ARISE O COMPATRIOTS; MORAL DECADENCE, WHO IS TO BLAME?

ARISE O COMPATRIOTS;

MORAL DECADENCE, WHO IS TO BLAME?

WRITTEN BY: OLAGBEGI FRANK-O-NIRAN

ARISE O COMPATRIOT,

MORAL DECADENCE; WHO IS

TO BLAME?

As I pace through history’s aisle, I have come to discover a great laxity in the affairs of humans that I cannot accord to any man specifically as the cause, but I can only see the fact that every man has a contribution to make if there must be a change in it. It will take the active commitment of me and you if this nation and the world at large must look the way it is supposed to be. This is not an adventure to paint the picture of a defaced building but to dig out the foundation of the building to know how deep, strong and firm it is. This piece goes down to look at the architectural work of the society, the lives and the impacts of the tireless builders and the building constructed. 

This is a mirror to show everyman the true image of who he is and also a sign post to show every man the direction he must take to his dream world.

As I go down the memory lane, my most profound observation is that over times, many have clustered together to discuss while our moral standards are wearing away so fast. It has gotten to such a level that even the blind can see it; the deaf can hear it; and even the dumb can tell you a lot about it.  It is a subject of discuss to both the old and young in the society. Even the government have set aside various committees of men of proven knowledge to look into the reason there is a general fall in the moral standards.

 Hence, our adventure shall be on how moral decadence crept in at first and the able hands that carefully ushered in these despicable acts. Knowing fully well that they are not spontaneous actions, we must look vividly into the root cause of this omnipresent plague and the breathing catalysts behind them. Moral decadence- a fall in ethical values has its roots in various grounds, including the family, the government and the people in general. What will be unveiled in the subsequent paragraphs are the various factors that contribute to it at every level and also their causative effects. Without prejudice and without a bias mind, let us simply look at how moral decadence grows and its effects on the society of ours.

Education starts from the home- the family. Since every man has their root in a family, it is necessary we consider how the family has helped in contributing to the decay in moral values in the society. Every child is born a tabula raza. They don’t know how to do anything on their own. What they do is they learn by imitation. They replicate most of the characters and the ethics of the house they come from when they appear in the society. This they will continue to do until they grow beyond the confine of that shell and they begin to develop their own characters. Hence, the kind of ethical values taught in every home determines in the long run the kind of man a child will become. The kind of man that becomes of every child has a lot to do with the character traits they acquire as they grow up, and the family as the first institution has a lot of role to play here.

“Every house is a construction site,

Every child a construction material;

Every parent/guardian is a bricklayer.

What are they building?

The society!”

Thus, looking intimately into various homes, my eyes are soaked with tears to behold the education of the future leaders- as always said, committed into the hands of the stars on television. The youth and the children now look at those people to determine how they should dress, the manner with which they talk and in general the kind of life they live. I am very sure this has contributed to the reason why indecency has become a norm in the life of the youth. Maybe you must have heard about the porn plague. That is actually some youth’s addiction. Daily they struggle for freedom from the hands of this dreadful disease. I know a question like this might erupt in your mind; what of the homes where those movies are not watched? Good! I love that. But, have you also asked yourself that, in how many houses are these movies not watched?  A good answer to the two major questions should give the percentage of one in relative to the other.

Let’s stop at this point and answer our main question.

Within this circle of hypocrisy, who is to blame?

a.     The parents/guardians; who purchase the movies for their children to watch at their leisure hours and to keep them from peer pressure.

b.     The children; who just pick up movies and watch and listen to the music they want which later have its effect spelt out in their approach to life.

c.      The actors; whose sole motive is to end a living by displaying their talents.

Remember that if these movies are not available, the parents will have nothing to buy, and then the children will have nothing to watch. So, who do we blame? But wait a minute, what if the children choose to purchase and watch them on their own? As long as they are still under parental care, their parent is a partner in crime. Know that the decision made here have a clear reflection on the society at large. Watch!

