OPINION: URGENT NEED TO CHANGE THE UNHEALTHY NEGATIVE NARRATIVE SET OUT BY OLDER GENERATION FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

BY ZIK GBEMRE

It breaks my heart, to see that all the values, uprightness and morality, that once held and made our society relatively stable, noble and productive, seem to have been eroded from one generation to another. So much so that some of us, as the older generation in this 21st century, are now wondering what went wrong. What are parents/guardians/public office holders and every adult that has attained some measure of responsibility, been doing, or not doing, which has contributed to, and responsible for today’s mayhem in our society? What went wrong? Why have we become so comfortable with what is wrong, that we chose not to condemn it? And when few persons chose to do the right thing, they are seen as people who are not normal, or that something is wrong with them. We see this anomaly in both the public sector and private sector.

With regards to this, we could not help but want to share some of the thoughts by Fela Durotoye, who in one of his well-circulated short videos on social media platforms, reiterated the urgent need for us as a people, to revive the culture of DOING THE RIGHT THING AT ALL TIMES, REGARDLESS OF WHO IS DOING THE WRONG THING. Durotoye started by telling a story of his personal experience, which clearly demonstrates the state and disposition of most Nigerians, whether rich or poor. In his words:

“One evening, on a Sunday evening, I was driving down the Streets of Lagos, and I approached a traffic light. There wasn’t much traffic going on that day. In fact, there was really no other car crossing pass the light. And so, I stopped at the traffic light because it was a red light. Apparently, they had been a little build up of the traffic behind me but because there was no other car passing across the road, I started to hear the honking of a car behind me. I peeped into my rear-view mirror and it was a beautiful Jeep, and this lady who was driving was honking and telling me literally, signaling with her hand, Go, Go, Go… Of course, I wasn’t going to go. I wouldn’t go, even if I could. But I wouldn’t. And finally, when the light turned green and we turned into another major intersection, this lady drove up behind me and she started to frantically, and wound down the glass, said to me in a language that I understand (Yoruba); ori o ope, ori o ope! And she was just saying to me – You’re mad, you’re crazy; for essentially stopping at the red light. What the lady didn’t realize is that I am a Commissioned Officer of the Nigerian Police Force. And literally, it is unlikely that anybody would not have arrested me as a police man, simply because, maybe I went and passed the red light. But I wouldn’t go pass that red light. Not because I am scared of being arrested, but for the simple reason that: Number 1 – I fear God; Number 2 – I love Nigeria and I love the people of this nation; Number 3 (which is the most important) – I respect the Law. That respect for the law is a respect I have chosen to give the law because of my VALUES.

“You see, the other thing the lady did not realize was that as she was winding down her glass to tell me how crazy I was, she had wound down the rear glass, and two little beautiful girls were peeping their heads out of this beautiful Jeep, looking at this man who their mum had just told was a mad man for stopping at the red light. You see, basically what had happened was they had just gone through their first driving lesson because “Children Learn More From What You Are Than What You Teach (W.E.B. Du bois). 5-year-old and 8-year-old girls, and they have just learned from their mum that anyone who stops at a red light is crazy. This, is essentially how we have confused a generation, and I am sure you know that: There was a time when there was a generation that knew what was right from wrong, and chose to do what was right? And somehow. They passed on the wrong signal to the next generation. Every generation should be handed an advantage to go further than the last generation, and every time you give an advantage to the next generation, your generation is called a great generation. Whilst that generation got confused, they started to look at what was right, and look at what was wrong, and called what was wrong ‘ALRIGHT’.

“You know the word ‘Alright’ comes from two words; Altered – Right – it is used to be wrong but somehow now, it is Altered-Right (ALRIGHT). But Right is Right, and Wrong is Wrong, and when people start getting confused, that means they need to sit down with some real people. But guess what, we have now come to another generation, and I think they are the Most Confused. This generation that begins to think that what is wrong is right, and what is right is wrong. BUT A LIE DOES NOT BECOME THE TRUTH, WRONG DOES NOT BECOME RIGHT, AND EVIL DOES NOT BECOME GOOD, JUST BECAUSE IT IS ACCEPTED BY A MAJORITY. And so, we have to go to a place where we can RESTORE, not only OUR VALUES, but we also put it back – the right values – INTO THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR PEOPLE. And the only way we can do so, is each of us, especially You and I, chosen to be the A, B, C, and D of our Values.

