My Brothers and sisters,
All Protocols observed.
Introduction:
t is always a pleasure to be amongst our people hence I look forward to this conference and the interaction, comradeship, networking, nostalgic stories and the comfort of being amongst friends and brothers and sisters.
The discussions of my topic will be carried out using the following headings.
What is attitude?
What is the present Nigerian Attitude?
- In Political Life
- In Educational Life
- In the Health of our people.
- In acquiring wealth.
- In committing crime
What are the gains of a better Nigerian Attitude?
Is this attitudinal Change achievable?
How does one change their attitude?
What is attitude?
Attitude is, in a word, how we express our likes and dislikes towards people, places, situations, things, and occurrences. Attitudes can be positive, negative, or neutral. When we exhibit a combination of different attitude in a single situation, we are said to show ambivalence.
The online dictionary defines attitude as a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for an item.
Attitudes are judgments. They develop on the ABC model (affect, behavior, and cognition).
The affective response is an emotional response that expresses an individual's degree of preference for an entity.
The behavioral intention is a verbal indication or typical behavioral tendency of an individual.
The cognitive response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an individual's beliefs about the object.
Most attitudes are the result of either direct experience or observational learning from the environment. The implication therefore is that the corrupted minds of the younger generation are due to the direct observation of their parents or their teachers or their idols.
Attitudes are therefore not innate or genetic but acquired from one’s environment typically derived from judgments, which everyone makes. In human psychology, it is believed that attitudes are rooted in affect, behavioural change, and cognition.¹
When we talk about an affective response to something, this is a physiological response to a particular stimulus that effectively expresses that person’s preference in any given situation. The behavioural component is that individual’s verbal indication of what they intend to do as response to a changing situation whilst the cognitive response describes the individual’s cognitive evaluation of the entity, which is then used in the formation of an attitude that is perceived by an observer.
The concept is that attitude formation process as described above tends to happen as the result of observational learning in a person’s environment. Since a lot of human behaviour is irrational, it is tough to characterize what the exact connection is between one’s attitude and one’s behaviour in any given situation.
There is irrationality in human attitude and behaviour and a typical example is when an individual encourages others to be pious and be above board when his behaviour and attitude is the direct opposite of what he or she preaches. This is irrationality which separates humans apart from lower animals but unfortunately is widely seen amongst our people in high offices in the land.
What is the present Nigerian Attitude?
The prevailing attitude of our people presently is not suitable for any progressive nation or a nation setting goals to be achieved within a stipulated time. The prevailing attitude supports retrogression, poor socio-economic development, poor indices of human development like increase in maternal and peri-natal morbidity and mortality, high incidence of RTA, high suicides rate, uncompleted projects scattered over the landscapes of the nation, crime and other vices like human trafficking, prostitution and kidnapping for ransom.
The situation in the nation has been reduced to that of survival of the fittest hence those who have been given AK47 by law to protect defenceless masses now see it as a means of livelihood for extortion at the numerous police check points, army coup d’ etats, militancy and religious crisis which is the bane of the nation presently.
The legal system is also weak and justice is sold to the highest bidder and the pursuit of criminals depends on the side of the political aisle he or she belongs. If he is with the ruling class then the individual is above the law of the land which in a civil, democratic and lawful society everyone is supposed to be equal before the law. The prevailing legal system is like in George Orwell’s Animal farm where some animals are more equal than the others. However in this expanse desert of unlawful behaviour and abuse of office, there are still oasis where the national laws are upheld and the rule of law prevails and supported by the bar and the bench.
The lack of a caring attitude by the politicians who have sworn on oath to abide by the rule of law changes automatically once they set their foot in government and they abuse their positions by diverting funds earmarked for social development into private pockets to the detriment of the ordinary people. Even when such politicians try to stay straight, the pressure from friends and relatives is enormous with phrases like ‘this is our chance’, ‘we have to grab as much as possible to make our family rich’. ‘It is government money and as such does not belong to anybody’ which is total fallacy as the money belongs to the Nigerian people.
How does a politician know who will be involved in an RTA in a road where maintenance fees have been diverted. The number of deaths on the Benin-Lagos expressway is the highest in the world. There is a 50% chance that one will not get to one’s destination when an individual travels on that road, yet those who diverted the money meant for the upkeep of that road have since married more wives, been awarded or should I say bought university honorary degrees, built more houses for concubines and awarded chieftaincy titles by their home communities. There is a very high probability that relatives of politicians who diverted maintenance money for Nigerian roads may have met their death on such roads as accidents do not discriminate.
