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EXPOSING THE ROOT CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF IDENTITY AND CHARACTER CRISIS IN NIGERIAN YOUTHS
Being a Paper presented at the Annual Gathering of Nigerian Federation of Young Catholic Students, Pope John Paul II Major Seminary Awka 28th April 2012 Gabriel Uchechimezie Emeasoba (Rev. Fr) INTRODUCTION Permit me to begin this reflection today by expressing my joy at the privilege of this unique opportunity. Some years ago, we were here as zealous students of philosophy, questioning the very depths of reality itself and gathering the basic equipment for the challenge of life in the priestly ministry and in the modern world. Looking back at those years with a sense of fulfilment and relish, I stand before you, a proud alumnus of this great institution, with great pride and humility. Pride, because I am convinced within me that it was here that the battle was fought and won. This institution may not have had the best magnificent of structures or the most celestial and aesthetic of environments, but I tell you dear friends, it possesses the best enablement for growth and excellence in any department of life anywhere in the world. Secondly, I am humbled standing before you today as a guest speaker. You dont know how privileged I am carrying on my back the full weight of the trust and confidence and belief of the very lecturers that mentored my intelligence; the very formators that nurtured my character. Thank you for believing I can do this. The association of the Nigerian Federation of Young Catholic Students is an organ that was formed to bring young people in Senior Seminaries and Higher Institutions together for the purpose of realizing a balanced formation of the human person. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI had, in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate advocated that if the human person would be developed at all, then that formation must affect the human person integrally. It is a crime against the human society to develop the human person in the mind alone, leaving the soul and the heart. Education without character and morality has left the world with Hitlers and Mussolinis; concentration camps and nuclear warfare. Such education was admired by ancient Greece so many years ago but it did not take time for them to realize that no society can ever stand for so long without a foundation on basic moral values and principles and positive human culture. Show me a genius who has no respect for character or value and I will predict the downfall of a future society. My dear friends, the purpose of this association has all the while been to provide an extra-curricular interactive and formative basis for the cultivation of genuine Christian virtue in the life of the young educated Christian people. I am happy that this formation is taking place in an environment of mutual exchange between seminarians and students from various secular higher institutions. You all are leaders of the future in both the society and the Church. You all are also Nigerians. You all face similar challenges today and it is my conviction that only a concerted effort will help make things better for all of us.

ON THE TOPIC It is therefore providential that today, we are gathered to discuss on the issue of character cultivation and character crisis. This is a topic that touches on the very centre of both human personality and social cohesion Exposing the Root Causes and the Effects of Character Crisis in Nigerian Youths. In the opinion of many social analysts and psycho-social experts, character crisis has been at the centre of the problem of this country. We live in a nation in which it appears social roles and expectations are not clarified and there are no basic standards for human action. Rewards are given outside the confines of merit. Positions of leadership are occupied by those who lack vision and even the barest of common sense and sight. We belong to a nation where almost every socio-political role is relatively defined according to convenience and where systems of social mobility are not well defined. There is no agenda for the growing population that most times, the young are left with nothing to expect. Nigeria is like a pool of jungle in which anybody can go to draw anything, experience anything and assume anything. In our traditional society, convention and customs helped in the preservation of core social values. Today, law even connives with selfish individual will to destroy the value it is meant to cultivate and protect. We live at a time when men and women are more concerned with building their image than forming their character. Today, what matters is image, not character. And that unfortunately spells doom for civilization and society. In modern Nigeria, it is not easy to say what is good or bad or try to allocate limits of professional competence. It depends. For example, an act of terrorism from a boko haram suicide bomber becomes bad or good depending on which political standpoint one looks at it. For a Northerner or those with strong Islamic sympathy, it may be right; for the Igbo, it may be wrong. Examination malpractice in the opinions of many Nigerians today has become a functional necessity. A parent once told me in an evening instruction when she was narrating the ordeal of her 20 year old son who had taken JAMB four times without success Fr, if he indulges in malpractice this time, even God should understand. An action can be good today and become bad tomorrow even in the same circumstances. There is scarcely any standard of judgment. The result is that there are conflicting values peddled across the nation that it is difficult to develop a healthy character in these situations. The moral foundations upon which the social fabric and structure are formed have become absolutely warped. In his book Character, Helps to personality Growth, Dr Samuel Smiles wrote: persons of character are not only the conscience of society, but in every well governed state, they are its motive power. If I may ask you, what do you think makes a country great? Is it the size of its geography or population? Is it the gross domestic product or income? Is it the strength of its social network or military arsenal? Is it the refinement of its diplomacy or the acuity of its leadership? No, I do not think so. I think a nation is great because of the strength of character of its citizens. Channing was right when he wrote that the the great hope of society is individual character. This was the story of Israel and Athens before their downfall. You may not know that the decline and fall of Rome was attributed to the general corruption of its people and to their engrossing love for pleasure and idleness and

