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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND FOLKLORE IN 

TRADITIONAL IGBO SOCIETY: PROSPECTS CHALLENGES AND 

SOLUTIONS. 

 

Nnamdi Onuora-Oguno (Ph.D)  

And  

Alvan-Ikoku Nwamara (Ph.D)  

Department of Music, 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria 

 

 

Abstract 

Sustainable development is an approach to economic planning that 

attempts to foster economic growth while preserving the quality of 

the environment for future generations. Despite its enormous 

popularity in the last two decades of the 20th century, the concept of 

sustainable development proved difficult to apply in many cases, 

primarily because the results of long-term sustainability analyses 

depend on the particular resources focused upon.  Since the Earth 

Summit of 1992 sustainable development has been central to a 

multitude of environmental studies.  Folklore comprises the sum total 

of traditionally derived and orally or imitatively transmitted 

literature, material culture, and custom of subcultures. In popular 

usage, the term folklore is sometimes restricted to the oral literature 

tradition.  Folklore culture was affected greatly by the rise of 

industrial society and of cities, as well as by nationalist movements 

beginning in the 19th century. Both the threat to folklore culture and 

the rise of nationalism spurred revival and preservation movements in 

which learned musicians, poets, and scholars provided leadership. This 

paper investigates the uses of oral literature in advancing sustainable 

development among the Igbo‟s of South Eastern Nigeria. The 

challenges and solutions were also analyzed and solutions proffered. 

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Definition of Concepts 

The concept of development still remains the most controversial and 

easily manipulated term both in the academia and political arena. 

People take the idea of development for granted and as something 

that can be realized so long as there is a goodwill and capacity to do 

so. It is also a politically and ideologically driven concept and practise 

since its inception as a catchy concept in the discourse of 

practitioners and intellectuals in the continuum where underdeveloped, 

less-developed, developing and developed are the scales 0f 

measurement. In addition to the inherent complexities that we have 

with the concept of „development‟, making a better sense out of it in 

terms of its „sustainability‟ will certainly need another serious 

examination.  Sustainable development is the development that meets 

the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future 

generations to meet their own needs. This definition has been used as 

benchmark in efforts to make it more comprehensive and 

accommodative from the socio- economic, political and environmental 

perspectives. If sustainable development aims at the sustainable use 

of natural resources of the earth and the protection of the 

environment on which natural resources on which nature and human 

life as well as social and economic development depend and which 

seeks to realize the right of all human beings to an adequate living 

standard on the basis of their active, free and meaningful 

participation in development and in the fair distribution of benefits 

resulting there from, with due regard to the needs and interest of 

future generations‟, folklore must be seriously considered in a discuss 

as this because the concept of development has serious impacts on 

the environment with serious consequences for the depletion of the 

resources that provide for and threatening the very essence of  

human survival and continuity (Mohammed, 2011). 

 

Folklore comprises of story songs (akuko ifo) proverbs (ilu) music 

(egwu) etc. Folklore can be used for entertainment and to educate a 

Nnamdi Onuora-Oguno and Alvan-Ikoku Nwamara 



 
 

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community.  It structures people morals, values and beliefs.  Most 

folktales make use of animals and birds for their major character.  

There is folklore on the tortoise and dog over the argument” shall man 

die or live forever”? God the creator decided that Tortoise and Dog 

had to run a race.  God who loves and favoured man decided to give 

man the fleet footed dog for human life and tortoise for death.  

During the race the dog saw a delicacy in the bush and went for it 

believing that he can always beat the tortoise because of his slow 

pace.  At the end, the tortoise won the race.  God then ruled that man 

should not live forever. The above tale illustrates why human begin 

should not live forever. According to Okafor, 

The Igbos‟ have a great fondness for fairy tale.  They have a 

big stock of legends and folklore… the Igbo is a good story 

teller with a faculty of putting reality into fables. He uses as 

illustrations animal and birds in such a way they seem to be 

endowed with human powers. 

