I have come to realize that mostly Nigerian societies (regardless of location) are stamped as being more concerned with anything that is pertaining to materialism than with spiritual, intellectual or cultural values. In other words, Nigerians are mostly guided by the theory, that physical matter is the only reality, and everything else (thought, feeling, mind etc) is unconditionally worthless.

I have also clearly recognized that this kind of absurd attitude or inane state of mind is very dangerous to any society; and unfortunately Nigerians materialism ways of life is our true enemy.
This enemy of ours is also directly connected to most of the problems our poor country is up against today e.g.:
Poor leadership
Diluted family or cultural values
Political crisis
419
Lack of progress (Nigeria still among the least economically developed countries)
Religion crisis
Disposition of lie, cheat and steal among friends, families and married couples
Impoverished Standard of living etc.

I must admit that materialism also exists in many other societies, but it seems to be growing by 10000 per second in Nigerian societies.
It is also important to know that there is nothing wrong for one to desire nice things or for more, but do not let us disinherit our soul during the process, there are more to life.

Without directly reconnecting back to our spiritual and cultural values, I’m not sure if we are ever going to witness the elevation of our nation back to the top any time soon
Let us empower ourselves by understanding that a respectable integrity, self respect and being our brother’s keeper are all priceless.
With the right attitude, I believe we would witness improvement more rapidly in our country and sky will only be our limitation in all things.

May God bless Nigeria.

I agree with most of your point except the bit below

Without directly reconnecting back to our spiritual and cultural values, I’m not sure if we are ever going to witness the elevation of our nation back to the top any time soon

What I think we rather need is ethical redifinition that takes into cognisance the complex nature of our country

I think a strategy aimed at encouraging a secular society will be suffice.

Spiritual Values: Spiritual connectivity or spiritual approach to life is also a unique weapon that guides individual toward doing what is right; treating your neighbor the way you will prefer to be treated.
This concept also has a lot to do with empowerment of ethical process in any society.

Cultural Values: This is another necessary superior tool that assists individual to develop a clear identity; an identity that helps us to deal with our daily activities or challenges. This identity is also derived from the distinctive ways of living built by our forefathers. It gives us a sense of connectivity, empowerment of shared knowledge and values of our cultural root or traditional rituals.

What I think we rather need is ethical redifinition that takes into cognisance the complex nature of our country

I think a strategy aimed at encouraging a secular society will be suffice.

@Mckren:
I’ve selected to use both entities (spiritual and cultural values) because of the direct link they have to Ethical Redefinition. I see both as invaluable mechanism capable to guide a society to remain focused and do what is right.

A man without spiritual or cultural values is more or less an obsolete to any society. It’s like a pilot flying a plane without a map or GPS system; a lost soul.
Example:
For Christian: if you truly understand and directly connected to the 10 commandments and care about your main root, you wouldn’t steal from your country.
For Muslim: If you follow the message of the Holy Scriptures of Islam, you wouldn’t be anything else but your brother’s keeper.

@Mckren:
My point: even though we’ve used different locution, but we are still on the same page.
We, Nigerians in general must reconnect quickly back to these values or else we will be traveling for a very long time without any road map or a clearly defined destination.

I believe you two are actually saying the same thing. But how can you motivate people who are, in some cases blind to the fact that the problem in their own community is as a result of the materialistic choices people in that community make

@ BIG B1
To support this point , this is very deep, very few people will actually want this situation to be addressed.Evidently the elders that care about this situation doesnt have a say, while the elders that dont care have money and the say. Until we stop measuring our success in terms of how much money you can steal it is going to take a lot to introduce what life should be all about to the coming generation. If we raise our kids using these standards i am sorry my people we still have a long way to go.

Materialism also makes it difficult to process and dispassionately evaluate leadership qualities such that we end up glorifying and empowering those who oppress us.

We as a people accept it is normal for our leaders to steal from us and we will hold our nose up at a leader who having the opportunity did not fill his/her pockets for the rainy day by stealing our patrimony.

Then we wonder why we are so backward and suffering in the midst of plenty

I knew many campaigning for various politicians will avoid a thread like this as there is little opportunity to practice their stock in trade and there is no payment for posting anything here