KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY PROF. OBIORA OKONKWO, CHAIRMAN OF UNITED NIGERIA AIRLINES AT THE MAIDEN EDITION OF THE NTA-NUJ SOUTHEAST LECTURE SERIES AND AWARDS TAGGED REAWAKENING THE AGE-LONG NORMS AND VALUES OF OUR PEOPLE HOLDING AT BON SUNSHINE HOTEL, PRESIDENTIAL ROAD ENUGU

Protocols

INTRODUCTION

I want to first thank the members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the southeast zone for going beyond their normal primary duty of reporting events and developments to organize this conversation and through it, seek to set a new agenda for ethical and moral regeneration and conduct in our society. You guys are setting the pace for reasonable discourse in the search for solutions to a problem that has hit our society in such a way that it will take an abnormal being not to be worried anymore. The media had set the agenda for our country’s independence and is doing much more.

Like I stated here in Enugu on June 28, 2019, at the colloquium organized by the Enugu State Council of your great union, at Oakland Hotel, to mark the 50^th birthday anniversary of one of you, Nze Magnus Eze, the role of the media in the growth and development of Nigeria has remained one to be proud of.  I said: “the story of Nigeria’s sovereignty cannot be completely told without a golden mention of the role played by the media. From the day Rev. Henry Townsend started Iwe Irohin (meaning, Magazine), the first-ever newspaper in Nigeria in 1859, the media has grown to become a necessity in the development of our country. Though Rev. Townsend’s newspaper lasted some eight years before it was rested, Nigeria grew from there to see its independence struggles enhanced by classy newspapers published by Nigerians, which had incisive articles and analysis written by educated Nigerians which in turn exposed the average Nigerian of the pre-independence era, to what the real issues were. Notably here is The West African Pilot published by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Several other newspapers came following alongside the first radio station in 1950 and the first television station in December 1959.

“The Nigerian media would grow from there to develop the reading culture with fertile arguments, analysis, interviews, editorials and opinions on the future of the country. This development helped to create in Nigeria, a new generation of educated and visionary leaders who saw only one boundary -that between Nigeria and her colonial masters. Those generations of leaders put the media to great use in educating, informing and even entertaining the people. Thus, Nigeria became the envy of others on the African continent as while other countries were struggling to sustain the publication of one or two newspapers, Nigeria was churning our newspapers in their numbers. These media involvements helped bring us to where we are today as a nation.

“Media involvement in the independence of Nigeria did not end there. It continued through the problems we had as a young federation leading to the civil war. After the Civil war, the media played a key role in the re-unification and integration efforts of the government. The media was also at the forefront of the campaign against military rule in Nigeria. Many of your colleagues paid the ultimate prize and yet, the media could not be deterred. The media showed resilience and determination in working towards delivering a country for all of us.

“The struggles that followed the annulment of June 12, 1993, general elections were largely a media struggle. But for the media, our activists, and their activism, would have been silenced by the military. It is, however, unfortunate that when key players in the events of June 12 talk about their roles, they fail to mention the media which was the rallying point of that struggle. Without the media, June 12 would have been forgotten. The media kept it on the front burner of national discourse and continued to push it until it became a national day. That tells you the power of the media. Whatever the media focuses on becomes infectious such that generations of journalists will keep the clamour and carry the message as they designed it.” Therefore, the issue of “reawakening the age-long norms and values of our people” is one which I believe is achievable with a very strong media focus and advocacy, driven by journalists like you.

BACKGROUND TO ISSUE

Ladies and gentlemen, as you all are aware, I entered the race for the governorship of Anambra state and participated in the election that was held in November 2021. My reasons were simply to effect positive change and drive our society in a new direction. I got involved because I saw in leadership, the opportunity to transform society by positively transforming the lives of the people that make up the society. For, what is society but the people? In doing that, I developed a 10-Point Agenda for the transformation of my dear state and our people. Item number 9 on the agenda is titled “Rebuilding Our Ethical Infrastructure”. Under this plan, I promised that “working with the civil society, the religious organizations and the private sector, the government shall promote a CENTER FOR VALUES AND CHARACTER.” I also promised that “there shall be a Senior Policy Adviser to the Governor” whose responsibility will include “value and attitudinal re-orientation of all citizens; continuous training of all cadres of Anambra citizens on integrity, civic rights, duties and responsibilities; training of political appointees and civil servants; restoration of Igbo culture and values; institutionalization of moral instructions in schools and in adult education curriculum; enthrone culture of modesty, trust and honesty through appropriate educational programs, including theatre and film; work with the church and other civil society organizations to enthrone the right values among the citizens; advise government on anti-corruption measures in procurement and project execution; promote a robust anti-corruption legislation, and support and undertake corruption studies and research that would inform government’s anti-corruption agenda.” I still stand by this and strongly recommend all of the above to all the governors of the 36 states and the FCT.