 

Folklore served the society in the attainment of its objectives. Epics 

can be used as illustrations for lessons and lectures in schools and 

universities. The present generation can learn a lot about past life and 

values of his community by listening to and taking part in folklore. 

Through folklore proverbs could be taught and better appreciated in 

schools because examples are drawn from the Child‟s immediate 

environment.  

 Okafor (1991) collaborated with the above mentioned view: 

 Through song texts, a person learned moral codes of his land. 

He also learned about his own language, the things his people 

lived by, and how the society worked. All these were learned 

through music that ranged from simple folk tunes to highly 

specialized ritual music, including chants, incantations and 

minstrelsy.  

 
 

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Environmental Degradation and Cultural Education 

We had earlier defined sustainable development as an approach to 

economic planning that attempts to foster economic growth while 

preserving the quality of the environment for future generations. We 

had also pointed out that development in our society has serious 

environmental effect due to deforestation, industrialization, the 

implosion of time and space- globalization. The rural setting in our 

society that encouraged traditional education is gradually being 

eroded. Television, telephone and information communication 

technology (ICT) has taken over.  In music for instance, the 

instrumental resources of a community were drawn from its 

environment but today, the social setting is quite different. 

Educational purposes are summed up in three dimensions; preparing 

students for jobs, preparing them to be citizens, and teaching them to 

be human beings who can enjoy the deeper forms of beauty. The three 

complement each other. The concept of “development” needs a 

thorough reflection and review before the concept of „sustainability‟ 

is attached to it. In educating a child, we make use of things close to 

the nature of the subject.  In music, for instance, in teaching of the 

letters, alphabets can easily be committed to memory through rhymes. 

This makes the learning of alphabets fun for young children. The 

informal system of education starts from home. The home is the 

child‟s world; it either mars the child‟s life or leads to success; it 

provides him with the necessary equipment to fit him for his proper 

place in the society and if guided properly, for its future career, the 

child is sure to be successful, but if the home fails in its duty, then 

the future of the child is damaged. 

 

 

Challenges and Solutions 

Sustainable development in the creative arts varies greatly based on 

the child's experiences with art, music, dance, and theater. The public 

view the creative art as lovely but not essential. Yet against this 

Nnamdi Onuora-Oguno and Alvan-Ikoku Nwamara 



 
 

118 

backdrop, a new picture is emerging. Comprehensive, innovative arts 

initiatives are taking root in a growing number of schools. Many of 

these models are based on new findings in brain research and 

cognitive development, and they embrace a variety of approaches: 

using the folklore as a learning tool. Although most of these initiatives 

are in the early stages, some are beginning to rack up impressive 

results. There's lots of evidence that children immersed in the 

creative arts do better on their academic tests. Education policies 

almost universally recognize the value of arts. Education in Nigeria is 

fraught with tendencies of the Western style of education in scope 

and content. Writing on the colonial system of education, (Okafor) 

observed that: 

It was an education system that alienated the people from 

their culture and value system. The colonial system of 

education had limited social objectives. The aim here was to 

produce at best, middle- level manpower for the colonial civil 

service. The society had no part in designing it nor, indeed, 

in implementing it but had to co-operate in it. It was not 

designed to have impact on the masses. It was a rule or 

system laid down by the colonial master for his own good. 

The Christian missionary and colonial educational systems 

had similar short comings as well as it was designed to serve 

the interest of its propagators and not the people it was 

designed for. 

 

Societies, traditional or modern usually design their educational 

systems to meet their needs and satisfy their aspirations. 

Functionalism, self-reliance, social and political participation and 

stability were the ultimate outcomes and were predicated on industry, 

resourcefulness, creativity and obedience to God and society. 

Education has been portrayed by many sociologists and educationists 

to be an experience which borders on the peoples‟ culture and which 

through learning processes prepares an individual for adult life in his 

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particular society. Indigenous education could therefore be 

interpreted to mean that type of education that is natural or native to 

a place or that could be found within a group (Agu).   Okon and 

Anderson, described traditional education as: Tribal or community 
based education. Knowledge embedded in folklore could be used as a 

tool of social control through ridicule, sympathy and in energizing 

people into greater performances. There are chants, dirges and 

poetry to challenge the retentive ability of a child and to impart.  

