The truth therefore is that great nations become great not because of their wealth and natural resources, but due to their wealth of truth, honesty and other virtues. Wealth will always find a way of escaping from societies without an established system of truth and honesty, into societies that are well established in truth and honesty.
On the other hand, let me show you a picture of another country. In Switzerland and generally all over Europe, there is nothing to celebrate when a man brings to the police a purse or a bag of money that does not belong to him, which he found in a restaurant, store or café. That is regarded as the normal duty of a regular citizen.
The difference? Simple! Honesty and truth is part of the fabric of the European society. In most European countries, if you are offered money, bags of food or things like that in exchange for your vote, that is regarded as corruption of the highest order. In which case both the giver and the taker would end up in prison. The difference? The culture of honesty and truth that prevails in the society.
If we in Nigeria and Africa are generally to experience a true national transformation, we must purposefully begin a campaign for national reorientation. There must be numerous movements championing the cause of truth and honesty in every aspect of our daily affairs.
“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.” – Isa. 59: 14-15
A lot of our people like to talk about how Singapore went from the third world to a first world in a generation. Well, at the bottom of Singapore’s miracle lies the principles of truth and honesty. Let’s examine some examples of how the Singapore government enforced these principles in their society.
In Singapore, there is punishment for all kinds of things:
1. If you are caught chewing gum, you are penalised. You pay an amount of $1000 dollars or spend a year in prison;
2. If you cross the road in the wrong place, you are going to be penalised because you did not act by the truth. You are therefore fined $200 dollars;
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3. If you are found littering the place by throwing bottles or paper on the ground, you are either imprisoned or heavily fined the sum of $800 dollars;
4. If you are caught spitting or defecating in public, you are heavily penalised by being fined or sent to prison;
5. If you are caught throwing out a cigarette butt, you are penalised through a fine of $1000 for a first offender and $5000 dollars for a repeated offender;
6. If you are caught with illegal drugs, you are sentenced to death;
7. Eating in public transportation or smoking at an outdoor bus stop incurs fines ranging from $500 to $1000 dollars;
8. If you are caught vandalising, like drawing graffiti in public spaces, you are canned a maximum of 24 strokes on your bare buttocks;
9. If you use the toilet and do not flush it after yourself, you will be caned;
10. If you walk about undressed or nude, even in your own house, you would be heavily penalised. If you hug in public without permission, you would be penalised;
11. If you criticise other religions, you are going to prison;
12. If you tell lies,such as introducing a stranger as your friend, this is considered as deception and you go to jail for this;
13. If you log into an internet connection that you have not paid for, it is considered as hacking and you have to pay $5000 dollars as fine for this;
14. If you are caught in an unlawful sexual relationship, this draws a punishment of two years imprisonment;
15. Mutiny, discharge of firearm, treason, murder are punishable by death;
16. Robbery is punishable by canning and prison;
17. Driving under the influence is punishable through hefty fines and prison terms;
18. Piracy is punishable by a fine of $1000 dollars;
19. Theft and shoplifting are punishable through heavy fines;
20. Racism attracts heavy penalties.
From all the points above, we can clearly see that the Singaporean government believed solidly in the principle of truth and honesty. They did not hold back, but went all the way to enforce it in their society. I believe that without this kind of strict enforcement of penalties for any offense violating the principles of truth and honesty, Nigeria and Africa will not be able to move from our present state of underdevelopment into civilisation.
Let me submit here that it is not the amount of money or natural resources a nation has that determines how civilised it would be. Singapore, Switzerland, Austria, and many of the European countries that we all admire today don’t have one tenth of the natural resources that African countries have. Yet, because of the principles of truth and honesty, they have been able to build some of the most civilised societies in the modern world.
Let’s take Switzerland as an example. This is a country without much natural resources but well reputed for truth and integrity. As a result, they are now known as a country of banks. Why? Because as I said earlier, if anybody loses his suitcase full of money anywhere in the country, everybody knows that the level of truth and honesty in the nation is so high that you would not lose your money. It will be returned to you. That reputation has gone before them for hundreds of years. As a result, even people who steal money from other countries wish to keep them in a safe place. Where? The answer – Switzerland!
Nigeria is a good testimony in that regard. A country with an abundance of wealth, but which because of the lack of truth and integrity, the wealth is stolen. But the paradox of the whole thing is that this stolen wealth always finds its way to nations with no apparent natural wealth, but with a high degree of truth and honesty. The conclusion therefore is that wealth will always find its way out of societies where truth and honesty are not established into the societies where there are principles of honesty and truth.
Almost on a weekly basis, we hear about Sani Abacha’s looted funds being discovered either in Switzerland or Belgium or some other western country. There are constant reports of foreign bank accounts of our politicians with stolen money in foreign countries. The story of Umaru Diko has become a reference point in our nation’s history.
Singapore is like an oasis in the desert of South East Asia, without apparent natural resources, but a huge deposit of wealth in form of truth and honesty. The result is that most of the wealth in the neighbouring rich countries always end up in Singapore. Why? Because wealth will always find its way out of rich societies where there is no truth and honesty, into societies with a high degree of truth and honesty.
The truth therefore is that great nations become great not because of their wealth and natural resources, but due to their wealth of truth, honesty and other virtues. Wealth will always find a way of escaping from societies without an established system of truth and honesty, into societies that are well established in truth and honesty.
I hope that mine would not remain an unheeded voice of one crying in the wilderness. It is my prayer that our newly elected Nigerian government would heed to this voice of conscience and start a massive crusade and movement to establish truth, honesty and other virtues in our society.
I also pray that other nations in the African continent and in other developing parts of the world would hear this cry and give their people a gift of development and civilisation through the establishment of principles of truth and honesty.
Sunday Adelaja is a Nigeria born leader, transformation strategist, pastor and innovator. He is based in Kiev, Ukraine. He can be contacted at sundayadelajablog@gmail.com.
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