ETHICAL TOOLKITS FOR EFFECTIVE YOUTHS TRANSFORMATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The Nigerian youths in general have various moral and social problems. These include: dishonesty, cheating, disobedience, laziness, examination malpractices, drug abuse, banditry, murder, violence, sexual promiscuity, pornography, stealing, cultism, rape, queer practices, kidnapping, and internet frauds. The inordinate anxiety of some youths to get rich 'quick' and die 'quick' have made some to join bad companies which led them to smoking of hard drugs or drinking themselves to stupor, that they become mad and useless to their families. Some who do not run mad are caught and killed in the act of perpetrating one evil or another. Moreover, exposure of youths to information about sex from internet has led to the widespread of premarital sex and to some extent extra-marital sexual affairs in contemporary Nigerian society. The Yahoo Boys- a new class of young Nigerian fraudsters dislodged traditional 419ers and their outdated repertoire of tricks. There is no doubt that changes in the perception of human dignity, influence of western civilization or globalization, poor parental upbringing, lack of self-confidence, peer group factors, poverty, unemployment, and corruption have generally influenced the Youths behaviour. In addition, the growing generation is being used by some politicians as thugs, riot promoters or violence organizers. Hence, it should be no surprise that life orientations of the young ones are being negatively impacted. However, Youths are admonished to access ethical toolkits x-rayed in this paper for effective transformation. Employing analytic and prescriptive methods, this paper recommends that government should empower the young generation by initiating for skills acquisition and vocational training; capacity building; job creation and employment. More so, Youths should be sensitive to their visions and talents; recognize their potentials and capabilities; discourage laziness; imitate great achievers and personalities through hard work.