One of the greatest mysteries that existed in the twentieth century was the globally circulated dreaded information concerning a devil’s triangle in the Western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of ships and aircrafts were tagged to have disappeared. It was labelled a point of no return due to the available information surrounding the disappearances of water vessels and flying machines in the region.
Bermuda triangle was known as a mysterious region, which could be correlated with the gory situation in Nigeria presently, where thought patterns have gone bizarre due to the desperation and the high rate of corruption promoted by her leaders and adopted by citizens in the name of survival of the fittest. This state of lawlessness has relegated us to the benches of confusion, anarchy, insecurity, economic depression and civil disobedience.
In the name of survival, many have adopted monstrous means and have lost total value for human lives and their wellness, which in turn, has birthed a gory situation worse than the lower animals’ situation living in a jumbled vegetation referred to as the jungle.
I could picture the short distant past, while crime and unsocial behaviours were generally frowned at by the public while criminals and their relatives hide their faces in shame. Parents would reject any gift or assistance offered by their child, who has a questionable character in order to disassociate themselves from the ill-gotten wealth. After health, honesty was the second most valued wealth in that era, when toads walk in twos. There was a united front against immoral behaviours. But today, rich criminals are being honoured and protected while poor honest ones are being chastised and oppressed. The chariot of gold has mangled the wagon of goodness on the track lane of survival. The reign of the wicked!
There is no sector in Nigeria where corruption is not glorified. Right at the altar of justice, the highest bidder remains the just. Only those who are not connected or in favour of the power that be, are being paraded as public funds looters. As publicly buttressed by one of the political leaders in Nigeria, “Once you join…..(the power that be) your sins are forgiven”. What a rotten utterances condoned by a broken system, portraying the circular epileptic dance of a flu infested cock.
Due to corrupt leadership system and the celebration of rich criminals in our society, majority of our youth are no longer of the view that education and decent living count in their journey through life. All that counts in their drawing table is making quick money at the detriment of others; doing hard drugs and engaging in all forms of rascality, which in turn, destroy their very future and linger on to negatively affect the wellbeing of our society.
The greatest form of education is in our association, which equally encircles the society we reside in. The society you dwell in will either make you or mar you. It will either make you normal or make you abnormal. It is a teacher and a great influencer that could shape the nature of her citizens. Education gotten from the happenings in a society forms the character contents of her youth. It will either promote patriotism or demote it. Free and fair society encourages participation in nation building, while corrupt and unjust society encourages self centeredness, distrust and disunity. Especially where the retrogressive evil fashion known as divide and rule is employed, for there can never be a mutual cooperation between oppressors and the oppressed.
The future of a nation is rooted in the nature of her youth. While the nature of her youth is a product of the education cultivated from the circumstances and happenstances in the nation.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy asserts, “A child miseducated is a child lost”. And l add, “A YOUTH MISEDUCATED EQUALS A LOST NATION”.
According to my late father, an apostle of integrity and a pillar of unity, “Life is still fair now that noble ones are giving birth to hooligans. When hooligans start giving birth to tearaways, that would mark the end of morality and that of justice”.
Be guided!
Amb. Ezewele Cyril Abionanojie is the author of the book ‘The Enemy Called Corruption’, an Award Winning Best Columnist Of The Year 2020 and the Founder/President of Peace Ambassadors.