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Olatunbosun, Taofeek. “Nigerian Drama: An Overview.”Ijegun Journal 

of English Language and Literature: A Journal of Language and 

English Studies, vol.1, no 1, 2016, pp. 42-55. 

Richards, Sandra. Ancient Songs Set Ablaze. HUP, 1996. 

Soyinka, Wole. Myth, Literature and the African World. CUP, 1976.

Wright, Derek. Wole Soyinka Revisited. Twyne Publishers, 1993. 

     Storytelling and the Preservation of Indigenous 

Culture in Nigeria

Naziru Ahmad Atiku

Languages Department, School of General Studies, 

Federal Polytechnic, Oko.

Anambra state, nigeria.

e-mail: naziruahmadatiku@gmail.com

08067693760

Abstract

This work aims at elaborating widely on the concept of storytelling and 

how it plays a vital role in the preservation of Nigerian indigenous 

culture. As we are living in a space and time where some cultures 

establish themselves as predators and make others pray. Gradually, due 

to the influence of western cultures, many indigenous cultures are 

slipping into the oblivion as the younger generations of Nigerians 

develop prejudice and unfriendliness towards their own culture, giving 

an unnecessary preference to the western culture.  Considering the evil 

effect of globalization in subjugation, segregation and victimization of 

the Nigerian culture, strong and stoic effort is to be made before it is too 

late to cry and end up campaigning after the election or planting crops on 

air, harvesting nothing at the end of the year. This storytelling is 

paramount in the Nigerian educational curriculum, documentation and 

movie so as to influence the general attitudes of the youths and save the 

indigenous culture from being lost.

Keywords:  Storytelling, indigenous cultures, globalization, 

preservation

Introduction

Storytelling is as old as human endeavours since the creation of Adam 

and eve people began to narrate their story which can be found even in 

their scriptures. In relation to this assertion (Sheppard) said “storytelling 

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mailto:naziruahmadatiku@gmail.com


is an intimate and universal art form that is over 50,000 years old”. 

Culture is preserved by the way of narration from generation to 

generation that transcendent their way of life socially, educationally, 

morally, religiously etc. people in the olden days tell stories for many 

purposes such as entertainment, information, education, etc. These 

generations dwell in different parts of the world and formed their 

identities or ethnic groups.

According to American Historical Association, “in Nigeria there are 

about 250 – 300 ethnic groups as measured by self-identification or the 

presence of different languages”. Unfortunately, globalisation 

vandalizes and twists the Nigerian culture covertly or overtly. Nigeria is 

blessed with grandeur culture before the globalization downtrod and 

scattered it into unbearable or unwelcomed development away from its 

pulsating outstanding look. (Akande) “cautions that globalization for 

the extinction of 22,000 indigenous cultures in the last decade and 

projects that approximately 90% of the world's languages will disappear 

in the next century as a result of globalization”.

Globalisation today endangers our indigenous culture and way of life as 

colonialism did some decades ago. In corroboration with this view:

Every element of the current crises of collapses of industries, 

collapses of educational and health facilities, collapses of 

infrastructure (power, transportation, water supply and 

communication), degradation of the environment, inflation, 

escalating debt bill, weakening of the currency, ethnic and religious 

violence and collapses of public security is traceable to the re-

newed attempt to consolidate the re-colonisation process.(Aluko et 

al 119- 130).

Contemporarily this could be seen as a plain truth and undeniable, as it 

occurs in our daily life where Nigerians rush to the borrowed culture 

helter-skelter neglecting their indigenous culture in vain. In this era of 

technological innovations where the western technologies drive away 

and re-shape our thinking to either blend of the two cultures i.e. 

indigenous culture and western culture or even embrace the latter, 

therefore it is paramount to trigger Nigerians harbinger of an action 

through storytelling of their founding fathers' way of life that tied them 

in piece not in pieces.

Concept of Storytelling

The concept of storytelling hybridized two different words “story” and 

“telling”, according to Longman advance Learners' Dictionary, the word 

story could be seen as “a description of how something happened that is 

intended to entertain people and may be true or imaginary”. Although 

this definition views the word “story” through the grammatical 

spectacle, but the literature point of view fill the gaps and inadequate of 

the meaning in portraying purpose of story not only for entertainment 

but also information, education, etc. “A story is understood to be a 

primary means of communicating oral tradition because it generally 

encapsulates principles, standard and various other expressions in oral 

societies” (Achebe 50).

