In the past few days, social media has been awash with the accounts of an immoral escapade of some children while on an excursion in Dubai. One can scarcely go on the internet without encountering a post on the issue. Reading the accounts is sufficient trauma.

Expectedly, society is shocked and scandalized. A 10-year girl and a 13-year-old boy? The Lagos State Government reacted in righteous indignation and summarily shut down the school and all its branches. Well done, Lagos State Government. But is the reaction not knee jerk? Would we say we did not see it coming?

In January 2022, I released a video message to the Nigerian Church and amongst other ills in the society, pointed out the problem of moral degradation in Nigeria and the indifference of the Church. I made reference to Big Brother Naija and condemned the tacit endorsement of the Church. What you do not condemn, you have indirectly endorsed it.

To worsen matters, a winner of an edition of Big Brother Naija went to a “Church” for “thanksgiving” while before another episode, a “pastor” “prophesied” the winner of the show. As if that was not sufficient endorsement, the Church structure kept quiet as if nothing has gone wrong. No one was sanctioned.

Four months after the message of January 2022, people are expressing outrage over the incident in Dubai. Have we forgotten that children learn by imitation?

In February 2022, we organized national prayers and devoted a day to praying against immorality in the Nigerian society. In preparing the prayer points, I referred to two disturbing pieces of information:

1. A survey by a multinational company produced a report that Nigerian married women are the most adulterous worldwide. With 62% of Nigerian married women who participated in the survey confessing to marital infidelity, Nigeria came first globally followed by Thailand at 59%.
2. DNA specialists publicly claimed that 6 out of 10 children brought for paternity determination in Nigeria are not fathered by the man in the house. That is 60% of children brought for a DNA test.

Faced with these disturbing reports, can we not see where the problem in Dubai came from?

Are the women to be blamed? The answer is "no". The men are to be blamed. The Nigerian society is fiercely masculine with little opportunity given to women to thrive. The entire Nigerian society and polity must be taken back to the drawing board. The country must be reset if we are to solve the problem of immorality. It is a well-known fact that once an economy goes into recession, trade of the flesh spikes.

The first casualties of the Nigerian economic recession are many women, whether married or single, who, having minimal sources of income, resort to trading their bodies for survival. While a man can have children and walk away, a woman cannot. Oftentimes, most women, including married women, are driven to immorality due to pressure to sustain their children. Alas, what are the options that society offers them?

For example, how many women are Governors in Nigeria? How many are Vice-Chancellors of Universities? How many are the Chief Executive of banks? In case you think one is mentioning high-class professions, let us go down the ladder. How many women are mechanics? How many are vulcanizers? How many are carpenters? Plumbers? Electricians? Tilers? Painters?

Therefore, while immorality is condemnable, we need to understand where it is coming from. When women are made economically vulnerable and yield to pressures of immorality, the children pick up the signals. The children instinctively know what Mummy approves; they know what Mummy condemns.

This society must be reset to take care of the women if we want to prevent further Seasons of Small Brother Naija. This is Season One. There must be skill acquisition centres in all the Local Governments and major towns to train women in a wide range of skills to empower them. The average Nigerian woman is industrious and dignified. Unfortunately, the economy has been badly managed by the men to make them vulnerable.

The religious institutions must be reset to preach more about morality and less of prosperity and domination of others as it is currently being done in the Churches and the Mosques. Government should partner with religious institutions to re-engineer the Nigerian society. People listen to what they are told in their places of worship. For example, it is not in a school that people are taught to strap bombs to themselves and blow themselves up. It is in a place of worship.

Government must be stricter in enforcing legislation against immorality in the society. We should not forget we are Africans and the cultural invasion from Europe and the USA conflicts with our traditional values. Today, one can scarcely see an 18-year-old girl that is still a virgin. Many brides have consummated the bridal night with various men before the day of the wedding. LGBTQ is making inroads into the country and a new madness called “cross-dressing” is rearing its head.

All these societal nuisances should be curbed through the enforcement of legislation. The activities of “celebrities” that serve as negative role models to children should be curbed. The amount of vanity that is poured into the society through women who have no visible means of income, yet live ostentatious and luxurious lifestyles should be interrogated. It should not be accepted as modernization or Westernization. We all know what they are selling.

Finally, shutting down the affected school is a good step. But it is a symbolic gesture to demonstrate displeasure with what occurred. The school should be re-opened quickly because the school is not the culprit. In fact, the Government is the culprit because it has failed to enforce legislation to curb immorality in the society.

A few days ago, a female celebrity came out with a blazing headline narrating how she became a lesbian, and she has not been arrested and prosecuted. This is a violation of existing legislation by the Government.

What the woman has done is simple. She has sent a signal to University girls, Secondary Schoolgirls, and Primary Schoolgirls that being a lesbian is acceptable. The government has not responded to the threat. When Small Brother Naija Season Two hits social media, Government will start looking for what to shut down. Maybe another school, a hotel, or a shopping mall. There is legislation against what that celebrity has done but no one is enforcing the legislation.

And the school? A hapless actor in a script written by society and directed by the government.