“I want you to bear in mind the need to emphasize self discipline and leadership by good example. Begin by drawing public attention to little but important everyday manifestations of indiscipline such as rushing into buses, driving on the wrong side of the road, littering the streets, parks, and dwelling compounds, cheating, taking undue advantage of scarcity to inflate prices for quick monetary gains, constituting ourselves into public nuisances, working without commitment and devoting little or no time to the upbringing of our children. ” Brigadier General Tunde Idiagbon, 21/3/1984
One of the cardinal, albeit, painful policies of the Buhari/Idiagbon military regime was the War Against Indiscipline and Corruption. The policy was aimed at inculcating public morality, social order, civic responsibility and discipline as well as promoting nationalism in all sectors of Nigerian private and public life. Though, it is conceded that forced discipline, generally does not last long, there is no gainsaying that at the end of that regime, a certain level of sanity was restored in Nigeria- the streets were cleaner, there was more orderliness and there was a marked improvement in the performance of the public service.
However, thirty-three years after, the apparent failure of successive governments to sustain the gains of that policy has thrown us back to the state of indiscipline. The indiscipline today is so cancerous and has permeated ever strata of our affairs such that it is seldom considered as a vice to be corrected but generally overlooked or watered down.
Section 23 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that the Nigeria’s national ethics shall be Discipline, Integrity, Dignity of labour, Social justice, Religious tolerance, Self reliance and Patriotism. This means that every Nigerian must strive to uphold these fundamentals, especially with regards to discipline which more or less promotes other societal virtues.
Indiscipline has continued to manifest itself unabatedly in forms such as lack of joining a queue to receive service, lateness, exam malpractice, violating traffic rules, immodest dressing, littering of the environment, open urination /defecation, noise making, embezzlement of funds, election rigging, deforestation, poaching, illegal mining, open smoking, gambling, reckless driving, desire for primitive accumulation of wealth, blowing of siren by government officials, underaged/unauthorized driving, as well as manipulation of the sheep by the shepherd, etc. Also, there’s no respect for public properties, which are in most cases roughly handled or poorly managed.
Individual, collective, private and institutional indiscipline has led to an upsurge in corruption in every sphere of our national life. Indiscipline has manifested itself in different faces: among political office holders, selfish policies and corruption has become a way of life; in the judiciary, there is delay in cases and bribery; religious institutions have manipulated and indoctrinated their adherents in dangerous ways; the police have become agents of extortion; recklessness on the roads have led to avoidable accidents; in schools, students are routinely extorted, harassed and molested while teachers/lecturers are lackadaisical with their classes; at home, unruly behaviour by children has led to upsurge in crime and delinquency in the society and parents have relinquished their parental duties for mundane reasons; long hours are spent on unprofitable ventures in the internet; public servants have developed a nonchalant attitude towards their work while they government routinely refuse to pay them their remuneration as due.
With a situation as the foregoing, no society can reasonably expect progress. Little wonder, Nigeria has remained stagnant or retrogressive- depending on who is telling the tale. It is imperative for us all to promote virtues of orderliness, responsibility, decorum, modesty and honesty. This is the sure way to greatness. It is the task of us all. Together, we can achieve a transformation in our lives and nation by our collective efforts and responsibility.

Manang Jabbe, ESQ

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Indiscipline : A Bane on Nigeria’s Transformation – Manang Jabbe, ESQ