Public discipline and sanity: Questions for 2023 presidential candidates (17), By Adetolu Ademujimi

Upon being sworn in as democratically elected on 29 May, should our next president prioritise the recovery of public discipline and sanity by leading state governors and chairman of local government councils to enforce all relevant laws to curb this national pandemic?

Since 1999, political actors appear to have paid lip service to curbing acts of social indiscipline among Nigerians, such that the younger generation (especially those born between then and now) are not even aware that the following actions are abnormal and should be regarded as social maladies:

• Public use of marijuana (e.g., as seen in motor parks);
• Street-littering (e.g. winding down the glass of a moving car to throw out garbage onto the roads);
• Indiscriminate creation of unguided refuse dumps;
• Anti-queue attitudes/refusal to take turns (e.g. jumping ahead of queues in banks, supermarkets, ATM points, gas stations etc.);
• Road side urination; and
• Open defecation.

Upon being sworn in as democratically elected on 29 May, should our next president prioritise the recovery of public discipline and sanity by leading state governors and chairman of local government councils to enforce all relevant laws to curb this national pandemic?

1. No; it is not a priority because of more important issues like power, road, trains, etc.
2. Yes; these are low-hanging fruits that if the next government strives to curb, Nigeria would at least have made progress in four years.
3. I don’t care.

Adetolu Ademujimi is a medical doctor, author, reformer, coach and public policy expert who wrote in from Akure, Nigeria. Email: ademujimi@yahoo.co.uk; Twitter: @toluademujimi; Instagram: @adetoluademujimi; Linkedin: @adetolu ademujimi