By VICTORI ALI
On May 27, 2024, state capitals across Nigeria were agog with the celebration of Children’s Day. In what has become an annual ritual, it is a date set aside to celebrate our children, particularly those in primary and secondary schools.
In the days of yore, it was a fun-filled, carnival-like event which featured march pass and the subsequent awards of trophies and certificates for their excellent performance. There was also the children’s day party where assorted gifts were presented to children by the First Lady at Government House.
Yours sincerely was privileged to be an active participant in such events in the late 70s. As we celebrated this year’s Children’s Day, I vividly recall those days with nostalgia. The beautiful memories continue to linger. But are Children’s Day celebrations still being celebrated this way? If not, why not?
To start with, the Nigerian child is today an endangered species. Education, which is an essential component for the growth and development of any society, is at its lowest ebb at the moment. Apart from lack of qualified manpower (teachers) to handle this all-important sector of societal development, the infrastructure is an eyesore.
It is very sad that a secondary school leaver aiming to go to a tertiary institution can hardly speak flaunt and simple English, yes, our borrowed language. Ditto for writing. What really went wrong? From the abysmal performance of school children these days, it is obvious that the teachers also need to be taught. The basic teaching skills and principles seem to have taken flight. Even teachers themselves have alluded to the fact that, because of the lack of alternate job openings, they resort to teaching as a last resort. No passion, no skills!
Even while the few teachers are putting in their best, the children themselves are embroiled in social vices. It is no longer news that primary and secondary schools are now breeding grounds for cultists. It no longer a secret that tertiary institutions have become open arena for cultists.
Needless to say, other social vices like prostitution, lesbianism, homosexuality, murder, theft and armed robbery, amongst others, have become the new normal in campuses of tertiary institutions, even secondary schools. How did we get to this stage? How did a country so blessed with human potentials suddenly slip into such a shameful state? Certainly, Nigeria of the 1960s is not the Nigeria of today. Virtually everything has gone awry!
Nigerians have thrown morals to the winds. Greed, avarice, covetousness and the hydra-headed monster, corruption, have taken the centre-stage. Conversely, merit, honesty, transparency and the fear of God no longer matter. We are now in a Hobbesian state of nature where life is brutish and short. Survival of the fittest is the rule of the game, while primitive accumulation is the ultimate goal.
A country enmeshed in such a mess cannot aspire for, nor aim at, development. Sadly, Nigerian children, dubiously dubbed as leaders of tomorrow, are watching and learning the infamous antics of present-day Nigerian leaders. One is tempted to agree to a reasonable extent with that literary icon, the late Professor Chinua Achebe, who asserted in his book, THE TROUBLE WITH NIGERIA, that Nigeria’s problem is chiefly that of leadership.
And what about the pervasive corruption, kleptomania, ineptitude, nepotism and the relegation of merit, honesty and integrity to the background which are plaguing Nigeria? Can a country achieve its desired goals with such a farrago of social vices? Expectedly, the Nigerian child is following in the footsteps of the present leaders. With technology at their finger-tips, Nigerian children are adapting to such negative tendencies with the rapidity of ‘bullets’.
The unbridled activities of con-artists and ‘yahoo boys’ who have occupied the Nigerian space is yet another cause for concern. It is often said in Nigerian Pidgin English: “Goat no de born sheep.” Translated, it simply means that the Nigerian children feel that the corruption of the present crop of leaders is normal. Soo sad. And what is to be done? Or is it a hopeless and helpless case? Is there going to be light at the end of the tunnel?
Nigerians are worried by the current trend of events. The youth can no longer be trusted, particularly with power. Take the case of Yahaya Bello, the erstwhile Governor of Kogi State, North-Central Nigeria, who is now in hiding. He became governor of the “Confluence State” when he was less than fifty. With his budding talent, much was expected of him in terms of the development. Alas, when he vacated office, it was discovered that he allegedly fleeced the state of billions of naira, the poor people’s common patrimony. Can the Nigerian youth be trusted with power or leadership? Or is it a case of like father, like son?
Indeed, Nigeria needs redemption at the moment. More than ever before, the need for moral reorientation is very imperative. The rot in our society is stinking to the high heavens. Something must be done. The much advocated national orientation should be a top-bottom thing, yes, leadership by example. To exhibit the sincerity of purpose in the much mouthed anti-corruption crusade by successive administration, the present leaders should match words with empirical action.
Nigerians have been inundated with news of billions of naira and dollars stolen by government officials. Yet, they often go scot-free. At best, when they are found guilty, they get the least sentences. Obviously, fighting corruption is not a tea party. In her book, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous, Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, who now heads the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, alluded to the fact that fighting corruption, with particular reference to the oil sector, is a Herculean task.
