The Nation’s Unending Clash of Values and its Crisis In Conflict of Resolution – making the change that changes everything -By Jimi Bickersteth

The crisis inflicted on the nation’s body politick continues unabated and its resolution was further compounded and high wired by the very elements that set out to proffer solutions. One of which was the October 2020 #ENDSARS and its consequential, direct affront on the peace and tranquil of the very nation it sought to, in an artificially, abstract terms, ‘liberate’ from the clutches of ethnocentric assumptions and cultural hegemony.

“Nothing stops an idea whose time has come” is a time-worn cliché, but certain basic fundamentals must be on the ground and be a given and fulfilled as condition precedent. Here, one would make an attempt to dissect why the nation is what it is: the cultural change, the nation’s political environment and what must change while making the change that changes everything.

Let me start by stating that the causes of cultural change dwell somewhere in the realm of theory. Hence, explanations in this write-up are merely speculations, but the effort can allay the discomforts of ignorance. Writers indulge in the art of clarifying what seems illogical by reordering history to their ends. I, too, will indulge.

Let me place on record and for emphasis, that the nation’s Political and general administration arena is not the only institution spurned by the value system of the emerging young adult population; Church, family, the military all come in for well-aimed scorn as they face challenges to their authority and increasing skepticism about the institution’s ability to solve society’s problems and offer hope for the future. The institution’s too, detect a flowering of narcissism among the “Me Generation”, a crisis of authority, and an age of cynics.

A declining standards in which loyalty to the ’cause,’ (none was correcting that impression as all got immersed in the ‘rat race’), has been replaced by loyalty to the self, concerns for leisure and a preoccupation with individual needs and pleasures. Aspiring to a life perfectly balanced between love, leisure, and personal expression and innate urge to gratify frankly materialistic requirements.

The new values considered loyalty to the ’cause’ a misfortune suffered by their parents. The generation of “If you are not making money you are not making sense”, and living a life of pretence, thinking and believing there is life after life. These various accounts of new values share common themes, pervasive cynicism, self-righteous individualism, and condemnation of the values of the older generation and their leadership curry.

The ones mouthing the change were superficially profusing in their believes in their ‘go-go’ attitudes and counters the nation’s ‘laissez faire approach’ and believes that the new attitudes would help them realise their goals of self- actualisation, autonomy and freedom. This very believe were in the main, internal problems that were  confusing the outlook and generally, not making their feeble attempts at ‘liberation through agitation’ working.
Though fiercely critical of older values their own values and motivations were unclear and nebulous and constitutes a problem for the authorities in dealing with them, their motto was “No leaders” –there were no spokespersons or valid structures with whom to negotiate. Respect for authority and a belief in the importance of rules, once taken for granted, are increasingly drowned in a pool of skepticism and cynicism.

With a mindset that does not believe in the sanctity of the nation’s electoral process, if turnouts at the elections were anything to go by; in its last presidential election only 27 million voted out of the 200 million people and over half of that were registered voters and 60% of it were in the youth bracket (ages 18-60). It appears many young people today are encapsulated in the notion of privatism, avoiding involvement in anything beyond their immediate interests.

In the current value system, sacrifice and hard work as a means to later rewards is now thought to be foolish; immediate gratification and living for today set the style. Goals in life are described subjectively in glowing terms of fulfilling one’s own potential with little respect for the outward manifestations of success, such as money or social status.

These various accounts of new values in the polity share common themes: pervasive cynicism, self-righteous individualism, and condemnation of the values the previous generation holds dearly, values they thought, peevish and silly. It is a fact really, that between the days prior to the civil war (1967-1970) and the second republic (1979-1983), the cultural environment, especially values shifted sharply. Then, Man was urged to advance in life by habits of industry, sobriety, moderation, self-discipline, and avoidance of debt.

