Impact of Religious Festivals on Preservation of Indigenous Cultural Practices in Africa: A Comparative Study in Nigeria and Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/ijcrs.3825Keywords:
Religious Festivals, Indigenous Cultural PracticesAbstract
Purpose: The purpose of this article was to analyze impact of religious festivals on preservation of indigenous cultural practices in Africa: a comparative study in Nigeria and Kenya.
Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries.
Findings: The study found that religious festivals play a significant role in preserving indigenous cultural practices in both Nigeria and Kenya by providing platforms for the transmission of rituals, traditions, and cultural identity across generations. In Nigeria, festivals strongly support cultural continuity and youth identity formation, although modernization is gradually weakening some traditional practices. In Kenya, festivals similarly enhance indigenous knowledge and community cohesion, but urbanization, globalization, and commercialization are reducing active participation, especially among youth. Overall, while both countries demonstrate strong cultural preservation through religious festivals, the effectiveness is influenced by socio-economic changes, institutional support, and intergenerational engagement.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Social identity theory, cultural transmission theory, cultural hybridization theory may be used to anchor future studies on the impact of religious festivals on preservation of indigenous cultural practices in Africa: a comparative study in Nigeria and Kenya. Religious leaders and cultural custodians should deliberately incorporate indigenous rituals, languages, dances, and symbols into religious festival celebrations to strengthen cultural continuity. Governments in Nigeria and Kenya should formally recognize religious festivals as key vehicles for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage within national cultural policy frameworks.
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