Hardly will Nigerians (35 years and above) talk about the socio-economic situation of Nigeria without mentioning the popular phrase: the good old days. This, to me, is indicative of the fact that things are no longer what they used to be. In fact, there is a general consensus among the young and old that there is a big crack on the solid pillars (core values) on which our society was built.This is despite the fact that many of us were born and bred in a society built on core values, a society where hard work mattered, where honesty, honour, respect for the elderly, integrity, protection of the family name and contentment were the guiding moral principles.Once in Nigeria, we had a society where genuine service to others was routine, where peoples lives were constructed around the simple notion that you shall do nothing to bring the family name to shame. For example, every letter I received from my mother when I was in secondary school, ended with Remember the home you come from and that all that glitters is not gold.We had a society where you paid for goods left by the roadside even if the seller was nowhere in sight; where you kept an eye on your neighbours child as if he were yours. And if you strayed, you accepted penalty for your transgression. We had a country where parents would rather have their children fail an examination than support them to cheat and have their way; where the youths saw no other means of making money than hard work and sound education. My parents taught me that anywhere I was happy and settled was home, and that those around me were my aunties, uncles, sisters and brothers, regardless of their tribes or religion. That was the natural order then, a good one that gave all and sundry peace of mind.But we lost these values over the years, and today, the story is different. Now, it seems everyone, young and old, wants to be on the fast lane. Those priceless values of honesty, integrity, hard work, dedication and patriotism, which helped some of us achieve the little we have achieved today, are fast fading away. Can we build a sound economy on wrong values' Absolute NO! You will therefore agree with me, fellow Nigerians, that there is an urgent need for values re-orientation and attitudinal change if this country must achieve its desired economic goals.Lifes lessons have shown that, for every big success, either in the life of an individual or in the economic history of a country, there is usually a breakaway from old, unproductive thinking or ways of doing things. This explains why the late American philosopher of science, Thomas Kuhn, said in his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolution, that every significant breakthrough in the field of science was, at first, a breakaway from the traditional (habitual) way(s) of thinking or doing things.Our great country has all it takes to eradicate poverty and be among the top players in the global economy in no time. Nigeria is blessed with a growing population of 167 million people; the right market and labour force; 80 million hectares of arable land; about 33 solid minerals in commercial quantities in 450 locations across the country; it has the eighth worlds largest gas reserves and is the seventh worlds largest oil producing nation. But to cut short the journey to sustainable economic growth, everyone of us must make conscious efforts to cure what appears to be a socio-economic malaise of wrong values. Yes, Singapore is a small country compared to Nigeria but we can learn from them.Other countries, whose success stories are being told today, had, at one time or the other, jettisoned counter-productive socio-economic lifestyles and adopted realistic therapies to achieve their current levels of economic development. And I often cite the case of Singapore because of the countrys emphasis on values.It is a widely known fact that Lee Kuan Yew transformed Singapore from a poor, abandoned country to an international financial hub and reference point in terms of economic transformation in about three decades. But he did not achieve this feat on a platter of gold. He leant on core values like orderliness, discipline and dedication to propel the country to greatness and reshaped the thinking of the citizens in line with the vision he had for a new Singapore.Lees popular saying during Singapores transformation period was: If you have a system where the man who cuts corners is the man who gets rich and the hard-working man who studies hard is a mug, you will fail.With this belief, he cleansed the system, transformed the society to a values-based one and made the pursuit of consistent, sound economic policies the icing that made the Singaporean economy an irresistible cake for deep-pocket investors in no time. Ultimately, Singapores leaders were able to break the countrys poverty jinx by: changing the attitude of the people through the introduction of the necessary core values; embarking on aggressive and consistent orientation of the citizens to make them realise that their destinies were in their own hands; providing education for all, focusing on the younger generation; pursuing consistent economic policies; and putting structures in place for good policies to thrive.This emphasis on good values has made Singapore one of the countries with the highest savings rate today while its sustained sound economic policies also paved the way for investments in critical areas and dragged the countrys unemployment rate down to slightly above two per cent currently. You may wish to know, however, that this country, which based its transformation programme on the existence of good values, was rated the fastest growing economy in the first half of 2010 with an impressive growth rate of 17.9 per cent.Already, Nigeria is on the verge of achieving sustainable economic transformation and we have the right environment to make this happen. With the various reforms going on, President Goodluck Jonthan has made his commitment to economic regeneration and poverty alleviation clear.Also, to create a friendlier environment for the much-needed investments in the critical sectors, and provide ample job opportunities for everyone in the working group, the Federal Government has put various reforms in place in our quest for that kind of economic growth that will guarantee good standard of living for every Nigerian citizen. These include: the investment climate reform, power reform, agricultural transformation plan, industrial revolution plan and civil service reform, amongst other policies aimed at promoting enterprise (SME), economic growth, job creation and wealth generation.These are, no doubt, necessary and critical reforms. But, again, designing and, more importantly, successfully implementing transformative policies and programmes will require building these reforms on a sound foundation of core values such as discipline, hard work, dedication, integrity, accountability, justice and equity, tolerance, patriotism, contentment and selflessness. We must imbibe these core values to successfully transform our country, and the campaign must start right from our primary schools to our working environment. It must involve parents, teachers, lecturers, religious leaders, heads of corporation and government. In short, the private and public sectors must buy into this new vision and become champions.History has shown that companies that maintain discipline through the hard work of dedicated, trustworthy and financially-disciplined drivers have done better than others. Take a look at the global financial crisis, which started with the collapse of financial giants in the United States; the sovereign debt crisis, which led to the resignation of strong cabinets globally, particularly in the developed economies; and the Nigerian financial crisis, which was made worse by our banking crisis and the downturn in the capital market. These crises were not triggered by incompetence on the part of market players but, largely, by greed and lack of discipline and contentment.Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot and must not leave the fight against corruption to the EFCC and ICPC alone.Now is the time for schools, teachers, employers, the civil society and NGOs, among others to work with the government to develop and implement a national reorientation programme on which our economy will be built and which will free our society from self-inflicted poverty.Excerpt of a speech delivered by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, at the Pan-African University 2011 convocation.
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