CULTURAL AND IDENTITY CRISIS AMONGS EBIRA ADOLESCENTS A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Posted by: Dr. Joseph Ozigis Akomodi, New York, USA.

Authored by Dr. O.K. Abdullahi

ABSTRACT
The paper examined the dimension of Cultural and Identity crisis Amongst the
Adolescent in Ebiraland of Kogi State. Causes were traced to the misinterpresentation of the function of Education as an individual path to the
acquisition of status and as a social path to the removal of social inequality.
Solutions were suggested in the realms of cognitive restructuring of the
adolescent, who on the majority are drop-outs; providing free remedial programme at the initial stage, and improving the school conditions that will enhance positive development in the individuals that pass through the school system.

INTRODUCTION
The expansion of educational opportunity since independence in 1960 has been
universally acknowledged in Nigeria. Post primary institutions, especially during the second republic saw the greatest expansion in all parts of the country. The pressure for educational expansion could perhaps be attributed to the rising standard of living and/or the interpretation of the function of education as an individual path to the acquisition of status and as a social path to the removal of social inequality, (Number-Winkler 1992. p. 18). In Ebira land of Kogi State, an enormous expansion of the secondary education has taken place such that in 1979 there were no more than seven (7) post-primary institutions, between 1979 - 1982 there were thirty-seven (37) Post primary institutions, (i.e. over 500% increment) The expansion of the secondary education brought in a higher percentage of the adolescents into the school system. But this expansion has not kept pace, firstly, with the quality of secondary educational facilities, and, secondly with
occupational opportunities. Crisis arose particularly amongst the youths in the transition from secondary to tertiary education, and the crisis was manifested through cultural identity.

Cultural Festivals in Ebiraland:
The Ebiras are well known for their cultural festival activities especially the "Ekuechi", "Echeanne", and "Egbe" festivals, to name but a few. These festivals used to bring the Ebiras from near and far together and the occasion served as avenues for visiting kits and kins. Eminent personalities from other races were invited to witness the festivals. Essentially speaking, the cultural festivals served as leisure for the people and the festivals usually come up during the period of less farm work or in the dry season. The Ebira farmers used to dominate the festival activities. To maintain peace and order, the Local Government Authorities in Ebira land controlled the festivals through issuing permits to the custodians of the masquerader and othermusicians with certain undertakings.

Dating from 10 years back now, the Ebira "adolescents, on majority are drop-outs from
secondary education, began to edge out the farmers from the festival activities. The identification with the cultural festivals brought about changes best described as "cultural and identity crisis" of the adolescents in Ebira land. Crisis in the sense that, what used to be peacefully celebrated for leisure purposes, became a scene of crime." For the past 3 - 4 years now, there was none of these festivals celebrated without the killing of one or more people as a result of crisis amongst the adolescents. The traditionally peaceful nature and tone of these festivals have been completely lost such that the masquerades, which used to be treated as sacred, could now be brought out on any occasion and at any time. Masquerades can now be out for marriage ceremonies, for reasons of personal conflicts in public places, and sometime for undisclosed reasons.

On all these occasions, violence accompanied their activities or "celebrations." The
farmers became so disenchanted with, the festival activities and together with the elders in Ebiraland, they advocated for the banning of all cultural activities in Ebira land. Indeed, for a year or two, the then Kwara State Government in conjunction with all the LGAs in Ebira land, banned all cultural festivals. This action was very well celebrated but being the tradition of the people, the ban was lifted with the passage of time. The lifting of the ban brought about a higher rate of evils or crisis previously unimagined. The crisis reached its peak, March 1992, during the Egbe festival when the Ohinoyi of Ebira land with other eminent personalities had to use all the' available media to appeal to the adolescents in Ebiraland, to maintain peace and order. During that crisis, many people were injured, guns were freely used and death was reported of some people.

Psychological Perspective of the Crisis
Looking at the issue from the point of view of a counselling psychologist, it is argued that the expansion of secondary educational opportunities in Ebira land, as means of self-realisation and individual social path to the removal of social inequality amongst the adolescents has brought about what is best described, as "cultural and identity crisis". The term cultural and identity crisis of the adolescents may mean two things:-
(1) That the present adolescent crisis in Ebira land is a creation of by-product of educational programme particularly at the secondary level.
(2) That the magnitude of the present adolescents crisis as manifested through cultural festivals had been aggravated in the course of ill-informed secondary educational expansion during the second republic.
From psychological perspective, therefore, droup-out rate from secondary education is
one of the major factors responsible for the crisis. This assumption could further be explained by the concept advanced by Ogionwo (1983, p. 363) that droup-out with mobility aspiration, if they lack confidence in their choice of fulfilling their future plans, and have blurred image of the future plans, (i.e. drop-outs with inhibited aspiration either as a result of lacking mental resource or lacking school imputs to withstand the considerable demands made by the secondary education for scholastic achievement), a very strong aggressive tendency towards social mobility may be expected as a result of the adolescents' unique position in the social structure. With reference to Ebira adolescents, the drop outs having lost confidence in the educational programme of the secondary level, they developed insecurity as to the future success of their plans, They found alternatives in cultural festivals or they took shelter by identifying with the cultural festivals. These adolescents hold tenaciously to the cultural festivals and they used the avenues to dispense of their tensions to the point of crisis.

The contradiction between the manifested role in the cultural activities gave the
adolescents inner-psychological satisfaction even when their activities proved highly detrimental to the vast population of the Ebiras. The strong satisfaction derived by the adolescents from cultural festivals could again be explained as an overt manifestation of disrespect for the society which in itself is a by-product of the faulty educational expansion. On the sum aggregate, therefore, the choice of cultural identification by the adolescents is an easy escape from insecurity and frustration, and by this means, false inner psychological satisfaction was
developed.

