Presented by Dr Kayode Fayemi, CON Minister at the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) Thursday, March 10,2016 Lagos, Nigeria.

1. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
MINISTRY OF SOLID MINERALS DEVELOPMENT
OFFICE OF THE MINISTER
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CRISIS OF VALUES:
RECLAIMING OUR SOCIETY
Presented by
Dr. ’Kayode Fayemi, CON
Minister
Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ)
Thursday, March 10, 2016,
Lagos, Nigeria
Protocols and Introduction
If we were to judge by the dominant tenor of headlines in the Nigerian media, we
would come to the conclusion that the problem of our society is simply a question
of formulating the right economic policies or fashioning a suitable political
ideology. We can be forgiven for this assumption. Despite the undeniable
importance of economics and politics, there is no doubt that the national
discourse tends to overlook the most fundamental aspect of the society which is
its ethical dimension. In any scheme for understanding society, we must see
ethics and values as the very foundation for developing all other sectors of
society. Therefore, even as we attempt to design accurate economic policies and
adopt the proper political ideology, we must also pursue ethical behavior in every
area of our public life as the fundamental philosophical foundation. Our
economic and political choices as a society are ultimately determined by our
moral values. So, to modify former President Bill Clinton‟s popular phrase, it‟s
Ethics, stupid!
Among the seven social sins listed by Mahatma Gandhi are „Politics without
Principle and Commerce without Morality. It is clear that these two plagues are
very present in our public life. To be fair, successive governments have tried to
address the moral aspects of the Nigerian crisis. Over the past four to five
decades, different regimes have initiated campaigns of ethical transformation
aimed at entrenching values at the core of society. In the late 1970s, the then
Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo issued the famous Jaji Declaration in

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which he called on Nigerians to eschew conspicuous consumption and to take on
a new spirit of service. During the Second Republic, President Shehu Shagari
launched the ethical revolution. In 1984, General Muhammadu Buhari initiated
the War against Indiscipline (WAI) that levied a host of moral demands on
Nigerians ranging from environmental sanitation and queuing up in public places
properly to rejecting bribery and corruption. General Ibrahim Babangida
initiated the Mass Mobilization for social justice and economic recovery,
otherwise called MAMSER which preached similar goals. General Sani Abacha
also introduced the War against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAIC). President
Obasanjo made ethical renewal and moral rebirth as key pillars of his National
Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS). In the current
administration‟s Change tripod, war on corruption is pivotal.
These programs suggested that the national leadership recognize that a
reorientation of values is necessary to drive the sort of transformation we want to
see in our economic and political sectors. All these campaigns were aimed at
inspiring the behavioural transformation of the average Nigerian citizen. Many
reasons have been cited for why these programs failed. Some critics have
suggested that some of the authors of the programmes were not themselves
sufficiently sincere and so lacked the credibility and moral authority to really
propel such ethical transformations. Consequently, these programmes could not
be implemented as intended and failed to elicit the desired compliance by the
citizenry.
In other words, the leadership failed to supply a compelling example of the
change they were demanding of the people. Let us look beyond politics and
consider the trends of the past thirty years. Look at the state of our schools – the
perversion of the relationship between teachers and students that has warped
what should be a vital mentoring relationship into an opportunity for various
kinds of abuse. Spare a thought for religious institutions that have fallen into
moral disrepute owing to a number of high profile scandals. Can anyone fail to
notice the increasing disdain in which the younger generation holds the
emissaries of organized religion? Or the fact that religious leaders are
increasingly vulnerable to the criticism that they are far more comfortable
courting the rich and the powerful than speaking truth to power?
Look at the level of vulgarity in the popular culture which further taints young
hearts and minds. As a husband and a father, I am dismayed by the sexism and
misogyny in certain genres of popular culture in which women are basically
objectified as no more than sex objects and instruments of male gratification. I
am disturbed by how such portrayals by the entertainment industry are warping
young minds, feeding young males on a steady diet of sexist attitudes, sexual
irresponsibility and a perverse sense of entitlement to the female body. I am
bothered by how young girls are being conditioned to see themselves not as

