For Nigeria to take its rightful place among the comity of nations, Nigerians must edify, protect and promote the class of persons of high integrity, personal and professional achievements.

Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, made this recommendation in a key note address he presented at the 12th convocation of Fountain university, Osogbo, Osun State at the weekend.

He noted that Nigerians had through the celebration of persons of doubtful sources of wealth and pedigree, by default impressed it upon the youth the acceptability of wrong role models.

AbdulRazaq who spoke on the topic, “Role Modelling In Career And Politics : Challenges To The Nigerian Youths”, said Nigeria as a country needs to reverse the descent into the declining moral and core ethical values.

Represented by his special adviser on politics, Alhaji Saadu Salahu, the governor said a society where respect and social prestige were accorded to wealthy individuals, irrespective of the way they made their fortune, is a disaster waiting to happen.

“In our society the ideal values for all to live by are honesty, humility, respect for elders, institutions and authorities, discipline, courage, self – reliance, hard work and the pursuit of knowledge.

“To sustain these core values, we must edify, protect and promote the class of persons of high integrity, personal and professional achievements. These personalities naturally serve as role models whose qualities inspire our youths and their immense capacity to positively impact on our youths cannot be underestimated,” the governor stated.

AbdulRazaq who listed some finest Nigerian role models to include the late Prof Babs Fafunwa, the late Funmilayo Ransom- Kuti, Margaret Ekpo and the late Hajiya Gambo Sawaba, pointed out that:” Most importantly, traditional moral values and complementary conducts exemplify the role models, not the wealth or the offices that they occupied. It is the aggregation of these two – to with , character and conduct , morality and intellect- that stood out the Nigerian culture and Nigerians in the global community.”

On the declining Nigerian culture, the governor said:” The gradual decline of discipline because of factors like emphasis on wealth rather than integrity , abuse of internet sources , uncensored movies and music amongst others account for these negative developments.”

In his remarks, the vice chancellor of Fountain University,

Prof. Amidu Sanni, commended AbdulRazaq for his giant strides in the education sector.