© Kamla-Raj 2004 Anthropologist, 6(1): 37-43 (2004) INTRODUCTION The focus of this paper should expectedly arouse diverse perceptions or expectations for equally diverse individuals due to its universal appeal in a world in constant search for new ingredients for sustainable growth and develop- ment. However, it must be emphasised that the paper is not intended to provide a network of definitions on what culture and development are or are not. The major intentions are: providing simplified definitions of ‘culture’ and ‘develop- ment’; discussing some issues that could have accounted for the gradual disintegration of our cultural heritage; assessing the culture-develop- ment relationship; and seeking avenues for nurturing that relationship. THE CULTURAL REALM Culture is a term that should connote different things to different individuals. As such, often, people trivialize the limitless scope of the term with definitions of culture as simply music, sing- ing and dancing. To them, the goal of culture is nothing but entertainment (Ayoade, 1989:5). If this is not the goal of culture, what then is culture? Most definitions of culture, describe it, as the way of life of a certain group of people in a parti- cular society for instance, the nomadic Fulani should possess similarities in language (Irish and Prothro, 1965:19; Ukeje, 1992:395; Shoremi, 1999:94). Ukeje (1992) added that culture is the totality of a people’s way of life as deduced from material and non-material aspects of their life such as clothing, values, beliefs, thoughts, feel- ings and customs. This should include traits imbibed by all healthy individuals in the course of growing in a specific society. Andah (1982:4-5) presented a more embra- cing definition: Culture embraces all the material and non- material expressions of a people as well as the processes with which the expressions are communicated. It has to do with all the social, ethical, intellectual, scientific, artistic, and technological expressions and processes of a people usually ethically and/ or nationally or supra-nationally related, and usually living in a geographically contiguous area; what they pass on to their successors and how these are passed on. Culture could therefore depict glaring simi- larities between people within the same territorial space that fosters a feeling of oneness that they would wish to preserve for future generations. In addition, Shoremi (1999: 94) is of the view that “…any culture is a set of techniques for adjusting both to the external environment and to other men…cultures produce needs as well as provide a means of fulfilling them.” In essence, an individual born into a society would through social interaction, unconsciously imbibe certain traits that could build up personality or act as boosters for adjusting in that society. Some other researchers (Oyeneye and Shoremi, 1985: 3) also highlighted certain features of culture as: • Culture is shared by members of a society; • Culture is not genetically transmitted; • It is historically derived and … transmitted from one generation to another; • Culture is created… through the process of adjustment to the social setting; • Culture is universal-found in every human society; • Culture is dynamic. In summary, culture is a network of traits that could be learned, based on interaction or derived from history. Whatever culture is, it definitely regulates our lives by unconsciously shaping our attitudes, values, goals, behaviour or personality. From all indication, man is definitely nothing without culture. Little wonder that Dabaghian (1970: 103) stressed “…the pride of any society lies in its culture since no society in the world could be considered great without reference to its tradition and culture.” Is There Really a Relationship Between Culture and Development? Ifeyinwa Annastasia Mbakogu