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human beings with minds to enrich or dreams to pursue, but as sexual objects. I
am disturbed by the vulnerability of the girl child. If the moral temperature of a
society is taken by how it treats its most vulnerable demographic, then we must
admit that Nigeria has not yet attained the place of the desired society.
In interrogating our crisis of values, we must give due recognition to the fact of
our heterogeneity which imposes upon us the responsibility of competently
managing the blessing of our diversity by developing out of our teeming
multitude of traditions, a national consensus. Arriving at a broadly agreed upon
set of values is one of the most urgent tasks for our public intellectuals and social
thinkers. Unfortunately, our diversity has become an excuse more often than not
for moral relativism in several quarters.
It is obvious that all sectors of our national life are reeling from a crisis of values.
Politicians are subjected to the most scrutiny and criticism because of our
relatively high profile and the visibility of those found wanting. But it would be a
grave mistake to zero-in on politics as the most troubled sector of our national
life. In fact, I contend that the state of our politics and governance simply reflects
the society‟s moral condition.
The definitive elements of the national moral condition include a raging culture
of instant gratification that feeds short termism, profiteering, and fraud. Without
making unsustainable generalizations, we can all agree that too many of us are
given to cutting corners and trying to attain inordinately disproportionate returns
on relatively small investments. We are not as averse to cheating and exploiting
our fellow beings as we should be. In fact, it has been argued that our social, civic,
political and economic relationships in Nigeria are defined more by mutual
predatory exploitation than anything else. We have succumbed to a feverish
individualism that prioritizes the desire and gain of the individual no matter how
illicitly pursued at the expense of the common good. The sense of communal
being that used to be a cardinal feature of public life has been diminished by the
rise of an “every person for themselves” ethos.
The decline of the common good as an anchor of public morality is coterminous
with the ascent of money as the primary indicator of success in our society. The
capacity for conspicuous consumption and reckless financial gratification has
become the primary indices of status and accomplishment. Unfortunately, the
prevalent popular theology of success retailed by sundry preachers and
motivational speakers insists that our youths focus on magical profiteering and
the promise of wealth multiplied beyond their wildest dreams in the shortest
possible time. Extreme religiousity now lie astride deficit of public virtue. Indeed,
the theology of this movement interprets salvation in overwhelmingly personal
terms. It has little conception of society or the common good. Rather, the
individual is sufficiently primed to damn society and achieve personal success.

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These messages only feed false hopes and avarice and push young people towards
criminal endeavours. Indeed, these messages are even more damaging now
because we live in a time that young people increasingly cannot see a clear
straight path to success. We have raised a cynical generation that has come to
believe that it is simply not possible to achieve success without soiling one‟s
hands or compromising one‟s ethical standards.
As the Greek philosopher Plato said, “States are as men are; they grow out of
human character.” Thus, the Nigerian state is a product of the Nigerian society
which is itself a product of the Nigerian character. To alter the nature of the
Nigerian state and society, something transformative must happen to the
Nigerian character. The behaviour of systems is the aggregated outcome of the
values of the individuals that constitute it. Therefore, while political and
administrative reforms are very important, the moral complexion of the human
beings that inhabit the polity is equally important. Political structures and
economic systems depend ultimately on their constituent human units for their
success.
The Quest for Happiness
As a society, we seriously need to reconsider what it means to be rich. We need to
ask ourselves certain questions. Are frantic acquisition and primitive
accumulation all that we have to live for or should we be seeking intangible values
that cannot be measured in terms of raw cash but which nonetheless are the real
basis for living a fulfilled life? In all our traditions, the idea that there is far more
to life than the pursuit of riches is deeply ingrained. It is a timeless truth that we
need to re-emphasize today.
Contemporary social science research has established that the zero-sum
competition for money and status in the developed world is a major source of
unhappiness.i There is abundant anecdotal evidence to suggest that people find
new meaning and fulfillment in their lives when they free themselves from the
acquisitive treadmill and begin to give of themselves. In other words, social
science is now proving what we have always known through the moral wisdom of
the ancients. Generosity rather than consumption is the key to happiness. Or as it
is written in the holy book, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Both current research and our moral traditions teach us that the things that what
we truly require for happiness is not money but otherwise simple things that we
take for granted, such as – nurturing healthy relationships, cultivating
friendships, serving others, raising well-adjusted children, and being involved in
a community.