Considering the school setting, it is a noted saying today that; “education is a right of every child and not a privilege.” not, “schooling is a right of every child not a privilege. My observation is that the latter has been substituted for the former such that we can no longer clearly differentiate between education and schooling. So, what we have today is Dick, Tom and Harry going to school with Dick alone educated, while Tom and Harry are just literate. Education can never be confined to the four walls of the class. It is a lifelong learning process and not a brief trip of jumping into the classroom to learn arithmetic and vocabulary development. Nevertheless, the school has its own quota to contribute on how a man is educated.

Subsequently, the impacts of the education sector have been discovered to have an indelible mark on the values the society embraces. These impacts have their stand firmly on the government, the school, the tutor, the parent and the student. The government have paid deaf ears to the cry from our schools today. The leadership of the nation are only concerned about the existence of the school; their eyes are shut to the state and impacts these schools are having on the society. We always budget ministry of education but only very small amount is allocated to the ministering of education in this nation. For the sake of justice, we must ask our leaders, where is the money going to? The government should also stop measuring the standard of our schools by looking at the schools in the urban areas, let us all have a stroll to the villages and towns in the interior of the nation and take a look for ourselves. I think the last time they did such was during their campaign. What a leader!But they should not forget that those who are living there as just as humans as the others are. If the leaders of this nation abandons for commerce and technology, they should be reminded that they will lean on education tomorrow for the advancement in commerce and technology and I dare to bet you, what will be left then to dine and whine is the dividends of our ignominious ignorance.

Strategically looking at the administration of school by those in charge, in the likes of teachers, head masters, principals, proprietors, provosts, rectors, vice chancellors, etc. their own quota is undeniable. Theroot of perversion in educational standard today also has a firm grip on the decisions taken at this level. The examination malpractice held so profound today started in the careless hands of school administrators. The aim of most schools today is no longer to build well equipped students and feather their caps with the strands of diligence but to adopt profit makings as their supreme task. 

Obsession for money has now taken the place of thorough training. If we cannot correct examination malpractice at the classroom level under the administration of these people, let us forget about changing the standard of education. We have to go back to the classrooms and put the round peg in the round hole if we must be proud of our educational standard. The primary focus of the administration is to tutor the future leaders who will be able to teach the coming generation not to set up a business where raw cash is exchanged for processed certificates in the name of running a school. Beware! School administrators are turning out to be business tycoons. What an Irony! Who will save this nation from these desperate rogues?

Also, to the Eaglet enjoying the comfort of, mother Eagle’s nest, keep it in mind that the storms are waiting for you to fly out. Tell the children not to find rest in the hope to inherit their parent’s wealth. Wake up? Wealth can finish in a day, but knowledge can never wear off. A man can be stripped of wealth because it is an acquired possession, he can be stripped of clothes because it is worn, but deep down in that man is a fountain of knowledge that can withstand the winter, the autumn and the spring.

“Empty your purse on your head and no man can take it from you. An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

-Benjamin franklin

“Education is the secret of sustainable empowerment for unlimited achievement.”

                                                                        -David O. Oyedepo      

“Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.”

-Edward Everett

Fight against all odds and make sure if you will lay hold on anything, let it be knowledge. Take firm hold of it, it will make you the difference maker. Above all, let the knowledge you possess influence your character.

“Education without a good character makes a monster out of a man”

Though I know that some have chosen the road aside the red sea to get to their promise land, they have chosen engage in examination malpractice to get a certificate; never forget that the paper in your hand is only a description of what is in your head, life challenges will never bow to your certificate but what you have deep down inside of you. If you are relaxed today about not getting knowledge, keep at it, your dividends is death.

“The man wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.”

-Proverbs 21:16

…give me understanding and I shall live?

-Psalms 119:144

“Education is the best provision for the journey of old age.”

                                                                                         -Aristotle

“Anyone who stops learning is old either at 80 or at 20. Anyone who keeps learning is young either at 80 or at 20. The greatest thing in life is to keep yourself young.”

