THE PRESIDENCY
OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT ON ETHICS & VALUES
2^nd floor, Annex1A, Rooms 3A, 2.25 – 2.33, Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase I, Shehu Shagari Way, Abuja.
Official Email, specialadviser@ethicsandvalues-ng.org Tel: +234-9-2912180, +234-9-2912179, +234-70-61284140.

LIST OF VIRTUES

From:         WORLD FEDERATION FOR PEACE AND OTHERS

NB: – THE ABOVE LIST CAN BE TRANSLATED AS VALUES

• FILM MAKERS AND MUSICIANS WILL BE FACILITATED TO PRODUCE 10 – 15 MINUTES FILMS FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS, IN ORDER TO GENERATE DISCUSSIONS FORMALLY AND INFORMALLY AT SEMINARS/WORKSOPS, PICNICS AND RETREATS ETC.

THE WORLD NEEDS MEN/WOMEN:-

“Who cannot be bought, whose word is their bond, who put character above wealth; Who possess opinions and a will; who are larger than their vocations; who do not Hesitate to take chances; who will not lose their individuality in a crowd; who will be as honest in small things as in great things; who will not say they do it “because everybody else does it,” who are true to their friend through good report and evil report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity; who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning and hard-headedness are the best qualities for winning success; who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular, who can say “no” with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says “yes” – uncopyrighted.

“A man is not good at all unless he takes pleasure in noble deeds.”  Aristotle

CHALLENGES TO NIGERIAN WOMEN

“Nigeria has women of proven integrity and impressive antecedents.  However, they need to speak with one voice.  They should have a roundtable conference and take a stock of what is happening in this country.  I believe they will come up with the conclusion that with men’s political pandemonium, it will be a great opportunity for them to grab the leadership of this country.”    Dijatu Abba

Some National and Universal views about women

• Women are the Conscience of the nation
• Women are the Catalysts for change and Reconciliation
• Women are the teachers of Ethics/good character
• Women are the surviving factors of societies
• Women are partners in progress
• Women are the stable horses of the society

Women are the citizen and community mobilizers

• Women are the emotional shock absorbers of the family/society
• Women are source of inspiration to mankind
• Women are rediators of love/goodswill and justice
• Women are models of purity

‘Nigeria Afflicted With Moral Paralysis’

By Chika Okeke, Abuja

The bishop of Abuja and primate of Anglican  Communion, Most Rev Nicholas Oko, has said  that Nigeria was afflicted with moral paralysis, being the reason for rising cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking and other societal vices among Christians.

He made the comment yesterday during the Frist Session of the Eight Synod held at All Saints Anglican Church, Abuja.

According to him, politicians import weapons and hand them over to hoodlums to terrorize the society.  They use the weapon to deal in fake drugs, engage in armed robbery, kidnapping human trafficking and fraud.  He said this as a result of moral paralysis confronting the nation.

Speaking on the theme titled, “When the Righteous Rule,” the clergy emphasized the need fro more rigorous approach to crime reduction, adding that the church must go beyond Sunday messages and make other efforts towards recovering the drowning society.

Nigerians In Austria Seek FG’s Intervention

Nigerian nationals in Austria have sent a distress call to the Federal Government, saying no Nigerian is safe in Austria, and the Nigerian High  Commission in the country has been turned  into a money-making business centre for supposed diplomats.

Messrs Agasus Wilson Nwokoye, deputy coordinator, African Minority in Austria, and James Erebuoye, and events manager/artiste, who spoke with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND in Abuja, narrated horrid tales of torture, racial discrimination, unlawful arrests and injustice in the hands of the Austrian police.

“Thousands of Nigerians groan under the weight of Austrian police terror,” said Nwokoye, a welding engineer in oil pipeline construction who has lived in Austria for 16 years.

The Nigerians are seeking audience with the attorney-general and minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, and foreign affairs minister Odein Ajumogobia.  Asked what Nigeria High Commission in the country has been turned into a money-making business centre for supposed diplomats.

Messrs Agasu Wilson Nwokoye, deputy coordinator, African Moniority in Austria, and James Erebuoye, an events manager/artiste, who spoke with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND in Abuja, narrated horried tales of torture, racial discrimination, unlawful arrests and injustice in the hands of the Austrian police.

“Thousands of Nigerians groan under the weight of Austrian police terror,” said Nwokoye, a welding engineer in oil pipeline construction who has lived in Austria for 16years.

