The society we live in today has gone beyond reason and commonsense.Maybe because we live in a global village and are stung by the effects of socio- globalisation where many are either facebooking, tweeting or using all brands of tablet phone, there has been in the last couple of years an ever increasing moral and social decadence in the Nigerian society. From the West to the East, with both the South and North not left out, what we witness paints a sorry situation of how our customs, traditions and culture are fast eroding and are being overtaken by Western civilisation. In as much as there is nothing wrong in assimilating or taking a cue from a foreign culture or attitude, what this writer finds hard to understand is the way we have pushed decorum and commonsense aside and commit 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 at par with the powers that be, the Japanese took almost every culture which they found suitable for their growth and development. In fact, Chinese civilisation was borrowed heavily by Japan, yet Japan refused to accept them hook, line and sinker. They never forgot where they were coming from and where they were going. What they took from outside was blended with their own civilisation and this went as far as the education sector where confucianism and emperor worship became the norm. During the Meiji era, in a bid to modernise, the Japanese reformed almost all strata of their society using the Western model. The military was reformed in the German model, while the the French, British and American systems which ushered in a near utopian society for them were taken and used by the Meiji reformers. Today, Japan is better off for this, yet they never forget their own indigenous cultures.The late 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s were decades of military preponderance with its attendant political and economic ills. The society was in disarray and life was what a philosopher would term solitary, brutish, nasty and short, yet people still maintained a sense of social and moral decorum. This writer remembers in the 90s how people dared not smoke in public because it seemed like a serious crime. Dressing half naked was taken with harsh criticism, while sexual immorality was not taken with kid gloves. Many always had it at the back of their minds not to forget the children of whom they were. Many acts of immorality were done in secret because doing it openely spelt doom for the individual and his immediate family.What stirs us in the face today is a far cry to what it used to be. We care less about the kind of dress we put on and whether it debases the very core of human nature. We have turned to dogs whose sexual urge is displayed anywhere and everywhere. Even dogs these days are better than many humans with the sexual romp displayed in public places. Hotels spring up every now and then with youths patronising them as if it is where salvation exists. On the streets, hooligans, area boys, vagabonds and nonentities 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 in our ivory towers and marketed on high ways and in exotic cities. From Allen Avenue to the heart of Aso Rock, these comfort ladies bestride our heartlands like colossuses. It becomes worse when for a paltry sum, just any lady could be lured to bed.Cigarettes have almost become obsolate as marijuana and all brands of hard drug are injested daily. Alcohols of the highest percentage are taken recklessly while those who don't take them are usually seen as novice. Ex-rated films, immoral movies, shows and programmes are displayed on our screens without anybody ready to censor them despite its effect on our kids. Radio sets blast profane music and many celebrate artistes who proliferate such profane music. In fact, without this brand of music, many artistes are less recognised. Worse of all are contemporary parents who ordinarily are supposed to be the first pointer towards a better society, being busy pursuing needless things at the detriment of their wards. Because a parent wants to survive and must bring food to the table, they put their children on the path of danger. When a child has no parental care, he tends to become a social deviant and committs acts inimical to the society at large. The government too with its wanton act of kleptocracy and 'to hell with the people' attitude, many Nigerians have become their own local governments forgetting their duties to the home and society.The Western culture we all struggle to imbibe has gotten us no where, but rather, continues to destroy the social fabric of our society. The Nigerian youths, rather than being productive are either on facebook,tweeting their lives away or even watching football or season films which earn them nothing but stagnation. There is no harm in having fun, but when we do it with so much addiction, forgetting we have a role to play for ourselves and the society as a whole, then it becomes a huge problem. No society develops with its youths playing 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 wanton intake of foreign culture. The future fabric of the Nigerian society is fast eroding and if something is not done to nip this ill on the head, we will all 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. And it should not begin with us.'Oluwafunminiyi wrote in via creativitysells@gmail.com
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