Would you kindly for a moment glance through the pictures shown below. While doing this think about what kind of facility this is. After that please read through the note below the pictures. I will make it short enough and directly buttress my point to allow more discussions on the matter.
I am carefully reminded of one of the greatest questions of all time: What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? whereas the answer is obvious, the question also points to a greater reality which I want to highlight here and make inferences about my country, thus provoking our thinking on how we can reverse a societal ill that threatens to reduce our future possibilities as a people. I am by no way conclusive on anything but on what we must do to to change a existing wrong that I seem not to know when it made an inroad into our values system.
There is nothing on the face of the earth as precious as a human life and no argument can alter that position. This is why the summation of all human struggles is simply to improve the conditions of human life and living. Whether living or simply existing, there is a constant quest to improve the parameters for which such realities are nurtured. These struggles for a better life can be seen either on the group level like in most African societies, or on the individual level as evident in most western nations. This shows that there is an innate value that every person carries, which is recognizable by we all as we engage each other. We work to ensure our kids have a better life, our parents live well in their old age, we can give ourselves anything we want, and that nothing about us or ours should be devalued.
Although pricelessness of a person is most important to us, we somehow manage to downplay the value of another to create and enhance our own concepts of personal value. The ‘misms’ and ‘isms’ of our personal agendas messes with the value we then place on the next person we see, seeing them as a non-responsibility or over-responsibility in our path to give betterment to our human person. This is so real in Nigeria that people now have a blatant disregard for one another because we have lost the sense of value we each carry. We are primarily blinded by each ones absolute engagement with the race up Maslows’ ladder and seem to display an uppity in our attitude towards each other. Crazy! People don’t even mind packaging powdered chalk into capsules and sell as drugs for others to buy and assuage their ails when it’s not a placebo.
I am so sorry that these has become even the predominant attitude of even the government. When it comes to the point that people groping in darkness is of no concern to the powers that be, we can easily assess the level of value they place on their citizen. Some things are just not discussable because they are tied to the fact that humans must be valued. Electricity, Housing, Water, Food, Health, Transportation, Justice, and Jobs are not to be celebrated when provided. These are a must simply because Nigerians are human beings who must be valued. Public officials in the assembly are busy voting huge budgets to add value to their living conditions and allocating lands in the Capital city for their cronies, while the yawning wastes in our infrastructures lie as an epitome of a broken government and dysfunctional leadeship and you tell me they value Nigerian??? See how much they spend to secure political power. Of course their intentions are not to fight for people but their abdominal desires and debased ambitions.
If you haven’t seen the pictures above before I am sure you would guess wrong as I did after seeing the first few images. Those are pictures of a Prison in Austria. Prison??? Yes I wil say it again PRISON!!!!! If you like slap your face. I reckon that that society must definitely value the lives of its citizens including the social misfits. When will Nigeria start valuing people like this abeg? I am tired of Nigerians looking down on each other and placing no value on the life of others. We insult each other, shout on the streets, have no courtesy towards another, defraud each other, smear ourselves, and worse steal the justice of the poor. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE SHOW US HOW TO VALUE US!!! If we don’t value ourselves, how do we expect someone else to value us?
Very frankly my friends, there is a veracity in this claim: SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE NIGERIAN MENTALITY!!!
I ANGRILY REST MY CASE.
Thoughts of a Calabarboy. 
Like my Professor at the University will say “something is seriously wrong”. It is obvious that Nigerians generally don’t have respect for the human life. That is why everyone, especially on the streets of Lagos will just behave like no other person is around. People are so enslaved in their mind that they will address a fellow being like they don’t matter and valueless. the earlier we begin to see value in other people, not treating them like misfits the better for us. The government can do no better unless they can see the treasure embeded in the common man. Let us all begin to see value in others, then we can put in place strategies and programs that will better human life!
There is no doubt about the fact that Nigeria has got serious problems and unfortunately, we seem to be growing on a very slow pace in our democratic life!!! we claim to have a democratic government and what we have in reality is the opposite…where do we start from???MASSIVE REORIENTATION…
The aspect of ‘value’ lacks a great deal in the lives of Nigerians. The minds of the government officials and politicians need to be re-framed to pose a better deal for us. imagine one of the senators not knowing what class his children are in!!!!!!!!!!what do we say to that kind of situation. how will someone that has not been able to effectively coordinate the affairs of his house and build a solid relationship with his family members handle national affairs?
The issue of selflessness is another big thing that has to be challenged…imagine a law maker demanding millions for only ‘renovation of her house’ just after she was elected!!! how much will she demand for more important basics??? it shows that these people are not in their position for any other thing than to exploit the country and its citizens. Unfortunately for them, these possessions does not by any chance give tham longer lives nor inward satisfaction!!!!
Its really an issue that bothers me everyday when i check for updates on the news and i keep cracking my head—where do we start from. i guess we all just have to start from ourselves, houses and family…i rest my case for now…
I had to scroll up again when u said PRISON that place looks finer than where most of our undergraduates stay in school not to talk of the people in villages.Something is really wrong.If we can excel in the civilized world i’e the western world then what’s wrong with us. SAD. (still shaking my head in shame )
I have often thought in the same line, way before I came across your article. I thought the educated portion in any society were supposed to be different? I thought morals and ethics were taught as part of syllabuses in schools? Or am I thinking wrong? Obviously I am, because this is way far from the truth in Nigeria. Thank God for Covenant University, where we’re taught to value our lives and the lives of our neighbours.
I think that we don’t even love our own selves, so how can we love and value the next person? Jesus said to love our neighbours as ourselves, but loving yourself is already a problem, how much more, your neighbour?
Selfishness has become part of our everyday lives, and that is why the power that be refuse to give ear to the cries of needs of the common man, and i shudder to think of what will happen when survival instincts pushes the common man into exhibiting animalistic traits in order to survive.
Probably if we took selfishness out of the way, then we’ll see ourselves and neighbours in better light and stop these human degradation and senseless killings.
This is really saddening. A sense of Value is what really differentiates humans from mere animals. Humans behave like Animals or exhibit animalism as a “Survival Instinct”. Survival of the fittest. Has it really come to that? We need to redefine “being human”.