The Nigerians are seeking audience with the attorney – general and minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, and foreign affairs minister Odein Ajumogobia.  Asked what they would discuss with the ministers, they said the Federal Government should quickly intervene by summoning the Austrian high commissioner in Nigeria for questioning.

Erebuoye said the Nigerian High Commission in Vienna had been turned into a business centre which pays little or no attention to the interest of Nigerians in Austria. “Nigerians are treated with disdain by the Austran authorities and the Nigerian embassy collaborates with them,” he said, narrating his encounter with the police penultimate winter.  The Austrian police unlawfully arrested and thoroughly abused him by stripping him and inserting fingers into his anus.

The incident attracted public condemnation and an article in Austria’s foremost magazine, profil, in its January 18, 2010,eition. Before the case could be called up in court, tow of the policemen had committed suicide.

Other Nigerians have not been spared by the Austrian police, Erebuoye said. “Isaac Lazarus had his brain damaged as a result of police brutality and torture.  He is currently lying helpless in Austria,”  he said.

Nwokoye said the police failed to investigate four burglary cases at his residence even when a fingerprint was detected, nor could they bring to book the suspects who ought to appear before the court for their roles in the death of his wife on March 21, 2007.

The two Nigerians, who returned to monitor the general elections in April, appealed to the federal Government to bring succor to scores of Nigerians in Austria’s asylum camp, which they described as a slave camp.

How Parents Aid Exam Malpractice

Examinations are meant to test the understanding of students on what they have been taught.  They are supposed to be a formal and serious exercise.  However, the desperation of parents to secure admission for their wards is undermining the essence of examinations.  This trend reared its ugly head at this year’s Common Entrance Examination, held on the 7^th May 211.  Parents shamelessly negotiated with teachers, even in the presence of their children.  No one would have thought any decent or morally upright parent would expose their young ones to such brazen bribery and the unwholesome act of providing them with the answers at such a tender age.  No doubt, such negative behavior will register in their psyche and they will probably see cheating as a way of life.

Ordinarily, parents and teachers are supposed to mirror the forthright ways that future leaders are supposed to imbibe, but what type of future or legacy is now being bequeathed to them? Parents took it upon themselves to follow their children to the centres where teachers might have been bribed to dictate answers to the pupils.  Though into all candidates who sat for the  examination were exposed to such, there was gross cheating.  “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others”, this was demonstrated at one centre in Lagos where pupils in uniform were singled out for ‘expo’ known as Orijo in Yoruba Language. I was told that some pupils in a particular centre were instructed to come wearing their school uniforms for easy identification by the teachers who would dictate the answers to them.  I had a chat with one of the pupils who sat for the examination, Gbohunmi Osho, who said, “My friend told me that teachers who supervised us dictated answers and he (a teacher) also wrote on the blackboard for the fast pupils among them to copy before cleaning it off.

The ugly incident was perpetrated at an exam centre in Mushin, where teachers reportedly dictated answers to pupils.  Teachers called to shape the lives of students destroy the work of their hands for meager tips they receive from parents.

Recently, the Kwara State government dismissed ten school principals form its service for alleged involvement in examination malpractice during the 2003 Senior Secondary School Certificate.  The depth of malpractice in public examinations in Nigeria is perplexing to say the least.  It is almost routine for students to cheat in both internal and external examinations with the aid of teachers and parents.  What makes the matter intractable is the role played by adult agents or collaborators.  Among them are teachers, school principals, higher institution students and ‘mercenaries’ who invade centres to make quick money.  There are also special coaching schools or centres, which aid and abet examination malpractice for greater patronage and profit.  For those who succeed, the pay-off is good.  The candidates score higher marks than their ability and secure admission, while the collaborators smile to the bank.

Examination malpractice continues to grow at all levels of the educational system.  It has proven to be an incurable disease, making nonsense of the standard of education in the country.  There is the urgent need for Nigeria t seek a permanent solution if education is to be a catalyst for national development and if Nigerian certificates are to be respected worldwide.

The Onilekki of Lekki land, Oba Liasim Olumuyiwa  commented on the recently conducted Common Entrance examination.  The monarch frowned at the rate at which parents and teachers contribute to examination malpractice in the state.

“This shows the decadence of our education system.  During our time, our parents did not visit us in school and the teachers then were seen as lords.  If you did anything contrary to the school’s regulations you were dealt with by the management, but the reverse is the case now”.

