The Och’Idoma, His Royal Majesty Agabaidu Elaigwu Odogbo, has warned against growing cultural shame and identity avoidance among the Idoma people, calling for a deliberate revival of language, values and traditions to safeguard the heritage of the nation.
The royal father issued the warning while delivering an address at the Idoma Cultural Day celebration, held in collaboration with the Idoma International Carnival in Otukpo on Wednesday.
The monarch expressed concern that many young Idoma people are distancing themselves from their roots in pursuit of misplaced validation.
According to him, culture begins to die when a people become ashamed of their language, accent and traditional practices.
“Culture dies when its people apologise for it,” the Och’Idoma declared.
“We must never be ashamed of our culture or our accent. Our accent is our identity, and we should be able to speak our language and sing our songs anywhere we find ourselves.”
