The Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) has called for improvement in the governance of Nigeria.

Speakers at the 18th annual Adekunle Kukoyi memorial lecture, themed “2023 General Elections: Whither Nigeria?” stressed the need for the country to elect leaders who would improve governance.

Professor Idowu Sobowale, who was the guest lecturer at the event, said the culture of impunity and zero consequences for culpable actions against the state had gradually become second nature.

He said, “The behavior of our leaders and others in positions of authority has entrenched indiscipline in our society to the extent that lawlessness has become a pastime in our country. Those who are paid to maintain law and order are the chief lawbreakers in the land. The overall effect of all these are degeneration of morals, gross debasement of our social values, lack of respect, disobedience, dishonesty, indolence, absence of fair play, and empathy.

“Instead, the alien and undesirable values of greed, selfishness, cruelty, and inordinate ambition, have been elaborated and elevated to the position of personal deities that people today worship. The culture of impunity and zero consequences for our actions against the state that has descended on our land, over time, gradually has become second nature.”

According to him, the leaders themselves have debased the once cherished values that gave society its dignity.

He added, “The result, of course, has been the great decadence that we have witnessed in our social, political, and economic behaviours over time. These have translated to the massive corruption and the great indiscipline that have characterised the lives of many, to the extent of Nigeria being described as the “corruption” capital of the world.”

Sobowale further urged those in authority alongside their advisers to be just, fair, humane, and honest in all they do toward enthroning a democratically elected government in the 2023 elections.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, Lagos Branch, Olukolade Kasim, noted that in less than a month, Nigeria would be heading to the polls to elect who would steer their affairs at different levels, and that was what brought about the topic picked for the annual lecture.