GNS 201: Nigerian People and Culture

Flashcards for reviewing key concepts in Nigerian People and Culture (GNS 201)

Definition of Culture

That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.

Qualities of Culture

Learned, Transmitted, Social, Ideological, Satisfying, Adaptive, Integrative, Dynamic, Universal

Functions of Culture

To define situations, explain myths, define attitudes/values/norms/goals, spell behavior patterns, mold individual behaviors, and define ways of life.

Culture Shock

Anxiety, loneliness, and confusion when arriving in a new country or society.

Culture Diffusion

Transmission and assimilation of culture traits from one culture to another.

Culture Lag

Inconsistencies within a cultural system due to differences in the rate at which different cultural elements change.

Subculture

A distinctive culture shared by a group within a society.

Number of Languages in Nigeria

521

Official Language of Nigeria

English

Predominant Religions in Nigeria

Christianity, Islam, and Native Religions

Nigerian Nuclear Family

Father, mother (or wives), and children.

Nigerian Extended Family

All relatives working together as a unit.

Nigerian Social Structure

Hierarchical; age and position earn respect

Common Nigerian Greeting

Handshake with a warm, welcoming smile.

Communication Style in Southwest Nigeria (Yoruba)

Proverbs, sayings, and songs to enrich meaning.

Communication Style in Southern Nigeria

Direct, louder tone, emotional excitement.

Ethics

The principle of right or good conduct.

Morality

A set of social rules and standards that guide conduct.

Normative Ethics

To discover or construct a consistent system of rules valid for all mankind.

Analytic Ethics or Meta-Ethics

To analyze the meanings of terms used in moral discourse.

Discipline

Training expected to produce a specified character or behavior.

Moral Rules

Universal rules designed to override self-interest.

Essential Elements of Individual Morality

Honesty, good faith, and loyalty.

Principle of Utility

Greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness for all affected.

Essential Elements of Social Morality

Social Justice, Individual Rights, Natural Rights, Equality, and General Welfare.

Norms

Guidelines societies live by through laws, rules and regulations.

Values

What people consider important, material or non-material.

Cultural Universals

Specific values, norms, and beliefs found in all cultures.

Beliefs

Shared ideas about how a society operates.

Broad abstract, Shared Standards of Value

Desirable and worthy of respect and emulation

Folkways

Approved standards of behavior passed down through generations.

Mores

Norms covering moral and ethical behavior.

Laws

Formally adopted norms governing behavior essential to group survival.

Values (Societal/Cultural)

Central beliefs providing standards by which norms are judged.

Rituals

Ceremonies reinforcing unity and helping individuals through life transitions.

Re-orientation

Call for re-awakening, rejuvenation, newer skills, and better social standards.

Morality

Abstract means of developing a sense of justice for social solidarity.

Values (Ethics)

The acceptable code of behavior in a society.

Development

Multi-dimensional involving positive change across all areas of life.

Moral Problems Plaguing Nigeria

Crime, violence, corruption, perversion of justice, cultism, drug abuse.

Causes of Moral Problems in Nigeria

Breakdown of family, materialism, mental set.

Moral Values in Religion

Respect for elders authority,truthfulness/honesty, impartiality, loyalty/patriotism, justice

Moral Code/Principle

A principle to produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness

African Religion

Indigenous Religion of Africans, passed down from generation to generation

African Belief in God

Names like Olodumare, Osanobua, Chineke, Tamunoemi, and more.

African Belief in Divinities and Spirits

Divine beings serving as intermediaries between God and man.

African Belief in Ancestor Cults

Belief in continued existence of departed family members or hero’s.

African Belief in Magic and Medicine

Contagious and Homeopathy magic used for good or bad, medicines are used.

African Rites of Passage

Rites Connected with Transition from one life phase to another

Modern African Religion

New challenges include culture influences.

Nigeria Cultures

The Nigerian State’s Original Custom and Arts

Arts defined

A systematic application of knowledge or skills covering literature, visual and performance

Nigerian cultures

Human product that covers a wide variety of traits of humans as a whole.

Pre-colonial Arts to pass on

Family occupied with traditional Arts and craft to pass on

Igbo Work of old

(a previously unsuspected brilliance of Igbo Bronze Age completely different from those of the Ife and Benin both in style and metallic content

Nok Found Village

In 1936, a small terracotta head of monkey in a site that covers areas of about 300 miles long and 100 miles stretching from Kastina Ala (Benue Stale) to Kagara (Kaduna State).

Nigeria Attempt

An attempt to fulfill the constitutional requirement to promote unity, political, e economic.

Governments desire for economic independence and self-reliance

National economic independence and self-reliance. So, most of the SOEs established then were to operate as "quasi commercial organisations”

Policies that the government put for economic self-reliance

These includes: The Operation Feed the Nation and the Green Revolution programmes,

Nigeria with their own institutions of culture

It is the ability to think and act without any help or assistance

The growing phenomenon of what has to do with student

Cybercrime is a growing phenomenon though not necessarily a new one

Attitude Definition

Readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way.

Behaviour of Negatives attitude

Irritable from the start, moody can can change how others fuel and a negative atire.