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True fulfillment does not come with increasingly fatter paychecks but from a life
dedicated to the common good. Only a life that transcends the narrow goals of
self-aggrandizement and self-gratification can be truly happy. And only a society
of such transcendent selves can be truly safe. A society in which all individuals
are committed to nothing more than the single-minded pursuit of their self-
gratification at the expense of everything else is a dangerously predatory society
in which no one can ever be truly safe.
The search for values-based citizenship
As I have already noted, it is easy to criticize politicians because of our relative
high visibility. Corrupt politicians abuse their positions and break the public
trust. But so also do corrupt bank chief executives who embezzle depositors‟
funds or corrupt journalists who take bribes and write their stories according to
the dictates of their patrons, or the NGO executive who steals donor funds or the
academic who demands sexual favours from female students in exchange for
positive marks. What all these depraved persons have in common is that they
have integrity deficits.
The most significant indicator of national instability is not to be found in politics
or economics but in the ways in which we are raised and socialised. For example,
I was born into the Catholic Church in which the belief that the Church must be
an active agent of social justice and political transformation is rife. This belief
found expression in the social activism of Catholics in various nations and in the
liberation theology movement in Latin America. And this understanding of the
catholic faith has guided me through my years at the frontlines of pro-democracy
activism and in my service in public office. Our parents, teachers, older relatives
and friends leave long lasting influences on our lives. These early influences
define our identities. The lessons drawn from those who influence us within and
outside of the family determine what we later understand to be acceptable
standards of societal behaviour. The family, very broadly defined, is the premier
learning environment.
Research has shown that what happens to us in our earliest years has a formative
impact on our personality and character development which in turn affects the
rest of our lives. It is within families that we acquire critical life skills and survival
sensitivities such as the awareness of danger, communication through language,
and also the standards of right and wrong which are acceptable in society and
which promote personal wellbeing and the public good.
What all this means is that no programme of transformation of society can
succeed if it is not domesticated in the ways in which we groom and raise coming
generations. To renew our nation today, we must be reawakened to our duties as
parents, spouses, wards, teachers and mentors. There is no relationship that

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levies as much responsibility on us to be moral exemplars as that between us and
our children. As parents, we are the guardians and caretakers of the next
generation. This is an onerous responsibility.
The monetization of values has broken down our traditional definitions of
authority within the family. When I was growing up, the family was in concentric
circles – nuclear and extended. Our most respected Uncles and Aunties were
those who were reputed for their ethical constancy and moral authority. These
days, the most influential members of the family are those Uncles and Aunts who
have illicitly earned wealth from stints in government or corporate enterprise.
Despite our knowledge of their crimes, we celebrate these men and women
because of what we stand to gain from them financially. Those who are the real
voices of reason within the family are marginalized, derided for their lack of
financial heft and mocked for their insistence on values that we now consider
irrelevant.
Parenting has never been more difficult than it presently is. The challenge of
balancing the demands of the workplace with those of running a home and
raising children is more acute than it has ever been. This is a burden that you can
all relate to as women. As women in the marketplace, you are surely breaking
new ground, breaking barriers to female achievement, breaching the glass ceiling
that keeps you from fully manifesting your potential and in so doing you are
setting a valuable example for the next generation of girls who will now see that
there is no limit to what they can aspire to.
This is why I must call on men to step up in their role as fathers. I do not
subscribe to the view that building the home is exclusively the woman‟s work.
Women should not be made to feel guilty if they choose to work and build
careers. Parenting is the responsibility of the father as well as the mother. In my
book, there is no excuse for Dead beat Dads! Children need stable parents who
are present in their lives, whether the parents are married to each other or not.
Today, as parents we can no longer assume that we have an exclusive influence
over our children that we can exercise from a remote distance. In this age of mass
media, the truth is that we are competing with legions of voices to shape our
children‟s lives. If we are unduly absent, our children will be reared by the
internet, Hollywood, Nollywood or the house help. Such an outcome would be an
unfortunate instance of parental abdication. Without mincing words, while we
lament the delinquency of the younger generation, we must also as parents, both
male and female, take a long hard look at ourselves. The truth is that for all the
criticism we are quick to throw at our sons and daughters, we must also
remember that we need to take our responsibilities as parents very seriously.
As parents, we must endeavour to be present in the lives of our children. Beyond
that we must also exemplify a moral consistency that transcends the “do as I say;

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not as I do” principle which is merely hypocritical. Our children are far more
sensitive to our deeds than we imagine. Our examples are lasting imprints on
their character. Thus, it is only right that we see parenting not as a biological
chore but as the first and arguably the most important sphere of leadership. Our
children are our first audience. They are the primary audience before whom we
model a lifestyle of integrity, purpose and service to the common good. They are
the ones that we must teach and show non-monetized concepts of success and
achievement.
As a network of women that have come together to strengthen women‟s
leadership in the public, corporate and social sectors, may I leave some thoughts
with you about how you can position this very important space of yours as we
search for solutions to the crisis of values in this country.
Take your place as leaders
Women across the African continent, and here in Nigeria, have done an excellent
job of pushing for access of women in decision making. The case they have made
is that the implications of women being excluded from decision-making are
serious. It means if women do not have a voice where key decisions which affect
their lives are made, then their capacity for full development and equality is
severely limited. Women‟s involvement in decision-making contributes to
redefining political priorities, placing new issues on the political agenda which
reflect and address women‟s gender-specific concerns, values and experiences,
and provides new perspectives on mainstream political issues. Without the active
participation of women and the inclusion of their perspectives at all levels of
decision-making, the goals of good governance and inclusive, transparent
democratic processes cannot be achieved.
Women bring different leadership skills into the public space than men. Men
have learnt (and are not born) to be leaders by seizing opportunities, competing
with their peers, making themselves heard and not just seen, and building
hierarchies and networks to get their agendas accomplished. Women have
learnt, through their socialisation (as mothers, wives, daughters) to listen, to
negotiate, to build bridges and consensus, to work in flexible ways, nurture
friendships and relationships and to manage time better. We all learn these skills;
we are not born with them. These skills that women have are undervalued as „soft
skills’ in the harsh worlds of politics and business, and are not considered as
important as the „hard skills’ that men have. The truth of the matter is that the
skills and experiences that women bring to the leadership table are as important
as what men have to offer. We therefore need to encourage a critical mass of
women in leadership – especially in governance – so that hopefully, we will start