Ladies and gentlemen, the desire to alter negative realities and develop new ideals in human relations and conduct did not just happen to me because of politics. Before coming out of my comfort to play in the political field, I founded and created the Pro-Value Humanity Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation whose basic mission is to recreate humanity through a dedicated focus on transforming society by the re-orientation of values for authentic human development. Our mission at Pro-Value is to create a society where the human person is at the centre of development. This is so because we believe that an individual’s behaviour is governed by character and that character is determined by values. This underscores a major reason for my vision in the proposed creation of the Center for Values and Character.  Therefore, by re-orientating values, we would be able to refine the character of the human person. The reasons we took this curve, ladies and gentlemen, are the same reasons for which we are holding this conversation, which, I believe is very appropriate. It is a conversation that we must hold and continue to until we can bring ourselves, our children and our society, to that point in our human formation journey when we can comfortable say that we have reclaimed our society for our good and the good of our future.

PROBLEM

In seeking the reawakening of the age-long norms and values of our people, we inadvertently admit that the good days are gone. Those were the days when parents spoke and children listened. Those were the days when teachers spoke and pupils and students listened. Those were the days when priests and catechists spoke and the congregation listened. I am talking of the days when children played on the streets, hide when they see their teacher coming; the days when children took and trusted instructions from elders because what an elder sees sitting a child will not see even from the peak of the tallest tree. I am also talking of the days when the community had a say in the upbringing and character formation of the child and the days when elders, youths and children lived by the truth because everyone understood, and, appreciated the fact that eziokwu bu ndu.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am also referring to the days when girls learnt the art of home-making and how to also be good mothers (Ezinne) from their mothers who saw it as their obligation and made themselves available to impart knowledge. I am referring to the days when hard work was the hallmark of the youth and people lived by the fruits of their labour. I am sure we all remember the days when a man is considered one because of the size of his yam barn and his children are considered great children because they were equally hard working; this is against the gradual development of the culture of begging among families. I am talking of the days when families were contented with whatever life brought their way and would, out of pride, rather have palm kernel for dinner and still lived happily as good neighbours. When I say these, I also refer to the days when people attained community recognition to become red cap chiefs, Nze, Ozo, Ichie and even appointed to the membership of the Igwe’s cabinet not on account of land holding, number of children or wealth, but on account of how upright, God-fearing, truthful, fair-minded, just, respectful one is perceived to be in the community.

We can all look back to remember the days when life was so sacred that anyone who took life was literally ostracized from the community unlike the contemporary days when cultism and bloodletting among youths are seen as a mark of the tough. We can also remember when such issues as suicide and abortion were also considered sacrileges in our communities. Or, have we forgotten the days when mothers were mothers in deed and words –they made sure their daughters dressed respectfully and properly before leaving their homes; they ensured that their sons also kept the right companions. Have we forgotten the days when no child will bring anything home, no matter how little, if it did not belong to him? And by belonging to him or her, it means that such item was provided for him/her by the parents. We cannot forget the days when the aroma of marijuana (guff) alone, rattled the entire community prompting emergency village meetings and search parties neither can we forget the days when mothers and fathers lived with a certain kind of a shame because their daughter was linked with prostitution or their sons with the least form of robbery. Some parents even lived with some form of shame because their children were seen as haughty, pompous, snobbish and disrespectful for reasons of not greeting their elders.

Those days seem to have gone and may never come back because society evolves. However, it is expected that the evolution of society must not force us, as humans, to lose our cherished ethical and moral values which emanate from our cultures. As I have always said, our culture is our life. Culture is about who we are. Societies all over the world go to great lengths to protect their most cherished cultural values. I have seen this happen in Russia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco and in fact, in all the countries I have visited so far. For instance, respect for seniors and good manners are ingrained in every culture that I have interacted. In the western world, standing up in public transport for the elderly is common practice.