The above situation prevails because people worship money and those who have money and display it to the ‘admiration or envy’ of the onlookers without any care in the world. The prevailing Nigerian attitude is that no one asks the source of the displayed wealth even when it is obvious that the person flaunting an unimaginable wealth has no evidence of gainful employment or tangible business where so much profit could have accrued in such a short time.
In Political Life:
In the Political life of the nation there should be a time when the people feel there is strong need for a change of attitude. Nigerians have been blessed by such opportunities on several occasions like
- Immediately after the Nigerian civil war, the coup that truncated the pursuit of the three Rs; reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation did a dis-service to our nation.
- The cancellation of the freest and fairest election result in the history of our nation on June 12 which ultimately led to the death of MKO Abiola and the consolidation of corruption earlier enunciated by the Babaginda regime in his bid to be president of the nation.
The attitude of Nigerians to politics and their determination to win at all cost can be summed up as the politics of ‘do or die’; to win at all cost no matter what the electorate says. The vote of the people does not count as party positions are shared without due electoral process of national or party constitutions. Positions are bided for and the individual with the deepest pocket and more ferocious thugs carry the day with the assistance of the godfather.
Our people are vicious winners and losers as well. The number of post election tribunal cases is a testimony to these. The number of deaths and maimed during and after elections is terrifying.
The Election Tribunal chairmen are at the mercy of party stalwarts, some succumb to blackmail whilst other stick to the rules and electoral laws of the land. Some of these judges have had their homes fired bombed and some of them have relatives kidnapped and this threat is always there hanging over their heads like the sword of Damocles. Politics of bitterness, tribalism, ethnicity, religion undermines democracy in the most populated black nation on mother earth.
The current attitude would have to change so that our nation can occupy her place in the community of nations.
Free, fair elections and credible elections are important because they are the livewire of democracy. There must be transparency that checks the abuse and misuse of the power of thuggery, bribery, god-fatherism, incumbency for extreme political advantage. Most importantly, there must be attitudinal change by the politicians and their followers.
More importantly there is need for a careful overhaul of our legal framework in order to ensure that it does not allow lawless people to get away with impunity at elections or allow all sorts of tactical delays through legal technicalities in the post election court cases.
In Educational Life:
The Nigerian attitude to education is also similar to our attitudes to politics. The attitude to succeed at all cost. Two decades ago, student studied assiduously to earn their degrees, and when these degrees were awarded, they were merited. The teachers were pleased with their jobs and taught holistically combining teaching and moral education, pastoral care, physical education so as to have a complete graduate in all areas of life who will join his/her peers in the onerous task of nation building usually after the national service. The attitude has changed completely today.
Teachers play football pools in the class instead of teaching; the female teachers bring in wares to sell to students. Those who do not patronise the teachers are marked down for punishment at the exams. You have to buy the teachers handout or repeat the module. The teachers on their own have had to do these as their salaries have not been increased with inflationary trends. With half baked graduates it is the future of the nation that is at risk and it really is looking at current trends. Whilst the legislators are busy increasing their salaries and allowances, the teachers and student languish in under funding of education. This attitude to education has to change.
The attitude we bring toward this attitudinal change exercise-- student, faculty and administrator alike -- will determine our destiny. At the university level, all of us need to regard education as more than a four-year hiatus in maturation, as "finding ourselves" or merely a job in the faculty or administrative cohort. If nothing more, a renewed sense of patriotism should infuse the attitude we bring to bear on education. This attitudinal change should involve all concerned. Our future and the future of our nation are very truly at stake if we do not do anything to alter the current state of affairs.
In the Health of our people:
The current attitude to health needs changing so as to improve the general health and social welfare of the people. The health system is under funded and the health workers are under paid so they all set up ‘shops’ along side the government hospitals to earn their living. Those who work with government insist on their palms being greased before they treat patients admitted under their care. In the private sector, to earn more, most have to carry out surgical procedures even when not necessary to justify their exorbitant charges.
