BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Before now, moral decadence and other forms of immorality are rampant among older generation since the society has been witnessing a gradual deprecation of its moral and social values. But recent events in Nigeria have revealed that the loss of values has crept into the younger generation including minors in primary schools.
The issue of moral decadence has become a very controversial one because society is developing so rapidly, and with the advancement in technology, the line between what is morally and socially right or wrong is becoming very blurred and a subject of controversy.
Recent research studies have shown that higher percentage of secondary school students are engaging in various immoral activities, such as cultism, gangsterism, cyber crimes, underage sexual activities and examination malpractice, among others, and if nothing is done to curb these vices, chances are that society will pay dearly for it.
Though moral decadence among youths has been majorly blamed on parents for lack of proper upbringing of their kids and the media for exposing some critical scenes capable of polluting innocent minds, experts noted that government should not be left out as one of the culprits. According to stakeholders, moral decadence has replaced core moral values in present times, and this ravaging phenomenon is the cause of some of the major problems currently been faced in the country, whereby youths do not think of how tomorrow would be better than today, or how to invent new things to automate processes involved in daily activities, but rather focusing on how to enrich themselves by any means possible and controlling enormous wealth at a tender age.
The development is regarded as one anomaly that requires concerted effort of all stakeholders to address. Though the magnitude varies from one society to another, generally, moral decadence is at the root of every societal problem. All over the world, it has become so bad that one sometimes wonder if the world can ever be better than what we are seeing at the moment.
The decadence is deep such that the family, the very cradle of life, has also, ironically, become a cradle of rot. With instability in many homes and parents grappling with lack of moral authority themselves, many children are raised without character and integrity.
It is worrisome to note that in today’s Nigeria, primary school pupils in some parts are now known to form and belong to cult groups, in some secondary schools, it is routine for fights to break out at the end of each school day with violent teenage cultists leaving petrified teachers unable to enforce the rigorous discipline without which education is an empty husk, with neither soul nor substance.
In March this year, four underage male students in Ogun State were arrested for allegedly killing and burning the head of the girlfriend to one of them for money rituals. The country was yet to recover from such horrendous occurrence when a sex video involving five pupils of Chrisland School, Lagos, went viral on social media.
Stakeholders have been left worried over these disturbing trend among youngsters. They heaped the blame on untrained parents who lack moral upbringing and have been procreating without sound moral teaching and values to the society. According to these experts, charity should begin at home before other concerned stakeholders would assist on forming a child.
Reactions and way forward
An educationist, Mrs Oyinkan Omigbodun, advanced the need urgent need for stakeholders to tackle moral decadence in schools, pointing out that morality is almost at the lowest ebb in the nation’s education sector. She said it was high time parents and schools started teaching wards sex education in order to address rising cases of sexual immorality.
Omigbodun warned parents against giving their children smartphones without monitoring them adding that teachers and school owners must be trained on safeguarding.
According to the education specialist, “When I got to hear of the Chrisland case, I was horrified as a mother and a stakeholder in education. I find it very difficult to comprehend that a 10-year-old would be involved in what ensued. There are many things involved in this case, there is an exposure to adult contents and that’s a function of the media the children are exposed to. Now, most children stay with smartphones, 24/7 and parents not supervising them is dangerous.
“I don’t know why parents need to give a child a smartphone when coming for lessons or classes, of course, that child is going to download videos and be up to all sorts of stuff. I am upset that parents give their children devices that they could use to assess immoral contents. The sexual position the Chrisland child took in that video wasn’t one of a novice. The girls were housed on the 11th floor of the Dubai hotel and the girls, fourth floor. This girl left the 11th floor at night and went to the fourth floor. This child had obviously been groomed sexually. It’s a messy situation we are in and every stakeholder has to be up and doing. I have to go back as a stakeholder in education to retrain my staff and retrain myself. There is something we call safeguarding in education and we must go back and train on safeguarding.”
