SIR: The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, has decried the rising cases of social vices like cultism, yahoo-yahoo, truancy, drunkenness, etc. in the education sector.
The degeneration of moral values among the youths in the education sector did not begin today. We had it coming over the years. As a matter of fact, the moral decay seen in the youths of today is a microcosm of goings-on in the larger society. Spartan values like honesty, integrity, discipline, and hard work, have been thrown to the wind. We have replaced them with materialism and excessive love of money. Money is now the sole determinant of what is right or wrong in Nigeria.
Yet, we wonder why the youths have decided to take it to the next level. They are only imitating the elderly. And they are doing it in the best way that they can. Today, the dream of every young person in Nigeria is to make money either by hook or crook. That is why you see teenagers spending millions of naira on drinks in the club and proudly displaying the receipts on social media.
I do not have a problem with lavish spending provided you made your money in a genuine way. However, logic tells us that money spent lavishly on inanities and the mundane is most times ill-gotten. That is why many university students now drive cars and live in expensive hotels without having any genuine source of income. These so-called students will pass through the university system and graduate with degrees. And we wonder why professionalism has fallen across the board. That is why we now have “schools” where people are taught how to do yahoo-yahoo.
The judiciary is also not helping matters. When the yahoo boys are caught, they are mostly fined or jailed for a few months before they are released into the society to continue in their iniquitous ways. Insufficient punishment breeds little or no deterrence to crime.
What is the solution to this get-rich-quick syndrome that plagues our country? For far too long, we have looked towards the government. Government is not the solution. In fact, it is the problem. We know from history that the concept of wealth without work was introduced into Nigeria by the administration of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. The solution can be found in the smallest unit of society – the family. It is in families that individuals with God-fearing character are moulded. Parents should stop chasing money up and down and focus on inculcating the right values in their kids. Spend quality time with them. Teach them what is right and what is wrong. Most importantly, practise what you preach. Children learn better by emulation.
•Peter Ovie Akus,
New Jersey, USA.