By Goodluck Egweke
Democracy as a system of government was chosen in 1999 as a form of government to put an end to military regime because of its numerous advantages.
During the military era, Nigerians experienced gruesome catastrophic drama of war in which many young and talented Nigerians were wasted by bullets, bombs, famine. This caused many diseases which in turn sent many to their early graves.
In no too distant past ,the Abacha and Banbagida’s military regime took the nation through another reckless and needless journey of killing, imprisonment, , unlawful detention without trials- shutting behind bars either to die or suffer for life. There was also the looting of public treasury as well as pen and gun robbery especially money meant for public use were rampant.
When Nigerians embraced democracy, many thought they have come breathe the air of freedom because they thought it would bring about the much desired hope of the promised land.
Although, democracy has given face lift to some key areas but the so much desired dream of the promised land still remains illusive and a great mirage till date after so many years of democratic practice in Nigeria. This is a result of the presence of a giant monster called INDISCIPLINE and its attendance passion for corruption and immorality.
Also worthy of mentioning is the upsurge of a dreaded development: human trafficking, kidnapping, terrorism and ritual killings.
The Advance Learners’ Dictionary defines indiscipline as lack of control in the behaviour of a people .To drive home this point ,there was a case of a student from our institution who slapped his teacher just because the teacher punished him ,a direct result of gross Indiscipline on part of our society which characterized our democratic institutions .
Indiscipline which gives birth to corruption is also manifested in examination malpractice.This ugly trend has spread into Nigeria’s institutions of learning whether the Basic and Secondary Education or higher institution ike wild fires.
Examination is an organized assessment technique in which learners are required to answer questions or perform certain task to ascertain the level of knowledge and skills acquired in their learning process , therefore stipulated rules and regulations are followed in the conduct of examination.
This ideal has however been altered due to indiscipline in Nigeria society .It is a more worrisome situation as it has spread like wild fire as earlier said to all levels of education in Nigeria and other third world countries.
Some forms of examination malpractice have been noticed down the ages ,these include bringing of prepared answers on pieces of papers , handkerchief, underwear ,thigh and other relevant materials to the examination halls, Other methods include impersonation , dictation of answers , luring teachers to help , bribing of exams official to allow cheating , awards of inflated scores to students after sexual gratification and parents buying question papers for their children among others
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As a result of this phenomenon, students come out of school to become ‘JAGUDA” pen and gun robbers ,kidnappers ,cultist , ritualists and political 419ers.
There was a pathetic situation where a graduate was called upon to write an application letter to be employed in an organisation but he could not. Those present were so embarrassed as he failed the test.
Some present political leaders who acquired fake certificates through fraudulent means can be found in our democratic institutions .No wonder political manifestoes are not kept after Having sworn into offices . This ugly development has spread down to all facet of our democratic society .
This corruption which is the offspring of indiscipline has also spread into the law enforcement agencies such as the Police, Army, Navy, Air Force as many bad eggs are in the system pulling down the esteemed image of the profession.
Most people in the medical profession and of course, politicians who professed to be political saints after their swearing in later exhibit total disrespect to the oath of office they swore to before assumptions of office. They are known as wolves in sheep clothing. What attitude does this connote therefore?
The War Against Indiscipline (WAI), innovation and invention of Major General Tunde ldiagbon and the then Major General Mahammadu Buhari’s regime helped to check and rid the country of corruption and indiscipline to a large extent at that time.
Many saw the need to run away from corruption and indiscipline. The essence of democracy is to represent the people interest in government and serve the needs of the people -bringimg about dividends of democracy to the communities that voted them into power.
This development should be manifested and the people should feel the impact of the government in all areas of human endeavors including establishment of industries for the teeming youth who graduate from school to work, among others.
Unfortunately, public office holders have turned thier back against those who worked tirelessly to vote them into power in most Nigerians communities to pursue their greedy ambition at the detriment of the masses.
As a result, many homes have become impoverished to the level of a church rat. To have three -square meal a day has become a far cry from the the hill let alone taking care of thier children’s educational needs .
Now, the question begging for an answer is: How long shall the few honest Nigerians who refuse to join this dance of the forest endure the deceit and total perversion of Justice in which they find themselves? How long shall they continue to wait for the dream of the founding fathers to come true?
Nigerians have continued to live by the bank of the river Niger yet watch their hands with spittles.
To remedy this ugly phenomenon, concerted efforts are needed by Nigerians . Yes, Nigerians home and abroad should look inwards to select a honest leader that re validate. Nigeria’s values in the next political dispensation to achieve the much cherished dreams of the promised land to earn respect and regards from international communities and rewrite the history of Nigeria and indeed Africa with letters of gold.
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