Matter of the Moment “Corruption: 420 years Older Than Nigeria”

Society Bemoans, Seeks Panacea With Monday Akpan This write up is not intended to talk deeply about how Nigeria came to be but only that when the first Europeans came to the Coast of Nigeria in 1590, precisely 420 years ago, dealings with those they found at first sight who were predominantly hunters got from them guns, gun power, gold and other things in exchange for human beings (slave trade), and other things they could lay hands on. The interaction gave rise to corruption and other social vices in the country because of the leveling ground they had by then to conduct their business since as one might put it, those Europeans who came to meet them were considered as God who gave them their desired needs. The British were originally drawn into West African which was much more heavily treed than it is at present with greater rainfall by a desire to trade and they had to start trading along the unhealthy coat for some time until when the upheavals in some sections of the West African countries occasioned by the scramble for Africa finally settled and there arose a situation where an attempt to apply the principles of Emirate-Native Administration to all kinds of people in Nigeria without a proper basis which attempt to introduce it in wholesale into Southern Nigeria ended in disaster. That indicated in a nutshell that the country which started from grass though faced by a number of natural phenomenons including their ignorance of what their marriages with the Europeans would give birth to in the future. The political entity known as Nigeria came into existence in 1914. Prior to this date the part of the Sudanic belt which it occupied had a history that was essentially the story of the movement and fusion of people, the rise and fall of empires and the slave trade thus nurturing corruption which in 1960 was given birth to alongside her twin sister bribery. And since life is never static, other children also came up. They were nepotism, greed, cheat, ethnicity, border skirmishes, sophisticated tribal warfare and recently armed robbery, 419, falsehood, impersonation, kidnapping and a host of others too numerous to mention. The connecting thread in this process of giving birth to such children by Nigeria is a commercial approach to culture, operating to the detriment of true values. Therefore, the problem of fostering endogenous cultures in the wake of a major issue, though this anxiety is not ‘exclusive to developing countries alone like Nigeria, for many in the developed world are equally sensitive to the potential danger of external influence. In some instances, corrective measures have been originated by adopting the most direct form of resistance to the potential danger posed by such children above with the application of strict censorships and border controls. Nigeria adopted her first child about 420 years ago when she was not yet born and come October 1st 2010 she would only celebrate her 50th birthday while the adopted great grandchild – corruption in the circumstance would celebrate 420th birthday vindicating that the child is older than the mother and has caused serious problem to the country together with other good minded children born on or after 1st October, 1960. As a matter of the moment awareness of the dangers of corruption and others does not mean that national cultural development should proceed in isolation from other cultures. Rather, the best answers to injurious foreign influence like corruption are not to be found in negative restrictions. Such influx is most irresistible when it flows into a relative vacuum like Nigeria in the 1590s. People can scarcely be blamed for welcoming even the most worthless and shallow forms of foreign entertainment like the exchange of guns and gun power during the advent of Europeans into the country as it were in the days of old especially if the indigenous cultural forms had been allowed to decay. To remain alive, genuinely popular, and attractive these forms must be constantly renewed by fresh talent and fresh content devoid of any foreign influence or mixture of foreign and traditional cultural values. As a panacea to this ugly trend, matter of the moment brings to bear that the media of communication are cultural instruments which serve to motivate or influence attitudes, to motivate, to foster the spread of behaviour patterns, and to bring about social integration. They play, or should play, a major role in implementing cultural policies and in helping to democratize culture especially now Nigeria is warming up to celebrate her 50th birthday which matter of the moment wishes Nigerian successful golden jubilee, it urges that the disparity in age between Nigeria and her grand child, corruption should embark on self censorship, because like censorship itself, if adopted as a regular practice, grows more and more restrict. Bravo. Happy Celebrations, Nigeria!!!

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