despise of work and nobility. When King Louis XIV asked Colbert how it was that, ruling so great and populous a country as France, he had been unable to conquer so small a country as Holland, the minister replied: because, Sire, the greatness of a country does not depend upon the extent of its territory, but on the character of its people. It is because of the industry, the frugality, and the energy of the Dutch people that your Majesty has found them difficult to overcome. The truth of the matter is that stability of institutions must depend upon stability of character. Any number of depraved units cannot form a great nation. The people may seem to be highly civilized, and yet be ready to fall to pieces at the first touch of adversity. Without integrity of character, they can have no real strength, or cohesion or soundness. They may be rich, polite, and artistic, and yet hovering on the brink of ruin. When the time arrives in any country when wealth has so corrupted, or pleasure so depraved, or faction so infatuated the people, that honour, order, obedience, virtue, and loyalty have seemingly become things of the past, then their only remaining hope will be in the restoration and elevation of individual character. Comrades, that is why we all are here. We must be objective at this point. Whenever there is crisis in any society, the youths are gravely hit. And when this crisis has anything to do with character, then a generations future is in danger. The youths in Nigeria are experiencing a great character crisis today. This crisis arises out of the cumulative degeneration of basic values in the country over the years. It also arises from the bastardization of formal and informal education, the decay of law and order and the dearth of social values and the overall lack of positive offer of the society for the formation of youths. It has all the while been difficult for the youthful bracket to find themselves in the scheme of things. Self definition has altogether been difficult. The youths in Nigeria are merely struggling to survive and you know what it can be like when the only motivation for human action is conatus essendi (instinct of self preservation). Because character crisis renders the realization of balanced personality and identity impossible, growth and development in both the individual person and the society at large has been rendered comatose. Seminarians, young men and women, you can see that the situation before us is really deleterious. We have come here today to appreciate the problem of character crisis among youths objectively, determine the factors that have been responsible for the decay of such an invaluable icon of personal and social development and then see a way of trying to retrace our steps for the future. I am sure you are ready for this challenge. In this paper therefore, we will make an attempt at exposing some of the root causes and consequences of this character crisis among youths in Nigeria in order to make us see the need for running on the path of character. But before then, let us set the stage by understanding the experience of crisis in the developmental calendar of the youth and in the formation of human character. THE YOUTH AND THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER The first question that comes to mind at this stage is who the youth is. Actually, it is not so easy to immediately calibrate when the youthful age begins and ends. Different schools of thought, especially in psychology and generally in the human

sciences have different ways of classifying the developmental stages of the human biological life. The scheme one uses often depends on the function the classification is meant to serve. At least, some of us here may have read how the great ancient literary giant of classics Homer divided the human lifespan into three: infancy, youth and the old age. But Shakespeare gave us six (infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, and old age) which more or less breaks down the wider schema of Homer. Among psychologists, so many of such classifications abound. For example, in their book on A Christian Psychology of Love, Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey divided the human life span into as many as eleven stages which include: period of Youth (0-28), period of adulthood (28-56), Authenticity (28-35), Adult Religious Conversion (30-40), Ithou Relationship (30-50), I-We relationship (40-56), Mature Adulthood (56-death), Growth in Contemplation (56-63), Retirement (63-70), Age of Wisdom (70-77), Facing Death (70-??). In all these divisions, it is often generally accepted that the youthful age begins with adolescence (puberty) and ends with early adulthood. In so far as this age is the virile age group, some even extend it to the middle ages. But one thing is clear, according to so many psychologists, the youth is not a child and he is not an adult but somewhere in between. Due to these variations in the definition of the youth, there are also different operational age limits allocated to the youths by many world bodies. A look at the survey box below demonstrates the point clearly: The age in which a person is considered a "youth", and thus eligible for special treatment under the law and throughout society varies around the world.