“First, we have to be A: BE AN ADVOCATE FOR YOUR VALUES. We have to be proponents of these values. We have to go out and literally, on behalf of the values, tell people what you stand for. My great mentor, Dr. Christopher Kolade said: ‘It is not enough for you to stand for what is right, you must let people know what you stand for.’ But then, apart from being an Advocate, we have B: BECOME BELIEVERS AND BEHAVERS OF OUR VALUES. Believe in accordance with your beliefs. And then C: BE A CHAMPION FOR YOUR VALUES. Chose to make and convince other people what it is that you stand for. And the last one, D: BE A DEFENDER FOR YOUR VALUES. You know you have to defend your values. Every time your values are violated, stand up for your values. You are standing on a queue for instance, and somebody else wants to go past that queue, say something. Don’t just say Nigerians, No! Say something. Insist that your values, the right values, must also be defended. And this is how we will put the right values back into the consciousness of our nation. Each one, Advocating, Believing, Convincing, and Defending our values. So, go ahead, and do the right thing at all times, regardless of who is doing the wrong thing.”

This process of changing the narrative, and bringing back the values that once held our society firmly, we believe, must start from the political leaders/class, who are the CUSTODIANS OF OUR COLLECTIVE WEALTH, and the best examples that the Nigerian masses would easily follow in doing the right thing. This is because, by virtue of the positions they occupy in public offices, they have the power to influence the change we all so desire to see in our society. The truth is, the rot we see in our society today, is daily made worse by the irresponsible and unaccountable dispositions of the Nigerian political leaders at all levels of Government, most of whom, are the very people who break the laws and disregard the rule of law that ought to uphold and differentiate wrong from right, and right from wrong.

Recently, we noted in a write up, of how that in this 21st Century, and despite all the enormous unimaginable wealth – natural/material and human resources, abundantly available and enjoyed (by some selected few) in the Niger Delta region, some of our children in Delta State are still learning on bare floors in their Schools. These were my thought, when I saw sad pictures of Students sitting on the bare floor to receive their lessons in Ogbe-Udu Secondary School in the heart of Udu LGA of Delta State. I could not imagine the level of impunity with which the Delta State Government shies away from its core responsibility of tending to the welfare of Deltans, including, but not limited to, providing conducive learning environment for basic education.

While commenting on this, some of my friends, Alhaji Abdullah Bukar and Mr. Emeka Obi, both Shell Staff and former leaders in Shell Nigeria, noted that: “It is not just students sitting on the floor, with minimal books and other educational aids. But look at the classroom itself, bad floor, broken ceiling, frayed painting, and number of pupils in it. I can easily extend this same situation to any village in Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom; States that receive the highest allocation from Federal Government resources (Akwa Ibom gets 4 times what Katsina State gets, with half the population and one quarter of the surface area) before I even list others less well endowed. I still see villagers collecting drinking water from streams as domestic water supply from safe sources is not available. Why are we pauperizing and destroying our societies and social services? If you come to this school at 0900 hours, you will find less than half of the teachers present, less than 20% of the pupils playing in the field. We have to change willingly before a revolution is dumped on us. That will take us another 50 years to recover if at all. The wise men from other climes who appreciate our resources can enjoy them. Free from our encumbrances. Look at Congo and Mali to see the template.

“Very painful!! This is wickedness at the highest level!! Like I commented on one of your write-ups sometime last year or so, I no longer blame the thieving politicians. My blame is now fully on the masses whose actions and behaviour encourage the politicians to continue stealing. The people seem to have fully surrendered to the politicians and encourage them to continue. It is a pity!”, Emeka Obi commented.

For Bukar: “In my view, three groups ruin this country, and our LACK OF COMPETENCE AND INTEGRITY makes them perpetual until the revolution comes. The three are Lawyers and Judiciary, Bankers and Accountants and then Politicians and their Aides. Our Civil Service lacks the competence and Integrity and Values for common good to prevent these groups from their rabid depredations.”

The man that I consider as my role model, Tai Solarin, was one upright man that I still respect so much. Even though, he was accused of accepting to serve as Chairman of the People’s Bank by Babangida, and though he was branded as an atheist, but he was godlier and more upright than Nigerian Pastors and Bishops who call themselves so-called men of God. I used to read his column then in the Tribune in the early 70s, when I got the opportunity of seeing a newspaper in the Secondary school’s library then. Tai Solarin was indeed a great man, and I was moved and touched by one of his famous New Year written messages then titled: “May Your Road Be Rough.” I really learnt a lot from his write ups, and they greatly inspired me, even though I don’t wear kahki shorts like him.

The bottom line is that, for us to have a better society in the near and far future, the work starts from the political leaders, while the followers play their part as well by not covering or supporting what is wrong, especially when that wrong is coming from those in Government – be they our brothers/kinsmen/party affiliations/same tribe or religion. And most importantly, let every person that has attained adulthood be the ‘EXAMPLES’ for the current younger and next generations to start building on that consciousness of knowing what is right and doing it, as against what is wrong and shunning it. As an adult and a leader in any capacity, you cannot be preaching one thing, but your life is showing something else negative.

Zik Gbemre

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