-Henry ford

To some parents who though are learned but skill encourage their children to sign in for malpractices, if truly you love them, you should have encouraged them to make hay while the sun shines. Students spend an average of nine hours in school and spend about fourteen hours at home, so who should have more impact on the child, the school or the home? If you cannot imbibe fervency and commitment into them, stop blaming the school. Let’s have a break at this juncture and let’s ask ourselves this question:

Who is to blame for the educational devaluation (that leads to examination malpractice and reduction in the moral standard of graduates)?

a.     The government

b.     The parents

c.      School administrators

d.     The students.

More so, I have seen some errors displayed publicly today not just in the market but also in the nook and cranny of the society. Social vices have become the norm, but in the beginning, it was not so. The fact is that we must answer the wake up call to defend our integrity as persons. After many thoughts, I noticed that most of the cases tried at the law courts today arise from man’s inability to make wise decisions on some occasions. Looking at the ever occurring cases of being drunk; the government’s advice is that ‘don’t drive when you are drunk’. But I will not always want us to look vividly at this issue from the base and then decide if that is a worthy advice. The government never placed a ban on the production of local gin and alcohol, they collect tax on the importation of hard drinks instead of placing embargo on them, on some occasions, we even hear of cases that some hard drinks not produced in the nation and are not allowed are found in the nation; my question is that did they just disappear from their home countries to appear in this country? If all these things still persist and nothing is done to curb them, then they should stop crucifying those who act under their influence.

 Also, note that these drinks are produced by some people who care less about the affair of the nation but whose driving motive is profit making. The last pity party are those who consume the drinks. They consciously consume them and later they unconsciously misbehave, transgress the law and turn an innocent man to be a victim of their errors. They wake up later to sing, Arise O Compatriot… the same people will later have to be tried and sentenced when found guilty of their misconducts. My kudos goes to Mr Judge with his gavel at the law court. But, let us wait and answer this question without a sense of bias:

Who is to blame?

a.     The government.

b.     The manufacturers.

c.      The patriotic consumers.

Wisdom is profitable to direct!

There is another plague that gives me a reason to ponder, that the never ending abortions done today, are they carried out by animals or humans? Oh! I admitted earlier, that schooling can only drive the knowledge of arithmetic and grammar into your head, only true education can imbibe ethical values and moral standards into the people. There is increase in the establishment of schools by the day, graduates are pouring out of school like rain from heaven, yet these obnoxious acts persist. Abortions have now become the ambition of our youths, what a catastrophe! But I have nobody to blame, though I heard some countries had their legislators conduct meetings if abortion and teenage marriage should be encourage. That’s not a bad idea anyway, or what do you think? But, do not let us forget that the arithmetic progression in the standard of living have not been able to proportionately meet up with the geometric progression in population growth. Are we saying that the youths should keep enjoying the fangs of death they are entertained by this lackadaisical attitude? I think you will help me out in my question;

Who is to blame?

a.     The government.

b.     The parents.

c.      The medical practitioners.

d.     The people.

Honestly, we need to listen and respond to the small people’s anthem. We need to all consider how injustice and misappropriation of funds have kept able men in somnolent darkness. I know we are born equal, but men have placed themselves above equality. The men who pay the taxes have no electricity in their homes but the man up there enjoys the comfort of consistent power supply. They work to pay the tax but your work is to play with the tax.

Arise O Compatriots, Arise!

“The vices of the rich and rich are mistaken for error; and those of the poor and lowly, for crimes.”

-Lady Marguerite Blessington

“If the jury have no right to judge of the justice of a law of the government, they plainly can do nothing to protect the people against the oppressions of the government; for there are no oppressions which the government may not authorise by law.”

-Lysander Spooner

“Until justice is blind to colour, until education is unaware of race, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the colour of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.”

-Lyndon B. Johnson

“Corn can’t expect justice from a court composed of chickens.”