"Youth... those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years." - United Nations General Assembly. "...youth ... comprises persons between the age of 15 and 24. It is used by ... the World Bank" - World Bank. The Commonwealth Youth Programme works with "young people (aged 15-29). "A person... under 21 years of age." - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "People between the ages of 14 and 21." - Wilson School District. "Youth; an individual from 13 through 19 years of age." - Alternative Homes for Youth, Inc

"Youth is defined as any member of society between the ages of 15 and 34" - World Health Organization.

"30 seats are being reserved in the [Moroccan Parliamentary Elections], for young Moroccans (under 40).

For the purpose of this reflection, within the context of this occasion and association, our definition of the youth will be well broadened to include persons from ages 15 to 40. This age bracket at least excludes all infants and includes all

adolescents and young adults, all undergraduates and senior seminarians, all who face the challenge and the catharsis of biological and psychological growth and changes, all who are faced with life decisions to make as to vocation and occupation and generally all who can comfortably contribute maximally to the well being of the church and society and the growth of culture and values as leaders of today and tomorrow. In discussing about the youth, it is good to remark what someone said recently:
A youth is a person who is going to carry on what you have started. He is going to sit where you are sitting and, when you are gone, attend to those things which you think are important. You may adopt all the policies you please, but how they will be carried out depends on him. He will assume control of your cities, states, and nation. He is going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities, and corporations. The fate of humanity is in his hands. So it might be well to pay him some attention.

The truth of the matter is that no society can really succeed without a healthy youth population. The average youth population forms part of the index of national development and production calculus. An aging population for example presents a society with fewer prospects for the future. But with a robust youth population, any society can face the challenges of economic production and regeneration, national defence and security, environmental management, sociopolitical leadership and organization, international relations and diplomacy, just name it. In fact, my dear friends, just because we are talking about youths today, let me tell you, it is good we are here. Since we are talking about character cultivation, formation and crisis today, let me begin by saying that the human character has a lot to do with the youth. It is not as if the character of the human person does not begin to get formed at infancy, no, once a person is born, he/she starts receiving influences that will build his/her character in the future. From our simple knowledge of developmental psychology, for example, we know that the quality of given and received love, freedom of free expression and participation in the family environment (especially from the side of the mother) determines to a large extent the kind of person, character or emotional being the child would grow to possess. Even old age has its own impact on the human character. However, we must not fail to point out that it is from the adolescent stage that the young starts to be aware of him/herself as an independent creature apart from the family, who has to take responsibility for his life and actions. Through decisions and actions, he creates his own world of values and beliefs and individuates the core centre of his being. This youthful stage may not be necessarily cut off from family and peer influences and the societal expectations and roles. But the point is that at the stage of the youth, he decides what to pick and choose from all these influences to form the core of his identity. It is with the age of the youth that the human character and identity is formed. It is at this stage that human beings develop principles of life and action for political, social, religious and economic engagement.

