Reputation

There are always two sides to every coin, good and bad sides to every situation. With automobiles for instance came road accidents and carbon emissions; with the World Wide Web and smart banking came Internet fraud, “yahoo yahoo”. And now, with the social media comes a new form of crime perpetrated by cyber predators.

No situation is all bad or all good! That man-made creations come with their headaches is evidence of our fallibility. We should however not hide under our imperfections.  Nigeria is not the only nation where there is moral decay and the resultant social unrest due to the neglect of our cultural values.  Our situation is not peculiar and we cannot afford to isolate our country in this time when the world has become a global village and so many are celebrating their history and advances. It is our responsibility to choose how to be influenced, either positively or negatively.

 A reflection of the brilliance of our youth is the speed at which we learn, despite the poor situation of our schools, the erratic power supply and the poor ICT services. Nigeria has nevertheless one of the highest cybercrime rates in the world! We will always find a solution to any shortcomings that we face. Why do we more often than not choose the negative way though? What is it that makes us follow this path? Is it because that is what is mostly in the public eye, or is it because it is easier to be irresponsible in a place where the authorities are not big on consequences and do not appreciate the damage that is being done daily to the country’s reputation?

The value of a good reputation I believe is clear. It is crucial for us to build a reputation for being generally good. The character Cassio in Othello describes reputation as “the immortal part of myself” and it is certainly true that once no one suspects that you are likely to be bad, it is remarkable what we can get away with. Be consistently good and a blip in our behavior may even be overlooked! Cassio goes on to say that without reputation, “what remains is bestial”, and while this is more true for some than others, we should not allow ourselves to forget that there are always consequences and we are not animals.

Hitler managed to con a nation to rise against a sector of their people. It was amazing that a small beady-eyed dark haired fellow was the architect of the Arian race of which he was not one. He captivated a whole nation with his oratory and his propaganda and we all saw the devastating result that it had on Europe and the rest of the world. He was no doubt brilliant but channeled his energy to the dark side.

 The result was terror, theft, genocide, great suffering for all and ultimately war. Despite the great strides in inventions that he encouraged for the German nation, they only then attracted odium, isolation and destruction. They have had to work very hard to repair, reconcile and work still to ensure that this dark chapter in their history never repeats itself.

We should learn from this. There are Nigerian youths who are still socially responsible and morally upright. It is the reason why we cannot give up on Nigeria; why we all should not give up on this country. Some have decided to touch lives through the use of social media. An example is a group of young people who mobilized their ‘friends’ on Twitter, Facebook and BBM to raise over six million naira for Osarere Idiagbonya, a 28-year-old breast cancer patient. These are the Nigerian youths we need to celebrate!

In present day Nigeria where family and community have been replaced with the every-man-for-himself attitude, our youth have little guidance from the country’s leaders.  Therefore, to ensure that they focus more on the positive side of every invention, we must crave moral restoration. Society should reward good deeds and stop celebrating those who have clearly altered our collective definition of greatness. When those who stand up for justice, those who are morally upright and selfless, are portrayed as models of the society no matter their social standing, it won’t be long before we start to earn the type of reputation that should rightly be associated with Nigeria. It is only then that the governments branding of “Good people, great nation” can be realized. It can be achieved.   http://www.facebook.com