The value system of the old, emptiness, delinquency of the new: The story of our tragedy (II)

2. Conscience and sense of shame This current generation of leadership would appear to distinguish themselves by their lack of conscience. In the last Senate, the media reported that, a senator went into a sex shop, assaulted a woman, and the video clip went viral, yet the same senator took his seat and the shameless […]

2. Conscience and sense of shame

This current generation of leadership would appear to distinguish themselves by their lack of conscience. In the last Senate, the media reported that, a senator went into a sex shop, assaulted a woman, and the video clip went viral, yet the same senator took his seat and the shameless Senate did nothing; no investigation, no debate and no punitive measures. Many of us were left in shock. I would imagine the generation of General Gowon must have been in deeper shock. Yet business continued as if nothing had happened, as if there was no one with conscience in the Senate. Since then, the Senate has become far worst! What a senate! What a political culture! What a nation!

• We recall the last demonstrations against bad governance, where the youths of this country came out to register their objection and rejection of Nigeria’s political economy, which has impoverished them, denying them jobs and stifling their future. The very representatives of the people in the National Assembly, who are ostensibly there to protect the interests of these beleaguered youth, could not even empathise with them.

Worse still, they were caught on camera scoffing at and denigrating the very citizens they claim to represent and even saying that while they are in the sun, they (their elected representatives) will be at home enjoying their meals.

Where is the conscience of these political leaders? Where is their sense of shame? What values, if any, do these political leaders believe in?

• Why NDLEA, MFM parley on drug prevention, treatment
• 6 dead, 5 injured in multiple auto-crashes in Kogi

 

3. Rule of Law and the strength of institutions

• A story has been documented at Arewa House about the Premier of Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, when he wanted to travel to Sokoto by the only plane that belonged to the Northern Region, while at the same time the chief medical officer had a patient who needed to be evacuated from a remote area to the capital for medical care. Sir Ahmadu Bello rescinded his decision to go to Sokoto by air in deference to the institutional request and he went by road. The plane was used to evacuate the patient.

This is one of the values of this generation, respect for institutions; in other words, institutions were so strong that powerful leaders defer to them. Similarly, the respect for the rule of law; what we find today is exactly the opposite. Powerful leaders operate as if public property belongs to them and their families, they do as they wish and institutions have become impotent unable to check political leaders. This way rules are ignored and regulations are breached without consequences. And predictably, our country has gone down the drain, as a result today nothing works!

• In a similar documentation, a military governor in the Northern region wanted a plot of land in Kaduna, so he directed the civil service to allocate a plot of land for him. The civil servants told him, sorry, you cannot get a plot of land while on that seat. He had to wait until he left the seat and then apply as a citizen and then his application would be duly processed and a land allocated to him. And that was it! The military governor, then, the highest political authority in the North, complied.

That was the value system that held sway during the times of General Gowon. Today as we all know, the story is completely different, governors and FCT ministers allocate to themselves and their cronies choice plots and build mansions on them while still in office, all in the public glare, without any shame or consequences. Sad!

 

4. Pecking order and respect for hierarchy

• One feature of the Northern Nigerian society is respect for elders. The elders themselves respect their hierarchy. It doesn’t matter the office one holds, there would always be seniors who could rebuke and direct a person to do the right thing selflessly. Even the powerful Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the Northern Region, had people senior to him who would walk in and nudge him into doing the right thing. The case of senior citizens, like General Hassan Usman Katsina, is well known.

Even in retirement, his presence in Kaduna meant that people in authority had to be careful, for if anybody should report them to General Hassan, he would come himself, sometimes unannounced to direct that the right thing be done.

This kept us in permanent check and maintained a high level of etiquette and discipline. Today it is well known that people in power behave like some mini-gods. Their seniors are better off keeping off. Some, in the height of their intoxication with power, dismissed the idea of senior citizens who could nudge them into line.

So this pecking order has been dismantled, leaving us so bare and vulnerable. Perhaps the presence of two emirs in Kano today for such length of time is another glaring evidence of the breakdown of that pecking order. Unprecedented! Unbelievable! Unpalatable!

(To be continued)

 

Text of speech delivered to mark Gowon at 90, organised by Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA) on November 9, 2024, in A