Moral Decency Among Youths

by Oshikoya Olawale




The high level of moral decadence among the Nigerian youth is one issue that needs to be checked urgently before t is too late. In time past, African (Nigeria) youths were known to be of good moral and conduct.

There was respect for not only parents and elders among the youth, but also for constituted authorities. The respect was such that parents could decide for their child who to marry irrespective of the child’s opinion, though this practice had its own effect but the child was obliged to obey.

It was a common practice for youth who were courting each other to wait till the night of their wedding before having mutual knowledge of one another (sex). It was regarded as a thing of pride when a lady marries as a virgin. It brought the lady and her family great honor, while shame and
dishonor were accorded to ladies who did not marry as virgins. Premarital sex was not only seen as a sin but was also considered a taboo in our society.

However, all the good morals and conduct attributed to the Nigerian youth seems to have been lost or replaced by foreign ones. Recently the PM News reported the case a 300 level student Redeemers University who killed his father after an argument ensued between them and this not the first time that such incident will be reported by the media.

It is no longer uncommon to see youths and even teenagers give birth outside wedlock. Abortion as become the order of the day. Some youth have referred to lack of sex before marriage as lack of opportunity and not ability to control one self. All of this decadence can be traced to cultural imperialism which has been propagated by the media.

The Nigerian broadcast media carries 70 percent of western content and just about 30 percent of local content and with the aid of other mass medium such as the internet, films, music videos and novels the need to be of good conduct and be morally upright seems to have lost its value among our youth. A very large number of the media audience in Nigeria is made up of the youth and this explains the high level of decadence amongst them.

In the light of all these, we advise that the Nigerian Broadcasting commission (NBC) take the needed steps to ensure that the ratio of foreign content in the broadcast media is properly controlled; punishment for stations that exceed the ratio of foreign content allowed should be clearly stated and adequately carried out.