A Call to Rethink “Normal” — For the Sake of Tomorrow - Joseph Ebirim

What we call “normal” today is far from what it was just a decade ago. Sadly, some of the most dangerous shifts in our society are not in technology or fashion, but in our values, lifestyles, and the cultures we’ve chosen to embrace—or abandon.

There was a time when meaningful conversations were the norm—rooted in respect, reason, and a shared goal to find solutions. Today, hostility often takes center stage. Comment sections that should be platforms for ideas have become battlegrounds of insults and half-baked opinions.

But the real danger isn’t just the negativity we see - it's how this negativity is becoming normal, shaping the mindset of the next generation. For example, our definition of wealth has moved from earnings obtained through productive work to material possessions obtained through just any means, irrespective of the cost and effect on another. Today, we have teenagers desperately seeking wealth through fraudulent means without considering the need to develop skills or complete their basic education. In few years time, when their criminal acts may have dealth hard knocks on them, then it would be a greater struggle to start all over. More so, these children who have given into crime from a very tender age, will surely not be depended on to raise morally upright children. So what shall we find in the next generation? 

 

Our parents dreamed of a brighter future for their children; they lived with hope. Yet today, many of us live with fear—fear of the kind of world our children will inherit. We love them deeply, but we’re unsure how they’ll navigate a world that seems increasingly chaotic and morally confused.

So, to everyone who cares enough to listen:

Let’s pause and reflect. How long can we keep preying on one another and still expect progress? Can we truly claim to want a better future when our actions say otherwise?

It’s time to rise above selfish interests and start thinking with reason, empathy, and purpose.

Let’s hold our leaders accountable—but also hold ourselves accountable. Let’s quit wasting time on meaningless online battles and start learning from models that work—adapting and improving them for our nation’s good.

A better Nigeria—and indeed, a better world—will not come from blame or bitterness. It begins with truth, with love, and with the courage to see every person as one of us—a fellow creation of God, deserving of dignity and compassion.

When we choose unity over division, truth over deceit, and action over complaints, we close the door on corruption, greed, and hopelessness.

And then, perhaps, we can dare once again to believe in a better tomorrow.