-African proverb

“FiatjustitiaetPereat mundus

Let justice be done, even though the world perishes.”

-Ferdinand I

An opinion held by the majority is stronger than the king himself. A rope woven of many strands is strong enough to hold a lion. Let us all say yes to justice. Let’s stand by it. Let’s live by it.

“Words without actions are the assassins of idealism”

-Herbert Hoover

Laws in this nation are like cob webs that only hold ants and fly and let go of the spider itself and other bigger creatures. We make rules for the poor and lowly as aristocracy is paired with democracy. Don’t forget that the price paid for the freedom of this nation was the comfort and noble lives of some legends, which at the place of rest will have their eyes soaked with what this generation is making out of leadership. To the unscrupulous leaders, tell them we are tired of their tales. Sooner or later, they will all dance to the rhythm of the music.

“We look forward to seeing a nationwhere the commoners’ child and thecommoners leaders’ children will sit together to feast on the same table, be exposed to the same level of education and be governed by the same law. This I think is the true picture of democracy.”

Furthermore, I will have us look at the age-long challenge of leadership. Without an iota of doubt, leadership is all about the ability to influence to achieve a common goal. It has to do with the ability to touch the heart of the people to effect a change. It has to do with the depth of your loyalty, the breadth of your honesty, the clarity of your transparency and the height of your servitude. These must be registered in the heart of those in position of leadership that their position is a call to accept responsibility; their appointment to office is a call to duty, service, commitment and a call to pilot the affairs of the country with a heart of patriotism and not honorary positions (accolade).  Many have come and gone, you either use the opportunity you are given well or you blow off your integrity. The entrance into leadership is never an opportunity to have a bite of the national cake. Nevertheless, don’t forget that most of these people are elected. Election? I think that is a league played by some people in my country.

“Politics is the game and election is the league.”

My people go to the people once again. You have succeeded in inviting murderers to take away the child you carried in your wombs for months. We have sold our future for pleasure, our votes for notes, and our rights for pies. Surely, you must reap the dividends of your ignorance. The electoral bodies are now playing the game of highest bid; a man whose fingers are complete now has ten votes. Some even honestly cast their vote with a belief that a leader that has a bad reputation will exchange with time and do better. What a wonderful mistake!

“Reputation is a fruit of character”

The reason I will not believe that kind of change is that a tree will never produce two kinds of fruit. How do you think such a change is visible? As a voter know that;

“Ballot is more powerful that bullet.”

Also, you either give the good leader a chance to rule or gamble with the future. And if you choose not to vote, good but know that;

“Bad leaders are voted by good people who do not vote.”

-George Jean Nathan

Who shall we blame then?

a.     The aspirants and leaders.

b.     The people.

I have to stop at this moment; I’m done digging, now we can all see what the make-up of the foundation is. Never you think that for all questions asked on “who is to blame?” that that the answer has been spelt out in the observation. That will be a complete misconception! Please note that;

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

                                                                             -Martin Luther King Jnr

Arise O Compatriot, Arise! Stop asking what the nation can offer you, why don’t you step back and ask yourself if there is anything you can offer the nation. We all have a role to play in making our nation a better place to live.

“Few will have the greatness to bend historyitself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in all the acts will be written the history of this generation.”

-Robert F. Kennedy

We all must have our strength reinforced to fight bribery and corruption, examination malpractice, abortion, bad leadership and the likes. Let us all know that we are sojourners on earth, today we are here, tomorrow we are off. Strive to do your best the first and last time you will have to affect humanity and do it for good.

“Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the

world your best anyway. Few of us can do great things, but all of us

can do small things with great love.”

– Mother Teresa

Let us all walk back up the aisle, and open the way for moral standard and good leadership to have their way. Let us believe that this change can only be deliberate and WE ARE THE CHANGE.

The election approaches, another opportunity. An opportunity for us to make a choice, will it be for change or stagnation?. Its ours to decide.

NIGERIA GOOD PEOPLE GREAT NATION