The Foundation for Behavioural and Attitudinal Change (FOBAC) Ghana has lamented the alarming rate of moral decay in the country which it says is hampering sustainable development.
This comes on the back of the recent cases of avoidable vehicular accidents, reckless and dangerous driving/riding, get rich quick adverts/acts involving fetish priests/priestesses in the country.
The foundation is of the “opinion that we are losing the fight to rescue our dear country from the moral decadence and all the other acts of negative behaviour/attitude at such an alarming rate”.
The Executive Director of the Foundation for Behavioural and Attitudinal Change, Ernest Teye-Topey in a statement said our “values as a country [Ghana] has been thrown to the wind and good behaviour is no longer rewarding”.
The foundation, therefore, is calling on all stakeholders to join hands to curb this menace.
Below is the full statement from FOBAC
URGENT NEED TO STEM EROSION OF VALUES AND GOOD BEHAVIOURS ATTITUDES
It certainly must have come as no surprise to anyone who has been a critical and keen observer of the usual reaction of most Ghanaians to issues of grave concern that come up at the community or national level, that we have once again witnessed the same behaviour/attitude over the past two (2) months to a few alarming issues.
In the past few weeks, we have seen and heard passionate, emotional, and angry reactions on radio, Television, and on social media platforms condemning and expressing disgust at cases of avoidable vehicular accidents, reckless and dangerous driving/riding, get rich quick adverts/acts involving fetish priests/priestesses, “mallams”, etc, murder and kidnapping for money, nudity on social media, domestic violence, and juvenile delinquency, wanton destruction of our environment, among others, but all of such reactions have almost ended after about a month, in line with what has become the norm.
Given that all the issues that keep coming up and trigger national discourse are all attributable to negative behaviours and attitudes, and which is what actually gave birth to the establishment of the Foundation for Behavioural and Attitudinal Change (FOBAC) Ghana, we wish to ask a few necessary questions and make a few suggestions regarding the way out of the moral decadence and eroded values situation we find ourselves in as a country.
Do those of us who are neighbours/relations/colleagues of those engaged in the negative attitudes/behaviours or acts of immorality really not know their involvement, or we just decide to play the ostrich and pretend not to know? What have we tried to do about the situation if we know?
What proactive and effective actions are institutions that are mandated to deal with such issues taking to deal with such issues that are not only a threat to our lives, but to our security and development?
Is it that our security agencies do not have the intelligence to track down the morally corrupt individuals engaged in the deplorable criminal acts, using technology and information available to them? Why for instance should online fraud, in the form of polished prostitution, fake job recruitment even into security agencies, promises of guaranteed wins on NLA lottery, and using stolen identity including those of MPs and Ministers of State to defraud people still be ongoing when we have anti-cybercrime mechanisms/technology in place?
The Foundation for Behavioural and Attitudinal Change (FOBAC) Ghana is of the opinion that we are losing the fight to rescue our dear country from the moral decadence and all the other acts of negative behaviour/attitude at such an alarming rate, and that it is time all of us; civil society, political, traditional, and religious leadership, parents, guardians, the security agencies, the judiciary, and all other relevant professionals and public institutions woke up and played our respective parts in the best interest of our dear nation and our future as a people. And our schools and teachers must also play or be allowed to play their part.
The much needed change certainly poses an uphill task, but is a multi-faceted task that needs to be accomplished for our own common good, and we need all of our hands on deck to achieve the needed success, if we are to achieve the sustainable development of our country Ghana. We need to keep all those who are paid to deliver on their specific mandates constantly on their toes and protest against the many excuses, justifications, and in some cases, official lies. And the canker of parental irresponsibility needs to be dealt with at all levels if we are to really succeed in helping mould our youth into responsible, well-behaved assets for national development.
Ernest Teye-Topey
(Executive Director)