A popular radio show caller
and public commentator, who often refers to himself as a radio senator, Andrew
Ajayi, has always advocated for value
reorientation and character reformation
as the panacea for the societal ills ravaging Nigeria as he participates in numerous call-in programmes in the country.
I totally agree with him hence, I have
decided to make them the crux of my blogs for the next couple of weeks because I’ve
come to understand that we cannot build a life that will stand the test of time
unless it is standing on strong values.
Values
can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action or
outcomes. As such, values reflect a person’s sense of right and wrong or what
“ought” to be. “Equal rights for all”, "Excellence deserves
admiration", and “People should be treated with respect and dignity” are
representative of values. Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior. For
example, if you value equal rights for all and you go to work for an organization
that treats its managers much better than it does its workers, you may form the
attitude that the company is an unfair place to work; consequently, you may not
produce well or may perhaps leave the company. It is likely that if the company
had a more egalitarian policy, your attitude and behaviors would have been more
positive.[1]
We cannot reach our
goals and destinations as individuals and as a country without a road-map that
is detailed and usable. But each of us
has many, many maps in our head, which can be divided into two main categories:
maps of the way things are, or
realities, and maps of the way
things should be, or values. We interpret everything we experience through
these mental maps…we simply assume that the way we see things is the way they
really are or the way they should be.[2]
What
are those factors that influence the values we form?
v The environment:
our environment includes the place we live, the people we meet and interact
with, the society at large and the effect they have on us. This is a factor
very powerful in determining how we see the world. Prevailing environmental
circumstances, re-enforced by our continued exposure to them while being
unaware of any alternative will most certainly influence how we see the world.
v Childhood programming: some
of our actions and inactions are
controlled and limited by the coded instructions we’ve been carrying from
childhood planted there by parents, teachers and every other person who has had
a direct or indirect influence on us. They shape our perception and
understanding of the way the world should be.
These
two factors (and any you can point out by dropping a note below) contribute significantly
to how we come to form our values.
Next
week, I’ll talk about the values that I believe will help us build a fruitful
life of positive contributions to self and community.
See
you then, meanwhile,
Be
inspired and
Remain
motivated!
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