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Discipline and Morality in Nigeria: A Way Forward By Aisha Liman Yaro
Discipline which involves the practice of training people to obey rules and orders and punishing them if they do not attempt to control their behaviours or situations that result from the way people live in a society, which could be at home, workplace, school, street joints and other places of human endeavours.
On the other hand morality which constitutes a system of moral principles followed by a particular group of people concerns the issues of right and wrong, or good or bad behaviour, as it affects the people and the society at large.
Children and youths in general are more vulnerable to these menaces in every society. For instance, children, youths and even adults have not been immune to upsurge of crime and violence seen in Nigeria over the past two decades, in addition to problems such as high level of corruption, fraud and international money laundering. The whole of the Nigerian society, particularly in the urban areas, have been directly affected by the high incidence of armed robbery, the frequent assaults on the streets, abductions and disappearances and the rise of phenomena such as violent campus cults, gangs and vigilantism. Children and youths are both victims and i n some cases perpetrators of such criminal activities. In addition they have increasingly become caught up in harmful drugs both as users and as peddlers.
The absence of comprehensive up-to-date
police statistics makes it difficult to assess the magnitude of the
involvement of children in various types of criminal activities, or the
impact of crime on children as victims. Nevertheless accounts in the media
as well as the police parading of armed robbers or armed robbery suspects
indicate that most of those engaged in violent crime are either young
adults or teenagers. One media source, citing the police, has reported
that three out of every ten criminals apprehended in cities of Lagos,
Ibadan, Kano and
The major problem confronting our nation Nigeria today is the general level of discipline and morality. Gone are the days when morality and discipline used to be virtues. Today it is the exact opposite. We now live in a decadent society where morality and discipline are overboard. It is unfortunate that our society that was once upright with moral values can today be this morally ill.
The problem is not only restricted to deviants in our society. Even the religious circle, imagine a situation where a religious figure puts a lady member of the same faith in the family way and call extravagant care showing when she gives birth to a bouncing baby boy. What about the lecturer or teacher who puts his student in the family way because of undue assistance sought by her in a promotion examination. However the bank director aid and absent such cases because such loans are shared equally between the borrowers and managers even without any collateral. The manager themselves use fictitious names and documents to steal billions of naira from our banks.
I personally believe that youths of a nation are regarded as the leaders of tomorrow. Leadership is a sacred function, which is quite different from ruler-ship or headship and therefore requires proper and adequate education, training and orientation far ahead of time.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria today nobody cares about youths and tomorrow they are to lead. Since Independence in 1960, youths have been told that they are the leaders of tomorrow, but that tomorrow has never been allowed to come. Despite some of this, youths are working hard and come out from school in flying colours. Some of them engage in one form of examination malpractice or another.
For instance in the November/December SSCE, NECO etc is fought with malpractices as a university graduates write the examination as mercenaries for the worse. The candidate a times see the questions days to the examination itself, or the student writes some of the key points either on a piece of paper or in a recorded material such as a Midget. The question is that ‘who are those responsible for such examination malpractice?’ No doubt it is the highly placed official, examination supervisor, invigilator or even parents. The thing here is the same in employment cases. Jobs are not given to deserving and competent applicants but those who offer brib es, and ladies who can sleep with those in charge, or parents who usually lobby for their children. It should be noted however that such people are not only corrupt but now join the armed robbery gangs to operate. A good number of such people have lost their dignity and also lost their sense of moral decency. Many of our rich men are now drug barons.
In my own personal observation I believe that the major cause of these problems is poverty. For instance, a poor man faces the world as a hopeless underdog. In every event involving him and others the poor man is constantly reminded of his failure in life. Nobody listens attentively whenever he makes a point or any observation; nobody accepts that his opinion merits consideration, so, in most cases, he as a result of this inferiority complex becomes demoralised and hostile to the society with the notion that the society is not just to him. The end result of this is deviation by the sufferer from the conventions and values of his society, which bri ng about disorder and moral decadence in our society today.
Another major cause of the bad trend is the unchecked inflation that has nearly ruined the economy. The prices of most essential things like food, wears, books, etc. have gone beyond the reach of an average family. To worsen it all, the local currency is silently being devalued. This makes imported materials the exclusive rights of the rich, as the poor man dares not go near them. This is why Nigerians today go for fairly used goods.
Extravagant lifestyle of the rich in our society has not helped the situation either. A lot of them acquire their riches illegally and turn around to engage in wasteful spending. Imagine a man that spends over fifty million naira to bury his father or for a wedding when millions of Nigerians are jobless and hungry. Such a man could have a fleet of cars and estates in virtually all the state capitals, yet he does nothing worthwhile to be so rich. That is why most school leavers or jobless adults now go into fraudulent means of getting money.
In this kind of moral ditch it is paramount to look towards a way forward. What are patriotic Nigerians doing to remedy this ugly situation?
The major solution to the problem is provision of employment opportunities for all school leavers. Also there should be mass education of the citizens through media about the dangers inherent -indiscipline and immorality- in our societies. Moreover salaries and wages of public servants should be revived like those in the private sectors. Extravagant parties, particularly night parties, should be banned outright. There should be probe panels to investigate the sources of wealth of all rich men and women in our society. Those whose handiwork cannot justify their riches should have their properties confiscated. Our religious leaders and educational institutions should preach moral values not acquisition of material wealth. Then above all there should be ethics and moral codes for all, and those who fall short of required standard should be made to face the music.
In conclusion the problem of indiscipline and immorality in our society will soon become a thing of the past if my suggestions are well looked into and honestly implemented.
Aisha Liman Yaro Dept. of Mass Comm University of Maiduguri, PMB 1069, Borno state.
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