There is an increasing rate of moral decadence among youths in Nigeria today. This segment of the population presumed to have been neglected over the years, seem to be protesting this attitude they believe is skewed against them .
The unfortunate descent of a segment of the Nigerian youth population into a generation of money ritualists is a reflection of the collapsing value system of the larger society that the government has helped to nurture perhaps inadvertently.
We have also witnessed, overtime, how the youth remain a leaf, tossed to and fro on the waters of the Nigerian state. They have become a group of people readily sacrificed as tools for achieving selfish political interests across party lines. This has clearly shown that the government is the default bridge between morality and immorality for the youth.
The prevalence of people with unexplained wealth in Nigeria is no doubt what is fuelling the perception that there is no grave consequence for corruption especially among the youth. This is evidently seen in the menace of the Yahoo Yahoo “explosion” among the youths today.
It is in this light that we commend the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its current effort to orientate the young ones on the values of integrity, dignity and good character.
The EFCC last week unveiled its integrity club and zero tolerance club manual for secondary school pupils in the country. The school choice is a perfect one. And there couldn’t have been a better time than now, when most our leaders have failed to live by example, and have immoral compass for our youths.
The integrity initiative is aimed at nurturing a culture of integrity in the formative years of the young population. It actually has two components which are;the EFCC Integrity Club for primary and secondary schools and the Zero Tolerance Club for tertiary institutions.
The Clubs are designed not only to improve children and youths’ understanding and sensitivity to the issues of economic and financial crimes but as a deliberate intervention to imbue them with values which underpin integrity, honesty, transparency and accountability, to influence their behavior and character formation.
We understand the thinking of the EFCC that the choice of school children and youths as torch-bearers in this important crusade is arguably informed by the fact that they are not only vulnerable to the effects of economic and financial crimes but are the potential for breaking with the past years of decadence, to deliver the much-cherished destiny of the nation as a corrupt-free society.
In the opinion of this newspaper, the common saying that the youth are the future of any nation has become a cliché in Nigeria. The leaders must begin to think out of the box on how to rid the country of the rising spate of money ritualists.
We are persuaded to suggest that it is time the government developed a competitive value system for the country, not only for the youths but for all segments of the Nigerian society.
This, in our view, will go a long way in driving the psyche of the Nigerian youth in the direction of strong and healthy values. Integrity pays and there is need for every public officer who steals public funds to understand that one day the long arms of the law will catch up with them.
We urge the current government or the coming one to wake up to its responsibilities to create enabling environment for the youth to thrive. It is only in doing so that the seeming lost hopes will be rekindled. Frustration and depression that trigger the passion for criminality will be drastically reduced. And the menace of money rituals will die a natural death.
The government has always played a crucial role in shaping the direction of values for the younger population. We must as a nation eliminate favouritism, nepotism and all those things that undermine integrity, dignity and character. The country’s leaders must begin to lead by example.
When hard work can assure one of good jobs that can afford one the car of ones dream and the house of ones choice, the temptation to shed blood to acquire these things won’t even cross one’s mind. And in the end, Nigeria will become a much better place as desired by our founding fathers.
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