Self-indulgence was considered not only socially undesirable but morally reprehensible. In a country elated by an end of hostilities and sudden prosperity, those values were interred in the wake of the 21st century. Nigerians approached life with a new confidence in the future, “making money was not the problem, but how to spend it.” The idea that women’s role was solely to bear and rear children so dominated this time influence that it resulted in the largest baby boom in the nation’s history.

An ethic of procreation permeated every ethnic, class, and education group. The sheer size of this new generation became a problem to national planning and has effected everything from cultural values to divorce rates and crime statistics. Academic standards declined. Although, at the emotional level, parents may have wanted their children to accept their values, practices may have undermined their efforts to instill them.

Consequently, this enormous and pampered cohorts of boom babies advanced through adolescence in unprecedented numbers, they became competitors for the scarce resources of a nation unprepared for the great influx. Their response was reaction, as they became ‘the most fiercely anticompetitive generation in the nation’s history.’ The by-products of the massive size of this youthful generation struggling in prolonged adolescence.

Ultimately, they began to create a culture of their own. The Flower children were the extreme expression of the anticompetitive culture. Repulsed by their parents overstriving and disillusioned by the state of the nation, they engaged in condemning the older generation’s world as militaristic, repressive, corrupt, materialistic, and joyless, they defined their values in direct opposition, loudly proclaiming adherence to personal freedom, openness, joy and love.
As the future becomes menacing and uncertain, their feelings were, “Only fools put off until tomorrow the fun they can have today” and that became a swansong. I walked virtually the length of Adeniyi Jones avenue down to Salvation road at Opebi in Ikeja-Lagos, from about 4pm till 6.00am and I understood what the youths idea of fun is. The achievement ethic was replaced by the pleasure principle, as their numbers put them at a disadvantage in the competition of the work environment (except the few that were highly connected with politicians), but that the earth’s resources are limited too, and they’ll have to adjust to a world of scarcity.

While the economic, power and energy crises continues and inflation erodes investments and savings, the call to buy- now-pay-later seems ever more sensible. Their hedonistic indulgences found expressions in s3x, drugs, lewd music and “rap sessions” and stressed a togetherness which required neither labour nor commitment. Here, I have in mind the depraved and unchecked jamborees in all cornered sectors of the #ENDSARS vivavivendi.

The endless use of alcohol, weed, and at the Lekki tollgate end, countless used condoms in a 12-day orgy of music, dance, notoriety, arson and violence, if you include the Fagba-Lagos mayhem and ethnic-induced killings in broad daylight. A situation the Yorubas would call, “Ìkòkòòní gb’omi, kó gba ẹyìn, kó gbaṣọṣọ“, ensued, as the nation’s space becomes stiflingly hot, hostile and unpleasant. The government had no choice than to react to the exuberance one way or the other.

It appears the extremes of the counterculture is not likely to last much longer in the face of new realities imposed by the covid-19 and its variants on the global economy and sociopolitical life and living. Nevertheless, a quieter challenge has replaced them and have intensified the struggle of the young and the not-so-young to fashion an identity of their own. However, lacking the religious and moral fervour of their parents, they nonetheless found little that was viable in the counterculture.

Sexual freedom brought sophistication but little intimacy and an inability to commit to others or to specific ideals, thus laying today the basis of a future problem. Their flirtations with cults, drugs therapies, sports (not the medal winning types in the Olympics), and diversions such as Yahoo Yahoo and Yahoo plus can be viewed as desperate attempts at self-definition. With their avoidance of genuine commitment or strong family ties, their emotional out-reachings seem less a goal than a sustenance.

It emerged in an existential crisis with no clear alternative, giving the older generation no chances, the Yoruba’s would say, “Ẹnitíat’orí ẹ̀gbọfàl’ẹ́sẹ̀tó l’óhunò lè b’àrọ ṣe!” It is still plagued by uncertainty about what it should be or become. Wandering in anomie, finding no suitable role models, this generation has been forced to look inside itself. The result is that the new narcissists have learned to live for the moment. The few who strayed into politics are not helping matters.

