Date Published: 10/26/09

Corruption: Character and Moral Education the way forward

May I commend your newspaper for its vibrancy and firm belief in holding the government accountable to the people?

Nigeria is passing through a difficult moment with the feast of unending embarrassments from legislatures in the National Assembly  concerning their unethical  canvass for the passing into law the immunity bill that will crumble the anti corruption war championed

By EFCC. Although corrupt practices have been a recurring decimal in the nation’s political history, its rate and dimension since the reprise of civil rule in 1999 is approaching beyond acceptable level in the country.

It is based on these fact that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is advocating for a psychiatric evaluation for public office holders, and a special court to prosecute those that have looted our treasury; this is more so as there are a lot of technicalities involved in the judicial system which is slow in nailing the already known financial criminals that have turned our youth in to prostitutes and arm robbers.

However in order to groom our children and instill moral values that will save these present generation and the unborn, I read recently that the EFCC is advocating for CHARACTER and MORAL education to be inculcated in to our educational system. That was the case in the early years in Nigeria, but as the society began to worship money and material wealth (with less regards for good character) support for old fashioned character education in the society crumbled, with morality taking a dangerous nosedive.

The schools in Nigeria today are strewn with cases of vandalism, cultism, and exams malpractices with disrespect for authority and an upsurge in prostitution, drug abuse and other self destructive behaviors. Most of the youth continue with these anti-social behaviors in their adult lives bringing about societal decay in our country today.

What therefore is the way forward? To me, CHARACTER AND MORAL EDUCATION is a holistic approach that includes civic education and connects the moral dimension of education with student’s lives. This approach is not a new idea; it is as old as society itself. It addresses ethical dimensions of the individual and society and examines how standards of rights and wrongs are developed. It teaches core moral values.

In many developed societies, character and moral education  is introduced in the class rooms through the study of Heroes and Heroines and the student use the opportunity to examine the character traits personified in the role models and aspire to emulate there good character and life. Thereby, helping the child to set a very high moral standard. Sadly, in Nigeria today, the role models the youth are exposed to are the corrupt politicians who are WEATHY without a meaningful source of income neither do they contribute to the development of the society. For instance, the Bill the Honourable members are trying to pass in to law ( “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Legislative Houses and Privileges Act, Cap L12 2004, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria and Related Purposes, 2009’ ) will make them untouchable. It is an immoral bill that will hamper the fight against corruption. The sordid story of some lawmakers with their corrupt practices and or corrupt tendencies, which we all know: Elumelu, Ugbane, Etteh, Wabara, to mention but a few remains an ugly reference point.

If this approach is imbedded once again in our educational curriculum, it will go along way in tackling the rampant corruption cases that is the bane of Nigeria’s democracy and economic development.

As Theodore Roosevelt noted, “to educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace in a society”. Conclusively, corruption is a human problem and a crime that is absolutely so ghastly; that a person who is fighting it well within his right, to fight against it by any means necessary until it is eliminated.

It is based on this premise that I believe the EFCC is advocating for a special court to prosecute the looters of our treasury, thereby putting the image of the country to international ridicule. The EFCC needs our support in this regards. Let us rise up to the challenge.

            TERSOO BIAM a public affair analyst from Jos.