Follow Us on Google
Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, the University of Lagos gave an unusual speech on May 13, during the 49th convocation ceremony of the institution describing the intelligentsia as an endangered species. The biggest tragedy, he opined, is that they are irrelevant in the affairs of the nation having lost out in the battle for Nigeria. Captivated by such in depth analysis, the reality hit home that there are more endangered species.
Until the Sweet Sweet Codeine jaw-dropping BBC documentary, many people pretended to be blissfully unaware of the level of degeneration. Thankfully, the story snapped many hitherto daydreamers out of the reverie that had equally drugged our psyche into some knee-jerk reaction. Reeling from the shock of the narrative like a drunkard forced out of a prolonged hangover, what was supposed to be an eye-opener actually turned out to be the prelude to a more terrifying nightmare. Sadly the chicken has come home to roost as licentiousness, the monster that society refused to tame has grown like an undeterred weed in an abandoned garden. Badness is upon us and we knew it not!
The impact of the BBC Codeine documentary made the annual National Parenting Conference held in Ikoyi, Lagos on May 19, a solemn assembly of some sort. The event which used to be an annual whining affair by teachers, faith-based organizations and NGOs, became the nucleus of scholarly discourse as experts took participants through the maze of complex social behavior that has comfortably settled in depravity and wantonness. Aptly titled, Critical Rescue, the red flag of turpitude was effectively hoisted on national consciousness with a collective resolve to take decisive steps to salvage a world that is preparing a requiem for morality. Walking back with heavy steps, the question on the lips of everyone was, ‘How did we get here?’
The question how did we get here – drug abuse and addiction, shamelessness, sexual perversion, crime of unimaginable scale Modernity riding on unusual permissiveness, aggressively pushed the boundaries of proper behavior beyond the grasp of conventionality. Youths confronted by myriad of issues unleashed by the chief intruders, the internet and social media, caved in to inconceivable perversion.
The recurrent death of spousal murders resulting from domestic violence is an eloquent testimony of how dysfunctional our society has become.
The dysfunctional society stems from dysfunctional homes where abnormality is the new norm. Families have become breeding grounds for a troubled generation. People don’t seem to know the right from the wrong anymore, signaling a slide to social precipice.
Contemporaneousness has successfully overthrown long-established moral code in a typical family with the resultant effect of a deficit in character. Unlike the years when a family enjoyed regular social interaction where bonding, molding and other core values were established, the new norm is a solitary existence in the midst of the community. It is not uncommon to have the family gathered in the sitting room where no one is talking, there is absolute silence, not because mummy said to keep quiet, but because everyone is busy with their cell phones or one fancy gadget or the other! Many are addicted to habits picked up from virtual acquaintances, who influence and mentor young minds along negative and retrogressive paths.
The aftermath of this communication gap is that critical emotional wellbeing is neglected, impaired and endangered, therefore people don’t know what it is to have proper and acceptable behavior. The stupendous return on investment in ill-conceived ‘modern-ness’ is confusion manifesting in deviant behavior such as sexual dysfunction, emotional imbalance, sodomy, gender reconstruction or sex change. Many have turned to crime and addiction due to lack of care, direction or guidance.
Like an undetected ailment, indecency furtively gnawed at the fabric of civility only rearing its ugly head at the terminal stage. Without a fighting chance, age long values succumbed to the mastery of the new abnormality. Insolence, ill manners and every form of rudeness are considered fashionable.
Patterns that were previously shooed away as Western hoopla have defined the frame work for the new culture catching us unawares and ill prepared. Discounting spiritual elements that have layered our environment, deeply rooted in rebellion, bad manners is the vogue.
Etiquette is also enlisted among endangered species. Morality is on its death bed, a friend lamented in a recent post.
Critical rescue should be accorded a matter of urgent national importance in tackling headlong issues of impurity, which threaten our future. Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong as well as bad and proper behavior should be emphasized, while essential soft skills should be integrated into Social Studies academic curriculum at all levels of education.
Etiquette is a compass, direction, instruction, guide, habit, style and which will ultimately define the destiny of the individual.
Join the fight to restore sanity.