Another point of focus is the visible deplorable condition of the school environment, which is a factor of school adjustment problems and a strong predictor of adolescents problem behaviour. This in part aggrevated the adolescents cultural and identity crisis in Ebira land which again is a by-product of educational system. The most central figure in the school environment is the teacher, it is true, with particular reference to Ebiraland, teachers live in manners that are detrimental to the school environment. Refusing to perform one's legitimate duty, only to remind the students that “they will fail" serves as motivation to allienation. No matter, the quality of a school environment, where the teachers are not willing, little can be achieved. But faced with milliard of socio-economic problems, the zeal of teachers in serving as models becomes a fake. There is also the problem of lacking occupational opportunities. Educational expansion, may be true, has widened the secondary education opportunities available to the adolescents.

But socio-economic and inherited cultural capital have significantly higher weights in determining occupational opportunities. This implied that money, connections and "good education" count mote in general than a person's own achievement as evidenced by certificates. This undermines the educational planners who viewed educational expansion as a path to the removal of social inequality. Such expansion has brought detrimental effects on the adolescents in Ebiraland andcreated crisis situation.Traditionally speaking, identity is equated with cultural values but the difference in culture and identity as it operates in Ebira land, is the crisis involved. The adolescents identified with culture aggressively or violently and frustrated. This aggravated the adolescents' problems and again is a manifestation of educational system. The traditional form of seeing oneself as the incumbent of social role corresponds to the theoretical frame work of culture and identity. This
identity implies the satisfaction of psychological well-being of the individuals' inner state of being.

But the Ebira adolescents, particularly held in the web, no longer recognise the ills of their deeds, and only use the antecedent of the conflict or crisis as creating individual uniqueness. This process is of course slowly built up by stressing the differences between right and the outcome of
right, between wrong and right and the perceived antecedents between youth and elders. Of significant to the adolescents, therefore, is the constitutive of self: "Whom am I? and What do I want to be? This again implies crisis.
Philosophically, one would have expected that the effects of schooling (from primary to secondary level) on the adolescents would have led to the modernization of the cultural festivals.

Because the changes in any creature will manifest itself in attitude change and will
change the views and opinions held by the individual, especially when we reconstruct these changes as involving a process of learning. But education process preaches freedom, egalitarians, liberty and autonomy of the individual, (i.e. I do what I wish). These concepts are limited by cognitive or affective detachment which an adolescent, especially being tagged as a drop-out, is lacking. Essentially, freedom and other concepts are restricted by reasoning and inclination to conform with the society's norms. It implies that one obeys the norm because he/she .thinks it right. The issue here is the justification of the validity of the norm. The decision
of the justification of the norm could be a factor of "Love". I obey the norm because I "love" to identify with the culture, and this related to the integrity and subjectivity of the individual.

The acquisition of this love is, therefore, autonomous. The intricacies of such autonomy played off the integrity of the Ebira adolescents because of their internal conflicts resulting from by-product of wrongful expansion of educational opportunities. The mass circulation of the low concept of the drop-outs' personality characteristics, had deprived them of any rational feelings and integrity. Towards this goal, crisis arose because, the adolescents, called drop-outs, perceived the elders as being non-challant towards their course, This' is similar to what Elster
(1987) expressed as conditions that are not necessarily produced Intentionally since they only arise as accompanying phenomena of actions undertaken for different purpose.

The issue, therefore, is that the mode and dimension of cultural and identity crisis in Ebira land amongst the adolescents, is a manifestation of faulty expansion of educational opportunities at the secondary level. Unfortunately, instead of the elders coming in dynamically at the initial stage, the elders wished to be neutral and this neutrality destroyed the incentive confidence and respect held by the adolescents of the elders. The LGAs being helpless in providing job opportunities for the system labelled drop-outs, and apparently for political reasons, lost control of the cultural festivals in the hands of adolescents "to do what they wish". The farmers for good reason chose to abstain from the cultural festivals because the authorities had decided to grant autonomy to the adolescents involved in the cultural festivals.

The false cognitive conclusion and psychological inner-satisfaction reached by the
adolescents through these processes, are the functions of the specific content and mode of the cultural and identity crisis in Ebira land. The adolescents introduced crisis or "alien culture" in the cultural festivals because it makes them appear unique. The kernel of the truth, therefore, is the intellectual fallacy of the then administrators claim that the expansion of educational opportunities, at the secondary level in Ebira land could be a function of an individual path to the
acquisition of status and as a social path to the removal of social inequality.

SUGGESTIONS
Based on the above psychological perspective of the cultural and identity crisis amongst the youths, the writer suggests the following:-
(a) That the services of counselling psychologists, sociologists, and school counsellors are required to assist the adolescents in cognitive restructuring.
(b) There is an urgent need to improving the school environment even at the primary level and with due emphasis on improving teachers' conditions of service.
(c) Remedial programme as oppose to vocational education may not as of now command the same prestige as academic education especially as the national policy preaches "equality of educational opportunities"
(d) Over and above these, there is need to reorganise the present mode oparandis of the cultural festivals in Ebira land particularly the activities of the day time masquerades.

CONCLUSION
Regardless the magnetite of the cultural and identify crisis amongst the adolescents, in Ebira land, the writer is of the humble opinion that the youths, if efficiently managed or guided, their talent could be a great asset in the national development.

REFERENCES
Elster, J. (1987). Subversion der rationalital. Franfurt: New York.
Nunner-Winklers, G. (1992). Adolescence and Identity as an educational problem. A Biannual collection of Recent Germany contributions to the Field of Education Research. 44. 18-34.
Ogionwo, W. (1983). Social Psychological affecting high school drop-out. West African Journal of Education. 357-366.