Culture and Moral Values and Sustainable Development in Bayelsa State: The Role of Social Studies Education

Abstract

It is a fact that there is growing decadence of culture and moral value in Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta region. There seems to be an increased rate of disregard of indigenous societal norms, ethical values and culture to the embracing of alien culture and moral values. The current system of our education laden with foreign traits is the means through which alien culture and values are inculcated and these are inimical to the indigenous culture and values of Bayelsa People. The neglect of indigenous culture and values, in preference to alien ones, result in vices and problems in the Niger Delta societies such as sea piracy, armed robbery militancy, violent crime, terrorism, homosexuality and many others that hinder developmental strides. It is against this background that this paper considers the use of social studies education as a means by which Bayelsa State and Niger Delta to obtain the much needed cutlure and values geared towards sustainable development. The paper is an assessment of how social studies can bring back the Izon culture and values as a means of sustainable development. The paper employs secondary sources of data, especially the internet, using a theoretical framework of structural functionalism. To this end, we recommend social studies education for culture values to be part and parcel of our indigenous education curricula to bring about sustainable development.

Keywords: Culture, Society, Moral, Values. Development