HOW MORAL VALUES CAN SHAPE A BETTER NIGERIA
Oruaro Egboje@egbojeoruaro412594
2 days ago
Africa, as a continent, has been known for its strict way of upholding moral values. You can see it being taught in schools, in churches/mosques, and at home, which is the main place for teaching moral values. Moral values are a set of rules that govern how we live our lives, how we see things; some of these morals are respect, discipline, honesty, integrity, and so many more. A subject called civic education, taught in most secondary and even primary schools, makes us, as students, know that these moral values are important for us to grow as good children and citizens too.
Some people feel that we Nigerians do too much when it comes to imbibing these values in our children and young ones, but it is that same home training, those same moral values, that have made some of who we are today. We keep on comparing our lives with those of the Western world, but we forget the fact that these values passed down to us from generation to generation have now given us a trademark of harboring well-trained children. While society might never be void of people who lack home training, teaching these values can help shape our families and Nigeria as a whole in so many ways. Thank God that the government of Nigeria has now made these subjects compulsory in most of our schools so that our children can learn and know the importance of cultivating these values.
When we have more citizens with good moral values, we won't have to be facing a lot of criminal acts from people. When they understand the true meaning of discipline, people will always respect themselves and stick to their decisions rather than being moved by fancy things and going all out of their way to get what they want, even if it means going the wrong way. When people understand the importance of honesty and integrity, we won't have to be bothered by people lying or people selling their pride away for money or positions; instead, we will have more truthful and loyal people who are willing to do the right thing because they know it is right.
When people understand the moral values of being respectful, we will have more citizens who regard others and respect those older than them. When we have more citizens who understand the importance of fairness, we won't be seeing people who don't deserve things having them; rather, hard work would be properly rewarded. When citizens understand the importance of being selfless and contented, we won't have greedy leaders who want it all to themselves without thinking of the people they are leading. When our children know how important taking responsibility is, they will be careful and mindful of every action they take.
When our children know the truth about gratitude and appreciation, we would have more grateful and happy people who are happy for what comes their way and learn to say thank you. When people know how far loyalty can take them, we won't have a bunch of traitors who can swiftly change sides all because of money. There are so many values that we need to teach our children and citizens; these values are not just there to be taught; they are there to guide us and build us into a better version of ourselves.
We are complaining that nowadays we have more corrupt people, but these people who were corrupt started from somewhere; they saw the people they looked up to doing it, and so it felt right in their eyes too. Let us not only teach but let us be doers of what we teach. If you want the country to be better, you have to be the change you want. I know most of us still think it is impossible to get a better Nigeria with good citizens, but believe me when I say there are still good citizens, and you too can be one of them. And who knows, someone might just be following your steps, and by that, you are already training someone in the right path.
Moral values will help us, as Nigerians, to be good citizens and better people in whatever we do and everywhere we go. It will teach us how to be polite, how to be contented, how not to be fazed by money as far as the truth is at stake, how not to be shaken by things that will compromise your standards, how to be faithful and loyal to the ones you love, how to be good. Most people you see today that you call well-trained were a product of these moral values. Let's not stop teaching it, and sooner or later, we will start seeing the changes.
