I THINK WE HAVE A BETTER CHANCES OF RESTORING THIS FALLING GIANT OF AFRICA, NIGERIA THE ONLY PLACE WE CALL OUR HOME, PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE AND LETS US JOIN HANDS TOGETHER TO MAKE THIS PLACE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE.
In Nigeria and beyond, our problems are known and talked about. The Newspapers are replete with the problems of Nigeria. Some fear disintegration, other decry the level of corruption and the state of our social infrastructure, whilst others worry about decadence in our institutions of learning. No one seems to have the solutions to these problems. But I have a vision of a better Nigeria. A Nigeria that can fulfill the dreams of our ancestors. The vision requires a fight to accomplish. I am confident of victory. But this is not a battle that one man can fight or win. Every Nigerian must participate to make Nigeria a better place for us all.
Overall, virtually every sphere of life in Nigeria is suffering from one form of decadence or another. We may not be able to wipe out corruption but we can make it unfashionable. We may not enthrone the best form of democracy in the world but we can ensure a stable political terrain that will enthrone a lasting and truly Nigerian democracy. All Nigerian schools need not be of Harvard standard but we can sanitize our education system.
We can do many more things affecting every aspect of life in Nigeria. There is however, a big problem – where do we start from? We ought to and should start from the beginning, the root of the problems – the Nigerian people. There is need now, more than ever before, to establish a National Values System so that Nigerians can achieve lasting peace and prosperity. If we establish a veritable values system, we can build a truly free, democratic, independent and prosperous nation that could be a role model in the world.
Why do I have this confidence that it can be well with Nigeria in spite of the inadequacies in the polity? It is because there is something intrinsically good and strong about the Nigerian spirit which is remarkably unquenchable; which turns defeat to victory; which makes us laugh when we should be crying. But which has been bastardized and perverted – derogatorily, now referred to as THE NIGERIAN FACTOR. It is the future of Nigeria.
The website is a foundational step for the realization of my vision for a better Nigeria. I am not much given to dreams, but for a while now, my nights have been filled with the same dream – that Nigeria can be a better place if we, as a people, collectively resolve to do things differently and positively. Over the years, a lot of well intended policies have been articulated and several bodies have been set up by successive Governments but the Nigerian society is still weighed down by decadence in virtually every sphere of life. Why is this so? In my humble view, the problem is with the people and the solution is with the people.
I propose therefore, a revolution whose spirit and content shall be called the National Values System. This will be done through all conceivable media or channels of communication including all schools of learning in Nigeria: primary schools, secondary schools, all tertiary institutions including the Universities, the Polytechnics, the Nigerian Defence Academy, the Police Academy, National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria and all other professional institutions in Nigeria. The public and private sector of our socio-economic endeavours will not be left out. A well oiled machinery for a broad based and consistent campaign utilizing the print and electronic media, non-governmental agencies and our local institutions will be required.
The time has come to revolutionize the Nigerian society. If we must save our country, there is need for a social renaissance; there is need to engineer a new way of thinking amongst our people. What better way to do this than through persuasive teaching. The revolution will seek to establish a new values system amongst our people; a system in which leaders and office holders will uphold their oath of office, the military will subject itself to civilian authority, the civil populace will pay their taxes as at when due; Police, Custom and Immigration Officers will not demand or receive bribe, contractors will not collude with government officials to inflate contracts and students will not engage in examination malpractice. A system where equity and justice across social, political, cultural, religious, age, gender and ethnic lines prevail. The national values system will seek to create a new Nigeria.
The principal aim of my vision for the propagation of the National Values System in Nigeria is to introduce and create acceptance of a new values system in Nigeria. The ultimate goals is to create a NEW NIGERIA by changing the people’s socio-political and economic behaviours and to restore lost values in order to sanitize every aspect of life in Nigeria. The following are the objectives to be pursued through this revolution.
To imbue in Nigerians, a culture of patriotism and nationalism.
To create a stable political atmosphere for the sustenance of democracy.
To foster national unity above sectional/tribal interests.
To create a culture of true democratic principles and attitudes.
To create a suitable socio-economic climate for the realization of our economic, agricultural, social and political potentials.