History, rather than providing a reservoir of experience from which to guide their lives, has become irrelevant, and the future looks too dismal and unpredictable to warrant attention. Society shifts from the ascendance of superego values and self-restraint to the self-indulgence of the ID. Today, the affluence this generation experienced early in life has for a majority of them translated, rightly or wrongly, into a psychology of entitlements, with little appreciation for the role of sacrifice and commitment. Perhaps, fueled by the government’s follies and foibles, today’s young generation has little respect for authority or experience as stabilising elements in life. The older adults, acting out of their own historic forces and the incorrigibility of the youths, could not convince the younger generation of their capacity to lead the country toward moral and incorruptible goals.

Thus, the yawning gap between the people a ruling elites bitten by the anti corruption bug as they get rough-and-tumble, creating a cauldron, daring the Executive and everyone for a confrontation match. The younger generation are saying they’ve had and tolerated the ‘nonsense’ all around to the brim. They are daring the nation, its president and all in different aegis of confrontations and agitations mission (IPOB, ESN, MASSOB, MEND, NDA, ODUA) for self-independence, equality, economic development, resource control, fiscal federalism and  a general state of security. The Yorubas will say, “Kí ló kù, léhìin yíó bà ìyáà e,” – once vanity has been raised one should expect the gauntlet to be raised.

Aso rock from the look of things, appears to want to smother the pudding restlessness of the young generation in cream, it could be a tactical mind game or political strategy, but draws a wide grin. To every discerning mind, the relationship between the people and the NASS on one hand, and the presidency and the people has lost steam and the NASS and the President’s and the ruling elites performances all draw multiple thumbs down.

The spark, one of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood otherwise, there will be no love-lost-no- love-found. The people can no longer see the usefulness of the NASS and the presidency and its ruling elites in the quest for the provisions of the dividends of democracy in the last 6 years or so. The spark in the relationship could no longer produce the desired heat or current and the people that once bought into the zero-tolerance for corruption mantra of Aso rock, were like buying a pig in a poke, hence, were not allowing any inch of space for any flaws any longer. Subsequently, the stage appears set for a crisis and conflict of resolution.

The nation, thus, have a lame and docile NASS not the presidency to contend with. The truth and the fact is that the nation’s been plodding on through life with blinkers on, and competing against a battalion of buffed-up hunks at its legislative chambers looking good enough to turn the nation upside down; and watching these ‘poor guys’ with their scrawny and punchy figures and oddly distributed body compete for a nation and its president, they think is in their league, depth and grasp is becoming a very interesting season soap.

In their script, they expect the Cassius Clay’s taunts to engender sympathy in the pauperised people, most of whom at the risk of sounding rather brut-al, are sweating like they’re out there in a Turkish prison. But at this time, the nation’s deceptively sculptured script makes no sense, as the nation has lined up behind several billions dollars indebtedness, and Nigerians want to hawk on the floor at this ‘good’ way to distract the nation’s economic sense, development and recovery even as it drives growth. The mirror is good but some people have a warped view, in any case, the nation do not want to negotiate or compromise, corruption in any shape or form, they also desire infrastructure, but does that put food on their table? Government must wage war against hunger and lack and grand poverty in the land. The soap continue.

The NASS, the ruling elites and the presidency by now must have observed that the influence on the people is wearing and have consequently been on the overdrive, overstating its abilities and overselling itself, but forgetting that Nigerians are experienced and perceptive people, they’re getting bored already and will soon spot the boasting. ‘Why can’t the nation see us?” our poor heroes seem to be saying. To which one might respond, ‘Why can’t you skip amendments and loans requests for a freaking change.’

All of these average Jones become masters of self-delusion, and simply consider themselves worthy of our affections. In a way, and without any iota of doubt, they’re perfect representatives of the Nigerian people and could contribute to society, but should so do, without threats, threats so condescending and emasculating. Do you think riding the executive in the name of doing its biddings and rubber stamping and riding the nation and its people hard is actually more polite than be polite. But humility is far from almighty ruling elites.

