The Nigerian society today has gone beyond reason and commonsense. Maybe because we now live in the so-called global village, where we are daily stung by the effects of socio-globalisation where many, most especially the youth, are either facebooking, tweeting or using all brands of tablet, androids and i-phones. It is the reason, perhaps, in the last couple of years, an ever- increasing moral and social decadence seem to apparently hit us in the face. From East to West with both South and North not left out, the societal morass paints a sorry situation of how our customs, traditions and culture are fast eroding and overtaken by Western civilisation. Inasmuch as there is nothing wrong with borrowing from a foreign culture or civilisation, what this writer finds hard to understand is the way we have pushed decorum and commonsense aside, perpetrating acts inimical to the African culture, sense and high moral ethos in the name of civilisation. The history of the Japanese has been one of swift borrowing. Aside from wanting to be on a par with the powers that be, Japan took almost every culture which it found suitable for its growth and development. In fact, Chinese civilisation was borrowed heavily by Japan, yet Japan refused to accept it hook, line and sinker. It never forgot where it was coming from and where it was going. What it took from its outside world was blended with its own civilisation and this went a long way in aiding its education sector, with confucianism and emperor worship becoming the norm as different from those of the Chinese. During the Meiji era, in a bid to modernise, the Japanese reformed almost all strata of their society borrowing from Western models of development. The military was reformed using the German military model, while the French, British and American systems of democracy and civil rule were adopted and used by the Meiji reformers. Today, Japan may look industrialised and westernised, yet the people have never exchanged their indigenous cultures for another.The late sixties down to the nineties in Nigeria happened to be the period a philosopher described as solitary, brutish, nasty and short. Despite the societal cleavages, people still maintained a sense of moral decorum. This writer recalls periods in the nineties when people daren't smoke cigarette in public, for it appeared like a serious crime. Dressing half naked was taken with harsh criticism, while sexual immorality was not treated with kid gloves. Many always had it at the back of their minds that they must not forget the child of whom they were. Several acts of immorality were done in secret because doing it openly brought reproach upon the individual and his immediate family.What stirs us in the face today is a far cry to what things were in the past. We care less about the kind of dress we wear, whether it debases the very essence of human nature or not. Some people behave like a dog whose sexual urge is displayed anywhere and everwhere. Ironically, even dogs these days exhibit were restraint than many humans todays, what with the sexual romp they display in public places. Hotels spring up every now and then with youths patronising them as if salvation existed there. On the streets, hooligans, area boys, vagabonds and nonetities litter everywhere, disturbing the peace of the land. At the slighest provocation, they unleash mayhem unprecedented in the history of violence in the country. Prostitution has become the order of the day and is highly promoted even in our ivory towers and marketed on high ways and major cities. From Allen Avenue to the heart of Aso Rock, these sex workers bestrode our heartlands like a colossus. It has even become worse when for a paltry sum, any lady could be lured to bed.Cigarettes have almost become obsolate as marijuana and all brands of hard drugs are injested daily by Nigerian youths and have taken the centre stage. Alcoholic drinks with the highest percentage value are consumed with reckless abandon by the youth while those who do not take them are usually seen by their peers as novice. Immoral movies, pornographic films, and programmes are shown on our TV stations without regulatory agencies willing to censor them, despite their negative impact on our kids. Radio stations blast profane music and many celebrate artists who proliferate such profane music. In fact, without these brand of music, many artists won't be known. Worrying still, is the fact that contemporary parents, who ordinarily are supposed to set a pace for a better society, busily engages themselves in pursuing mundane things to the detriment of their wards. Simply because a parent wants to survive and must put food on the table, they put their children on the path of danger. When a chid has no parental care, he tends to become a social deviant and commits acts inimical to the society at large. The government too, with its wanton act of kleptocracy, to-hell-with-the-people and I-don't-give-a-damn attitude, has not been helping matters.The Western culture we all struggle to imbibe has taken us nowhere, but rather, it continues to destroy the social fabric of our society. The Nigerian youths rather than being productive are either on facebook, tweeting their lives aways or even watching the English Premiership League, which earn them nothing but stagnation. There is no harm in having fun, but when it becomes an addiction, forgetting we have a role to play in laying a good foundation for the future, and a better Nigeria for us all, then it becomes a bad habit.For the fact that no society develops while its youths play their lives away, it is high time those responsible for the proper upbringing of our children and our society started thinking straight and ahead. Our society must be devoid of immorality and also wanton acceptance of foreign culture. The future social fabric of the Nigerian society is fast eroding and if something is not done to nip this ill in the bud,we all will have ourselves to blame. It should not be the wish of any nation to have more than half of its population suffering from paroxysm of immorality. It should not begin with us.Oluwafunminiyi, a social commentator and political analyst, could be reached via creativitysells@gmail.com
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