Awards as we understand are made out by organizations as a way of honouring or acknowledging the outstanding performances of individuals or groups who may have distinguished themselves in one endeavor or another. Such recognitions naturally are designed not only to appreciate them but to encourage them further as well as challenge others in similar effort or other endeavors to work harder to be so acknowledged too.
There is nothing wrong in giving or receiving awards but there is everything wrong in the manner these awards are handled making it to lose its worth or value. Virtually everything in the country has been bastardized or devalued including awards. There are just very few awards that people earn genuinely based on merit even at professional or national level.
It is sad to remark that some persons today deliberately engineer their own awards and approach organizations to honour them either for personal gains or political reasons. People do so because of the perceived elevation it would provide them as high ranking members of the society. To some it is a short cut to realizing their dream of self-actualization.
Awards in recent times have been identified as one of the processes through which organizations can raise funds. The underlying objective in most of the awards here is not the value conferred which should go to deserving individuals but which are made to those who can ‘cash and carry’. It is laughable in some cases that some of the awards made out to individuals are pushed to them through subtle pressure because of the pecuniary interest.
The recent trend noticed is the situation where some unemployed persons who are not contributing any value to the society form themselves into groups and engineer awards to some members of the public through which they enrich themselves. Some folks who have developed the habit of collecting strings of award fall for such traps in order satisfy their ego driven desire.
It is sad to remark that the frivolous awards made to certain person have further helped to devalue and debase our society. Some persons criminal elements with questionable characters well known to the society have been admitted into the noble knights hood of some churches while the honourary degrees of the universities are traded off at the highest irrespective of what these institutions may represent to the larger society in terms of roles.
We now live in a society where people’s worth is measured by the size of their pockets. It matters not how this wealth came about. Big men can be found among the ruling class, the educated class as well as among the business people. The common indicator or denominator is money or wealth.
Today chieftaincy titles are up for grabs at the highest bidding. We have redefined our values. Money is what defines our placement in the society. Just grab money from anywhere and anyhow, even if from armed robbery, 419, stealing public funds (our common wealth), you will be knighted by the church, your community will honour you, the press will sing your praises, the Universities will award you honorary degrees and your fans will celebrate you.
It is the same society that confers undue recognition to never do wells that still suffer. In other words we create the society we live in. The point we have reached in our state of anomie is where we can neither distinguish between what is right or wrong. We are in constant state of shifting values depending on what suits us.
One of the implications of undeserving awards conferred on never do wells is that it has not only lowered our standards of judgment of what is true, right and honourable but has encouraged more of those in that category to want to be so honoured.
News Echo identifies strongly with the fact that honour must be given to whom it is due and that he who the cap fits let him wear. As a matter of encouragement people should be picked out and honoured based on proven achievement. Character of the individuals should be a source of inspiration to upcoming young men.
It is inappropriate for the moral health of our society to continue to honour men of questionable integrity because that amounts to encouraging them in their illicit behavior.
