In essence, we are increasingly becoming impatient in our fast-paced world and the end result is the get-rich-quick syndrome with all the desperation that goes along with it. Truthfulness is now sacrificed at the altar of “smartness” as students say those who study are the brilliant but those who pass are the smart. Honesty, which is proverbially the best legacy, is now treated with derision among the vast majority and those who display it are often dismissed as fools. Decency in dressing is now associated with backwardness and those who gain attention are those who can be “bold” and do the extreme and the unthinkable. Even grandmothers now show cleavages and there is a lot of vanity and artificiality in the society.
Discipline or the attribute of self-control is fast departing us as the society itself directly and indirectly encourages indiscipline. Respect for law and order is jettisoned by many who have been misguided to believe that whatever makes you feel good is good, regardless of the impacts on the society. There are big men with zero integrity stomping and gallivanting across the national space. The names of some leaders, within and outside the National Assembly, provoke nothing other than contempt and derision because of their negative public perception.
This apparent departure from the noble goals of education leaves dare consequences for us to grapple with as we continue to deal with smart and certified criminals. All forms of socially reprehensible behaviour are gaining ascendancy and the new normal is the utterly abnormal. Foul-mouthed singers with large followers, badly brought-up video vixens that bare it all and dare the devil along with scandal-riddled celebrities are setting the pace and serving as models for the young and impressionable. Corporate and professional prostitutes that care only for cash, drug addicts that live on the fast lane, self-centred politicians and criminal-minded law enforcement agents are now in large number and they are all ‘educated.’ They all attended institutions of higher learning and showcase worthless certificates in their unworthy hands.