Long before the arrival of Europeans on our shores, Africans had a robust states and societies where they co-exist mutually despite their cultural diversities. In as much as we were different, the spirit of Ubuntu always held us together.UBUNTU which literally translate as I AM BECAUSE WE ARE. In a typical African setting, the plight of your next door neighbor is seen as your problem and the society does everything it can to find solutions to such problems.
The Family is one of the oldest social institutions on earth and this institution has been the binding force among Africans for millennia. But unfortunately, this binding force that thrives on the spirit of ubuntu is fast eroding and being replace by an individualistic types that do not see the growth of society as a whole. In an extended African family society, there was nothin like orphans or orphanage homes where orphans are raised. Instead, the society makes sure that children of deceased individuals are given to relatives to be raised and this is so easy because of the already mutual relationships that exist between families.
Long before the arrival of Europeans, the community was seen as the custodian of the individual and as such the individual does not depart from the dictates of the society. The communal and extended family system guaranteed social security for the aged, widow, poor, orphans, strangers. All these values were shaped by strong public opinion and the pride one takes and boast of in taking care of others. The collapse of the African extended family has not only erode the spirit of ubuntu, but has also led to destruction of the moral fabric of our society thus leading to moral decadence.
The spirit of ubuntu eroding away from has made it possible for the rise of hatred and tribal bigotry and disunity among once a united people. Most African States were organize into Clan, Family, Tribes, States, Empires and so, tribalism has been with us ever since. But the recent upsurge in ethnocentrism and tribal bigotry among African society shows the rate at which the society and the spirit of ubuntu has eroded. Tribes now sees themselves as being more civilize and educated than others. Our societies are more divided than ever with stinking effect of endangering a whole society in disunity.