As we write, highly placed government officials still have to go abroad for treatment at huge cost to the nation. This attitude undermines the development of an indigenously led health system where excellence can thrive. As I have said somewhere else, Nigerians in Diaspora can give the Nigerian nation the best health services in the world as they have the expertise but lack the tools. It is for this reason that the attitude to healthcare should change, more money should be voted for the health sector, centres of excellence should be built in all the geopolitical zones in the country so that Nigerians do not have to go abroad for treatment in the future. As more complicated cases are dealt with locally, trainee’s expertise improves.
In acquiring wealth & In committing crime:
The get rich quick malaise has penetrated our nation deeply and in addition to corruption and resurgent criminality is the bane of the nation. The politicians as soon as they get into government do everything in addition to awarding fake contracts to acquire wealth and the youth see this criminal and corrupt attitude as the norm and start to engage in armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom. Youths; just after their school leaving certificate want to drive Mercedes Benz without knowing what it’s cost is in purchase and maintenance. Such desires are achieved through criminal acts which is deleterious to the growth of the nation. As elders we must be aware at all times that our negative attitudes are being copied by the youths who go on to perfect these ignoble activities to the detriment of our nation. When a youth without an obvious viable means of livelihood starts to live affluently, it is the duty of the parents, the neighbours, the local government and the local police to ask the source of this sudden wealth. The present attitude of looking the other way or saying the source of the sudden wealth is not our concern is wrong according to natural laws, traditional laws and the national laws.
Is Nigeria a Dysfunction State?
The answer may be yes or no depending if one is comparing Nigeria with other nations like Ghana or Malaysia who got independence from colonial rule at about the same time as Nigeria or looking at it from a point of view of a Nigerian in government.
Remember, a dysfunctional Nation system is a Nation in which one or both of the primary concierges were unable to fulfil their National responsibilities; or one in which physical, emotional, or sexual abuse was experienced as in a war torn country.
Poor or non-existent governing skills is the common prototypes of a dysfunctional relationship, Nation heads under-function & provide few boundaries and little guidance for their citizens - who are left to fend for themselves as when the President left the country unceremoniously.
Others are inconsistent communication, a parent with a mental illness, poverty, or violence/abuse by the police or the military.
Many often violate basic boundaries of appropriate behaviour. The results are that Nation members (especially the children) will have profound difficulties both with their own conduct, and their ability to deal with others (social difficulties/problems) and subsequently imbibe the wrong attitude.
Frequently, the dysfunctional Nation stems from subordination, or other dependences (generational or not).
The problems created tend to be chronic, and even if abuse of corruption, economics or delusional infatuation ends, the Nation system that is created will be continued in the citizens of generations to come until a new generation with a different and correct attitude is born. The ill of our nation can only be eliminated after at least one generation.
The damage is done to the "inner nation-state" - it has profoundly devastating effects: In the Dysfunctional Nation and its Citizens with their inconsistent and unpredictable government (being unprotected, neglectful, or rejected to the religious or political differences), negative, destructive citizen interactions result. Within the Nation, citizens develop or assume "roles" (personality traits and behaviours) inconsistent with the right attitudes in other more progressive nations.
How does one change their attitude?
It is possible to change someone’s attitude via persuasion education and re-orientation. The work of psychologist Carl Hovland in the mid 20th century helped psychologists gain a further grasp on what persuasion entails.
He established that attitude change had to be understood as a response to communication. Experimental research was conducted in the following areas as a means of understanding the process of attitude change: target characteristics, source characteristics, message characteristics, and cognitive routes.
Target characteristics are those characteristics that refer to the individual who is receiving and then processing a message. One of these characteristics is intelligence. The more intelligent an individual is, the less likely he or she will be persuaded by a one sided message? Self esteem is another major target characteristic that has been the subject of some investigation.
While it was once believed that individuals with high self esteem were less likely to be persuaded, recent evidence has emerged that self esteem is actually curvilinear.
What this means is that individuals with moderate self esteem are more likely to be persuaded, while those with either high or low self esteem are not. The mood and mind frame of an individual also weighs heavily when we are talking about target characteristics.
Imagine a Nigerian man with two wives and he requests both to go to the same market and maybe the same stall with the same amount. The wife with integrity will bring home some change from the money entrusted to her whilst the other wife will come back and demand for more money that she had to spend her money for taxi and the goods were too expensive. The outcome of their behaviour is the difference in their learned attitude
Then there is what is known as source characteristics. Attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness are all major source characteristics. One of the key variables in source characteristics is credibility.
