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#ChangeBeginsWithMe
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Politicians
are fond of promising change in their election campaign, but that usually
involves changes to the country.
Today, Nigeria's President
Muhammadu Buhari is asking for people to change the way they behave.
The
Punch reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has said that before Nigerians
demand to see the changes he promised them during the 2015 election, they must
first change their own attitude by shunning corruption and other social vices.
He
adds that change is not about economic or social progress, but it is
in terms of citizens’ personal behaviour.
Buhari
said this while delivering a speech at the inauguration of the national
re-orientation campaign tagged, ‘Change Begins With Me’ in Abuja on Thursday.
The
President acknowledged that Nigeria is currently passing through a
challenging period where hardly anything works normally.
He
lamented that honesty, hard work and godliness had given way to all kinds of
manifestations of lawlessness and degeneration in our national life.
Buhari
said, “Our citizens must realize that the change they want to see begins with
them, and that personal and social reforms are not a theoretic exercise. If you
have not seen the change in you, you cannot see it in others or even the larger
society.
“In
other words, before you ask ‘Where is the change they promised us?’, you must
first ask, ‘How far have I changed my ways? What have I done to be part of the
change for the greater good of society?’
The
President said his government had done well in the fight against corruption,
adding that the fresh campaign was a way of getting Nigerians to join in the
struggle.
He
added, “The campaign we are about to launch today is all about the need for us
to see change, not merely in terms of our economic, social progress but in
terms of our personal behaviour on how we conduct ourselves, engage our
neighbours, friends and generally how we relate with the larger society in a
positive and definitive way and manner that promotes our common good and common
destiny, change at home, change in work place, change at traffic junction,
change at traffic lights, etc.”
He
said the value system of the nation had been eroded and that was why students
would prefer to embrace cultism rather than face their studies. He said it was
for the same reason youths were vandalizing oil pipelines thus robbing the
nation of much-needed resources.
Buhari said the disintegration of social values encouraged impunity and corruption in the public sector which ultimately led to the current economic recession.
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