The National Orientation Agency (NOA) said unregulated social media and internet had caused a steady decline in social values among young persons.

The Lagos State Director of the NOA, Mr Waheed Ishola, said the content of a lot of internet and social media sites did not reflect traditional African values.

He said there was also a decline in communal discipline and that correcting erring children was frowned upon by parents.

“We now see parents take hooligans or thugs to beat teachers that discipline their wards.

“The youth also emulate what they see, especially the way our politicians flaunt wealth and do things.

“That is why if you ask a primary six pupil about the latest jeep, he will tell you the one that is coming out in 2022 and the price.

“Our youths now want to run before they crawl because of the exposure they have had,” he said.

According to Ishola, as part of efforts to combat this moral decline, the NOA is currently working with international donor organisations to protect the vulnerable in the society, especially women and children.

He said the agency had partnered Non-Governmental Organisations such as the Child Protection Network and would also collaborate with the Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network (ACVPN).

“We are presently working with the Spotlight Initiative on ending violence against women and girls.

“We have conducted several community dialogue sessions and we broke the dialogue sessions into various parts.

“We had meetings with the various traditional rulers to socilit their support to end violence against women and girls.

“We have also conducted dialogue sessions for the entire members of communities including the youth,” he said.

Ishola said the NOA had established surveillance teams in every Local Government Area in Lagos.

He said the teams were tasked with partnering with NGOs to report any incident of abuse of the vulnerable in their communities to the authorities.