By the way, what is character after all? One dictionary defines it as the complex of mental and ethical traits marking a person. It is said to be the the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individuals life which determine his or her response regardless of circumstances. People often say that character is who we really are; what we do when no one is looking. In a classic work co-authored by Christopher Peterson and Martin E.P. Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, they described character as what someone does not do. It is a combination of qualities or traits that distinguishes a person from the other. It is the character of a person that determines how that person acts and reacts in different events of life. Character is like a stable principle which runs through and on which human life and activities are anchored and evaluated. It has very close ties with the persons identity and personality. Ones character flows from ones identity. It is at the age of the youth that individuals develop both their personalities, identities and their character. It is for this reason that the inculcation of character education in schools for youths have been advocated by many psychologists. Adolescence is the most salient time for defining identity, the process of determining the meaning, purpose, and direction of ones inner, unique core of self while also maintaining some sameness and continuity with ones past and of comfort within the context of ones culture. Erik Erikson is one psychologist who gave much time to the issue of identity formation in the development of adolescents in his psychosexual theory of human development of the 1950s. According to Erikson, ones identity is ones sense of the self which is achieved through examining and committing oneself to the roles and pursuits that define an adult in a society. How do people form their identities? In her book, Adolescence: Continuity, Change and Diversity, Nancy Cobb gives us much insight into Eriksons thoughts on human identity. According to her, prior to adolescence, childrens identities reflect a simple identification with the parents. They uncritically take on the behaviours and values of their parents. But starting with adolescence, this is no longer the case. They begin to synthesize elements of their earlier identity into a new whole, one that bears the personal stamp of their own interests, values, and choices. This process is known as identity formation. This involves what is called individuation.
Individuation gives adolescents a set of attitudes and ways of acting that are genuinely their own; however, they must still put these together into a working whole that reflects an inner sense of self. Although the process begins in early adolescence, adolescents do not consolidate these changes until late adolescence and early adulthood when choices about jobs, college, and relationships force identity issues to a head. Identity, for Erikson, derives from, as well as directs, the adolescents commitment to occupational, religious, political,

and gender roles and values. Parents contribute to this process too.

From the above, one gathers immediately that even though it is the individual that has the function of forming his/her identity, ones identity also derives from so many other factors which influences the formation of the human identity and therefore character. These factors include the family environment, values and beliefs, the school influence and formation, the peer influence, the religious affiliation, values and beliefs, the social structure, customs and conventions which

set out roles, statuses and expectations for individuals in the society, the political networks and arrangement, and very many other influences like the media. All these help to determine the kind of person that is formed with which character. No wonder so many authors for example believe that adolescents with a more loving and caring family environment will develop a more healthy and emotionally balanced identity and character. When young people grow in an environment of warped moral values without any right models, they do not often develop the best of positive characters. THE EXPERIENCE OF CRISIS IN THE DEVELOPMENTAL LIFE OF THE YOUTH Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge you have given me today is to expose the root causes and consequences of character crisis among Nigerian Youths. I want to begin my discussion of crisis with a caveat. The experience of crisis in the life of the youth, especially in the life of the adolescent is not a unique feature, only of youths in Nigeria. It is a universal transitional growth stage of every adolescent. In fact, Erikson defines identity crisis as the normative psychosocial development during the periods of adolescence and emerging adulthood. The only difference is that in Nigeria, the condition of things has made the experience and the transition of this developmental stage very difficult for many youths. Where this transition is made, the identity often formed does not produce positive character traits. In fact, for me this is the unique crisis situation of the Nigerian youth. Ordinarily speaking, we all know that the adolescent age is filled with a lot of crisis, beginning with the experience of puberty. The sudden development of the secondary sexual characteristics in the young adolescent immediately introduces the young adolescent into a crisis situation. How does he/she manage some of those surprises? You all had your own experiences or may be still having them. Think of the crisis that comes with the feeling of autonomy that immediately starts to run through the blood streams of the young adolescents. This feeling is responsible for the father-son battles and mother-daughter wars we see in families very often. You may no longer remember the number of times you fought with your teachers in the secondary schools or the number of times you were forced to go to church on Sundays in those days. What of the many times you felt you were insulted by your father just because of the way he addressed you or maybe he did not allow you go out with his car; or the way you fought with your mum over your dressing? You feel this woman is old fashioned and that she should allow you live in the modern times. Apart from this level of crisis, the age of the youth is a time for decision making which affects their lives for better or for worse in the future. And this period of decision making is filled with much crisis. This crisis is also part of the decisions regarding life vocations and occupations. It must however be said that the crisis situation in the life of the youth is not a permanent situation that should be dreaded, rather, it is an inevitable period in life, which would be passed through if there would be what Erikson called identity achievement. But unfortunately, it is not every youth that successfully achieves this transition into a permanent identity and balanced character which would form the basis of a mature and noble life in the society. James Marcia further developed Eriksons theory on how a permanent stable identity is achieved after