“Parents should strive to be everything good and noble to their children before they go out. As a parent, you are the first teacher, priest, guardian, counsellor and provider of your children before anyone else and once we play these responsibilities well, then our society will be good for it
“
Noting that it is wrong for teachers and supervisors to leave teens alone in class or dormitory without closer monitoring, Omigbodun said, “you can’t leave teens alone. There should be adults in classrooms supervising them. There is a lot of work for stakeholders as parents and teachers among others. And it’s important to teach sex education. I don’t know why we shy away from it.
“Schools shouldn’t send young students on any excursion or programme without a strong supervisory delegation. I must appeal to all stakeholders that we need to do more. There should be supervisors in each room that children are when they are on excursion or outside programmes. We have to put structures in place and school teachers should be more up and doing. Parents need to know that there is a huge responsibility taking care of kids. Playing videos that are not family friendly should not be allowed at home. There are untrained parents training children. It’s not a function of economic positions but a function of parents that lack parental orientation, producing children they can’t train,” she added.
A traditional ruler in Osun State, Olokeyelu of Oke-Iyelu, Oba Isiaka Sodiq Asagiri, urged royal fathers across the country to assist the society in deepening morals in homes. The monarch said home is key in tackling moral decadence in the society adding that parents should teach their children that everything is not about wealth and that good names matter.
While saying that traditional institutions have big roles to play in restoring values and morals in the society, Oba Asagiri said, “the cause of this messy situation can be attributed partly to economic crisis ravaging the nation and the trend among young people to acquire emergency wealth. It’s high time Obas and parents amongst others started campaigning that money is not everything. These issues start from home. Children should be thought how to communicate with God and moral discipline.
“Home is key in this struggle to have a society free of decadence. My parents used to tell me and my siblings that we should remember the children of whom we are and till this age, that has never departed from me and my brothers. We the Obas meet every Sunday to discuss all these challenges and we say that while we crave for justice in our domains, we should ensure that homes have morals.”
For the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo, Most Rev John Oyejola, parents should always take good care of their children and fill them with words of God. The bishop noted that home is a reflection of the society. He said, “Parents should strive to be everything good and noble to their children before they go out. As a parent, you are the first teacher, priest, guardian, counsellor and provider of your children before anyone else and once we play these responsibilities well, then our society will be good for it.”
For Mrs Oluwatoyin Olajide, a gender and development specialist, teachers, parents and elderly ones should desist from giving their smartphones to children to play with. “This is very dangerous because there are some contents in these smartphones used by adults that children shouldn’t see. Parents, especially should stop giving children android phones either to school or homes. There are phones that children can use that wouldn’t corrupt their minds,” she noted.
A Consultant Psychiatrist at State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Dr Akande Ayodeji Majek attributed causes of moral decadence among young people to loss of moral values in the society, poor parenting and immoral influence of role models. The medical expert said, “These young ones are exposed to this moral decadence in the society on daily basis. Many of their role models are involved in these acts of immorality as well – their parents, aunts, uncles and so on. Their age group is associated with a lot of psychological changes, one of which is the phenomenon called Experimentation (trying new things). As a result of this, minors get involved in some of these criminal and immoral acts.
“Another important factor causing this menace is poor parenting. Some parents are not available to guide their young ones. Even those that are physically available are not making use of appropriate methods in raising these children. Social media has also caused significant damage to the society in this area as well.”
Proferring possible solutions, Majek said, “It’s indeed a complex problem in the society today. Parents need to be very vigilant. Social media should be well regulated and we need to do something to the moral decadence in our society.”
Meanwhile, a legal practitioner, Chief Eze Nwoke has said there should be a law prohibiting children of 17 years and below from having access to the social media. He added that though there are laws that punish parents who failed to provide and care for their children, the law should be reviewed to provide sanctions to parents who couldn’t prevent their wards from imbibing decadence.
Nwoke said, “lack of parental care is the root of this problem. Some parents don’t give their children adequate attention. We have the issue of poor parental background. Nowadays, you now see minors hawking petty items even at night. That’s shouldn’t be because it’s an abuse. A child, especially the female one could be a victim of rape and other assaults while roaming the street in the name of hawking.
