A country is primarily a cluster of families of varying and variegated values, creeds, ethos and beliefs spread across the length and breadth of its legitimate and recognised geographical space.
It goes without saying, therefore, that a country is as good as the families that make it up. Conversely, a country is as bad as the families inherent in it. In other words, you build a nation of your desire from the family level and not the other way round, using the bottom-top approach methodology.
From all indications considered, the family plays a significant and huge role in nation-building because it is the first agent of socialization where an individual learns basic ideals and values before venturing into society via schools, religious gatherings, and social interactions, among others. The family is the primary foundation of a nation.
No individual exists in isolation. He or she is a product of a family, which, in turn, provides the fulcrum for nation-building. Barring exceptions, a well-behaved individual is most likely to be from a decent family just like a badly-behaved individual is most likely to be from an indecent family devoid of good character building blocks.
From the foregoing, it is imperative for us to have families with strong values of honesty, respect for others, fairness, equity, justice, dedication, transparency, accountability, loyalty, patriotism and a high sense of nationalism. These are required in order to build a nation of strong spiritual values, enduring family values and national ethos.
It is a given that no nation can progress or actualise its manifest destiny without a defining national ethos, which is an aggregation of family and societal values forged over time. The family trains an individual to be of good behaviour, patriotic, nationalistic, tolerant and diligent. All these impact on nation building.
Evidently, God is at the epicentre of the whole equation for He represents the universal set to which the nation, the family and the individual are the subsets in a concentric formation. Extending this further, a Godly person is just, fair-minded, diligent, loyal to a course, faithful, and non-discriminatory.
However, over the years, I have observed that ours is a nation of largely religious people who are barely spiritual. Yet religiosity without spirituality is like a pack of cards that can easily collapse with just a toss. One would think a country suffused with assorted people of sundry religious persuasions, denominations and hues would have a strong national ethos and enduring values. But the very opposite of this expectation is our current reality because of a missing link – the absence of deep spirituality at personal, family and societal levels.
I think it is high time Nigerians began to imbibe deep spiritual values instead of the performative religiosity on parade on a daily basis in every nook and cranny of the country. This is needed to build the country we all can proudly call our own.
All strong, prosperous and viable countries are anchored on strong spiritual values, enduring family values and national ethos. To belong in this community of nations, we must begin to pursue things that will advance our spiritual values, and activate strong family values which in turn will form the national ethos and creed that will define our identity as a nation.
Eyal Lewin, writing on The Importance of National Ethos in Military Victories, defines the national ethos of a nation as the creed formed from the shared values and traditions through which the nation views its past, present and future. It‘s the integrating element that defines a nation‘s identity and builds it into a coherent social group.
A further deconstruction of Lewin‘s thought shows clearly that a nation‘s identity is tied inexorably to its national ethos and that a nation will either perish or survive depending on the ethos imbued in its citizenry over time.
Can Nigeria corral a national ethos into existence into which every family and individual will key? Yes, it‘s possible! Thankfully, there is an existing agency of the central government that can handle that proficiently and that is the National Orientation Agency (NOA). The agency needs to be reactivated urgently and made to live up to expectations. I have heard Nigerians complain countless times about NOA slacking in its responsibilities. State governments should also devise a means of sensitising their residents and citizens alike on what our national ethos is and how it could help build the nation we desire.
Whoever is in charge of the leadership of the agency must as a matter of necessity wake up to his or her responsibilities of sensitizing Nigerians via various communication channels – both traditional and non-traditional – on the essentiality of embracing deep spiritual values instead of obtuse religiosity, enduring family values and national ethos built around patriotism, mutual tolerance, hard work, nationalism, justice and equality, among others, as a way of building a vibrant, viable and enduring Nigeria.
NOA aside, I will also suggest that all agents of socialization – churches, mosques, schools, mass media, including the family, which is the first agent, must also include in their curricula what it means to have a nation of national ethos, strong family values and deep spiritual values. It‘s a collective responsibility for a man is made for his God, family and country otherwise, man is nothing without the trio on the grand scale of things.