the period of crisis where he was able to discover around four identity statuses in the process of achieving identity in youths. These include: identity diffusion, Moratorium, identity foreclosure and identity achievement. According to him, these are the four ways by which adolescents arrive at the roles and values that define their identities. Achieving a personal identity is not an easy process. To do this, adolescents must be willing to take risks and live with uncertainty. Some of the uncertainty comes from exploring possibilities and options in life that differ from those chosen by ones parents. Most adolescents expect this exploration to be risky but few of them, however, expect the risks that occur when they must make commitments based on their exploration. Those who are committed to life options arrive at them either by exploring and searching for what fits them best or by foregoing exploration and letting themselves be guided by their parents values. Those who do the first arrive at identity achievement while those who do the second arrive at identity foreclosure. But there are some adolescents who withdraw from making any commitment to available life options because they are afraid of making mistakes. Such people are those who exist in a Moratorium, while those who dont want to commit themselves to any life possibility or option because they dont see the importance of choosing one life option or the other are those with identity diffusion. My dear friends, a proper self-definition is important for a healthy life personally and in the society. It is a pity that so many of the Nigerian youths have not achieved self-definition in areas of occupational and vocational choice, religious and political beliefs and matters etc, even up till adulthood. Where they commit themselves to a life option and therefore form a self identity, one sees that these identities are not grounded on solid values that help personality growth and societal development, such as responsibility, perseverance, caring, self discipline, citizenship, honesty, courage, fairness, respect, integrity and patriotism. These values form part of positive character traits. This is my definition of the new character crisis which the Nigerian youths have found themselves in. What can therefore be the causes and consequences of this unique character crisis? THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THIS CHARACTER CRISIS -CAUSES At this stage in our discussion, we have been able to understand what crisis means in the situation of the youth in general and in the context of the Nigerian youths. The stage is now set for discovering the causes and the consequences of character crisis among youths in Nigeria. From the foregoing discussions, it has become clear that there are so many factors that influence the very formation of human identity and character. Some of these include: the family environment, the socio-political structure, the quality of education and school system, the Religiomoral values, Peer pressure media influence etc. It is within these networks of influences that the youth defines him/herself and character. I am thinking that the character crisis among Nigerian youths also arises from these factors. Some of these causes include therefore: 1 Immature family environments

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Lack of Positive Moral Values in the Country Crisis in the Educational System of the Nation Crisis in Religious beliefs and Affiliations Irresponsible Governance Media Corruption

(1) Immature Family Environments: The family is one locus where the human character is nurtured. It is from here that the young adolescent receives the first idea of what it means to live. Even though as an infant, the individual had not yet been conscious of his/her character, already, the family environment offers the basic matrix for the development of identity and character in the human person. The parents have a great work to do here. They are like models who influence to a great level the series of choices through which the individual achieves identity. It is upon the standard of values learnt in the family, complemented by that of the society and other institutions that the young individual carves out his or her character. It is with this character that the individual lives and engages challenges in the larger society. No wonder Pope John Paul II wrote in Ecclesia in Africa, the family naturally opens up to the larger society. Indeed, it is its smaller unit. If the family falls short of these functions, then the formation of individual character will be seriously affected. How can the individual develop the values of responsibility, respect for life, goodness, truthfulness, caring etc without the foundation given in the family? From where will the individual learn how to accept others and be accepted in life? It is a pity that many families in Nigeria are no longer performing that function of being the bedrock for the formation of human character. Young boys and girls today get married at a very young age, without the slightest preparation for the challenges of married life. And most times, they themselves are not good models of good and positive character. As a priest, it is not every time I celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony that I get so happy. Other issues bothering on professionalism, urban-rural demographic movements often separate the couples and take them away from their homes to the extent that there are children who never meet their parents awake. Ignorance on the part of many married couples can also be responsible for the failure to inculcate basic human values that will help the young build their own character. What is more, the influence of modernism on the family in Nigeria has become so enormous that we must bemoan the fact that so many families are no longer interested in inculcating into the young the moral and religious values needed to live in the society. This is to say nothing of the impact of the scourge of poverty and lack of exposure on many modern African and Nigerian families. (2) Lack of Positive Moral Values in the Country: My learned fellows, this hardly needs much explanation. The situation of the country has made it seriously difficult for one to appreciate the resplendence of value. This degeneration cuts across all sections of the nation. It is difficult again to say what is right or wrong. How can we be talking of cultivation of balanced character among youths when the value of life is no longer respected in the face of boko haram insurrection? Why would our youths not experience character crisis when the message being sent out all over is that the Machiavellian dictum the end justifies the means is

