The United States navy recently awarded a Nigerian officer Lieutenant Victor Agunbiade its medal of commendation for his meritorious service.

The US navy said Agunbiade effectively managed its largest cash disbursing office handling forty-five million dollars about seventeen billion naira in cash transaction, this they said accounted for seventy percent of its overseas disbursing volume.

While commending Agunbiade, Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri Erewa applauded him for being a good ambassador of the country.

Also, appointments of Professors Charles Akande as President of Champlain University, United States on july 1 and Charles Egbu as Vice-Chancellor-Designate of Leeds Trinity University, United Kingdom are some results of good character, honesty and dedication of these Nigerians.

These, portend a good image for the country, and contradicts the regular stories of misdeeds by some undisciplined Nigerians in the diaspora.

This is not the first time that Agunbiade will be recognized for outstanding performance as in 2018 he and seventeen other officers were honoured as officer recruiter of the year at the annual recruiter of the year in Washington D.C.

It is heartwarming that Agunbiade is presenting the country in a good light as he is no doubt a good export from the country to the world.

Though there may be many like Agunbiade in Nigeria’s armed forces, including the police and other organizations, Nigerians rarely hear about them.

Such enviable characters in our public institutions ought to be appreciated publicly as a way of telling the citizens that, the country has her moral heroes and villains, like their counterparts in other human communities.

It is crucial to note that the country has had the good old days which is unknown to today’s youth.

That was the time honesty and diligence paid, where the society honoured individuals who possessed such virtues.

It was a time when young men and women would not flaunt wealth they could not account for or risked sanctions as grave as being ostracized.

In the light of this, Agunbiade’s exemplary conduct will rub off positively on Nigeria’s image in the United States of America as it will be on record that the country’s story and Nigerians is not all about fraud, and terrorism.

It behoves Nigerian youths to emulate Agunbiade’s honesty, probity ,integrity and good judgment as a once sane society that lost its bearing along the line needs to retrace its step towards restoration of sanity and greatness.

More significantly, the society must change its social parameters for recognition and celebration of citizens in a way that discourages the tendency for dishonesty.

Otherwise, any hope of reproducing more Nigerians like Agunbiade will remain a fantasy.

Nigerian youths: How they can get their moral acts together

Comments (0)