The Decay of Moral values among Nigerian Youths of the 21st Century

The decay of moral values among Nigerian youths in the 21st century is so alarming to the point of attracting attention from all sectors of the Nigerian society. Research has shown that Nigeria as an African society cherish traditional and religious values. Children at the early stage of life are taught the traditional values and the moral virtues. The traditional African societies placed a high premium on moral development and character of the children. The coming of Westerners into Nigeria brought formal education, civilization and urbanization. The advancement in science, innovations and technology in this 21st century cause tremendous change in ideas and attitudes of the youths. This infiltration of western values negatively affected the reasoning of the youths toward our traditional moral values. To analyze this problem effectively, the author used relevant materials including journals and the Internet to plumb the causes of moral decadence among Nigerian youths. The results show that the falling moral standards of Nigerian youths are traceable to westernization via-mass media and ICT which devalues the importance of the traditional values and cultures resulting in materialism, misplacement of values and the wrong choice of ethical values. The paper therefore concludes that to curb the menace of moral degeneration, Nigerian traditional value system must be promoted. This can be achieved through re-orientation of the youths with regards to cultural and religious values. An application of the above would help Nigerian society to progress and develop unimpeded.