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An extended family is any family that includes more than two
generations or includes the nuclear families of siblings. This
sociology term gives the impression that there are two divisions in a family -
the immediate family and the other members outside the immediate members of a
family. But to a Nigerian, the family is socially and culturally indivisible.
The Nigerian family does not stop with the mother, father and children. It
extends to include all the living relations in the family.
Our
friends from other cultures often say that the extended family is the bane of
many Nigerian societies because of the pressures put on the better-off members
of the family to cater for the less endowed members. This may be true from the
point of view of other lifestyles and cultures; but in Nigerian traditional
society, it is the strength rather than the bane. The extended family provides
social security and advancement to the whole family. This is important because
national social securities have not yet developed sufficiently to provide the
safety net required in life.
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The
extended family system also helps to inculcate in the young members of the
family the norm that a family is established for the purpose of mutual support
and encouragement. In short, they are taught that
"You are your brothers keeper". Although
these values are disappearing in the face of economic changes and pressures, we
think that they should be promoted and made to endure.
This
section is a new addition to our website. We shall cover news and views from the
bigger family that were not covered before. They are from the extended family
members living in Washington DC and Ibadan. Now, go ahead and send us your bits
and pieces of news and pictures too. If you have a story, a sermon, a poem, a
cartoon, a folklore, a riddle or just a feedback, let
us have them for this section.
We
have stories of events and activities of members of the extended family in the
Ibadan Chronicle and an educative piece on Telecommuting in the Washington
Bulletin, all in the Extended Family
Archive.
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