“All good is hard. All
evil is easy. Dying, (suicide) losing, cheating, and mediocrity are easy. Stay
away from ease.”
– Scott Alexander
One major way to measure the degree of
development in any society is the value she placed on human life. Even animals
operate with the instinct that human life is sacred. This is the reason they
initially exhibit fear and flight when they encounter human beings.
Consequently, every progressive human society
focuses on the double task of preserving and improving the lives of mortals. Some
European and even Asian nations have perfected in this crucial task to a high
degree that the elderly cohort (65 and above) form a significant part of their
population. In other words, the life expectancy of such nations is high. For
instance, the UN 2015 world life expectancy of Nigerian is 52.29 years, UK is 80.45, and Japan is 83.74. The main reason for
this divergent disparity in the life expectancy of nations is based on the
different values these nations place on the lives of their citizens.
Every institution is a reflection of that society. Consequently, these
institutions (family, education, governance, business etc.) become the
extensions of the society. They are the vox
populi of the larger society.
Two years ago, a national newspaper reported
that Nigeria
spent over $2 billion annually on educating her citizens abroad. The painful
and embarrassing aspect of this ugly event is that, many Nigerian students
prefer to obtain their education from poorer West African countries such as Benin , Cameroun ,
Togo and Ghana than Nigeria . Yet, there was a season in
this country when Nigerian universities attracted foreign students from Africa,
Europe, Asia and America .
One would ask, what went wrong with our educational system?
Simply put, it is the result of substandard
thinking and living. Our priorities and value system shifted from supporting
quality education to wastage of resources. The increase in the number of
universities in Nigeria
isn’t commensurate to the quality of degrees produced. The malignant cancerous
tumour which has infested our tertiary institutions is hydra headed and come in
the form of leadership ineptitude, poor funding, lack of equipment and
literature and deliberate neglect. The rut and rust in our educational system
started from the primary and secondary and now at the tertiary level, it has
festered and is generating fetid odours.
When teachers welfare, training and equipping
are neglected, pupils and students study under terrible classroom conditions,
parents encourage examination malpractices and both teachers and students
engage in clandestine activities, then the result can only be a feast of doom.
A look at the Nigerian business and commerce
institutions leaves much to be desired. Sharp practices mark the delivery of
goods and services. Such notorious practices like, manufacturing and marketing
of substandard products go on unabated in spite of the acclaimed efforts of the
designated government agencies such as SON, NAFDAC, customs and exercise
departments. Conspiracies at the local and international levels go on to
achieve profiteering targets against the citizens of this country. One obvious
manifestation of this conspiracy is the intractable difficulties perpetrated
against the programme of achieving regular availability of power to the
Nigerian populace. The result is that every Nigerian family patronises
generator companies.
Like someone rightly said, every Nigerian
family assumes the status of a local government because, she generates her own
power, supplies her water, provides health services for her family members as
well as constructs her own road network. This is a very unfortunate state of
affair. The result of such individualistic pursuits is substandard living.
Consider this scenario – in spite of the
quality and version of the vehicle one acquires it will ply the same bad road
every other Nigerian uses. Many of our roads are either totally neglected or
partially maintained. The wear and tear on the vehicles are almost inestimable.
More dangerously too, these bad roads facilitate the occurrence of many
accidents which claim the lives of our citizens.
The degenerating state of the Nigerian health sector is incalculable.
Stretching back from the period when one of the reasons for military coup was
because our hospitals had become mere consulting clinics till today, the health
institution in Nigeria
is almost reaching a comatose stage. The proofs are there for everyone to see.
These include, the scarcity of quality drugs, and equipment, the increasing
tendency of our people to patronise quarks, the unabated practice of our rich
elite and government officials to patronise foreign hospitals, the poor
remuneration and delay in the payment of salaries of medical and paramedical
personnel.
Perhaps, one may not find any institution in
our country that is corruption free. Think of such sublime issues in our
country like, mortuary workers, cleaners at our airports, law enforcement
agents, lecturers and legislators, and the electorates, executives and
executors all demanding bribe in order to offer service undue benefit to
people. We have developed a culture of profiteering instead of providing
quality goods and services; one of usurping instead of investing, one of
harming instead of helping others.
The list of proofs of substandard living in
our country is inexhaustive. The big challenge is how to engage ourselves in a
turnaround programme which will produce citizens in pursuit of quality living
and nobility. Like Alexander Scott counselled at the beginning of this
discourse, we should stay away from a life of ease. The life of ease honours
laziness but despises diligence, promotes mediocrity over excellence,
encourages the notorious lifestyle of the Nouveau riche which like a putrefying
sour has bred numerous worms in our nation. It is time for Nigerians to resolve
to pursue excellence, nobility, and such virtues which add value to life.
I
believe that we are able because when Nigerians travel abroad, they confirm and
even excel beyond the dictates of the laws of those foreign nations. Several
Nigerians are excelling abroad in almost every aspect of life. From arts,
Information technology, pharmacy, medicine to engineering, business, governance
and religion, Nigerians who live outside the shores of this nation prove beyond
all reasonable doubts that they can pursue and achieve a life of all round
excellence. Can charity begin at home?
*Dr. Amaraegbu is a clinical psychologist and author, lives inLagos .
*Dr. Amaraegbu is a clinical psychologist and author, lives in
You are right, substandard thinking pervades the system. it starts from the educational system. there has to be a retraining at all levels to refocus the way Nigerians think.
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