Today, we find new expressions that challenge our understanding of character building. Instead of communalism, which we all cherished as a vital tool for social integration and character modification, we now have a new wave of individualism wherein our children tell us that ‘it is my life’. We are buffeted on all fronts by the consequences of this mad rise in individualism which has sadly robbed us of social sanity and our values. So, instead of avoiding drugs, our youths engage in it with certain bravado to suggest that nothing is wrong with it; and in most places, they tell you nothing mega! It is such that those who stay away from this negative habit are seen as social misfits. Today, it seems to be the norm for our youths to aspire to drive the latest SUV, wear designer clothing, wrist watches, necklaces, shoes, latest telephone handset models even when they do not have jobs and earnings to pay for such luxuries and are also not in school.

Today, we see and feel the impact of the progressive decline of the family. In our days, the family was everything. Everyone made effort to stay away from anything that would rub the family name in the mud.  We grew up with the principle of ezi afa ka ego. Today, it seems to be immaterial if the family name is messed with so long as certain things are achieved no matter how –it is now an era when the end justifies the means and not the other way round. Many of our youths live their lives to suggest that the most important thing is to get there and that nothing is wrong with the how. Isn’t that why many of our youths have had the sad fate of facing the hangman or the marksman in Southeast Asian nations? Today, many parents have abdicated the divine responsibility on them to mould the character of their God-given children because of economic and social pressures. Parents seem no longer to care. Nannies and domestic aides are rapidly taking over the role of mothers in the character formation of the child. Many do not even bother to question the source of the material acquisitions their children bring home.

Ladies and gentlemen let me take you along this line too. I am sure that many of us here have been victims of social media bullying. Sometimes, I go on social media to see what is trending. I read many updates by our senior citizens. While I just read and learn, I, however, find it appalling and disturbing how intolerant of other people’s opinions our youths have become. Many senior citizens have rather shied away from engaging in conversations on social media, which rightly ought to bridge the knowledge gap and bring people closer, because of the intolerant behaviour of our youths. And, I ask! When did it become part of our character to insult and abuse our elders because of the opinions that they hold and share? Common sense dictates that if you do not share the same views with others, you develop and expand yours. Societies develop through the convergence of opinions. Democracy grows from the plurality of opinions and everyone is entitled to his or her. So, why the intolerance? Why the insults and abuses of senior citizens and even peers? Truth be told, no one develops because he or she insulted others the most. Such negative behavioural traits destroy rather than build the human person. You win no laurels for such behaviour which, indeed, speaks to a poor upbringing. It betrays the sort of tutelage one underwent under one’s parents. Anyone that was properly brought up, and inculcated with the right values and norms, will not engage in such nasty behaviours no matter how unpleasant the other person’s views are because our holy book says to us in Proverbs 22:6 to: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Lest we forget, Chief Anthony Enahoro (late) moved the motion for the independence of Nigeria in 1953 at the age of 30. Chief Mathew Mbu became a Minister at 23. He went on to hold several other ministerial positions in his youth. If those were in the distant past, let me then bring you down to the fact that Donald Duke became governor of Cross River state at 38 years. Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani became governor of Enugu state at the age of 39 years. Miss Yadomah Bukar Mandara, the youngest delegate to the 2014 National Conference, which was convoked by President Goodluck Jonathan to dialogue and find solutions to the problems of Nigeria, was aged 24 when she was nominated to the conference. Many offered leadership to Nigeria, at different levels, in their youthful days. They were not accepted to leadership because there were no older persons around. I tend to believe that they were elected or appointed to such tasks because of the “content of their character”. Sadly, rather than build on what was possible several years ago, our youths have lost the trajectory of their personal development and delved into the abyss of self-pity and self-destruction. But, they must be made to understand (and that is a task before the media) that no amount of violence, harassment, insults and abuses will, for instance, make the political elite yield the space to the youth. In the contest for power, it is usually brain power and the depth of the mind that brings one to the table of reasonable discourse, not an acerbic tongue.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion ladies and gentlemen, allow me to remind us that so many Nigerians and non-Nigerians had told us, and still tell us that the future of our country lies in the hands of our youths. As it is said, your academic attainments can get you the best job, but the only thing that will keep you at the job and determine how long you stay up there is your character. Martin Luther King Jnr dreamt that one day his four little children live in a nation where they will be judged “by the content of their character” and nothing else. That should now be our focus.