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seeing some real changes in the ways in which our communities are led and
managed.
Socialise your children more progressively
Most of us have grown up learning certain attitudes and behaviours about gender
roles and identities. Our mothers in particular would encourage girls to learn how
to cook in the kitchen while the boys would be encouraged to go out to play. If we
want to see a shift in values, attitudes and behaviours, then we need to teach our
children to learn how to work and play as equals. Girls should be brought up to be
independent, productive and creative, and boys need to learn how to value and
respect girls. The deeply patriarchal societies we live in tend to render women
invisible. If you want to see our society move forward with positive values, we
need to raise our male and female in ways that provide everyone with the same
opportunities.
Utilise the power of your networks
As women leaders, individually you might have clout, but as an organisation, you
can be truly formidable. You need to use the power of your numbers and your
political and social capital to take a stand on some of the problems we are
grappling with in our country today. Men do it too! You need to lend your voices
and take action on issues such as the large numbers of women in Internally
Displaced Camps, the need for more women in decision making, the increased
number of vulnerable and destitute women forced into commercial sex work,
violence against women and girls, trafficking, the exploitation of children and so
many other problematic issues.
Mentor the next generation of women leaders
I know that WIMBIZ has a well thought through mentoring program for young
women, and that many women‟s networks today have such programs which are
vital for raising the next generation of female leaders. I would however like to
advise that you build in the need for young women to have a better appreciation
of what it was like to have a Women‟s Movement sixty years ago. The Women‟s
movement globally and locally, has made a lot of gains over the years. However, a
lot of these gains have been taken for granted, and if care is not taken, the modest
gains that have been made might be lost. Women have fought for the right to
vote, to be educated, to be protected from violence, to be able to inherit land, to
have access to capital, to even be able to own a passport without the signature of
their husbands or fathers for approval. There was nothing automatic about all
these rights - they were fought for. A key agenda of the women‟s movement has

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also been to ensure that women are able to make empowering choices for
themselves. You therefore have a role to play in ensuring ongoing support,
awareness-raising and sensitization so that women can indeed, make genuinely
transformative choices for themselves and not false choices born out of coercion.
When I listen to our millennial children these days, I worry about their
fundamental lack of appreciation for and dismissive attitudes towards the various
struggles won through blood, sweat and tears by preceding generations.
The Need for new Exemplars
Given the long history of failed campaigns to provide an ethical roadmap for
Nigeria, we must ponder how the moral rebirth of a society occurs. My belief is
that a nation cannot rise above the values of its citizens. If we want our country to
function at a certain standard, then we must become the first exemplars of that
standard.
Exemplars show that another way of doing business or politics is possible. They
redefine standards and set the boundaries of possibility. They raise new plumb
lines for measuring ethical behaviour. Vast areas of our national life require the
redemptive presence of exemplars. We need them in public service, in our courts,
chambers of commerce, business offices, public service, our universities and
schools, legislatures, security services among other sectors. We need them at the
fore front of advocacy for the many causes that require standard-bearers in our
society.
I wish you all the best as an organisation, as you all commit to playing your role
in making this nation great again.
Thank you.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON
Minister
Lagos, Nigeria
Thursday, March 10, 2016

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REFERENCES
Richard Layard, Happiness: Lessons from a New Science (The Penguin Press 2005)
Peter Singer, “The Science Behind Generosity,” Newsweek, March 9, 2009
“Most Happy Nation,” Time, September 13, 1993
Claudia Wallis, “The New Science of Happiness,” Time, February 7, 2005
G. Oka Orewa, We are All Guilty: The Nigerian Crisis Volume II (Spectrum Books 2002)
Clifford Hill, Shaking the Nations: A Future and a Hope (Kingsway Publications 1995