the only valid principle of existence in our society? I am talking about a country in which it is taboo to follow the way of integrity and merit and avoid short cuts and mediocrity. Is it possible to stop corruption, bribery in Nigeria? The rule of law has almost lost the capacity of redress and criminal justice is almost only being consigned to the shelves. The case of the former Governor of Delta State demonstrates this clearly. (3) Crisis in the Educational System: One place where this total decay has affected deeply is the Nigerian school system. The school is a very important environment that helps in the formation of the character of the young too. Teachers complement the work of the parents; they are not just teachers of dry subjects, they mould human character and thereby shape the society in the long run. But where these schools send conflicting and contrary signals, then there is problem for the building up of the character of the young. The question today is: are our schools still places where education is embarked upon with character? The truth of the matter is that the answer is simply no. So many of these teachers do not even have the moral probity to be teachers in the first place. If I narrate to you my examination experience when I undertook a Post Graduate Diploma in education, you will really feel sorry for the Nigerian educational system. For many of our teachers, money can facilitate everything. With money and other material inducements, certificates can be forged, lectures can be dodged, marks can be awarded, et cetera. There is today this division between the public and private schools which is more or less like a parallel division between the rich and the poor. Thank God that the Government has returned schools to the Church. The question remains if the Church today is well equipped to face the challenge of balanced education like it is in most European countries today, (London, for example). (4) Crisis in Religious Beliefs and Affiliations: Ordinarily, the Church should be a very important locus for the moulding of the human character. Through the help of religious pastors, the youths are supposed to be taught the guidelines and principles of human action which will guide them in their daily choices and decisions. But this is not what we see in many places in Nigeria. In Nigeria, as more religious houses are sprouting up, the moral dearth and disintegration of the nation heightens. There are conflicting religious messages that often confuse the growing population. Sometimes, the content of these messages even inure the virtues of hard work, effort and creativity in the youth. I feel within me that the religious pill is one potent pill in Nigeria which has, at the wake of Pentecostalism, impeded the spirit of healthy human and societal development. I dont want to mention the shame those religious conflicts that have destabilised this nation at various points in her history has brought. If one adds this to the new wave of religious merchandise, one understands from where the crisis of character in our youths are coming. (5) Irresponsible Governance: I think that this is the worst to recall. Tell me what the young person growing up today will learn from the nations socio-politics and governance. Will they be ever grateful for having leaders who set their nation on the road to greatness and who inspired national pride and growth? Will they remember and honour Abacha and Obasanjo for example, as Americans