Other methods of learning include recitation, games, memorization, 

role-playing and story-telling especially in literary matters. The 

intellectual ability and competence of the child is challenged through 

solving riddles, proverbs and storytelling.  He learns language 

manipulation, explores the mysteries embedded in words and 

statements and learns the rationale behind certain social practises 

and natural occurrences. The Igbo believes that whoever expects a 

proverb to be interpreted to him acknowledges that he is daft and 

empty (the bride-price paid on the mother is wasted). The child is 

expected to draw the meaning of the proverb from the context of the 

discussion.  Highly intelligent and attentive children easily do this and 

even employ a few.  It is mark of successful interaction with elders. 

The child learnt the use of proverbs as an art in diplomacy. Children 

imitate adults a great deal in role playing. In the words of Odimegwu, 

“Education in the traditional Igbo society was designed in accordance 

with the people‟s world view, their surroundings and immediate 

circumstances and facilities that were needed for effective co-

existence and maintenance of society”.  

Upholding the view above, Agu wrote: 

 Participation in children‟s games and stories enable him to 

learn to sing in the style of his culture just as he learns to 

speak its languages. Sometimes, the mothers even dance 

with their children on their backs until the children are old 

enough to take part in the dancing themselves. By the time 

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120 

the child reaches adolescent age, he may have learnt to 

play on toy instruments in adult ensemble.   

 

In Igboland, cultural transmission starts from the cradle, Emeka in 

(Agu, 2006) concurred: 

 Children grow up and play together; improving their 

language and number skills by running errands, playing 

musical and rhythmic games, listening to and participating 

in the telling of folk tales and in their recitation of 

rhymes.  

 

Fafunwa, observed that education in the traditional African society:  

Was an integral experience whose aim, content, methods and 

organization were intricately interwoven; they were not divided into 

separate compartment as in Western system of education. In essence, 

traditional education was characteristically integral in experience, and 

very functional in purpose. The individual became fully integrated into 

his society, observing the societal laws and respecting the demands of 

his society. Through folklore, the child was taught to respect his 

elders and those in authority.  

 

 

Conclusion 

The establishment of skill acquisition centres in Igboland should be 

encouraged. Skill acquisition centres should also be established in 

educational institutions, and notable minstrels should be encouraged 

to be part of the teaching process. The curriculum, right from the 

primary school, should make folk or traditional music the foundation 

of music education. Numerical increases in school enrollments, though 

occasionally spectacular, fail to correspond to the legitimate 

aspirations of the people or even, more modestly, to the initial 

objectives fixed by the governments themselves. There has also been 

concern about the financial difficulties in the management of 

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educational institutions. Folklore thrives in oral tradition and 

urbanization and industrialization has greatly affected the traditional 

setting that supported the implementation of folklore in the 

traditional Igbo society. Egwu-Onwa–moonlight play has almost gone 

into extinction. The educational curriculum left by the colonial 

masters was unsuitable for sustainable development. There should be 

a liaison between educational policy makers and the planners of 

economic and social development. Education in cultural perspective 

must be revisited and the study of oral literature is imperative. The 

creation of an enabling cultural environment must be pursued for 

folklore to be sustained. The television should be used as an agent to 

spread folklore and to export it universally using the internet. A great 

many of the special forms of literature now in manuscripts and books 

are paralleled in traditional oral literature, where history, drama, law, 

sermons, and exhortations of all kinds are found, as well as analogues 

of novels, stories, and lyric poems. Folk literature is but a part of 

what is generally known as folklore: customs and beliefs, ritualistic 

behaviour, dances, folk music, and other nonliterary manifestations. 

These are often considered a part of the larger study of ethnology, 

but they are also the business of the folklorist. Education must pace 

development not follow it. 

 

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