To reawaken the age-long norms and values of our people, I, therefore, recommend that we must return to basics; that we must begin to rejig our institutional structures that play huge roles in character formation and ethical reorientation. And when I say this, I refer to religious, political and socio-cultural institutions that impact the character of our youths. The church and the school system have huge roles to play. My belief is that we can change our society if we capture the minds of our children at their earliest formation years and direct them properly.

I also believe that we must encourage our religious leaders to see the negative impact of the focus on what many now call the ‘prosperity gospel’ which has robbed many of our youths of that innate gift of the Igbo, which is hard work and enterprise, such that many tend to believe that wealth comes by a certain miraculous wand as prophesied by a pastor leading many to get involved in despicable get-rich-quick acts –remember the Okeite Phenomenon. Sorry, if this offends any pastor here. However, we must tell ourselves some truth if we must come out of the hole that we are currently in. Our religious leader should be encouraged to shift focus to what I call entrepreneurship gospel. The ideals of entrepreneurship gospel are captured in the eternal words of St. Paul spoken to the Thessalonians where he said “If a man will not work, he shall not eat… We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people, we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.” In Igbo, we say aka aja aja, na ebute onu mmanu mmanu. This was one of the reasons I instituted a study at the Business School of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, on how to revitalize apprenticeship (Igba Boi) in Igboland. My belief is that we can use apprenticeship, as a veritable tool, to redirect the minds of our youths and bring them back to rewarding enterprise pursuits that would make them actualize themselves, become more useful to themselves and add value to their communities and Igbo society at large.

I believe, and strongly recommend, that we must also return to our cultural foundations and promote those good ideals of our cultures and traditions as they affect the family, parenting, sacredness of life, respect for elders, other people’s property and the virtues of hard work. As Igbo people, we must go back to teaching our children what constitutes nso ani and help them to know them and respect them too. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that if we consciously play our roles as parents and religious leaders; and if our educational systems are rejigged to accommodate moral education while our social and political leaders become role models, we would have been able to reawaken the consciousness of our people towards resurrecting our cherished norms and values.

FINAL CALL

All hopes are not yet lost. The little efforts of those like you all here, who are deeply worried, tells me that we shall overcome. I am happy that already, we have a governmental tool to help us drive this need for ethical and attitudinal reorientation countrywide. I am talking of the National Orientation Agency (NOA). What we have in our hands is not a problem exclusive to a particular geopolitical zone. It is a national problem. Therefore, I further recommend, and strongly too, that we must push for the expansion of the mandate of NOA to include ethical and attitudinal reorientation of Nigerians. If need be, let there be a name change for NOA, and perhaps an upgrade into a commission, to reflect this new mandate. Let us call it National Ethical and Attitudinal Reorientation Commission with expanded mandate to become a very effective and functional tool towards achieving values reorientation across the country. If this upgrade and name change demands legislation, there will be nothing wrong with the National Assembly, and indeed, all state Houses of Assembly, enacting same to give it the necessary legislative backing.

Expanding its mandate to include ethical and attitudinal reorientation will empower NOA to be more active in the push against such negative public national habits as official corruption. In making this call, I am mindful of the fact that government, including previous ones, had made attempts to refocus ethical and public morality issues through such rebranding instruments like ‘Not in Our Character’ of the Walter Ofonagoro era, ‘Heart of Africa’ of the Frank Nweke era, ‘Good People, Great Nation’ of the Dora Akunyili era, and recently ‘Change begins With Me’. These have been laudable attempts that failed because they were not institutionalized. Like those before it, ‘Change Begins with Me’ of Alhaji Lai Mohammed will end with his time as Minister of Information and National Orientation. This is the reason I further recommend that the next government from 2023 finds a way to institutionalize ethical and attitudinal reorientation into its programme of action for the country.

Further to those, another major reason we must institutionalize ethical and attitudinal reorientation is that our governmental system shows itself as bereft of character both in the leadership selection process and leadership in itself. Often, we have been told that the problem of Nigeria is not the absence of human capital but the dearth of leadership. However, I think that the major problem with leadership in our clime is the absence of persons whose content of character are not inspiring enough to drive the country and its people towards positive action that would berth the sort of change and growth that we all envisage. Let us not make mistakes about it, the character of some of those who we elect to leadership, from the wards to the federal levels, have always come with question marks.