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remember and honour George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? Will they be grateful to our government for the provision of infrastructure and the employment of young graduates? Or perhaps, they would be happy that they have hospitals that are crippled, roads that are damaged, power supply that is epileptic, an economy that is stuttering, a security network that is exposing and a society on the verge of collapse. How can they not experience crisis of character when they have been deceived to believe that they are leaders of tomorrow in a calendar in which tomorrow never arrives? Irresponsible governance has been at the top of the cause of character crisis among youths in this land. (6) Media Corruption: Lastly, I am sure you may not have taken time to appreciate how much damage has been done to the character of the youth through the modern media. The media is supposed to be a medium of information, enlightenment and entertainment through which, to use the language of Pope John Paul II, the good and the true will be passed on to the populace. Through this, positive values can be passed on to the growing generation which will help them in the formation of their character. Unfortunately, it is not so in our country. The media has become a place where the culture of indiscipline and sexual promiscuity is spread with alacrity at a discount. Even the advert of a machine part comes with a naked lady. Our local films and musicals are almost close to raw pornography. When this is added to the erosion of the internet and satellite provisions which are now very much available to the youth (even in their mobile phones), you can understand why it is not so difficult for a young person to lose his/her bearing. The situation is really bad. -CONSEQUENCES: Having looked at the various causes of youth crisis, it will be good to cast a little glance also at the consequences of character crisis among youths in Nigeria. One major consequence of the character crisis among youths is that it is fearful to imagine what the future of Nigeria will be, lets say in the next fifty years. Nigeria is risking the possibility of having no social order or patterns of activity and expectation, no criteria and basis for judging anybody or any action. There is scarcely any need for long term plans since there would be no ready generation that will take over the baton creditably. For what reason then can one justify this social contract (to speak like Rousseau) we all made? One of the poorest way to live in life is to live with the expectation that tomorrow will be worst than today. If the youths of Nigeria are in crisis, it has implications for the nations growth and development. Every attempt at development would have been in vain if there are no quality human figure to maintain what has been built. Thirdly, the youth crisis has left the nation with a lot of insecurity and unhealthy crisis. Somehow, every society helps to brood its own problems. The youth crisis in Nigeria has given room for the cases of kidnap, tribal and sectional violence experienced in the nation today. It has allowed a high level of drug abuse, alcohol dependency and smoking in the country. It has increased the instances of thuggery and armed robbery, as well as cultism in schools, which have collectively hunted the conduct of free and fair elections in Nigeria. Character crisis among youths also has health implications. The spread of sexually transmitted diseases and H.I.V pandemic is on the increase to the extent that today, there is high youth mortality rate. It is a pity that without discipline, many lives will still be rocked and many marital joys

be truncated. Lastly, I would not like to end this paper without hinting on the effect the character crisis among youths have on the international image of Nigeria and Nigerians. If you have ever crossed the shores of this country, sometimes, you will start to regret being a Nigerian. Sometimes, when Nigerians are harassed and suspected at international airports, they feel bad and complain. But what they may not know is the number of their countrymen who have passed the same route with illegal stuffs like national loots and hard drugs. The Westerners simply see Nigerians as those who are homeless at home and therefore can do anything to get away and live elsewhere. That is just why there are endless queues at every embassy in this country including that of Bangladesh. When we look at all these and bemoan their consequences, the question we honestly need to ask is; when we all these end?

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? TOWARDS A CONCLUSION At this level in this paper, we have been able to answer the questions raised at the beginning. Having exposed the causes and consequences of character crisis among youths in Nigeria, I have the temptation of rounding up this paper at this point. But I can almost hear somebody shouting from this crowd, what then shall we do? I want to say that basically, the conviction that made me accept to come here today is that all hope is not lost. I have come to tell you that it is not yet over when it is not over. It will only be over only when it is over. Yes, the family today is destabilised, moral values have decayed, religious beliefs and affiliations are counter crossing, our socio-politics is in shambles, our education is in crisis and the media corrupt, but none of these can properly cow the possibilities of the human spirit. At least, many of you here are philosophers. In our modern anthropology, we learn that the human person is a mystery with the capacity for auto-transcendence, to speak like Batista Mondin. I still remember that popular quote from the great philosopher Martin Heidegger that impossibility is nothing. In the field of positive existentialism, even death is seen as a possibility. I remember reading John Macqueries definition of death when I was here in philosophy. That man defined death as that possibility before which every other possibility becomes impossible. But at least, he still saw death as a possibility. And when you read deeply into the meaning of possibility in positive existentialism, you will understand that it is almost a step below the theology of Christian eschatology with all the hopes it offers beyond the grave. Ladies and gentlemen, I am saying that we can change the arc of time and take our own destinies in our own hands. At least, many of us here are still youths in the process of forming our identities and characters through the help we get from our families, schools, the society, the media and the world culture. At least, what we are saying here today will help you to re-evaluate the decisions you have made in the past and the values you have cultivated. You must do this, bearing in mind that no society ever becomes great without men and women of character.