Telling on the other hand encompasses the act of showing the true 

character or nature of someone or something, often without being 

intended. Telling is also a word of mouth, uttered or written ones with the 

aim of expressing the true picture or character of someone or something 

to the listening ears or viewing eyes.

Storytelling is being discussed by many scholars in the realm of 

literature. “Story telling describes the social and cultural activity of 

sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or 

embellishment, it connotes some crucial elements which are: plot, 

character and narrative point of view” (Wikipedia.org). (Rossioter 27-

34) states that storytelling is a form of communication that predates 

written human history as a means of teaching lessons and passing history 

down from one generation to another. Similarly, (Serrat 150-168) asserts 

that storytelling is the use of stories or narrative as a communication tool 

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to value, share and capitalize on the knowledge of individuals. He added 

that storytelling is the vivid description of ideas, beliefs, personal 

experiences, and life-lessons through stories or narratives that evoke 

emotions and insight. According to Thiango, storytelling is retelling a 

tale or narrative to one or more listeners through voice and gesture. 

Moreover, “storytelling is a method of recording and expressing feeling, 

attitudes, and responses of one's life experiences and environment” 

(Gbadegesin 173-188).

Thus, the human culture in the world seems to create stories as way of 

making sense of the world (Achebe and Vanbe). For all the supra 

scholars' definitions of storytelling one may easily detect that the 

Nigerian culture that etymologically accompany their life and plays a 

vital role in moving them forward.

Theoretical Framework

This paper deems it appropriate to use a theoretical framework that will 

suit its subject matter. Therefore it is the narrative paradigm theory 

which was propounded by Fischer. His theory posits that all human 

beings are recipients and originators of stories which are narratives in 

themselves (Fisher 74). He asserts that narratives that resonate with 

people are usually stories shaped by a series of events, historical or 

cultural markers. Storytelling is without doubt a veritable tool which 

oral societies used in conveying meaning and the narrative paradigm 

corroborates that a story may be used to convey meanings that will 

resonate better with an audience and this in turn can open a channel that 

can allow history and traditions to be passed from generation to 

generation for preservation purposes.

Structure of the Nigerian Storytelling

Nigeria like all other African countries values storytelling. For that the 

structure of the storytelling categorized into triangular segments that is 

to say three segments namely; the preamble, central idea and 

conclusion.  In the African setting stories are divided into three parts as 

follows: the introduction, the body and the conclusion (Matateyuo and 

Vambe).

Taking the major ethnic groups culture into account, Hausa, Igbo and 

Yoruba, the storytelling normally takes place in their homes' compound 

under the moon light. The story teller is mostly an elderly person like 

grannies. The mat will be spread and the children encircle the storyteller 

with the great alacrity. In Hausa community usually the stories begin by 

“gatanan-gatananku” that is “here it goes” said by the storyteller while 

the audience respond by saying “tazo mujita” meaning “we are 

listening”. Similarly in Igbo culture “umuaka, umuaka” that is 

“children, children” said by the storyteller while audience respond by 

saying “eeh” meaning “yeees.” Also storyteller proceeded by saying 

“onwere akuko m ga-akoro unu” that is “there is a story I want to tell 

you”, the audience also responded by “koro ayi na ayi na-ege nti” 

meaning “tell us your story, we are listening.” In Yoruba tradition the 

storyteller starts with a call and the audience respond which is repeated 

for a few times in form of chant as to get the full attention of the listeners. 

The storyteller would say “Alo o” literally means “story” while 

contextually means “I have a tale to tell.” The audience would respond 

“Alo” literally means “story” while contextually means “say it.” Some 

stories put the children in a dilemma and deep melancholy which may 

cause sleepless night or terrible nightmare while other stories are 

hilarious and absurd but whatever phase the story takes lessons are 

grasped from it.

