Cynic Hypotheses on Yoruba Native Culture, Civil Consciousness, and Youth Counter-Culture in the SDG Context

Abstract

Abstract The paper contextualizes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the cultural and social systems of the indigenous Yoruba people of Southwest Nigeria, comprising dominantly six Nigerian states. This interlink is to establish the compatibility of the binary of the SDG initiatives and the mores of the Yoruba people. The implementation of the SDG recommendation is a global development strategy in contemporary times. However, the implementation of the recommendations of the SDGs has encountered hurdles in different parts of the world, including Nigeria. The cultural beliefs and social practices of the Yoruba tend to negate the sustainable implementation of the SDG agenda in the region by 2030. The paper is qualitative in nature. The indicators of Yoruba native culture, civil-social practices and youth counter-culture attributes are interpreted using the SDG principles to assess compatibility. The paper notes that Yoruba native wisdom ruptures the principle of sustainable economic productivity and the endowment of the younger generation. Also, the youth counter-culture known as The Marlian Movement in Southwest Nigeria is endemic in disregard for education and industry, with the signature behaviour of drug addiction. Yet, all these cultural, civil, and social indices violate the essence of SDG goals, especially Goal 3 and Goal 4. They are not compatible with the SDG functional implementation in this region of Nigeria, and this explains why the global initiative is not palpably felt as having been implemented in Nigeria at the moment. Such a situation calls for attention owing to the fact that the terminal year of the development initiatives draws near. The actualization of the SDG expectations, however, requires a change in the civil attitude of the Yoruba. Keywords: African culture, SDG, Youth culture, Younger generation, Yoruba native wisdom