To create a new attitude to public duties, public utilities and the protection of our common wealth.
To create a favourable attitude towards taxation.
To combat and eradicate corruption in the Nigerian socio-economic system.
To revive the educational sector and ensure improved standards in Nigerian schools.
To create a new favourable image for Nigeria and Nigerians within the International Community and restore our acceptability therein.
The Role Religious Leaders
The various religious organizations cutting across major religions can also help by instructing their members appropriately. The current high level of intolerance and violence that characterize religious practices in Nigeria and the globe is an indicator that the various religions have a lot to do instill discipline among their members because they have a predominant role in mounding of characters, and outlook of our youth and of people in general. It is a general belief every good religion teaches good values. Such values as preached should be made part of daily life by both leaders and members. Our youths who are the sure leaders of tomorrow have a lot of values to learn from our religious leaders. Unfortunately, most influential church leaders in Nigeria spend too much time preaching the gospel of prosperity without teaching how it could be lawfully achieved. Modern day have succumbed to the temptation of becoming Pentecostal merchants, selling the word of God and building personal fortunes thereby. I do not have a Roman Catholic background, but I found a true link between the Pope John Paul that died without any earthly possession. As we would say in Nigeria, he died in penury, he died a poor man. But obviously, he was simply Christ like having so much yet owning nothing.
Our Pastor and church leaders could do so much for Nigerians and particularly for their adoring (sometimes worshipful) followers by devoting a small fraction of their huge resources to building a proper values system their huge resources to building a proper values system in Nigeria which will be practiced and upheld by Christians and non-Christians alike. Come to think of it the partisans of acceptable standards or codes of what is right or wrong is the reason the non-Christian or even atheist American has a higher moral standard of right and wrong than many tongue speaking, miracle working pastors in Nigeria.
The Role of Traditional Rulers
Before the advent of colonialism, the territories comprised in the political entity now known as Nigeria were largely autonomous communities which were held together by socio-cultural and political ties under distinct traditional institutions. These institutions had clearly identified leading structures that were built around veritable value systems. At the end of colonial rule in 1960, the strength and relevance of these traditional institutions had been weekend and their images had been thoroughly white washed leaving them at the mercies of the emergent post colonial political structures.
In spite of this, traditional institutions and leaders representing them have remained largely influential within local communities all over Nigeria. Regrettably, the scourge of corruption and its attendant spirit of sycophancy have abandoned their God-given roles as the standard bearers of our moral existence. They now reward thieving public officers, fraudulent money launders and drug pushers with chieftaincy titles. These titles usually go to the highest bidder. These awards are celebrated in shameful circus-like ceremonies where the poor and need join in the charade in the hope of picking the crumbs from the tables of their oppressors. What a shame!
The traditional rulers as they are often called must abandon this new tradition of hobnobbing with corrupt members of their communities. They must occupy a unique position which has both spiritual and lineal connotations. They can still command the respect and followership of members of their communities. There, they have a special role to play in the Nigerian revolution because if they remove their canopy of support, big thieves in Nigeria will be exposed for who they are to their communities. Traditional rulers of all grades must lead the campaign to make corruption unfashionable. This they can be achieve by rejecting and encouraging their subjects to reject persons in their communities whose sources of wealth are questionable.
ICPC AND EFCC.
I have read the enabling instruments establishing the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. I have also tried to follow their activities over the past four year. I also appreciate the intendment of the Government in establishing both bodies- To cover every conceivable area of corrupt practices and bring offenders to book.
In my opinion however, there are huge overlaps in their functions which make their activities sometimes seem like duplication of efforts at best. Most of the time, it really seems to Nigerian that one of the two commissions, the EFCC is doing so much whilst the ICPC does very little.
Surely, there must be arguments in favour of retaining the two Commissions as separate entities but I believe that end objectives will be better achieved by merging the two bodies. This can be achieved through the consolidation of the provisions enabling statutes by the National Assembly.
Merging the two bodies will definitely enhance effectiveness and reduce the administrative and other costs of running the Commission as is done presently. Wasteful duplication is a function of a corrupt system. It is clearly unjustifiable to run these two parallel structures when one well organized and funded structure can do better and cost less.
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