By FIDEL AGU

Attitudinal re-orientation has for long been recognized as the best way to address the myriad of societal problems confronting the Nigerian society. Consequently, successive administrations have articulated and pursued re-orientation programmes in one form or the other. It is regrettable, however, that despite all the attempts, programmes and interventions, nothing can be seen in concrete terms as reward and achievements to the enormous work of re-engineering Nigeria. There still exist all the negative attributes that hold us down as a nation.
The challenge of a new Nigeria, therefore, places a big responsibility on the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari who inherited an economy that was, over the years, badly managed, with normal standard characteristics of good governance obliterated, while anti-social patterns of behaviour became pervasive.
Nigerians from all walks of life, irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliation invested their trust by voting President Buhari to power. That trust was borne out of their sincere and genuine desire to see a new Nigeria where unemployment, corruption, insecurity, violence and other forms of social vices which pervaded the polity will be fought to a standstill.
The expectation from President Muhammadu Buhari was quite huge because of the belief that he would bring to bear his characteristic nature of discipline, honesty and integrity into governance. However, the problem with Nigeria is not irredeemable. Much as the task is tough and herculean, the President is expected to empower institutions of government like the National Orientation Agency to go down to the basics to drive the process of a comprehensive programme of attitudinal transformation starting from the family, the school (primary and secondary), the traditional and religious bodies.
The message of value re-orientation and social harmony should dominate our polluted psyche. Religious and ethnic sentiments have taken pre-eminence over brotherhood. Gone are the times when Nigerians were their brothers’ keepers, irrespective of tongue or creed; gone are the days when every adult member of society could instantly discipline any erring child to the happiness of the child’s parents. The traditional institutions on their own were faithful custodians of culture and moral values. Our music and folklore then had a good moral hold on the youths. Those were the days when Sallah and Christmas were celebrated together by both Muslims and Christians, be it in Kano, Onitsha or Lagos.
This was the Nigeria of yesteryears before our slide into the current perfidy. To this end, there must be a deliberate and systematic policy direction to urgently change the narrative and draw new rules and principles that will determine the existence of a decent and disciplined society that can compete favorably with other developed nations of the world.
The family is the oldest institution on earth and it plays a vital role in human society. Throughout history, strong families have helped to make strong societies. The family, therefore, remains the best arrangement for training  the children to become  mature and credible adults. The family is the first social contact the child has and his experience in the process of development matters a lot because such early experiences are hard to erase. That is why psychologists tell us that the child at birth is a tabular rasa i.e. empty slate. That means that a family through the parents have a crucial role to play in moulding the character of the child. Even the two major religions, Islam and Christianity, are conscious of the quality upbringing of the child with the belief that when you train a child well, when he is small, when he grows up, he will not depart from the good ways.
Therefore, we cannot continue to sound like a broken record about our youth being leaders of tomorrow when we have not adequately invested in the all-important attitudinal re-orientation meant to inculcate in them good moral values while also purging them of all kinds of primordial sentiments of religious extremism and ethnic jingoism.
Families and schools must be the focal points of the messages of the National Orientation Agency. Efforts should be made to re-tune the mindset of parents and teachers to drive the process of inculcating new values and attitudes into the psyche of an average Nigerian child both at family and school levels,
The youths, on their own, are exuberant and sometimes confused and confrontational persons whose characters, to a reasonable extent, are still capable of being influenced and moulded. Here lies the concern of youth development with the issues of nation building. Children and youth are the wealth and hope of society because they guarantee its continuity, which is why they are often referred to as leaders of tomorrow.
However, how ready are we as a family in preparing the child/youth to take over this responsibility of being leaders of tomorrow. Are parents now ready to question the source of the sudden wealth of their children who sometimes engage in armed robbery or Advanced Fee Fraud (419) and suddenly come home to exhibit stupendous wealth to the admiration and celebration of their parents? How prepared are our traditional institutions and religious leaders to stop the rampant and indiscriminate award of chieftaincy titles and religious honors to the people with questionable wealth? These are the issues and until they are tackled decisively, the fight against corruption in the polity, violence, drug abuse and social vices will not be won.
By and large, the strength of a nation does not rest merely in its material or scientific achievements but it lies rather more in the moral qualities of the individuals and in the level of moral consciousness of the entire society. There is no doubt that our future really depends on how successful we are in fighting the orgy of negative attitudes. Attitudes are products of the mind which are manifested in behavioural patterns. The attitude of citizens on national issues is a two-edged sword capable of enhancing development or crippling it.
It must be made known to the President that apart from our numerous fault lines, a positive attitude remains one single but fundamental issue that will change the narrative in Nigeria.

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Agu writes from Abuja