In life, every one of us wants to be considered above average. But we’re not. We are a generation most of whom have escaped the hardships of the military, where they have beat our egos to submission. We are outgrowing the permissiveness, and the nation is saying to the lawmakers, and other ‘super cops’in the corridor of powee that it is one thing to break rules and extant laws because you don’t know any better. Quite another to scoff at regulations of which you are fully aware. Know that you know them, and feel free to break them. If it works, it works, but diligent and smart men never get hung up on a bunch of rules. Go on defend this thistle!

Today, it was amazing to note that in between the steaming relationship between the NASS and Aso rock, is a nation who was with them at their lowest and still with them when they were both looking not very lovable, and for this teeming mass of people, it is appearing as if it is better to leave the relationship broken than either side of the divide hurting itself to fix it, and especially now that the fire has gone out of the nation, because of the compromise of integrity and government’s inability to proffer solutions to the myriads of issues confronting the nation.

If the nation must rise from the ashes of yesterday’s maladministration, and a NASS {that could be likened to a bird with iridescent feathers, displaying a spectrum of colours that shimmer and change due to interference and scattering as the participants and stakeholders and observers changes}, there must as of necessity be a tug of war, not of armed struggle or attrition, but one of an alliance forged in the crucible of war and on the table of democracy, ojú bọ̀rọ̀ ò gbọmọ lọ́wọ́ Èkùró, is another Yoruba’s wisecracks, figuratively saying, no faint heart wins a fair lady.

The NASS one thinks should be busy deliberating, on:

i.the embroidered embarrassment in the constant and recurring medical treatment of our leaders abroad. Which has portrayed, in this season of “Change”, what the system have made of our institutions, educational, health, and so on. Congruent to this, one hopes that the past state governors, now senators and some of them in the president’s cabinet, are watching the decay, their years of neglect and negligence have bequeathed on the nation. Now that everyone is suffering for their past failures, (in providing employments opportunities, developing our hospitals and medicare practices and in fact all facets of our national life, psyche and character) in revolutionary ways that should have shaped the course of health sciences, corporeal needs, and health care delivery right down to the next generation.

ii.Whether the president’s ailments necessitates that extensive treatment or was it borne out of sheer force of habit and simply a gold standard, as we ship our leaders abroad and turned them to medical tourists, to receive “quality” medical care, often at a fraction of the price they would have to pay at home and what their conditions of service stipulates.

But back to the present. When the people voted “Change,” the big call is for PMB to turn all the past, with its sad hours, weakness, stupidity, shallowness of thought, its wasted opportunities as light in confidence and hope upon the future. To turn it all in fuller truth and light, light, literally and figuratively, so as to make each trifle of this present a new past; it will be joy to look back to; each trifle a grander, nobler and more perfect preparation for the future.

The president should uncommons the house, even as he assumes more air of authority, {notice the difference between that and dictatorship}, if he wants to get anything done. It’s far better, if he takes the initiative, be circumspect and take full responsibility for his outlook. This will put him in control and will empower him to do something, even as he continues to work to display humility, insight, patience, it’s worth it. As he inspires the people and make them passionate about fulfilling dreams in a peaceful and secure Nigeria.

Although, PMB is reacting to the numerous crisis with characteristic sang-froid, that has enabled him simmered and calmed the heat in the polity, and of course the complementary therapies and elixir to damage control; conflict and crisis management maturity of the information minister, even as he for all its worth confirms that there is ”no crisis”, the present and the future we can make from it, is ours, the past has gone back, with all its messages, all its records to the people who want to be happy and who loaned you this golden moments.

