Nigeria: 56 years of lost ethos

Nigeria’s narrative from independence to date has been on a downward trajectory, especially if some economic and social indices about the country are spotlighted. Milk, they say, is for a child while meat is for an adult, yet Nigeria at 56 feeds on milk instead of meat.
At 56, it is expected that Nigeria would be a force to reckon with in the comity of nations, especially in Africa. This is premised on the way the country started out where it was a shining light on the continent, but the baby born on October 1, 1960 is still a baby learning to crawl.
The labour of our heroes past appears to be in vain, contrary to the wordings of our national anthem, because looking at Nigeria at pre-independence and now, it is certain that the likes of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, and others will shake their heads in the grave in outright disbelief of what Nigeria has become.
A country that was a pride of other African countries in the early years of independence is today regarded as one of the most corrupt nations in the world.
The prevalence of social vices cuts across the various classes of its citizens, from the adults to youths, poor and rich, educated and uneducated, men and women alike, and it is even considered in some quarters as a way of life. Materialism is on the increase, especially among the youths who are daily falling prey to peer group pressure to either satisfy their parents or feel a sense of belonging. It is commonplace to see parents berate their children for not having what their supposed friends or mates have.
When the law of structure is not obeyed, the building will naturally collapse because it is the structure that stands as the bedrock on which any sustainable society is built. And when such structures no longer exist or are weakened by situations around them, the resultant effect is a failed society.
Society’s moral fabric has virtually collapsed. Things that used to be regarded as taboo are now accepted as the norm. For instance, single parenting is on the rise, either by divorce or mutual agreement between both parties.
Moral bankruptcy in Nigeria can be attributed to parents because they don’t create time for their children as they work to meet the daily needs of the family. In the short run, money is made, materials are acquired but in the long run, the home is lost, including the things acquired at the expense of the family.
Little wonder the fabrics of social bond between parents and children, sometimes between spouses, are daily eroding. Moral values have been sacrificed on the altar of economic stability, technological savvy and social balance.
In the search for economic stability, we have lost every sense of decency for monetary values. Technological knowledge of the 21st century has also made us to give up our cultural and ethical values in order to belong to a global village that has given birth to social imbalances. And in our search to attain social balance, we create an unstable home.
Causes of morale decadence
Morale decadence is largely caused by social imbalances and unstable family structure. However, both can be traced to factors like single parenting that could either be as a result of separation or divorce, working class parents, peer group influence, environmental and economic challenges (poverty), and unstable home.
Our love for everything foreign or imported has not helped matters. Many Nigerians have developed a sweet tooth for anything foreign, leading to a copy-cat mentality that copies almost everything wholesale without giving consideration to our culture or environment. In a bid to belong to that social class of 21st century man/woman, our youths download everything they see on their television set and lifestyle magazines as a new way of life without asking questions.
The mediated media today appears the biggest influencer of a large percentage of our population today. Hardly will anything sell (advertorial/direct sales) in Nigeria without a heavy depiction of sexuality and sexism. Women are largely presented as sex objects in virtually everything, from automobile, fashion, sports, even manufacturing – sex is the selling point of any product, goal or service.
Little wonder the youths and women who appear vulnerable to these advertorials because of their level of exposure to them tend to do what they see in those advertorials by idolizing the objects of the various media campaigns. By idolizing the objects of mediated media, young girls and ladies no longer consider the African way of doing things suitable for their lifestyles.
That is why a typical teenage girl in Nigeria wants to be the African Kim Kardashian. She wants to be able to walk the streets freely half-naked or entirely nude, while the teenage boy wants to be a replica of Chris Brown with all the media hype, or another Michael Jackson.
Nudity used to be something associated with Hollywood movies in the past, but it is becoming commonplace in Nollywood movies today with scenes that leave nothing to the imagination. The most disturbing part of it is that movies classified as “G” (General) are sometimes shot with offensive scenes beyond the level they should have.
And as long as sex remains a selling point or the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of today’s Nigeria, we can as well consider moral decadence and youth delinquency as that devil sharing the bed with us.
Religious side of moral decadence
Nigeria is a multi-religious country, no doubt. However, the two dominant religions in Nigeria are Christianity and Islam. These two religions date back to pre-colonial times and are largely practiced across the six geo-political zones of the country.
Places of worship are also regarded as places of transformation where all manner of social vices are not supposed to be experienced. But the opposite is the case as this menace seems more prevalent in our places of worship. The religious leaders, no doubt, are playing their roles by daily condemning these acts, but there also seems to be more of a ‘do as I say and not as I do’ syndrome in these places worship.
Some so-called religious leaders have given up their primary role of catering for the spiritual needs of the faithful and have shifted into the realm of socialites (celebrities). The youths in these places look up to the leaders not just for direction but for a way of life and go ahead to copy what they see wholesale.
Pastor Samuel Imagbe of Grace Bible Church, Lagos, said in a recent interview that the root cause of all the social vices in Nigeria are our importation of the American way of life and message of prosperity.
According to him, God’s directive to man was clear – seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you, but man in his way and manner wanted those additions first before the real source of the kingdom of God.
He opined that it was this abandonment of God’s ways that is responsible for why the country is plagued by all manner of social menace and the complete erosion of our core moral values as Africans such that we now consider ourselves as never-do-wells who must look to the West for salvation. Indeed, sad as it may seem, Nigeria is like a malnourished child; like a child suffering from kwashiorkor.
As the country marks 56 years of independence, it is time to take a collective look at the road we have travelled and where we are headed. We must also bring back the African spirit of brotherhood and oneness into our personal interaction, both at the societal and family level. God bless Nigeria.

Seyi John Salau