When an individual reads an article on health, for example, and find out that it has come from a medical journal, they might be more likely to believe its accuracy than if they are told it came from a normal newspaper. It is for the same reason people visit or buy their goods from a credible and reliable store rather than a non credible road side store. It is for the same reason people will not travel to Nigeria for a holiday and increase our tourism trade because they see Nigeria not being a credible destination for tourism. That is why Nigerian nationals must adopt attitudinal change to make our country and ourselves credible in the eyes of the world as we cannot live in isolation.
However Hovland found that credibility does not have a very long lasting effect, however. Over time, the importance of credibility tends to disappear over time.
Then there are message characteristics. The exact nature of a particular message can play a major role in persuading individuals. A lot of time, a presentation of both sides to a case will help someone change their attitude. For example the retrogressive effect of bad national attitude and the empowering and progressive effect of good attitude.
Finally, there are cognitive routes. This describes the process whereby a message appeals to a particular individual’s cognitive evaluation and thus helps them change their attitude towards a particular subject. In the main route to persuasion, the person will be presented with data and subsequently motivated to evaluate that data before arriving at a conclusion that necessitates a change of attitude.
Then there is the peripheral route to changing someone’s attitude, wherein the person is encouraged not to look at the content of a message but at its source. This method is frequently employed by advertising campaigns that utilize celebrities. In other case, an expert or doctor might be used to persuade people of some truth.
Attitude affects one’s career and national growth.
It is widely considered key by employers to have people in the work place who have positive attitudes. The right attitudes affect the growth of nation in all spheres of life. Taking the ongoing world cup as a typical example, a team put together by a corrupt coach or where the national president or sports’ minister decides who should play in the team; or where the ethnicity of the players plays a role or where those who plays for the nation are foreign based in popular club sides rather than how well they gel with the other members of the team will not do well as excellence is usually sacrificed on the alter of mediocrity, ethnicity, tribalism and bribery. Such teams can never bring honour and glory to the nation. The current attitude of choosing big names from big international clubs without giving fit and keen home boys an opportunity to wear the national colours can never project the national image in sports.
What are implicit attitudes?
A lot of research has been done in recent years on implicit attitudes. These are unconscious attitudes, but they have major effects on our waking lives. Implicit attitudes are identified through specific sophisticated tests that measure people’s response times to stimuli. Just how much effect implicit attitudes have on our day to day lives has yet to be determined by medical science.
Conclusion & Recommendations:
Most attitudes are the result of either direct experience or observational learning from the environment. The implication therefore is that the corrupted minds of the younger generation are due to the direct observation of their parents or their teachers or their idols.
Attitudes are therefore not innate or genetic but acquired from one’s environment typically derived from judgments, which everyone makes. In human psychology, it is believed that attitudes are rooted in affect, behavioural change, and cognition.¹ Our current attitude was learnt from our former masters, elders, teachers ect.
Nigerians therefore need to change their current attitude:
- Politically to discard the do or die attitude at elections and adopt a fair game approach and be humble in victory and hopeful in defeat.
- To discard the corrupt notion of getting rich quick and adopt slow but steady growth with transparency and accountability in public, economic and private life.
- To have love and use for locally made goods and discard the greed for foreign made luxurious materials thereby creating a nationalistic approach to the maxim of ‘’made in Nigeria is best’’ as this will facilitate growth of the local economy.
- To adopt the attitude of investing within the nation rather than facilitating flight of capital to other nations and thereby dwindling the national economy.
- To adopt the attitude for respect for fellow Nigerians rich or poor rather put our people down and act as slaves to foreigners.
- That our leaders should learn when to leave public life rather than stick to power until and change to the attitude of grooming the younger generations for the hard tasks of nation building.
- To adopt the attitude of serving the nation to the best of your ability no matter your calling in life whether as cleaner, police officer, clerk in the office, minister, messenger, medical doctor or a councillor.
It is only by changing our current attitude of serving our personal and ethnic interest to serving the national interest and the interest of the greatest majority that Nigeria can climb up from our prostate position as a nation and to standing on our feet and commence striding in the direction of a successful nation where no one is oppressed due to his creed, ethnic or linguistic origin.
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