The Holy Bible, in the book of Ephesians chapter four, verse twenty-five says it all -“therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one
body’.

Again, in the context of the message by His Holiness, Pope Francis on the occasion of the celebration of 2019 World Communications Day last Sunday, man encounters, once again, the
age-old need for human communication. The Holy Father mentions “the desire of the human person who does not want to be left isolated and alone”.

Man sees the need to interact as human beings with one another, sharing information, joy and pains as well as celebrating successes among others. Communication helps man also to fill voids in his live.

Nobody wants to be alone and isolated. Unfortunately, we have all read about the spate of suicides by young persons in Nigeria, thus underscoring the need, once again, to share and communicate with one another.

Overtime, means of communication have evolved. Man has moved on from the era when trado-modern communication methods were dominant such as gongs, ekwe, palm fronds, non-verbal cues, murals, paintings etcetera.

Although these still exist somewhat in rural communities, we are now in the modern internet era, the information age, driven by globalization, and powered by technology. This is where man begins to encounter some challenges

The theme of this year’s World Communications Day (From Social Network Communities To The Human Community) already says it all – that things are not going right, therefore we should retrace our steps.

Could it be that technology, which is meant to advance human communication, is now keeping him apart, hence the call to move away from proudly being ‘netcitizens’ and ‘digital natives’, to being
citizens and natives of Enugwu-Ukwu, Awka, Aguleri, Ihiala, Abatete once again?

From the comforts of our homes, many people, armed with their smart phones and tablets, know what their social media friends in faraway Australia, London, Poland etcetera are doing. They sympathize with them when they are ill and celebrate them on their birthdays.

However, they do not know how their next door neighbour, or family member living under the same roof with them is faring. It has been observed where, at family gatherings, people hardly speak to one another, father, mother, son and daughter have been observed engrossed with their smart phones, chatting on WhatsApp with distant friends, updating their Facebook and Instagram status, liking their friends’ photos and sharing theirs.

Should we then totally discard communication technologies, having seen their capacity to keep humans more apart, inflict pain and cause destruction? This is the era of fake news or alternative facts.

How are we protecting ourselves and children from the largely distorted reality people share on social media as information on blogs and others?

For us as Ndigbo, we have, in the past, prided ourselves in our unity (Igwebuike), this was why such traditional institutions such as the Age-Grade system, Umunna meetings etcetera have helped to keep our communities together. Today, many have discarded such practices or do not care so much about them.

How many still belong to them and play active roles? Many now prefer belonging to WhatsApp groups, Facebook and other online communities.

Many of these groups are populated by largely faceless individuals with fake identities nursing certain agenda that sometimes draw people away from their faith.

Perhaps, it will help us to, henceforth, re-connect with ourselves once more and begin to interact with one another as humans.

The human instinct is that of caring, sharing and communicating with one another with mutual respect and love. If we have these in mind, we will shun being purveyors of fake news and malicious information through WhatsApp and other means, knowing the potential damage such could cause.

Just like we are told in Ephesians 4:25, “therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body’, we should always be mindful of the ethical, social, juridical, political and economic dimensions of our use of, and engagement with social media and other technological devices.

We cannot go back to living in the stone ages. We cannot discard technology. However, we should adapt and use it to enhance our human communications. We should always be in control, not the other way round.

We should not allow communication technology to prevent us from communicating with one another as humans. Technology and social web should be complementary to interpersonal communication involving the human body, heart, eyes, gaze, breath of the other etc.

These are things we experience at Umunna meetings and other family social engagements.

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