“The kind of movies most children are exposed to is alarming. Some parents aid this act by getting android phones for their underage children. I think there should be a law banning children from the age of 17 and below from gaining access to Facebook and other social media handles. Also, parents who have failed in their responsibilities should be made to face the music in a competent court of law,” the lawyer recommended.
Another legal practitioner, Ebere Achusi, called on school owners and teachers to be more alive to their duties since majority of these rots manifest within the educational space. Referring to the alleged sexual assault and viral sextape involving pupils of Chrisland School, she said, “There are so many things responsible for immortality. But the school has the highest blame. I mean, parents have their basic role to play in training up their child in the way he/she should go, but this incident happened in a boarding school and most parents were probably shocked to see their wards involved in such act. The school definitely needs to audit their curriculum as they have a lot to teach their students other than academics.”
The lawyer emphasised prayer by parents as another potent weapon against immorality. “Parents need to inculcate fear of God in their children and also teach them how to pray and be closer to God,” Achusi opined.
For Barrister Wuraola Soibi, a campaigner against child rape and assault, collective efforts of all and sundry are needed to nip the ugly trend in the bud.
According to the founder of Women Safe House Sustenance Initiative, “this immorality is the responsibility of parents, teachers and all community members. We cannot blame minors for their activities when they are exposed to activities that are beyond their understanding. Adults who sexually abuse minors, claiming that they (the minors) have their consent for such activities are also to be held responsible for such immorality. The way forward is to ensure that we all, as a society, collectively ensure our minors are protected from sexual violence and protection from immoral activities. No one should look away when an immoral act is going on.”
A medical practitioner and official of an NGO, Safe Hands Health Initiative, Dr Kemisola Agoyi, urged the society to brace up for the task of eradicating decadence among youths, “keeping in view that society has a fragment of all elements.”
However, a parent, Mr Segun Adegoke has charged other parents to desist from using their works as excuses not to cater and pay commensurate attention to their children. He said most parents have abdicated their moral and social responsibilities on their children for their teachers adding that parenting is a sacred duty which cannot be done in proxy.
“Parenting is a sacred duty but unfortunately, most parents, who themselves need parenting, do not know this. We now have parental failure to the extent that some parents even encourage their children to go into fraud and steal to be wealthy. For us to have a society free moral decadence especially among young ones, it must start from parents
“
Adegoke enthused that, “It is unfortunate that parents, who are the people that have the duty to teach sound moral instructions to children are abdicating their roles to teachers. Now, you see some parents taking their children that are not up to five years to school. Children should not start school till age 5.
Parents, especially mothers should be above board because they spend more time with their children.
“Charity they say begins at home and it’s uncalled for, for parents to appear too busy for their children. Most children are misbehaving today because parents failed to see the early signs; this is because they are no longer paying attention to their children’s behavioural tendencies. A child is a reflection of the parents and they have the moral duty to instill discipline and morals in their children. Parenting is a sacred duty but unfortunately, most parents, who themselves need parenting, do not know this. We now have parental failure to the extent that some parents even encourage their children to go into fraud and steal to be wealthy. For us to have a society free moral decadence especially among young ones, it must start from parents,” he said.
In the same vein, another parent, Mrs Bisi Rotimi, called on government to always sanction parents who fail to raise their children in a godly and morally acceptable way.
“As a parent, I share in the blame for the position we find ourselves as a society. Whenever I read all these news about immorality and vices among children, I weep. Parents need to do better. Also, our government should show readiness to sanitise the society. The government is key to having a sane society. Parents who fail to properly bring up their children should be punished,” she said.
As the general elections approach, it is hoped that parents would do the needful by prevailing on their children, especially youths, not to be used as tools for violence by overzealous politicians. Since all stakeholders have stated that the work for reengineering the society and cleansing it from moral decadence and social vices start with parents, then, all hands must be on deck for everyone to restore values and morals that the older generations were known for.
