AFRICAN CULTURE AS AN ANCIENT LANDMARK: CULTURE VERSUS IDENTITY

Abstract

Culture remains an important theme in discourses as it is necessary for the understanding of human relationships and interactions among peoples. It has attracted the attention of both scholars and non-scholars who have focused on different dimensions of discourses, including the problem of an imprecise definition and the changing nature of culture. However, this paper focuses on the African culture as the ancient African landmark. It begins with an understanding of culture and landmark and spelling out the necessity of the discourse on culture as an ancient landmark. Within this context, it emphasized the relevance of the concept of identity which landmark introduces in the discourse on culture, the necessity for the discourse, symbolic expression of culture, giving particular attention to the Kola Nut and finally the path towards the preservation of the African culture. This piece discovered that culture is indispensable for the definition of the identity of a people. For the purpose of the study, the hermeneutic and phenomenological methods of inquiry were employed.