The path to a new Nigeria may require a journey back to the old school—a return to the values of integrity, hard work, mutual respect, communal solidarity, and honor. These principles, known as Omolúàbí in Yoruba, Ezigbo afa in Igbo, and Mutunchi in Hausa, once anchored the nation’s moral compass. But that anchor has slipped, leaving the country adrift in a sea of corruption, materialism, and desperation.
Decades of systemic corruption at the highest levels have taught younger generations a dangerous lesson: laws are for the weak, and respectability can be bought. When public funds are misappropriated with impunity, patriotism withers, and the will to follow rules fades. The once-cherished Ubuntu philosophy has been replaced by a dog-eat-dog mentality, accelerated by social media and global pop culture that glorifies instant gratification and extreme materialism.
The erosion of extended family influence and community oversight has left individuals to navigate moral choices in isolation. The result? A sharp rise in crimes once considered taboo, such as kidnapping for ransom and ritual-related violence. To reverse this trend, Nigeria needs a deliberate cultural and systemic shift. Governance must reward hard work, the rule of law must ensure consequences for crime, and value education must be reintroduced in schools and homes. The removal of Civics and History from the curriculum during military rule was a grievous error that must be corrected.
The desperation has reached absurd levels, with staged kidnappings becoming a disturbing trend. In Ekiti State, Mrs. Grace Ogunleye, vice chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government Area, was reported missing after her car was found abandoned. A massive search operation involving police, military, and local security forces eventually smoked her out of her hideout. Police charged her and three co-defendants with conspiracy and staging her own kidnapping.
In Plateau State, a man conspired with friends to disappear and demand a ₦5 million ransom from his family. He confessed to immense financial pressure and debt. In Edo State, a woman hired an accomplice to stage her own abduction, demanding ₦50 million from her husband. Police arrested her at a hotel hideout in Delta State, where she confessed to masterminding the plot to extort money from her own family.
These hoaxes divert elite anti-kidnapping squads, tracking technology, and tactical personnel away from genuine, life-and-death abduction cases. Authorities have sworn to leverage the full weight of the law to ensure that anyone found guilty of such a heist is put away for a long time.
The task of retracing our steps back to the basics of Civics, History, and traditional values is no less urgent than the ongoing war against terrorism. It has to be a forward march to the abandoned road of Omolúàbí, Ezigbo afa, and Mutunchi.
A reader, Oladipo Olaonipekun, reacts to last week’s piece titled “Tell South Africa, Karma Is A Bitch!” He argues against conspiratorial theories, calling them easy to hoist but never based on facts. He emphasizes self-reflection as the best way to solve problems, noting that the deplorable xenophobic attacks on other Africans in South Africa belie an inconvenient truth: the failure of the state to address its own deep structural inequalities.
