely changed the dress code of the Igbo from decent African style of dressing to western style. Among the Igbo, there is clear distinction between female and male outfit. But western culture and their mode of dressing have taken over the sensibility of the Igbo, most especially the youth. Men compete with the womenfolk over the wearing of earrings and the same is applicable to women who derive pleasure in putting on male outfit. More disturbing is the male attitude of pulling down their trousers thereby exposing their inner wear, it is called “sagging”, young women also dress this
way. All these are products of social media where they visit, interact and copy western style which is alien to the Igbo.
Such transparent dresses like tights, leggings, body hug, skimpy skirts, and indecent trousers which expose the private parts of the body are now rampant among married and unmarried women in Igbo society. Moreover, according to Ohaekwusi (2010), being technologically sophisticated has amounted to being technologically dubious as fraudulent syndicates continue to expand their branches worldwide through global network. This advancement in global technology has equally sophisticated the practice of terrorism. It has also increased the level of insincerity and mutual mistrust among people, since one can assume to be in a position, place or situation which he is not while communicating with other people through this sophisticated medium. Although the information systems that permeate the modern world allow for a greater dissemination of information, there remains the danger of dehumanization of that information and the social context that makes the information relevant. This implies that the human aspect of social interaction is often downplayed by the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The more social communication becomes an electronic affair, the more the value of the human agents is eroded.
The difference between physical or live communication and cyber communication or between the physical neighbour and a cyber-neighbour is that a cyber-neighbour is not as reliable as the physical neighbour. Also, the technologies of modern life are ultimately destructive when applied to certain kinds of messages such as religion. For example, one cannot claim to have actively participated in any religious activity like holy mass, through this media because such participation is apparent and superficial. Moreover, it is pertinent to say that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) while playing its connecting role in communication equally creates a big communication gap between individuals. We seem to be unconcerned and indifferent
about the human agents while communicating with this sophisticated medium that seem to unite but tear us apart. It simply means that we are connected but cannot relate.