VETERAN JOURNALIST TASK SOCIAL CLUBS IN FIGHTING MORALS DECADANCE IN NIGERIA SOCIETY
He noted that the new generation lacks all or some basic desirable values are probably being let loose on our nation, adding that, we’ve traded home training, a valued component of our society for unhelpful pursuits.
‘There’s now a massive dislocation of all the cherished values of our society. Disrespectful children, unruly youths, disgruntled adults all chasing after the wrong targets. I think we’ve become a nation in haste.
But when we finally achieve the goal of capturing money, we find out it’s been a fruitless search. Desirable but overrated, acquiring it in loads always turns out to be a non-event’.
The lecturer stated that, research has shown that money can only translate into the happiness we crave, if we spend it on less fortunate members of society, but quickly noted that magical shortcuts ending in violent crimes, mental disorders, mind derailment and several other manifestations in our society.
‘We have a very complex problem. And it all started in the home. Our elders say, an idle hand is a readily available tool for the devil’s use. An engaged youth, is an asset to society, the converse is true for a disengaged youth’, he said.
‘Today, we hear of twenty-something year-olds engaged in devious means to become rich very quickly. Money rituals and senseless slaughter of fellow human beings just to become rich overnight. What are the moral safety valves we’ve put in place to warn them off such abhorrent behavior?.
‘Who are their role models? I don’t have an answer for this. We hear of rich people like Dangote and Mike Adenuga to mention a few names. But do they know that these people had to struggle hard to reach their current destinations?’
He also identified type of music the youths play today,which he stated are misleading , and therefore called the leadership of service organizations like the Lion’s Club to make things right again.‘The Lions with their unique identity can help drive a resocialization leadership project to help our youths unlearn the bad stuff and bring them back to the right path. This will rejuvenate our society’.
He said, ’In the days of Haruna Ishola, Ayinla Omowura, Yusuff Olatunji, Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade to name a few of our legends, music was used to admonish and help people stay on the path of rectitude.
He also noted dwindling education sector was another worrisome factor, stressing that the literacy rate is not encouraging, just as he observed that education spending has decreased since 1996
‘Lions Club can help get our kids back through mentoring, into the mindset that with education they can be somebody in life. Sometimes this would just a few hours of members’ time interacting with students in some schools weekly’.
‘ Nowadays, most primary school students who finish primary six never go on to junior secondary school. Those who do rarely go on to senior secondary school and for those qualified for higher education, very few openings exist’, Ekisola said.
‘Nigerian schools are in a dire state as they greatly suffer from a lack of resources and unqualified educators to teach young pupils. May I therefore use this opportunity to appeal for your dedicated inputs in this regard as even small efforts can yield bounty harvests sometimes?’,the guest lecturer emphasised
