Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) lawyer, Wahab Shittu, has called for the restoration of core values in our national consciousness as a vehicle for development.
Speaking as keynote speaker at the second annual colloquium by a group of indigenous professionals of Offa origin, the Galaxy Clique Offa, titled, Lost concept of Omoluabi in our society, in Offa at the weekend, Mr Shittu said that the Nigerian society could be in serious danger without core values.
“The family in our contemporary society is under serious attack. And so the values that we used to cherish before the foundation of the family are increasingly eroding away. And we need to do something about it.
“Before, when you were privileged to be rich, people would want to know the source of your wealth. But today, what is important to most people is that you are wealthy. They do not want to bother about the source of your wealth. That is why the society is in serious decline.
“Again, there is pervasive corruption these days occasioned by indiscipline and absence of core values. There is mismanagement of resources. In summary, we need to re-enact the process of core values. We need to bring back those values so that the foundation of the family can be restored.
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“I am suggesting that in the quest to pursue a career we should not neglect the home. Be it, mother or father. If we neglect the home we are not able to monitor the activities of our children and inculcate in them those core values. And even at that, we need to introduce civics in our school system so that people will know what is right and what is wrong.
“Our political actors also need to be guided by the code of ethical and moral conduct to regulate their affairs. This will enable them to know what is permissible and what is not permissible. We need to re-enact the Omoluabi movement at various levels. We can from that platform begin to build political parties and other things. Without that the society is in serious danger”, he said.
The EFCC lawyer, who traced the loss of core values in the Nigerian society to when people started emphasizing the craze for money, said that question should be asked on the source of wealth.
“Yes, money is very important, but we need to question the source of wealth. It is not just money, we should be more interested in the colour of money. Because of this craze for money most of our young chaps are ready to indulge in internet scams and all kinds of rituals alien to our culture”, he said.
