The Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, Professor Ayo Omotayo, has charged the younger generations on the need to embrace values.
He said that if one wants to grow as an individual, one must have core values to which he subscribes, for such an individual to grow.
Omotayo stated this on Friday during the 2025 Alumni Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association, Oyo State branch, held at Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Speaking on the topic “Value For Value: Options and Challenges in Re-charting Nigeria’s Developmental Trajectory,” Omotayo, who was the guest speaker at the event, noted that if a nation will grow as well, the citizens must subscribe to what they value, while lamenting that Nigerians are yet to know what their values should be.
He said, “Children of this generation must subscribe to a value for them to be successful in life, while citizens of a nation generally should subscribe to, but unfortunately Nigerians are confused on what our values should be but I am sure with what our president is doing Nigeria will still have a clear idea of what we want our values to.
“What we want from the effort that we put into work, what we want from the resources that we jointly own, what we want from our forces union, what we want as leaders and followers, what we want as a nation, and the conversation continues. In essence, what do we want as value for being Nigerians?
“According to Lipman 2010, Nigeria’s pluralistic nature has meant that the country lacks a universally accepted notion of what acceptable values are. What qualifies as values in the country today are often influenced by such considerations as ethnicity, religion, level of education and nepotism, among others” with resources.
“The logic here thus becomes that if it can happen in private lives within the same territorial space, then it can manifest in our national life. We can have insecurity tackled with security architecture upgraded and standardised, infrastructure developed with resources available, food accessible with lands and people protected, unemployment reduced with merits developed and professionalism upheld, poverty eradicated with sincerity of programmes and initiatives, leaders responding through eligibility and competence.”
Speaking at the event, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Kayode Adebowale, noted that the topic is a wake-up call for all, emphasising that there are values driving all that people do, adding that everyone must hold good values that promote the good of society, values that can drive development.
Adebowale, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) of the institution, Professor Peter Olapegba, noted that values must start at the individual level, adding that Nigerians should be deliberate about their values.
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According to him, the aggregate of the values of family members becomes the family value, and the aggregate of people’s values in a particular country becomes the national value.
While he lamented that “values in the society have been eroded because of certain effects in society, globalization, carelessness among others,” he however called for individual and national rebirth of the values that had brought development to the country, adding that the values can bring back mileage to the country.
Today’s topic is a wake-up call for all that there are values driving all they do; everyone must hold good values that promote the good of society, values that can drive development. Values must start at the individual level, and Nigerians should be deliberate about what their value is.
“The aggregate of the values of family members become the family value and the aggregate of people’s value in a particular country becomes the national value.
“But sadly the society have been eroded because of certain effects ranging from globalization, carelessness among others.
“So there is need for individual and national rebirth of the values that had previously brought development to the country, this would bring back mileage. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to ask ourselves, what our value is? are these values functional? are these values able to project the image of the country in a positive manner? are these values able to change this generation and the coming generations to be functional citizens of this country?” he concluded.
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