NIGERIA: INDISCIPLINE BECOMING OUR CULTURE

The integrated pattern of human behaviour that includes thought, speech, action, artefacts and depends upon the human capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations  also, the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group is what is referred to as  culture. In a nut shell,

culture is a way of life.

As a matter of fact a group of people or society can be described by the culture which they portray or exhibit.

 Indiscipline pervades our life so completely today that one may be justified in calling it the condition par excellence of contemporary Nigeria society or our culture. Indiscipline in the home, in the school, in public service, in the private sector, in the government and legislative assemblies, on the road, in the air and even in sacred houses (Churches and Mosques). And so on ad infinitum.

Indiscipline of various forms has become a culture and norm in our society today that we barely see it as wrong deed but rather seen as smartness.

Social indiscipline in Nigeria has become so bad to the extent that is becoming a culture in our society, particularly with respect to the handling of public properties. Majority of Nigerians today do not have respect for public properties and handle them roughly while some go ahead to damage them.

In March 1984, a military decree enacted War Against Indiscipline, sometimes called WAI and later supported by President Buhari and General Tunde Idiagbon . The program's intention was to instil public morality, discipline or social order, civic responsibilities and promoting Nigerian nationalism.

One of the visible objectives of WAI was the encouragement of customers and citizens to line up to board buses and mostly line up or queue for high demand services. Other objectives included the encouragement of women to train their wards, as the culture then considered child raising a predominant female skill and proper home training would groom future disciplined adults. A second objective promoting hard work was introduced in May, 1984; this objective like many others was buoyed by the use of government owned media. In July, 1985, the Buhari administration launched environmental sanitation as the fifth phase of the program. WAI's third and fourth phases focused on patriotism and eradicating economic sabotage and corruption. Today this programme is almost gone into extinct and a contemporary Nigeria society is another home for indiscipline.

 Indiscipline in our society is responsible for some of the challenges we are facing today in the country – indiscipline among political office holders is responsible for the malicious and selfish policies in offices and corruption at high places, indiscipline among policemen is responsible for some of the security challenges we face in the country, apart from bad roads indiscipline among drivers is responsible for majority of the accidents we experience on our roads, apart from poor facilities in our hospital indiscipline among doctors and nurses is responsible for some of the death in our hospital, indiscipline among students and teachers and the likes.

How on earth do we expect meaningful development with the level of indiscipline that is abounding in our society?

Unlucky is the country where indiscipline is seen by ordinary people as prerogative of the high and mighty, for by the same token discipline will be seen as a penalty which the rank and file must pay for their powerlessness.

It is high time we started to have a rethink and become disciplined Nigerians, don`t give bribe don`t take bribe, obey traffic rules and regulations, have respect for the law, public properties should be handled with care etc. until we become a disciplined nation we still have a very long way to go.