How do we rate our
value system in this
part of the world?
Are we truly pro-
moting values that aid the true
essence of human development
or are we busy promoting and
honouring anything and any-
one that we believe would bring
food to our tables even if what
they stands for have far reach-
ing negative effects on our gen-
erations?
The beginning of every New
Year is always awash with sev-
eral media establishments pro-
moting forthcoming awards.
You have such awards as, ’Best
Governor of the year,” ‘Best
performing senator of the year,’
Man of the year,’ ‘Man of the
decade’, etc. While it may seem
that some of the nominees be-
ing considered truly deserve
such honour, in most cases,
it seems the list is only meant
for political office holders. In
which case, most of those be-
ing nominated are mostly those
occupying important political
positions in the land. They are
the privileged few who have un-
interrupted access to the states
and national treasury. They are
those who can readily foot the
bills of the outlandish events
held in their honours without
qualms. These are men and
women of affluence who have
‘made it’ and are in the lookout
for opportunities to have the
world blow their trumpets as
having arrived.
While one may say there is
nothing really bad about cele-
brating men of integrity who
have contributed immensely
to the growth of the society in
their given fields, the challenge
here is that a good number of
those often brought forth to
be honoured are those some
would consider as average pol-
iticians just doing what they
were elected to do. Some would
even argue that few of them
have no reason to be in their ex-
alted office but for electoral ma-
nipulations. Some wonder, for
instance, the criteria being used
to adjudged the credibility of
those being honoured? A few of
them have even been known to
be regular visitors at the EFCC,
being investigated for one in-
fraction or the other.
Our religious leaders are cry-
ing daily on the pulpit that we
are fast losing our value sys-
tems. Our professors are be-
moaning the quality of gradu-
ates from the ivory towers. Our
police are complaining of too
many criminals lurking around
and our company executives
say it has become difficult iden-
tifying quality professionals to
work in the various sectors of
the economy. Is it strange? This
is what we get for lowering the
bar of excellence and allowing
all manner of unqualified per-
sons into positions of authority.
We have great men and women
who are quietly adding values
to the society. They work day
and night, under were unpalat-
able conditions to safeguard our
lives. Some of them are living
in lowly environments. These
are the true and unsung heroes
that should be identified and
celebrated. Such awards should
be backed with some objects
of values that can put smiles
on their faces and encourage
others to follow suit. So long
as we choose to promote vanity,
ignorance and sycophancy over
excellence, the end result would
always be catastrophic. It may
not be immediately. But surely it
will come. We are already filling
the grunts of past errors.
