In general terms, values essentially provide a framework for ethical behavior, social interaction, and the pursuit of a better future. They are the bedrock of every human society; shaping individuals, communities, and the world. Values define what is acceptable behavior and that which is not. These values are often embedded in cultural norms, traditions, and customs, determining the collective identity of a group of people.
Ethics are moral codes that direct and govern the conduct of an individual. They are very much embedded in the value system; meaning that values, morals, and ethics are inextricably tied together. Sadly, the foundation of ethics and moral values in the modern world is globally on the decline. The concern is more disturbing in Nigeria.
The way we appreciate or neglect values suggests the kind of society we seek to entrench for posterity. There’s a strong connection between the present and the future of a society, and the main element of that connection is the existing generation of young people. How we guide them to acknowledge the place and relevance of ethical values determine the kind of future we want to bequest for them.
Today, our young people who are invariably the future of our country are needlessly compelled to watch the financial rascality of political leaders and other public office holders. Children in modern Nigeria are equally induced to witness and live with the moral sloppiness of lackadaisical parents, decadent neighbourhood, and a morally bankrupt society. For example, they are witnesses to how some leaders are frequently accused and dragged to court over economic and financial crimes. Young people see how persons trusted with power steal public funds in a manner that only the crazy would; thieving far more than they need even if they were to live forever.
What are our leaders teaching the ‘future’ when public funds are being diverted to private bank accounts by those who had public trust and mandate to ensure transparency and accountability? In the past, a special intervention coordinator who served under late President Buhari once said she transferred N44 million to her personal bank account by mistake. Hmm, Mistake? Before then, a former minister under President Jonathan also said she transferred $21 billion to her personal account by mistake. For Allah’s sake, what antecedence are public office holders setting for the ‘future’ of Nigeria?
Leaders and indeed everyone in a position of authority at the family, community, regional and national levels are supposed to be custodians of social and moral values; as epitomes of virtuous qualities in their public and private life. Unfortunately, this is not the case in contemporary Nigeria.
What legacy are we handing down to our heirs and indeed the inheritors of the future when parents nowadays engage teachers in physical fight each time their children or wards are punished for breaking school rules and regulations? What kind of society are we orchestrating for posterity when teachers are being accused of sexual harassment of those entrusted in their care? Or lawmakers turning chambers into wrestling or boxing rings? Or security operatives conniving with crooks to perpetrate crimes? Or judges delivering judgement instead of justice?
Values are fundamental to human society, acting as guiding principles that shape individual behaviours and cultural norms. They influence how people interact; contributing to individual well-being and societal progress. A nation that brazenly ignores the welfare of its medical doctors, teachers including professors, the police, and other categories of workers as well as those who dutifully served the country and retired from service is a country that doses not wish its present and its future well.
Culture in its broader sense consists of several dynamics of identity including religion, language, customs, beliefs, and traditions. They collectively function to define specific codes of ethics for every social group of humans. Culture defines those things that make a person/people right or wrong, kind or cruel, humble or arrogant, honest or dishonest, decent or self-indulgent, courteous or discourteous, generous or mean, just or biased, reasonable or unreasonable, respectful or rude.
One of the strong fabrics of ethics in most African cultures is respect for elders and constituted authorities. Shockingly, this particular social value has been lost in many cultures beyond tolerable level of expectations. Today, when a young man meets an older person (familiar or unfamiliar) to make enquiries, he goes straight to the point without any form of salutations. Worst again, the young person would not be polite in his enquiries as if he were addressing his housemaid; all because the gen-z generation of today lacks respect for human dignity. Also, today’s young people have largely lost the sense of humility. I fear that phrases such as “I’m sorry” could, in the near future go extinct and may only be found by those who care to look for it in dictionaries that listed it for definition purposes.
In the culture that saw me grow as a young boy, you can’t walk past an older person without greeting him or helping him to carry his luggage if he had any. As part of respect for seniority in age, Nupe culture requires the youngest among a group of children to, after eating from the same bowl, lick the dish and carry it to the kitchenette where he is not to wash it. But even in Nupe culture, which Nigeria’s Ordinary President Ahmad |Isa once described in his popular human rights radio programme (Berekete Family) as depicting the height of respect for elder, things are beginning change though not radically. The only two institutions where respect and discipline still remain appreciative are the military and the medical profession.
Allah in Qur’an 66:6 states that, “Save yourself and your families from a Fire whose fuel will be people and stones.” In this context therefore, the present cannot afford to watch its gen-z population threaten their collective future by means of ruining the very foundations of its culture. The family as the smallest unit of the society, more than the community and the larger society, plays strategic roles in the protection, preservation, and promotion of values.
It has a huge responsibility when it comes to transmitting values to young generations. The family is the foremost platform for instilling values in children. As the first teacher, mothers are life-shapers in the early life of children. May Allah guide us all to collectively gift our country a future that would be the pride of posterity, Amin.