Continuing, Olumuyiwa stated, “if such is happening in our society, it shows that Nigeria is in trouble.  Primary six pupils want to learn from us and will see cheating and such acts as a  way of life and that is corruption.  When such students get to high positions, they learnt from their parents.  There are students in the university that are not supposed to be there in the first supposed  to be there in the first instance because they bribed their way there.  When they cannot cope, they join bad gangs to terrorize the school, “he added.

The monarch maintained that the genesis of the problem was the genesis of the problem was when the government decided to abolish teachers’ training “because it was through that scheme that we got well groomed teachers.  “He advised government to address the problem of corruption in the education system to avert a future crisis in Nigeria.

Recently, the president and chairman of the government council, National Institute of Management of Nigeria (NIMN), Chief Lea Aimiuwu had called on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in the education sector.  According to him, “It is absurd that Nigeria’s education sector is losing its standard every day and the rate of failure in public day and the rate of failure in public examinations.”  He complained about past examinations and also affirmed that the sector had lost its glory, saying “As a matter of fact, there is need to improve education in order to take the horde of indolent and potentially murderous youths off our streets and away from mischief.  A state of emergency is exactly what can bring back the lost glory of the sector, because it would allow the government to take stock and redeem the whole system.”

Aimiuwu emphasized that education needs to be addressed  at all levels.  “It is a disaster that our graduates cannot speak good English and that is why I am raising it as an issue to call the attention of Mr. President to do everything possible to address to do everything possible to address all issues pertaining to education, if Nigeria is dreaming of a brighter tomorrow,” he submitted.

• Victims of Sexual abuses/harassment at homes, workplaces and public life: The vulnerability of women expose them to many work hazards such as sexual harassment and other types of sex discrimination in today’s integrated workplaces.  Most women are sexually abused by men either in search for job or after they’ve been employed.  The fear of losing her daily bread succumbs the woman to various ordeals by men who are most often the immediate bosses of overall directors.  Such unscrupulous incidents are rampant in Africa in the 21^st century.  Apart from the work place, women are also abused at home by their husbands upon refusal to grant them their requests.  In there any way we rescues our mothers, sisters and friends?

• Permit me to refer to a new report by the United Nations, calling on governments to take urgent action to ensure real equality between the sexes.  As reported in the Public Agenda newspaper of Friday July 8^th 2011, ‘millions of women worldwide continue to experience injustice, violence and inequality in their homes, workplaces and public life’

RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW WE CAN IMPROVE THE LIVING STANDARD OF THE 21^ST CENTURY AFRICAN WOMAN

May I crave your indulgence to make some recommendations that are relevant to the total wellbeing of women in Africa.  Should these recommendations be taken serious, I believe we will be working towards the total liberation of women in Africa.

1. The need to channel resources to design and implement programmes to promote women empowerment, effective integration and increased participation of women at all levels of socio-economic development.  Special attention should be paid to reach out to women in rural areas.
2. Abolish/discourage customs that are discriminatory against women.
3. Promote effective education and sensitization programmes aimed at changing negative attitudes and perception towards women.
4. Identify strategic ways of ensuring sustainability of employment and professional progress of women workers.
5. Develop measures to protect women against social injustice and promote gender equality in all spheres of life by strengthening our judicial systems.
6. Parliamentarians, Ministers and other opinion leaders with great integrity and achievements should use all available avenues to address young women, sharing their experiences as a means of motivation for the young to aspire to greater heights of leadership.
7. Developing effective strategies to encourage fuller understanding and support of African men to gender equality between both sexes.
8. Women advocacy and Civil society groups should endeavor to play a key role in shaping the future of Africa particularly with a view of eliminating poverty and gender-based discrimination which affects the rights of women.
9. Assure equal access to education and practical leadership training.
10. Government policies should also help to create an enabling environment in which women can help themselves without necessarily relying on their husbands by ensuring better financial assistance, particularly in rural areas.  This would go a long way to help in alleviating poverty among women.  The ability of women to enter into business without the permission of their husbands can help women make choices and then protect those choices.
11. The role and contribution of women in Africa’s sustainable economic development are profound.  I believe African women must have a role in all sectors, including developing democratic institutions, building capacity, protecting the environment, managing population growth, to develop the continent’s economic future.  Let’s pave the way together.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

• Successful management of a demanding career and family responsibilities requires regular reassessment of priorities.  It also requires a great deal of energy, a level of comfort with a certain degree of unpredictability.  It requires patience with one’s own limits and with imperfection.  In attempting to balance work and family, we must be strive to give equal attention with diligence rather than to abandon one to the detriment of the other

Thank you for your attention!!!