The recurrent stories among the three ethnic groups are about “Spider 

and Grasshopper”, “Cat and Mouse,” “Ant and Bird,” “Tortoise and 

hare,”“Elephant and hyena,” and other characters. To make the above 

point clearer, examples of some of these stories are cited below:

Cat and Mouse   (Hausa Storytelling)

A notorious mouse annoyed a spider with stealing. Whatever the spider 

keeps, the notorious mouse would steal and eat it. As the spider became 

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fed up with the frequent stealing of the mouse, he went to a cat's house 

and reported it. The cat said, “no problem, let's go to your house. You 

know mouse is a smart thief. Bring daddawa (food spice) and place it at 

the center of this room. I will be hiding. Once he perceives it and comes 

out, I will pounce on him”. Few minutes after the spider brought 

daddawa (food spice) and placed it, the notorious mouse perceived it and 

came out. As the cat was hiding beside a bed, she sighted the mouse 

coming out, she immediately pounced and grabbed him. The mouse 

screamed and cried. The spider looked at him and said, “Today is your d-

day, heartless thief. We will see whether you can steal again”.

The cat went house with him, killed him and ate. Theft is not good, we 

should avoid it. ( Sani).

This Hausa tale originated since from time immemorial generation after 

generation. 

The tale aimed at portraying the evil of theft and bad turn of the thieves' 

fate. The storyteller warns the audience about the danger of theft, asa 

moral lesson of this story. Thus in the Hausa culture people normally use 

this food spice (daddawa) to add taste aroma in their native soup and also 

as a trap of catching mouse.

The Cunning Tortoise    (Igbo Folktale)

Once upon a time in the animal kingdom, Tortoise who was a cunning 

animal wanted to get married. He could not afford the traditional 

wedding items required by his soon-to-be in-laws, so he borrowed them 

from his neighbors. He called his kinsmen to accompany him to his in-

laws for the wedding ceremony. Before Tortoise and his kinsmen set out, 

he told them that they should all take on special names to answer to when 

they arrived at the ceremony. Everyone chose their names and Tortoise 

chose to be called “All of you.”

When they arrived at the wedding, the in-laws had prepared different 

kinds of foods and drinks. The ceremony began first with the serving of 

kola nuts and palm wine. When the kola nuts were served, Tortoise stood 

up and asked his in-laws [“who are the kola nuts for?”] and the in-laws 

replied, [they're for“all of you”]. Then Tortoise turned to his kinsmen 

and said [“my people, the kola nuts are for me”]. So Tortoise put the kola 

nuts away in his bag. After some time, the in-laws came back with other 

foods and drinks and Tortoise would ask again [“who are these for?”] 

and the in-laws would reply [“for all of you”]. Tortoise took all the foods 

and drinks that were served for him and put them away in his bag. 

When the in-laws came back and saw that the kinsmen were not eating 

and drinking, they asked Tortoise why? Tortoise replied that it was 

because the in-laws said that the food was for “All of you” and that was 

his name. 

After the serving of food and drinks, they began the traditional wedding 

ceremony. Tortoise and his kinsmen presented the bride price and 

wedding gifts to the bride's family. Some of the gifts were yams, rice, 

and palm oil. The in-laws accepted these gifts and stored them in their 

house. At the end of the ceremony, Tortoise and his new bride went 

home. Tortoise, being a greedy and crafty animal, arranged with some 

thieves to steal the wedding gifts he had just presented to his in-laws. 

When Tortoise and the thieves arrived at night to steal the gifts, the in-

laws heard the noise and raised an alarm. Neighbours came running and 

caught Tortoise and the thieves. The neighbors tied Tortoise and the 

thieves to a tree in the public square as punishment. Later, members of 

the community pleaded to have Tortoise and the thieves released. The in-

laws released them and Tortoise went home in shame. When Tortoise got 

home, he realized that his bride had gone back to her father's house, (i.e. 

Thelma).

This tale portrays some of Igbo cultures during their traditional wedding 

where cola nuts are brought to the in-laws as a sign of respect. The in-

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laws on the other hand present the bride price and wedding gift like: 

yams, rice and palm oil. These items are very crucial in Igbo culture 

during wedding. The bride family might be stigmatized if these items are 

not being brought by the in-laws.

The lesson grasped from this tale geared directly towards greedy people. 

Their greediness drives them to venture into the fate of regret as shown 

in the tale (The Cunning Tortoise). The Tortoise lost his integrity and 

even his wife as a result of greediness.

Sigidi the Idol of Ayede Town (Yoruba Folktale)

Sigidi, the clay idol was regarded a very important part of the town of 

Ayede, he was a god in his own right. However, unlike other clay gods he 

could talk, everybody deferred to him and no one dared question him, 

not even the king. He was carried to wherever he wanted to go and saw 

whatever he wanted to see, people adored him and he enjoyed the best 

offerings of all the idols in the town. Whatever he asked for became his. 

