Nigeria Is Morally Broke

“In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.” This was the statement made on national television by Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Nigeria Senate President, at the close of the plenary before a motion of adjournment was moved at the end of the Ministerial Screening on August 9 this year. This was done at the time when they had just purchased a fleet of new SUVs for all members of the National Assembly, without concern for how Nigerians felt. The government removed subsidies and imperiously turned around to begin sharing the money while reassuring suffering poor people of a better tomorrow.

Our society promotes evil over good, impropriety over honesty, immorality over morality, and ungodliness over godliness. Corporate organizations and the few who are stupendously rich spend a huge sum of money to sponsor and promote the evil called BIG BROTHER NAIJA, where unsuitable content, public sex, nudity, a crass display of immorality, and a general fog of decadence are the order of the day. In the end, the winner walks away with hundreds of millions and various gifts.

Sadly, it’s challenging to find institutions promoting technological innovations, excellence in mathematics, or spelling competitions. Where such programs exist, winners go home with a carton of Cowbell milk or Indomie noodles, ridiculous stipends, and laughable prizes, while their counterparts in BBN earn millions for explicit behavior on international TV. It’s worth noting that the European countries where the Big Brother show originated have since abandoned it, replacing it with various talent-hunting, educational, and positively productive shows and programs.

We have many sensors and punitive laws in place against these kinds of obscene shows, yet such shows continue to proliferate daily. The National Broadcasting Commission, which should enforce its codes against unwholesome and obscene acts, has turned a blind eye year after year.

For those who read newspapers daily or watch news channels frequently, rape and the violation of underage children are repugnant decadences. A new United Nations Children’s Fund report reveals that no fewer than 9,933 Nigerian children were violently violated between 2017 and 2021. How many of the offenders have been properly tried and convicted? The answer is obvious, just a minuscule number; of course, Baba Ijesa stands out as a scapegoat.

Rape, fraud, drug abuse, human trafficking, and prostitution, alongside a sense of entitlement, widespread unemployment, and violent crimes, have risen to epidemic proportions today. Under these circumstances, what kind of mass media programs should a responsible government permit or promote? Media houses, too, appear to have failed in their roles and responsibilities. The National Orientation Agency (NOA), which is supposed to put in place strict policies to guide our teeming population, especially the youths, toward achieving modesty and overcoming the challenges of modernity, is asleep and snoring. Common sense is not required to guess where the country is heading, looking at the present crop of youths we are parading.

Is all hope lost? No. Better late than never. I have lent my voice to the call on the government, religious houses, the media, society at large, and men of goodwill to join the campaign for more intelligent and educative programs on our televisions and in our media spaces. Largely speaking, the media is a powerful tool for influencing the minds of the people. We should all join the train and free our society from this seemingly unending moral decadence.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not represent the opinions or views of Osun Defender