Joshua Ocheja

INTEGRITY as against CORRUPTION

By Helen Egbe

 

Show me a man that possesses wealth unimaginable yet lacks character, and i will show you the path of crumbling in which such a man is headed. The current global trend presupposes certain characteristics of various players from diverse sectors to emerge as survivors. Factors such as hard work, commitment, intellect, zeal and the like are however glaring pre-requisites for surviving the present global trend. Nonetheless, who can successfully measure and access the personality of a man without bringing into play his character or integrity as a yardstick.

Following from the above, the term “Integrity” as defined by the Advanced English Dictionary, speaks of Moral soundness, honesty and probity. In the light of its definition, where there is an absence of a person of integrity, be it male or female, a society is bound to be in disarray. It is often said that Money rules the world, but how can the world be effectively ruled when there is not even a single man of honour at the helm of affairs. 

Looking at the world today, no one sees integrity, honesty, sincerity as forces to be reckoned with anymore. Almost everyone seeks an easy way out of seemingly difficult and terrible situation. Who cares about honesty when dishonesty can lead you fastest to your destination? Who cares about virtue when the ticket of vice seems to lead you through the gates of most opportunities fastest? These and many more are the belief of most schools of thought, but they fail to realize that there is a way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof is the path of destruction.

Integrity isn’t just a requirement in one facet of society but in all. Integrity shouldn’t be treated as an “if” but as a “must”. It shouldn’t be taught as a “minus” but as a “plus”. For if integrity is treated as a must, then workers, mothers, fathers, children, youths, leaders, subordinates, Imams, Pastors etc will not attend to their jobs and responsibilities with flippancy as they will be governed by this phrase “I have an integrity to protect” and by so doing they will give their all and their best to protect what they consider a MUST.

Going down memory lane, we will recall the lives of renowned leaders and philosophers such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther, Jeremy Bentham, Margaret Thatcher, and more importantly Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel who espoused that Morality is not the result of a social contract, but a natural growth arising in the family and culminating in the State. This therefore suggests that the family has a huge role to play in instilling virtues of integrity in the lives of their children knowing that if the life of one child is positively affected then the lives of many others are not far-fetched.

Conclusively, it is never too late for one to become what he might have been and to right the wrongs he/she might have committed via corruption or several other vices. To this end, your thought becomes your action, your action becomes your habit, your habit forms your character and your character becomes your destiny. So if you and I must be protagonists in the so-called “Re-branding Nigeria” Scheme, we must therefore begin to…THINK INTEGRITY, THINK SOCIETAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH & THINK CHANGE. 

For if we begin to Re-brand our minds then every loop holes in the Nation will automatically face Re-branding