One day, while he was been carried along the bank of a river, he saw 

people swimming and wanted to join in, but his request was turned 

down. That was Sigidi's first ever request to be refused, and he was not 

happy at all. He moped, he complained and he threatened until his 

request was granted. When he was finally put in the water, he discovered 

to his dismay that he was much heavier than water and he soon sank to 

the bottom of the river. Before his carrier could get to him, he had already 

soaked too much water and had begun to melt.  The young carrier could 

only watch with dismay as the once honoured and respected clay idol of 

Ayede turned into mud and was washed away by the river

Moral:  Learn that no matter how popular, loved and honoured you are, 

there are still limits to what you can do. Know how much you are worth, 

because going beyond your limits is an invitation to disgrace, because as 

the bible says: “pride goeth before a fall” (Sigidi n sere ete, o ni ki won 

gbe lo si odo loo we)  (Deebayuu).

Ant and Bird

Ant went to drink. He fell into the river, “Help! Help! Will you help me, 

please?” He shouted. Bird heard Ant and she ran to the river. “Shall I 

help you? She asked. “:Yes, please!” said Ant. So, Bird pulled Ant out of 

the water. “Thank you, Bird! Said Ant. “Not at all Ant, It is good to help 

others,” said Bird. “Will you help me one day?” “Yes, I will!”said Ant.

Many years later, Bird was in the forest. A hunter saw her. He wanted to 

shoot Bird. Ant was in the forest, too. He saw the hunter and Bird. “Now 

I can help Bird!” thought Ant. Ant ran up the hunter's leg and bit him. The 

hunter jumped and shouted. Bird flew away. The hunter did not kill Bird. 

Ant was very happy.

The tale “Ant and Bird” is one of the stories put in the educational 

curriculum to educate students some important aspects of their culture. 

We can deduce the act and value of assistance which may turn back to the 

performer later in life. As Bird helped Ant from being drown in the river 

latter the Ant rescued Bird from the shoot of a hunter. (Coates and 

Styring 21-22).

Therefore, the nature of Nigerian storytelling depicts the culture of their 

ethnic groups ranging from the food, dress, customs, religions, beliefs, 

traditions, magical practices, interactions, etc. as their way of life or 

identity.

The Role of  Storytelling in Preserving Nigerian Culture

It is destined for man once to live and eventually demise. For a culture to 

be recognized or imitated, it must be preserved and told to younger 

generations so that it will not go into extinction. Stories play a vital role 

to the human cognitive domain and interaction. Human beings are 

curious to hear stories of their replica so that they can imitate them. 

Religious scriptures like Qur'an and Bible are filled up with stories of the 

past as a mirror of present and future. Elders also engage in telling stories 

of their ancestors. Why stories are highly regarded here? They are the 

instruments for preserving and transmitting culture. The maintenance 

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and preservation of culture are needed for the culture not be perished.

 Knowles outlines six important factors that make stories essential to 

human existence. The factors are globally applicable to every society, 

namely:

1.    Stories are universal, 

2.    Stories help us understand our place in the world,

3.    Stories help us learn how to act wisely,

4.    Stories help us shape our perspectives of the world,

5.    Stories help us understand other people and their perspectives, and

 6.    Stories pass down knowledge and morals.

Stories help us understand our place in the world, taking this statement 

into cognizance, we can easily draw an idea that culture explains where 

and who we are. In Nigeria each ethic group is designated with norms 

and values entitled to it. Identity could easily be identified by the way 

people behave though one might find himself  in heterogeneous  

societies, where different identities interact, but each individual 

behaving according to his culture and showcasing his identity through 

the practice of his beliefs, norms and values. For instance, in the 

Nigerian culture all the major ethnic groups have their own way of 

traditional leadership and the hierarchical arrangement of the 

leadership. The Nigerian culture of traditional leadership is really 

outstanding because each leadership epitomizes the culture of its 

society. Moreover, traditional leaders are the custodian of culture, law 

and order. Due to this system of leadership by the Nigerian ethnic groups 

like Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, etc. people live happily and fond of one 

another.

