With the G20 currently meeting in Johannesburg, it is time for Nigerians as a people to learn a bit from industrialised nations. Let us start with the Japanese sense of civic responsibility

Ayo Akinfe

[1] From the first to the sixth primary school year, Japanese students must learn ethics when it comes to dealing with people. They are taught from a tender age how to relate to other human beings

[2] Even though among the richest people in the world, the Japanese do not have servants. Parents are responsible for the home and children. Nigerians are notorious for having unnecessary house helps

[3] There is no examination from the first to the third primary school level because the goal of education is to instill concepts and character. In Nigeria, we are obsessed with examinations and certificates

[4] If you go to a buffet restaurant in Japan you will notice that people only eat as much as they need, without any waste, because food must not be wasted. How many Nigerians have this kind of discipline?

[5] The rate of delayed trains in Japan is about seven seconds per year!! The Japanese appreciate the value of time and are very punctual to the minute and to the second.

[6] Children in Japanese schools brush their teeth after a meal in school, thus learning from an early age to maintain their health.

[7] Japanese students take half an hour to finish their meals to ensure proper digestion because the students are the future of their country

[8] Japanese children learn from their earliest days that human fulfillment comes from close association with others. Children learn early to recognize that they are part of an interdependent society, beginning in the family and later extending to larger groups such as neighborhood, school, playground, community and company

[9] In Japan, the gap in salary between chief executives and their subordinates is much narrower than in other countries in the industrialized world. When I see the flagrant way Nigeria’s wealthy throw ostentatious and flamboyant parties, I just shudder at their lack of restraint

[10] Japanese society places great importance on the value of collective action. As a group, the Japanese citizenry have had a longstanding cultural obligation of loyalty to the system within which they exist. In Nigeria, the me, me, me culture has taken over

ayoakinfe@gmail.com