Stand Up for Change!

A popular saying in these parts - only a mad man would do the same things several times over and expect different outputs - comes to mind. I have heard that statement so many times it was nothing more than a cliche for me at a time. Certain other truths continually stare me in the face to jerk me awake to reality though: the circle my parents (and their parents before them) have run in for years has seen little or no alterations, and it is only normal that this result has rather reduced the quality of our experiences over the years, somewhat steadily.

I speak of the decline in the worth of the life of the African, particularly the Nigerian. Tales abound of how things used to be much better than they are now; how much more expensive things are and how life is a lot more difficult now than it used to be. It is however more worrisome how much less regard humans have for one another. I know for a fact that people on this side have grown a lot more selfish than in yester years; there are many more disrespectful young people around; corruption is a welcome ill that should be minimised at best and a white lie is the exact same thing as the truth. The world preaches safe sex, and Africa has bought that philosophy and taught it to her children in the name of westernization, so much that we forget that sex before marriage was an abomination here just a few decades ago. The things that we know as superstitution today are stories built around rules which our forefathers were guided by when they were growing, and it was not even religion. Today, Africa's battles include affirming the sanctity of our sexes as it kicks against gay marriage. But how can we succeed in our fight against a worldwide anormaly while we are deeply involved in may other dysfunctions?!

The destruction in our society goes beyond the physical; the worm has eaten deep into our sense of right and wrong. It is threatening to wipe our inner personalities and if we allow it go on, history would perhaps not even bear record to our existence, save its negative, maybe. And since we are not mad people, we would need to make an investment of a DIFFERENCE if we would reap change.

I propose that every parent would go back home and instill the discipline of values in their children; that schools will do more than prepare their students for excellence in examinations; that every individual would be responsible enough to realign with the best values and demand the same from his neighbours. If things would get better, our value system needs to be rebuilt. We need to choose not to give or take bribes, not to drive like maniacs on our roads (even when it is the norm), be responsible citizens and demand nothing short of excellence from our leaders. When we have done all that, we would be well on our way to stand up for change!