 As a way of nurturing younger generations to adopt this culture, stories 

are being told in such a way that even if they (younger generations) are 

not capable in the participation of leadership as a result of their age limit, 

at least they passed through the knowledge and if they are asked to 

describe their system of traditional leadership they can elaborate it as 

they learn through storytelling. Thus the story will tell them their culture 

and where they belong to even within one ethnic group. Therefore, the 

storytelling immensely preserves the culture of leadership and many 

more in a given society. Neglecting storytelling for younger generation 

is like downgrading and even eliminating our culture which may likely 

forced them to embrace different culture and tarnish the image of their 

native culture.

Stories pass down knowledge and morals and help us understand other 

people and their perspectives, when we critically observe the life itself is 

like a mirror or replica of the past people and events. People learn 

through different ways e.g. trial and error, insight, learning from others 

etc. The essence of telling such stories is solely for imitation purpose. 

Bandura emphasizes the importance of learning from others or 

observational learning as “Helping individuals, especially children, 

acquire new responses by observing others' behavior”. Many stories are 

written or told not for entertainment only but also knowledge or moral 

lesson is expected to drawn. Being an important figure or influential 

personality who contributed in the development of society in one way or 

the other history is generous to document their gigantic task and save it 

away from falling into trash. Tracy, one of the motivational influential 

public speakers and self development author in his work titled “Eat that 

Frog, twenty one ways to stop procrastination and get more done in less 

time”says, “if you want to be successful ask for those that succeeded and 

the ways followed for that achievement”. For that reason many 

autobiographies and biographies of influential people are documented. 

In Nigeria we have people like Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi 

Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and others.

In fact, stories really serve as reservoir of knowledge written and told for 

the purpose of preserving people's culture.

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Recommendations

· Movie directors and producers have vital role in reviewing or 

revisiting our indigenous stories to convert them into their 

movies as the globalization is taking another shape in which the 

super power countries work tirelessly to over shadow African 

countries.

· This paper suggests that it is imperative to reintroduce the art of 

storytelling by codifying the myths and rich historical 

antecedents of Nigerian societies into oral instruments that can 

be transmitted to the younger generations using digitalized 

formats.

· It suggests that in this culturally predatory world, Nigeria will 

seek not just to preserve its indigenous cultures but also to 

export them to other parts of the world, by disseminating the 

implicit and explicit wisdom and moral lessons available in our 

folktales i.e. storytelling.

· Government should create some processes that can be used to 

encourage the younger generations to develop an interest in and 

an affinity for indigenous culture and tradition through 

storytelling.

· Families as agents of socialization should engage their 

members in storytelling with a view to acquaint them with their 

cultural background.

· It will be salient to integrate the participation of schools and 

learning institutions in this process as they embody one of the 

major agents of socialization as well as it will force the 

recognition of the promotion of indigenous cultures into the 

societal system.

· By adopting storytelling as part of our educational curriculum, 

modern media channels can also be used to launch a massive 

campaign and sensitization programmes on the relevance, 

transmission and participation in the acts of storytelling.

· Communities should strive to expose their young generations to 

all the elements, forms and practice of their traditions and also 

instill in them appreciation of these traditions through 

storytelling with a view of preserving their indigenous cultures 

and acquainting them with their cultural identity.

Conclusion

In conclusion storytelling as a get way of preserving indigenous culture 

in Nigeria can never be under estimated, therefore to avoid the intrusion 

of foreign cultures, movie directors and producers have vital role in 

reviewing or revisiting our indigenous stories to convert them into their 

movies as the globalization is taking another shape in which the super 

power countries work tirelessly to over shadow African countries, 

Nigeria is not excluded, and other under developed countries by 

presenting what they called “world order.” Their decision and ideology 

is what matters but others are constrained in pursuing their potentialities.

Thus, affinity to indigenous cultures is another crucial aspect to be 

strengthened. Mabera, a renowned Islamic public speaker said, “We are 

in the era that conquest of thought is more harmful than physical 

conflict, your child at home embraced bad culture that is not in 

conformity with his own culture at long last bad characters over shadow 

him and control him through the use of contemporary technological 

innovations.” Storytelling is at the crossroad of sinking under a deep 

ocean if remedial measures are not taken. Norms and values such as: 

honesty, sincerity, humility, integrity, fidelity, modesty, equity and 

hospitality as well are key aspects to every culture, expected of every 

member of the society to imbibe. Luckily, these are also key clues 

preserved in the storytelling. For these reasons storytelling contribute 

immensely in the preservation of indigenous culture in Nigeria.

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