Veteran dramatist, actor and singer, Pa Jimi Solanke, on Saturday, said moral decadence has become rampant among Nigerian youths because they have been “enslaved by foreign attitudes, culture and media.”
Solanke expressed worry that Nigerian youths have lost their identity to the overwhelming influence of foreign culture.
He spoke with newsmen at a State banquet, organised by the Ogun state government to mark the 80th birthday of the veteran poet and playwright in Abeokuta, on Saturday.
The event also saw the unveiling of evergreen songs of Solanke and the presentation of “Grandmaster, a photojournal of Pa Jimi Solanke”.
According to him, youths must retrace their steps and free themselves from the encumbrances from the foreign world, so as to contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.
He said “It is the enslavement of minds that is making our children to perpetrate such ungodly acts.
“If they (youths) are not enslaved by foreign attitudes, foreign culture, foreign media, foreign ‘fakeism’, we will not be at this point right now even to the point of looking for too much money.
“The enslavement is in the minds of everybody, even elderly people now want to look like the foreigners, they want all their children to be in London, they want to be Europe, that is where we have led ourselves to.
“We must step back, step into ourselves, search our minds, look for what our ancestors have done before and get back into our cultural depths, if we can do that, we will be relieved of encumbrance from the foreign world.”
In his remarks, Governor Dapo Abiodun described Solanke as an illustrious son of Ogun state and the pillar of Yoruba culture who has made indelible mark in the entertainment industry.
Abiodun who was represented by his deputy, Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele said, “Pa Jimi Solanke was our own entertainment, he was our YouTube, he was our Instagram and he was our Facebook and we all sat in front of our TVs waiting for 6.30 to come up so that we could watch his programmes. He is a good story teller.”
Also speaking, the state commissioner for culture and tourism, Adijat Adeleye-Oladapo, called on young creatives in the entertainment industry “to borrow a leaf from the strides of Solanke, whose carefully crafted music (life performance inclusive) has garnered recognition and admiration nationally and internationally.”
Adeleye-Oladapo further charged the youths to exhibit the virtues of perseverance, resilience, humility and humanism which Solanke exemplifies.
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