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Even when the society has failed us, organizations and programmes like this are meant to show us the way and tell us the real truth. Let me begin with the family. This is really time for us to reflect on the type of influences we received from our different families and decide whether the values espoused in them were worthwhile to be imbibed. You must take out time sometime to run down the family experiences. This makes you decide how it influences you. But my interest here more is that in the future, many of us here would have our own families to tend and to nurture. It is good that we make our homes citadels of training in human character. It is for this reason that young people must take more seriously the phenomenon of marriage. Beyond the sacramental prerequisites, you must see that you get mature enough before you enter marriage. Of specific importance is the need for psycho-sexual maturity before marriage. So many of you engage in deep undisciplined pre-marital relationships that eventually damage the moral fabric of your consciences. You must be very careful. You must watch what you wear, see, and do. Avoid pornography in all forms. Somebody once said that pornography is the venereal disease of the mind. Be careful about those with whom you relate and are engaged. Let them be people with whom you can plan on how to build a true home for the development of positive human culture. Make sure you know each other and appreciate the values of each other. The best thing that will happen to you is to marry a person of character and integrity. My dear young people, we must start now to consciously cultivate positive values against all odds. Re-evaluate the principles you have adopted in the past and make sure they are enduring, balanced and positive. Shun all short cuts - be it examination malpractice, sexual indiscipline, cultism, arrogance, greed and selfishness, avarice and love for money, lack of desire for merit and lack of appreciation for hard work. Learn to cultivate values that last. They help build your character and the society in the long run. Very importantly, you must value hard work and human effort. Unfortunately, the influence of Pentecostalism is drowning the virtue of human effort and glamourising the miracle of grace. Just know that it is a religious myth to believe that good life does not need to be worked for but should just be given from heaven. God helps those who help themselves, they say. Lastly, I address you my dear brother seminarians. I have been in the priesthood for two years now and I can tell you that the challenges ahead are enormous. You must get ready now to live above board. You must be men of integrity. Only men of integrity can truly inspire as priests. It is a pity that at this stage, some seminarians cultivate some dangerous habits that form part of their character and which will mess their ministry up in the future. How can you understand the fact that during free days, such seminarians go out just to drink, and perhaps, if there is time woe some ladies. From my experience in the priesthood, not much changes after ordination. Woe to you if you lack sexual discipline and integrity on the day of your ordination. You must prepare yourselves for the challenges ahead. Read your books and take every aspect of the seminary formation seriously. Believe me, everything counts. The youths of our generation look up to you; you must be beyond suspicion.

CONCLUSION Once more, I thank you very much for this unique Opportunity you have given me to come and say thank you to my alma mater. I want to express my gratitude to all my formators for all they put into our training. I thank you immensely for the generosity of your audience. May God bless you all. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alan, Sally L., ed, Interventions for Adolescent Identity Development. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage, 1994. Cobb, Nancy, Adolescence: Continuity, Change, and Diversity. London: Mayfield Pub. Comp., 1992. Erikson, Erik, Childhood and Society. New York: Norton, 1950. Erikson, Erik, Identity, Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton, 1968. John Paul II, Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa. Nairobi: Paulines Pub., 1995. Kroger, Jane, Identity Development: Adolescence through Adulthood. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage, 2007. Marcia, James, Development and Validation of Ego Identity Status in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 111: 551-558. Marcia, James, Alan Waterman, David Matteson, et al, Ego Identity: A Handbook for Psychological Research. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1993. Michael, Chester & Norrisey, Marrie, Arise: A Psychology of Love. Virginia: The Open Door Inc., 1981. Peterson, Christopher & Seligman, Martin, Character Strengths and Virtues. Oxford: University Press, 2004. Smiles, Samuel, Character: Helps to Personality Growth. Bangalore: St Paul Press, 2010.