PMB should note that happiness is the greatest paradox in nature, it can grow in any soil, live under any conditions, it defies environment. Happiness may coexist with poverty, suffering and sorrow, it consists not of having but of being, not of possessing, but of enjoying. Of the people enjoying the fruits of their labour and eating of the good, the goodness and food of the land. He must himself be transformed to enable him transform and nurture and change destinies.

But what our lawmakers would have us have today because of the state of hopeless helplessness, is contented spirit masquerading as a greatly overrated virtue. It is a kind of diluted despair; it is the feeling with which the nation continues to accept substitute, without striving for the realities of the great circuses all around us; making trained individuals swallow vinegar and try to smack lips as if it were wine. A mental and moral chloroform that deaden the activities of the individuals to rise to higher planes of life and growth – a  death knell to the people’s peace, progress and wellbeing.

The Nigeria nation confronted with the daemons of statehood and the dilemma of federalism, should no more be contented with anything less than the best efforts of its leaders can possibly secure for it. The nation could only be contented with each step of progress under PMB merely as a station, discontented with it as a destination. The nation should merely be contented with what he has, but never with what we are .

The NASS should note that the ability to change is critical to success, however, change really does worry people, as things tend to go bad before they get better. There was a survey of 1999 people where their greatest fear was not death {that came about 5th on the list}, but change. Change is the most frightening word in the English language for most people. The key is for government to create an agency or directorate of change with the mandate to redirect the fear of change into a new adventure.

The tension gripping all of our ‘polithievecians,’ ‘legislatheives’, ‘executhieves’ and now ‘policethieves’ on account of the change regimen is understandable, in this power must change hand era. They are bound to loose their hold on power. There is the power of change – change brings power with it. Change is the lesson of our age, and we have to learn to anticipate change either as leaders or the led or from the position of disadvantage or advantage and move with it.

Although certain core values certainly do not change. But the NASS and PMB do not need to change the world to improve our lives, wasted efforts that would be. If only they will improve on living conditions, good health care system, good housing scheme, qualitative education producing employable graduates and entrepreneurs. Improve agricultural policies that would lead to increase and improved yields in food production, the people would be better off and so would the nation.

The people have heard and seen enough and suffered from the surfeit of classical ‘May Your Roads Be Rough,’ (apologies to late Dr. Tai Solarin of the Mayflower school fame), that they desire leaders who are sufficiently motivated themselves to be able to turn problems into possibilities. This tough times can teach us to grow, to learn and to overcome overwhelming odds and to get back on the path to progress. On this score, it has become imperative to recover all the loots and filthy lucre at home, be it in soakaway, abandoned landed property or and abroad. There is no victory at bargain prices, leaders are just to learn that apart from being firm, strong and thorough, they need to further deepen their appreciation of their responsiveness to enhance their performance.

The nation and PMB in particular should not be disillusioned nor despair, with all the goings on. Timbers that are firm do not warp, literally in yoruba, “Akọ igi ò gbọdọ̀ ṣoje,” twist or pull apart under pressure, the strength of timber lies in a tightly woven grain. The frigid winds of those perpetrators of illegality and faux pas and looters and padding, may at times whip up choppy waves and distraction.

It is the duty of the government to garner people into the mode that the road to success is always under construction, even as they demolished the augean stable of graft, fleece, nepotism, ethnocentric banditry and corruption. It would enable the IPOB, ESN, ODUA, NDA, MASSOB, MEND etc and the people generally, to change from a life and feeling of misguided action they have been subjected to as violent storms release their fury on sailors traversing the sea to one of purpose and hope.

That being the case, intelligence, honesty and transparency should continue to be the leaders oars and centrepiece of their purview, as they attempt to minimise the sad countenance, tension and oppression of the most vulnerable. A nation can only be blessed only if its leaders treat the lowly and the poor with kindness and consideration; ever wondered how the USA, UK, France and Germany, and lately, Japan and Korea and China remains blessed even with their colossal investment in capital expenditures and monumental debts. #Jimi Bickersteth

Jimi Bickersteth is a super blogger and writer.
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