Moral education, the founders of the American democracy asserted, is essential for the success of a democratic society, because the people must posses the appropriate character to build a free and just society and the moral foundations to make democracy flower in a land where it had never been cultivated. To this end, Thomas Jefferson noted that loyalty to these democratic virtues must be instilled in the people at an early age.

What is good character? The Greek philosopher Aristotle defined good character as the life of right conduct – right conduct in relation to other persons and in relation to oneself (Jody Palmer, 1986). Good character thus consists of knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the good – habits of the mind, habits of the heart, and habits of action. Some other attributes of a good character include respect for the rights of others, regard for the law of the land, voluntary participation in public life, and concern for the common good. These virtues are necessary for leading a moral life of the individuals and that of the nation. However, Walter Nicgorski (1987) notes that "strong personal character should manifest itself in service to organizations and communities and in courage in public life." He lamented that the "moral crisis of our time means more and more people lack the liberating self-mastery that allows them to commit and serve with an independence and integrity befitting a free people." Given the moral problems facing Nigeria today many would agree with him.

Historically, three social institutions share the work of moral education in a society: the home, the church, and the school. When these institutions fail to play their role well, forces hostile to good character rush in to fill the void. And that has been the problem with Nigeria. Through discipline, the teacher’s good example, school curriculum, schools instruct children in the virtues of patriotism, hard work, honesty, altruism, and courage. It is appropriate to acknowledge that moral education is not a new idea - it is as old as education itself. Serious and wise societies since the time of Plato have made moral education a deliberate aim of schooling. They educated for good character as well as intellect, decency as well as literacy, virtue as well as knowledge. In addition, they tried to form citizens who would use their intelligence to benefit others as well as themselves, so as to build a better world. That was the case in the early years of Nigeria. But as the society began to worship money and material wealth (with less regard for good character) support for old-fashioned character education in the society crumbled, with morality taking a dangerous nosedive.

Consequently, Nigerian schools are today strewn with cases of vandalism and violence, stealing and cheating in school examinations, disrespect for authority and the laws of the land, peer cruelty (cultism) and upsurge in sexual precocity (premature involvement in sexual activities) and prostitution, drugs, and other self-destructive behaviors. All these reflect the ills of the society. For this reason, moral education, however limited, should be part of the agenda in Nigerian schools, because as Theodore Roosevelt noted, ‘to educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace in [a] society.’

As mentioned earlier, because of greed and selfishness (forces that keep corruption fire burning), and because those who made a respectable life style through crooked means are role models today in communities, everyone who wants a piece of the corruption pie started devising ways of ripping the system apart. Their justification is ‘everybody is doing it.’ And due to circumstances beyond their control many families are now incapable of giving their children the necessary moral education at home. But common sense tells us that the family is the primary moral educator of the child and their most enduring influence. According to Lickona 1991, how well parents teach their children to respect their authority would lay the foundation for their future moral growth. Therefore, because of the importance of moral education to the moral health of nations, neither the school nor the family should be a neutral bystander in good character education of the youth.

One cannot over emphasize the fact that Nigeria needs ‘values education’ (to teach the values necessary for good citizenship and law-abiding society). Experts in human development have noted that ‘values education’ enables a society to survive and to thrive (to keep itself intact and to grow toward conditions that support full human development of all its members). But it seems an uphill task to conduct moral education in a pluralistic society (a culturally and religiously diverse society) of which Nigeria is one. However, despite Nigeria’s diversity the society could still identify basic and worthwhile universally shared values that schools could teach in the pluralistic society. As Gerald Grant (1985) notes, "pluralism itself is not possible without agreement on values such as justice, honesty, civility, democratic process, and respect for truth."

Really, Nigerian youths like those in other democracies, need some dose of moral education to enable them differentiate between right and wrong and become responsible adults, because ‘democracies have a special need for moral education.’ The absence of moral education in our schools is probably the main cause of the leadership problem facing the nation today, because as William Kilpatrict noted in Why Johnny can’t Tell Right from Wrong, "the core problem facing our schools is a moral one. All the other problems derive from it. Even academic reform depends on putting character first" (see Lickona 1991). Thus for democracy to survive in Nigeria the people must learn to care about the rights of others and the common good, and must be willing to assume the responsibilities required of democratic citizenship. Most of these virtues could be acquired through good character education tailored towards the cultivation of democratic values. Without ‘values education’ Nigeria may not win the war against corruption, crime, prostitution, and drugs. More importantly, for businesses to grow and proper, the labor force must have the character traits of honesty, dependability, pride in work, and the capacity to cooperate with others for the common good. As William J. Bennette noted in The Book of Virtues ‘a person who is morally literate will [ceteris paribus] be immeasurably better equipped than a morally illiterate person to reach a reasoned and ethically defensible position on tough [ethical] issues.’

Given the enormous moral problems facing Nigeria today, the dismal plight of schools, and the ever-increasing responsibilities the schools shoulder with less support, moral education would seem an overwhelming task. But moral instruction in Nigerian schools ‘is a doable job’ with the necessary financial and material support. The society has the human and financial resources to turn around her shattered and weird values of rabid materialism, me-first apathy, corruption and disregard for truth and justice. Therefore, the call for school reforms in the society should not focus only on academic achievement, because good character development is important as well. However, for moral literacy and good character formation instructions to the youths to be effective the political leaders, parents, teachers, and other role models in the society must practice and demonstrate good citizenship, by doing what is morally right. This is because, as Friedrich Nietzsche notes in On the Genealogy of Morals, "if something is to stay in the memory it must be burned in."

The excursion to the land of the ancient and modern philosophers seems to show that the problems with Nigeria emanate from lack of moral education that creates virtuous political and business leaders. For this reason, the society must endeavor to instill a sense of right and wrong in the youth, because ‘when people learn to do good and love the good, they take delight in doing the good.’ Therefore, the coming together of the stakeholders in education in a common cause will enable the people to raise moral human beings and to elevate the moral life of the nation.

Victor E. Dike, CEO, Center for Social Justice and Human Development (CSJHD), is the author of Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason: A Study of the Obasanjo Regime [Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd., London, Nov 20, 2003]. For more information, please contact: www.adonis-abbey.com

November 2003