This reality begins with our leadership selection process. Ladies and gentlemen, how comfortable are we with a leadership selection process where those who elect our candidates; are themselves persons of questionable character? Is it no longer true that birds of same feather flock together? In some states and communities, we see persons who honed their skills from touting at motor parks, not academic institutions and environments, leading in deciding who becomes the flagbearer of political parties and indeed, who wins in the final election. This trend should worry us because it portends great danger ahead for our country. As it is said, you cannot plant mangoes and harvest apples. This is what those countries that we look up to for support have done and are still doing.

For instance, in ‘Democracy and Development: A Prolegomena for Growth’, I argued that China has created, and adapted, a leadership selection process which pools its best hands for future leadership tasks on merit. Merit here includes the development of character, good public conduct and leadership delivery. In that paper, I referenced Zhang Weiwei, the Director of China Institute at Fudan University, where he said: “China has established a system of meritocracy or what can be described as “selection plus election”, where competent leaders are selected on the basis of performance and broad support through a vigorous process of screening, opinion surveys, internal evaluations and various types of election. This is much in line with the Confucian tradition of meritocracy… China’s political and institutional arrangements and innovations have so far produced a system which has in many ways combined the best options of selecting well-tested competent leaders and the least bad option of ensuring the exit of the leaders who should exit for all kinds of reasons.”

I closed my arguments in the paper saying “we must design, and develop, a leadership system that promotes meritocracy through a selection process that identifies, and elects, the best of the best (that is persons of character) and entrust them with the management of the commonwealth.” If China could do it, nothing says that Nigeria cannot do it. All it takes is determination and focus. If we focus our efforts at cleaning the leadership selection process, we will find how easy it is to ensure that shadowy characters no longer trot our political space as leaders and determinants of the fate of the people.

Finally, it is gratifying that this event is organized by journalists themselves. What this brings to mind is the great role that the media must play in reshaping public morality through the creation and development of media content that builds character and behaviour of our people. As it is today, the content of what is aired on the visual media as musicals, home movies, skits etc is a challenge on the moral integrity of society. Some years ago, we had such greatly entertaining visual creations like The New Masquerade, Village Headmaster, and Cock Crow at Dawn etc. While they were educative as well as entertaining, they did not leave huge question marks on public morality, culture and character like many contemporary media contents are doing. In the musical industry for instance, aside the lurid visuals shown on television and freely available on social media platforms, which are also open to minors, you also wonder what drives the sort of lyrics that accompany these visuals. Sometimes, I tend to argue that these new characterizations may be part of the destructive neo-colonial idealism that aims at subjugating our cultural values and norms and birth a new culture that robs us of our identities. If you cause a review of what Lord Macaulay was alleged to have said in an address to the British parliament on February 2, 1835, you may get my drift. In the alleged address, Lord Macaulay allegedly said: “I have travelled across the length and breadth of Africa and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth have I seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber that I do not think we would ever conquer this country unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Africans think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, hey will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation”. I use this quote and attribution cautiously given that some accounts dispute its authenticity. However, the message it conveys need not be lost on us.

Therefore, I believe, and also strongly recommend, that visual creations for television can be very entertaining as well as commercially rewarding without being aggressively challenging of public morality and character formation of our children. This was why in my lecture titled ‘Reinventing Nigeria’s Unity for Global Relevance In the 21st Century: Issues of Identity, Governance and Stability’ which I delivered at the Sam Epelle memorial lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in Asaba, Delta State in September 2021, I called for a new synergy between media content creators (Nollywood) and the NIPR for the development of media content that not only portrays a positive image for our country, but also helps build on character formation while still remaining entertaining and commercially rewarding.

Flashback: “In Nollywood, we see a different sort of presentation of Nigeria’s cultural identities. Nollywood gives us an image that could be considered negative depending on the worldview that one holds. For example, Nollywood generally makes you feel that mother-in-laws are evil and perennially wicked. That is negative stereotyping. While some mother-in-laws may be terrible, a vast majority of them are most loving of their daughters-in-law or sons-in-law.  But that is not what you get in Nollywood which also makes you think that almost every rich Nigerian met with a babalawo or a witch doctor before he became rich. If those depictions are what the world ought to know about our cultures, then, I believe there is need for a redefinition of our values.”

Redefining these characterizations is a task before all of us too, especially journalists who set the agenda and mold public opinion as we engage ourselves in reawakening the age-long norms and values of our country.

Thank you for listening.